A sea of fresh, fun
vibrant colors waiting to
be consumed by you Continue reading “Farmers Market Finds”
Sukhothai: An Introduction
This is part one of a three-part Sukhothai series
The Sukhothai Kingdom, dating from the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries C.E., is historically known as the first capital of Siam (just to clarify, Siam is the name that The Kingdom of Thailand was known by internationally until the mid-twentieth century). Sukhothai Province is, therefore, one of two provinces in Thailand that is home to significant cultural and historical ruins from a former capital city (the other is Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province just northeast of Bangkok, which is home to Siam’s second capital).
Given my love of history and desire to see new places, I was eager to make it to the ruins of Sukhothai prior to my departure from The Kingdom–and boy, am I glad I did. My trip to Sukhothai happened in the five days I had between returning to Bangkok from Europe, and meeting my parents in Bangkok for our travels around Thailand together. What a grand time I had on this solo trip. I’m so thankful I took it upon myself to make this journey in the few extra days I had to myself in Thailand–especially when I could have very easily stayed in bustling Bangkok…I mean, it’s not like Bangkok is hurting for things do see and do. Still, I wanted to experience some place new…and Sukhothai was an absolutely perfect adventure.
Aside from the two lengthy days of travel that it took to get to and from Sukhothai from Bangkok, I spent three full Continue reading “Sukhothai: An Introduction”
Som Tam
#WeekendCoffeeShare–Life Updates and Realizations
If we were having coffee, I’d probably first give you a big hug (if you’re a hug person, that is…please let me know ahead of time) and then I’d say how good it is to see you. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve joined the coffee share, but life in Thailand has been quite busy.
If we were having coffee, I’d catch you up on the last few weeks. I’d tell you about celebrating Christmas in Thailand at school (where we did Christmas activities the first three class periods before continuing a normal day of school) and on celebrating in Bangkok over the weekend with my TESOL friends–which included ice skating in a mall and going to a really cool bar that looked like Hogwarts on the inside (it’s called The Iron Fairies and if you ever find yourself in BKK, I recommend it). I’d tell you about our New Years Party at school and the MASSIVE, school-wide gift exchange that we did. It was crazy and took at least two hours to pass out all the gifts. Every gift had a number attached to it and every student and staff member got a number on a piece of paper–whatever number you got lined up with a specific gift, and that was your New Years gift! It was so fun and quite a scene to watch. I’d lastly tell you about spending New Years down south on the island-province of Phuket and how lovely and fantastic that was (and I wouldn’t go into too much detail because Continue reading “#WeekendCoffeeShare–Life Updates and Realizations”
For the Love of PAI
A hipster’s paradise with a small town vibe.
So much to do, so much to see.
An abundance of natural beauty EVERYWHERE.
Something for everyone.
— — — —
If you were to ask me to write up a tourist pamphlet for Pai, Thailand, I’d most likely write something akin to the above.
Yeah, it’s corny. But it’s kind of a little bit 100% accurate.
— — — —
When my TESOL class found out we had a three day weekend in the third week of the course, we immediately started making plans (ha, well some of us started making plans and the rest tagged along. I must admit, I am NOT a planner…something I want to get better at while living abroad).
We wanted to get out of Chiang Mai for a little bit and the obvious choice for many of us was to head to Pai–a small resort town in the Northern mountains of Thailand.
Pai is this expats haven in the middle of Thailand. I saw more Farangs (the Thai word for “Westerner”) during my one and a half day stay in Pai than I have since leaving the United States. It was a little weird, to be quite honest. It didn’t feel quite like Thailand. But that’s absolutely okay…because Pai is it’s own little world. It’s own little oasis to get away to…and everyone needs to get away at some point.
— — — —
Honestly, I didn’t realize how stressed out I was from my TESOL course until I got to Pai.
Highlights from our trip included chilling by the sweet pool at our accommodation. Speaking of Continue reading “For the Love of PAI”
When Did Thin Shaming Become an Okay Thing?
“You’re a vegetarian? No wonder you’re so skinny.”
(Well, I lost a few pounds when I quit eating meat, but I’ve always been thin. It’s kind of just the way my body is)
“Do you ever eat anything other than a salad?”
(Um. Yes. It’s just easy to pack for lunch…hence why I eat them a lot)
“Oh c’mon, like you really need to worry about packing the pounds on…”
(Maybe not, but I still like to eat healthy because it makes me feel better in general…and I prefer feeling better in general)
— — — —
Here, I give you a few of the comments I’ve received from my coworkers about my weight throughout the course of the summer. Kind of annoying, ay?
Yes, yes, very annoying.
I wrote this a long time ago and I write and blog completely different (and, quite frankly, better) now. That said, I think there are some worthy points in this post. Hence, the reblog.
Seriously. Thin shaming. Fat shaming. They’re both hurtful and they both do more harm than good. JUST STOP WITH THE BOTH!
Just to clarify, this was originally published on my first blog, “Letting the World Fall Into Place” on February 7, 2014, under the title “Let’s Talk About Body Image.” It’s a post I’ve always been extremely proud of…probably my strongest post from “Letting the World Fall Into Place,” and I kind of just want to get it out there again for a new audience; I wouldn’t be publishing this again if it wasn’t something I felt strongly about. I changed the title to something I felt better represents my original goals with the post (because really, when did thin shaming become a thing? There are so many things wrong with it!) and I’ve made a few slight changes to the post itself; otherwise, it very closely resembles the original post from February. So, without further ado…
Today, this image showed up on my facebook newsfeed:
Now let me just say, I think…
View original post 1,087 more words
Champon
A sea food medley
An Asian delight…messy
but oh so tasty
#WeekendCoffeeShare — The Barista Scoop Edition
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that, as an espresso bar barista, I’ve been scooping up more ice cream than making any sort of coffee drink…by far. From there, I’d probably spend a few short minutes complaining about how unbelievably sore my right arm is from completing that task about seventy-five times within an hour (five scoops per twenty ounce milkshake and I surely made fifteen, if not more).
If we were having coffee, I’d have to explain to you how the espresso bar I work in is actually located inside a gas station. It’s a pretty nice gas station, as gas stations go, and, along with the espresso bar, there’s also a full deli where customers can get hot food. It’s a hot spot for lunch and yesterday, Friday, was hopping. There’s a special the deli offers that includes a twenty ounce milkshake or a smoothie with the meal so, naturally, right after customers get their food to go, they come our way. There were three of us behind the counter at one point all vying for the two blenders (something we desperately need at least two more of) to make either another smoothie or milkshake order. Mostly milkshakes yesterday. I’d tell you that, to make matters worse, my utter dependency on the recipe binder (It was my third day, I definitely DON’T have all the recipes memorized yet) slowed us down a bit. Well, at least I can say I can now make chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and oreo milkshakes without the binder after yesterday…but those are basically the easiest recipes anyhow. I’d probably then say something along the lines of, “Welp, we all have to start somewhere.” After that, I’d finally remember to point out–since I got side tracked with the milkshakes–that there’s also a Continue reading “#WeekendCoffeeShare — The Barista Scoop Edition”
It’s That Time in the Semester…
Stress hunger.
It’s a thing.
A thing I recently developed last semester.
In the last month or so of last semester, I was always hungry. I was eating at all hours of the day. 3 a.m.? No problem. I was up writing those papers I had Continue reading “It’s That Time in the Semester…”
A Tomato Tale
Growing up, I wasn’t much of a picky eater. I was fortunate enough to live in a household where family dinners were a common thing. Both of my parents enjoy cooking and are good at it (which led me to be incredibly spoiled when it came to food, so cooking isn’t exactly something that I thrive at…I’m trying to learn though!). As a result of my parents love of food and cooking, I was exposed early on to a wide variety of foods and liked most of them.
That being said, like every child, I had those certain foods that I absolutely abhorred. The worst of those foods was the tomato. The tomato, which has suffered throughout the ages from an identity crisis of the highest degree (the poor fruit that is constantly mistaken as a vegetable) was getting absolutely no love from me. I absolutely hated tomatoes and, as far as I was concerned, tomatoes hated me.
I liked ketchup and salsa and tomato sauce and tomato soup. I remember people asking me how I could like these foods that very clearly had tomatoes in
them, but refused to eat the fruit by itself. I guess there was something different about the tomato when it was mixed with copious amounts of sodium, high fructose corn syrup, and other goodies. Plain old tomatoes, though, were absolutely disgusting. The thought of eating them on their own made me cringe.
Tomatos were, simply put, to be avoided at all costs.
Until about three months ago. I don’t remember why I was eating a tomato in the first place, given my known aversion to them. Perhaps I decided to try one just for kicks. Tastes can change, after all. Regardless, I ate at tomato willingly for the first time in forever. Yes, I ate a tomato willingly. And I loved it. If my parents end up Continue reading “A Tomato Tale”
It's a Britta Bottle! 