We arrived last night to the Haad Chao Phao Resort on Koh Phangan after a 10 hour journey — 2:00 flight to Surat Thani; 1:30 bus ride to Donsak Pier; 2:30 ferry ride to Thongsala Pier; 30 min taxi up the west coast of the island — and here we are. We didn’t quite expect how rustic it is–little bungalows… Read more →
Today we left Chiang Mai to go down to Koh Phangan, an island in the Gulf of Thailand. Highlights of Chiang Mai were: Our cute quiet guesthouse, Top Garden, recommended to us by our friend Alli & a 5 min walk to Thapae Gate Breakfast at Cat House everyday — best lattes, delish gluten free banana pancakes, French toast w… Read more →
Sofia wasn’t feeling so great today, so the thought of getting up early for a long day trip on the scooter wasn’t too appealing. We went to get breakfast at our favorite place, Cat House, that our friend Alli had also gone to when she stayed at Top Garden. Jacky, the owner, has been running it for 6 years. It’s… Read more →
We thought that when we arrived to Chiang Mai we would book a “trekking” tour out to the forest, where they would take us to the national park to hike, or to see elephants, or to raft down a river on bamboo. But then we were just not that excited about spending $100+ to be on a guided tour all… Read more →
Today was our first full day in Chiang Mai! Our plan was just to walk around the city and explore, before we take day trips the next couple days. We had lattes and banana pancakes at Cat House, literally across the street from our guest house. We spent some time on wifi looking up whether we wanted to do and… Read more →
A colleague who used to live in Bangkok recommended Cooking with Poo — a cooking class led by a social entrepreneur whose nickname is Poo. As the story on her website goes, when the price of rice increased she needed to find a way to survive from cooking–since setting up the cooking classes 7 years ago, she has been employing… Read more →
After lattes and spicy noodles at our favorite noodle shop (30 seconds walk from our hotel), we packed up and got ready to go to Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand. We landed at the Chiang Mai airport and went to Top Garden, a guest house right by the “moat” canal surrounding the old city that our friend Alli… Read more →
Phuong Anh is the Marketing Manager for Vietnam at Google, so she took us to her office for breakfast and a tour. I had to get some model shots of the power couple… Sofia and Minh have been friends for 14 years! Since their hippie days at UC Santa Cruz. Then we were rained out of our plans to… Read more →
We headed out to what felt like a suburban part of Singapore for supposedly the “best chicken rice,” according to Google. Ming Ji Chicken Rice & Porridge was in the Kim San Leng Food Centre, a self serve food court with trays and delicious Singaporean Chinese food. We got chicken rice, beans sprouts, vegetables w oyster sauce and a Tiger… Read more →
Look at that delicious homemade brunch. ‘Nough said. Today was a national holiday, Hari Raya Puasa, the end of Ramadan. We hung out at home for hours during the monsoon rainstorm that lasted only 15 minutes, playing card games like Exploding Kittens and Monopoly Deal. Their Italian friend and neighbor Cristina came over too. We rallied and got out of… Read more →
We arrived in Singapore late at night on July 4, and got to Minh and PA’s house at 1:30am after some slight mishaps with the address. They welcomed us to their beautiful apartment and promptly went to bed, as we did soon after showering. The next morning we woke up bright and early for our first day of exploring the… Read more →
I love packing light. So here we are, up late the night before, fitting everything into 35 and 45 liter backpacks. Tomorrow, we’re off! Read more →
We are counting down the days for our summer adventure in Singapore, Thailand and Cambodia! We’ll be blogging here and updating with pictures. Here’s a rough itinerary to whet the appetite. Singapore (4 nights) Visiting Minh and PA! Bangkok (2 nights) Cooking with Poo, floating markets, explore the city. Chiang Mai (4 nights) Trekking in the forest, sights & temples. … Read more →
For Sofia’s birthday we chose to go to Death Valley and spend time in nature. It’s healing. We meant to see the “super bloom,” but it had mostly passed. We went up to Thorndike campground in the Panamint Mountains at 8,500, and hiked almost halfway up to Telescope Peak, which is at about 11,300 feet altitude. We heard there were more… Read more →
A 3-day weekend in Joshua Tree. We missed the turnoff for the West entrance so entered the park from the South entrance for the first time ever. We camped at Black Rock campground and took an 11 mile out and back hike to Lost Palms Oasis. Read more →
Day 1 Arrive & take the E-2 bus and Uber to our Magical Art House AirBNB in the Bywater. Eat at Coop’s Place in the French Quarter for “New Orleans food.” Food was okay, we got the taster plate, the bartender was also kind of a jerk. First time to Café du Monde for cafe au lait and beignets [tally: 6 beignets]… Read more →
The second line parade, which happens every Sunday, was the best part of our visit to New Orleans. We looked up the itinerary on WWOZ radio station’s website and rode our AirBNB bikes over to the starting point. It had just started, and there were about a hundred people dancing and walking to the Stooges Brass Band playing. The Lady Jetsetters were… Read more →
We visited the House of Dance and Feathers in the 9th Ward of New Orleans. It’s in Ronald W. Lewis’s backyard — a shed full of memorabilia, books and photos from hist participation with the Mardi Gras Indians. His book is for sale with stories and photos. He has a lot of stories to tell, about his family, losing… Read more →
Jean Lafitte swamp tour in Barrataria Preserve. Read more →
We can share more pictures from today’s swamp tour, but first you have to see this! Read more →
Today was full of touristy adventures! We started off with coffee and Andouille sausage breakfast sandwiches at Mr. Gregory’s. That is where the voodoo tour started, run by Free Tours on Foot. We heard so much complicated history of New Orleans, and the powers of magic and ritual. We walked around the French Quarter, then went to Lüke for .75… Read more →
On our nonstop Delta flight to New Orleans. Read more →
Tomorrow we leave for New Orleans. It’s raining today in Los Angeles, so all the pre-trip garden projects will just have to not happen. Decluttering has felt important this last couple weeks, for our house guests as well as for my sanity and for a cleaner, simpler 2016. It’s the first trip of the year for S+S, and we look… Read more →
We are going to Thailand in July! First we go to Singapore to visit Sofia’s old friend Minh and his wife PA. Then we’ll go to Bangkok, the Gulf Islands, Chiang Mai and Angkor Wat in Cambodia! Suggestions welcome. Food and cool places are our faves. We can’t wait! Read more →
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