#and then spend like 4 hours at the mall and go to sleep at 10pm

[finnickodaiir]

I don't wanna sound ungrateful, but I'm begging my family to remember other places that aren't Salvador exist

[lovemesomesurveys]

survey by ehxsnos

First lets get the basics out of the way...

What's your name? Stephanie.

How old are you? 31.

Where are you from? California.

What color are your eyes and hair? I have brown eyes and naturally dark brown hair, but I dye it red. I’m a year overdue, though...

When were you born? July 28th.

Now for the fun stuff! Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed? They don’t have doors; I have a curtain instead that I do keep closed.

How many people have you slept with this week? Zero.

What size is your bed? Full.

What do you drink with dinner? I don’t always have something when I eat unless I already happen to be drinking something, like coffee or a Starbucks energy drink. I do always have water nearby, though. But yeah, I usually don’t drink while I’m eating, it’s usually before and after.

What do you dip a chicken nugget in? Ranch or Chick-Fil-A sauce. 

Last person you kissed/kissed you? Joseph, almost 10 years ago...

What movies could you watch over and over and still love? There’s several.

What is your usual bedtime? After 7AM. :/

When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween? It varied, but there were a lot of vampire and witch costumes.

Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer? Six years ago for my UC graduation.

Take a vitamin daily? No, but there’s a few I should be taking.

What do you wear to bed? What I wear during the day, which is leggings and graphic tees.

Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart? Wal-Mart and Target. We haven’t had a K-Mart in well over a decade.

Ever have plastic surgery? No.

Do you want kids? No.

Where did your last kiss take place? I think it was in his car.

Four words to explain why you last threw up? I had a stomach bug. That was like 4 years ago.

Last thing you ate? Wingstop for dinner, which was at 8PM. I skipped out on my nightly ramen tonight that I typically have around 2-230AM and now it’s 4:53AM and I’m starving. :/ I actually fell asleep around 10PM last night cause I had a bad headache and then woke up around 230AM, but I didn’t feel like getting up and making it. Sigh. 

Do you get your nails done? Nope. I’ve only had my nails done once, and that was for my 8th grade promotion.

When did your last relationship end? Back in 2013.

So tell us, what room ARE you in? I’m in my room.

How many stories does your home have? Just one.

Do you own headphones? Yep, I’m currently wearing my new Beats earbuds my lil bro got me recently.

Have you ever... Gotten a Brazillian wax? No.

Gotten so drunk you couldn’t remember wtf you did? The last time I drank I got really drunk (and really sick) and there’s parts of that night that are spotty.

Been called a bitch? Jokingly. Seriously as well, I’m sure, but not to my face. 

Slut? Jokingly.

Pierced anything? *Okay, finishing this at a much later time now cause I ended up zonking out.* Anyway, I just have my earlobes pierced.

Had a tattoo? No.

Smoked a cigarette? No.

Smoked weed? Yes.

Missed someone so bad you couldn’t eat or sleep? I’ve gone through really hard times after losing loved ones. 

Worked out at a gym? Yes.

Snuck out of the house? Nope.

What’s the nearest furry object? My throw blanket.

Is the room you are in messy? No.

What is the single largest item in your house? Hmm.

How much money did you spend today? Zero.

What is the biggest amount of money you have ever had at one time? I think 5,000.

What kind of cell phone do you have? An iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Have you ever been under anesthesia? Several times.

Which Disney parks have you been to? Disneyland and California Adventure.

What does your bed comforter look like? I don’t have one. I use a throw blanket, which is rose gold and fluffy.

When did you last cry? Last night.

When is the last time you took medicine? Over an hour ago.

What was the medicine for? It was my pain medication. 

What kind of health insurance do you have? I’m not sharing that.

What is your birth control method of choice? Well, I’m a virgin but besides that I can’t get pregnant, sooo.

How much do you spend on your parents for Christmas? A lot. I love saving up and spoiling my family with what I can.

If you were given $1k and had to use it on 1 purchase, what would you buy? Uhhh. I’d have to really think about that.

Have your parents ever caught you drinking? I honestly didn’t try to drink before I was 21.

Have you ever crawled through a window? No.

What do you spend most of your money on? Food delivery, heh. :)))))))) It’s my favorite way to spoil myself. <<< Saaame.

Is there a secret you've never told your parents? Yes.

Do you still have pictures of you & your ex? Yes.

Has someone ever spread a nasty rumor about you? No.

How many rooms does your house have? It has 2 bedrooms.

Would you sex tape with you in it for 3 million dollars? No.

Are you happier single or in a relationship? All I really know is being single and while I’m not happy, it’s not because of my relationship status. Being in a relationship wouldn’t fix my problems and would add more stress.

Do you have curly hair? No.

What is a compliment you receive often? I rarely receive compliments.

How tall are you?: Like 5′4.

Who was the last person to say they loved you and when? My mom recently.

What is the last thing you said aloud? I said goodbye to my mom as she was leaving for work.

What was the last thing you had to drink? Coffee.

What is one thing that can ALWAYS be found in your freezer? Ice cream. My dad likes to always have it.

How many pets do you own? One.

How old will you be turning on your next birthday? 32.

Last time you went out of town? February 2020.

First thing you wash in the shower? My body. What kind of shampoo & conditioner do you use? A salon style for red dyed hair.

Do you own something from Hot Topic? I own a lot of things from Hot Topic, from clothes to accessories to collectibles. Majority of my graphic tees are from Hot Topic and their sister store, Boxlunch.

Have you ever bought anything from Pac Sun? Yeah.

How often do you hold hands with someone? I hold my doggo’s hand a lot, ha.

What was the most recent thing you bought? Food.

Could you ever forgive a cheater? I don’t know. Possibly. It would depend on some things.

Do you have Verizon? Yes.

Have you ever been pregnant? No.

What is your average cell phone bill? I don’t know. I’m on a family plan and my parents and brother handle it.

How many piercings do you have? Two; one in each earlobe.

Do you start the water before you get in the shower or when you get in? When I get in.

Have you ever had stitches? Yeah, I’ve had several surgeries. 

Do you think it’s right for straight guys to get their tongue pierced? Uh, it’s a piercing. Who cares.

Are you more of a coffee or alcohol drinker? Coffee all the way. I don’t drink.

Do you have a wireless keyboard and mouse? Nope.

How many songs are on your iPod or MP3 player? *shrug* I haven’t used my iPod in almost a decade. 

Where did you get that shirt you're wearing? Speaking of Hot Topic...

What are your pet’s names? Princess Leia, either one for short. And a ton of nicknames.

Honestly, are you in love right now? Nope.

Honestly, what color is your underwear? Blue.

Honestly, do you think you are attractive? No. I’m a mess.

Honestly, do your wrists hurt? Not at the moment.

Honestly, wouldn't you rather be having sex right now? No.

What would you do if the doctor told you that you were pregnant? Say they got me mixed up with someone cause that’s impossible.

Was there anyone who "made your day"? My mom went and got me my favorite breakfast before she went to work. 

Are you vegeterian? Nope.

How many windows are open in your computer? Two.

Do you read Perez Hilton? Nah.

Is there a baby in the room with you right now? No.

Do you plan on moving within the next year? We’d love to, but I don’t see that happening.

Have you been to a baby shower? I’ve been to several.

What brand is your computer? Apple.

How many cars can fit in your driveway? Two.

Are you taller than your mom? No.

Are you a cuddler? Not really.

Sleep on your back or stomach? I have to sleep turned toward my side and propped up due to acid reflux. 

Do you go to the bathroom with the door open or closed? Always closed.

Do you dress for style or comfort? Comfort, definitely. 

Think of the last time you were angry. Why were you angry? Blahhhh.

Would you marry someone if they were unable to have sex? Sex isn’t a big thing for me, honestly. Also, I don’t plan on getting married. 

Have you ever made a boyfriend or girlfriend cry? My first boyfriend did when I broke up with him. 

Does heartbreak really feel as bad as it sounds? It’s horrible.

How long has it been since you had sex? Virgin here.

Who was the last person to call you babe? *shrug*

Last reason you went to the ER? I haven’t had to go for myself since my accident.

Were you a planned pregnancy for your parents? Yes.

How old was your mom when she gave birth to you? She was in her early 20s. Have you ever taken pictures in a photo booth? Yeah.

When was the last time you shaved your legs? It’s been awhile. My legs don’t really get hair growth for whatever reason, but that’s fine with me.

What facial cleanser do you use? I don’t.

Do you use a blowdryer? No.

How many purses do you own?: Several.

What are your top five favorite stores to shop for clothes? Boxlunch and Hot Topic.

What kind of clothes do you mostly wear? Graphic tees and leggings.

What about shoes? Adidas.

Have you ever cheated on the significant other that you have now? I’m single, but no I’ve never cheated before.

What are your first thoughts when your visitor visits? It’s always like, ‘ohhh, that’s why I’ve been feeling like that.’

Favorite underwear brand? I don’t have a particular favorite, really.

Last thing you bought at the mall? It was Christmas gifts a couple years ago.

Do your parents like your boyfriend/girlfriend? I’m single. What color are your pillows? I have like 10 pillows and they all look different.

What if an ex asked to be back in your life? No.

Don’t you just love DVR? It’s nice to have.

If you're on a laptop, how much charge does it have left? It’s plugged in, so it’s at 100%.

Last gift you recieved? My brother recently bought me a new pair of Beats earbuds.

Lesson you recently learned? *shrug*

[sincerelylaureen]

Date #21 ❤️ | 01/11/2020 ~ 1:15pm to 10pm

So I spontaneously decided to hang out with Dylan today! We met up at the park again and drove on base. I helped him with his car! Helped meaning held a couple of bolts and watched. LOL. We were outside for about an hour/hour and 15 minutes? It was a nice bonding moment! I’m glad he got to finish the part of the car he’s been dreading to fix. After that we went back to his room and took a shower together again! We were in there for well over an hour, maybe an hour and a half lol. The experience was intimate and wholesome at the same and I loved every single moment. Afterwards we get really hungry and I end up driving both of us to Popeyes to eat that good good spicy chicken sandwich. Then we went to the gas station and got chips ahoy cookies and milk! Drove back to base and decided to cuddle and attempt to watch Irishman... it was good for the first 30 minutes I’d say but then we got distracted again and yup LOL. Then we cuddled for the rest of the night and gave eachother kisses and basked in eachother’s company. I asked him if it was weird for him that he was my first and he told me no. I asked him why and he said “because I know I can be good for you”. That stuck with me. When I look at him in the eyes I feel like I’m the only person he sees... I don’t want to be selfish and say I like that, but I do, and I want to be that person for him for a long time. Dylan fell asleep and I had to leave him LOL I tried waking him up but *note* HE’S A DEEP ASS SLEEPER. I even told him “goodnight dylan” and he was like “goodnight beautiful” and HE WAS ASLEEP. HE SAID THAT IN HIS SLEEP! Honestly it was so funny but it was one of the sweetest things. I drove home happily :)

Date #22 ❤️ | 01/12/2020 ~ 11am to 6pm

Dylan and I met up at St. Margaret Catholic Church in Oceanside and boy he told me he felt so awkward. LOL. I felt terrible that I wasn’t able to orient him about what to expect but at least he was able to experience that. I’m thankful he went with me!! Also something funny/cute I want to note is that during communion when we walked back to our seats he HAD THE BREAD and he was like “do I eat it?” and I was like yes eat it! LOL. After mass I wanted to take him to Urban Plates in Carlsbad so we drove there! He had a steak salad and mine was the asian chicken salad. Thankfully he liked it! Afterwards we got starbucks across the street. He got a white hot chocolate with caramel and then me with my latte! Then Dylan drove me to this place called the Meditation Garden over in Encinitas. It was so peaceful and beautiful! I was happy he took me there. The view was great, both the sea and him... but him a little more. :) After that we decided to drive back to base because he wanted to eat dinner at 4:30 at the chow hall! So we decided to go to the chow hall and HE GAVE ME SO MUCH ANXIETY LOL. I LITERALLY SNUCK IN. Oh my goodness I felt so illegal. But wow it was nice and clean and there was so many guys there, too much testosterone. Dylan offered me some food but I declined lol, he said there’s ice cream and of course.. i... had to get some. So he got me vanilla ice cream with rainbow sprinkles and a peanut butter cookie!! So yummy. We walked back to the barracks and then left again to go to the mall because we were gonna get money for his old phones. He got $9 for his iphone LOL. That was funny. We then parted ways! Honestly I feel like we did so much today. It was spontaneous too. I love spending time with him! He’s wonderful. <3 I like him so so much.

[bloodelves88]

Trip to Taipei/Hualien/Taichung/Puli, Taiwan (Part 2)

Part 1 here (Hualien). Part 3 here (Taipei). Part 4 here (Taichung/Puli). Part 5 here (Puli). Part 6 here (Puli/Taichung/Taipei).

Day 3

Morning, we had a train to catch to Taipei at 10:26am. We woke up at 8am and had breakfast at the lodging again. This time, they had a burger for us.

Also fruits and pudding. The pudding is really nice, I think it’s a piece of dragon fruit inside.

The view from outside Hualien station. 

We bought and paid for most of our train tickets and lodgings before the trip, so we had to go to the counter to get our tickets. The person at the counter said we didn’t pay for our tickets yet, which was very distressing. But apparently it’s just because the passport number entered into their system didn’t match the actual one because of website limitations or something.

We reached Taipei around 12:50pm. Our lodging this time is a hotel, right in the heart of Ximending. Ximending is known as the Akihabara of Taiwan, with video games, anime, maid cafes, butler cafes, arcades, and night life all packed into one district. It honestly felt better than the time I went to Akihabara, which I did say was rather underwhelming and overrated. Maybe it’s because the “otakuness” of Akihabara isn’t that obvious and in your face? I have no idea.

Anyway, we spent about three hours exploring the Taipei City Mall first. It’s an underground walkway right beside Taipei Main Station, and a sizeably large portion of it contains nothing but video games, figurine shops, and gachapon machine shops. 

Red, blue, and green are prevalent colors in this mall. Well, not so much green.

I have to say the gachapon machines in Taiwan are pretty badly overpriced. They didn’t even take off the Japanese Yen prices on the machines, so you could see the difference in prices. Something that was originally ¥300 (SGD$3.92) could be NT$200 (SGD$9.09). That’s just ridiculous. Some gachapon machines could go as high as NT$300 (SGD$13.29). I’m sorry but what the heck?

I bought four items here. I recently got a PlayStation 4 from a lucky draw, so I’m on a lookout for some games. Most of the games on sale here aren’t cheaper than on the PlayStation store, and I did manage to find Horizon Zero Dawn for NT$450 (SGD$19.90).

I also bought two items from the gachapon machines for NT$60 each. Here they are:

I wanted Alisaie because she’s bae, but I guess Aymeric is good too. He would be my second choice. The other possible ones are Nanamo, Kan-E Senna,  Merlwyb, and the Manderville guy. I’m quite disappointed with the quality of the keychain actually. It’s not something you’d expect out of Square Enix. It looks like a cheap knockoff since the printing is so faded and blur.

The last item I bought was a Rem figurine.

I got pretty unlucky for this one. It was those boxes where you wouldn’t know which design you would get. I think this is the worst design available. Standing on my table now, she’s looking down and her body is tilted downwards, so you can’t see her very clearly. 

I also paid too much for her. I paid NT$280, and I saw some other shops selling her for less than NT$200. Ah well.

Anyway, we spent too much time exploring and it’s now past 3pm and we haven’t had our lunch. I’ve always wanted to try a maid cafe, and since there’s maid cafes in Taiwan... why not?

I didn’t actually know where the maid cafes were, but we saw a maid walking about (to the toilet, I guess), so we followed her when she was on her way back.

We went to this maid cafe. There’s not many photos of it since they had a no photo rule, but I think it mostly applies to the maids.

The cafe has a concept of being in a train, which explains the hand grips hanging from the roof. There’s quite a few figurines standing around too.

It seems that each meal comes with soup.

I ordered omelette rice, which is obviously what you should order at a maid cafe 😆. The maid asked what I drawing I wanted on my omelette, and I asked her to decide 😅. We decided on a cat. The maid seems to make it a point to have some conversation with each customer, which isn’t really that good for me because my Mandarin isn’t that good. So, it was a little bit of an awkward and difficult situation. Not really the best environment to really enjoy a maid cafe, but I guess it would be better than in Japan. There wasn’t really anything outstanding though. You might have heard about weird chants or actions you would need to do when you got your food in maid cafes, but there was none of that here.

Anyway, there was shelf containing manga and books for people to write and draw on. Here’s some of them.

We added some stuff to the book. I drew the crab.

Some of the people writing on the books are repeat customers, constantly coming back to write on the books.

Anyway, done with lunch, and off to Ximending to find our hotel.

On the way there, we saw a rainbow. It was the brightest and boldest rainbow I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s awesome.

It’s not the faint crap you always see in Singapore. This is the real deal.

We also stopped to buy some matcha drinks. I had a matcha drink with ice cream. It’s not bad, but there was no way to eat the ice cream. I had to go back to the hotel to find a spoon.

Anyway, welcome to Ximending!

Our hotel is called ECFA Hotel Wan Nian, which is in the Wan Nian building.

Donate some blood for your waifu!

What I love about these places is they don’t shy away from such otaku and cutesy advertisements. These things would never be seen in Singapore. Singapore has to be bland and proper and boring. 

One of my friends wanted to visit the bookstore nearby, so off we went. I wasn’t very interested since it was mostly Chinese books, so I didn’t do much other than play with my phone. There was a jigsaw section and I found it interesting that they had jigsaw that wasn’t flat.

After the bookstore, we wandered around Ximending.

Then, we headed off to Animate! I’ve never been to an Animate.

There was a Mystic Messenger shelf OMG OMG.

I made away with two of the cushions. Ray and 707. Each one cost NT$500.

They even came with some bookmarks. Oh yes oh yes! I think they’re given for every NT$300 you spend.

Animate is really otaku heaven. There’s no end of the manga and merchandise you can get. Badges, figurines, files, posters, wall scrolls, keychains... almost anything you could ever want.

The King’s Avatar. Highly recommended. 

The BL section. They really don’t hide it. Some of the cover images are pretty NSFW. 

We spent a little longer than we wanted here because I decided to buy some merchandise back for some of my family. I bought two Boku no Hero Academia badges and one Haikyuu badge. It was a terrible NT$600 in total. One of the badges cost NT$400 (SGD$17.72). What the heck is the pin made of gold?

It’s about 10pm now, and we haven’t had dinner yet. Our meal times are so skewed 😅

We decided to eat at Saizeriya. We entered around 10:15pm, and they closed at 11pm. Good enough. We ordered three pizzas to share. 

Phew, what a long day. Back to the hotel to sleep.

Here are the places we visited.

The bookstore isn’t marked, and is just beside the hotel. 

End of day 3.

Part 1 here (Hualien). Part 3 here (Taipei). Part 4 here (Taichung/Puli). Part 5 here (Puli). Part 6 here (Puli/Taichung/Taipei).

[kurrentkorruption]

I CAN’T BELIEVE I SAW EXO AND BSB IN THE SAME WEEK

I mentioned a while ago that I was going to see EXO in LA, and I am finally home and rested enough to actually detail my boy band vacation. I didn’t just see EXO - I also went to Las Vegas to see the Backstreet Boys at the Axis Theater in Planet Hollywood. I’m putting this on this blog because this is a story of kpop... eventually. Anyway, behind the cut is the full of it.

My tale actually starts on Sunday, April 23rd, when I woke up with part of my rear upper-right molar being inexplicably gone. It was there when I went to bed, and when I woke up, it was gone. It was gone between the gum line and the middle of the tooth, working transversely from the dorsal portion of the tooth to the ventral side. The enamel and a good amount of the dentine was missing, but thankfully the pulp was in tact, leaving the nerves unexposed. However, it but my breakfast short, because upon noticing that my tooth was missing a chunk of it, I stopped eating and immediately had to find an emergency dentist, because no normal dentist is going to be open at 9am on a Sunday. Anyway, six hours and two fillings later (my initial filling fell out not 15 minutes after it had been placed, so I had to get a revision), my tooth was finally okay. This wasn’t really how I wanted to start my boy band week, especially since it meant that I had to be careful with everything that I ate from that point on. (I stopped being careful the more that fatigue and sleep deprivation settled in.)

The next day, I dropped off my dog at the dogsitter and obtained money and made final preparations for the trip. The dogsitter is on the other side of the city. She’s a coworker and she’s really nice. Anyway, Walter the Yorkie got to spend time with his chocolate lab friend named Paige. He was tuckered out when I picked him up yesterday, so I know he had fun!

After dropping the little dog off with the dogsitter, I got a message from my brother saying that we were going to be taking a different flight to Las Vegas on Tuesday. What I haven’t mentioned yet is that we (my family and myself) fly on stand-by because my mother used to work for United; we have flight benefits, but calling them a benefit is a stretch when it really means that we almost never get to go on the flights that we want. In fact, our history with getting seats on planes is so terrible that in order for me (and my dad) to get to Los Angeles from Las Vegas in time for the EXO concert, we had to buy an actual seat on a a different airline in order to ensure that I wouldn’t be late for the concert. What the message from my twin brother meant was that our early morning flight wasn’t looking good for seats that we could obtain, so we needed to go on a different flight. This meant one good thing, however: I could sleep in on Tuesday.

Tuesday arrived and my brother and I got hot dogs for lunch then drove to the Indianapolis airport. The rest of the day was us being trapped in Houston because every flight was overbooked. We didn’t get out of Houston until after 10pm, arriving in Las Vegas very late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning. The whole reason we were going to Las Vegas in the first place wasn’t even for me to see BSB, but because it was my dad’s birthday. BSB was something we were planning after planning to go to LV for his birthday. His birthday was Tuesday. His entire 60th birthday was him being on planes and trapped in airports. I felt really bad for him. :(

Wednesday was the day of the BSB concert. I haven’t mentioned this yet, but three weeks prior to us going on this vacation, my mother fell in the shower and broke her back. More specifically, she fractured 4 ribs on her left side and had a compression fracture at the T12 level. She’s been in pain for weeks. Because of this, we ended up letting her stay at the hotel on Wednesday while my dad, my brother, and I walked along the Strip and tried our best to figure out the most convenient and simple way for me and my mom to get to and from the BSB concert without my mom injuring herself further or becoming too worn out. Ever since I was little, my mom has come with me to every BSB concert I have ever gone to. She loves BSB just as much as I do; before she broke her back, the BSB concert tickets were a birthday gift for me from her. She didn’t know she was going to injure herself like that. It was meant to be a mother-daughter bonding time while my brother and dad bonded in the casinos.

We eventually found a simple enough route to take so that mom wouldn’t be in too much pain, and we headed back to the hotel. My dad hadn’t anticipated mom’s injury, so we stayed two blocks off the Strip, which made everything Very Difficult. We ended up buying bus passes to mitigate some of the long stretches that would exacerbate my mom’s pain reactions. It’s not like she doesn’t have medication, but she was prescribed opiates and we all fear that she’ll become addicted if she takes too many. The drugs that aren’t opiates do very little to help her pain, so we have to be careful so that her pain doesn’t flare up enough to necessitate taking the opiates.

That night, we all did our long journey to Planet Hollywood, coursing through casinos and hotels, stopping every few minutes to let my mom rest, before we arrived at the Miracle Mile Mall and the Axis Theater. We had eaten dinner as a family and parted abruptly as a heaving throng of women lined up to see their idols. We were shoved into a line and ushered quickly into the theater, we bought some merch (I bought a cute grey-and-purple raglan for myself and bought my mom a black t-shirt) and made it to our seats with time to spare.

The concert was SO INCREDIBLY GOOD!! It started with a beautiful VCR compilation of clips going chronologically from BSB’s beginnings to now, with remixes of all of their popular songs woven together. It was wonderful! Then the concert started and the boys came down from the ceiling in light-up boxes with images of their faces on them and they sang Larger Than Life! They danced as strongly as they did when I first say them when I was a young teenager, doing moves that I thought were only reserved for the most hardcore of modern kpop groups. Their choreography is so tight that you can’t even tell that they’re middle aged! (I dare say that their dancing was even more slick than EXO’s, and Howie was dancing with an injured knee!) All in all, I was incredibly impressed and enjoyed every single minute of it! My poor mom had to sit down a lot through it, which was okay during the VCR and ment portions. The only complaint was that there were two tall men in front of us that impeded our views a lot of the time; also, there were two incredibly drunk people in the row in front of us who were bothering EVERYONE around them. Other than that, it was a fantastic show!

The next day, we were tired. Not from the concert, but from dad barging into the room at 3am to tell us some ridiculous story despite how we all wanted to just go to sleep. In the morning, he insisted that it was mom who wanted him to tell the story and keep us all awake, but as we were ALL AWAKE, we told him that he never gave us the option of hearing the story in the morning because he just went into in without regard for our sleep cycles. He later said that he regretted that entire night.

(I’m not telling this from my dad’s perspective because he makes it far more innocent that what context clues would actually tell you. The story was that he, being far too nice of a person, basically intervened in what was going to be some lady and some dude going to a hotel on the strip to have a one-night stand. The lady had never gone to the Strip before and the dude who was big-time flirting with her was offering to take her to the Strip and see some of the big hotels and then they could eat and stay at one of them overnight. My dad barged in and wanted to tag along since he was on a machine near them. The dude didn’t want my dad to go, and the lady didn’t seem too keen on dad coming either, but he tagged along. The dude ended up leaving halfway through their expedition after realizing that the lady was no longer wanting to have sex with him, they got into an argument, and the dude left the lady with his food bill, as they were eating at some restaurant in Bally’s, I think? It’s all very confusing. Anyway, so the lady is pissed because now she’s stuck away from her hotel with my dad, so dad foot’s the bill for the lady and the dude who stiffed them, and they return to our shitty hotel two blocks from the Strip. Then dad comes back to our room to tell us this story. He’s clearly drunk and had apparently lost $100 in the casino before he even gone on his weird little journey, so we all just wanted him to go to bed and shut up, but no, he does the opposite. Because he’s drunk. From that point forward, I get no more sleep until Saturday night.)

My dad is a gambler, so my brother and I have been going to Las Vegas with our family since we were 7 years old. However, in all of that time, I had never gone to Fremont Street. I knew it existed, but it never actually interested me. So my dad got the idea that we’ll just let mom rest while we all trekked up north to Fremont Street, just so I could say that I visited it. It was a long bus ride to Fremont Street and it wasn’t even that cool. Granted, it was the middle of the day and all the lights come on at night, but it looked seedy. I’m used to seeing the panhandlers and homeless people on the Strip, but there were even more on Fremont Street, which is a smaller and more condensed area of space. It’s barely two blocks and it was filled with them. We spent about half an hour there, most of that time being dedicated to all of us going to the bathroom at one of the hotels. The only good that came of it was that while I was waiting for my twin to come out of the bathroom, I won $20 off one of the machines.

That evening, my twin brother being the awesome brother that he is, obtained tickets to see the Cirque du Soleil show O at the Bellagio. He bought three tickets, one for me, our mom, and himself. Dad gambled while we were watching the show. We chose that show because it was short and would get us back to the hotel in time to sleep before we all caught planes in the early morning. O is a beautiful show and I highly recommend it! Honestly, every Cirque du Soleil show that I’ve seen in Las Vegas has been really good, so go and see all of them; they’re all different and wonderful!

The next day, Friday morning AKA the day of the EXO’rDIUM concert, we all woke up at 2am so we could get ready to leave the hotel at 3:30am so we could catch our planes at 5:30am. Mom and my brother were going to Florida (my parents live in Florida because they are retired), mainly so that my brother could help my mom with her luggage due to her back injury. Dad and I caught a plane to LAX so that I could go to see EXO. I told you this would eventually lead to kpop. By 8am we were safely in LA and had acquired a car and we lived in that car all day. We set up shop in the parking lot of a CVS that was near the EXO-L Fan Cafe in LA. We ate Mexican food for every meal and did our best to just relax. It was hard. I was monitoring where to obtain pre-ordered fangoods and basically using the Fan Cafe as a glorified bathroom. I had arrived too early and they stamped my hand, which meant that I could freely enter and exit the cafe as often as I wanted. Since I had no access to a house or a hotel, it was the next best thing. I napped for maybe a max of 2 hours before the concert, excluding the half hour nap I took on the plane. My last meal was at 5pm and I wouldn’t eat again until 1pm Sunday afternoon, nearly 44 hours after my last meal on the day of the concert. At this point, I had gotten maybe 8 hours of sleep within the last three days, so this day was going to be hell. I was afraid that I would be too tired to fully enjoy the concert.

This fear was unfounded. Yes, I was INCREDIBLY TIRED, but I still enjoyed the concert. In fact, my only issue was with how poorly managed everything was up until the boys came out on stage. MMT is a terrible company and should really stop managing EXO when they come over here. The Fan Cafe was also poorly managed, but I think that was mainly because they were understaffed volunteers who had obtained a venue that was far too small for the crowd that visited it. I was grateful to have the stamp on my hand, otherwise I would have been standing in a big, long line forever. I even got to eat some of the cake they had made up for Baekhyun’s birthday! However, they ran out of water quickly and they had no other food beyond the cake and some cupcakes. But, again, those were volunteers. What was happening at the actual Forum was a mess that an actual management company had created. I had a seat, so I wasn’t deeply involved in the mess on the ground, but from what I heard from fellow concert goers, it was stupid. Plus, fans in GA kept rushing the stage so much that Suho had to chastise them THREE TIMES. It was so dumb.

The concert itself, though, was AWESOME!! I own the EXO’rDIUM in Japan DVD, so I had already seen most of the show and knew what was coming, but it didn’t spoil anything. Suho’s English was REALLY GOOD! Minseok, my man, he was out there killing fangirls left and right! My only complaint there is that no one ever really cheered for him when he was highlighted. :< Chanyeol and Sehun got most of the cheering, followed closely by Kai and Baekhyun. Meanwhile, no one else got as much noise from the audience. I tried my hardest to scream Xiumin’s name really loudly, since I was in the second row near the center, but I don’t know if he heard me. I was really tired and didn’t even know if my voice was working at that point. (I had screamed a whole lot at the BSB concert to the point where by voice was nearly gone on Thursday, so I wasn’t really recovered enough to take on screaming Xiumin’s name all Friday night.) Minseok was really energetic, too, even though he was clearly exhausted from having just come in from Mexico. He was putting his all into Artificial Love and White Noise, and being extra cute the rest of the time, waving his arms and body around like he wasn’t tired at all (even though it was evident in his face). They were all really tired. Kai even said that he was tired but putting all of his energy into making the show great, and he really did! As I’ve said before, I like Kai a lot but I don’t really broadcast it, and seeing him live definitely solidified that love for me. He was so sexy and slick up on that stage! At one point, D.O. started singing a song from La La Land and Suho did a little of the tap dance from it, and later on Baekhyun sang a crooner classic. It was very nice! Everyone did their best with English and Suho promised to bring their next concert here! I’m sure you can find a lot of fan accounts of such things, like how Suho said they needed to be careful about the pronunciation of the word “beaches” and how D.O. expressed a fondness for hotdogs and Chanyeol being “crazy” near the end of the concert and the whole “tiny hands and foot” thing. Some of it was a little too LA-centric for a Midwest girl like myself to understand, but they were so cute that I didn’t really care!

After the concert, I found my dad and we drove off to drop the car off at the rental place then book it to LAX so we would catch a 1am flight to Houston. Our plans changed the moment we got there, as our flight was overbooked and there was no way we were going to get on the plane. Thankfully, there was a nearby midnight flight to Chicago that had a few seats left, so we convinced the desk staff to let us on and we got on just as the doors were closing. I slept the whole flight to O’Hare. We arrived at about 9am and rushed to our connection that would take us back to Indy. We finally arrived at the Hoosier State by around 10am. We rested while waiting for my brother to return from Florida. He finally showed up around 2pm, and by that point dad and I had eaten some nachos from the Qdoba in the airport food court and that was it. After we met up with my brother, AKA the guy whose car I had come to the airport in on Tuesday, we drove back to my house and I hit my bed hard by 4pm.

I slept until noon-ish on Sunday, I finally ate food by 1pm, and picked up Walter from the dogsitter by 2pm. I haven’t left the house since. I’m so glad that I took today off. I was still tired and achy yesterday. All in all, it was a good trip, even if it was extremely tiring.

[edmturnmeon]

It’s good to be back in Thailand. We planned our trip to Hua Hin 5 months ago and finally, the day has come. My friends and I are there for holiday and getaway from the heavy work hectic, probably to laidback, chill and relax, in Cantonese we called it as 嘢 (pronounced as ‘hea‘ or ‘h-eh‘).

Whenever we go travel, like our previous trip to Phuket, we always make an early booking to avoid complication, expensive airfares & hiking room prices.

There are many other attractions and sightseeing in Hua Hin but we are only able to visit 5 places during our 5 days trip in Hua Hin. All will be revealed in the journal after the jump.

Grilled Pork Rib – Food Hunting at Tamarind Market Hua Hin

In Hua Hin, the most popular things to do here is food hunting. There are many night markets and food bazaars in the city. Cicada Market and Tamarind Market are among the most visited market if you are going for dinner or supper, both are located next to each other.

We actually preferred the foods from Tamarind Market rather than Cicada Market because of overpriced foods and the food taste so-so.

When the night gets dark, many foreigners and traveller’s who are looking for drinks head to Soi Bintabaht Hua Hin Walking Street, one of the Hua Hin most popular nightlife district. The beer is pretty cheap here.

5 Days 4 Nights @ Chalelarn Hotel Hua Hin

Chalelarn Hotel Hua Hin is a great hotel in the city with amazing interior design and architecture giving an authentic Thai feel. I’m feeling so comfortable with my large hotel room although I don’t spend much time in the room. There is a sofa to lay down and relax while enjoying the amazing sea view.

We stayed there for 5 days 4 nights and are very satisfied with the strategic location because it is so convenient and can easily access to 7-11 & Family Mart which takes just a few walks. I don’t have to worry much because I can get drinks & snacks anytime I want.

Chalelarn Hotel is also central to night markets, shopping malls, food stalls, restaurants and bars. It takes about 15 minutes to walk to Soi Bintabaht and can have unlimited access to beers & cocktails.

Let’s get started with my 5 days 4 nights journey of chillax trip at Hua Hin, Thailand.

Day 1 – Exploring Hua Hin

We reached Hua Hin airport at about 11.20am and quickly booked a van to our hotel in Hua Hin, Chalelarn Hotel. It is a bargain with just 400baht, we get to sit on a luxury van and it’s a pretty pimped up van actually especially the luxury interior and in-car entertainment system.

We checked in at Chalelarn Hotel, put all our bags & luggage in our room and then headed straight to a food stall opposite our hotel and had our first lunch in Hua Hin. After having lunch, we went back to the hotel to check out the rooftop swimming pool and chill area. The view at the rooftop at Chalelarn Hotel is breathtaking, giving an amazing view of Hua Hin town and the beach.

With muscle feeling a bit stiff, I then went for an authentic Thai massage just next to the hotel. I have to wear oversized clothes. The massaging technique is very relaxing and the Thai girl who is massaging me is pretty but lack of strength. Thai massage cost about 200 baht.

Then we all headed back to the room for rest, and watch Batman Returns on TV. At about 7.30pm, we have a break at the hotel lobby and then got on a tuk tuk for BBQ buffet dinner.

Heading to Hua Hin’s most popular nightlife district – Soi Bintabaht Walking Street

After dinner at about 10pm, we headed to Soi Bintabaht Hua Hin for a short drink. I ordered the wrong drink for myself, Long Island Tea cost about 200baht++ which is expensive compared to other cocktails. We call it a night and back to the hotel. I was so tired, have a quick bath and load up my sleep playlist and go to bed. I have a good sleep in my hotel room because of the peaceful environment, 0% noise pollution.

Day 2 – Sightseeing in Hua Hin

If you think there is nothing to do in Hua Hin, you’re totally wrong. There are plenty of activities, sightseeing and things to do in Hua Hin. The one day trip to attractions here is quite familiar with the one in Phuket. Some location will take a couple of minutes, some might even take a few hours to reach, make sure to ask for a tour guide or the hotel receptionist.

We quickly planned for one day trip to 5 attractions and outdoor activities. This includes a visit to Hua Hin Railway Station, Pineapple Club, The Venezia Hua Hin, Khao Luang Cave and an unnamed flee market in Phetchaburi.

Khao Luang Cave

A cave located at Khao Luang Cave Phetchaburi with the temple in the cave. There are Buddha statues and praying avatar once you reached the base of the cave. The cave is great for photo shooting and selfie. There are other caves in Hua Hin but Khao Luang cave is just an hour journey from Hua Hin, while other caves like Phraya Nakhon Cave, Kaeo Cave takes a few hours to travel, so we skipped it.

The Venezia Hua Hin

Venezia is a Venice theme small amusement park and attraction to visit in Hua Hin and probably worth listed in your one-day trip plan. You will need tickets to enter the place. There are many activities which are suitable for children and adults such as the gondola, 3D gallery, upside down gallery and many more.

I had a lot of fun and we spend about an hour and a half exploring Venezia.

Pineapple Club Shopping Area

I’m not sure if the name Pineapple Club is correct but here you can shop from anything from souvenirs, clothes and eating out. I bought one T-shirt for just 80baht at the shop here and the price is pretty reasonable and cheap.

After visiting all the sightseeing location, we headed to the Tamarind Market for dinner. The concept here is similar to the one in Malaysia but with better quality, find a place to sit, and then order the food.

Tamarind Market

There are a lot of foods, drinks and deserts plus live music performance singing in English and Thai. A great place to have dinner and supper while relaxing.

Tamarind gets crowded on Saturday night as many tourists and the locals came here to have a fast grab of good food.

After the dinner, it’s night time and we head over again at one of the bars at Soi Bintabaht for a drink or two. The next day is the most exciting day of all during our stay here in Hua Hin.

Day 3 – Offroad Adventure @ Siam Milsim

We actually booked for ATV ride and airsoft shooting at Siam Milsim (known as Siam Military Simulation). The staffs there are very friendly and helpful. For about 2800 baht, we get to ride a Can-Am 1000cc ATV. That is the most powerful ATV I’ve ever ride since Phuket.

With 6 ATVs, we headed for an offroad adventure at the Rocky Mountain, where we have to go through hard terrain. It was a pretty bumpy ride but an amazing experience. After the offroad adventure, we headed back to Siam Milsim, took a short break and then started the Airsoft Shooting.

https://www.ivanyolo.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/siam-milsim-hua-hin-atv-ivanyolo.mp4

Thanks to Siam Milsim for such a great outdoor adventure! If you are planning to visit Hua Hin soon, this is a must visit attraction for the children & adults. They are opening a new branch in Chiangmai soon. Visit Siam Milsim on Facebook to find out more details.

They even recorded all the moments with the Go-Pro camera for their customers, it’s edited and was sent over to us via email. Guess I will be doing a full review for this soon. Stay tuned.

I was too tired. I took a rest at the hotel to level my new Ragnarok M Archer/Hunter while others went for a walk at the shopping mall. The WiFi connection is pretty bad in the room as it keeps disconnecting, I have trouble doing my leveling up routine for my new Ragnarok M character.

Dinner at Cicada Market, food was so so some really unpolite and lazy foreigner but at least he said ‘excuse me’. We took a walk at Hua Hin Market but it’s nothing much to see here.

Seems like the night is getting late, we headed to Panama Club, in Soi for short drink. Panama Club in Hua Hin is actually an open-air club with a DJ spinning Tribal House, which suits the bar name and environment. We had a 5 minutes drink and then headed back to the hotel to chill out the night at the rooftop.

I was levelling my character again with 2 mobile phones this time. It was pretty fast from level 1 – 45++ with a mentor, keep consuming potions and completing all the main quests.

Bar hopping in nightlife district such in Hua Hin is recommended here if you want to explore those pubs and bars. I can see a lot of foreigners accompanied by girls either sitting at the bar or walking back to the hotel. Well, the story after that is none of my business. LOL.

Day 4 – Free & Easy

Day 1 Flashback – Taking break with an iced cold banana icecream at Swensen’s in Hua Hin

It was a free and easy day, we actually accomplished all our activities and nothing much to do and just to chill and relax. The hotel WiFi connection was bad when more people are using it.

Nothing much going on on the 4th day, we decided to rent a scooter from bike rental in Hua Hin. We explored around Hua Hin for food and later head to our last location, the jetty.

It is so convenient staying at Chalelarn Hotel Hua Hin because they provide all the services, anything you need from airport transfers, tour attractions to bike & car rental. Just head over the counter and ask the receptionist.

Day 5 Back To Real World

Probably the last day at Hua Hin and get ready at 8am at Chalelarn Hotel lobby and waited for our transfer to Hua Hin airport. Hotel to airport transfer cost about 400 baht which is cheap, the price might change without notice.

We reached Kuala Lumpur early at about 2.10pm, have our lunch at KLIA2, smoke and headed back home in a taxi, back to the real world.

Overall travel expenses for my 5 days 4 nights to Hua Hin is 7000baht.

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Hua Hin Chill & Relax, A Getaway Trip in Thailand

It’s good to be back in Thailand. We planned our trip to Hua Hin 5 months ago and finally, the day has come.

Hua Hin Chill & Relax, A Getaway Trip in Thailand It's good to be back in Thailand. We planned our trip to Hua Hin 5 months ago and finally, the day has come.

[coolivanyolo]

It’s good to be back in Thailand. We planned our trip to Hua Hin 5 months ago and finally, the day has come. My friends and I are there for holiday and getaway from the heavy work hectic, probably to laidback, chill and relax, in Cantonese we called it as 嘢 (pronounced as ‘hea‘ or ‘h-eh‘).

Whenever we go travel, like our previous trip to Phuket, we always make an early booking to avoid complication, expensive airfares & hiking room prices.

There are many other attractions and sightseeing in Hua Hin but we are only able to visit 5 places during our 5 days trip in Hua Hin. All will be revealed in the journal after the jump.

Grilled Pork Rib – Food Hunting at Tamarind Market Hua Hin

In Hua Hin, the most popular things to do here is food hunting. There are many night markets and food bazaars in the city. Cicada Market and Tamarind Market are among the most visited market if you are going for dinner or supper, both are located next to each other.

We actually preferred the foods from Tamarind Market rather than Cicada Market because of overpriced foods and the food taste so-so.

When the night gets dark, many foreigners and traveller’s who are looking for drinks head to Soi Bintabaht Hua Hin Walking Street, one of the Hua Hin most popular nightlife district. The beer is pretty cheap here.

5 Days 4 Nights @ Chalelarn Hotel Hua Hin

Chalelarn Hotel Hua Hin is a great hotel in the city with amazing interior design and architecture giving an authentic Thai feel. I’m feeling so comfortable with my large hotel room although I don’t spend much time in the room. There is a sofa to lay down and relax while enjoying the amazing sea view.

We stayed there for 5 days 4 nights and are very satisfied with the strategic location because it is so convenient and can easily access to 7-11 & Family Mart which takes just a few walks. I don’t have to worry much because I can get drinks & snacks anytime I want.

Chalelarn Hotel is also central to night markets, shopping malls, food stalls, restaurants and bars. It takes about 15 minutes to walk to Soi Bintabaht and can have unlimited access to beers & cocktails.

Let’s get started with my 5 days 4 nights journey of chillax trip at Hua Hin, Thailand.

Day 1 – Exploring Hua Hin

We reached Hua Hin airport at about 11.20am and quickly booked a van to our hotel in Hua Hin, Chalelarn Hotel. It is a bargain with just 400baht, we get to sit on a luxury van and it’s a pretty pimped up van actually especially the luxury interior and in-car entertainment system.

We checked in at Chalelarn Hotel, put all our bags & luggage in our room and then headed straight to a food stall opposite our hotel and had our first lunch in Hua Hin. After having lunch, we went back to the hotel to check out the rooftop swimming pool and chill area. The view at the rooftop at Chalelarn Hotel is breathtaking, giving an amazing view of Hua Hin town and the beach.

With muscle feeling a bit stiff, I then went for an authentic Thai massage just next to the hotel. I have to wear oversized clothes. The massaging technique is very relaxing and the Thai girl who is massaging me is pretty but lack of strength. Thai massage cost about 200 baht.

Then we all headed back to the room for rest, and watch Batman Returns on TV. At about 7.30pm, we have a break at the hotel lobby and then got on a tuk tuk for BBQ buffet dinner.

Heading to Hua Hin’s most popular nightlife district – Soi Bintabaht Walking Street

After dinner at about 10pm, we headed to Soi Bintabaht Hua Hin for a short drink. I ordered the wrong drink for myself, Long Island Tea cost about 200baht++ which is expensive compared to other cocktails. We call it a night and back to the hotel. I was so tired, have a quick bath and load up my sleep playlist and go to bed. I have a good sleep in my hotel room because of the peaceful environment, 0% noise pollution.

Day 2 – Sightseeing in Hua Hin

If you think there is nothing to do in Hua Hin, you’re totally wrong. There are plenty of activities, sightseeing and things to do in Hua Hin. The one day trip to attractions here is quite familiar with the one in Phuket. Some location will take a couple of minutes, some might even take a few hours to reach, make sure to ask for a tour guide or the hotel receptionist.

We quickly planned for one day trip to 5 attractions and outdoor activities. This includes a visit to Hua Hin Railway Station, Pineapple Club, The Venezia Hua Hin, Khao Luang Cave and an unnamed flee market in Phetchaburi.

Khao Luang Cave

A cave located at Khao Luang Cave Phetchaburi with the temple in the cave. There are Buddha statues and praying avatar once you reached the base of the cave. The cave is great for photo shooting and selfie. There are other caves in Hua Hin but Khao Luang cave is just an hour journey from Hua Hin, while other caves like Phraya Nakhon Cave, Kaeo Cave takes a few hours to travel, so we skipped it.

The Venezia Hua Hin

Venezia is a Venice theme small amusement park and attraction to visit in Hua Hin and probably worth listed in your one-day trip plan. You will need tickets to enter the place. There are many activities which are suitable for children and adults such as the gondola, 3D gallery, upside down gallery and many more.

I had a lot of fun and we spend about an hour and a half exploring Venezia.

Pineapple Club Shopping Area

I’m not sure if the name Pineapple Club is correct but here you can shop from anything from souvenirs, clothes and eating out. I bought one T-shirt for just 80baht at the shop here and the price is pretty reasonable and cheap.

After visiting all the sightseeing location, we headed to the Tamarind Market for dinner. The concept here is similar to the one in Malaysia but with better quality, find a place to sit, and then order the food.

Tamarind Market

There are a lot of foods, drinks and deserts plus live music performance singing in English and Thai. A great place to have dinner and supper while relaxing.

Tamarind gets crowded on Saturday night as many tourists and the locals came here to have a fast grab of good food.

After the dinner, it’s night time and we head over again at one of the bars at Soi Bintabaht for a drink or two. The next day is the most exciting day of all during our stay here in Hua Hin.

Day 3 – Offroad Adventure @ Siam Milsim

We actually booked for ATV ride and airsoft shooting at Siam Milsim (known as Siam Military Simulation). The staffs there are very friendly and helpful. For about 2800 baht, we get to ride a Can-Am 1000cc ATV. That is the most powerful ATV I’ve ever ride since Phuket.

With 6 ATVs, we headed for an offroad adventure at the Rocky Mountain, where we have to go through hard terrain. It was a pretty bumpy ride but an amazing experience. After the offroad adventure, we headed back to Siam Milsim, took a short break and then started the Airsoft Shooting.

https://www.ivanyolo.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/siam-milsim-hua-hin-atv-ivanyolo.mp4

Thanks to Siam Milsim for such a great outdoor adventure! If you are planning to visit Hua Hin soon, this is a must visit attraction for the children & adults. They are opening a new branch in Chiangmai soon. Visit Siam Milsim on Facebook to find out more details.

They even recorded all the moments with the Go-Pro camera for their customers, it’s edited and was sent over to us via email. Guess I will be doing a full review for this soon. Stay tuned.

I was too tired. I took a rest at the hotel to level my new Ragnarok M Archer/Hunter while others went for a walk at the shopping mall. The WiFi connection is pretty bad in the room as it keeps disconnecting, I have trouble doing my leveling up routine for my new Ragnarok M character.

Dinner at Cicada Market, food was so so some really unpolite and lazy foreigner but at least he said ‘excuse me’. We took a walk at Hua Hin Market but it’s nothing much to see here.

Seems like the night is getting late, we headed to Panama Club, in Soi for short drink. Panama Club in Hua Hin is actually an open-air club with a DJ spinning Tribal House, which suits the bar name and environment. We had a 5 minutes drink and then headed back to the hotel to chill out the night at the rooftop.

I was levelling my character again with 2 mobile phones this time. It was pretty fast from level 1 – 45++ with a mentor, keep consuming potions and completing all the main quests.

Bar hopping in nightlife district such in Hua Hin is recommended here if you want to explore those pubs and bars. I can see a lot of foreigners accompanied by girls either sitting at the bar or walking back to the hotel. Well, the story after that is none of my business. LOL.

Day 4 – Free & Easy

Day 1 Flashback – Taking break with an iced cold banana icecream at Swensen’s in Hua Hin

It was a free and easy day, we actually accomplished all our activities and nothing much to do and just to chill and relax. The hotel WiFi connection was bad when more people are using it.

Nothing much going on on the 4th day, we decided to rent a scooter from bike rental in Hua Hin. We explored around Hua Hin for food and later head to our last location, the jetty.

It is so convenient staying at Chalelarn Hotel Hua Hin because they provide all the services, anything you need from airport transfers, tour attractions to bike & car rental. Just head over the counter and ask the receptionist.

Day 5 Back To Real World

Probably the last day at Hua Hin and get ready at 8am at Chalelarn Hotel lobby and waited for our transfer to Hua Hin airport. Hotel to airport transfer cost about 400 baht which is cheap, the price might change without notice.

We reached Kuala Lumpur early at about 2.10pm, have our lunch at KLIA2, smoke and headed back home in a taxi, back to the real world.

Overall travel expenses for my 5 days 4 nights to Hua Hin is 7000baht.

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Hua Hin Chill & Relax, A Getaway Trip in Thailand It's good to be back in Thailand. We planned our trip to Hua Hin 5 months ago and finally, the day has come.

[chefbstrikesagain]

MY PARENTS IN MALAYSIA

I feel like a shell of the human I used to be after a marathon of a week with my parents. Desperate for some sort of routine and 2 years of sleep I'm slowly adjusting back to life without them. What I didn't realize was how exhausting entertaining for a week would be. Explaining and translating a new language, ordering food, figuring out suitable accommodations, talking about my future, and so so so much driving are just the beginning of the trip. However, that being said, it was such a fun time showing them around my home for the last 8 months in the country that i've grown to know and love despite its abundance of geckos and lack of western toilets. I'll give you an idea of what our days looked like but remember, this are only a small glimpse into what actually happened. Documenting cultural exchange, moments of appreciation for life back home, or a new developed sense of understanding are all things hard to explain in words so you'll have to ask my parents about it!

DAY 1: The date was August 31 and it was brutally sunny and humid, yet again, in good ole' Malaysia. I made my way to the airport feeling oddly nervous to see my parents after the last 8 months of being apart. Fortunately, the airport in the city is fairly small (with only 2 terminals) which makes it really easy to park and pick people up at their gates like you see in movies! I had a 50/50 shot of getting the right gate and was unfortunately waiting at the wrong one. After just 10 short minutes I bee bopped to the other gate and there they were! Luggage in tow and surprisingly looking great. I imagined them in a rough state after their 18 hours of travel but I think the adrenaline took over and they seemed ready to explore a new country on the other side of the world. We loaded up the bags in the car and my dad went to get in (but opened the wrong door) I think they forgot about driving on the opposite side of the road here- and they marvelled at the Nissan Almera. Just kidding, but they were surprised how much room the car had for having a sewing machine for an engine. We made our way out of the parking lot to the hotel which was just a short 15 min drive.

We listened to Malaysian radio on the way back from the airport and took the scenic route along the waterfront. Malaysian and Sabah flags flew proudly everywhere as the day they flew in was 'Merdeka Day' aka Freedom day which lasts for one month in Malaysia. I told them to keep their expectations low for this vacation, as on their last vacation, they were in 3 giant cities in Spain. This was definitely going to be a more rugged, change of pace than walking around Park Guell in Spain with a glass of wine. We changed in the hotel room into our bathing suits and made our way down to the pool. Mom and Dad were surprised at how nice the Hotel was... We stayed at the Hyatt in Kota Kinabalu and it was one of the only 5 star hotels in the area. At the pool we played catch up and Dan Moore started yelling about drinks. About an hour in, my parents realized how strong the equatorial sun really is as they were both burned. It's not like going to the beach in New England where you can stay all day no problem. We left the pool, showered, and got ready to grab an early dinner. We went to El Centro, one of my favorite places, for pizza and margaritas. Afterwards, we headed to a rooftop to watch the sunset sink down into the South China Sea. Dmoore was falling asleep in his chair watching the sunset and he ended up sleeping at 7:30pm.

Day 2: We woke up really early on day 2, mostly due to the fact that dmoore was up and impatiently bopping around the room. I wanted to take them to my favourite curry restaurant for traditional food- but realized everything in town was closed! It was second raya or Eid which meant that it was a public holiday and everyone was at home celebrating with family. We walked to the waterfront where dmoore leaped across a storm drain gap (approx. 3 feet) where his legs gave out from underneath him. He coined the nickname DJ reckless for the rest of the trip and certainly lived up to the name with the hospital trip...something I'll get to later. We walked back to the hotel for breakfast where we had an incredible buffet full of noodles and even some western food. Mom and dad both tried mee hoon soup with vegetables and dad also had nasi lemak- the national dish of Malaysia. We changed into our bathing suits and booked island tours off the coast of Kota Kinabalu. It was another great day for island hopping and we spent about 4 hours total on 2 separate islands. We stood in the water, which was pretty much empty, as all the Korean and Chinese tourists were staying to stay out of the sun to stay pale and beautiful. After a few hours of lounging we grabbed lunch and took the boat back to our hotel. We changed quickly and I took mom and Dad to the City Mosque.

The mosque is a giant floating structure that overlooks the ocean. It's coloured with cobalt blue tiles and is entirely white- definitely a sight for sore eyes. In order for my mom to enter, she had to cover completely, which meant renting a tundong (Malay word for Hijab). Check out the pictures- she certainly rocked the outfit! We didn't spend too much time at the mosque as prayer was happening soon so we left and headed towards the mall. We grabbed sushi for dinner which was incredible. I force-fed mom and made her try the smallest bite of sushi which she openly protested but in the end I think she liked it.... My dad was shocked at the cost of the whole dinner which came out to be 12USD or 4USD per person. In the US, that much sushi would have easily been $60. This was a theme for the rest of the trip. Every meal was converted and my parents faces would light up when they realized they spent 4USD to feed the three of us as well as 1 of my friends.

Later that night, my mom and I explored the hotel and found the hidden gym and then grabbed drinks while DJ reckless had a business call to make at 8:30. Joey joined us for drinks around 10:30 and we stayed up until midnight which was late for them.

Day 3: We checked out of the hotel around 9:30am and made the 3 hour drive up to The Tip of Borneo where we would stay for 2 nights. We listened to a bunch of podcasts and made easy conversation about things we passed along the way including cows, stray dogs, and why the gas stations were always so full. When we finally reached our destination, called 9 Huts on a Hill, we pulled in and were surrounded by geese, chickens, and bamboo huts. The cutest little woman greeted us at check-in and had us sit down while she offered us some water. Mom broke out into a laughing attack from trying to take in everything (chickens and bamboo huts) and had to put her sunglasses on to conceal her tears. It looked like she was having a nervous breakdown. I understand because it was definitely a downgrade from the 5 star hotel but the accommodations turned out way better than the first impression.

The huts were pretty much open air concept as the front wall could be broken down. There was a queen sized bed with a mosquito net over the top and an A/C unit and fan to keep you cool at night. Each hut had its own bathroom and shower which was a huge plus (not a squatty potty) so Cathy was happy. After settling in we ate dinner and explored the complex. We were on a big hill right above the ocean, complete with a giant yoga platform, a kitchen, and a 'chill zone' that had a bunch of hammocks to hangout in. We dragged a fan out from a room and drank beers and finished a bottle of wine while watching the sunset. Pretty great first night. We turned in around 10pm for some much needed rest in our comfortable beds.

Day 4: We woke early (around 7:30) no surprise there...and headed into town for our first Malay breakfast!!! I ordered mom and dad roti tulur (egg bread with curry) and tea tarik which is tea mixed with condensed milk. They loved it so much they each ordered 2 glasses of tea. They were also pleasantly surprised with the roti they had for breakfast. We paid (3 USD) for breakfast and made our way to my friend Robbie's beach at the secret place. We spent the whole day drinking at Robbies in the water and marvelling at the beauty and just how untouched the land was. I'll let them describe to you how amazing this place was because I talk about it all the time- but ask them!

We grabbed dinner again at the curry house after we showered and said goodbye to Robbie and his family. We finished the second bottle of wine that night under the yoga platform where it monsooned shortly after sunset for the rest of the night. Definitely a recipe for a great nights sleep which we needed to prepare for the marathon days we were going to have in Ranau and the rest of the trip.

Day 5: We checked out of 9 huts and made the dangerous drive from the Tip of Borneo to my small town in Ranau. It's dangerous because we were driving up and down mountains, some roads were non-existent, and landslides were everywhere. The signs said the hills were on average 16% grade either going up or down - if that means anything to you. Despite the dangerous drive it made for incredible views. You could see so far and just how mountainous the area I live in really is. We arrived to my house around 2pm where 40 of my students greeted my Mom and Dad! They were so excited to meet them and of course, take selfies. After about 5 hours of small talk and pictures, we left the open house with two of my students and grabbed some food in town at restaurant Muslim. We talked about ghost stories, possessions, and how the street I live on is haunted- just normal dinner conversation. We dropped off the students around 9:30pm and headed back to my street where we parted ways for 9 hours until the next morning when we had school.

Day 6: If you've made it this far into the blog post, congratulations! I'm exhausted and distracted just from writing this so if you're still reading one thing is sure- you definitely don't have ADD! Wahooo. Anyways, Tuesday morning, day 6, was probably the craziest day my parents had while in Malaysia and they were such troopers the entire time. We woke up around 7am to get to school by 8 which was my first class. My class is with form 1 and 2 girls (ages 12/13) and who all live at the school. They don't have good English at all so we usually do some sort of art as a medium to communicate with one another. My parents brought sidewalk chalk to school and we drew the city of Boston's skyline. This was a great medium and the art turned out beautiful. My mom even had some of the girls lay down on the ground holding hands and she traced them all. She told them that when I was little she would trace me and I would colour in my body with clothes and hair and a face. Dmoore wasn’t as approachable and some of the girls told me in Malay that he’s so serious. It’s tough to communicate with young children when you don’t know the language. Their shyness can be misinterpreted as disinterest, which is usually the farthest thing from what they actually want. After saying goodbye, we had class with 4 Bersih- which is one of my favourite classes. These students are older and already have a good foundation in English which means I can teach more intricate lessons that go deeper than colors or numbers. I split the class up into 4 groups and gave them all category titles. Seasons, Food, Sports, and Slang all having to do with Boston. The students then had to interview my parents to get the necessary information and do a short, creative presentation on what they learned. They all did a great job and some of the presentations were hilarious - especially the Boston Slang.

After school, we left and grabbed lunch before our paragliding session! I convinced them both to jump off a mountain which I never thought would happen....After paragliding we went to a fish farm where you stick your feet in a river and a bunch of fish swim over and supposedly suck the dead skin off of your feet. Mom was freaking out the whole time and barely put one toe in the water. Afterwards, we grabbed dinner at the Sabah Tea plantation where we overlooked vast green tea fields and Asian mountains. Mom and Dad ordered more Tea Tarik and achieved a new level of sugar high before we had to leave for our next event. After a dinner of butter chicken and vegetables we made our way back to our house to shower and get ready for drinks out on the town. We had about an hour to relax before I picked them up and made our way to the 'Kolam'. In the middle of the jungle there is a fish pond place where you can order lots of food and drinks. My parents were shocked that there was any sort of habitable life that far in the jungle and not one mosquito. They were able to try Lihing, which is the local traditional rice wine, and they seemed to really like it. Doreen got them a cake that said ‘Welcome to Ranau Mr. and Mrs. Moore’ which was really nice of her. After eating some quick we decided that we should leave as the drinking was really starting to go downhill.

Day 7: After waking up tired and hungover we made our way to school for the last day. My first class on Wednesday’s is arguably the best class of the week with the special needs students. They always get so excited to see me and just all around have great energy. My parents had a warm welcome by the Teachers and worked with a small group of students on practicing the letters ‘I’ and the letter ‘S’. While working with the students the teachers were setting up for a small breakfast in the kitchen. They had coffee and small finger food, known as quey, for my parents to try. It was so nice of them to organize this- I had no idea they were going to do that! After making small talk about our trip and what life was like in America we said our thank yous and goodbyes. We left class and then headed to my next class with form 4 amanah which we were a little late for. The students are all crazy, in the best way possible, and I talked with them before about teaching my parents a traditional dance that we do in Sabah called the Sumazau. The students moved the desks and led my parents to the center of the dance floor where they instructed them how to dance while I blasted the music. I got some great videos on my go-pro and will be sure to post some pictures. We left that class after giving out some chocolate coins, and headed to a form 6 class who are all pre-university and about 18 years old. This class was harder to plan for as they are less willing to be really outgoing, so we did a lesson on Malaysia where they taught my parents about the major Holidays observed. This class sort of dragged on and I could tell my parents were getting tired so we ended class early and with a giant selfie.

After school, we grabbed a quick lunch of martabak sayur and headed to the famous Poring Hot Springs. We enjoyed a butterfly garden, tree-top canopy walkways, and a short hike to a 50 foot waterfall! Poring was great but it was such a hot and humid day we were just ready to relax. We headed home and I got to nap for 2 hours before Doreen asked us to dinner. When we showed up to dinner I just expected Doreen and maybe her husband to be there. I was not prepared for 10 teachers including the principal to show up. There was a big buffet and mom couldn’t stop talking about the pumpkin soup. All in all, Doreen really pulled out all of the stops while they were here- I really appreciate everything she did. Shortly after dinner, when all of the muslims left, we drove to a bar down the street with Ravi, Rose, Zeddy, and the three of us started drinking Tiger. Ravi kept ordering set after set  and him and my dad were really getting along. Two kindred spirits for sure. After making a deal with Ravi that we could leave when all the beers were done, and no more sets to be ordered, we escaped and said our goodbyes to everyone as that was the last time my parents would see them. We laughed on the drive home about how funny the night was and were all looking forward to sleeping in the next morning.

Day 8: Dan Moore woke up super early, no surprise there, and was itching for me to connect my phone to his so he could browse the internet. With tired eyes and an attitude, I quickly connected our phones and closed my eyes for another much needed hour of sleep. We woke up and headed to the sports complex where we got ready to rent ATV’s. The paths the guide was taking us on were super overgrown, bumpy, and on the side of a mountain. All of these factors made it really hard to control the ATV. Dmoore was driving like an absolute savage and the guide and I kept exchanging worried looks when he would slam the gas instead of the break and narrowly avoided hitting one of us. Inevitably, something went wrong and we found ourselves in the emergency room for DJ reckless. In hindsight, it’s all really funny now but at the time I was nervous how this was going to impact our plans - especially if his ankle was broken! The hospital did an x-ray and said they didn’t think it was broken… but they would need an MRI to be sure about any other injuries. We asked for crutches and they told us that they were ‘finished’ no more crutches left.

We left Ranau with DJ reckless in the backseat and headed towards Kota Belud for a Proboscis river monkey tour and to grab lunch with my friends Janna and Kelsey. We found crutches at a Pharmacy in their town which really saved the day and made dmoore much more mobile and less hoppy. We ate lunch on a lake about a 10 minute drive from the ocean where we talked about the future, my parents trip, and the elephant in the room - dmoore’s swollen ankle. After lunch we went to my friend Jessi’s house where she lives with a Malay family and had tea and quey while we waited to go on the river monkey tour. We boarded a small boat and set off down a muddy river surrounded by jungle on all sides. We saw a giant monitor lizard, mud crabs, and the monkeys! It was hard to see the monkeys because they were so far but it was great to see them in the wild and in their natural habitat vs. a Zoo. The tour was really cool but I was really looking forward to firefly tour which we had to cancel because it was getting late and would be hard to fit dinner in with Claire later on. After saying goodbye to Jessi we grabbed a quick dinner with Claire before continuing the trek on into the city. We arrived at our hotel and we got ice for DJ recklesses ankle and gave into our craving for Western food and ordered pizza hut. Mom and Dad were so happy to be back in a clean, air-conditioned hotel room, while I was trying to live up the last few days before going back to reality (dirty water and fried rice). Mom and I went souvenir shopping and then we all turned in early that night.

Day 9: The last dayyyyy. We were able to sleep in until 9! We gathered our tired and sore bodies and headed to the hotel breakfast. The buffet overlooked the ocean and you could see all the small ferry boats shuttling people from island island to island like scurrying ants. We took extra coffee and tea from the buffet and brought it to the rooftop where we sat in the shade and tried to digest everything we’ve done over the last week. This inevitably led to DJ reckless ordering a healthy drink (coconut and cucumber juice) with a twist - just add vodka. We spent pretty much the whole day at the rooftop pool in and out of the water and shade ordering food and drinks. Dan and Cathy needed to get as much sun as possible as this is ‘it’ until next summer. Live music began around 7pm and was this awesome band doing covers of really mellow music- Maroon 5, The Carpenters, etc to give you the vibe. With an ocean breeze ruffling our hair, drinks in hand, and soft music in the background I knew we did good and was so happy everyone made it through the week alive. We definitely had some close calls with DJ reckless but nonetheless, a great time. Mom had been craving frozen yogurt all day and used our drunkenness to get us down to the first floor of the hotel where the mall connected to the hotel. Dmoore and I ordered tea in the piano lounge where a performer was just wrapping up playing. I waited until he was well out of earshot and began to play- it had been over a year! We ended with a really choppy version of Billy Joel’s piano man while dmoore was on vocals singing into his frozen yogurt like a microphone.

Overall, the week long trip felt like an eternity but also I blinked and then it was over. I feel so grateful that Mom and Dad flew all the way across the world to see me. It really validates my whole experience here and I know when I go home I can talk about it and someone will understand what I mean, or be able to relate past ‘oh that sounds cool’. I have really made a home for myself here and integrated myself into the community and it will not be easy to leave- especially with my students. I am also so happy they were able to come with open minds and hearts and experience a Muslim country in a time where it is unsafe to practice Islam in America. I hope they can help be a voice for the misunderstood and an ally against discrimination where it has become so normalised in the media to highlight a minority for their issues. Malaysia has become apart of me over this past year and I’m so happy the people that are closest to me are able to understand how this country and culture has shaped me.