Rome, Italy -- Day 1 and 2

Air China is lame.  Our first flight was 2 hours late.  Then our connecting plane's tire needed to be fixed, adding another 3 hours.  No worries though, we found some noodles and finished the second season of Downton Abbey.

Staying at a nice B&B in Rome for 4 days with homemade croissants and cappuccino! We trashed the place immediately.

Found a free walking tour and hit up the sites right away. 

Ruins of the Roman Forum.

I forget what this one is called...

Wouldn't recommend the audio guide at the Colosseum.  But we got there late so didn't have much of a choice.  Shout out to Stacey's family: Actually made it in this time!

Loved the Winged Victory statues sprinkled about the city.

A highly recommended (and caloric) local pizza: The Baffetto.  Who knew egg on pizza was a winning combination?!

Pantheon at night.

Trevi Fountain at night. Stacey's top choice. 

Anilao/Batangas, Philippines

Taal Volcano, on the way to Anilao

Taking a boat to our lodge 

Back-rolling off the boat, into the water

Dive Crew: Jackie, Apple, Robert, and Stacey

Tons of cool stuff on the night dive, including bio-luminescent algae.

Feeding the fish rice in the beginning made it a crazy experience!

Manila, Philippines

We spent the next two days at Clark's condo in downtown Manila.  It was a sweet apartment building (it had its own gym!) only a minute from two large shopping malls.

The first night Apple took us to see The Great Gatsby in IMAX.  The cinema had lazy-boy-like reclining leather seats, and a man who delivered burritos to us.  Apple remembered I like live music, so on the way home we stopped off to see a few gigs.

Stacey and I had the morning to ourselves, so when we woke up we did the Pinoy thing to do and hit up the mall.  We found more shopping wings and food courts than we had seen in any other mall combined, and waded through the current of people to filling them.

Later that evening we went to Jackie's 1920's themed bday party.  It was really cool to meet some of Apple's friend, but our travelling has apparently made Stacey and I old, so we were the first ones to turn in at 2:00 in the morning.

It was a really good time.  The next day we made our way to Anilao for scuba diving.

Chowing down Clark's cooking.  So good!!

Bulacan, Philippines

We stayed at my Uncle Russ and Auntie Thang's house the first  night.  My older cousin Apple let us stay in her hotel style room, prepared with towels and bathroom kit on the bed.  So fancy!

Stacey found kittens in pots.

The breakfast buffet spread.

Touring my uncle's compound, learning about the business.

Spending quality time with some old school jokers.

Koh Tao, Thailand

We spent four days scuba diving around the island.  The resort we stayed at provided a buffet breakfast on the beach!

We spent time around Shark Bay looking for sharks, but couldn't find any.

Stacey the cat whisperer had a few kittens follow her back to the room.

Koh Samui, Thailand

A two hour ferry ride to the island of Koh Samui.

A storm came in making it the choppiest ferry ride ever, had to reach for the dramamine right away.

Party van took us to our resort and set the stage for the next few days.

View from our room.

Meditation Retreat

After a few days just hanging out on the island, we made our way to the Dhipabhavan Meditaiton Center for a five day meditation retreat.  This center, led by two westerners, focused on the Buddhist meditation style of Anapanasati (which means essentially focusing on the breath), and held lectures on the Dhamma (Buddhist philosophy) and meditation instruction  given by an English monk.

There was no talking throughout the retreat (except by the lecturers) so that we wouldn't be distracted from our meditation.  Stacey was really bad at this part, especially when the center's puppy came around for belly rubs.  Our nonverbal communication together, however, really progressed.  If you're gonna do a silent meditation retreat, don't go with your significant other. Or Stacey.  

Nonetheless, our practice did progress significantly.  We learned a ton about Buddhism and meditation.  In the few day we were there we went from not being able to sit still for 5 minutes to not even realizing 45 minutes had gone by. The trick to this type of meditation is to focus your mind completely on your breath, training your mind to be as consumed with breathing in and out as it would be reading a Harry Potter book.   We spent a lot of time doing walking meditations as well, developing mindfulness by paying attention to nothing but the sensations on our feet.  It really was amazing how quickly our brains settled down.  However,  6 days definitely isn't enough to make truly significant gains at a retreat.  We left thinking we really needed another month there.  Maybe one of these days...

After the retreat we boarded another ferry to the island of Koh Tao.

Chiang Mai, Thailand -- Day 4

Doi Sutthep Temple

People climbed the 300 steps up to this temple to circle it 3 times, praying as they walked.

Bells were made for ringing.

Tiger Kingdom

Large ones

Aw! Look at that face!

And smallish ones (6-8 months)

Don't worry, I read Life of Pi and was still aware that these were real life tigers.

Really, they're just normal kitties. They're just big enough they could eat you.

Scratch my belly, human.

And tiny ones (6-8 weeks)!

meow!