1) The trains look like they came out of Star Trek 2) The traffic looks like a crazy giant video game 3) There are whole malls full of video games 4) You’re the only non-Asian on the train 5) The floors are covered with tatami mats and you’re sleeping on a futon on the floor 6) There are lots of rules about when you wear shoes vs slippers vs special bathroom slippers 7) Chop sticks are the norm 8) People walk around outside in kimonos and face...

Love it or hate it, Songkran is celebrated once a year in April, from the 13th to the 15th, although they like to stretch it out a bit, sometimes for up to a week. How could you possibly not love a new year’s celebration? It depends on how much you like water… …when it is dumped over your head, ice cubes and all! The pouring of water on people is meant as a symbol of washing away sins and bad luck, and long ago, people walked...

North of Chang Mai in Thailand is the city of Chang Rai and the famous White Temple, and nearby, several different Hill Tribes make their homes. A little further north, is the Golden Triangle, which makes for a very full but fun and interesting day. First, on your way, stop by the hot springs, where you can buy and boil eggs (quail or chicken) in the steaming water… Then head to the White Temple, which rises like a sparkling white sugar...

Who doesn’t like Thai food?!! I love to eat it, I’d just never cooked it, and not being the world’s greatest cook, I didn’t know what to expect. But after a high recommendation from other guest house visitors, my Aussie friend Soraya and I headed to the Thai Orchid Cookery school for a day of cooking and eating… It’s owned and run by a lovely young couple who have been sharing their cooking skills for 7 years...

Agape means unconditional love. At least that’s the definition I was given at a home for children with HIV, just outside of Chang Mai, Thailand. One morning at my guest house, I was fated to meet at breakfast a young couple, Ben and Lauren, from Ohio, a state next door to my home state of Michigan. In fact, it turns out Ben’s brother lives in my home town of Grand Rapids. Small world. When they said they were headed that morning to...