Pitty in a Korean City

Adventures of a Girl and Her Pup

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Lou’s first climbing trip went splendid, he was a gentleman. Jackson Fall’s is pretty cool spot.

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Made the drive from Luquillo on the east coast- across the whole island- to Rincon on the west coast.  We stayed at a really nice AirBnB (hot tub was clutch) and were walking distance to beaches and 5-10 mins driving to anywhere else we wanted to be.  We made a day trip to Cascadas de Gozalandia which was totally amazing, as you can see. Definitely recommend checking out the two falls if you make a trip to Puerto Rico. Rope swings, climbing, jumping, hiking etc etc. They recently built a restaurant and bar near the parking area, so naturally we got mojitos when we were done playing. :)

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After leaving San Juan, we pit stopped in Luquillo and drank 1,000 Medellas on one of the nicest beaches I’ve ever been to. Finished up the visit eating some delicious local food including massive crispy fried shrimp and an octopus Mofongo. Success.

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The first few days in Puerto Rico were spent in Old San Juan, followed by a day trip to the bad ass El Yunque Rainforest. 

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Summer playtime at Hemlock Cliffs, and everything is green AF.

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I guess I can still post pretty things even if I don’t live abroad, right?

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My School lunch chronicles.

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Can't believe Ima say it... But I miss this stuff!

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Koh Lanta killing it with sunsets, great company, and street food. PS, THATS how you make coconut milk the right way 

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I dont think this needs a back story- killing it at life

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Welcome to the Chill Out House, the coolest hostel ever (if you don’t mind sleeping inside holey mosquito nets, taking cold showers, and never escaping the sand-- this was not sarcasm. I loved all of these things)  First impression was “Dang, I’m so out of my element with all these intense hippy vibes.” BUT after a couple hours of checking everything out, I tapped into my inner hippy and felt right at home. One of the best parts of this place--- two steps out of the front “door” was a lil restaurant that had the most incredible... well.. everything... you could imagine. We all pretty much ate there breakfast, lunch and dinner for ten days. We may have ventured out for 2 or three meals, not joking. Fruit smoothies, pancakes, pad thai, coconut curry, and whatever else she made up- my mouth is watering thinking about it. I never got a picture of the lady, but she was extremely nice despite not speaking any English, as 99% of the Thai people I encountered are. Thai locals KILL other Asian countries on their niceness levels. And also I must mention the lovely Mr. Blue, the hostel’s mascot. He is a little stray pup that the couple running Chill Out house basically took in as their own. He was such a cool dog- They hadn’t decided if they would take him when they left, but I really hope they decided to! Just look how damn cute he is with his Platty ;)

[heyboonay]

Why it has taken me so long to get all my Thailand pictures up and ready to go? I cant be sure. It probably has to do with the fact that I spend most of my day at a computer for work, so the thought of coming home and spending more time on a computer is not very inciting. Fortunately for all my avid followers (aka myself), there is a winter storm blowing through today; I left work at 10-- WooHoo!  These are going to be slightly out of order because my life isn’t organized. Im going to post island livin’ first- because well it’s winter and I want to make everyone sad.  From Bangkok, I flew down to Krabi which was a nice quick flight. I took a bus from the tiny airport into the downtown area (tourist central) and followed some nice folks to their hostel. The people at the front desks were total assholes, but I decided to stay anyway because I was too lazy to continue the search for an open room. (Planning while traveling really is over-rated.) My (all British) dorm mates and a few others later went out to the night market for street meat and explorations. Looking back, I should’ve been way more hungover than I was the next day.  My one night pit stop in Krabi was due to the fact that the buses and fairies from Krabi to Koh Lanta stop running at 4:00. So I did my one night and took the slow and steady route down to Koh Lanta that started early in the am, for what turned out to be even more relaxing and amazing than I could’ve hoped for.  

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Obligatory Whiteman cousin photos, plus some extra of Mr. Handsome n me

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I just realized I hadn’t posted any pictures from the cooking class I took in Hoi An. Vietnamese food will kill your stomach, but damn its good.

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After recuperating and regaining our over all sanity in Dalat (Netflix and beer were the main sources of help), We hopped on a night bus to Saigon for our last two days in Vietnam. Night buses are genius... This one in particular was 1,000 times better than the one we took from Hoian to Nha Trang... it was like comparing  medium rare steak to a white castle “burger”. We didn’t stop at sketchy DISGUSTING road side restaurants and bathrooms (pretty sure there were nightly murders, human trafficking, and/or drug dealings at these places) and the drivers and assistants were super friendly and helpful. The first four shots are from walking around Dalat, in search of a camera charger because mine was not working for some reason. And having an uncharged camera in Thailand would not be acceptable... The last two are sadly the only pictures I took in Saigon. It was..hot... to say the least, especially after coming from chilly, raining Dalat (for which my wardrobe was completely unprepared). We did an ungodly amount of walking-- all the tourists attractions and museums close mid day for a couple hours, so we hung out at a cafe and had a few beers before trekking back to them.  The Vietnam War Museum (or as they more truthfully call it, the War of American Aggression) was an awesome experience. I particularly liked it because it wasn’t filled with (what I find pointless and boring) war remnants, clothes, and guns-- like most museums, but rather filled with hardly anything but pictures. They were, intense to say the least.  Then, because it was Friday, we did do a little drinking, It was a very interesting night.. I’m just glad I’m not stupid enough to get black out drunk in HoChiMin and allow petty thieves to jack my passport and wallet, or snatch my phone right out of my hand and drive away effortlessly on a motorbike... (these things both happened to people at our hostel) Saigon is not an unsafe place my any means, but some locals definitely take advantage of unsuspecting tourists (especially ones that are partying). Tom and Kirk both had their first Pho experience (after being in Vietnam for two weeks!!) before we hopped a bus to the airport, said our depressing goodbyes, and parted ways.

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No temple tour is complete without old ladies selling street food outside of it--

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Our absolute FINAL stop on the bikes was a “weasel farm.” We continually saw these big plastic containers in the cities that said “weasel” on them, with what looked like some kind of bean inside. Well, we found out that these containers were filled with coffee beans, that the Vietnamese feed to weasels, and then harvest them again after that poop it out. It’s weasel poop coffee. Obviously, we had to try some. I enjoyed taking picture of the coffee MUCH MORE than actually drinking it, way too strong for my taste.  It was really sad to see the weasels stuck in the very sub-par cages. :(  After this stop, we were home free! Only a few more hours until we were to arrive in Dalat. We walked into our rooms and took amazing hot showers, grabbed some din and got wasted off moonshine with some vietnamese dudes. Then slept a very rewarding sleep in our 5 star hotel. (not really, but it felt like paradise)

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The gruesome journey continues... Wouldn’t have survived without these guys.

Day two we awoke to some seriously gorgeous scenery, however we were all way too mentally exhausted and drained from the previous day (not to mention the pain my ass was in). It was hard to take it all in and appreciate where we were, but I took some time in the am to get in a  photo-therapy session, have a pow-wow about our game plan, and of course drink a Vietnamese coffee. We had a chat with our tour guide and told him we were going to stop in Dalat instead, then take a night bus from there to Saigon.  We had another break down on day two only about thirty minutes after being on the road. We took it in great stride and passed the time by singing Disney movie theme songs and having hand stand contests in the middle of the road. Day two we drove through beautiful, winding mountain roads. The unpredictable weather shifted between hot and sunny to chilly and rainy several times over the course of the day. We stopped at the cafes on the side of the road for our meals and hung out in the hammocks where the vietnamese have their daily siestas. Such a simple life, I miss it.