Mowed the lawn today. It was as surreal as I expect it to be. Otherwise, adjusting pretty well. Things are seeming more "normal" every day, which of course is good and bad. Having pretty much finished Katie's "honey-do" list, I started working in earnest today. Have a meeting tomorrow on my potential "big" project....
Time now for what might be a reoccurring feature: a "Top 5" list ala High Fidelity.
Top 5 Favorite Countries that I visited:
5. Malaysia: Malaysia (and Borneo in particular) was interesting enough to suck up almost a 1/3 of my trip, but it wasn't my favorite place. OK, it was my least favorite, but I still liked it (that's how good the trip was!). The outdoor activities were world class (trekking, scuba, mt climbing), but the culture, food, lack of massages and abundance of leeches all hurt the Malaysia's overall score. The people were friendly when you got to know them, but were largely more reserved and/or serious than folks in most of the other places I went...
4. Singapore: Was great for 2 days. Then was ready to leave. Which was perfect because that's when I left.
3. Cambodia: Just a couple clicks away from totally anarchy, which earned alot of plus points and alot of minus points. I guess that's why it's in the middle of the pack. I'd stay it was easily the most unique place I visited and as an"adventure traveller" that is worth alot. In this "globalization" world, so many places just seem the same. Cambodia is not the same as anything I've ever seen. Not even close. Demerits for generally lame massages more than made up for by the awesomeness of the Temples of Angkor (you all by now know how much I value massages, so that should really tell you something about Angkor...)
2. Laos: Everybody sez that Laos is "laid back" but until you get there, its hard to understand what people mean. But by the end of my first week there, the idea of taking a nap in a public place (like the sidewalk...) didn't seem to be at all that strange. I don't know why or how; that's just Laos. Food: Baguettes with breakfast, sticky rice with dinner...awesome. People: Super friendly, not at all pushy. Massages: Kip for kip, the best massages on the trip.
1. Thailand: Pretty much the only bad thing I can say about Thailand is that everyone else loves it too. Too many tourists, but everything else is perfect. Easily my favorite people: so friendly, smiley and always joking. Joking with you joking with each other, joking with animals, etc. Food: the best. I never, ever got tired of Thai food. (Occasional hamburgers are Thai food, right?). Massages: central to the culture. Beautiful places everywhere. Unbelievable beaches with water that is almost too warm. I know I will be back to Thailand, hopefully many times.
(Note: I just remembered that I also went to Japan! Oops. Not sure where that would have been in the list. Not the top, not the bottom. I liked it for sure and Noriko took great care of me and showed me so many places. But doesn't even seem like it should be on this list. Such a different place...)
OK. Other Top 5's to come, potentially including:
-erik
Time now for what might be a reoccurring feature: a "Top 5" list ala High Fidelity.
Top 5 Favorite Countries that I visited:
5. Malaysia: Malaysia (and Borneo in particular) was interesting enough to suck up almost a 1/3 of my trip, but it wasn't my favorite place. OK, it was my least favorite, but I still liked it (that's how good the trip was!). The outdoor activities were world class (trekking, scuba, mt climbing), but the culture, food, lack of massages and abundance of leeches all hurt the Malaysia's overall score. The people were friendly when you got to know them, but were largely more reserved and/or serious than folks in most of the other places I went...
4. Singapore: Was great for 2 days. Then was ready to leave. Which was perfect because that's when I left.
3. Cambodia: Just a couple clicks away from totally anarchy, which earned alot of plus points and alot of minus points. I guess that's why it's in the middle of the pack. I'd stay it was easily the most unique place I visited and as an"adventure traveller" that is worth alot. In this "globalization" world, so many places just seem the same. Cambodia is not the same as anything I've ever seen. Not even close. Demerits for generally lame massages more than made up for by the awesomeness of the Temples of Angkor (you all by now know how much I value massages, so that should really tell you something about Angkor...)
2. Laos: Everybody sez that Laos is "laid back" but until you get there, its hard to understand what people mean. But by the end of my first week there, the idea of taking a nap in a public place (like the sidewalk...) didn't seem to be at all that strange. I don't know why or how; that's just Laos. Food: Baguettes with breakfast, sticky rice with dinner...awesome. People: Super friendly, not at all pushy. Massages: Kip for kip, the best massages on the trip.
1. Thailand: Pretty much the only bad thing I can say about Thailand is that everyone else loves it too. Too many tourists, but everything else is perfect. Easily my favorite people: so friendly, smiley and always joking. Joking with you joking with each other, joking with animals, etc. Food: the best. I never, ever got tired of Thai food. (Occasional hamburgers are Thai food, right?). Massages: central to the culture. Beautiful places everywhere. Unbelievable beaches with water that is almost too warm. I know I will be back to Thailand, hopefully many times.
(Note: I just remembered that I also went to Japan! Oops. Not sure where that would have been in the list. Not the top, not the bottom. I liked it for sure and Noriko took great care of me and showed me so many places. But doesn't even seem like it should be on this list. Such a different place...)
OK. Other Top 5's to come, potentially including:
- Top 5 experiences of the trip
- Top 5 SE Asian Beers
- Top 5 travel mishaps
- Top 5 pictures
- Top 5 funniest broken English signs
-erik
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