I don't have anything deep to share here, just thought I should do some kind of final wrap-up post reflecting on my trip. The two questions I've gotten most often are 1) did I ever feel unsafe and 2) what was the best meal.
1. I felt nervous sometimes if I was walking around by myself at night, but that would be true in any city around the world. I was afraid for my life when Hayley and I were barreling up Mt. Bromo, through the pre-dawn darkness and fog in a jeep with no seat belts—but that wasn't so much about other people. I was a little apprehensive when a Vietnamese waitress put me on the back of her scooter and drove me down the street to an ATM, but hey I survived all of it totally unscathed!
2. This is a tough one. So many meals were memorable for different reasons. In Indonesia, my favorites were:
a) the vegan Chinese food we bought on the street in Jakarta from our friend Hendi, because it was delicious and he was so friendly
b) the gado-gado I ate overlooking two volcanoes and a lake in central Bali, because of the views and the wonder of being in a tiny wooden shack on the side of a mountain with such views—and
c) the gado-gado I ate on Gili T simply because it was the most delicious.
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| exhibit A |
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| exhibit B |
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| exhibit C |
The best meal on the entire trip in terms of taste was this vegetarian curry soup I got in Singapore's Chinatown:
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| I wish I knew the name of it! I think I just assumed I'd never find a vegetarian version in the US... |
Vietnam was my favorite country for food overall. It was easy to find vegetarian options, and I loved having veggie pho (noodle soup with clear broth) or banana-honey crepes for breakfast every day.
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| delicious veggie pho |
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| more vegetarian pho, with fried (vegan) spring rolls. and iced coffee! |
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| the turmeric and onion-stuffed tofu in the top back corner was incredible. |
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| love me a beautiful breakfast :D |
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| standard vietnamese breakfast, at least for tourists! |
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| another top meal of the entire trip based on taste—I'd say second only to the Singapore lunch. This was in a vegetarian restaurant in Ha Noi! |
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| continued from above. The dishes just kept coming! |
Thailand was also a highlight for food, though I felt there was less vegetarian variety. Here are my favorites from Thailand:
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| The best pad thai, hands down. |
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| the best mango sticky rice. that presentation!!! |
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| I'm gonna revise my previous assessment and call this the best meal of the trip. It was so fun making all this, especially with Laini! |
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| my favorite dish that I made during the cooking class |
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| gimme papaya salad all day erry day |
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| that vegan restaurant in Bangkok - I will never forget u |
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| I'll admit there was one other set of pancakes (in Ubud, Bali) that matched these in terms of deliciousness. But I was trying to avoid posting too many Western meals. But this one was just too beautiful. |
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| second best mango sticky rice, thanks to the coconut ice cream on top 😋 |
I can't possibly rank all the views and experiences, but I have decided that my top three were:
1. The overnight boat cruise in Lan Ha / Ha Long Bay. Loved being on the water, with the breeze and sun, with a fun group, getting to swim, kayaking through caves into secret lagoons, seeing jellyfish (from the kayak), eating delicious food, and staying in an extremely comfortable room (with a shower door that sealed in the water 🥹).
2. Snorkeling around the Gili Islands. Again, I loved being out on the water all day and swimming, plus seeing turtles and fish, and eating lunch and drinking coconut water on the beach.
3. The cooking class with Laini. See photos above!
Overall, I'm immensely grateful that I got to see so many countries and to spend that much time traveling in such a faraway part of the world. This was a dream vacation for me, one that I've wanted to do since college. I was just waiting for the right time when I could take enough weeks off to make the expensive and long to/from flights worthwhile—especially since everything is so cheap once you get there. (All in all, I spent about $5,500 on the trip, including: all the travel costs within and between countries, all the housing, all the food, all the tickets and booking fees, all the souvenirs, and miscellaneous costs like travel insurance, phone data, the stupid $200 I paid to expedite my Vietnam visa, the ridiculous $35 I paid to pass through the Jakarta airport on my way home, and the absurd $100+ I inadvertently paid in ATM fees, not realizing that I was getting charged $5 by PNC every time I withdrew cash. In addition to the fees charged by the ATMs themselves. SMH.) I recognize how hugely lucky I am to have had the money to do this trip. And I'm so thankful for my friends Hayley and Laini who joined me for big parts of it! It's so special to share those memories with them.
I'm wrapping this up exactly one week before I head out on my next big adventure: The Olympics in Paris!!! I don't plan to blog about it every day like I did for Southeast Asia, but I will aim to post at least 1-2 times per week so as to record the highlights as well as any small funny moments worth sharing. Til then <3
