What I ate in South East Asia; The Good, the Bad and The Ugly

THE GOOD

I never felt healthier than while traveling through Indochina. Every meal was colorful, fresh, and delicious. I sampled every local deliciously and tried many dishes I would have never picked in the states. My favorite temptation throughout South East Asia were freshly juiced drinks. I had one at every meal. I tried watermelon juice in every country and for most breakfasts. The best was at a tiny cafe in Luang Prabang, Laos.

JUICES

Lemon and Mint Leaf in Laos

Watermelon Juice in Bangkok

Dragon fruit and Watermelon in Vietnam

THE BAD

Personally some of the worst foods I ate were fish dishes. However many of my tour mates loved these meals. I do not like fish. I did try everything. But I did not enjoy any of them. Plus the way fish was presented (with its eyes and scales) was not appetizing.

Fried Fish

Check out that eye!

THE UGLY

In Indochina you have to try the weird stuff. Sometimes you just need to close your eyes and eat. I sampled a couple of weird delicacies that turned out not bad! I tried several different fried bugs in Thailand. They were crunchy and had weird textures, but for the most part tasted like popcorn. I also sampled rat in Laos. Honestly if I didn’t know it was rat I would have just that it was BBQ beef skewers. Snake whiskey was the weirdest thing I tried that I actually enjoyed! I did a shot once in Laos and again in Vietnam. It tastes like tequila.

Can you figure out what type of meat this is?

Cricket

Snake Whiskey

FOOD PORN PHOTOS

Coconut pancakes

Junk boat buffet in Laos

Pineapple stir fry in Thailand

The best meal of the trip. Hot pots in Thailand.

Poolside Pad Thai

Family style meal in Vietnam

RECOMMENDATIONS

You have to take a cooking class in Thailand. I learned tricks that I implement today at home. The class took me through the Asia markets. It taught me how to shop for ripe vegetables, eggs and the perfect meats. I learned how to make Pad Thai, Pumpkin Curry and Sticky Rice. I absolutely loved learning to cook in Chiang Mai.

Spices from Vietnamese cooking class

My completed meals from the Thai cooking class

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT MY TRIP THROUGH SOUTH EAST ASIA? CHECK OUT:

Watermelon Juice in Bangkok

Dragon fruit and Watermelon in Vietnam

Lemon and Mint Leaf in Laos

Chicago Phil

The final stop on my Summer Tour was to visit my good friend Phil in Chicago! Phil was nice enough to let me and Jenny crash in his little tiny apartment.

Phil is a great friend who I met freshmen year of college. It’s been amazing to see him blossom into such a charismatic, kind and adventurous person. Cha-town really suits him. He was a very gracious host and even though he had to work some of my visit, we still found time to reminisce and laugh with and at each other. Chicago is massive and in two days I don’t think I saw much of it. But I had a blast.

While Phil was working we went to the free Chicago Zoo. Then used our student discounts to get into the Chicago Art Museum which was very impressive.

Found this quaint and secluded pond right in the heart of the city.

Later we met up with Phil and his co-worker. She is Chinese and led us through China town and to the best local Chinese restaurant. While in China town we help Phil search for the perfect Chinese waving cat statue. To add luck to his new little apartment.

Our last day we slept in. Jenny was still recovering from her mysterious cold. But I convinced her to come to a baseball game with me since Phil had to work.

We went to a store and spent way to much on Cubs gear then headed to Wrigley Field to buy cheap seats. We got really lucky because our “cheap” seats were actually really good. We ate hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts and I had lemonade with vodka while Jenny had beers.  I also got yelled at by a native for putting ketchup on my hotdog! The Cubs lost to the Cardinals. But it was really a great game. There’s something about going to a baseball game that feels truly “American”. It’s good to be home.

After the game Jenny needed to rest so she went to bed. Phil got off work and he and I went to an Improv Comedy show and then had traditional Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. We gossiped about love lives, work and life goals until very late at night. It was glorious and I’m glad I decided to end my trip with him and Chicago.

Colorado is for Food

My trip to Denver can be described with three of my favorite words: Food, Alcohol and Men.

I was lucky enough to travel to Denver with a great co-worker who I’ll call Parker. Parker is super charismatic and sweet. He’s older then me but we had a blast pub crawling and site seeing together. I also met some of his charming and um…handsome friends.

I quickly discovered that if you’re a single lady you should visit Denver. The Male to Female ratio is about 10 to 1. So the odds are in your favors ladies!

Then people in Denver are also all very happy and healthy. Which might be because of “green therapy”. But I think it’s really because the city is surrounded by glorious scenery, tons of outdoor adventures and hundreds of amazing bars and boutique restaurants. The great thing about business trips is per diem! Meaning you get paid extra for meals and expenses. So I ate like a queen for the whole week. I’ve featured some of my favorite morsels.

Most of my time exploring the city was spent bar side or at a dinner table. The rest was spent working my booty off with the Air Force. But I had a blast and met a ton of really fun guys.