On My Malaysian Bookshelf
Unlike Thailand and Vietnam, I had zero expectations of Malaysia. I wasn’t familiar with the cuisine, I hadn’t seen it portrayed in tv or movies, it never came up in history or art classes. When we arrived in Kuala Lumper, though, I was immediately impressed by this large multicultural city.
Kuala Lumpur, Initial Impressions
Kuala Lumpur is amazing. No other place we’ve visited in Southeast Asia feels like KL does. The city itself is huge with 2.1M residents in the city proper with something like 8M in the metro area. The metropolitan area is sprawled out in a way that would feel extremely familiar to anyone who’s been to one of the big cities in the US.
Vacation in Siem Reap, Cambodia
Since we’re visiting south east asia we decided to have a short stay here in Cambodia between countries. The weather is hot and humid, and I’m pretty sure it always is. I find it fascinating that the people here have more different physical appearance than in Vietnam or Thailand. More dark skin, and less east asian than the people of its eastern and western neighbors.
Our Time in Hoi An: A Month of Food
I’ve been a bit negligent in sharing much on our blog about our time here in Vietnam. It’s been quite a great experience and i’m sure that we’ll be back to see more some day. This trip to Vietnam we spent our time essentially in one city. The city of Hoi An. Hoi An is a city of about 300,000 people located about 45 minutes outside of the much larger city of Da Nang which has a population of 3,000,000.
Your Phone while traveling as a Nomad
In the current age, our cell phones are just about the most important thing that we have as travelers. It’s where our maps are. It’s how we get a ride to our destination. It’s how we communicate with people whose language we can’t speak
On My Vietnamese Bookshelf
My awareness of Vietnam’s history and place in the world when we arrived here was spotty, at best. I knew it primarily by its food, notably the subtle yet complex broth in a good bowl of pho.
Sending Mail Home from Vietnam
I found some great postcards at a shop called Little Cat Studio in the old city of Hỏi An, Vietnam. They have watercolor illustrations of Vietnamese food and life on the front, and are printed on soft, thick handmade paper. It wasn’t until a couple of days after buying them that I sat down to address the cards and noticed something strange.
First week in Vietnam
We’ve been enjoying the warm ( by US standards ) weather and learning more about the history and present day region of Vietnam that we’re currently living in.
I think that what’s surprising me the most about Vietnam is how different it is than Thailand. In common, they both have a lot of English spoken by locals, especially those who cater to the tourism market. But the relative lack of temples and Buddhism caught me off guard.
Church in Vietnam
It would be a fairly easy transition for an American Catholic to move to Vietnam given the prevalence of English spoken and the visible presence of Catholic churches here. The Portuguese brought Christianity with them when they arrived in the 1500s, and their influence was reinforced by the French a few centuries later.