My first post with Uptake!

Snorkeling with Sea Turtles in Akumal, Mexico

Phen Restaurant, Northern Thai Food Galore!

While I love all Thai food, my favorite is definitely Northern Thai. Phen Restaurant is a jewel tucked away in the narrow sois of old Chiangmai. Located across the street from Anubaan Chiangmai (Chiangmai Kindergarten) you can expect to find everything from Kao Soi noodles to grilled eggplant salad to bamboo shoot salad to fried chicken and nam prik ong (a Northern chilli tomato dip) just to name a few items off their vast menu.

The House Restaurant, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The House & Ginger Cafe is my favorite dining experience in Chiang Mai. Located right in the middle of town, it is a charming cafe (Ginger) and more formal dining area in The House. With both Asian and Western menus and an impressive and creative selection of cocktails, it is an experience you won't forget! The atmosphere is truly unique.

Sawasdee Pee Mai!

There's no way to ring in the new year like lighting off a few khom loy (floating lanterns). A northern Thai tradition, these light paper laterns are like little hot air balloons that are lit on all significant occasions across the region. The belief is that your bad luck will be lifted into the sky with a wish. The most impressive display being the celebration of Loi Kratong in the Maejo district of Chiang Mai where thousands are simultaneously released each year.

10 things you should do with 10 hours in Seoul, Korea.

Yesterday I had a lengthy layover in Seoul on my way to Thailand. Never having visited Korea beyond Incheon airport, I decided to go exploring. After boarding an airport limousine bus, I was taken on a comfortable one-and-a-half hour ride and dropped off in the heart of Seoul's Jonggak district.

1. Take a walk down Insadong, a charming downtown neighborhood with a plethora of street vendors, narrow side streets, art galleries and charming restaurants in old Korean houses.



2. Eat some dak galbi (spicy Korean chicken barbeque).



3. Stop at any of the Pascucci coffee shops for some hot milk green tea. Very strong matcha flavor. Love it!



4. Visit Jogyesa Buddhist temple.




5. Stroll through Namdaemun market where you will find anything from traditional handicrafts to hats that resemble plush hello kitties.



6. Eat a hot steamy bowl of kimchi udon.



7. Take a walk through the trendy Myeongdong district, full of contemporary boutiques, street vendors and restaurants.



8. Walk past Jongno Tower.



9. Sample as much street food as possible.




10. Make sure you ride the most intricate subway system I've ever seen. It goes everywhere and is delightfully organized and navigable.

Dos Ojos Cenote. Riviera Maya, Mexico.

The first cenote I ever saw, before I ever knew what a cenote was, was Dos Ojos. A faded, hand-painted sign on the federal highway 307 directed me 2.5km down a dirt road through the jungle. Decending into the sinkhole along a questionable set of wooden stairs, I slipped. Of course, it was worth it. The sight I saw was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and yesterday Luis Leal took me on what he called the "unofficial tour" of his cenote.

More than half of the dive was through caves, without any glimpse of the outside world. Gliding through inexplicably clear waters with 300 feet of visibilty, we passed through a halocline (where salt water and fresh water meet to create a hazy, psychedelic visual experience). Stalactites, stalagmites, columns as high as 4 meters and crystals litter these caves. One cave had an impressive naturally collapsed karstic roof and pigmentation in the limestone, evidence of prehistoric painting. Dos Ojos is known for the bat cave: a dark cave where you are able to surface that is the home to several hundred fruit bats. My favorite part of any cenote dive is when you emerge from a cave and see streams of light shooting into the cavern through the jungle. There's nothing quite like it and it takes my breath away every time.


The hand-painted sign, has since been replaced with a much larger, sophisticated one and at it's peak 250 divers visit the system daily. Luis Leal's dive shop is located right at the entrance to Dos Ojos.

Diving with bull sharks.

Yesterday I had the unique opportunity to dive with bull sharks off the coast of Playa Del Carmen. This group of 12 female bull sharks have visited this area every winter for the past 3 years to breed. Returning to the exact same spot just behind the Jardines reef on the sand flat, they are an incredible sight to behold.

I also captured a video of it.