Laos

After experiencing the most hectic layover of my life, which involved cutting past 4 separate lines of non-English speaking people, I met up with my friend Monica in Luang Prabang.


Laotian food is amazing.  Between endless street food stands, a restaurant that helps train marginalized children, and a 5 hour cooking class, there was no shortage of incredible dishes to feast upon.  New dishes I ate included:

1. Crepes filled with pickled crab, cheese, and chili sauce.  Delightful.

2. Sticky rice whiskey.  I bought a little bottle for Bill, but the airport security told me I couldn't bring it on the plane because it was made of glass.  So I asked for their discarded bottled waters, rinsed out my travel-sized Listerine container, and filled it with whiskey.  True story.


3. Grilled honeycomb.  It was surprisingly bland.

4. Orange jackfruit.  I didn't even know this existed.  It was sweeter than the usual yellow jackfruit.

5. Monica's favorite: soup flavored with pepperwood.

6. And my personal favorite: stuffed deep-fried lemongrass!  Love, love, love!


I also ate a ton of coconuts.  Here I am feeling happy after devouring the smallest sweetest coconut I've ever had with the largest juiciest coconut I've ever had.


I did the usual Asian touristy things: had two massages (including one with herbal compresses which is popular in Laos), watched a couple sunsets (one from a mountain and the other from a boat), and visited a few temples.


Monica and I went on an all-day tour.  We took a boat to caves and saw bears at a rescue center.


The prettiest part of the tour was hiking/swimming at Kuang Si waterfalls.  The water was an unreal clear turquoise color.


Unfortunately, the tour also unexpectedly involved seeing abused enslaved elephants.  When the elephants weren't being forced to wear seats and take people for rides, they were chained to trees.  It was complete heartbreak.  I don't know how people can be so cruel. 

Vietnam

In Saigon, I met up with Karen (my cousin who I hadn't seen in 7 years), Quyen (a friend of a friend that I met while traveling in Thailand last year), Phuong (Quyen's coworker), and Zidane (Quyen's dog).


The 5 of us spent two days touring Nam Cat Tien Forest, which is a 3-4 hour drive outside of Saigon.  The good: eating coconuts while lying in a hammock, watching monkeys in trees, and seeing puppies.

The bad: going to a waterfall that wasn't flowing, going to a river to swim which was too gross for swimming (this picture was as far as we were willing to go), and hiking to a crocodile lake which had no crocodiles. 


The ugly: getting 50 mosquito bites and Quyen crashing her company car into a pole.

I spent a day in Saigon catching up with three friends I had made while I was a medical student 5 years ago.  I learned that Vietnamese massages are the best massages in the world, and confirmed that Vietnamese food is the best food in the world.

Dad's Visit in Oahu

Nov 11, 2015 

Dad was greeted at the airport by a rainbow, Pixel, and me.  We went to a dog beach where Pixel played with other dogs while the sun set.  Bill, Dad, and I went out to a Vietnamese fine-dining restaurant followed by cheesecake for dessert.

Hickam Beach

Nov 12, 2015 

Dad, Bill, Pixel, and I left our apartment at 4:30am and hiked in the dark so we could watch the sunrise at the top of the Kailua pillboxes.  

Bill went to work and the rest of us spent the afternoon at Kailua Beach.  Pixel chased dogs and birds, while Dad and I watched kite surfers and saw a rainbow.  Afterwards, I took Dad to his first hot yoga class.  That evening, Bill, Dad, and I enjoyed A Raisin in the Sun at a tiny local theater. 

Sunrise from Kailua pillpoxes

Kailua Beach

Nov 13, 2015

Bill took the day off work and we went to Kapaa Quarry, a gorgeous hike filled with strawberry guava, spectacular views, and lots of mud.  We got yelled at by a local who hates white people.  

 That evening, we checked into Aulani, a gorgeous Disney resort on the West side of the island that has a peaceful lagoon, a lazy river, 2 water slides, and 3 hot tubs.  Dad broke a toe while going down one of the water slides.

Kapaa Quarry

Kapaa Quarry

Kapaa Quarry

Post-Hike Mud

Post-Hike Mud

Nov 14, 2015

We hiked Pu’u Ohulu Kai pillboxes, saw the lower Makua Cave, hiked to the upper Makua Cave (a cave at the top of a hill with an ocean view), and walked over the Nanakuli Sea Caves (neat rock formations where we could see the ocean rushing in beneath our feet).  Then we each drank a liter of kava (which is way too much for any sane person to have in one sitting) and stumbled back into the lazy river, slides, and hot tubs.  

Hike to Upper Makua Cave

Upper Makua Cave

Nanakuli Sea Caves

Nov 15, 2015

We woke up early to do a stretching class and a short run while the sun was still rising, followed by an hour of stand up paddle boarding.  We had one last round of hot tubs, lazy river, and water slides before we checked out of the resort.  Some of my residency friends met up with us at Monkeypod for a delicious brunch.  On the way back to our apartment, we saw our third and final rainbow of the trip.  That night, we took it easy and introduced Dad to a TV show called The Knick.

Aulani

Lunch at Monkeypod

Nov 16, 2015

For our last day in Hawaii, Dad, Pixel, and I went to the east side of the island where we did a short hike to Makapu’u Point Lighthouse, stopped at a few scenic viewpoints, and visited the Spitting Caves.  At the airport, Dad’s apples were confiscated by security.

Makapu'u Point Lighthouse

Makapu'u Point Lighthouse

Spitting Caves

Whitehorse, Canada

We hung out at this beautiful cabin from 10pm-2am waiting for the northern lights for 5 nights in a row. It was about 15-20 degrees.  To kill time, we drank mochas, roasted marshmallows, ate homemade maple taffy, and went sledding. I considered the outcome a success: nothing on one night, faint northern lights on 3 nights, and a great light show that looked like we were being invaded by aliens on one night.  The other highlight of the trip was dog sledding.  The dogs were friendly, happy, and adorable.  The ride was exciting and the scenery was spectacular.  Snowmobiling was even more thrilling and the scenery was even more incredible.  This is Bill standing on a mountain overlooking a frozen lake.  It was the most beautiful part of the trip. We fell over while Bill was driving the snowmobile.  We were going very slowly at that point, so it was more scary and embarrassing than painful.  After that, I took over as the driver, and I was always driving a little faster than my comfort level to keep up with the tour guide. The Sourdough Rendezvous Festival was going on that week, which included fireworks brilliantly set to music, an axe throwing competition, and giant snow sculptures. Other highlights of the trip included: getting a massage, going to a wildlife preserve, hanging out in the hot springs, playing with puppies, and going hiking.  We spent an afternoon in Vancouver on our way back home and visited the aquarium.  Sea otters are the cutest!