Cambodia is super accessible from Thailand and was near the top of our Southeast Asia travel bucket list.  So when my parents offered to watch Jellybean for a few days so the hubby and I could go away, we happily accepted their offer.  Quickly we decided Siem Reap would be the perfect place for our ‘toddler-free’ vacation.

Tip: If you don’t get a tourist visa prior to arrival (which isn’t necessary you can get one at the airport prior to customs), bring a passport photo with you.  If you forget the photo, don’t fret they will make a copy of your passport photo for an additional fee.

We stayed at The Golden Temple Hotel and I would highly recommend it!  The price point, location, great pool and friendly staff made for an excellent stay.  Not to mention our room rate included daily buffet breakfast, one set dinner at the hotel restaurant, free 60 minutes massage, daily one hour cocktail reception at Sky Lounge, and pick-up/drop-off at Siem Reap Airport.

GoldenTempleHotel_Cambodia

Delicious welcome drink & snack.  The banana chips … gah, to die for!!

GoldenTempleHotel_Cambodia-3

Breakfast buffet (above) & hotel entrance (below).

GoldenTempleHotel_Cambodia-2

Day 1: Touring the Angkor Complex

We decided to splurge and hired a tour guide to take us through the Angkor complex.  It was absolutely the right call.  The tour included a driver, car with AC, water and a guide who spoke perfect English.  The tour guide was very knowledgeable and we learned a ton about Cambodia, the temples as well as the unrest in the region.

Tip: Bring light weight pants with you or plan to buy the ‘elephant’ pants before making your way to the temples.  Conservative wear is required.

South Gate Entrance to Angkor Complex - 2 Day travel guide of Siem Reap, Cambodia | Life's Tidbits

Bayon temple - 2 Day travel guide of Siem Reap, Cambodia | Life's Tidbits

Bayon temple {above} was probably our favorite of all the temples.  Surprising, I know … everyone’s favorite seems to be Angkor Wat.  Does the location in the picture below look familiar?  It might if you’ve seen Lara Croft: Tomb Raider!  Ta Prohm has so many trees growing over the temple.

Ta Prohm temple featured in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - 2 Day travel guide of Siem Reap, Cambodia | Life's Tidbits

Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia - 2 Day Travel Guide | Life's Tidbits
The tuk tuks are definitely different in Cambodia than Thailand.  Many of the tuk tuk drivers were chilling in their hammocks while their patrons toured the temples.  Must admit the idea of hanging a hammock for a little nap was pretty nifty!

Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia - 2 Day Travel Guide | Life's Tidbits

And, the grand finale of the day was this perfect view of Angkor Wat!

We had dinner at the Chanrey Tree restaurant.  Although it was walkable from our hotel, we chose to take a $2 tuk tuk ride there instead {we were pooped from all the walking we did that day}.  The food was really good and the restaurant ambience was cool.

Day 2: Touring Angkor Complex, Circus & Night Market

It was surprising to me the sheer number of temples in the complex.  And, I would love to have seen how these large temples were built and decorated during a time when modern technologies weren’t available.

SiemReapCambodia-9

SiemReapCambodia-10

SiemReapCambodia-11

Banteay Srei temple is a bit of a drive from Angkor Wat, but worth the trip.  The craftman’s ship is unbelievable!

Things to do in Siem Reap, Cambodia - Banteay Srei temple. 2 day travel guide of Cambodia | Life's Tidbits

Things to do in Siem Reap, Cambodia - Banteay Srei temple. 2 day travel guide of Cambodia | Life's Tidbits

When we hit our limit with the temples we headed back to the hotel to spend a few hours pool side.

Where to stay in Siem Reap , Cambodia - Golden Temple Hotel. 2 Day Travel Guide | Life's Tidbits

Where to stay in Siem Reap , Cambodia - Golden Temple Hotel. 2 Day Travel Guide | Life's Tidbits

The Phare Circus was fabulous and if you have time something worth seeing.  Tickets can and should be purchased online ahead of time.  We had the tuk tuk driver dropped us off at the night market on the way back from the circus.  We purchased some baby and toddler-sized elephant pants, which I haven’t been able to locate in Bangkok for some strange reason.  My favorite find of the night market was a canvas wrap painting of Angkor Wat, which is now hanging in our living room!

It took so much restraint not to inundate you with more pictures from our time in Siem Reap.  We had an excellent vacation and Cambodia is absolutely worth the trip, especially if you are already in Southeast Asia.  And, I must admit, I was glad we didn’t bring Jellybean along on this trip.  Between the heat, steep steps, uneven footing and all the walking it was not a toddler friendly vacation.

Have you been to Cambodia?  If so, what was your favorite part?

Signiture_Nicole

 

 

 

Best of Worst
Packing my Suitcase
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I figured our first trip as expats in Bangkok would be to someplace else in Thailand.  Maybe Krabi, Phuket or Chiang Mai, however we ended up going to Tokyo instead.  The cool weather in Japan was a welcome change from the humidity and heat we were experiencing in Bangkok.  Not to mention the fact there are plenty of sidewalks in Tokyo, which makes for easy stroller rides.  Oh yes, I’ve become one of those people who partially judges their trips based on how toddler friendly they are!

The flight from BKK to HND was about six and a half hours.  And while this may seem like a daunting flight with a toddler it was a total breeze.  I’m fairly certain we used up all of our ‘good travel karma’ on this trip … or maybe it was a gift for being good troupers on the trip from DC to Bangkok.

Either way I’m super thankful for Jellybean’s impeccable behavior both on the way there and on the way home.  She spent most of the time on the flight playing with her apps on the iPad or watching Mickey Mouse Club House.  Our family rule is there is no limit to screen-time or snacks on a flight.  Happy toddler = happy parents AND other passengers on the plane.

FlightToTokyo

After arriving in Japan we bought a sim card for our phone and headed to the train.  We’ve been told Tokyo has a very easy train system and navigating to the hotel should be fairly easy.  Ummm, THIS doesn’t look so easy to me …

Tokyo, Japan Subway/Train Map

Luckily, with a little help, we were able to navigate to our hotel.  If we go to Tokyo again I am taking a taxi from the airport to the hotel.  Trucking a toddler and multiple bags up and down stairs to transfer lines (there are limited escalators/elevators) was a bit much.

Tip:  Invest in a SIM card and data plan.  We didn’t get a voice or texting plan.  Just the data plan, which came in handy for navigating the city and looking up places to eat.  

Here’s what we did while we were in Tokyo, which for the most part was very toddler friendly!

Things To Do In Tokyo, Japan with a toddler | Life's Tidbits

Imperial Palace

This is the is the primary residence of the Emperor of Japan.  The interesting part about it is you can’t actually go in the palace nor can you get close to it.  The palace looks beautiful from a far and the surrounding park make it worth a visit.

Tokyo, Japan:  Imperial Palace  |  Life's Tidbits

Ryogoku Kokugikan – Sumo

Sumo was a tad bit slower than I thought it would be.  There was a lot of walking around each other and squatting.  My favorite part was when Jellybean kept screaming “go baseball! go baseball!”.  My kid cracks me up … apparently in her mind all sports are baseball.  Since she’s wasn’t even two we will give her a pass, but as her mother I plan to tell this tidbit for FOREVER!  And, that includes at her wedding.

Ryogoku Kokugikan - Sumo Wrestling in Tokyo Japan

Sumo Wrestling in Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office

This was pretty cool though I didn’t have the chance to enjoy it at much as I would have liked.  Jellybean was running around like a mad woman.  Despite trying to get her to look at all the buildings and the skyline her attention only lasted a few seconds.  After catapulting herself out of my arms and onto the floor she was off to the races.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office

Akihabara – ‘Times Square’ of Tokyo

It was cool to watch the crowds cross the street in different directions.  Many other tourists were also waiting for their turn for a photo opt, so I’m pretty happy with how this picture of the hubby and I turned out!

Akihabara - 'Time Square' of Tokyo, Japan | Things to do and see in Tokyo

Ueno Zoo

The write up in the travel book described this zoo a kind of ‘sad’.  I would have to say I agree.  The cages were somewhat small and the animals didn’t seem happy, so to speak.  That said Jellybean and I did have a good time.  She was ecstatic to see the elephants and the rhino was probably her favorite.  The rhino love was probably a result of one of her favorite bedtime stories, I Know a Rhino.  If you don’t have kids, I would suggest skipping the zoo.

Ueno Zoo Rhino in Tokyo, Japan

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

Absolutely beautiful place.  We had a great time walking around and taking in the scenery.  It was the perfect place to take a toddler who loves to run free and you are still able to take in the sights.

Shinjuku

Asakusa / Senso-ji Temple

The day we went to see Asakusa and the Senso-ji temple it was gloomy and started to down pour as we were heading back to the train.  Despite the dreary weather the place was packed with tourists and luckily didn’t take too long to tour.

Asakusa

Asakusa-2

Have you been to Japan?  Where else in Japan would you recommend visiting?

 

 

 

Mummascribbles

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Phuket for Thanksgiving was just what the doctor ordered.  Beautiful beach, sea breeze, swimming, family time and a little break from the hustle and bustle of city life in Bangkok.

We stayed at the Le Meridien.  Everything we needed was right there.  A private beach, baby elephant and some different restaurants to choose from.  Although we could have taken a taxi into town to try a restaurant or explore Phuket, we chose to keep it super low key and never left the resort.  There’s always next time to do some exploring!

Le Meridien coordinated a ride from the airport to the hotel.  When we arrived we were greeted with a seriously delicious fruit juice and the flowers (pictured below).

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort pool in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort pool in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort private beach in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Our first dinner was at Portofino.  The food was delicious and dessert did NOT disappoint.  Yum, chocolate!

Portofino Food at the Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Portofino Food at the Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien has a private beach, which is a great perk to this resort.  GAHHH just looking at this picture makes me want to go walk in the sand and dip my toes in the warm ocean.

Beach at the Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Raise your hand if you aren having a good time!

‘Meeting’ the baby elephant was fun … or really just viewing it from afar since Jellybean was petrified to get close too the elephant despite her initial enthusiasm and saying {or really screaming, because that’s the only volume a toddler knows — wink wink} ‘ellie’ over and over again.

Baby elephant at Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

We went to La Fiamma every day for lunch … if it ain’t broke don’t fit it, right?!!!  The pizza from the wood oven was so yummy and the view wasn’t too shabby either.  Oh, and they have mango-mojitos.  Go ahead and order one.  You can thank me later.  ;)

Wood Oven Pizza on the Beach at the Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

The food was all amazing, but our favorite was the seafood restaurant next to Portofinos.  Our Thanksgiving dinner, while not traditional, was absolutely the best meal of our whole vacation.

Food at the Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

On our last day in Phuket the hubs took Jellybean to the beach and gifted me some alone time.  I sat by the pool, had a drink, read The Boston Girl on my kindle and generally just soaked up the beauty {and quiet} around me.

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

The sunset on the last night was particularly beautiful.

Beach sunset | Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

beach sunset | Le Meridien Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand | Life's Tidbits

I want to go back!  We had a fabulous time at the Le Meridien in Phuket and would highly recommend it!!

Signiture_Nicole

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We are about halfway through our first year in Bangkok!  I no longer have to sit in taxis with my GoogleMaps open.  I can successfully navigate the driver to all of the places we frequent.  We have favorite restaurants, street food vendors, manicure places and so much more.  Bangkok feels more like home with each passing week and it helps that we’ve had family in town visiting.  We’ve done a lot in the past couple of months and yet we still have so much of Bangkok and Thailand to experience.

JJ Market in Chatuchak | Tidbits about living in or traveling to Bangkok, Thailand. Expat in Southeast Asia | Life's TidbitsThis picture was taken at JJ Market in Chatuchak. A must see when in Bangkok!

Some tidbits about Bangkok …

  1. Plastic bags are EVERYWHERE.  If you purchase fruit from a street vendor they will cut up the fruit, put in a plastic bag without handles, and then throw it into another bag that has handles.  We get food delivered sometimes and certain dishes will come in a plastic bag and tupperware.  I find it so strange, why is so much plastic necessary?
  2. One of my favorite things about seeing a movie in Bangkok is that you can reserve a seat when you purchase your ticket.  The need to show up to movies half hour early to ensure you aren’t sitting in the front row of a newly released movie is gone! Woot woo!
  3. As far as I know, in the States if you purchase something like dish soap and it runs out you just chuck the bottle and purchase a new one.  In Thailand, you can purchase a refill bag.  It’s pretty much a ‘plastic bag’ filled with dish soap, Head-to-Toe Johnson & Johnson, etc. and so you can pour into the plastic bottle to refill it.  It’s kind of genius and I don’t know why we don’t do this in the US … and if we do, I am totally behind the times.
  4. When eating at restaurants food comes our whenever it is ready.  It rarely comes out all at the same time and often feels like you are eating in shifts.  Whenever your food comes out you eat it, else it will be cold!
  5. Another interesting thing about restaurants is the waitress/waiter will rarely, if ever, bring you the bill before you as for it.  This is such a huge contrast from dining out in the States where the check is more often than not delivered to the table before being requested.
  6. Walking down the street you can often hear the buzz of ‘live’ wires.  The wires are all tangled together, some hanging down low enough you could grab it and how one would identify a certain wire is beyond my comprehension.
  7. Living in such a heavily populated city one would probably expect to hear sirens, however the noise pollution is more often than not something other than sirens.  In DC I became strangely accustomed to the sound of sirens and eventually hit a point where they didn’t wake me up at night.  I’ve heard possibly only three sirens since arriving in Bangkok, and each time I feel my heart start racing with worry.  Such a stark change from my reaction to the sirens in DC!
  8. You can order pizza by the meter … just go ahead and wrap you head around that!
  9. Despite many services being a lot more affordable in Thailand, manicures are actually more expensive than in DC.  The manicures here are more spa-ish and include an arm scrub/exfoliator so I guess you are getting more, but I still found the price a bit surprising.
  10. Motorbikes will often jump up onto the curb {with no warning} and speed down the sidewalk during rush hour in an effort to avoid sitting in traffic.  Motorbikes would never get away with driving on the sidewalks in the States!

And if you missed it, please check out the first and second installment of Bits of Bangkok.  More of our Bangkok adventures, to date, can be found here or please follow along on Instagram.

signiture_nicole

 

 

My Kid Doesn't Poop Rainbows
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Time is flying and we have just about hit the 3 month mark as expats in Bangkok.  Not surprising, but we’ve learned a few more tidbits about Bangkok, being an expat and we are really starting to find our groove living abroad.

The funny thing about living abroad is, just like being where you used to call home, eventually it starts to feel normal.

It’s normal to start sweat almost immediately after leaving the house.
It’s normal that most people around us are speaking in a language I barely understand.
It’s normal (or at least starting to feel normal) not to be going off to work each day.

Not to say I’m taking for-granted this amazing experience, but it’s nice that life is feeling more normal and less like I’m on constant sensory overload.  :)

BangkokBTS

Some tidbits about Bangkok …

  1. Unlike the Metro, the BTS isn’t a free for all when it comes to boarding the train.  People actually line up and board in an orderly fashion. It took me a while to realize it wasn’t proper social etiquette to just rush the train doors once people finish disembarking.  {See picture above of Jellybean lining up at the appropriate arrow.}
  2. Right now the exchange rate range is about 35 baht to the dollar.  My brain cannot do the math quick enough.  One day soon I know it’s going to click and the calculation won’t be necessary, but until then I often whip out the cell phone to figure out how much something is.
  3. When I switched to a Thai SIM card a lot more changed than just my phone number.  Instead of having a monthly plan I now just ‘top off’ my cell phone phone when my balance is running low.  The craziest part is I can add money at the 7-11!  The other day we were running late to a playdate and my cell died (that’s what I get for ignoring 5 text messages my balance was low) and all I did was pop into 7-11 to add money to my cell phone.  I was nervous it wouldn’t work, but it was seamless!
  4. Speaking of paying things at 7-11 … a lots of bills can be paid at the 7-11 OR by doing a direct deposit into a company’s account.  Few places take check or credit card as far as I can tell.  You pay in cash, direct deposit into their account or just go to 7-11.  Who would have thunk?
  5. There is an abundance of trash cans in DC.  Here, in Bangkok, trash cans are few and far between.  I’ve become strangely adept hoarding trash in my backpack {or back pocket} and discarding it at home or bathroom trash cans.  I don’t really understand why there are no trash cans, but I kind of miss the trash cans on every corner.
  6. Recycling is nonexistent, as far as I can tell, in Bangkok.  I was obsessed with separating out bottle/cans/paper in DC and now it all just goes in one bag.  I feel guilty sometimes when I throw a can into the trash.
  7. Bangkok is a foodie city, similar to DC and NYC, you can find just about any type of cuisine you would like.  While we haven’t been out to eat as much as I might like the places we have tried are really good!
  8. I am now ‘adept’ at telling the taxi driver to turn (leow) left (sai) and right (kwaa).  I can also tell him the number of my street and the number of one other street that we visit frequently.  Some of the taxi drivers correct my pronunciation and others pretend they have no idea what I’m saying.  I’m learning slowly, but in all honesty the Thai language isn’t easy and being tonal one word can mean 5 different things depending on the inflection in your voice. Ahhh!
  9. Buying food labeled in a foreign language can be interesting.  Like the time we bought that strange milk for a couple weeks in a row since it ‘looked’ like whole milk containers from the States.  Turns out it was ‘sweet milk’ or whatever that is…  Or the all-to-common experience of buying street food and convincing yourself it’s probably chicken, or beef, or pork (ish).  But it’s sooo tasty!
  10. Personal space is fairly limited here.  It is socially acceptable to stand super close to someone, touch their child or push past someone without even an excuse me.  While I’m still not comfortable with the person behind me in line practically touching my back as we wait, I have had to adopt the pushing past people in order to get where I’m going … though I do try to say excuse me (or thoot in Thai).

And if you missed it, please check out the first installment of Bit of Bangkok.  More of our Bangkok adventures, to date, can be found here or please follow us on Instagram.

What kind of Bangkok tidbits would you like to know more about?

Signiture_Nicole

 

 

 

 

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