Reluctantly leaving the warm embrace of Bangkok (yeah, right!), I headed to the east side of Thailand, to a large, but less touristy island called Koh Chang (Elephant Island). My friend Megan told me about it, and said it was ideal for just relaxing, eating good food, and reading in a hammock. Which is exactly what I did. The second I accidentally walked into Tree House Lodge (I was deliriously following some German backpackers), I knew I had found home for a few weeks. While I slept in a bungalow at Siam Hut, a neighboring lodge (in a row of huts that we called the "Concentration Camp"), I spent most of my time at Tree House, the beach, and Joy Cafe.

That first night, I was so hungry from the day of travel, I eat one of the the eye-balls of my grilled fish. I figured it was then or never. It wasn't bad, but I only eat one (no pictures). Later, resident eye-ball eating champion Menyui wrote to me poetically: "eye-ball eater." That made me laugh.