noods

Asia – getting fat eating with two sticks!

by BangkokBoholCebu CityKoh Phi PhiPhilippinesPhucketSingaporeSiquijor/Dumaguete islandsThailand

I have loved Thai food since visiting Thailand back in 2022, but forgot how much until returning in 2025!

I have since visited many Asian countries and fell in love with their food. Vietnam Pho/Bahn mi/noodles, Cambodian Amok/Hhmer curry/noodles all held the title until I was reintroduced to Thai again.

The Thai pad and variations of soup won my heart and my belly over once again. Here are some choices from a food court in Bangkok. You could eat three times a day for 365 days and not try them all in this food court. It was almost impossible to choose:

 

Here were some of my favorites from around Samui:

Mango salad (top left)

Tom yum Coconut spicy soup (middle left)

Chicken Pad Thai (top right)

Tom yum chicken spicy (bottom left)

Iced cold Chang (bottom right – it was so hot, ice was needed to keep it cold)

spicynoodles

Cebu, Philippines

by Cebu City

 I spent five weeks in the Philippines Islands in the fall of 2024. It reminded me of the importance of slow travel as I was able to immerse myself in The Philippines culture with a home base the entire time. 

I rented an Airbnb studio condo for the full five weeks in Cebu City:

It reminded me of the awesome feeling of learning a new city and not having to rush.

I was able to live like a local and able to take advantage of the inexpensive lifestyle.

I was bringing American dollars, and everything was in Philippine pesos making everything super inexpensive. I had a local barber that I used every Monday for a $5 hot shave, drop-off laundry service was $4 a week, and a fast-food meal was a few dollars a week to give you an idea.  

Everything you would do was so much cheaper too! I would get a chair massage almost daily $5 including a great tip.  Going out to eat was amazing too as Cebu is a call center hub.  Since they worked the overnight shift to support the Americas, everything was always open to keep the city moving.  

I would see people going to work at 8 PM with McDonald’s breakfast and coffee, for example.

I could get my favorite Korean BBQ or noodle fix 24/7/365 at a fraction of the cost of back home. The next time you check your credit card bill or warranty and get to the Philippines, just know they are eating well, LOL.