The Markets of Manila

This past week I was lucky enough to make my first trip to "real" Asia.

I've been as far east as the middle of Turkey before, but in my mind, that hardly counts.

But upon landing in the Philippines, I can officially say I've been to Asia.

This is country #30.

And the 5th new country of the year! So we can check that goal off the list!

We (my boss Stephen and I) flew Milan to Abu Dhabi and then onto Manila.

the Abu Dhabi airport

We're here for work...but more on that another time.

I snagged a window seat out of Abu Dhabi and had a view of Dubai as we flew past. It was super cool! I took a couple of pictures and shot a time lapse, which is too fast, but what can ya do.

still under construction

In our first full day in Manila I had booked a tour of the markets of Manila through a local tour company. The guide took us through several different markets, encouraged us to try several different traditional Filipino foods and laughed with us as we got the full on rainy season experience!

the conditions in downtown Manila are not great

our tour guide with sticky rice

another version of sticky rice...made from powder?
real confused by this...

market life

a panoramic of part of the market scene

this guy...
do you want a bird to take home in a tiny basket?

mangustin

the inside of the mangustin...
of the three fruits, this was my favorite

rambutan

the inside of the rambutan...
I've seen this on tv so many times and was super excited to try it.

the final fruit...lansones

inside of the lansones

purple eggs
#superstrange

not real sure how it was prepared, but I tried it

market life

#scenesfrommanila

the electrical wires in downtown manila are out of control!

trout

hopia

#citylife

Stephen's umbrella didn't fare so well in the Manila rainy season

halo halo...
lots of weird gelatin and ice and puffed rice

Have you been to downtown Manila? I wonder how it compares to other southeast Asian countries. We spent the majority of our time in suburban Manila, which was so different from what you see in the pictures above.

A Little Lake Time and a Coffee Break!

Back in Milan and back to the day to day of work life.

I do, in fact, work, despite the large amount of travel I manage to squeeze in throughout the year!

Before school started a small group of us jumped on a train and headed to Colico to spend a day relaxing on Lake Como.

An excellent reason to use snapchat...the super fun filters!

It's such a nice area, with an actual beach and a large amount of kite and wind surfers that are fun to watch.

Look at all those kite surfers!

I also had a chance to check out the newly opened Wes Anderson cafe, Bar Luce, at Fondazione Prada on the south side of Milan. My friend and I went early on a Sunday, as it does get crowded as the day progresses.

a delicious, and inexpensive, cappuccino

retro decor...these chairs are super fun!

I love it all. 

Taking a Bite Out of the Big Apple!

While I was in the US this summer, I made plans to go to New York City, visit Caitlin and try out my first yoga retreat.

Unfortunately, the yoga retreat was cancelled about a week before it was due to start.

#insertsadface

Thankfully, Caitlin's family lives on Long Island and was willing to put up with me as a guest for a few extra days.

Caitlin and I spent some time on Long Island and some time in NYC and spent a day tooling around the Hamptons.

#fancy

The water was freezing!

I took a stroll through Central Park. 

I went to see Wicked for the 5th? 6th? 7th? time.
I've lost count. 

This bagel was amazing.
I wish I could have it again NOW!

Walked the Highline.

Visited the 9/11 memorial. 

View from the Empire State building. 

Had my first ever Chipotle experience.
#yum

Walked the Brooklyn Bridge in some brutal heat. 

Had New York/Italian style pizza at Grimaldi's in Brooklyn.

Saw Finding Neverland on Broadway.
#thekidswereamazing
#nomatthewmorrison #sadface

The Hamptons! 

Special thanks to the Munson's for having me throughout the week! It was such a pleasure to meet you! And especially to Caitlin to playing tourist with me in her home state!

Summer in Savannah: Version 2.015

Every summer I have eight weeks off and this year I spent five of them in Savannah. 

Here are some of the highlights of my time in this southern city.

Taking selfies with these cuties, Hudson and Grady. 

Took my niece and her husband to dinner and had these yummy shrimp and grits tacos.

It's always a party when all of the dogs are together!

It's treat time!

My Aunt Joni came to Savannah again this summer. It's always so nice to get to spend time with her.

My two favorite ladies- my mom and Aunt Joni!

I baked this delicious chicken pot pie completely from scratch. It's been awhile since I made this dinner, but I'm still thinking about how delicious it was. 

Even the crust was from scratch.

Look who came to Savannah! 

Kate came and visited for two days. We went to the beach, we went kayaking, and explored downtown. 

Taking a dip after kayaking.

I rented this cute Kate Spade romper for our day touring downtown Savannah.

 

I took this girl some delicious lunch while she was working. 

I spent some time cuddling with this little peanut.

I spent several days at the beach with my sister.

And eventually time came to head back over the Alps.

It's pretty incredible, every single time.