Top 8 Sexiest Hotel Bathrooms. It's SEXY y'all.

Am I seriously the only person who fantasizes about a rustic outdoor shower in a tropical location? A lot of people obsess over their hotel rooms, but the bathrooms are important too. It’s the difference between a three-minute shower in a tiny, windowless, stark white bathroom or recharging in a spacious, marble tub overlooking a gorgeous sunset panorama of the beach/city/rainforest you’re visiting.

Check out my top 8 picks for sexiest hotel bathrooms that are sure to make your hotel downtime as memorable as your destination excursions. Couples, pay close attention, this could be exactly what you need.

8. Mondrian South Beach Miami
What city is sexier than Miami? With its clear blue skies and gorgeous, breezy vistas, this sultry city provides the ideal bath time view from the iconic Mondrian South Beach. Mosaic glass tiles compliment the blue of the skies and water and the rain showerhead mounted in the ceiling is ensconced in a lighted crystal chandelier to give you that outdoor feel.

7. Peninsula Tokyo
This hotel takes bathrooms seriously. The marriage of technology and luxury is seamless with an “invisible” TV set into fog-free mirrors, only noticeable once you turn it on. This bathroom’s “smart toilets” come with seat-heaters, a sensor that lifts and lowers the seat cover as you approach and retreat and special buttons for bidet, dry and water massage (seriously). A “spa” button dims the lights, plays soothing music and sends calls to voicemail. This could not be anymore more romantic if Nicholas Sparks wrote this into a Ryan Gosling movie.

6. Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hotel Hong Kong
Who knew you could have an entire bath menu at your disposal? The Landmark Mandarin Oriental did and they provided it for you. Custom soaking options include an Oriental Herbal Bath, Cleopatra’s Milk Bath or a $5,000 Ultimate Champagne Bath, drawn with the house champagne (not even kidding) for the traveler who likes to splurge. Ninety-nine roses around the seven-foot tub, mood-setting candles and a personal butler serving up Beluga caviar, Valrhona chocolate-covered strawberries (I'm not certain what that is but it sounds sexier than Tony Stark) and a bottle of Dom (naturally) complete this bath of the gods. Unless of course you opt for the edible gold leaves in your champagne glass. Because, you know, you're failing at life if you don't have gold leaves in your champagne. Loser.

5. Four Seasons Chiang Mai Thailand
When you go to Thailand, the last thing you want to do is be indoors. There is something very sensual about a shower outdoors and this particular outdoor rain shower puts you amidst spider lilies, banana trees and Spanish moss. Organic bath products keep with that natural theme for an almost spiritual shower experience.

4. Four Seasons Resort Hualalai Hawaii
The outdoor bathroom at this resort is a relaxing way to commune with nature as you bathe. Privacy is key with its cocooned area surrounded by a lush, green garden. The rustic exoticism and the luxurious rain shower make this a top pick for hotel bathrooms.

3.  Singita Sweni, Kruger National Park, South Africa
A breezy outdoor shower connects to the inner bathroom via a sliding glass door through which you can gaze at the African wild. Don’t worry about a random lion joining in your ablutions, the lodge sits on stilts overlooking the Singita Sweni River for beauty and safety.

2.  Rome Cavalieri
The Penthouse Suite may not be an everyday thing, but honeymooners will want to splurge on this once in a lifetime room. This bathroom features a glass-encased hydromassage tub with a breathtaking view of St. Peters’s Basilica and a ceiling bedazzled with starry fiber optics that you can set to green, blue, yellow or red. The bathroom is trimmed with Swarovski crystals and an LCD TV bedecks the luxurious vanity. Andy Warhol artwork adorns the walls and the bathroom even features a Karl Lagerfeld sofa. You need not know who that is, just know you should be slack-jaw impressed.

1. Sanctuary Baines Camp, Botswana
If you’ve never heard of Botswana, grab a map quick! Slap yourself with it, then open it and locate this hidden gem. It is one of the hottest emerging vacation spots globally and this luxury camp is located at the border of the Moremi Game Reserve in the Okavango Delta and features just 5 luxury suites. You can unwind in a romantic bath under the African stars (think Lion King) while gazing across the river where you might spot a hippo or two. Candles, total privacy and a rustic, zinc tub make this an incomparable bathing experience.

There you have it, eight of the sexiest hotels on the planet. If I'm wrong, I will eat my keyboard. Yeah. I'm not wrong. 

Eat Like A Local in Singapore

Many American travelers like to play it safe when eating in new countries or new places. Afraid to dabble in local cuisine, they frequent American chain restaurants like McDonald’s and Subway, because let’s face it, they are everywhere. But they’re just cheating themselves out of a full cultural experience. I understand that new cuisines and new places aren’t without their digestive…. challenges at times, but you can enjoy the local flavours and really get a taste of a culture by exploring, researching and visiting recommended culinary hotspots. My Tasty Tip this week is: When you travel abroad, eat like a local!

 I want to explore Singapore, mainly because that is where I am at the moment. Singaporeans love to eat. Any time of day, no matter how long the queue, and I can hardly blame them.  The culinary fingerprint of this island melds together the exotic spices of India with the health boosting delights of the Orient. The dishes are humble but insanely delicious and the best way to enjoy Singaporean flavours is to sample the local favourites.

Chicken Rice: You can’t go anywhere without seeing this tasty favourite offered at hawker stalls and food centers. This dish is basically rice topped with boiled or steamed chicken that comes with flavourful dipping sauces and slices of cucumber garnishing the plate. I personally am not the biggest fan of boiled chicken so I opt for the variant roasted chicken. Different stalls have different variations so don’t be afraid to experiment. Recommended location: Tian Tian Chicken Rice stall.

Laksa: I’ll admit, I was hesitant to try this dish at first. Laksa is thick rice vermicelli in spicy, coconut gravy with a seafood kick. That might sound dicey, but it is a very flavourful, fresh dish loved all across the island. It is understood though that the Katong variation, which serves the noodles cut into smaller lengths, is the most popular and there are “laksa wars” between hawker stalls claiming to serve the best on the island. Recommended location: Katong Laksa.

Hokkien Mee: I ordered this dish purely by accident. I said Hong Kong noodles and the woman behind the counter heard Hokkien Mee. But a happy accident it turned out to be because this island favourite is delicious. Thick egg noodles and rice vermicelli are fried in a hearty seafood stock along with squid, pork belly, deep-friend lard and prawns. This is typically served with a little lime to add freshness to the heavy dish. Admittedly not the healthiest option but great comfort food. Recommended location: Nam Sing at Old Airport Road Food Center.

Satay: One of my personal favourites. Every culture loves meat on a stick and Singaporeans are no different. This Asian kebab is served with a rich peanut dipping sauce. Your choice of meat is marinated in local spices and skewered on thin bamboo sticks and served with rice cakes steamed in woven coconut leaves. And the best thing about satay is it is usually very cheap and found all over the island. Recommended location: Haron Satay at the East Coast Lagoon Food Village.

Nasi Lemak: Nearly every hawker stall I’ve come across advertises Nasi lemak. I’ll admit, I ignored this for a long time because I wasn’t really interested but this Malay breakfast dish of rich rice cooked in coconut milk and served with spicy sambal sauce, fried anchovies, peanuts, a fried egg and cucumbers is a local favourite every Singaporean recommends. Recommended location: Adam Road Food Center.

Sambal Kangkong: I’ve saved my personal favourite for last. I’m a meat lover yet somehow, this local vegetarian dish has stolen my heart. No matter what I order, I typically order a side of sambal kangkong but most of the time it is my main meal. This flavourful green vegetable dish is leafy water spinach (kangkong) wok-fried in a sambal of garlic, shallots, chilies, dried shrimp and shrimp paste. It’s juicy, it’s spicy and it’s exactly the food I’d be stranded on a desert island with. Recommended location: Any of the hawker stalls at Old Airport Road Food Center.

These are just a few of my top picks of the local fare but honestly you could spend months on this small island exploring the food and flavours. No matter where you travel this summer, stay away from McDonald’s! Unless it's novelty menu items. 

House Geckos in Singapore

So fun little discovery. And by "fun" I mean slightly horrific.

We have an issue with house geckos here. I went for a good two months without ever spotting one, then one fateful evening I got up in the middle of the night to get some water and as soon as I switched on the kitchen light, one of these lizardy bastards scurried across my hand, along the wall and hid somewhere above the cupboards.

Fast forward to two weeks later, mum was grabbing a bowl of cereal and as she lifted up the spoon to her mouth she looked down and found a dead gecko covered in milk and raisin bran in her bowl. Obviously it freaked me out a bit. So much so that I began checking the bags of cereal before pouring out a bowl and sure enough, a few days later I peered in the bag and there was a dead gecko just chilling in my Honey Bunches of Oats. I went off cereal until we bought an airtight dispenser.

So out of frustration and curiosity, I googled this strange phenomenon and sure enough, it's a thing here in Singapore. And Southeast Asia. They are Common House Geckos, according to Wikipedia and they are "harmless to humans" though the bigger ones can bite. Softly. Their tails fall off when they are alarmed, their poop stinks and streaks your walls and they like to come out at night. What the french toast? Really, Singapore?!?! Geckos?

The only experience I have had with geckos is the charming little anthropomorphic English gecko on the Geico ads. Yeah, no. Geckos are not cute. They won't save you money on car insurance and they won't make you a lovely cup of tea. They are horrible, gross little bastards that leave poop streaks on your walls, die in your cereal and terrorize you with their vanishing tricks.

The next time I see one  of you little jerks, I will end you.

Apparently life has been brought to me by the letters F and U.

So. Singapore.

This is where I found myself when my life took a somewhat unexpected turn. Long story short, my visa to return to Texas, where I had been building my life (Haha, that's cute. I had a too-expensive apartment and a brand new car note and spent my weekends Netflix binging and eating Jersey Mike's) was rejected by the American Embassy here in Singapore. Why Singapore you ask? Well, my dad just got posted here to open up an embassy for our country (I'm not American, obviously) and I figured I could visit and get my visa renewed. Little did I know Hitler was not only still alive but apparently worked at that embassy. Ok. That's ugly. I may still be a bit bitter.

No worries though. So now I am trying to have a go at it in Singapore. Looking for a job, writing and getting to know this little corner of Asia. It is actually a really nice country. The weather is hell-flavoured and cheese costs seven dollars, but... ya know... it's cool. I have been here since March and meaning to start a blog for almost as long but now I have finally gotten off my bum (not literally, I am sitting down as I type this) and started it. So, let's see how I do. Already I find the lack of a Jersey Mike's and Chipotle almost suicide-worthy. But I'm hanging in there, kids.