Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Koh Samet 2011

 Here is just a brief review of our holiday to Koh Samet! We stayed for 2 sleeps and 3 days.. We took a ferry from the main land over to the small island Koh Samet. 
 The trip there by bus took about 3 hours then 1 hour by ferry starting from Bangkok. The scenery on the way there was beautiful!
 My favorite thing about this island is all the lovely restaurants and bars along the beach.. while you eating you have this amazing view of the water.
 They had delish food, I don't think there was one place we ate that we did not like. Here is Collins eating some ribs for lunch!
 Walk along the beach, life is so simple and free here. Everyone just hangs around the beach and they make money off all the tourists. The water was gorgeous and so clean!
 Believe it or not, down below, but this is absolutely normal anywhere in Thailand! I have even seen a father carrying his little two or three year old on his shoulders or lap while driving around the city! How is this legal???!!!

 At night the dining is so neat, every one sits on the ground around the tables. They have fire shows and men walking around selling silks and things. Everyone is drinking, eating, and relaxing.. really puts your mind at ease being in this kind of environment.
Here we are at dinner, waiting for our food to arrive taking many pictures of ourselves doing silly faces. We really are so happy & in love, it seems too good to be true. Life couldn't get any better then this!
 On this island, the roads are dirt and very bumpy and muddy so people commute my truck, moped with dirt bike type wheels or quads! We had a blast driving around on the quad, although Collins drove a bit too crazy for me!!

 More food on the beach! Such a wonderful view!

 Strolling along the beach, doesn't take too long to go from one end of the island to the other. Surprisingly, as it is raining season in Thailand, there were quite a bit of tourists/foreigners! But we did get lucky with the weather, it rained mainly at night.

 And to the beautiful sunset we go :D 

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Thailand Street Foods

 This in Thai is called Som Tam (pronounced sum tum) and called Green Papaya Salad in English. This is one of my all time favorites, you can buy it anywhere on the streets for only 30 baht ($0.99)! Because I am picky I order mine "Jay" which in Thai means vegetarian. I ask for no sugar as well so its healthier, Thai culture likes to add sugar to EVERYTHING, and I mean everything,  you really have to be careful.  The ingredients are green papaya slices, tomatoes, sometimes carrot slices, green peas, fresh squeezed lime, chile, peanuts, fish oil, and garlic. They mush it all up in this canister above and scoop it into a bag, tie it up with a rubber band and off you go! 

This is Tom Yum Soup (Tum Yum) which is also sold on the streets, but more of a sit down style food sold for 60 baht($1.98). Also one of my favorites although it isn't as convenient. You can choose between over 5 different type of noodles, and add either pork balls, chicken, beef, shrimp, fish balls. Personally I always get the skinnier noodles with shrimp and add lots of chili afterwards to add some spice! The ingredients in this soup are chicken broth, lemon grass, fresh squeezed lime, ginger, sliced chiles, fish oil, cilantro, and green onions. Be careful, they even put sugar in this as well!!!
This right here is my absolute favorite, they should have these fruit guys in America standing on the streets selling freshly cut fruits for only 15baht($0.50) per serving. They typically carry pineapple (my favorite), papaya, mango, green mango, guava, watermelon, and occasionally you can find other melons.  They sit on a cart in a case full of ice that they either push around from corner to corner or attach it to their bike to drag to the next location. Such a refreshing little healthy snack especially in the heat.

Above are fried & grilled bananas. These also are very common on the streets, and sold with a side of sweet sauce to dip them in. The grilled bananas are typically caramelized and sugar coated, the fried bananas are fried in a pancake batter. They both are very good, but extremely heavy and they give you a huge serving for 20baht($0.66). I used to eat the grilled bananas quite often, but they are just too heavy I can only eat 2-3 of them or I feel sick. 
Mango Sticky Rice - My mouth is already watering. This is my all time favorite Thai desert that is sold on the streets. Its only half of a mango with sugar coated sticky rice, then coconut milk syrup poured over the top. They sell it for 80 baht($2.64) which is well worth it as mango's are not the cheapest of fruits to buy. Some places flavor the rice and change its colors, its pretty often you will see purple or green sticky rice as well, seems strange but they all taste AMAZING!
Grilled chicken kabobs with a side of peanut sauce to dip them in! You just walk up tell them how many you want and they place them in a little baggy with sauce at the bottom so all you have to do it dip them around in the bag and take a bite. Perfect snack for walking around, not too time consuming. I don't eat meat so I don't eat these, but my boyfriend enjoys them. I believe they sell them at about 10 baht per kabob, which is $0.33. Aren't you loving how cheap the food is? I am!
You will often find little stations like this with all these different dishes that they pour on a plate over steamed rice. These things are often eaten even for breakfast! I recommend staying away from these sorts of things because you do not know how long they have been sitting out or how many insects have landed on them while they have been sitting there. I don't trust that they have timers set on these dishes. You have been warned! :(
These little marshmallow treats are delish! Its a little crepe with marshmallow and tiny sliced fruits (typically mango) on top. You purchase a baggy full of them and they are the perfect bite size treat! They are sold on almost every corner especially in the evenings. They sell a bag for only 20baht($0.66)!
These crepes are quite popular with the children and tourists and are VERY, VERY naughty! They take a ball of dough and throw it around like pizza dough and slap it on a grill, then pour butter and liquid sugar to make the crepe crispy somewhat like the outside of a buttered croissant.. then they slice up a banana and place them in a cup with liquid half&half and mix it together and pour it on the dough. Then they add peanut butter, nutella or honey to it.. after its cooked a bit they wrap it all up into a square shape and add some more butter and sugar. Then they place it on a plate for you, cute it up and add coconut milk drizzle on the top! YUMMMMM! only for 20baht($0.66)!
If you ever make it to Thailand be sure to try out some of these foods! Safe travels! XXOO


LOVIN some H&M right now..




















XXOO

Diet DO's & DONT'S

DO NOT not eat when your hungry because your trying to loose weight. Your body is telling you something!!! Not eating puts your body into starvation mode, therefore the next time you eat your body will store everything to protect itself from being held from food again. In the long run, this ruins your metabolism and will actually make you gain weight once you decide to go back to a healthy diet. This is probably one of the dumbest mistakes I see girls (esp models) do.

DO eat less more often. When you order a meal try to eat just enough to satisfy you.. don't over indulge or feel the need to finish your plate so you dont waste, just eat until you are satisfied. The more little meals/snacks you can eat a day (when your stomach is hungry) the faster your metabolism gets. Eating 3 big meals a day is not going to keep your metabolism going.

DO NOT eat things that you know are bad for you! C'MON seriously guys, you know McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell.. they are SO SO bad for you!!! It's ok to indulge every once in awhile but eat REAL food please not garbage. You can not complain about your weight when you are eating these foods.

DO eat lean proteins, carbs, and fats. To be healthy you DO need a little bit of all of these things. I hear so many girls saying they are on carb free, no fat, no protein diets.. this is NOT healthy. This will make you extremely fatigued, light headed, dizzy.. carbs & fats & proteins are what give you energy! The key word here is a LITTLE bit of all of these things in a day are perfect. Do not restrict yourself from any of the food groups unless its for medical reasons!

DO NOT take diet pills or any substance that is "supposed to just magically make the fat go away". These are VERY bad for you. Sorry to break it to you, but you have to actually work to burn that fat, its not just going to magically disappear. It may work temporarily, but truth is it is destroying your metabolism and the second you get off those pills your body will balloon out! If your looking for an all natural substance to help give you energy to burn the fat, try drinking green tea 2-3 times a day or taking green tea extract.

DO eat lots of GREEN!!! Vegetables, vegetables, vegetables! In my opinion this is the best thing you can put into your body! There are so many nutrients, they help you to be healthier and stronger.

Diets really aren't going to help anyone, what needs to happen is a change of lifestyle. You need to feed your body, mind, and soul! Eating healthy foods frequently, being fit, positive attitude, etc. Your goal should be to be 100% healthy, not 'Skinny'. Don't be too hard on yourself, you must have a healthy mind to get to your healthy soul, then to your healthy body! Stay motivated!!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Herion Chic

Photographed by Michelle Louise - http://www.facebook.com/MichelleLouisePhotography
Make up & Styling done by myself!


Collins & Destiny

Photographed by Michelle Louise - http://www.facebook.com/MichelleLouisePhotography
Make-up, Styling done by ME :)