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Continue reading →: A quick visit to Phnom PenhWhenever I asked my colleagues or students what they thought of Phnom Penh, most replied, “I don’t like it.” But I knew I had to go to Cambodia’s capital to get my passport renewed, so I decided, why not make a little holiday of it, and judge for myself. Phnom…
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Continue reading →: Do you speak broken English?Despite the fact that I’m an expat in Asia and I hear broken English all around me, and struggle to communicate just as much as the next foreigner navigating these poorly maintained roads, I don’t speak broken English. And this isn’t because I’m an English teacher and I have my…
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Continue reading →: Should you become an expat?UPDATED: I’ve been living abroad since 2009, mostly in SE Asia, with a stint in Ecuador. I still stand by what I’ve said here, but I’d like to add, every country has its problems. The more money you have, the easier life will be when dealing with, say, bureaucracy, finding…
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Continue reading →: Further impressions + updates on life in Siem ReapNegotiate a river by following its bends, enter a country by following its customs. – Cambodian Proverb It’s been 7 months since we landed in Siem Reap and I still don’t feel ready to write about it, at least with any authority. The problem is I lived in Thailand since…
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Continue reading →: What’s your relationship with television?Watching television is like taking black spray paint to your third eye. – Bill Hicks Television is chewing gum for the eyes. – Frank Lloyd Wright All television is educational television. The question is: what is it teaching? – Nicholas Johnson I knew 3 siblings in high school who were…
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Continue reading →: Taking the bus from Siem Reap to Battambang (and back again)Battambang is about a 3 hour drive from Siem Reap and while SR is the smaller of the two, you wouldn’t know it by the amount of tourists that flock to Angkor City. So, is Battambang worth the visit? I think so, but it depends what you are looking for.…
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Continue reading →: New book cover (and the woes of book cover designs)It’s been one year since I published my first book. And interestingly enough I decided it needed a makeover, so I redid the book cover. Do you like it? I hope so. While I still like the old book cover, I was never completely satisfied by it. Here’s why: //…
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Continue reading →: Why not Battambang? (and things to do)“Battambang is famous for being the birthplace of Cambodia’s most famous artists and musicians, but during the Khmer Rouge era the art scene was virtually destroyed when most artists either fled or were killed.” – Canby guide, Nov 2015 It’s been six months since we moved to Cambodia, and last…
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Continue reading →: SwimmingSwimming is a confusing sport, because sometimes you do it for fun, and other times you do it to not die. And when I’m swimming, sometimes I’m not sure which one it is. – Demetri Martin Can you swim? It’s an interesting question in an EFL (English as a Foreign…
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Continue reading →: Identity, what is it good for?“We don’t really learn anything properly until there is a problem, until we are in pain, until something has failed to go as we hoped. Though we can, of course, use our minds without being in pain… we become properly inquisitive only when distressed. We suffer, therefore we think and…
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Continue reading →: Asian American American holidaysAmerican holidays overseas don’t take on any extraordinary meaning, if anything they seem to diminish in specialness. And that’s okay. I think what really helps me is I’m a first-generation American, and what that means is, holidays as a child were perfunctory and often awkward occasions.
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Continue reading →: I’ve been nominated for my blogging performance.It’s award season again and I’ve been nominated for my blogging performance. *snaps open fan*
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Continue reading →: A lifetime of eating impatiently (how we eat)How do you eat? Fast or slow? Mouth open or closed? Or do you store food in your cheeks like me?
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Continue reading →: ✈️ Has living overseas + travel made you more patient?“Time, time, time, see what’s become of me.” – Hazy Shade of Winter, Simon & Garfunkel Since moving abroad, I’ve taken on a different perception of time. I’m convinced time moves slower. Concepts like a “long time” and “being on time” are completely relative to the landscape, the people and…
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Continue reading →: ✍🏼 Behind the scenes: a blogging + writing lifeFor the first time since I’ve started Life, the Universe and Lani, this blog feels like an inadequate outlet. I wouldn’t go so far to say, I’ve outgrown it, but I need to make some changes.
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Continue reading →: Why I love Angkor WatMost folks were surprised to hear that I went to Angkor Wat for 3 days. I suppose people generally visit for one or two days, but not 3. As much as I’d like to confess that I’m a hard-core nerd, I’m just an average Jane who majored in Archaeology and…
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Continue reading →: The Expat Celebrity Syndromehttps://soundcloud.com/lifetheuniverseandlani/the-expat-celebrity-syndrome
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Continue reading →: Pictures of people taking pictures at Angkor WatWho was I kidding? Angkor Archaeological Park has got to be one of the most photographed sites in the world. My camera is a cheap, tepid, point and shoot that I impulsively bought when I couldn’t find the cameras I wanted back in Hawaii. What could I do to make…
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Continue reading →: What happened to the summer job and why I now love my work historyhttps://soundcloud.com/lifetheuniverseandlani/what-happened-to-the-summer-job-and-why-i-love-my-work-history I used to be ashamed of my resume. I used to think it was BAD that I changed jobs frequently. I thought employers would read it and think, “Um, sounds like she doesn’t know what she wants to do.” And they would have been right. Then there was that…
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Continue reading →: 📚 I’m on a winning reading streakIt’s been a magical mystery tour – in my Kindle, yo! I have been on the BEST reading streak. Every book that I’ve read lately has been a knock-the-ball-out-of-the-park-winner. So, as you can imagine, I keep thinking this book will be the one that will let me down. Isn’t that…
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Continue reading →: Fish out of water: expat bloggers interview series #3What impresses me about Amanda from Teaching Wanderlust is her solo travel spirit. She’s young, determined and passionate about traveling and teaching. And I wish I could remember how I found her, or who found who, so that just let’s you know that I’ve been reading Amanda’s blog for sometime…
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Continue reading →: At home in Siem Reap (part 2)I wake up to the sound of our local handyman sawing ice. It’s a slow sounding push, the rhythm, soft, the ice surrendering to Jahb’s saw. His saw appears rusty, prehistoric, with fine-long-sharp teeth. Sometimes he runs the ice through a “shaved ice” machine that was once red, it sounds…
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Continue reading →: At home in Siem ReapThailand is sooo easy compared to living in Cambodia. Something that takes three steps here, took one step back in T-land. Even with many Cambodians’ better command of English, the conveniences of Thailand can’t be beat. After all, there are greater numbers of tourists visiting Thailand and I’m willing to…
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Continue reading →: First impressions on living in Siem ReapAbout a week before we moved to Siem Reap, I was offered a job at a reputable language school, but the difficultly for me was they wanted me to start teaching soon after I landed. So my first few days were consumed with finding food and foraging for information on…
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Continue reading →: Fish out of water: expat bloggers interview series #2
Don’t you just love being part of a community? I feel like it’s the only sane way to thrive in this big world. In the blogging sphere, WordPress can be a great way to find your tribe and another groovy WP expat blogger is Heather from 2Summers.
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Continue reading →: 12 ways to enjoy Chiang RaiThere’s a lot more to Chiang Rai than meets the eye. Here’s a list to get you started…
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Continue reading →: 🇹🇭 Tips for getting a good Thai massageI wouldn’t call myself an expert, but I’ve been getting Thai massages for years and I’m always on the lookout for THE ONE. In case you’ve missed it, I’ve already talked about all the wrong ones you are likely to meet so I figured it was high time that I…
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Continue reading →: Why moving to Cambodia is scary and excitingI’ve been waiting to make this announcement for a while and now that we’re about a month away from the big move I’ve decided to let the tiger out of the bag. I’m excited and scared. I’m looking forward to it and I’m afraid of what we’ll find. We have…
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Continue reading →: 🇹🇭 What they never told you about bra shopping in ThailandAh, the joys of womanhood, eh? Every one of us ladies can remember our first visit from Uncle Payne and Auntie Flo. Or that time, you didn’t know you were going to have it and how you decided to wear light pink pants that day. Or that time in Bangkok,…
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Continue reading →: ✍🏼 On morning routines, goals and habitsI’ve gotten good at consuming information on the web, of late, and I’m not sure if that is exactly something I should be proud of, but there it is. As a result, I’ve started to gain a clearer picture of what goals and habits mean to me. For months now,…
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Continue reading →: 🍛 Foods I love from HawaiiFolks from Hawaii talk about SPAM as if we are talking about sex or something better. I’m fairly certain if we replaced SPAM with the word ‘sex’ the giddy teenage excitement in our voices would be the same. SPAM is our bacon, our beacon of light, our bowl of comfort…
Hello,
I’m Lani
Welcome to Life, the Universe, and Lani. I’ve been blogging about my experiences living abroad since 2009.
At this point, this site serves as an archive as I’m mostly active at No Girl is an Island 👉https://lanivcox.substack.com/ 🏝️where I have been both newslettering and continuing to craft personal essays on finding freedom in the fringes.
Thanks for stopping by, have a look around, and hope to see you over at No Girl is an Island.
Life, the Universe, and Lani 
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