This is a blog of places that I have been recently. I tried to include as many links and tips as possible-- hopefully it can help you plan your travel too!
Check out http://aki-eats.blogspot.com for restaurants
Our trip centered around a family wedding outside of Tokyo, and our home base was in Echigo-Yuzawa in the Japanese Alps in Niigata. It's an easy Shinkansen ride into Tokyo and we made the trip a few times.
Timing
Good weather is always great to have during vacation, but all the more so when you're toting around a toddler in a stroller and their goods.
Tokyo (like a lot of the world) has gotten hotter, and unbearably so in the summer. Summer in Tokyo has always been hot and humid, but I don’t think the temperature went below 90F at night the entire time we were there, and was into 100s during day. That seems to be the new norm from mid-July to August
June into early July is the rainy season.
So spring and fall are the most comfortable times to go if you have some flexibility.
Tokyo
As we have traveled with our toddler, we have found limiting the number of hotel changes really helps with our routine and logistics. Moving two adults is easy, especially with luggage shipping in Japan, but not trivial with toddler setup in tow.
Tokyo with a few day trips sound great. I’m a huge fan of Nikko, and Kamakura is an easy day trip as well.
Within Tokyo, Odaiba has family friendly activities. teamlab Planet was fun if your kid doesn’t get too overloaded with sensory stimulation (plan to bring a carrier though, no stroller inside and you’ll need to carry at some parts, without ruining the surprise).
I did find the expat blogs, like this one, super helpful. This was their post on Odaiba with kids
Logistics
You’ll want a travel stroller. Our monster American ones won’t cut it on their narrow streets and transport. We love the Mountain Buggy. It was also was nice to have the lie-flat for changing
The city is pretty accessible, especially after the Olympics, though you might have to search for the elevator (easily pronounced as “ele be-ta-“). Here's a cheatsheet for Japanese kid-related words
I highly recommend shipping luggage from the airport to hotel and between and hotels — Google “takuhaibin” or just shipping luggage in Tokyo. It’s about $15-25 per suitcase and super easy. Hotels can arrange for you if you ask in advance, and there are a few vendors at the airport (I use ABC or Yamato)
Onsen
I love going to onsen, the hot springs and public baths, and the ryokans that have them. The bath may feel hot for children, but they can still sit with you to bath in the shower. Some rooms may have in-room baths as well. If your child is not potty-trained, just be careful with the public baths
Our kid is a fairly easy eater so she was ok eating out with us. Sushi restaurants are challenging because they generally don’t have anything else on the menu, but many family restaurants and izakaya have many kid-friendly options, including simple rice, miso soup, and edamame (which are all Yuna favorites).
We regularly stopped at convenience stores for snacks -- the bread and ready made section (onigiri 🍙 in particular) were favorites.
In addition to water, “mugi-cha” or barley tea, is not caffeinated and a kid favorite for drinks
Lanikai is Hawaiian for "heavenly sea". The calm, white sand beach is sheltered in a residential neighborhood with Mokulua Drive the sole access road from Kailua, on the windward east side of Oahu.
The Lanikai Pillbox Hike has some of my favorite views in the world.
The hike takes you high above Lanikai beach and is marked by two concrete pillboxes (old bunkers) at the top. You can get to the first pillbox in less than 15 minutes at a steady climb. There's also a longer hike past the second pillbox that takes you along the ridges to the south end of Lanikai.
Short Hike
The path to the pillboxes starts near the 18th green of the Mid-Pacific Country Club off of the cul de sac on Kaelepulu Drive before it turns into a private community. Your best bet for parking is on Aalapapa Drive and walk up Kaelepulu Drive to the trail.
Pro-tip: Wear sneakers and keep your hands free -- use a backpack, camelback, pockets for keys, phone and/or water. This is a short and not super difficult hike, but the first (and last) stretch is pretty steep and you'll want to grab on to the trees and rocks. There are also some parts of the trail where you'll want your hands on the rocks to steady yourself.
There are multiple paths to get to the first pillbox, though you'll get the beautiful ocean views if you keep left. The first few minutes are the hardest, so don't despair, it'll get easier. And while it's a good place for a breather and photos, don't quit at the first clearing where you can see the ocean -- that's nothing compared to the top and you've passed the hardest climb!
The first pillbox is reachable in 15-20 minutes at a steady pace and some breaks. Climb on top of the bunker to enjoy the view.
The second pillbox is another 3-5 minutes away and worth the extra walk.
When you've had your fill of the views, you have two options.
Turn around and hike down where you came from. You can do the short pillbox hike in well under an hour.
Long Hike
The trail continues past the second pillbox. It took me nearly 40 minutes (with minimal photo stops) to hike to the other end. It is absolutely beautiful and a good, strenuous hike, but not for everyone.
Like probably not for someone who:
Doesn't like getting dirty hands from branches and rocks and mud
Is sensitive to grasses and thorns - the trail was quite overgrown (Dec 2016) and your skin will touch lots of grass
Would freak out from lots of little red millipedes, or the occasional bug in the eye
For the record, the only animals were those millipedes and chirpy little birds, and an Alaskan woman who I snuck up on who thought I was a bear.
The longer hike is harder than the first part. It's less than a mile but has some steep climbs and the last stretch is challenging. The path is less trodden and has more rocks and obstacles. I hiked in the late afternoon after morning rains and the paths were fairly dry, but you may want to go another day if it's been raining heavily.
The hike goes along the top of the ridge, all the way to the south end of the Lanikai neighborhood, with a few interstitial peaks. The grass is short at times, and the trail is completely covered at others. The trail gradually declines from the pillbox, until the last stretch, where you have two mini summits and one last peak.
Once you get to the top of the last peak, rejoice!! Take a break! The path down to the street was by far the hardest and least pleasant part of the hike for me. It's slippery (with or without rain), narrow, and steep, though there are handholds in the form of rocks and branches. It took me about 12 minutes to make it down.
The Other End
Unlike the Mid-Pacific/Kaelepulu Drive end of the trail, this end of the pillbox trail is not marked and difficult to find if you know where you're looking. Here's a Google Map pin for where the trail ends on the Luika Place cul de sac. Luis Place is a short dead end street off of Po'opo'o Lane, which is the last road on the right off of Aalapapa Drive before it turns back towards Kailua as Mokulula Drive.
You can also choose to start at this end, given how much that last stretch sucks going down.
Note: Cell phone coverage (at least T-Mobile) is spotty at the end. It's about a mile from Kaelupulu Drive, which is a short drive but quite a long walk after this hike. So leave your car here or plan ahead if you think you may want a ride home from the far end.
Or you may end up hitchhiking as you are exhausted self is walking down Mokulua Drive #truestory
Misc.
Lanikai Juice is my favorite stop in Kailua for a delicious Kailua Monkey smoothie or an acai bowl
Hibachi is nearby in Kailua and has the best poke bar and a great selection of wine and local/craft beer
Ehukai Pillbox Hike is another Oahu hike on the North Shore by Haleiwa. Great view of the big waves and surfers from the two pillboxes!
If I ever have the luxury to design my house from scratch, I want to incorporate basic Japanese elements into my home...
Foyer
Japanese homes are strictly "shoes off" and the foyer is architected to easily separate the inside space from the outdoors. When one enters the home, whether is it a grand house or a tiny studio, there will be a continuation of the outdoor level inside and a physical step up where the "home" begins. Shoes are never ever worn above the step, even for the all-too-common "oh shoot, I just need to run in and get..." situation in a US shoes-off home.
Japanese Bath
The modern Japanese bath is just a brilliant and sustainable concept. There's an enclosed space with both a "shower" and "bath", but you clean yourself with the shower before you bathe so that the clean bath water can be reheated and re-used by the family (or several days for a single person). There is a cover for the bath that is rolled over during the shower, then removed for bathing. The whole room is equivalent to the "shower" space, with drainage and door to close off the space.
The hot water system is shower is controlled by a panels with options for temperature, water volume, and timer, and sometimes even multiple panels so that you can remotely heat up the bath from your kitchen and tells you when it's ready!
The bath is also taller so that one can sit upright and be covered above the shoulders. Tubs are not made to stretch out like Western bathtubs, but to sit with knees tucked up and warm up.
Japanese Toilet
There is a ton written on this topic in American media, but who doesn't want a warm seat and bidet when they do their business? As the founder of toilet product Tushy said, if a bird pooped on your head, would you wipe with a tissue or use water to make sure you're really clean?
Kinosaki Onsen is a lovely town on the west coast of Japan that is known for its hot springs. I stayed at a "ryokan" (Japanese guesthouse) and spent two blissful days eating amazing food, drinking sake, and steeping in natural hot springs.
Kinosaki Onsen is approximately five hours by train from Tokyo. Take the Shinkansen (bullet train) three hours to Kyoto, then another express train for two hours through beautiful countryside to Kinosaki Onsen.
Note: I highly recommend getting the JR Pass before arriving in Japan - it's a brilliant rail pass only available to foreigners that is all-you-can-ride Japan Railways, including the Shinkansen. You can get reserve seats for no cost as well. You'll usually make up the cost of the pass with one Shinkansen trip.
Shinkansen Pro-tip: Try to get seat E if you reserve seats - the north side window of the train (right side on way south, left north) generally has better views, including Mount Fuji about an hour out from Tokyo. Also fun to track your blue dot on Google Maps, you'll never see the dot move so fast!!
Stay at a Ryokan!
I stayed at Ryokufukaku (beautiful Japanese website / English tourist site). 25,000 yen per night for a tatami room, breakfast and dinner, ryokan's baths, and access to the seven "soto-yu" hot springs in town. Pretty incredible deal, as the dinner could easily cost well over 10,000 yen.
What to do in Kinosaki:
Onsen("hot springs") that have been here for 1400 years of geothermal activity is the main attraction and a must do. The ryokan's rent yukata (and hakama overcoats in winter) for guests to wear out to baths. I literally wore that all day. See below for the seven "soto-yu"
Ropeway at the west end of town will give you a beautiful view of the village and surrounding mountains, all the way to the Sea of Japan.
Drink local sake - this is a must. Sakamoto-ya Sakaya 坂本屋酒屋 is a liquor shop that offers shots of sake for 300 yen. Two tables outside and four stools at a little window bar to snack and drink your sake or beer or liquor. They have local brews of sake, beer and liqueurs that you can try before you buy. Highly recommend the "ji-zake" 地酒, local fresh brewed sake out of a keg, super rich and potent.
Eat seafood, Tajima beef and Izushi soba. The ryokan and restaurants alike get fresh seafood daily from the Sea of Japan, and the area is known for crab in winter months.
Izushi is a nearby town, known for its soba plates, eaten five different ways for each serving of five plates (soba sauce, plus grated daikon and negi, plus wasabi, plus grated mountain yam, plus a raw egg).
Pottery making at Rakugaki is fun and you get something to keep from it. You can make designs, actually shape the clay, or decorate small jewelry. If you paint or sculpt, they'll fire the clay and ship you the final pottery (even overseas, was 1,200 yen to the US). Roughly 2,400 yen to make a cup and chopstick holder.
Onsen
There are seven "soto-yu" 外湯, or "outside springs" that most ryokan's will provide you a pass to enter for free. Each spring also has an a la carte price for day trippers.
So the seven hot springs. Each is named "xx no Yu", which means "Hot Spring of xx". I'm partial to the ones with "roten-buro" or outdoor baths. In order of my favorite:
Gosha no Yu 御所の湯 is styled after a Kyoto palace, the largest and most elegant of the seven, with indoor, steam room and outdoor baths besides several waterfalls. They rotate the men's and women's bath daily so try to hit Gosha no Yu two days in a row to see both sides.
Ichi no Yu 一の湯 is the landmark Kinosaki Onsen and has an outdoor bath carved into a cave.
Kou no Yu 鴻の湯 is the farthest onsen by the ropeway and has an outdoor bath covered by a pagoda.
Mandara no Yu まんだらの湯 had a small wooden bath that seats two by the forest
Sato no Yu さとの湯 is the newest and most modern bath, with multiple floors, baths and saunas. The rooftop outdoor bath feels a bit kitschy but is nice, and I enjoyed the dry heat, steam and penguin (0-5 degree C!) saunas
Yanagi no Yu 柳の湯 is one of the smallest but with beautiful wood in the high beams that make up the indoor bath
Jizo no Yu 地蔵の湯 has an indoor bath inside a nice multistory inn.
Ashi no Yu 足の湯 are foot baths along the main roads and free for anyone to stop and dip their feet. Sato no Yu and Yanagi no Yu have them, and there is one near the corner by Ichi no Yu with a beautiful view of the street (also conveniently close to Sakamotoya liquor shop if you get a sake to go) and also by the ropeway. Good stop while you wait 11 min for your onsen eggs.
By the way, your ryokan is likely to have its own hot spring, and perhaps even some private Onsen that you can reserve!
Last note: Kinosaki Onsen is a pretty local tourist spot. Even the Japanese tourists are primarily from the Kansai region, and while they're starting to see more Chinese tourists, non-Asian foreigners are less common. So just note, it's a tourist spot with very little English speakers, though Kansai folks are super friendly as a whole and I'm sure they will do everything in their power to be hospitable!
My best friend and I took a long weekend to visit New Orleans, a city both of us had on our list but never had the chance to visit. The food and music met the incredibly high reputation, and pleasantly surprised by the shopping and charming beauty of the city.
We flew from opposite coasts on Friday, arriving at MSY late afternoon. The line for the $36 cab was horrendously long (better off for two people than the $24 shuttle, also with a line), and grabbed a black car for $60 to the Westin New Orleans, right on the water on Canal Street and adjacent to the old French Quarter.
My mom and I visited Vienna and Salzburg following four days in Milan. Vienna is a sort of mecca for classical music lovers and it did not disappoint!
Here are some highlights:
Salzburg - Famous as Mozart and the "Sound of Music" Trapp family's hometown, Salzburg is an idyllic city with a lazy river running through it and surrounded by lush green mountains.
Performances - Vivaldi Four Seasons by string quartet in St. Stephen's Cathedral
House of Musik - best interactive museum I've experienced.
I took a week long trip to Milan and Vienna with my mom to coincide with the World Expo 2015 in Milan.
Here are some highlights:
World Expo - In Milano from May 1 to Oct 31, 2015, think of Expo like a massive six-month trade show of countries, or Epcot on crack. See bottom of the post for more, including a short video!
Food - Milanese cuisine is more rice than pasta and richer than what I think of typical Italian food, but their love and care of food is still Italian and there are many opportunities for great meals.
Duomo - the central Milanese cathedral is magnificent inside and out and worth a visit.
Last Supper - one of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous paintings is on a rectory wall in Santa Maria delle Grazie Church.
Shop - I happen to not be a fashion type, but Milano is certainly one of the fashion meccas of the world. Emmanuelle Galleria houses the original Prada shop and some might enjoy the fashion district. I on the other hand, enjoyed the “saldi” season at your lower/mid level boutiques and made a killing at Promod. Italians make lovely shoes as well.
Notes on Milan
Milanese speak some English in tourist areas, but it's worth getting some basic phrases down
We stayed in an AirBNB studio near the Lima stop off of the Metro 1/Red line and a 5 minute walk from Centrale Stazione where you can get a bus/train direct from Malpensa international airport. It was so lovely to have a fridge and mini-kitchen for breakfast and snacking, and to live in a more residential area. Highly recommend over hotels.
Summertime is ridiculously hot, and well into the evening. Avoid being outside mid afternoon if you can.
Eat and Drink
We had a lovely mix of casual and fine dining in Milan. Turns out the olive oil, tomatoes, pasta that I think of when I imagine Italian food is more prevalent in mid to southern Italy, and Milanese are closer to say Austrian or German food with more breads, rice and mix of meat and seafood.
Ristorante Cracco - we had a decadent, luxurious and creative two and a half hour lunch at Chef Carlo Cracco's two-star Michelin restaurant just blocks from the Duomo. We splurged on the tasting menu with a few classes of wine
We joined a guided walking tour through a company called Veditalia. It was 63€ per person for the "best of Milan + Last Supper" and English guide with eight other people for three hours. It was worth it because my mom wanted to see the Last Supper and reservations were full through five weeks out. But our guide Christian was a local Milanese, incredibly knowledgeable and we learned a lot about Milanese history and the sites.
We visited:
Duomo Cathedral and its Square - the central cathedral in Milan took five centuries to construct and is a continuing work in progress. It's 2
Da Vinci’s Last Supper and Santa Maria delle Grazie Church, a UNESCO World Heritage Site - given the sensitivity of the famous and ancient Leonardo da Vinci mural, there are strict 15 minute reservations. Totally worth it though, really powerful.
Vittorio Emanuele II Gallery, the “living room” of Milan with the flagship Prada shop
Sforza Castle - outside and its inner yards
Mercanti Square, the medieval city heart
La Scala Theatre (outside) and its Square
World Expo
For those who don’t know, one of my life goals after working at the Expo 2010 in Shanghai is to see every Expo going forward - they happen every five years and cities bid on them like the Olympics (next one is Dubai 2020).
The theme for Expo Milano is “Feeding the World”, focusing on what people and countries are doing to sustainably produce and provide food around the world. More broadly, Expo is about showcasing countries with each nation sponsoring a pavilion that represents their culture, technology and philosophy around food. So what better way to experience this Expo than food/drink crawling!
Highlights at Expo:
Japan Pavilion - Japan did a phenomenal job weaving together Japanese food customs, industry and innovation in an interactive and digital experience. As a testament to that, it was the only pavilion with a constant line. Overall I would guess it takes about 20-30 min to get in plus an hour to get through the multi-stage show.
Allavita! - Cirque du Soleil has a special show for Expo. It is fanciful and dynamic and incredible like every other Cirque show I've seen, plus set in an open air theater with a longer interactive show around the theme of food. 38€ for the closest to stage of three sections (open seating in all).
Russia Pavilion
Italy Wine Pavilion
Eataly - I know there are other Eatalys in the city, but if you are in Expo and want to eat Italian food, Eataly is a great place to sample food from every corner of the country. Try the gnocchi and tiramisu at Locanda Mammi in the Abruzzo e Molise region, amazing!
Country Pavilions - besides the ones mentioned above, I find the larger countries to be somewhat underwhelming for the amount of money they are probably spending. I loved the "smaller" places like Bahrain that not only had the most beautiful architecture and told a wonderful narrative about gardens and their primary agricultural exports and Morocco showed their various regional environments and specialties. Qatar was impressive, and I actually love going to places like Senegal to try a baobab drink or Slovenia to learn about salt.
Coolest architecture (take pictures of the outside but not worth going in) - UK, Vietnam, USA (sorry it's true...)
Eat/drink - in addition to Eataly, Italy Wine and Salumeria Pavilions, Japan and Russia, the Czech had pilsners from an outside poolside bar, Belgians had fries, beer and great cafe, Morocco had nice outdoor garden restaurant, US has a Food Truck 2.0 area (I didn't go), Chile for daily 4pm wine tasting seminar.
My company has offices in India - the tech-centric Hyderabad (also called Cyberabad) and in the coastal college town of Bhimavaram. I had the pleasure to visit our team, experience the local culture and taste amazing South Indian cuisine.
Note: video password is my first name, lower case
Hyderabad is a fascinating mix of the modern Cyberabad offices, developing city under massive construction, and deeply historical South Indian and Muslim influenced culture and architecture.
Haight Ashbury is in most San Francisco tourist books as the center of the '60s hippie movement, though today it's another commercial street with boutiques, albeit some more colorful than the norm. I rarely make it over, but there are a few visit worthy spots. Loosely based on a local foodie walking tour of the neighborhood, I put together a food/drink crawl for some friends on a Saturday afternoon.
The total distance is just about a mile, though is a little aggressive on the consumption side. If you had something at each stop, it could be a chocolate bacon-beer-juice-piroshki-ice cream-soda-cocktail-alcoholic fountain soda kind of day ;)
Here’s the itinerary…
2:30 PM
Bacon Bacon - 205 A Frederick Street at Ashbury - Porky food truck turned little storefront. Known for porky fries, pork belly, and breakfast sandwiches. I think I’m getting a bacon grilled cheese and/or dark chocolate covered bacon. They close at 3PM, so first stop.
3:00 PM
Magnolia Pub & Brewery - 1398 Haight at Masonic - beer. I actually don’t know what is good there, but I know beer lovers think it’s great. Gastropub menu.
4:00 PM
Second Act Marketplace and Events - 1727 Haight Street at Shrader - a neighborhood public space with several kinds of food and drink places (open til 6PM)
Raw - fancy fresh juice place. $6.50 for 16oz, and usually for cleanses, but might be a nice drink mid day
Anda Piroshki - Russian food. I’m between beef+cheese or mushroom+kale piroshki (~$4)
The Fizzary - 1782 Haight at Shrader - really cool soda pop and candy store. All sodas $2 for all sorts of crazy stuff (open til 7PM)
5:00 PM
Alembic - 1725 Haight at Cole - phenomenal cocktails and delicious bar food. I love the pickled quail eggs. If we only went here, I’d be perfectly happy :)
6:00 PM
The Ice Cream Bar - 815 Cole St at Frederick - old school diner with food, ice cream, and alcoholic fountain sodas. I’m between the Dublin Honey (guinness, caramelized honey ice cream, chocolate and port) or the Port Egg Nog. Good beer list too.
I have multiple food and drink lists for SF, and some Aussie friends pointed out to me that I don't have a "go-to" SF list to share, so here goes...
San Francisco is a foodie town. A little obnoxious at times, but we have amazing quality and diversity of food and love to critique, recommend and post every delicious, unique, food porn-worthy dish that we come across. There's Michelin-stars to hole-in-the-walls with phenomenal food, so will try to give some context for each.
I write this list for visitors who have a limited number of SF meals and drinks to experience. Includes both corporate/work-appropriate restaurants as well as casual places.
SF has more micro-neighborhoods than a 7x7 mile city should merit. Here's one view of SF neighborhood stereotypes (funny and pretty accurate). I will try to stick to the names in the map here.
Pro-tip: Download the Yelp app (also a website). Reviews are user generated so take or leave those, but it's the best resource for restaurant information in the Bay Area.
Check out SFEater's 38 Essential SF Restaurants, which gets updated every few months with the latest foodie recs. My Favorites
This list crosses many genres but here's my top list...
Spruce (Presidio Heights) - food is phenomenal (Michelin one star), bartenders fantastic and one of the few white linen, men-in-jacket fancy restaurants in SF. I love sitting at the bar (burger off of bar menu). Definitely get the beignet for dessert.
State Bird Provisions (Western Addition/Fillmore) - it's the hot spot in town now. Reservations go 60 days in advance, but you can walk in day-of if you show up right when it opens (literally, people taskrabbit to wait in line). But it's worth it, hard to describe but California/Asian fusion dim sum. Get their eponymous signature dish and definitely get as many small dishes as you can eat off of their carts. Four people is optimal for this, hard for big group. Their new outpost next door, The Progress, is also wonderful if you can get a res.
Lolinda (Mission) - Argentinean steakhouse and Latin tapas in a trendy former club with great, rich food and fantastic cocktails. Rooftop bar El Techo is nice before or after.
Kokkari (FiDi) - standard on the SF lists, Kokkari has fantastic Mediterranean, huge brick oven with whole animal specials, extensive wine list. It's in my top two Mediterranean/Greek (other is Evvia in Palo Alto, very similar). Right in FiDi so it's filled with work dinners during the week.
Burma Love (Mission) - outpost of the better known Burma Superstar, but I love this casual Burmese restaurant and bar on Valencia and Duboce. Signature tea leaf salad and samosa soup are phenomenal, as are most of their extensive menu. No reservations, so prime hours might be tough for a group.
Beretta (Mission) - wonderful Italian on Valencia at 23rd with fantastic cocktails and wonderful food. Their menu is always changing but always a great experience. Love their small dishes like eggplant caponatina and walnut bread with buratta and truffle oil, and great pizzas. You can call an hour before to be put on the list, or otherwise be prepared to wait
NOPA (Western Addition) - New American over on Divisadero, phenomenal food and cocktails, get reservations in advance
Asian
There is fantastic Asian food, particularly as you go away from the center of SF in Sunset and Richmond, because, well, that's where all of the Asians live (same with the South Bay... I actually think the Asian food in San Jose is better than SF). These tend to be more casual so they may be less work meal appropriate.
Basil Canteen (SoMa) - this is my favorite Thai place though it's a dark horse in the SF Thai polls. I love the space, an old warehouse with exposed brick, looks super Brooklyn trendy, but they have legit Thai food and I think it's one of the best here. There's not much else in this immediate neighborhood, but I highly recommend going down the block to Bar Agricole for amazing cocktails before or after a meal at Basil Canteen.
Kin Khao (Union Square) - close #2 for amazing Thai.
Dosa (2 locations - Mission, Western Addition/Japantown) - fantastic South Indian place, and quite nice. This could be ok for corporate.
Lers Roi Thai (3 locations, but the Tenderloin one has best food. Mission is great as it's in the middle of a lot of bars, and Hayes Valley meh) - great authentic Thai but in a nice but casual environment.
Burma Superstar (Richmond) - really popular Burmese place. Also try B Star, which is nearby with not nearly the wait, and Burma Love on Duboce/Valencia.
PPQ Dungeness Island (Richmond) - CRABS! They give you bibs but wear clothes that you can get dirty. Also fantastic non-crab Vietnamese dishes.
Cafe Bunn Mi (Inner Richmond) - casual Vietnamese and delicious banh mi sandwiches, recommend the crispy duck!
Japanese
This is my list of real Japanese places (aka run by Japanese people). There are very good Japanese places in SF, but if you come from somewhere with good Japanese food and you only had a few meals here, I'd go with other cuisine. If you don't
Sakana (Tenderloin) and Kiji (Noe Valley) have good sushi
Eiji (Castro), Izakaya Roku (Upper Market) and Kappou Gomi (Richmond) are good izakayas (small dishes)
Ramen Yamadaya (Pac Heights/Japantown) or Ken Ken (Mission) for ramen
Maruya (Mission) for high end Japanese
Mediterranean/Middle Eastern
Kokkari (FiDi)
Zare at Fly Trap (SoMa)
Aziza (Richmond)
Saha (Tenderloin)
Italian
Beretta (Mission)
A16 (Marina) and SPQR (Pac Heights)
Flour + Water (Mission)
Zero Zero (SoMa)
Mexican
Like the Asian food, there are a handful of fancy Mexican places and then the really really good $7 meal holes in the Mission. El Castillito is my go-to burrito place on Church (Upper Market, Mission). Ones below are sit down spots.
La Urbana (Western Addition) - a new trendy Mexican fusion place with interesting cocktails
Tacolicious (3 locations - Mission, Marina, North Beach)
Mamacita (Marina)
Other Cuisines
Limon Rotissarie (Mission) - I'm partial to the Limon on Valencia/16th, though there's Van Ness too. Great Latin but definitely get their chicken
Beso (Castro) - Spanish/tapas
Locanda (Mission) - Californian, great cockails
Someone else's expense account
Benu (SoMa) - really innovative New American. If you want to be aggressive, the 18-course tasting menu is worth the arm and leg.
Maruya (Mission) - Japanese
Saison (SoMa) - New American
Gary Danko (North Beach) - New American
Hakkasan (SoMa) - Chinese
Campton Place (Civic Center/Union Sq) - really fancy Indian fusion in the Taj Hotel, the food is beautiful and the service is out of this world (or at least this country, is it truly exceptional).
Near Union Square
Most of the big hotels are in and around Union Square. Here are some options within walking distance.
Lunch - Kin Khao (Thai) in Parc 55 hotel
Small dinners - Aveline (Modern/New American) is my new favorite, in the Warwick Hotel, great cocktails (though Top Chef Casey Thompsen just left...), Millenium (veg), Lers Roi Thai (Thai), Sakana (Japanese)
Work/group dinners - Bluestem Brasserie (New American), Amber India (Indian), Morton's (steak), Tropisueno (Mexican)
Bars - Hopwater Distribution (beer), Burritt Room (cocktails), Press Club (wine bar), Bourbon & Branch (cocktails, but for smaller group/reservation), Mikkeller Bar (gastropub), Golden Gate Tap Room (sports bar), Rickhouse (cocktail/whiskey)
Near Moscone
Here are a few lunch spots near Moscone if you want something besides conference food...
Tin Vietnamese Cuisine is on Howard between 5th and 6th, good pho and other Vietnamese dishes, pretty fast for lunch
Samovar Tea Lounge is in Yerba Buena, great healthy tea sets and a la carte dishes
Spice Kit is a little further down Howard at 1st. I call it the Asian Chipotle - fast food, made to order bowls and wraps but with pork belly and fried lotus root chips. My favorite is the ssam wrap with Korean short rib and kimchi rice in a rice paper wrap (like a massive spring roll).
For Views
La Mar (FiDi) - Peruvian and seafood, on Embarcadero
Cliff House (Seacliff) - seafood/American place on the western cliffs over the Pacific by Sutro Baths and Lands End
Greens (Marina) - vegetarian dining with beautiful views of the Marina and Golden Gate Bridge
Veggie Friendly
Greens (Marina)
Samovar Tea Lounge (3 locations - Yerba Buena, Hayes Valley, Castro) - one of my favorites when I just want to feel good after a meal. Great teas and tea sets, veggie friendly though their smoked salmon is amazing.
Gracias Madre (Mission) - vegan Mexican
Saha (Civic Center) - Arabic fusion food and it's not purely vegetarian but they have a great veggie dishes and a three course veggie prix fixe for $35 that is delicious and filling
Millenium - sadly the Civic Center location closed and moved to Oakland, would is worth the trip to a every innovative and delicious vegan restaurant for business travelers who are sick of heavy American food
Mission Beach Cafe (Mission) - best ever. Go at 8:45AM to put your name down so you are in the first seating when it opens at 9AM. Otherwise it can be anywhere from 30-90 minute wait. Four Barrel Coffee is two blocks away for coffee drinkers
Foreign Cinema (Mission) - like Mission Beach Cafe, go early to sit or make a reservation, lovely brunch or other meals
Plow (Potrero Hill) - another place with a line, but delicious brunch. I'm obsessed with their potatoes.
Ice Cream
SFers also are religious about their ice cream. I am less so, and there are better lists but here are some places to try
Bi-Rite (Mission) - kitty corner from the NE corner of Dolores Park. Salted caramel, yum! There's a line for the cones that wraps around the block, but cut to the front to get soft serve or go for a pint, you'll eat it!
Mitchell's (Bernal Heights)
Humphrey Slocombe (Mission)
Smitten (Hayes Valley) - made to order liquid-nitrogen formed ice cream that is actually delicious (and founded by my classmate :)
Beer
Craft microbrews are hipster cool and the state must consume like 80% of the beer industry's hops. We like our beers hoppy and you'll see India Pale Ales and Double IPAs dominate taps in the city.
Bourbon & Branch (Civic Center) - this is THE cocktail bar in SF. It's a "speakeasy" so you need a password to get in the door. Recommend getting a reservation online, or if you want to just check it out, say "books" to get in the library, though it can get packed
Burritt Room (Civic Center)
Rickhouse (Civic Center)
Alembic (Upper Haight)
Trick Dog (Mission)
Armory Bar (Mission) - a little risque for work engagements, as it's related to the Armory across the street, home to Kink.com. But the bar is a great lounge with fantastic mixed drinks and subtle reference to its namesake in the artwork on the wall.
You may notice "Wine" is missing as a category. I haven't found wine bars that I love, and any decent restaurant or bar in SF has good wine. If you can get out of the city for half a day, go to the source - here's the Napa and Sonoma post.
Etc. Off the Grid is a fun way to experience the SF food scene - the food truck festival happens weekly and you can usually locate the individual trucks on Twitter
#fatkidsaturday - if you have a Saturday afternoon to eat and drink your way through a neighborhood, try this out. We've only done it for Haight-Ashbury so far, but hope to add more!
Here are some notes from a lovely week in Brazil in August 2013. I spent four days in Angra Dos Reis, a beach town about two hours drive from Rio, and then five days in Rio, enjoying "being a local" while I stayed at friends' apartment in Leblon and hung out with friends for their wedding celebration.
This is a short addendum to the Rio de Janeiro blog post from a family vacation in September 2008, which has much more touristy details.
Here are highlights
* Angra Dos Reis - lovely small beach town with windy ocean side roads that connect little villages
* Pousada Jamanta - wonderful hotel away near Angra Dos Reis, and they run their own dive shop!
* Great restaurants
Angra Dos Reis
Pousada Jamanta - Diana speaks English and Spanish, and we corresponded with her via email to arrange all of the details of our stay, including the scuba diving and the driver (atendimento@pousadajamanta.com.br).
+55 24 33651374 www.pousadajamanta.com.br
Awesome driver - Rodrigo Rezende
+55 21 67403804
+55 21 77030061
rodrigotransfer@hotmail.com
*I've been to Singapore for work several times, but my buddy Jarod's just sent his thoughts from spending three months living there in response to a coworker whose brother is heading there. His recs are at the top, mine below
If he's there on the last Thursday of the month, have him to go New Asia club. It's at the top of a hotel (72nd floor), but on this day they open up the helipad (2 floors higher) and turn it into a bar. Best experience in Singapore, hands down, and also best 360 degree, unimpeded views!
Gardens by the Bay – free to walk around and open til 2am, or can pay and get in the cloud forest and a couple other spots (close at 9pm)… supposed to be very much worth it, but just did the outside gardens and those were awesomely lit up and Avatar-ish
Little India – Great place to get out and walk around and smell the aromas. There's a great hawker center just right off the MRT exit that's cheap and good
Arab Quarter – a couple streets, by the Bugis MRT, with lots of row shops and restaurants. Arab Street is closed off for cars and you can walk and get great Turkish food along here. Blu Jazz is a highly recommended bar… best pita bread I've ever had, and thus best shwarma I've ever had too.
Brewerkz – great brewery with an incredible happy hour (12-3pm). Right on the water in Clarke Quay and can sit outside and enjoy a pint of good beer (in Singapore this is an incredible find)
Clarke Quay
Good Beer Company – this is a hawker stall in Chinatown just off Eu Tong Sen St and Smith St (take the MRT to Chinatown stop, or Outram Park and walk a couple more blocks). Actually have Californian beers along with Belgians, Germans, ciders, and all at a good price in Singapore standards ($8-$10 US)
Night Safari – I didn't do this, but it's the #1 attraction in Singapore, and I wanted to. Supposed to be very cool.
Din Tai Fung – dim sum chain that's Michelin rated and absolutely epic. Bring me back some!
If he runs, go do the Promenade or ECP
Merlion Park – kind of cool… a merlion is the national figure, and they've got a big statue with a nice view of downtown behind it. Cool at night or sunset.
Stay away from Orchard Rd – just shopping malls, which Singapore has way too many of in the first place
Per Aki...
Hawker malls – the food in Singapore is phenomenal. In a brilliant move to get street vendors off the street, they put them all in these highly regulated food malls that have amazing cheap food all around the city. Very specialized vendors, so you can get one dish from like four or five different places. Famous Singaporean dishes are chicken rice, chili crab, and fish head curry.
Marina Bay – new casino that opened a few years ago. The bar at the top is free to get to (drinks are like $20) but has awesome views of the city. The Garden by the Bay next to it is this awesome public garden with these funky clusters of Super Trees
Orchard Road is the famous shopping road. Not a stop for me but if you like that kind of thing...
Transportation - Very easy to get around on MRT (subway) though taxis aren’t bad either
My favorite restaurant in Singapore is Samy’s Curry House, but it is kind of far from central Singapore in Dempsey (15 min cab?). They’ve really developed this area the last few years so there are a lot of great high and mid end restaurants (and some bars) there now.
*Notes from my friend Amy, a Taipei-native, for my visit to the city
通化街夜市 (tong-hua-jie-yie-shi), it's within walking distance to the hotel. You need to try the 米粉湯, 大腸麵線, 炸雞排, and 烤香腸
Taipei 101 is close by as well but not that exciting. I've heard good things about the restaurant at the top floors but I have never been.
You can take the cab or MRT to 鼎泰豐 (Dintaifung), they have one close to your hotel, here's the address: 台北市忠孝東路四段218號. After you're done, you should go to 東區粉圓. It's like 2-3 minutes walk from 鼎泰豐, but I don't know the exact address. If you ask people at the restaurant, they will show you the directions. It basically dessert with boba but it is really really good
鼎王 (Dinwang), it's the best hotpot place ever. Remember I invited you over for hotpot last year when I first got back from Taiwan, I carried their soup base all the way back from Taiwan. So there's tofu and duck blood in the soup and that's all you can eat, you order everything else. They have great shrimp balls, and the fish tofu is great!
Here's the address: 台北市松山區光復北路89號
You might need to make reservation coz they get really crowded on weekends.
*This was an email I sent a friend who had a 9 hour layover at Narita. Here's some advice on what to do if you only have a few hours to get out to Tokyo and back!
**If you have the opportunity to fly through Haneda (HND) rather than Narita (NRT), you'll be much closer to central Tokyo (20 min train ride)
So 9 hours is a lot of time to spend in Narita. Unfortunately it is
60-90 min from Tokyo, but if you don't mind packing in the visit, I
would definitely try to get into the city for a few hours and for a meal
or two, especially if you haven't been. This also depends on what time
your layover is since transportation is an issue in the odd hours of the
night. Here's my blog with general info on Japan and Tokyo.
You can get to Tokyo on the limousine bus or Narita
Express train -- roughly same price (about 3000 yen) but timing is
different (buses run every 30-60 min depending on the hotel, Narita
Express every 15 min) and the train is more reliable during rush hour.
The buses go to major hotels in many parts of the city, Narita Express
goes to a few major train stations (go to Tokyo or Shinjuku).
The bus will be right outside of where you come out of
customs, look for the orange sign. The bus schedules will be on the
board and you'll have to look for the specific neighborhood/hotel. I
would recommend these two bus lines
Ginza-Shiodome - get off at Imperial Hotel (Frank Lloyd
Wright building!) and you can wander around Ginza on Omotesando Road,
equivalent to 5th Ave in NY or Rodeo Drive (or Jarod's favorite Gangnam)
Also short walk to the Imperial Palace, and there are great little
strips of restaurants and bars near Shimbashi train station.
Shibuya - get off at Shibuya Excel Hotel Tokyu and Shibuya is a fun
area with younger shopping, bars and restaurants. It also has the crazy
huge intersection (8 ways) that you always see in movies (it's the one
in Lost in Translation with the pink dinosaur). One stop from Harajuku
which is a fun strip and that is right at Meiji Jingu Shrine and Yoyogi
Park. Actually if you're there on Sunday, the "Harajuku girls" who get
all dressed up hang out at the Harajuku station bridge by Yoyogi Park on
Sundays, you should definitely check it out!
The Narita Express will get you to Tokyo or
Shinjuku station. The train platform will be down the escalators from the arrivals area. You want the JR Narita Express, not the Keio Skyliner (also to Tokyo but to different parts of the city). Shinjuku is closer to Shibuya and Tokyo is closer to
Ginza and Tsukiji. Both of those stations are enormous, but the signs are in English to get out. Would be easiest to find (or ask for) the metro - the subway is color coded and numbered and in
English.
If you have evening time and are leaving from Shinjuku station, stop at the Park Hyatt Hotel which is a short walk from the station. The New York bar at the top is where Bill Murray spends most of his time in Lost in Translation. Expensive drinks, but beautiful night city views.
***Note: The famous Tsukiji fish markets were shuttered and moved to Toyosu in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics and to modernize this important market's infrastructure. Toyosu website. Sushi-bun is also at Toyosu now.
On Tsukiji. As Jarod knows, it is my favorite place in the
world to eat and if you have a chance to go, it is totally worth it! It
is the largest fish market in the world, and though they don't love
tourists in the tuna auctions these days, you can walk around miles of
the market and also get the best sushi in the outskirts of the market.
Open from wee hours of the morning to about 2pm. Sushi-bun is my
favorite favorite and I've sent a few folks there so hopefully it's
findable. I just realized if you're there on Sun Mar 3, Tsukiji market will be
closed on Sundays but not sure when your actual layover is. Check out the Tsukiji market calendar - red dots are closed days.
Note, most people will not speak English, but
if you show them the names of places spelled out they can probably point
you in the right way. So it's worth having a print out or your phone
handy.
It looks like you can do baggage storage at Narita if you
have luggage btw. I've never used storage services, though my family
always used ABC for delivery. But depends on what terminal really, I'm
sure they're all fine.
Enjoy!
PS: Adding a 36 Hours in Tokyo article from the New York Times (May 2013)
I had a wonderful, jam-packed long weekend in Thailand with two of my favorite travel buddies. Itinerary was one day in Bangkok, three days in Ko Phi Phi, and a day of planes, ferries and automobiles on our way back to Singapore.
Here are some highlights:
Food - best ever, delicious and so cheap! Yummmm :)
Cooking class - such a fun afternoon of cooking, eating, dancing and singing at the Pum Cooking School in Ko Phi Phi
Diving/snorkeling - we got to do both in Ko Phi Phi, beautiful clear tropical waters with so much reef life to see!
Massages - mmm... nothing like a small Thai girl to beat you up after a long day of touring
Photos - I take lots of pictures, but nothing like the two photo nuts I was with. So many beautiful things to shoot :) See the photobook at the bottom of the post!
Some basics I learned about Thailand travel:
Getting there - Bangkok is the largest city in Thailand with an international airport (BKK) that has direct flights from the US. There also Don Mueang Airport (DMK) where low cost Asian airlines are based for domestic flights. No visa required for Americans
Water - I didn't have problems, but don't drink the water. I still feel silly brushing my teeth with bottled water, but better safe than sorry I suppose.
Thai Baht (THB) - Roughly 30THB to the US dollar in Feb 2013. It was fairly easy to find ATMs where our cards worked, but for a fee.
The King - The Thais take their king seriously. His image is in every building you enter and there are penalties for being disrespectful.
Toilets - TP goes in the waste bucket, not to be flushed, unless you are in a big building in the city. Girls, it's worth the $1 at Target to get a 3-pack of travel tissues.
Clothes - It is hot and humid, but unless you are on an island, tank tops and shorts are not considered acceptable dress and especially in temples. Best be respectful and dress more conservatively. The guys wore dry fit all week, which seemed to help with sweat.
Language - Many Thai in the touristy areas speak some English, but it's nice to say hi (sawadee-ka) and thank you (korbkun-ka) in Thai. Thai Survival Phrases is a good podcast for basics. Good to remember - women end most phrases with "-ka" and men* end phrases with "-krap", so a guy would say "sawadee-krap". Also, there is no consistent phonetic conversion for Thai to Roman alphabet, so beware that sites and street names may be spelled several different ways. For example the famous Bangkok strip may be Khao San, Kao San, or Kao Sarn Road.
*Note: Even if she says "-ka" and is super feminine, she might be a ladyboy. I happen to be particularly bad at noticing them, but apparently we saw many. And on to Bangkok...
BANGKOK
The capital of Thailand is a populous, hot, congested city with a booming tourist industry that can serve up beautiful temples and custom made suits to more seedier services. We only spent one night and full day on the front end of the trip and a few hours as we traveled through the city on our way out of Thailand, so I'm sure there's a lot left to see.
We arrived in Bangkok from Singapore on Thursday evening. 450THB got us a set taxi ride from BKK to our hotel on Sukhumvit, a central district with shops, hotels and restaurants. We stayed at Four Points by Sheraton on SPG points, and it seemed many of the western hotel chains were in the vicinity.
Bangkok street stands and restaurants were just starting to close at 11 PM. As became custom throughout the trip, we stopped at a 7-11 to pick up some Changs, the local beer, for the walk and wandered around Sukhumvit 11 until we settled on a food stand with tables next to a mobile bar. These mini vans decked out with decorations and festive lights appear on the streets around dusk, and open a hatch to reveal a fully stocked bar. We ordered some red curry and phad thai from the food stand and some Mai Tai's from the bar.
Earlier, we had passed one of many fruit stands when I saw durian! I had never tried the notoriously stinky tropical fruit and was dying to, so much to Jarod's dismay, 120THB got me a huge pack of sliced durian. I opened the pack (yes it does smell like old, wet socks) and was trying my first bite (yes the texture is like mushy over-cooked onions, but has a sweetness and flavor that I kind of enjoyed) when the mobile bartender freaked out -- apparently you're not supposed to have durian and alcohol together because "they will overheat you". She has seen many people to go the hospital because of the combination. So sadly that the end of the durian, as the beers were to continue.
After a slow start the next morning, we grabbed some chicken skewers and fried sesame balls on the street and made our way to the temples in Rattanakosin via Hua Lamphong, the biggest train terminal in Bangkok. We had to stop at Hua Lamphong to check on a train ticket, but it also turns out that the roads can get ridiculously congested, and the MRT (subway) and Skytrain are great ways to get around Bangkok. A taxi picked us up at Sukhumvit, but ended up just dropping us at the MRT stop because of Chinese New Year traffic and it was a 27THB trip to Hua Lamphong. From there we jumped into a tuk-tuk to the great reclining Buddha at Wat Pho.
Wat Pho ("wat" means temple) has the largest reclining Buddha in the world and an extensive grounds with many smaller temples within. There are so many things to take pictures of -- temple facades, statues, people, cats... And so started Jarod and Brandon's photo taking. They have really nice fancy cameras, and many of these beautiful images are thanks to their skills. But there was a lot of photography going on...
We walked to the Grand Palace about a half mile away. I was told that if I see one thing in Bangkok, the Grand Palace is it. Before we were let into the immense grounds, we were stopped and given a scarf and pants to wear to cover up my capri's and Brandon's shorts. It was 30THB for rental and 100THB deposit, which they returned when we came out at the end (exit brings you to same spot you entered). The pants are simply amazing...
A note on temple touring - in addition to the no showing arms or legs, there are other rules to keep in mind. Many temples (and some stores) require you to take your shoes off, usually leaving them on a shelf outside. Never point your feet towards the image of Buddha (like sitting with your legs forward, cross-legged ok). Most places will have signs and someone to remind you, but is nice to know.
The Grand Palace is where the king used to live and is an enormous collection of buildings and temples, including the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The grounds and temples were beautiful, but the Emerald Buddha was really special. The Emerald Buddha is relatively small but bejewled and beautiful and sitting atop a lush tower of more jewels. The temple is covered from floor to ceiling and on the ceiling with murals, and has a large area for people to sit on the ground and pray or meditate or whatever you want to do. Photography is not allowed, but I thought it was nicer that way, because we just sat quietly and observed the great hall.
After we returned our scarf/pants, we head over to Khao San Road in search of the mysterious "Charlie Schumacher" who Jarod insisted on finding. Khao San Road is backpacker town and the road is brimming with stands that sell everything a cheap tourist could want. We munched on food cart phad thai and egg rolls with duck sauce, as well as the strangely ubiquitous doner kebob. We did not find the "Charlie Schumacher" that Jarod had previously encountered, but a tuk-tuk driver insisted that he too could be "Charlie". I'll keep it a surprise, but it was a wild ride!
We head back towards Sukhumvit for the boys to get fitted for their custom suits, and I enjoyed a foot massage next door in the meantime. After some haggling, everyone was happy, and we had a delicious late dinner. I learned that papaya salad is SPICY and spicy chicken soup with coconut milk is my new favorite Thai dish.
KO PHI PHI
Ko Phi Phi are beautiful tropical islands off of the west coast of southern Thailand near Phuket and Krabi.
We took a 6 AM flight out of the smaller Bangkok DMK airport to Krabi -- short flight but painfully early. We grabbed a taxi from Krabi airport to the waterfront, where we got tickets for the two hour ferry ride to Ko Phi Phi. It was a beautiful day and the top deck was covered with travelers napping and enjoying the warm breeze.
Ko Phi Phi Don is the larger island that we stayed on. It's a small island and there are no cars, just carts and bicycles. Once we get through the crowds and chaos on the pier and paid our 20THB "environmental tax", we made our way through the small town to Ivory Hotel, a small guesthouse in the middle of the dense Ton Sai ("tourist") village.
We dropped off our bags and head out for food. I was again reminded that papaya salad is SPICY (I stopped ordering the dish after this) and enjoyed my other favorite dish, larb gai (spicy ground chicken salad). With a few more Changs and food in our bellies, we set out to confirm our next day's scuba and snorkel trips at The Adventure Club and then found ourselves a water taxi driver for the afternoon. A bit expensive but worth it to boat over to Ko Phi Phi Leh, the smaller uninhabited island with beaches and coves.
Our first stop was Maya Bay, famous from the movie "The Beach". It seems to be only accessible by boat and there were sunbathers and others enjoying the beach. Absolutely stunning with clear turquoise waters and white sand, but we chose to moor offshore as they charge a "beach fee" to come aground (our driver offered to "go pay the 200THB per person fee for us". Found out from others that it's actually a 100THB fee...) Either way, it worked out because he parked his boat in the cove, gave us snorkels and hung out in his hammock for an hour while we swam and dove in the beautiful reef. It was great snorkeling and there were a surprisingly large amount of fish for such a heavily trafficked cove, maybe 15-20 feet deep.
The waters were too choppy to snorkel anywhere else, but our water taxi driver took us to a small cove with monkeys (not actually Monkey Beach, which is on Phi Phi Don). It was a little disturbing to see the local sailors huck stones at the monkeys and the Chinese tourists get attacked by the monkeys, and the cove had a very "Lord of the Flies"-like creepy forest. But cool to see monkeys.
We enjoyed a massage and some street food chicken skewers for dinner and got some Chang's for the road to explore the island at night. We walked all the way down one end of Ao Ton Sai, then the other side of the isthmus at Ao Lo Dalam , and came across the nightlife. Each bar/club faced the beach with its own brand of music and theme, from clubby to beachy casual to industrial, each packed with happy dancers and drinkers. Several had fire shows -- dancers on platforms with flaming bars or the fuel-soaked jump rope that tourists and professionals got to jump.
The next day, we got up early for our respective dive/snorkels. Jarod and Brandon went on the famous Shark Watch-- guaranteed sighting of the Black Tip Reef sharks in Shark Bay. They did indeed get to see upwards of fifteen sharks, which is pretty cool. The professional photos were 1000THB, which was not unfortunately.
I went on two dives with Adventure Club off of Ko Phi Phi. There were several groups on our dive boat, including classes. Our group of certified divers had four - a Canadian former scuba instructor, a Spaniard from Madrid, and Polish girl taking advantage of a work trip to dive for a week - plus our lovely Aussie guide Jade. It was a great group and glad I got to dive with them!
The water is warm so only needed a 3mm shortie and both dives were 45-60 feet max for about 45-50 minutes. Our first dive was Malong, where we saw a sea turtle, enormous pufferfish, and all sorts of crustaceans, and got a nip from Nemo! Jade has made friends with a clown fish, so that when you put out your hand at the anemone, one clown fish shyly retreats inside, but the other will come out and "kiss" you. She explained it could feel like anything from a peck to a bite. I definitely felt the nip :)
The second dive was Bida Nok, a shallow dive off of the cliffs around this island. There are more shark sightings on the south side, but beautiful shelf on the north where Jade took us. The number of fish, just enormous schools of all different kinds of tropical fish, was just breathtaking (well not really thank goodness). So cool to swim through them or see them above you. We saw many morey eels, a sea snake, some huge groupers and the spindly long needlefish.
The end of the dive was less enjoyable unfortunately. I had felt some stings on the first dive on a finger and my shin, but no one else had seen or felt anything. As we were starting to surface, I felt something on the back of my leg and was going to tell Jade, when she grabbed me. I looked up, and saw a beautiful and terrible sight -- the water all above us was a cloudy pink. Remember Dori and the jellyfish in Finding Nemo? Exactly like that. Then I started to see hundreds of little jellyfish, maybe an inch long and a few inches apart, descend by my mask. We swam down a while, but then Jade turned and shook her head. We had to surface through the bloom... For most people, it was an unpleasant experience for the next few minutes and while we washed with vinegar aboard the ship. But their marks were gone by evening. Lucky for me, I seem to be particularly sensitive to jellyfish, and have marks on my forearms and legs three weeks later.
For the record, I still loved the dives and would go again :)
After some food and relaxation, we searched out massages again. The boys got foot massages while I went for the back and shoulder given my jellyfish condition. Wonderful. I have no idea what the name of the place was, but when you come off the pier and towards Ton Sai village, it's at the end of the first street on the left which dead ends at a big resort. We went back again the next day and it was equally amazing. 450THB for an hour for back/shoulders and cheaper (300THB range) for foot and Thai massages. But worth every cent of that $15.
We were scheduled for a Night Snorkel with The Adventure Club, a few hours in the early evening hours to snorkel with flashlights to see the nocturnal marine life and bioluminescent plankton at night. Unfortunately, the water got too choppy and our trip was canceled. But a fun night was to be had, starting with a video showing of our scuba trip, Muay Thai boxing at Reggae Bar, and many Chang's and buckets of cocktails. The buckets of cocktails are kind of amazing -- wooden stands that hawk small plastic pails of canned soda, Red Bull, and mini bottles of liquor. You can take them home, or they'll mix them for you and you can sip on them on the sidewalk.
The Reggae Bar is another interesting Ko Phi Phi tourist institution. Patrons are incentivized with a bucket of beer and wings to get into a boxing ring Muay Thai style. They seem to come out of it sweaty and happy, and not too beaten up, and in between, we get to watch Thai fighters
We spent the next afternoon at the Pum Cooking Schoolsinging, dancing, cooking and eating with our teacher Nam. The class was the three of us and a Swiss flight attendant, Eva. It was one of the most fun afternoons ever. Nam was a total character, but a great teacher, explaining the ingredients and cooking process for each dish.
Each of us chose a starter, a rice/noodle, curry or soup, and dessert. We also made green and red curry paste from scratch, an exercise which included a huge mortar and pestle and group singing. Dishes included papaya salad, spring roll, chicken satay, tom yum gai, spicy chicken with coconut milk, green chicken curry, massaman curry, phad thai, fried rice, fried bananas in coconut milk, and papaya with sweet coconut rice. Little surprise, we were all carrying food babies by the end (in addition to Eva's actual bun in the oven). So fun and a great afternoon!
We decided to walk off our gluttonous afternoon by heading up to the Viewpoint for the sunset. It is a decent hike up stairs and paths to a clearing that overlooks the isthmus and beaches. They did their photography thing and I enjoyed the sunset and breeze. A sliver of a crescent moon rose and it was beautiful to watch the skies change to darkness. Now the problem with darkness is that the paths are not lit and we navigated down by the light of a phone. Would recommend a head lamp or flashlight next time.
Our last day was a "planes, trains and automobiles" (except with boats instead of trains), with a ferry ride to Phuket, taxi across the island (Phuket is surprisingly huge), flight to Bangkok, quick cab ride into the city for a suit fitting for the boys, cab back out to BKK, and a flight back to Singapore. A fantastic trip all around!
