My lifelong love for Ferris wheels was not disappointed by my experience at the London Eye.

The beauty I witnessed in Lijiang left me speechless. It was like seeing a postcard come to life.

Wat Traimit is absolutely beautiful, and it houses the world’s largest Golden Buddha. After the Golden Buddha was cast, it was covered in plaster to prevent it from being stolen. It wasn’t until the 1950′s, when rainy season damaged the temple and caused the wet plaster to crack, that people realized the Buddha was purely made of gold.

The water is very heavy in minerals, which is supposed to be quite good for you. I expect to be youthful forever, now!

My little corner of the beach in St. Augustine, Florida.

I have such great memories of Xi’an. Wandering through the markets near the Great Mosque, looking for trinkets I could bring back home as souvenirs. The great plethora of Muslim food, of which every bite was positively delicious. Eating street food and drinking cheap beer late at night, enjoying the company of friends and good conversation. Bike riding along the city wall with my brother, who despaired of me and my bike riding skills. Xi’an nightlife, which is as vibrant and lively as you’d expect from any major Chinese city.

Xi’an really is one of the best cities to go to in China.

I’ve always wanted to go on a hot air balloon adventure. I suppose my inspiration for this is the movie Up, among other things.

I ignored the sign and forgot all about it until I got to Hong Kong, my destination after my Thai adventures. By then, I was burnt to a crisp thanks to the days I spent in the sun in Phuket. My skin had started to peel, so I dipped into The Body Shop to see what kind of body scrubs they had to alleviate the visible aftermath of my sunburn.

One of the body scrubs that The Body Shop offered was moringa. Being an indecisive person and unable to differentiate if there were any differences between the types of body scrubs beside scent, I selected the moringa one to purchase. What the hell, I saw a sign for that moringa oil in Phuket, let’s see if it lives up to those claims.

When I opened the jar later that day, I was wowed by how wonderful the product smelled. It wasn’t quite like any other aromatherapy or essential oil I had ever smelled, and I remember wondering if I would ever smell anything like it in this lifetime.

Predictably, I promptly forgot about that jar of moringa-scented body scrub when I returned to the U.S.

I rediscovered it yesterday while rummaging around my bathroom cabinet and decided to use it again. When I opened the jar, that distinctive scent hit me square in the face and I was keeled over by the memories of last summer. The warm salt water along the beaches of Phuket, with the grainy sand between my toes. Sunshine kissing my bare shoulders as the breeze gently tugged my hair. Evenings spent eating dinner along the beachfront, followed by nighttime walks along the beach with nothing but the teeny tiny crabs that scuttled along sideways for company. Wandering along the crowded streets of Hong Kong, moringa body scrub in hand, hoping that it would do something, anything, to help with my burnt, peeling skin. The distinctive click of the 热水炉, or the hot water boiler, turning on every time I jumped into the shower. The unique, muted shade of pink that was the bathtub in my aunt’s apartment, where I stayed during my time in Hong Kong.

I will always associate the scent of moringa with travel, adventure and wanderlust.

The Old Summer Palace is quite possibly my favorite location in all of Beijing. There’s just something about those ruins that is so poignantly exquisite.

I didn’t like Guangzhou. It lacked the history of Beijing, the culture of Xi’an, and the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Shanghai. In short, it lacked that special something which makes a city in China special and not run-of-the-mill.

Still, I quite liked this bridge.