…because I am missing Thailand.

Sorry, I haven’t written much this month, I have been having the winter blues. However, exactly, a year ago today, I had finally escaped the cold winter by traveling to the oh so exotic country of Thailand. The minute I got off the plane, I could feel the heat. It felt so good, and because I long for that same hot Thailand air,  I have decided to publish this blog post.  I found this post waiting to be published in my draft section on my wordpress dashboard. I remember writing these words, when I first started to explore Thailand. It is hard to believe that a year has gone by.

Bangkok, Thailand (February 2, 2014)

Yesterday, was my first day touring around Bangkok.

We woke up and relaxed on Elissa’s balcony taking in the view and getting familiar with our new Bangkok neighborhood. Shockingly the city was quiet in the morning time.

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Once we got ready, we headed for breakfast. My friend, Elissa new an amazing brunch place.

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I ordered a savory crepe with egg, spinach, mushrooms, onion, and feta.

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We sipped on coffee and drank down fresh juices. I got watermelon juice of corse.

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After breakfast, we headed to the embassy to convert some American dollars to Thai baht. While Elissa was converting the money Erik and I hung outside strolling down a side street that were lined up with street food vendors (similar to our food trucks minus the truck part.) Everything smelled amazing but we ended up getting refreshing bubble tea. Of corse I went with Papaya.

After our tea time we headed for a pedicure while Erik got a massage. The pedicure I got is the best I have ever had. Next time I might go for a massage.

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After our spa services we headed to the Jim Thompson house. We took the BTS which is their metro system. It was packed so we had to squeeze in.

We saw a rally of protestors on the way.

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The election happened on the day we arrived, so the protesting has significantly died down. A lot of people back home were scared for my safety because of the protesting and political issues in Bangkok. But it wasn’t out of control. 

Anyway we made it to the Jim Thompson house and it was gorgeous. Jim Thompson was an American architect who fell in love with Bangkok, later making it his permanent home.

That’s all from that post.

Anyway, I hope this blog post finds you happy and healthy. I hope it gives you a little warmth to dream about on this cold gray winter February.

xo  ~ M

Don’t you wish you could drink that watermelon juice?!

Other blog posts about Thailand…

© 2015 sweat1xdaily

Are you ready for some Thailand foodporn…

Okay lovelies! I am finally home from Thailand. My plane landed in the States last Saturday. Although, I have been home for a whole week, I was jet lagged, and just had to take some time to get back in gear. However, I have plenty of posts that I wrote while I was in Thailand, that I wasn’t able to post because of lack of wifi. So I will be updating you now!! 

I’m writing this blog post on a choppy motor boat from the Indian Ocean. So far on my trip to Thailand I have spent days in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Ko Samui, Ko Tao, and now I am in Phuket visiting the Ko Pi Pi Islands and Monkey Island. I have stepped foot in the Indian Ocean and the China Sea of the Pacific Ocean.

If you have been following my Instagram and Facebook pages you have seen everything I have been currently doing. Unfortunately, wifi here is really slow so it has been hard for me to blog. So I apologize for that and promise I will update you.

So let’s talk about my two favorite things food and fitness. The food here in Thailand has been absolutely amazing. However, I will admit I am feeling a tiny bit fluffy, (maybe I’m not actually fluffy, but I feel that way.) It may be water weight that I have been holding on to, because the food is so salty, heavy, spicy. This is definitely a love hate relationship I am having with Thai food. Don’t get me wrong I love it, but I hate that I have to eat out for every meal. I also hate that I am not able to eat 5-6 small meals a day, like I had been doing at home. I am on vacation in Thailand so I am enjoying my meals, and pretty much eating my way through Thailand. But hey, it’s only three weeks of my life, and I need to take advantage of being in this foreign land, because the opportunity may never arise again. With that being said, l am definitely not feeling as lean as I normally feel when I am back home. Let me explain why?

There are fruit stands with fresh fruit and juice bars everywhere. I love it and have been drinking tons of watermelon juice. (But too much fruit means too much sugar.)

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Yummy watermelon juice!

I have been hydrating with mainly coconut water straight from the coconut, bottled water, and tea, lots of tea. This isn’t making me feel fluffy. But although it is fun to drink coconut water right from the coconut, I will have to admit it taste exactly the same as Vita Coconut water.

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Also I have come to the conclusion that most locals get their meals by eating street food. The street food vendors literally line the streets like sardines in Bangkok.

In Chiang Mai, our taxi driver grabbed lunch from a random street food stand on the way to dropping us off at an Elephant camp – yes I played with elephants I’ll tell you more about that later. Also Chiang Mai is known for their night markets. They are every night, and are full of street food vendors. One vendor made us Pad Thai right in front of us. Other vendors already had their food prepared. It tasted amazing, but was a tad cold.

I love authentic street food, the only problem I have is that I don’t know exactly what is in it, what they use to cook with. Where the food came from. This is a major problem. How am I suppose to count my macros? Plus, I love to cook and prepare my own food. I am really starting to miss cooking a home cooked meal. By cooking my own food I can control what is in it. In Thailand I let go, took the risk, and just trusted the restaurants and street food vendors.

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As an American, we are told while traveling, never drink the water and never eat the street food. However, Thailand is known for it’s street food, and they take great pride in that. So I trusted the street food vendors, plus all of the locals eat it. Many locals have their favorite street vendors, and become regulars, just like we have regulars in local bars in the the States.

In Bangkok, it has been very difficult to communicate. This shocks me because it is such a huge city and I expected more people to speak English. Turns out the island areas are more touristy where most locals speak English and speak it well. In Bangkok, it was even hard to ask for a knife. It took a lot of hand gestures and pointing to pictures or names of meals on menus.

Food in Bangkok

Although, the Islands are very close, I would have to say Chiang Mai is my favorite place in Thailand, and it has the best food by far. Although, there were tourists, these tourists were very bohemian, (I saw tons of dread locks.) Chiang Mai has a very authentic vibe. There were tons of locals driving mopeds. The restaurants were so authentic that at one of them the owner through on apron and cooked our food barefoot in her kitchen. She also teaches Thai cooking classes.

This photo is by far my favorite photo I took while in Chiang Mai. It just reveals how authentic and beautiful Chiang Mai is. Look at the street food vendor grilling corn on the cob. I captured her smiling. Look at the local traffic in behind her. Mopeds speeding on by. Look at the beauty of the gold Buddhist temple in the back ground. This defines Thailand.  

Chiang Mai corn ladyThese photo belongs to me. Do not use or repost with out my permission.

Chiang Mai street food

Above is a photo of the night market in Chiang Mai. It is crowded and authentic. People selling art, food, etc.

Food in Chiang Mai

On the Islands, where we are staying, beach front, it is less authentic and more touristy so there are more bars and restaurants and less street food vendors.thailand island meat lady

Also surprisingly, our hotels have had really amazing breakfast. So I have been waking up and eating a pretty big breakfast everyday. This is way different from my eating habits at home. At home I am not a morning eater. Normally, I’ll have a hard boiled egg, latte, protein shake, possibly oatmeal, occasionally a greek yogurt, maybe a piece of fruit. I always have a latte every morning the caffeine helps jump start my metabolism. Here in Thailand I have only had coffee twice, and I have been here for almost 3 weeks.

Breakfast in Ko Samui, Thailand, resort The Blue Lagoonthailand islands breakfastBreakfast in Phuket, Thailand, resort The Malisa

Food on the Islands

The cool thing about Ko Samui is that there was a larger variety of different types of food. We went to The Larger, which was owned by a British guy or Aussie. We also went to an Italian restaurant which was owned by an Italian guy. There were restaurants like these where the owner loved Ko Samui so much that he eventually moved to the island and opened a restaurant.

So there you have it, that sums up what I ate on my three week vacation through Thailand. I am excited to say, that I also  brought home some Thai spices and curry pastes, so I can play in my kitchen and make some of my very own thai food.

I am also proud to say that the DC area has some pretty good Thai restaurants. I don’t think our restaurants are too Americanized.

Questions for You…

  1. Have you been to Thailand?
  2. What is your favorite Thai dish?
  3. Do you cook with Thai spices?

© 2014 sweatdaily

 

Bangkok is not a runner friendly city…

Thailand had been an unforgettable trip. So far I have spent 4 days in Bangkok and 4 days in Chiang Mia. Now I am island hopping. I am starting in Ko Samui.

I was hoping to get a run in while I was in Bangkok, but honestly it would have been impossible if I tried. The streets are covered with vendors. Most of them selling homemade street food. The sidewalks are way too narrow. Many of them have dips and curbs. So I would have been hopping all over the place. Also the streets have too much crazy traffic, and the side walks so crowded that when we walked we walked single file.

Another thing that worries me is that no one spoke English, so if I were to get lost I would have been totally screwed. Plus my phone wasn’t working. So no GPS or maps for me. I feel like this sounds like excuses but it is the truth. Bangkok is not a runner friendly city. I didn’t see one runner when I was there.

However, while I was in Bangkok we did tons of walking. And I did squeeze in one of the exercises that I wanted to from one of the Under Armour ambassador, I follow on Instagram. The first week of February was all about burpees.

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I will keep you update you on my runs and workouts while I am on the islands. Today was my first day squeezing a run in. And I plan to get many more in. Running on the beach is my favorite plus I got to take advantage of the warm temps while I can. If is still brutally cold back home.

Jim Thompson’s House in Bangkok, Thailand

I am writing this post while sitting in traffic in Bangkok. Wow, and I thought DC traffic was bad. But this is comparable to LA, but honestly it may be worse.

So here we go…

Yesterday, was my first day touring around Bangkok.

We woke up and relaxed on Elissa’s balcony taking in the view and getting familiar with our new Bangkok neighborhood. Shockingly the city was quiet in the morning time.

20140204-154943.jpg

Once we got ready, we headed for breakfast. My friend, Elissa new an amazing brunch place.

20140204-155616.jpg

I ordered a savory crepe with egg, spinach, mushrooms, onion, and feta.

20140204-155133.jpg

We sipped on coffee and drank down fresh juices. I got watermelon juice of course.

20140204-155423.jpg

After breakfast, we headed to the embassy to convert some American dollars to Thai baht. While Elissa was converting the money Erik and I hung outside strolling down a side street that were lined up with street food vendors (similar to our food trucks minus the truck part.) Everything smelled amazing but we ended up getting refreshing bubble tea. Of course I went with Papaya.

After our tea time we headed for a pedicure while Erik got a massage. The pedicure I got is the best I have ever had. Next time I might go for a massage.

20140204-155826.jpg

After our spa services we headed to the Jim Thompson house. We took the BTS which is their metro system. It was packed so we had to squeeze in.

We saw a rally of protestors on the way.

20140204-160056.jpg

The election happened on the day we arrived, so the protesting has significantly died down. A lot of people back home were scared for my safety because of the protesting and political issues in Bangkok. Protestors and political issues are not scary to me (I’m from Washington, DC – I can handle politics.) It is strangers that are too kind, that make me suspicious. ( I’ll tell you more about that in my next post.)

Anyway we made it to the Jim Thompson house and it was gorgeous. Jim Thompson was an American architect who fell in love with Bangkok, later making it his permanent home. His home was right off of the canal. He had beautiful traditional Thai decor and gorgeous gardens. Here are a couple things I found unique about Jim Thompson.

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Later we ate in the restaurant there on the property. The curry was very good.

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Erik and I also got to drink his favorite Thai Iced Tea!

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Tonight we are heading to the night market. Because of the Jim Thompson house I am inspired to find some silk yarn.