Beach Days

"Sunset everday!" advertises one of the guesthouses near ours. "Really?" I want to ask, "Every day?"

But that's the point of life here on Koh Phangan, an Island in southern Thailand: when your routine is eat, sunbathe, swim, repeat, there's no need to do anything out of the ordinary. We did make an exception for massages, though.

Koh Phangan is the party capitol of the world, but with Eric on antibiotics (and finally feeling a bit better!) and me no big fan of drinking alone, we've been keeping to our quiet beach bungalow in the northern part of the island.

Lying on a beach may be fun, but it doesn't make for riveting reading, so I'll keep this short. More to come in the next few days as we head back to Bangkok an then on to some more cultural destinations!

Hello, Thailand!

I kept saying I wasn't going to Thailand. Everyone goes to Thailand, I said. All there is to do is sit on the beach and eat and drink and get massages, I said. I say the darndest things.

Luckily, I decided there are worse things than a beach vacation, and it might be, you know, fun. With my first bites of Thai curry, I was wholeheartedly eating any naysaying words. And then I had dinner again at a different restaurant, because the food here is that good.

Home Away from Home

One of the best things about having the family in China is that I've gotten to enjoy a lot of the things I've missed over the last year, among them eating Christmas cookies, swapping music with Eric, and losing at Scrabble (Thanks, Mom. The world is at peace.).

But if the family is bringing a bit of home to me, it's even more fun to show them some of my favorite things about China and there's no better place to do that than Yangshuo, where I've spent much of my time over the last year. We've eaten at some of my favorite restaurants, relaxed in one of my favorite coffee shops, and even visited my favorite massage parlor.

A Christmas Spectacle

At an acrobatics show in Beijing last week, it was easy to forget that I was in China. Seeing a circus with my family? Yeah, that's pretty much Piper childhood 101 (Did I never mention the three years when we shared our house with circus performers?). Sure, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall were unusual, but it took Christmas Eve in Xi'an to get it through my head that, even though my family is here, we are not in America.

After about a week in bustling Beijing, we were glad to get to a smaller city (Xi'an is only the size of the Chicago Metropolitan Area. How tiny.) and spend a day visiting one of the best history museums in the country and wandering around the Muslim district. But when darkness fell on Christmas eve, the city transformed. People took to the streets in costume: glittering masks, light up santa hats, devil horns, Scream masks, witch hats, and blonde wigs. I don't know what people in Xi'an do for Halloween, but I'm pretty sure they'll be able to recycle their Christmas outfits when the time comes.

Beijing Reunion!

The family made it safe and sound to Beijing the night before last and we've barely sat down since. In the last two days, along with my Dragonfly friend Laura, we've hit up the Forbidden City and climbed the Great Wall. It's been surreal to see them again after almost a year!

Back on the Road, Back on the Blog

I first got to Hong Kong last September, expecting to stay for a few months. It's now been almost 16 (although I did spend one of those months at home). I've met awesome people, gone on wild adventures, and eaten a whole lot of eggplant; I'm so glad to have stayed as long as I did. 

What's most amazing to me is how fast it's gone by. There were some long days, but the months have been short. Over drinks not long ago, an old friend of my dad's warned that life is only going to get faster, that the only way to slow things down is to keep having new experiences.

My bags are packed and I'm ready to slow time down for awhile. This adventure will start with two weeks in China with my family. I can't wait to show them my Chinese skills (See guys! That education you paid for taught me something!) as we visit Beijing, Xi'an and Yangshuo, three of the coolest places in China. After that, Eric and I are looking forward to a couple weeks of roaming around Thailand. And after that? I'm not sure, but I don't have a ticket home yet! I'll keep you posted.

PS: I know I've been terrible about posting updates. What can I say? It's been a busy, work-filled fall.

Tianchi

Out of everywhere we've been, we expected Tianchi, a picturesque
mountain lake only two hours from Urumqi, to be the most touristy.
Although we did see overflowing parking lots and tourist busses, we
also managed to get away from it all and enjoy one of the most relaxed
hikes of our trip. AND we got to meet some really cute little kids.
Really, really cute.

The lake was so unbelievably blue that Lily couldn't resist jumping
in. She is immune to all differences of temperature and thus didn't
notice that the lake was also unbelievably cold. Freezing! I was
sitting onshore, feeling like a dry wimp, when two little girls
waltzed up and wanted to hang out. I was off the hook when it came to
getting in the freezing water (well, for 24 hours, anyway). Victory!