Live and learn...

Awe....here is a post that I had written on my iPad a few nights ago but thought it was gone into cyber space...however once I got to my computer and a reliable internet connection, voila, the lost has been found...enjoy...

It's my last night in Thailand and I've spent the day doing absolutely nothing. That's right. Nothing. I stayed in bed right before the buffet breakfast ended, after which I came back to my room, sat on the Internet, messaged a few friends and family, and watched one of the only three English channels on tv.

I hauled my butt downstairs mid-afternoon and went for a dip in the pool. And literally it was a dip. I laid by the pool for a whole 45 minutes. Those of you who know me well, know that I'm not a sit around the pool doing nothing kinda girl, so I packed up my stuff and went to the restaurant for a snack. I ordered the prawn cakes with cucumber dip, thought it sounded interesting. And it was, but it wasn't the food that was the interesting part, it was once again my communication skills with the servers or lack thereof. So when my prawn cakes arrived, which were lovely by the way, there was no cucumber dip only a sweet and sour, chili and ketchup. So I asked the server if I could have some cucumber dip. After giving me an unusual look he called to a fellow co-worker and two of them came to my table to figure out what I was asking for. Between the two of them they both nodded their heads and repeated back to me cucumber. Awe...they understand. So a few minutes later the server arrives with a plate of sliced cucumber. Sigh. I guess my wishful thinking that I had finally learned how to communicate was in fact just wishful thinking. But regardless the prawn cakes were just fine with the sweet and sour sauce with a hint of chili.

After all was said and done it reminded me of a situation in Ao Nang at a restaurant where I had pointed to iced tea on the menu, the server shook her head in agreement and saw where I was pointing to on the menu and the next thing I see is a can of diet coke sitting in front if me. And just so you know the iced tea and diet coke were no where near each other on the menu.

One of the things I have learned while travelling is that even if a server or anyone who speaks a different language than you nods their head in agreement doesn't mean they understand. Boy have I ever been naive. Live and learn has a whole new meaning to me now.

And the journey continues...

I have been 'on the road' for 16 days now and soon it will be coming to an end. I am currently at Ao Nang beach in Thailand. Over the past 16 days I have been to Vietnam, Cambodia, and now at my final destination, Thailand, before I depart and head back to Malaysia. This trip has been a life changing experience...yes...kind of like eat, love, pray but different. I have met so many amazing people, seen such amazing scenery, landmarks, and learned a lot about the culture and history of these beautiful places, filled with beautiful people. Most of all I have learned a little more about me...who I am, who I want to be and what I want out of life. Travel has a funny way of opening our eyes not only to the unique destinations but into ourselves. I can't wait to re-experience my journey by the photos and memories I will hold dear to my heart.

Now, I am looking forward to the next destination...wherever that may be. Because the one thing I have learned throughout the last 4 months is that we all create our own experience, our own adventures no matter where in the world we are. We are the ones who get to choose how we want to live, how we accept life and how we look forward to the next chapter.

Good morning Vietnam...

I have arrived at my next destination.

Hello Vietnam.

Thankfully I made it to the hotel unscathed and got into my room, had dinner, booked a day tour all in a few short hours. I've settled in a few days before I will be heading out with a tour group, G Adventures.

So far I have visited the war remnant museum, China town, Thien Hau market, Binh Tay Market, Handicraft workshop, reunification palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, the general post office and City Hall. Day 1 complete.

Next on the agenda is the Cu Chi tunnels located just outside the city. The Cu Chi was an underground village during the war which has over 200 kms of tunnels located at Ben Dinh.

And in these few short days I have already fallen in love with Pho soup...so far I have tried both chicken and beef. Both are delicious and a must try when in Vietnam.

Looking forward to joining the group tomorrow night and meeting a few people. Maybe I'll even find a few friends who I can drag around after the sun sets. These evenings in could get old.

R n' R in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Kota Kinabalu, or as many locals call it KK, is a magical destination and is known around the world for being one of the best diving locations. Wish I liked diving. 

I love going to KK just to get away for a few days to lay on the beach for some rest and relaxation, do a bit of shopping and visit some of the local eateries. Just before Christmas I paid this tourist destination town a visit alone, but this time I had my trusty side-kick, Ridley, with me.

We arrived late on Friday night and stayed at Ming Gardens, a new four-star hotel complete with a large restaurant, a gym, spa, pool, lounge and bar. Saturday morning we enjoyed a buffet breakfast that had everything from sushi to scrambled eggs, followed by which we headed to the new shopping centre where we spent a majority of the day. 

We had decided prior to the trip that we wanted to have a spa day. We checked out the hotel spa to which we thought was a bit over priced. So, following our shopping excursion we started to check out the local spas. Ridley's aunt and uncle had recently visited one in KK but couldn't remember the name, however they did know the location, beside Starbucks. The hunt was on. We visited few different spas before we settled on one, which was not near a Starbucks. Actually we didn't even find the Starbucks until the night before we left. But we were determined to have our feet pampered. Ridley has never had a foot scrub, pedicure, manicure or well any spa treatment, ever. I on the other hand have and know what to expect. Both of us were taken to the back room and were instructed to sit in what were very comfy chairs, ok I thought to myself this isn't too bad. Then the young lady and her mother came into the room each carrying a large plastic bowl filled with water. Ridley and I stuck our feet in the water and that's about when we should have said thank you and left. The tool kit came out next and to be honest it looked like these tools had not been sanitized. I started taking deep breaths and telling myself, it's ok it will all be ok. And then they started scrubbing, and scrubbing and scrubbing. Poor Ridley's feet took a beating and at one point the mother, daughter teamed shared tools, and that's when I pulled my foot out of her hand and shook my head no. So there we sat not sure what to do but texting back and forth telling each other that we were doing it for the little girl who's mother was scrubbing my feet and grandmother was scrubbing Ridley's feet and hoping that our money was going into her college fund. What an adventure and so far nothing unusual has sprouted on either of our feet, I think we will be safe, or here's hoping anyway. 

You would think after the foot experience we would learn. But for some reason we didn't, because before even leaving the building after our infamous foot scrub, we are stopped by a different spa and in we went. I, however, went for the full one hour body massage and foot reflexology rather than any pedicure or manicure. I figured it was safer having someone rub my back and feet than dig or scrub with some unsanitized tools. Yeah, wrong again. At one point during this said massage I was once again thinking to myself it will be ok, I will survive but I wasn't sure if I would get out of there without any bruises. Ridley on the other had decided to do the pedicure, manicure and full body massage because it was cheap. Yeah and basically they trimmed his toe nails and finger nails and called it good. I had to explain to him that it was not a pedicure or manicure by any standard. Together we have quite the misadventures. We are starting to believe that it is just the way its supposed to be, but hey it makes for great stories to tell.

Since we had such a large breakfast we skipped lunch but once supper time hit we were starved. We went on the hunt for the new Welcome Seafood restaurant in Asia City. Ridley's sister recommended we visit this restaurant which opened last December. And, yeah, despite our best efforts we couldn't find Welcome Seafood. Even after we were stopped by a salesman trying to sell us some rings which we declined, he then went on to ask us, "You look like you are lost, can I help you?" We explained we were looking for Welcome Seafood, he then pointed in the direction where we were to go, and we still couldn't find Welcome Seafood. Sigh. This is Ridley hijacking Shelley's blog to tell you all how much I love this girl and how awesome she is...now back to your regularly scheduled program.By this time one out of the two of us was getting a wee bit cranky and we ended up stopping at the first decent looking restaurant for a bite to eat. With our bellies full we headed back to the hotel to retire for the evening.

The next day was pool day. We headed downstairs after another buffet breakfast where we layed by the pool for the morning and early afternoon. By 2 p.m. we were checked out and headed to our next destination, the Pacific Sutera Harbour Resort. We stayed at this particular resort last year and we knew it had its own private beach so off we went for our last night of misadventures. The rest of the day we relaxed by the pool and near the beach at the resort and later went for supper at Grazie, an Italian restaurant. To our surprise this was the second Italian restaurant in Malaysia that we would visit again. We shared a pizza and pasta dish, both of which were amazing ending out trip in KK well worth it despite our sore feet and muscles. 

Weekend get-away...

And...I am back...again to Kota Kinabalu. But this time with Ridley, which means it will be much more entertaining than it was before Christmas when I came by myself. It was about one year ago that we were here last and stayed at the Pacific Sutra Harbour, complete with its own private beach, pool, swim up bar, golf course, and marina. This time we are staying at Ming Garden Hotel which is a wee bit closer to the downtown core, which also mean closer to the mall for me. 

View of the hotel, Pacific Sutra Harbour we stayed last year.

Last years attempt at taking an action shot...
apparently we need to practice our jump shots.

Sutra's pool with view of the sea.

What's on the menu...

I celebrated my third wedding a few days ago. Well, not MY third wedding, just the third Chinese wedding I have attended in the last three and a half months.

The one thing about the Chinese weddings I have attended, is that the food keeps coming. Dish after dish is served and typically it takes a few hours to finish the meal.

Here is the menu from the last wedding I attended...

• Mandarin Oranges
• Hot and Cold Dish Combination (exactly what it sounds like...a combination of appetizer type food)
• Shark Fin with Dried Scallop and Crabmeat Soup
• Streamed Fresh Water Fish with Oyster Sauce
• Braised Chicken with Lotus Seeds and Assorted Mushrooms
• Roasted Crispy Duckling
• Stew Three Variety Dry Seafood with Oyster Sauce
• Braise Shell Prawn in Butter Milk 
• Honeydew with Yam and Pumpkin in Coconut Milk

I can honestly say that I enjoy the Shark Fin soup, although I won't eat any of the meat only the broth, and with vinegar. I actually hope that there aren't any real fin's in the soup, however in reality I suppose if it says Shark Fin soup, you are guaranteed there will be Shark Fin's in the soup. Sigh. Maybe next time I will pass. Also, who knew I would enjoy eating duck, but I do, and with a bit of soya sauce, chili and garlic, it is delicious. Oh, but my ultimate favourite is the butter milk prawns. I could honestly eat a whole plate of these, well as long as they are peeled. I am such a girl, or I should say an Alberta girl where I eat a lot more medium rare sirloin steak and a side of mashed potato than peeling prawns.

Big goofy grins after my third Chinese wedding dinner.

Homemade treats...

Steamed coffee cake and curry puffs.

I grew up on a farm and all of my teenage years we lived just outside of a town with a population of about 1,100. I loved my small town, but it also meant that I didn't get to experience a lot of different foods or cultures.

So now I am embracing it all. A few years ago I had never tried curry, or rambutan, or lasksa, or nasi lemak, or rojack...or...ok you get the picture.

There is one thing that I do love and honestly hope that I can recreate when I travel back to Canada, and that's Momma Chen's homemade curry puffs. I know for a fact that I will not be able to recreate them quite like her, but I may have to recruit my sister to try, even if its just once.

Before Chinese New Years we spent part of a day making curry puffs, rolling the dough, letting the dough sit, making two different kinds of dough so the pastry was nice and fluffy, oh and the day before was spent making the potato curry filling for the inside. So, as you can see by this very brief description that making curry puffs is quite the process and quite frankly should require a team to complete. But oh they are well worth it.

Then there is the steamed nescafe layer cake. I had never tried steamed cake before but it is so moist and keeps much longer than traditionally baked cakes but also take much longer to complete. Some cakes can can take hours before they are ready.

One thing is for sure, I will be coming home with a few new recipes ...