VIETNAM

Day 17

• Slept great at our riverside hotel in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) then got ready for a day of sight seeing around the city.
• Ate an amazing french-toast breakfast for only $4 US
• Then walked to Notre Dame cathedral, modeled by the French after the same cathedral in France.
• Then saw Ben Thanh Market, pretty crazy and smelt like durian fruit (which is disgusting) but apparently a local delicacy.
• Saw the General Post Office, it looks like a train station, pretty cool.
• Saw the Reunification Palace, where north vietnam eventually overtook south vietnam and unified the country in the 70s
• Then saw the War Remnants museum, really interesting and at parts rather graphic, but overall good experience.
  

Day 18

• Went to the Cu Chi tunnels today with a big tour bus of random people, it was cheap and incredibly interesting. learned all about the viet cong gorillas and the tunnels and traps that they had set for the americans during the war. We even got to crawl around through the tunnels, which was awesome and quite claustrophobic.
  
• Then walked around the city a bit and eventually back to our hotel for swimming in our hotel's pool on the roof.
  

Day 19

• Today we traveled 4hrs outside the city to Mui Ne, checked in at the Mui Ne Sailing Club and had a beach bungalow right next to the ocean, it was amazing.
  
• Had a great lunch at the hotel, met a really cool dude from the UK who ran a kite-surfing place next to the hotel. He had traveled SE Asia like we have been and found this beach resort and never left. As he put it, "you`ve got to have a girlfriend, a hobby and a job, or your brain `ll turn to jelly." ...good advice
• Again, another relaxing afternoon laying in the sand on the beach.

Day 20

• Delicious free breakfast at the hotel, again ate a ton of local and tropical fruit. which is conveniently a main staple of this part of vietnam.
• Spent the morning on the beach, did some yoga in the sand.
• After lunch went for a fantastic thai massage, they even served fresh pineapple and tea after the massage. all this for $10
• I really really love vacation.
  

Day 20

• Fantastic banana pancakes and fresh honey for breakfast.
• Spent a little bit of time at the hotel then off to the airport with a crazy driver that kept taking random shortcuts that I was sure he was lost, but he got us there in record time. Off to Singapore!
  

THAILAND (part 2)

Day 14

• Changed hotels from the Mercure to Kata Thani where we had a room overlooking our own private beach. Gotta hand it to Kyle for making some excellent reservations.
• Spent the day jumping waves and laying out in the sand reading my book.
  

Day 15

• After an amazing free breakfast (with 3 plates of dragonfruit) went back to the beach in the morning, but the rain came by about lunchtime for only an hour or so.
• After it cleared up, went back to jumping waves with a really cute dutch girl. I think she was getting a kick out of me being slammed by the waves as they came in.
• Spent the rest of the afternoon laying out in the sun and reading my book. Ahhhh Vacation.

Day 16

• Another good breakfast, ate a ton of papaya.
• Then got packed up and ready for flight to Vietnam!
  

THAILAND

Day 8

• Arrive in Bangkok and meet up with Khun Saksun, Rick's driver. He his very funny and makes some excellent sound effects. Also is quick to point out the baby "chang" or elephant walking down the middle of the street.
• Then dropped our luggage off at Rick's apartment in downtown Bangkok, beautiful views of the city and about 30 stories above ground. pretty cool. After that we met up with Rick's admin who took us out to dinner to a really good Korean restaurant.
• The restaurant was awesome, there was live entertainment with traditional Korean songs and dances by these really cute Korean girls. After dinner we eventually all joined in on karaoke and before we left one of the girls had said i looked like leonardo dicaprio from titanic. haha great compliment.

Day 9

• Free Breakfast! delicious, got to eat waffles!
• Then a day of sightseeing with Khun Saksun as our driver. Fantastic luxury by the way, especially in Bangkok.
• Got to see the golden buddha and then the reclining buddha.
• After that we took a long-tail boat for a 1hr tour of the canals and then off to Wat Arun, which was very large and had a steep staircase to walk up. It kind of resembled Angor Wat in Cambodia.
• Then a very affordable lunch of red curry chicken and a fresh lime juice. Absolutely amazing. and believe it or not, better than Thai Pepper.
• Then off to the grand palace and to see the emerald buddha. Then what do you know, small world, we havnt seen hardly any Americans so far on the trip and the first ones we see happen to be Dan and Collin from Santa Clara. We walked around a bit and shared stories and pictures.
• Then off to get Thai massages at one of about a million Thai massage parlors. It was fantastic! only about 250 bhat for an hour.
• Then met up again with Khun Mind, Rick's admin, and went to Khao Sarn Road, a popular backpackers hangout and shopping area. We stopped in at a local bar and saw a live band playing bob marley and some 90's rock covers, it was awesome.
• Also had the best thai dinner so far, with Tom Yam soup and a chicken and cashew dish and a dish with starfish!

Day 10

• Wake up early and off to floating market with Khun Saksun. we took a small boat around the market and i got some delicious tiny coconut pancakes. only 20 bhat. it was really cool to see this part of bangkok.
  
• Then to Ancient City, a model representation of thailand's history, Kyle and I rented a golf cart and zoomed around the whole area, it was great.
• Then back home for more Thai massages. life is good.
• Then we went to Siam night bazar, a night market similar to the silk market in beijing.
• We had a really good dinner, thai soft shell crab in yellow curry and fresh lime juice. I love the food here.

Day 11

• Rick returns from a business trip in Australia, we chatted with him for a while and then off to the pool in the apartment building.
• Then got some chicken satay for lunch and back once again for more Thai massages.
• Later that night we went to a going away party for a few employees of Ford, the host was hilarious.
  
• Then we had some really good italian food for dinner with Rick
• After that a tour of downtown Bangkok

Day 12

• Last day in Bangkok, had some good chicken curry for lunch.
• Flight to Phuket was great and the view was amazing.
• Caught a cheap van ride to Patong Beach where our hotel was. walked around on the beach that night, it was easily the softest sand ive ever been on.
• Then more massages that night. ahh vacation.

Day 13

• Off to Ko Phi Phi Leh and Don with a guided tour group. Got to see all sides of Ko Phi Phi Leh, including Maya bay, the place where the movie "The Beach" was shot with Leonardo DiCaprio. Aside from the popularity of the place it was absolutely stunning to see it in person.
  
• Then to monkey beach on Phi Phi Don, and got to see monkeys eating watermelon, it was really cool.
• After lunch on that island we were off to Egg Island, a tiny little island with beautiful sand beaches, got to lay out in the sun and went swimming for a while.
  
• Then back to Patong beach for the evening. I officially am addicted to Fresh Lime Juice.
• All in all I am in complete disbelief of where I am in the world. I love traveling.
  

Last Night of Japan

Day 7

• Tonight is our last night in Japan! Kyle and I have had a blast the last four days checking out all the sights in Tokyo. I can't believe how big and crowded this city is; no matter what time of day it is, it always feels like rush hour!

• Today we went to the Sony Showroom and Toyota Gallery. The technology they have here in Japan is a lot crazier than what we have in the States. Kyle and I also got a chance to drive in a fully automated electric car...thankfully since we didn't have to steer, there were no accidents!

• Overall, the weather hasn't been that bad. It only rained for a little bit today, but for the most part it has been dry and partly sunny. The food has been amazing and we have been able to sample all that we had hoped for. Our favorite places have been the small hole-in-the-walls. Our strategy is to look for the places that all the locals seem to frequent. Even though most of these places dont have English menus, we've been able to manage and have had some really delicious meals.

• Tomorrow we are headed off to Bangkok in the morning. I can't wait!

JAPAN (part 2)

Day 4

• Woke up early to take Shinkanzen (bullet train) back to Tokyo, dropped off our luggage at Oakwood Apartments hotel.
• Then met up with Hami and toured around Shibuya, saw crazy department store where every store had an employee standing out front yelling over a megaphone that there was a sale going on.
• Then met up with Hami's friend Miho and walked around some more and then went and sang karaoke. Lots of fun, although I'm a horrible singer. Let's just say that karaoke is a lot easier at the Claron! However, Kyle and I tried our best!
• Dinner at a stand-up kebab/skewer place, it was really good
• Then to see Tokyo Tower at night, Really awesome views of the entire city!

Day 5

• Went to Harajuku district of Tokyo known for the weirdly dressed girls made famous by Gwen Stefani...they really do dress that way. and then more crazy shopping.
• Ate some delicious sesame flavored ramen noodles for lunch
• Then to the Meiji shrine, a Shinto temple, and saw a wedding procession as we were touring around the place. Pretty cool.
• Then walked around Shinjuku for a while
• Back for dinner at a Shabu-Shabu style restaurant. It was delicious.
• Then to Roppongi hills, saw a crazy club scene that seemed to be run by Jamaican dudes.
• Finally back to our hotel to see the sky lounge view from 32 stories on top of Tokyo

Day 6

• Went to a temple in Asakusa, with awesome large red lanterns.
• Then to Akihabara, a technology center in Japan that has all sorts of cool electronics. Most is really expensive though.
• Then ate at a Yakitori restaurant for dinner.
• Mostly took it easy today, we've been really busy all week, so we thought we deserved a relaxing night of watching Hook on TV.

JAPAN

Day 1

• Met up with Kyle at SFO, then flew into Narita/Tokyo International.
• Then took the JR line to Shinagawa where our first hotel was. We got a little lost trying to get out of the station, but thankfully almost all of the signs had english subtitles!
  
• Checked in to our hotel, it was right across from the train station, and our room was very small, but the beds were surprisingly comfortable.
  
• We got dinner at a ramen noodle place, it was delicious and so much better than the airplane food.

Day 2

• Got on train to Kyoto, accidentally boarded the wrong train at first but thanks to kyle's attentive observations we were able to switch at the next station and everything just magically worked out.
• Then we left our bags at the hotel and took a bus to the Golden Temple, where the Shogun would retire and later became a Zen Buddhist temple.
• Then we took a taxi to Nijo Castle, main castle and home of the Shogun for several generations.
• After that we went to Nishiski market and later to Taramuchi outdoor food market, we randomly came across an okonomiyaki restaurant which was amazing and the atmosphere was awesome, with a lighted waterfall in the middle of the table.
• We've met a lot of really nice Australians so far

Day 3

• Took a shinkanzen (bullet train) to Nara
  
• Ate fresh mochi on the street, then at the park saw a ton of deer that just wander around aimlessly. We also saw a turtle pond and a 5-tier pagoda
  
• Saw Todaiji temple with the giant buddha. It was really cool.
  
• Then random earthquake simulator at a tourist/information place we stopped at to cool down. yay for air conditioning.
  
• Then curry and rice for lunch. yum. and then walked through a lantern park that leads to a red shinto temple at the far end of Nara park.
  
• Then quickly back to train as it got hotter and hotter outside.
  
• Walked around Imperial palace in Kyoto
• Then found a sushi place on the river for dinner. Best Sushi Ive ever eaten! Oh wow.