I'm writing this as I prepare to leave Bangkok for what I hope to be is the much cooler Chiang Mai. First impressions of Bangkok? First glance, the people, the weather, reminds me much of the Philippines. Or what the Philippines could be if the government spent money on building tourism. Although I have to say that the Philippines is much cleaner than it was during previous trips. Much less litter; still there, but much less. Although Europe is used to travelers of all nationalities, there I felt I stood out. Ni Hao. Konichiwa. Those were often said to me in [View Full Entry]

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I've arrived in Bangkok!!! Sorry I haven't been keeping up to date with my travel blog entries. Have much to share about the past two weeks spent in the Philippines, but I've had some major technical difficulties. For one, my camera died! Another, couldn't hook up my laptop in the hotel in Makati yesterday. But luckily, I've snagged a camera to take with me to Thailand and for the rest of my time in the Philippines. But it all means an added expense when I get home- I have to buy another digital camera... If you guys plan to contact me, [View Full Entry]

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Humidity (hu·mid·i·ty): 1. a moderate degree of wetness especially of the atmosphere 2. the concentration of water vapor in the air 3. the freakin' Philippines Damn, it's hot here. I know, what should I expect? It's the Philippines, right? But when I was 19, I was here around this time, and it wasn't hot like this. I mean.... this is unbearably hot. The kind of hot that makes me super cranky. The kind of hot where you can't even move. You don't know what to do when the power goes out and the fan is no longer moving. I don't even [View Full Entry]

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*An excerpt from my journal as I wasn't allowed to hook up to the internet during the flight (duh!)* I am now on the plane to the Philippines. We boarded the plane early so that we could enjoy some moments in Business Class. As take-off time was fast approaching, a male attendant came up to us and asked us to leave. At first, I was thinking, "Great. What did we do now?" But nope, he didn't come to reprimand us, he came to take us away... away to FIRST CLASS, BABY! How did we manage getting bumped up from Business to [View Full Entry]

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... Lounge, that is. Mom, Dad, and I are waiting for our flight to Manila to leave SFO. It hasn't sunk in yet that we're on our way to the Philippines again and that I will be in Thailand at the end of the month! I think it's cause I had to work today and ended up seeing 15+ patients. That's a lot. Fortunately, I'm flying with my parents, so we have the luxury of flying Business Class again. Of course, it's a paid privilege, but if you know me, I'm mostly like not going to fly anything beyond Economy on [View Full Entry]

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I wanted to make sure we made the most of our days off work. I convinced my dad to buy tickets for the very first plane to fly out of Oakland. The plan was to arrive into Seattle early enough to have coffee at the very first Starbucks ever opened and have some fresh oysters for lunch at Pike Place Market. Easier said than done. What I didn't count on was that in order to leave Oakland on the first plane out at 6:30AM, we had to get to the airport by 5. Which meant we had to leave the house [View Full Entry]

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After leaving Seattle, we headed straight for the Canadian border. The drive to the border seemed shorter than the actual wait to chat with border patrol. We found ways to amuse ourselves, i.e. listening to Chris butcher the French language as he read the English/French signs all around. The weather had brightened up but it was still a little chilly as we sat in our rented Volvo waiting to pass through. Finally, we got through to the other side. We listened to the monotone female voice of our GPS navigation system as we made our way to Port Moody. There was [View Full Entry]

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The pictures I took don't do this city justice. I have so many photos to share... again, there are more than 750 of them. I still have more coming from Michelle's camera. However, if you would like to see them all, let me know and I can email you the album from Snapfish. [View Full Entry]

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I loved this city so much! [View Full Entry]

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As bad a rap as Rome gets, I really enjoyed the time I spent here. I was very sad to leave to the point of eyes tearing... or maybe that was the hangover I was sporting? [View Full Entry]

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