We are finally en route to Pulau Kecil on the Perhentian Islands off the East Coast of Malaysia. We're staying the night at some skanky backpacker place (tonight only) which actually has a very friendly crowd and lots of tiny kittens running around. We're in Kota Baru, a small Muslim town near the coast and for the last hour, we have been sitting in the backyard listening to the sounds of evening prayer which echo throughout the town. This afternoon, we walked through a market that was such an orgy of smells: fish, spices, fruits, fried food, pastries, all kinds of stalls with Muslim women in full Burka garb. I took lots of pictures (yes, I am totally culturally insensitive), my favorite so far is of a young Muslim woman giving me the peace sign. As ... read more

First of all, I would like to let you all know that I will be posting pictures...of the ladymen, of the beautiful scenery, of the food, of Jason and I and our antics...but as a rule, I have chosen to minimize time spent in front of the computer so that I can maximize time spent outside enjoying the world around me. I hope that you will understand and I promise that as soon as I in a situation where there is "nothing better to do", I will bring my camera and USB cable to a shop to upload and deliver my promise for pictures. For now, I hope to sate your senses with my words. My time in Thailand is coming to an end, I'm in Bangkok airport right now waiting for my flight to Phnom ... read more

Just a typical day in Koh Tao. Wake up to a view of the beach (don't even have to turn my head). Do some stretches on balcony. Wander out onto the beach and find a spot that looks good for coffee and breakfast. There are plenty to choose from, all with outdoor balconies that meet the beach, low tables and mats to sit on. Generally, by the end of most meals I eventually seem to end up in a horizontal position, as the mats are more like beds and conducive to doing a full-body stretch when the meal is over. After breakfast, relocate lounging from restaurant balcony to poolside. Alternate swim-recline-swim-recline other side-swim-read a bit-swim-listen to music and chitchat-swim-order fruit smoothie-swim-get some food-swim-go get a massage on the beach-and so on. Oh, where has the day ... read more

Well here I am, only two days into the trip and already some good stories to tell. Here's what my first hour in Thailand was like: As I left the airport in Koh Samui, there was a friendly face greeting me with a sign for "Jungle Club". I got in the car with him, chit-chat was minimal due to my lack of knowledge or understanding of the Thai language beyond "Kaw Pun Kai" and "Sawadee Ka". We did manage to clear up the misunderstanding that we'd been having over email about how Jason and I were arriving on separate flights, what a big relief (although not at all relevant to this story). We drove about ten minutes, and then made a turn towards the hills. I was told to get out of the car and into ... read more

Location: SFO, Cathay Pacific Premier Louge Status: 1 hour, 25 minutes till take-off I am still not exactly how I ended up here, and by "here", I mean in the metaphysical sense. I also mean in the purely physical sense. Having completed two years of constant business travel where I have often felt my luggage received better treatment than I, where every aspect of the travel experience (except for flyclear which--hold please while I shed a tear--has since gone out of business, taking my identity with it) is degrading, demoralizing, and depressing; I didn't really ever stop to question what life on the "right" side of travel was like. And so I am now awakened. And I can never go back to sleep. Unless, of course, it is in a first-class-flat-seat-sleeper. There is a silence in ... read more