Not that anyone reads this thing here, but I’ve found a new home.

http://beckymonster.blogspot.com/

^ Check it out, my mom is terrified on the tuk-tuk!

Southeastern Asia was definitely on my long bucket list of places to visit, and what other southeast Asian city stands out more than BANGKOK? 

Since I went with my mother, I probably had a very different experience from backpackers (no red light district for us, but we did see plenty of shady stuff…prostitutes soliciting customers on the boardwalk in Pattaya, cockfights at the weekend open market, and animal abuse at the elephant village just to name a few) and honeymooners (no spa resort or waterfalls for us). 

Pretty much everyone we encountered in Bangkok was extremely courteous with one big exception; this lady who was in charge of transporting people back and forth for the day tours. If I can remember the name of the company, I would definitely black list them all over the internet and warn my friends not to give them any business. We were just cattle to that woman!

The food was OK, hit or misses everywhere, but super cheap and easy to come by. Unfortunately, I had a sore throat so I didn’t get to have much spicy food (gotta love that tom yum). 

Bangkok is a bustling city; their traffic is horrendous but there’s lots to see. They seem really into their open markets (Chatuchak weekend market, floating markets, night markets, etc) so that was really enjoyable. 

Thank goodness I’m not a travel writer because I’m pretty bad at this. So here are some pictures. 

Haha, if it weren’t for some really kickass friends I had, I would’ve probably transferred out sooner. Are you still @ SJU?

Bet you thought I died from jumping out of a plane didn’t you?

Well I didn’t, hence this post which is 2 months overdue.

It was exhilarating, surreal, and fucking scary! I believe that anyone who goes skydiving should go at least twice. The first time because it’s the first time and the second time to really appreciate it, because you’re too busy screaming your head off during your first time. Not that I was screaming my head off, my mouth is open because I was going through a thick cloud and couldn’t breath haha. 

I have no idea how to post photos and make them look pretty and neat so just take it or leave it:

That’s right. I am going skydiving this Saturday. I’m pretty scared. The crazy shit one does after a breakup.

My theme this summer: “I’m living the hell out of this summer”.

Hope this summer doesn’t live the hell out of me!

I think I’m going to take a different direction with this blog. Instead of learning stuff every month (which seems to be boring me already), I’ll work on my “Bucket List” aka my embarrassingly long To-Do list. Most of these things include visiting foodie spots in NYC (The Meatball Shop, Nobu, Babbo, Calexico Food Cart, etc) but I’ve also included learning totally new skills (French and surfing being the big 2), perfecting ones I already know (yoga, swimming, rock wall climbing to name a few), and just going on a handful of adventures (hang gliding in Costa Rica, tanning in Buenos Aires, exploring Europe for the first time..any takers?). 

I’ll start slow. My brother and I were eating xiao long bao (store-bought, not the succulent kind my mom is currently chowing down on for breakfast in Shanghai) and bitched about how it’s so hard to find good sanji (basically pan-fried xiao long bao..extremely savory pan-fried xiao long bao) in the states. So, I made it my personal mission to find places that actually sold these at all. Updates later. 

Yes, I’m totally taking the easy way out. To make it more of a challenge, I’ll attempt to find the sanjis before the end of April. 

I was born and lived in New York City my entire life. Sure, I’ve been on vacation here and there but I’ve never lived outside of NYC and thus I have been feeling like I haven’t lived. I’ve been keeping myself in this (not so) little bubble and as melodramatic as I sound..it is time to break free.

I always thought this city had all that I needed and all that I’ll ever want but for the past few years, I just can’t deny that this place..this place just isn’t enough..at least not for now. I think if I don’t go soon I’ll resent everything and everyone that anchors me to the city. It’s time for a break, but when, and where to?

*Singapore

*Thailand

*Hong Kong

*Melbourne

*Sydney

*Los Angeles

*San Diego

These are the places I would not mind staying for about half a year or so.

If anyone has lived in these cities, do tell. Especially if you’ve moved from one to the other. Let me live vicariously through you until I can make the big move myself.

staff:

In light of the recent disasters, our hearts are focused on the vibrant and wonderful community in Japan. Your resilience is inspiring, and we hope that recovery will be swift and complete. 少しでも皆さんの力となり、一日でも早く日常の生活が取り戻せる事を願います。

As of today, Japanese is now the newest language available on Tumblr. We’re very grateful for our amazing members in the Japanese community, and we hope you’ll find the new option useful. You can change your language setting on your Preferences page.

To aid the relief and emergency efforts, we’re asking all of our members to contribute to Red Cross International from your Dashboard. Look for the message on the sidebar. Members who donate will unlock the Limited Edition Japanese Tumblr Logo, and Tumblr will match your contributions up to $15,000.

You can also keep up with news from Japan via the #Japan tag page.

日本の皆さま, 頑張ってください。

Love, タンブラー

Beautiful graphic by Rob Dobi

Playa Del Carmen, 2009