. .trip inside my head, spend a day here ..

back from gallivanting my way through hong kong and parts of south east asia - and breezing through all of season 2 and half of season 3 of 24. oh, jack bauer!

and be assured, i love travelling more than ever - and feel that i'm in just the right job :) i'm writing this before taking of for the bahamas tomorrow for an "assignment," and i have to tell you, this is definitely where i never knew i'd be, but so blessed that i've found myself here.

back to asia :) i made my way from hong kong to singapore to visit nicole + nadine; over to bangkok, thailand to hang out with elton for a few days; back to penang, malaysia for a few days to see some cousins, aunts and uncles; and the got to spend a few days with my mom in hanoi, vietnam before going back to hong kong for another few days.

highlights? here they are :) my fave moments from hk/singapore/thailand/malay/vietnam.

(hong kong) discovering stanley and driving through the mountains, seeing parts of hong kong that i never knew existed; falling in love with chinese food all over again, although toronto can definitely boast great quality chinese food; visiting a random fishing village on the outskirts of hong kong super fresh sea food, catching up with old friends and schwepps cream soda

(hong kong, to singapore) riding on the mtr, the hong kong subway system is a dream compared to the TTC; going for my second meal at l'atelier of joel robuchon, pictured here is a foie gras ravioli soup with creme fraiche on the side; getting upgraded to business class after almost missing my flight from hong kong to singapore

(sinapore, bangkok) shrimp kee soup noodle in singapore - and the non-stop food tour of singapore that began at noon and ended before dinner time (many thanks to the chews!); the cookie museum, a cookie store native to singapore offering flavours like "durian," "chicken friend rice," and more of the most unique cookie flavours i've ever experienced; colours and garlands in thailand

(bangkok) thailand's beautiful artwork, mosaic tiles and textiles; the reclining buddha - this guy is *huge and so chilling it's worth the visit; copious amounts of delicious bangkok street food that didn't cause any violent diarrhea

(penang, malaysia) snorkeling, lying on the beach, swimming with the fish and getting sunburnt in langkawi near penang; chili sauce everywhere is a wonderful (and delicious) sight; a malaysian-specialty, "roti tissue" is thin roti rolled up into a tower and drizzled with condensed milk, a fusion between indian and chinese foods, this dish is amazing, as are my cousins who took us out on a never-ending sampling tour of malaysian dishes :)

(vietnam) the people in vietnam are truly stunning, like this man playing the "er-woo" in this window outside the temple; a 2.5 hour river boat ride in hoa lu through the exquisite limestone rocks that jut out of the river, full of mountain goats and so beautifully picturesque; a set of colourful floating homes making up a village in a cove of ha long bay where we also kayaked

(vietnam) authentic fresh shrimp spring rolls in hoan kiem district; a real authentic bowl of pho from the shadiest food court in the 4-storey textile market just north of hoan kiem lake but oh-so-delicious it's undescribable; and of course, a cup of hot vietnamese coffee with condensed milk :)

(back in hong kong + macau) i decided to start taking photos of all the subway station signs, and mr kwok decided to take a photo the silly tourist taking photos in the subway; afternoon tea at the peninsula was beautiful; a side trip to macau to the venetian to catch up with ms. luk or rather, the soon to be mrs. lau

(hong kong) the cake shoppe at the mandarin oriental is a must-see; more fun on the mtr on the last night before heading home; and a final dinner with all the hong kong folks before returning to toronto.

:) great, delicious times. and hong kong's definitely grown on me this time.