San Diego

I had been meaning to visit SD for a while.  Mostly because Piers has been there over 10 years and I have never visited and also because I had heard it is a lot like Cape Town - i.e. by the sea, relaxed beach-type vibe.   My very first impressions were not that great, I had just spent a few weeks in LA which I loved so I didn't really give it a chance.  The beachfront at Pacific Beach was beautiful - the light in the evening was incredible and the boardwalk were you see locals skating, jogging and cycling up and down was cool.  It was only really on my second visit that I really started to like it though, I guess it always takes a while to get to know a place.  I had never really been that interested in visiting much of the US but I have to say everywhere I have been I have met very nice people and the skies in the US are amazingly beautiful.

Yummy Mexican food at Old Town

 Pacific Beach

 Doing what I love at Old Beach

Lala Land

I've always wanted to go to LA..  When I finally got around to getting there, I really loved it! I guess it would be a totally different ball game if I was there alone staying in some shitty hotel downtown, but I was staying with friends so that kicked ass. I LOVEDloved LA, especially West Hollywood and Santa Monica and Melrose and 3rd Avenue.  Sadly I did not get to experience Beverly Hills the way I would have liked (think the Prince of Bel Air) (Ha!) but it was still really cool.

Shopping in Beverly Hills

Melrose Avenue

The only place I was kind of disappointed about in LA was Muscle Beach, Venice.  I've seen it in the movies so many times and heard about it so much so when I saw some sad, ageing bodybuilders working out on rusty machines by the beach and the boardwalk was really dirty, grotty and touristy... I wasn't exactly impressed. The only thing it really had going for it were the medical marijuana shops.  Now where am I going to get a medical marijuana card??? Anyone? Anyone?

The food is LA is amazing too and I discovered Peruvian food.  Oh my god, it is delicious especially saltada and the ceviche is amazing.... Not exactly diet food but really freaking good.

Universal Studios was fun,  I felt I needed to do at least one American amusement park, I mean I always saw that stuff on TV so it had to be done.

All in all I was pretty stoked with my first leg of LA... x x

A Quick Dash Home (Hong Kong)

And so it was back to the smoky skies and busy streets of Hong Kong...

 I wasn't kidding about the smoky skies!

A week in Hong Kong was all it took to grab some fresh clothes - my stuff got TRASHED in Thailand... the only thing I didn't like about Bamboo Huts is that my stuff came back from the laundry with holes in it and sometimes not at all ; (

So with clean clothes, a new Samsonite suitcase, some family time with Kat and the little ones, Yeeling, James and Chuck and then it was off to LA for the next chapter of my adventure!! Woo hoooo LA!!

On the Star Ferry to go to Kowloon...

At a dog play date - Chuck with his two and Dan F with his... super cute watching them run around on the roof of the building (not a bad view either onto the harbour in Chai Wan)

Back on the Island Koh Phangan Take II

All my yoga sisters had left Thailand by the time I got back to Koh Phangan except for the wonderful Sarah... so glad she was still there.

Sarah and her (apparently) amazing birthday cake

But it meant we got to meet a whole new crew of amazing people - including JJ, the Dutch animali, Maya and Sheri, Cypress and a whole host of other really great people from all over.  What beautiful days lazying on the beach, doing yoga and 'relaxing'. One of my best times on the trip for sure... staying back at Bamboo Huts was the best... hanging with Mike, Lily and all the amazing peeps that live there. And all the unfailingly helpful, polite Burmese guys that work at Bamboo Huts.  They totally make the place.  I've been to Koh Phangan 4 times and hope to go back later this year again...

View from Bamboo Huts to Haad Yuan

JJ, hiding from the paparazzi.  He couldn't hide from me for very long though as I caught up with him in Panama a few months later... 

My healthy, yoga, no drinking lifestyle was somewhat put to the test with the arrival of the Dutch ... Stone bar, Guy's bar, Eden... It all got a little crazy a few times but it was totally worth it ; )  It all started at a Muy Thai fight where Vincent kicked the ass of a Thai guy.  It was a short match, but the victory was no less sweet.  Nice one Vince!!

Vince and one of his Dutch 'managers'...

Philip ze FrenchDutchi, Arthur and Me about to jump of the jetty at the end of Haad Yuan

The Dutch crew (and me)

The Batu Caves - No bats thank god (but snakes and monkeys!)

Built in 1891, Batu Caves is a series of caves and temples and has one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside of India... Around 13 kms north of KL, it is a great place to visit and is just a half day trip.  We hired a taxi as it was three of us and it was really cheap to do it that way... otherwise you can take the bus or train there pretty easily. It feels kind of mystical, the shrines, the deities, the monkeys, snakes, incense and mantras being played through bad hi-fi systems. The light is amazing, it comes through a hole at the top of the main cave and really trippy beams of sunlight shine down...

 The Murugan statue

Nerdy facts: The limestone forming Batu Caves is said to be around 400 million years old. Some of the cave entrances were used as shelters by the indigenous Temuan people (a tribe of Orang Asli). Batu Caves was promoted as a place of worship by K. Thamboosamy Pillai, an Indian trader. He was inspired by the 'vel'-shaped entrance of the main cave and was inspired to dedicate a temple to Lord Muruga within the caves. 

Almost 100 m above the ground, the Batu Caves temple complex consists of three main caves and a few smaller ones. The biggest, referred to as Cathedral Cave or Temple Cave, has a 100 m-high ceiling and features ornate Hindu shrines. Wear comfy shoes as you have to climb a steep flight of 272 steps!!

Dan doing his blue steel

Fearless!

Cynomolgus monkey... this guys are cheeky little bastards that steal food and drinks!

Adrenaline Junkies - Next stop KL!

Next stop was KL to meet the amazing and talented Dan Introna who I first met in the parking lot of a bar when I was 15... a couple (ahem!) years later and he is still one of the kindest, coolest most kick-ass people I have ever met!  Helena joined us in KL for the week which was amazing.  Going backstage and hanging with base jumpers was an eye-opener.  I haven't seen that many tats and dreadlocks since Vortex parties in Cape Town 15 years ago...

Crazy base-jumpers jumping off the KL Tower

Dan ready to go...

This girl has NO FEAR!! Respect.

KL is a great spot for eating, shopping, hanging out etc.  Very cool peeps and places, especially Dan Thompson's place - 21 Kitchen and Bar .  He kept the champagne flowing all night.  You rock Dan!

Highly recommended for awesome drinks and beautiful people... crammed and crazy this is Asian partying at its best.

The Yoga Sisters

The yoga sisters together, one of the last days of the yoga teacher training.  What a bunch of fabulous girls!

Kat, Sarah, Me, Jess and Helena x x