The Paper Anniversary

With our wedding anniversary due in less than a month, we decided to finally go on our official honeymoon. As you may have known, we didn't get a chance to get away after our wedding since my wife went back to Hong Kong immediately after the wedding. On top of that, the tiny Maui wedding practically broke our piggy bank. Who would have thunk the wedding photographer alone was going to cost $5k+? We thought we were smart to have a destination wedding to control costs...hah!

So what I learned recently is that the end of the first year of the marriage is marked as the "paper" anniversary. We are supposed to eat the top layer of the wedding cake. The cake should have been frozen in the freezer. We didn't do it. Who does that anyway? Who eats a 1 year old cake?? And on top of that, what kind of gift is exchanged during the "paper" anniversary? Does anyone have clever suggestions for a gift?

Our honeymoon destinations were Chiang Mai & Phuket in Thailand. Since we totally enjoyed our last trip to Thailand, we decided to go back and check out the rest of the country. These two places can't be more different, Phuket is a tropical island with tons of beautiful beaches while Chiang Mai has the old town feel, surrounded by luscious mountains and rain forests. Phuket is full of tourists with an international airport while Chiang Mai is by way of the capital, Bangkok.

Though both places are worth your time and money, you can certainly stretch your dollar a little further in Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is worth experiencing if you have never been there but once is enough to take in the culture and outdoor activities. Phuket is much easier to get to but being a tropical paradise, it's more expensive. Who gets tired of laying at the beach, eating wonderful Thai cuisines, and getting massages right? It's cheaper than Hawaii and if you prefer Thai food over luau food, it's the perfect getaway for a great R&R.


Private honeymoon suite, not. Standard sea view suite at the Arraya Hilltop in Phuket.


The best part of the suite was the fresh fruit welcome basket! Bananas, red apple, and the logans are easily identifiable to all of us. However, the other two are not. I believe the green fruit in the middle is the waterapple. It's softer than a regular apple. My favorite is the Sapodilla. It's very sweet and taste a bit like molasses. I haven't had it in over twenty years! Sooo goooood.


This is Maya Bay, location of Danny Boyle's film, The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio. It's the smaller of the two Phi Phi islands, about an hour speed boat ride from Phuket. It's Phi Phi islands tour is mandatory if you're in Phuket.


A party cruiser with a few hundred tourists, docked by Monkey Beach near Phi Phi islands.


We snorkeled around Khai island and saw a shark, abate a baby one.


Surin beach, a quick 2min walk from the hotel. A quiet day due to the low season. High season picks up starting in November where people from colder places take it to the warm southeast vacation spots.


The most expensive water sport is jet skiing. Cost about $50 USD for 30 mins. We were happy to lay by the beach and stare at it. What a relaxing time.


The liveliest beach in Phuket.


Two chairs for $160 Bahts. The exchange rate in our Lonely Planet guide is 1 dollar to $40 bahts but nowadays, it's only $33 bahts to a buck! Sadly, the mightly dollar is depreciating all over the world.


The colorful taxi vans are everywhere along the side of Patong Beach.




This Patong street is full of bars and clubs, exuding Phuket's exciting nightlife. Lots of lady boys roam the streets! Be careful when picking up local chicks ;)


This is the view from our hotel room in Chiang Mai. No beach here. Just a beautiful city.


We discovered this Shabu Shabu place while walking around town. It's a Shabu Shabu boat restuarant, where the veggie and meat for your shabu shabu are priced by the plate.


The bazaar night market. Chiang Mai comes to life at night.


Paying for the Tuk Tuk (pronounced took took) ride.


This is the Maesa elephant camp. This is the last time we are riding elephants. We discovered that the trainers use sharp iron hooks to train the elephants. They are such huge animals but I'm sure it still hurts!


You can tell they were happy to be washed down by the trainers after a long day of carrying people up and down the hills.


Thai cookery school. The best thai meal we have ever made: Papaya salad, tom yum goong soup, green curry, penang curry, and mango sticky rice were just a few of the dishes we made.


Zip-lining through the rain forest.


Look, no hand!


Chowing down on a Pad Thai omelet.


We sampled a few local food stands. Luckily, no stomach issues at all! Phew.

Chiang Mai beer is good and cheap. Some late night snacks before bed.

Cheap Eats

It's been 4 months since I last blogged. Three of those months, I was back in the good ol' U.S. of A. Now that I'm back and though we are coming out of a recession, I think it would be fitting to discuss a few cheap eats in Hong Kong. Being the financial capital of Asia, Hong Kong caters to both international visitors, expats and locals, ranging from 5 star Michelin & Zagat rated restaurants to very basic, affordable local "hole in the wall" diners, where personal space and napkins are non-existent; the use of the table and chair will cost extra sometimes.

Lan Fong Yuen is considered a landmark to everyone who works and lives in the SOHO/Central district. This is the epitome of a hole in the wall spot, one of the best actually. Gaining entry to it requires squeezing through the tiny opening next to the take out window!

The place is famous for three things. Pork chop buns (not pictured), grilled chicken with spring onion oil over instant noodle (yes, it's straight out of a normal instant noodle package you can buy at the supermarket!), and the thirdd item is salted lemon with 7up (pictured above, it's a lemon marinated in salted water for a period of time). Also, everyone likes the milk tea here too but I can't discern the difference w/ other milk tea in HK.

No lie, everyone at my table ordered the same stuff! We had toast spread w/ condense milk (forgot to take a picture but I'm sure you can picture toast w/ condense milk :), two chicken noodle plates, two drinks for a grand total of $12 USD, no tax nor tips.

This is the entire place, 6 round tables with stools. The trick is to eat w/ your elbows tucked into your body so you don't bump into the person next to you. All tables are shared and believe me, there's no open stool during peak hours. If you get a left hander eating next to you, forget about it!

This tiny breakfast stand is on a footbridge next to Cisco's building. Mostly take out since sitting at the table costs extra.

$1.70 USD for rice noodle, sui mai, and a milk tea.

Locals really love pork chop with curry over rice. Very simple but a delicious dish. $5 USD lunch box take out. Napkins not included.

Herbal tea shops are ubiquitous in local neighborhoods. A healthy body has to be a balanced body. After eating fried pork chop for lunch, two cups of tea (24 different herbs and sweet flower ) were perfect to cool my "hot" body down.

60 cents for a cup. Extra dark = extra bitter but more effective.

Starbucks is not exactly cheap eats since a "short" cup (smaller than a "tall") of coffee costs more than my breakfast! About $2 USD for this tiny thing. Too bad we don't have enough kitchen-counter space for a coffee maker. We would have to give up our rice cooker to make room for a coffee maker.

Didn't Starbucks reduce the price of a "tall" coffee to a buck now in the U.S.? Man, I miss my Peet's coffee...