longest post ever.

i'm bacckkk. what up.

you might call this long, is-she-still-alive hiatus unjustified and just plain inconsiderate. then you might recall that if i'm not blogging, i'm actually too busy frolicking the world to boast about it. and then you might sigh in relief that there is no update for you to read and be jealous of.

but i'm back. traveling and working and eating as much as i do takes its toll. thus i will condense the past 4 weeks of amazing discoveries and reunions to merely one really long blog post. :) 

1. laos

seriously underrated and i'm obsessed. the slow-paced, low-story, small-street city of vientiane was an instant refresher to the shanghai hustle and bustle. our cute boutique hotel, conveniently plopped in the middle of the quaint streets of this walking city, was the perfect oasis for a few nights and our complimentary breakfast and mosquito repellent definitely added memorable value. 

five words to describe laos: spiritual, unpretentious, delicious, relaxed and easy. 

five of the best things of laos: coconut biscuits (#1-3), laos coffee (e.g. wok roasted with condensed milk), mekong river fried fish

here are some fantastic pics courtesy of mr. wang:

 monks walking for evening prayer at the temple

small city streets

that mekong river fish nom nom nom

delicious food: roasted pigeon

all things coconut

kayaking in picturesque vang vieng

last meal: coconut sticky rice with mango

2. maui 

hard to say enough about maui so i'll just tell it with photos. aka it's almost 10 pm and i'm really tired. but yes, here are the highlights.

food
ziplining
sunrise at haleakala
road to hana
mama's fish house
eating it from some 2-3 foot waves
jaws (where the waves are 20 feet and surfers drop in from helicopter!)
breakfast buffet
pool bar and virgin pina coladas
spf 80
sea turtles
poke
waterfall hopping
da kitchen

five of the best things of maui: fish, fish with butter, sunrises and sunsets, macadamia+coconut, road to hana, da kitchen. oh wait, that's six.

we had some damn delicious food in maui but this was a fave. sesame miso glazed fresh catch of the day with caesar side salad. sounds silly. 

but for those of you that know me, i don't finish my food. this was serious. that's how good it was.

sunrise at haleakala

sunset at the hotel

sunset near lahaina

on the road to hana...bootiful!

waterfall numero uno: a nice cool dip

bamboo forest on the way to waterfall #71

which led to this! waterfall 71! amazing.

3. back to ny and the love is palpable. first stop, shwe's engagement partay!

shwe's happy day!! miss you devsies!

miss alex and annie 

(creepy) elmo

j chiang!

mr and mrs carlson! :O

great to see ted allen again...been awhile since my last episode of chopped ;)

small aside regarding the last pic...my sister has the coolest gig ever and writes the blog for the degustibus cooking school. which means i get the best perks ever! got to sit in on this cooking class and met ted and his man later. can't wait for your china visit guys! haha. if you live in ny or are in ny for a bit of time, you should absolutely check out the degustibus school for a fine fine 5 course meal, extensive cooking lessons and shooting the shit with some of the best chefs around.
https://degustibusnyc.nlcommerce.com/blog

OK so that's it. if you made it this far, i appreciate your loyalty and boredom. all in all a very very successful few weeks of traveling and food and eats and family and fun. what more can i ask for?

also check out hao's blog because it's way better than mine and way more thoughtful!!!!
http://houseofhaos.com/

this week: hao's birthday takes us to scarpetta (nom nom nom) and then hong kong for the weekend. im sure blog worthy things shall arise from said occasion.

off to nurture my food-baby!