LAX to Bangkok!

Ok, so I'll try and separate out my posts into the different legs of our trip (since trying to manage all the photos of the entire time will probably wear me out and a blog post will never happen!).

Adam and I arrived at LAX ready for our long flight. When we were checking into our flight with Japan Airlines, they mentioned that we could upgrade to Premium Economy for an additional fee if we were interested. They told us that with Premium Economy, we would get 20% extra leg room, leg rests, extra arm room, and a separate cabin from regular economy. They also said we would be able to use the lounge at LAX.  After some thought, we decided that for such a long trip, it might be worth the extra costs (they were offering it to us for $150 per person) and just went for it.

In my opinion, it was definitely worth it for our long flight. We probably wouldn't do that again, but it was a really nice experience! We had noise canceling headphones (super nice on a long haul flight and really comfortable), Adam and I didn't elbow each other like we did on the way home flying Cathay Pacific economy, the service was amazing because there aren't a lot of premium economy seats but there were several flight attendants in our cabin (we admit to beeping for them a few times to get water, ice cream (!), snacks, sandwiches, etc. during the flight). Not only that, but hanging out in the lounge at LAX was awesome...usually we are with all the other folks sitting around on the hard chairs waiting for their flights to come in. The lounge had computers with internet, free beverages, snacks and food (really decent coffee and no need to pay $6 for a bottle of water! Sweet!), comfy chairs, t.v., newspapers....if only I could have lounge access every time I wait at the airport!

Ok, enough about how exciting we were about flying more than economy (it wasn't quite business, and nowhere near first class...but it was better than anything we've ever had, lol) and how free water can bring me such excitement about hanging out in an LAX lounge...on to Bangkok!

We arrived fairly late at night so rather than bothering Andy's friends who we were staying with, we booked a hotel for a night. The hotel was quite nice and close by the airport, so if any of you ever need a hotel to stay at for a transit/layover in Bangkok, check out the Paragon Inn. They picked us up at the airport, served us a nice cold beverage, and the hotel was super clean and updated. We totally needed the complimentary cold drink because it was blazing hot in Bangkok (especially since we were coming from dry 70 degree weather!).

So refreshing in the humid heat!

Pretty photos in the room! Yay!

Bed- super comfy after hours on a plane!

Rooms & the pool

Plumeria trees were all over Bangkok (and after the rain fall, the flowers would cover the ground)- Shara told me that in Thailand, they typically planted those trees in graveyards but now they can be found all over, including in people's yards and at our hotel. 

Our time in Bangkok was very short because the main purpose of us going to Bangkok was 1) to meet up with Andy and his friends Tim & Shara so we could travel together to Myanmar and 2) most importantly to get our visas to Myanmar!

We arrived on Saturday night so Sunday was our day to just hang out since the Myanmar Embassy was closed. Shara was so sweet to pick us up from the hotel and take us back to her house. Tim was away on a retreat, so we hung out with Shara around town. We ate lunch close to her house (delicious pad thai for cheap!) and then wandered around town- stopping at a mall that had Ferrari and Lamborghini dealerships, a shopping area that sold tacky shirts and souvenirs, a boba and mango smoothie stop, and the Jim Thompson House Museum.

Just as they advertised- cheap and good!

Fresh mango smoothie- yum!

The Jim Thompson House was actually very interesting and I am glad we went. Jim Thompson was an American architect who served in World War II and fell in love with Thailand. He ended up moving there, building a beautiful home, and committed to reviving the Thai silk industry. The museum was his former home and holds a collection of many Thai artifacts that he collected. He lived in Thailand for 22 years before disappearing on vacation in Malaysia.

That evening we met Shara's husband Tim. Of course, Adam and I were hoping for Thai food, but Tim was hankering for a steak so we ended up at this place called Wine Connection. We forget that foreigners living in another country usually don't crave the local food since they have it all the time, lol.

The next day, our goal was to get our tourist visa for Myanmar. We got up bright and early and Shara took us over to the Myanmar Embassy. The visa office didn't open until 9 am, but we were there at 8am. There was already a line forming, but luckily we were 4th & 5th in line. Once they opened, we had to show them we had the proper paperwork before they gave us a number. We then had to sit and wait for our number to be called, where we gave them our paperwork, passports and money. Luckily there wasn't any problems and we were back that afternoon to pick up our passports with the visas in them! Since it took less time than we expected, we decided to explore Bangkok but didn't get too far because it was too hot! Ended up finding shelter from the heat at the local mall (where we ate McDonald's ice cream cones for cheap!).

Tuesday was both a holiday and also a free day for us since we didn't have any issues with the visas. Since Andy wasn't arriving until Tuesday night, Adam and I decided to use this day to try and do some sightseeing. We headed to Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, via taxi (first stopping at the cheap Thai place for a quick "breakfast" of pad see ew and pad thai). When we got there, it was already blazing hot and I was sweating profusely (it was insane...it looked like I just went for a dip in the pool). Plus we had heard that we needed to be properly covered, so poor Adam was in long pants! After paying our entrance fee, one of the men at the front desk offered a guided tour for a fee, so we decided to take his offer. We probably wouldn't pay for a guide at Wat Pho again because it wasn't particularly informative and our guide had us posing in awkward positions in front of Buddha, which I really would have preferred not to. I won't post any of those horrible photos, but here are a few from Wat Pho.

The Reclining Buddha was really neat to see. It was huge!! Over 150 feet high and covered in gold leaf. Also the feet and eyes of the buddha were engraved with mother of pearl and the soles of the feet have 108 different images of buddha. 

After visiting Wat Pho, we decided to head next door to the Grand Palace. I didn't read up on the Grand Palace so all I knew that was there was the small Emerald Buddha made of jadeite. When we arrived at the Grand Palace (we ended up walking about 2 blocks), we were sweating, hot and ready to get some shade cover! We discovered that the Grand Palace was closing early because of the holiday, and the Emerald Buddha exhibit was already closed off. We decided not to spend the $12 per person to go in since we would only have an hour there. We ended up getting a cold smoothie across the street at some corner shop. 

Andy arrived that evening and we got all our bags ready because the next morning we were headed to the airport for Myanmar!! 

Photo Teasers from our trip to Asia!

Adam and I had a great time traveling to Bangkok, parts of Myanmar, and Taiwan. It was such an amazing trip with so many stories, memories, and of course...photos! I am still sifting through my thousands of photos (and the additional photos taken by Andy & Gaby!) to share with you all, so bear with me as it might take a while! Until then, here are a few teasers....

 Bagan, Myanmar- Stupas and pagodas dotting the landscape

 

Monkeys at Mount Popa, Myanmar

 

 

Gorgeous orchids at the Neihu Flower Market in Taipei

 

Dragon Boat Festival races at the Dazhi wharf along the Keelung River

Totally unexpected

You know how I mentioned in a previous blog post about how I am bummed that we haven't had a chance to see Andy, Gaby and the girls since coming back to the U.S.? Well...the craziest thing happened and now Adam and I are heading to Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), and Taiwan starting this Friday! Last week Adam and I were talking about how we needed to really do something with our American Airlines miles. Since Andy and Gaby are now living in Taiwan, we decided to check once again to see if we could use our miles (we called once before and they said there was no availability). Andy mentioned that he was going to Thailand/Myanmar and as luck would have it, all worked out and we are leaving this Friday! I AM SOOOO EXCITED...but totally unprepared!

This will be our first international trip since coming back from Ecuador. Oddly enough, I am nervous about traveling to countries where I can't speak the language. It never worried/concerned me before because mime-ing was just part of the fun. I promise you that I didn't speak a lick of Turkish (pathetic attempts at saying "teşekkür ederim" came out as "tea, sugar, a deer...um"). I think that I got used to being able to get around in Ecuador through verbal communication that I have forgotten what it is like to be in another country and be able to say NOTHING. Since I don't have enough time to learn Thai or Burmese, and I certainly won't be able to brush up on my Mandarin (it is really pathetic...no puedo entender ni hablar el idioma de Taiwan...wo ting bu dong, haha), I guess I am out of luck...should be fun!

I can say that I am definitely looking forward to my second trip to Taiwan. I really enjoyed our trip a few years ago and I know this one will also be unforgettable! Looking forward to Taiwanese snacks and street food! No stinky tofu, pigs blood or squid on a stick though!

Andy and Gaby...here we come!!

April Update! Family Time, National Parks, and More!!

Adam and I have been all over the place last month, and I just didn't get a chance to update. We were able to spend some quality time with Adam's parents during the first few weeks of April before we headed to Utah for more family time! We took a trip out to Jemez on one day (gorgeous weather!) and also visited the Albuquerque BioPark (the botanical gardens and the aquarium).

Battleship Rock in Jemez

Saw a wooden bear!

Tulips and daffodils at the botanical gardens

Japanese garden

We also took Cuba out a few times to throw the ball around. 

Taking a breather with the ball

Cuba with her eye on the ball! 

We drove to Utah from Albuquerque in mid-April, only to arrive in Salt Lake City right as a snowstorm came in. On our first day at Susan's house, we awoke to a nice layer of snow cover (at least a foot!). To enjoy the April snow, Paul, Susan & I had hot chocolate and went snowshoeing in Mill Creek Canyon (Adam stayed at home to bake lemon cupcakes with Jared). We also cooked yummy food (sweet and savory crepes!) and went out to Korean food (if you are in SLC, Myung Ga has delicious bulgogi, cucumber kimchi, and spicy tofu soup!).

During the week we headed up north to see Amy, Kevin and the family. As always, time went by too fast and we weren't able to do everything together that we would love to. Though I did get to fake-eat mudpies made by the nieces!

Mmm, mud cake and mud chip cookies anyone? (notice how nice the weather is...only 2 days after the snows!)

We then spent the following weekend with Susan and Paul again- mostly lounging, reading books, taking some short hikes, and watching movies. It was a super relaxing and nice visit before heading to our next destinations- Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park.

Both parks were absolutely gorgeous. We didn't have our camping gear with us, so we didn't camp but we were able to enjoy the park nonetheless and also attend a lot of ranger programs. We enjoyed seeing all the hoodoo formations in Bryce Canyon- very cool colors and shapes. It was National Park Week so entrance was free, but shockingly it wasn't too busy. Bryce Canyon is a very small park and many of the hiking trails in the south were still snow covered. And as always, click on the photos to see a larger image.

It was a little chilly- good thing we had all weather clothing!

Zion National Park was a little bit more crowded. Adam and I entered from the east entrance, so we had the chance to drive through the tunnels. We did several hikes while in Zion- lots of gorgeous views. We did encounter large crowds on some of the short paved hikes, but on the more moderate ones, it was nice and tranquil!

Adam actually posed for a photo! Hooray!

After enjoying the gorgeous parks, we headed back to California! Susan came down and we celebrated her birthday. We ate, relaxed, watched movies, took walks, chatted, and just spent lots of time together as family, which was amazing. I've been really appreciative of our time between things. If only Andy & Gaby were closer!

This was super early in the morning when Susan and Betty were leaving so we are all a little tired!

We are going to be in California for the next month or so until we.......move to Boulder, CO!! Adam will be going to grad school at CU Boulder this fall. We plan to move to Boulder in July or August (depending on when we can get an apartment), so I will be job searching over the next few months. Wish me luck!! We are going to be moving pretty far from my parents and Betty, so I am glad we have had the past several months to spend with them!