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Taipei
We landed in Taipei on a warm Monday afternoon, took a taxi to our hotel in Ximen, checked in, and immediately set out to wander the neighborhood. Within the hour, we had gotten bubble tea at 50 Lan, bought a knock-off bubble tea carrier, eaten some incredible beef noodles at Lao Shandong Homemade Noodles, and played the first of many, many claw machines. The next morning, we stopped at Fong Da Coffee – a coffee institution since the 1950s – for strong brews and a little breakfast, then hopped on MRT to go to Taipei 101. The plan was to…
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Seoul
Several months prior to landing in Seoul, Lummi and I had considered a thousand different possibilities for our winter trip. Flights to pretty much anywhere were more expensive than the previous year, especially for trips that extended through the new year. We considered Mexico, South America, Southeast Asia, and East Asia for a variety of different timelines. Eventually, I discovered that traveling earlier than usual and returning before the end of the year was substantially cheaper. Lummi really wanted to visit Korea – especially so I could meet her relatives – and had seen photos and heard stories from my…
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Dharamshala
The next day we flew to Dharamshala, a small hill station in the very far north of the country, close to Pakistan and Kashmir, mostly known for being the home of the Tibetan government in exile and the temple of the Dalai Lama. After a long, winding, uphill taxi ride from the airport, we met the host for our Airbnb rental and he showed us around. It was a big, comfortable, gorgeous house, with a bunk bed fit for an adult and an “opium den”, perfect for our quiet stay in the mountains. After we dropped off our stuff and…
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Goa
The next day we flew to Goa for the second portion of the trip: palm trees, clean ocean air, fresh seafood, and lots of lazy beach time. We each had our own bungalow at Village Susegat Beach Resort on Morjim Beach, which offered us easy walking access to the beach, proximity to a few great bars and restaurants, a logo that would make a man-spreader blush, and the ominous sounds of crows day in and day out. It was perfect. After a great sunset walk on the beach, we walked a bit past our resort to Chia Lounge, one of…
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Delhi
The friends trip to India had been a long time coming, but 2019 was the year that it finally became reality. Mohit was planning to go back to India for several weeks for his mom’s 60th birthday party and to handle paperwork and other bureaucracy related to his work visa. The explanation I’ve been giving for how the four of us ended up going is that Clayton politely invited himself, which Mo was more than happy to oblige, and soon Erik and I followed suit. That seems about right. We bought our flights well in advance, Mo invited the three…
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Koh Lipe
Tucked away in the very southern portion of Thailand, near the border with Malaysia, lies Koh Lipe, a formerly hidden gem among Thailand’s world-famous islands. The island has seen an increase in development and tourism in recent years, but still retains its raw nature if you can get away from the tourist areas. Though the island is small, it still has all the things you’d expect from a Thai island getaway: gorgeous turquoise waters, long-tail boats with dark-skinned captains, pretty beaches with sunburnt tourists, plenty of water activities, fresh seafood, stray dogs, and beach bars along multiple coasts. The proximity…
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Singapore
Sitting nearly on the equator, Singapore is just as tropical and steamy as the rest of Southeast Asia, but its first-world status is very different from its neighbors and even puts America to shame in many respects. It gets a reputation as being sterile and bland, but it’s also clean, safe, well-organized, well-covered by public transportation, and has plenty to do, see, and eat. The travel suggestions here are based on a trip that Lummi and I took in December and are by no means exhaustive. In fact, they’re quite basic, since we had only a few days to explore…
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Singapore, Koh Lipe, and Bangkok
Singapore The plan with Lummi was that I would go to Singapore a few days before her, so I flew across the Pacific, arrived on a Saturday afternoon, and subsequently had a Welcome to Singapore, bitch moment when I got trapped in the local grocery store by a sudden downpour. I took my bags and waited it out at the neighboring coffee shop, then went back to the Airbnb, made instant noodles for dinner, watched the thunderstorm from the patio, and passed out from exhaustion. On Sunday, I worked on my blog in the morning, then met my friend Laurie –…
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Taipei
Early on a Monday morning, I slept as much as I could, checked out of my Hong Kong airport hotel, and bounced over quickly to the airport for my flight. (Proximity to the airport for this flight was another reason for moving to this hotel from my SoHo Airbnb.) My initial plans for Taiwan were to immediately hop on a southbound train out of the city and go to Taroko National Park for a couple days, but this plan started to unravel before I even got on my flight. I had previously emailed the lodge I wanted to stay at…
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Hong Kong (ABGT300)
For at least six years now, I’ve nearly religiously listened to Group Therapy, the weekly radio show from dance trio Above & Beyond. Every 50 episodes – so, once a year – they put on a big show somewhere in the world, with the location changing every year. In recent years, the show has grown to a two-day affair, putting it on par with a small music festival. Several months ago, they revealed that this year’s show – episode #300 – would be in Hong Kong, the first “milestone” show of theirs to be held in Asia. While I was…
