Asia | GRRRL TRAVELER

7 Ways to See Bangkok (and love it!)

Filed under Bangkok, Thailand tips & stays by Christine Ka'aloa on March 19, 2011 at 5:15 pm {6 comments}

Motorbike taxis are popular with locals as a cheap and quick way to zig-zag in and out of traffic. Watch the Thai as they ride side-saddle; they’re real pros at this!

One of the biggest things I love about Bangkok? It’s never boring. Each day in this Thai capital presents a stunning visual array of sights and activities to keep cameras clicking and wallets opening for budget vacation splurges. From proudly historical to dilapidated, devoutly traditional to contemporary, the city’s changing urban faces can appear confused as to the direction it leans. That doesn’t matter. Hop a flight to Bangkok and watch your tourist itinerary grow into “101 Things to See“!

Here’s 7 Top things to do and see in Bangkok:

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Love Letter #8: Retreat

Filed under India, Love Letter Postcards by Christine Ka'aloa on March 18, 2011 at 11:15 am {2 comments}

Anjuna, Goa, India

Dear Love,

A big unknown looms before us.

Tides… come and go.

Aannaa. Jaannaa.

For now, let me withdraw, observe, breathe…

Let my breath sound with the sea.

GRRRL

Photo Essay: Slumdogs of Mumbai

Filed under India, Mumbai / Goa by Christine Ka'aloa on March 16, 2011 at 6:37 am {2 comments}

Carter Road, Bandra, Mumbai.

Along Carter Road runs a promenade which Mumbainikars go to for a stroll, to walk their dog or to just hang out by the beach. One of the nice things about this boardwalk are their benches. Some have inscribed memorials to people, some have short sayings and some have stray dogs, a large problem in India. Here are just a few of those benches– with slumdog or without.

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Mumbai: A reformed Bombay?

Filed under India, Mumbai / Goa by Christine Ka'aloa on March 15, 2011 at 9:41 pm {6 comments}

Mumbai.

Action. Motion. Heat. Noise.

A cacophony of sound and moving drive-by sights accost my taxi window on the drive into the heart of this blazing city. Overwhelming, exciting, raw, jaw-dropping … the problem began– what to focus my attention upon first?

All is a soiled hotbed of moving, honking, hawking, digging, driving, walking and selling activity. Roadside stands line the streets in endless stream, selling everything from food, souvenirs, cellphones,… tires.

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Are there Apple stores in Korea ?

Filed under * Korea tips & stays, Korea by Christine Ka'aloa on March 14, 2011 at 12:46 am {6 comments}

: Photo: Hightouch.kr

Attention all Mac and Apple fans, you can get your Apple fix in Korea too!

When I first arrived to Korea and realized I needed a converter plug for my Apple Powerbook, I was given an apologetic look and an explanation that there weren’t many Apple stores here. I was told there was one store in Seoul called Frisbee.

How can Korea not have tons of Apple stores?

Well, maybe you should ask Samsung, LG and the like… But in fact, there are more stores than I was led to believe…

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Top 7 Things to Do in Seoul

Filed under * Korea tips & stays, Seoul by Christine Ka'aloa on March 9, 2011 at 2:27 am {12 comments}

For a weekend traveler living in Korea, Seoul makes my blood race. Sometimes there’s an ongoing list of things of events taking place or sometimes, I just have to create my own ways of having fun.

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Love Letter #7: Awakening

Filed under India, Love Letter Postcards by Christine Ka'aloa on March 7, 2011 at 4:23 pm {one comment}

Dear Love,
Where should I begin? You show many faces. I don’t which is yours.

I open you up. Darkness, fog, then above the harang of noise, a bit of illumination.

Perhaps ugliness is your real face, your real beauty. It’s what gives life. It shakes loose the dream and makes you real for me.

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Love Letter #6: I Forgot to tell you…

Filed under Love Letter Postcards, Vientiane by Christine Ka'aloa on March 6, 2011 at 4:54 pm {no comments}

Dear Love,

There were things we never spoke of..

Things you never asked and things I never told.

There were others.

In the coming weeks, much will seem confusing. A flood of memories are on the brink of unfolding. The ink in my pen is heavy — past and present will flow into one.

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Inside my Korean apartment

Filed under Daegu, How & why teach in Korea? by Christine Ka'aloa on March 4, 2011 at 3:03 am {6 comments}

So after having whimpered early off about my introduction to my apartment and Daegu, I’ve been reluctant to show you my free English teacher’s apartment….