Kyoto, Japan
Daniel and I visited Kyoto in July 2010. I really loved the city (much preferred it to Tokyo). There were so many awesome temples; we were there for four days and didn’t even see a fraction of them! My favorite was Fushimi Inari Taisha (which is technically a shrine). I also loved floating down the Hozu River on a wooden boat and the bamboo forest in Arashiyama.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Daniel and I visited Kuala Lumpur in February 2011. We only stayed one night (we spent most of our time in the country on the island of Pangkor). I really loved the city; it was so clean and modern but not expensive like Singapore! We stayed in a nice hotel, swam in the rooftop pool, ate a delicious buffet dinner, and I got a body scrub at the spa. But the highlight was visiting the Petronas Twin Towers at night!
Ko Phi Phi, Thailand
I visited Ko Phi Phi solo in July 2011. (Ko means island and Phi Phi is pronounced “pee pee”.) I was so disappointed. I had heard so many things about how beautiful it was (and how the movie The Beach was filmed there). What a dump. It was filthy (I ran into a giant pile of trash while snorkeling) and packed with tourists. Add to that a horrific boat ride from and back to Phuket (so many people vomited and I was almost one of them). I was so glad I only stayed one night! Not recommended.
Grown in Southern Ground 