Oops.

Okay, so I've been on vacation since last Friday, which should mean that I have plenty of time to blog. Plenty of time, yes, but most of it has been spent cleaning, packing, and sleeping in :)

So I am back, at least for 3 days. On Sunday afternoon we leave for the airport for our Malaysian vacation! For 2 weeks I will be immersed in hill station tea plantations, ridiculously old jungles, and snorkeling off of the Perhentian Islands. This ultimately means no internet for essentially 14 days. Am I excited?! That's an understatement.

It will be nice to get away, and I mean really get away. No internet, no Facebook, no debt ceiling talk, which has infuriated Matt and me to no end these past few weeks. Yup, no talk of politics, no talk of students or camps or lesson plans. I doubt we'll even talk about the wedding much. It's a vacation!

That being said, how did my last week go?

I missed a few days of exercise and instead went on a spur of the moment trip to Seoul to go shopping and get out of Daejeon. I ate okay. According to the scale, I didn't lose or gain. I am still stuck at 7-8 pounds lost. Am I disappointed? Not really.

I know that I will be eating right while in Malaysia and will be really active every day that we're there. I am actually excited to get back and dig in to 5 straight months of exercise and diet before our Southeast Asia trip in January. This fall is my big push.

Right now I am just focused on getting everything ready for our vacation, and regardless of how I look, I am happy and excited and am just ready to enjoy a break.

When we get back it's wedding planning time. Matt and I will begin making our save-the-dates, which I will have plenty to talk about. September is go-to time, so the blog posts will pick up and things will start to get very exciting around here for us.

Stay tuned! I will hopefully post a few random pics of Malaysia when we get back. But if I don't write again before we leave, adios until August 16th! :)

The Game of Life

It's 1:20PM and the majority of kids have yet to show up for the afternoon session of summer camp. I'm feeling nice today, so I decided to let them play another round of Life, which, if played to the end, lasts more than an hour.

These kids are wound so tight during the school months, I thought it would be refreshing to them to sit back and play a board game with new friends. they REALLY enjoy it. Most of them have told me that they rarely play board games, especially with friends. It's nice seeing them having genuine fun with kids they probably wouldn't be hanging out with otherwise.

The Game of Life is complicated!! I remember being confused as a kid, try explaining the rules to Korean kids when the entire game is in English. I just let them play however they want which results in them having a blast.

A small part of me feeels guilty for not covering all of the material in the workbook that I was supposed to for today, but most of me doesn't care. The kids are having fun, and I am sore and tired from a few tough workouts.

I consider myself lucky to have finished 4 weeks of the Turbo Fire without any injuries. Although I have been a little sore here and there, I've also been surprised with how great I've felt. I was expecting to be tight every morning, but so far, so good.

Until 2 days ago.

It's not even muscle pain. It's my scar tissue. I had kidney surgery when I was 9 years old which has left me with a 6 inch scar on my back. Although it's been 16 years, the scar tissue never healed and it has caused me some pain, especially during sports. Now that I have been increasing my punching and side bends, the scar tissue is sore again. Really sore. This is actually a good thing, since I am breaking up scar tissue that should have been broken up years ago. This is a painful, but necessary thing if I want to eliminate pain in the future.

Even though the past two nights have been incredibly painful, I am pushing through and counting my blessings that this is the only pain I have dealt with thus far. Hopefully with each week that goes by the pain will decrease, but we'll see.

I think it's going to get more painful before it gets better.

Week 9 Recap and WEEK 4 RESULTS! :)

Oops!

Last week got the best of me. It was the last week of school, I was SO done with it all, so much so that I didn't even have the energy to blog during a free period. Oh well.

Now that school is over and summer camp has begun, things are looking up again! Heading to Malaysia in less than 2 weeks definitely helps :)

Another thing to be super psyched about is my 4 WEEK RESULTS. That's right. I completed my first 4 weeks of Turbo Fire, which means I had to do a weigh in, take my measurements and snap some more photos.

So where do I stand?

In the last 4 weeks I have lost a total of 8 pounds. Well, 7.7 pounds on a finicky scale. So I am obviously rounding. That's a total of between 1.6-1.8 pounds a week, which is fantastic! My goal was to lose an average of 1.5 a week, so I surpassed my goal. Granted, the first 7 pounds were lost in the first three weeks, with only a small loss during the 4th week, due to some circumstances that I won't get into here (I'm sure you can guess).

Along with the pounds, I lost a total of 3 inches from my waist, and a few other inches here and there for a combined loss of 7.5 inches.

While I don't have all of my measurements from March 1st (they're in a notebook at school locked in the teacher's room), I do know that I have lost a total of 9 inches from my waist since March. I still can't believe it, even though my waist is where I feel the difference the most. Still, 9 inches?!

Suffice to say I am pretty pumped about the results, especially since I wasn't too picky with my diet. I ate mostly clean, but in the last 4 weeks I definitely had splurge nights.

My first goal was to lose 10 pounds by Malaysia, and if I can just pull off losing around a pound a week for the next 2 weeks I'll be there!

Although I am super excited for Malaysia, it is causing some stress in regards to my progress. I will definitely be watching what I eat, and with all of the hiking and snorkeling I'll be doing I am not too worried about gaining. It's just hard to be in the middle of a fitness program to have to take 16 days off.

No worries, though. I have a plan for jumping right back in when I get back.

So my focus for the next two weeks is to eat super clean, push my exercises and even get a few extra walks in here and there.

Cheers to a successful first 4 weeks of Turbo Fire! 16 weeks to go :)

Week 8 Recap

Yes!

Week 8 was my best week yet. I think my body is finally getting on board with this exercise thing. My official weigh in and picture taking is next weekend, but so far since starting Turbo Fire I have lost 7 pounds!!!

It feels good to finally start losing something substantial and not just water weight. 7lbs is the real deal, and in only 3 weeks, which is pretty good considering I was going for 1-2 pounds per week.

I didn't miss a single Turbo Fire exercise this week, and although I didn't eat particularly well this weekend, my body seems to be handling it just fine.

Along with the pounds, I have lost inches as well. Actually, last Friday I found measurements that I had taken way back around March 1st, and let's just say that my waist especially has GREATLY improved. I was super surprised!

It's amazing what a little weight loss will do for enthusiasm. I was so pumped this entire weekend, despite the fact that it rained straight for 2 days. Even though I am feeling sluggish today, I'm in such a good mood, and can't wait to exercise tonight.

I think I am going to drive Matt crazy with each pound lost, but luckily for me he is my biggest supporter :) I doubt I will drive him away with all of my crazy talk, jumping up and down and endless smiles!

With this progress I am so much more motivated to eat healthier and exercise harder. The Turbo Fire exercises have been FANTASTIC. Every single one of them leaves me absolutely dripping in sweat, from head to toe. Now that I have finished my third week, there's no messing around anymore. I know the moves by heart, so it's time to up the intensity.

This week's goal is to add a lot more power to my workouts. That includes adding power to my punches and kicks and to be conscious of keeping my abs tight and muscles flexed.

Also-since the big weigh in and picture taking is this coming weekend, my focus is to eat really clean this week. That won't be too much of a problem since Matt and I have a weekly allowance (since we're big into saving right now!) and most of it has already been spent. That means lots of healthy home cooking for us!

YAHOO! Bring on this rainy, nasty week. Nothing's stopping me :)

You're Killing Me, Fiber!

In these past 9 weeks, I have seen a lot of positive changes. I’ve gotten stronger. My stamina has increased. With each workout I find myself pushing harder, jumping higher and reaching lower. My appetite is great, I don’t crave junk like I used to. I feel happier, and for the most part, more awake and active. Even though I was a pretty happy, optimistic person before, the endorphin highs have been a really nice addition to my daily life.

Along with the good, I have experience a few smaller negative things. One is my sleep. This isn’t because of exercising or dieting, it’s just lately I’ve been in a funk and have had trouble falling asleep at a decent hour. That is getting better though, as I experiment with my caffeine intake (which, let’s face it, I shouldn’t be consuming much of anyways), when and for how low I nap, and what I do before I go to bed. It seems to be getting better.

One other thing that has been bothering me lately is a little embarrassing, but what the heck. Lately, for the past week, every day for a few hours after lunch I have been experiencing a lot of bloating and cramping in my stomach. It confused me because I have been eating healthy lunches and have decreased my calorie intake. With not a lot of rich foods, why was my stomach turning into a rock every afternoon?

Well, it didn’t take me long to figure out an answer. Apparently, when you don’t think too much about the healthy things you start to eat, you can have adverse reactions without even knowing it. So, what’s the issue? Simply put, I am eating too much fiber too fast.

The benefits of fiber are great, as most people are aware. We are bombarded by commercials and advertisements talking about the numerous health benefits of a fiber-rich diet. What they don’t usually tell you is that if you go from eating a low amount of fiber to, say, consuming tons of it every day, your body doesn’t take it too well. Actually, your stomach has a hard time digesting it.

I find it hilarious that when I researched “too much fiber” these are the food culprits they listed that might cause “discomfort”:

Carrots

Any plant in the cabbage family

Anything fermented

Whole wheat products

Granola/muesli

Apples

Legumes

Does anyone else find this hilarious?! Okay, maybe it’s just me. Hehe. Take a look at NUMBER 2 and 3. AHH. You’ve got to be kidding me! I mean, not only do I eat cabbage EVERY DAY, I eat FERMENTED cabbage! Too funny. Of course I’ve been eating cabbage every day for the past 16 months. That can’t be it. But hmm, what else have I introduced to my diet in the last two weeks? How about granola EVERY morning? And I eat carrots like a friggin rabbit, A Ziploc bag a day. Every other day or so I also eat a NutriGrain bar, which says right on the front: “Good source of fiber”.

So I guess I started this fiber rich diet too much, too fast. Of course, I wasn’t purposely trying to up my fiber intake by a lot. I knew I should be adding fiber (studies have shown it’s good for weight loss), but I wasn’t actively seeking out all of these foods because of fiber. It’s really just a coincidence.

Go figure. I try and eat relatively healthy and all I get is tons of stomach discomfort. All I can say is that I am glad I figured out the problem. No carrots for me today!

Doctors suggest slowly increasing your fiber intake over a few weeks, adding a few grams each day. They recommend 25-30 grams for women, 30-35 grams for men per day. Most people don’t get that much unless they are conscious of choosing fibrous foods.

My plan is to slowly introduce the carrots back in, only have a bite or two of kimchi, and see how I feel. I ate granola this morning so if that’s it, we’ll know come 2:00PM!

Just Another Day..

The head teacher of the third grade just came over to me and dropped a steaming hot baked potato on my desk. She continued to go around and pass one out to every teacher. Koreans are SO friggin random sometimes. I mean, never in a million years could I see someone doing this back home. I can see bringing in fruit (berries, or a watermelon) to share with your co workers, but trying to empty out your pantry by passing out potatoes is another thing altogether. Not half as bad as when a teacher went "fishing" over the weekend and brought in a cooler of fish and shells that she proceeded to gut and chop up during her free period. Never a dull moment here.

This morning was also the 4th or 5th time I have witnessed a teacher cutting a student's hair. Seriously. Granted, her hair was kind of a mess. I don't know if she had decided to chop it herself, but it was a little uneven. Along with haircuts, I've seen teachers hem skirts, stitch up rips in boy's pants, catch blood with a tissue from a nosebleed, take earrings out of girl's ears, put girl's hair up into ponytails as if they were 4, and countless other acts of "mothering". What a paradox. In one way, teachers here are somewhat robotic. They teach to the test, have hundreds and hundreds of students, never veer from power point presentations and memorization, and use harsh discipline. On the other hand, they can be very motherly (or fatherly), comforting students when they cry, fixing their hair, calling home to their parents, offering hours of advice to troubled students. It ceases to amaze me.

The other day my co teacher translated a few words for me of a teacher while she was disciplining a boy: "How are you even a human?" Degrading yes, but a few Korean teachers were giggling at their desks. This is just the kind of approach they take here with kids. I don't know what this boy did, but he was definitely ashamed. Who am I to say whether or not this form of discipline works. I've seen the same teacher hold a weeping child in her arms and rub their back.

I'm not a parent, so I can't relate to any of this. It's just what I get to witness while sitting here at my desk listening to my ipod and zoning out. Some days teacher to student interaction is heartwarming, other days quite frankly, kids get the shit kicked out of them. Well, not kicked, just whacked with sticks.

So today is another test day, which means no classes for me. Kids are taking practice exams to prepare them for the national exam next week. I laugh thinking about the "preparation" we had before taking the standardized state test back home. Oh wait, what preparation? Nobody cared. Not the same here.

What does this mean for me? It means I just spent a few hours looking up overland tours in southern and eastern Africa. I swear, I need some kind of program.

Lunch Menu: Revealed

So one huge hurdle with tracking calories and trying to eat healthy is not knowing any nutritional information for 1/3 of my meals for the day. That’s right. It seems pointless to track my food when, in all honesty, I have no idea what I eat for lunch sometimes. Sure, I eat a serving size (or less) of rice. Sure, I eat kimchi (every single lunch time). But the other 3 sides are a mystery. How am I supposed to track the soups? Or the weird meat +veggie+sauce concoctions? Or the *moan* nasty fish cake? Oh wait, I refuse to eat the fish cake. You get what I mean. Although I can try to guestimate lunch calories, it’s not easy.

Well, today I have some semblance. I snatched a lunch menu off of a student who wasn’t paying attention, and noticed that there is some nutritional information listed on each day. Even though I don’t know exactly what I am putting into my body, at least I have some idea of the calories, fat, sugars etc. That sounds all exciting, except for one small thing. I don’t eat a full serving size of everything. Lately I don’t eat much from the lunch menu at all. I don’t even know what the serving size for each thing should be. Regardless, it’s something to get me through until next semester. I am trying to decide if I should make the big leap. You know what leap I am referring to: bringing lunch from home.

Why, what an easy solution! Not really. I mean, a lot of foreigners refuse to eat school lunch, many making their case known within the first week at school. Because I am not a picky eater, I decided it would make a good impression to suck it up and eat with the rest of the teachers everyday in the cafeteria. You might not think it’s a big deal to eat different food or to sit alone at your desk, but in Korea, it could be taken the wrong way. While some schools don’t wave a finger at that type of behavior, many Koreans think it’s rude to eat in seclusion. Have I mentioned how community-driven these people are? Well, they are VERY into group bonding and sharing. Koreans share everything. If one brings a clementine in for a snack, 99% of the time you see them split it into pieces to share. Although many in the west might view this as too much, it’s never too much in Korea.

So you can see where it might be awkward choosing to eat alone at your desk while the rest of the teachers “enjoy” lunch together. Luckily for me, I don’t think it will be a huge deal. I think I will continue to pay for the measly monthly lunch fee so that I can still join in every now and then, but next semester I am going to spring the news to my co teacher and see what she says. After all, they all know I am dieting, which is taken very seriously here. Hopefully they won’t think too much of it, since I have participated in every activity they have ever had.

Bringing in leftovers and making myself a salad for lunch every day sounds absolutely amazing. It’s the little things in life, seriously. You don’t think about how great it is to make your own lunch selection every day until you are stuck eating Korean food on metal trays like an inmate every weekday. Ick.

Boo Yah

Operation pants-fit-looser has now commenced!

I've been wearing these pants for a year and a half and for the first time I can fold the top flap over and pull them way out from my body.

Happy dance!

I need to start logging the small things.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4^th of July!!

Being away from home keeps you humble. Being away from home during a national holiday is tough, especially since the 4^th is a summery, picnicky, parade-filled day. There is nothing like being homesick when summer time hits. Celebrating the 4^th of July here is a little like celebrating your own personal holiday in your head that no one knows about. I sit here at my desk and it’s just like any other day at the office: a little anticlimactic. It was the same way on Christmas Eve. We had school (it was a Friday after all), which was weird enough. Although a lot of Koreans celebrate Christmas, Christmas Eve isn’t a big deal. It was so strange being here teaching the day before Christmas when back home I would be getting ready for evening mass at church and a party at my aunts afterwards. But such is life in a foreign country. What else can you do?

I celebrated our nation’s independence from Britain by powering through a 45 minute workout before work this morning. I didn’t think I would wake up since I didn’t have a good night of sleep, but I was feeling energized and went for it. Thankful that it’s out of the way!

Hopefully if it doesn’t start down pouring on us (let’s face it, it’s a high possibility), I’d like to have a picnic outside on the river tonight. Maybe we can even purchase some small fire works at our local mom and pop corner store. They even sell fireworks in stationary stores here, it’s unreal!

Life abroad makes you realize that holidays are a state of mind and you can celebrate them however you like, wherever you like. Matt and I hummed along to a few renditions of America the Beautiful and the Star Spangled Banner this morning as we ironed our clothes for the day. Nothing like a little Ray Charles to get you in the patriotic mood!

Happy Independence Day to all Americans at home and abroad! Enjoy it in your own special way, as we will! :)

Week 7 Recap

So, it's been 7 weeks since I started exercising regularly. It's only been 2 weeks though since I started the Turbo Fire workouts. From now on I am going to use the Turbo Fire weeks to mark my progress, since it was two weeks ago when I took my measurements, took starting pictures and started the routine.

I am happy to say that in two weeks I have made some progress! According to the scale (which I have not decided yet whether to trust or not), I have lost 4-5 pounds. My actual weigh-in isn't for another two weeks, so we'll see. If that's real, then I've lost around 2 pounds a week, which is great.

Out of the 12 days of exercise on the Turbo Fire schedule, I did all but one. I missed last Sunday's workout, which was supposed to be a sculpting/stretch session. I don't feel too bad since I didn't miss a single intense cardio session. From now on though, no excuses! 6 workouts a week, no exceptions.

The workouts have been good. The first week I got myself out of bed every morning to do the weekday workouts, this past week it was half and half. I woke up two days, and the other two days I chose to workout at night when Matt was at taekwondo. Although I prefer getting it out of the way, I've realized some days I just need more sleep. The goal is to not miss a day, no matter what. If it means sleeping in and doing it that night, then so be it.

The diet has been mostly clean this past week. I had half a slice of pizza with my salad at Costco during our monthly shopping, but other than that it's been salads, chicken, curry etc.

This week's goals:

Wake up at least two mornings to exercise
Eat healthy every meal
Do something extra: a walk one night, or hiking, or an extra core workout, something not on the schedule.

Pretty happy with the results this week, minus the break down last night I am feeling really good! Bring on week 3 of the Turbo Fire! Only 4 solid weeks left until Malaysia. My goal is 10 pounds by then, but we'll see. I'm going to really have to cut a few calories and eat extra healthy!

When Science Isn't Enough

Anyone who begins a weight loss journey knows the "golden rule": if you have a calorie deficit each week, you will lose weight. Slowly but surely, you can lose up to 2 pounds per week by cutting out around 500 calories a day, more if you exercise.

That sounds all well and good, but most people do not experience this to be the truth, at least not all of the time. Things happen that make this mathematical equation not true. I mean, wouldn't it be nice if that were actually the case, week after week? Unfortunately, shit happens. Some people experience weight gain at the beginning of their weight loss regiment. Some people stagnate for weeks on end. Some people lose a lot more one week, and then nothing the next.

Why does is this equation not perfect? Why can't it be? Of course all of those issues I mentioned above have scientific factors that explain the reasons behind them. A lot of people gain weight during the first few weeks of intense exercise because their muscles are being pulled and therefor retain water. Some people stagnate in their weight loss because their body has become used to their regular form of exercise, and need to be "rebooted", while others stagnate because, holy cow, they aren't eating ENOUGH calories for the amount of exercise they do and need to fuel their bodies more to continue losing.

Weight loss is not X +Y =Z. People probably wouldn't be battling obesity on such a scale if it was the case. It can be so frustrating. Even though I've only been on this journey for mere weeks, I have already learned a lot in how I approach weight loss.

It's more than science. In order to be successful, it has to be about faith. Belief in yourself and your abilities. Belief that just because the scale isn't moving, that you are bettering yourself after each workout. Belief that just because you're not getting the results you want doesn't mean you're not getting healthy. Belief that you can get through the next 45 minutes of an intense workout when you're already tired because you're worth it.

So much of losing weight and getting healthy is mental. Damn the science.

Last night I had my first real break down. I cried like a baby, yelling at Matt and feeling so discouraged and angry because he was seeing amazing results in his fitness plan and I wasn't seeing anything. Angry that his goal right now is to get a 6-pack, while mine is to lose a whopping 50 pounds. I felt dismayed, hopeless. How could he, day after day, come to me with a smiling face showing me his new muscles? Didn't he get it? Doesn't he know this is hard for me?

But then, today, after the most intense 45 minute workout I've had yet with the Turbo Fire, I experienced such an adrenline/endorphin high and realized that if I am going to accomplish success, I need to stay focused. I need to remember the feelings I get after exercising and harness them when I am feeling dismayed. I can't let all of these factors get the best of me. I can be happy for Matt and proud of my own small achievements at the same time.

It's a battle. I know that I will break down again, but I also know how many more amazing moments I am going to have after I finish a high intensity workout and am dripping in sweat and happiness.

Just with anything else, it's 90% mental and 10% physical. Science is never enough.

Going Big

So I may have hinted in earlier posts that we are saving up for the wedding and a period of “extended travel” after our third year contracts finish. Being vague was the name of the game while Matt and I were trying to number crunch to see if it was even possible to spend some time traveling. In our opinions, we figured we’d either go big or go home with this trip. What does go big mean? It means we were looking at traveling extensively for 9-12 months. No easy feet, especially when it comes to finances.

Deciding to embark on this kind of adventure is easy. Working out the logistics of making said adventure happen is a completely different story. Matt and I have been discussing going on a RTW (round-the-world) trip since we touched down in Korea. Many a night in our first year here was spent walking along the river path discussing jungle treks, temple ruins, flight itineraries and regional weather. At that point, spending a year traveling was just a pipe dream.

Now that we have been in Korea for a while and have tracked our spending habits, we can realistically come up with a plan for savings. At this point, after lots of calculations and taking every purchase for the next year and a half into consideration (flights, trips, matt’s potential eye surgery, any small excursions around Korea, wedding expenses, etc), we feel that we can save enough to travel for a full year.

The biggest issue when deciding to not work for a year is figuring out how to pay for bills. Unfortunately, we cannot just pack our bags and go wherever the wind takes us. Even though we don’t have a mortgage, or kids, or any ties to anywhere, we have the responsibility of paying our student loan bills. When you factor in paying for bills for 12 months without work, it adds up, a lot. The total amount we have to save just for bills is astounding. In no way would we be able to take 12 months to travel without our third year bonuses.

Why stay a third year? Everyone wants to know. We could easily come home this coming March, try to find jobs and be around to plan our own wedding. It sounds nice, except for one thing: the bonuses. Not only are our bonuses significant in themselves, we will also be getting back three years worth of pension, which ends up being a LOT.

With the bonuses we can pay for our student loan bills for 12 months as well as the large flights for our trip. What we need to come up with through saving is spending money for day to day expenses while on the road.

This number keeps fluctuating. It’s hard to calculate how much money two people need on a daily basis for all of the different countries we’re going to.

Where are we going? That will have to wait for a later post :)

So hurray for finally announcing our plans for post-Korea! If all goes according to plan, we will be traveling from March-November 2013 and spending the holidays home in Maine. After that, who knows?!

More info on the big trip to come!

Air Asia Madness

So, I think it's bogus to write about an airline that I haven't even flown with yet, but what the heck. I just want to comment on how awesome it is to be able to use a discount airline for the first time in Asia.

Despite the taxes and fees they add on at the last minute, and trying to charge me $15.00 to choose my seats, and sneakingly adding stupid travel insurance onto my total, I am still loving their prices.

Of course, with any budget airline, you have to deal with all of the "extras". They charge for every checked bag. They charge for any meals you might want to eat. Also the routing can be a pain. Because Air Asia's hub is in Kuala Lumpur, if you want to fly from Korea to anywhere else in Asia, most likely you have to route through KL.

This time around, we got SUCH a good deal on our tickets to Malaysia, which is why we decided to vacation there in the first place. We had originally planned on going back to China, or Mongolia, or Thailand. But Mongolia was expensive, China we had already been to and Thailand is going to be right in the middle of monsoon season. Enter: Malaysia.

We got two round trip tickets to Malaysia from Seoul for $550.00 a person. Not too shabby. Not only that, but they're DIRECT FLIGHTS. Might not be a big deal to some of you, but I have never been on a direct flight in my life (unless you count the 1 hour puddle jump to Jeju Island). The flight is at an odd time: it departs Seoul at 11:25PM and arrives in Kuala Lumpur at 5:15 in the morning. Again, some people might be dismayed, but not us. Actually, it works out really well for us. We don't have to pay for an extra night in a hotel, and we don't waste time getting to our first destination. We planned on traveling right to the Cameron Highlands our first day, so with this awesome flight we can get there mid afternoon (if everything goes according to plan), instead of that night. Score!

I will have many an opinion about the airline itself when we come back. We are going to take 3 flights with Air Asia total during our Malaysia trip, with one being a short domestic flight. I hope we like it enough because we have already purchased some our tickets to Southeast Asia this winter and will be buying more through them this fall.

As two young backpackers, I don't think we'll have too many negative comments about a discount airline like air Asia, simply because we don't expect a lot. We'll see!