In Transit

Our first attempt at leaving Vietnam proved unsuccessful.  Our flight was cancelled so we spent the night in Ho Chi Minh City at the New World Hotel.  It was a relaxing afternoon and since we opted for the hotel instead of going home, it kind of felt like we were on holidays (plus, we conveniently were having the house fumigated today).  

Attempt two has proved much more successful.  We have made it to Hong Kong and were even upgraded to business class... which is much more than most of our fellow passengers can say as our original flight rescheduled for 5am still has not left Ho Chi Minh City as it sits awaiting parts for the backup battery system.  However, our connection to San Francisco is four hours delayed out of Hong Kong.  It looks like we should still make the scheduled connection from San Francisco to Edmonton though. If not, we are holidaying in Hong Kong for two weeks (just kidding, Mom)!

The Hong Kong airport is huge and just walking through it ate up a good hour and a half.  We are now relaxing in the lounge where Kevin is happy having discovered Killkenny is available on tap.  After a 2:30am wake-up call, these simple pleasures are making our day!

Kevin and his paper cup of beer.

Our 7th Anniversary

It feels like just last month that we were all dancing up a storm at the Elk's Hall.  It is hard to believe that it has been seven years since our wedding!  We celebrated by going out to dinner at a French restaurant, Le Bordeaux.  The meal was excellent especially the mint chocolate souffles we had for dessert.  This year I missed out on the red wine but I will enjoy extra come next year!

Dinner at Le Bordeaux.

Fractured Granite

We woke up this morning to the sound of waves outside of our bungalow at the Victoria Resort, Mui Ne Beach.  Not a bad way to start the weekend!  We had come to Mui Ne to spend the day looking at fractured granite outcrop.  Although the weather was hot, you could not beat the outcrop location!

Enjoying breakfast overlooking the South Sea.

On route to the look at the rocks - as you can see, hiking boots were not a trip requirement.

Kevin explaining fractures to Mary Poppins (aka the engineers).

Traditional round Vietnamese fishing boats ready to go out to sea.

There's a Mouse in the House

After a weekend of visiting Cholon and golfing, who thought I would still have more to write about!  After golfing, we joined friends at a local restaurant for dinner where we had our first taste of field mouse.  Two little barbecued mice, complete with garnish, graced our table.  The little rodents kind of tasted like chicken, but with all the small bones they were way more work than anything.

Kevin's quote at dinner was perfect: "Walt Disney would be so disappointed in us."

I still cannot believe I ate mouse!  Tomato slices for scale...

Kevin, Cha, Ha, Steve and James enjoying dinner.

Golfing at Song Be

A friend of mine told me that pregnant woman often see their game improve due to their change in centre of gravity.  So when I decide to join Kevin and two work colleagues golfing yesterday, all I am thinking is that this is going to be no problem.  Of course, I have never been a golf pro (or anything more than a very beginner at the sport) so I really should not be surprised that my friend's information was, perhaps, directed at a certain calibre of golfer. Let's just say that when the rain came down three strokes into Hold 10, I did not argue when our foursome made the decision to turn around and head back to the clubhouse!  It was still a fun day and it was my first experience golfing in Vietnam where you get a caddy.  It was great - not only did the caddy pull your clubs along but my caddy also would select my club for me and show me where to aim when I was putting.

Our caddies and I soaken wet after getting caught in a downpour on Hole #10.

Cho Binh Tay

We ventured out to explore a new part of the city on Saturday.  We visited Cholon, Ho Chi Minh City's Chinatown, where the highlight was a new market.  The market, Binh Tay, was more local than some of the other tourist markets we frequently visit in District 1.  At Binh Tay, Kevin had a few followers (locals trying to get close enough to measure how tall they are compared to him).  We also discovered some items for sale that we had never seen before. 

The entrance to Cho Binh Tay.

A typical row of stalls selling various dried food items.

Does anyone know what this is?

A bike stocked with flip-flops to sell at the market.

Baby Update

I had a 3D ultrasound last week and apparently our little guy is a big baby (there's a surprise). In fact, he is big enough that the doctor said my due date in now December 2nd, about a week earlier.  If it is a big baby, I definitely don't mind if he comes into the world earlier!  This means I will be heading to Singapore around October 25th and staying there until we have all the documents (passport, visa) to bring the baby back to Vietnam.

A big baby means that I am growing too.  I am becoming much more comfortable in my new skin so here it is:

Week 22 

Hello Hanoi

I was expecting Hanoi to be similar to Ho Chi Minh City.  I knew it was a bit smaller but upon arriving in Hanoi this past weekend, I discovered a completely different place.  I had to keep reminding myself I was still in Vietnam.  Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, retained the French architecture and proved to be more laid back - a government city.  There was little construction and less traffic compared with Ho Chi Minh City and in general, people were just in less of a hurry.  

The view over a small part of West Lake from our hotel room.

Saturday started with a visit to the Hoan Kiem Lake where we crossed The Huc Bridge to visit Ngoc Son Temple, located on a small island on the lake.  We spent most of the day touring the Old Quarter, a maze of street selling everything you ever wanted assuming you could find the correct street.  There were streets dedicated to toys, tin boxes, herbs... you name it.  We had our walking tour perfectly timed to end at a cafe called Baguette et Chocolat but were sadly disappointed when the cafe had moved.  It was hot and we were hungry (okay, I was probably hungry) and the fact that there actually was a restaurant on that street was reward enough after a few hours of walking through the small streets.  After some eats, we stopped by the Hoa Lo Prison Museum, nicknamed the 'Hanoi Hilton' by US POWs.  After John McCain's plane crashed into West Lake in Hanoi, this was his home.  After a terrific Indian dinner (since the local dish of the north is dog, we opted for international fare), we went to the water puppet performance.  It is pretty much how it sounds - puppets performed in water - very cool.

Starting the day on The Huc Bridge.

Visiting the Ngoc Son Temple.

St. Joseph Cathedral in the Old Quarter.

A safety moment... or if you are in Vietnam, an alternative way to use a ladder.

On Sunday, we braved the rain to visit the Temple of Literature, the location of Vietnam's first university established in 1076.  From there, we walked over to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum Complex where we saw Uncle Ho's final resting place (we didn't get there in time to see his embalmed corpse though), his stilt house, the Presidential Palace and the Ho Chi Minh Museum.  Note:  This is all in Hanoi and not in Ho Chi Minh City.  After we had our fill of Ho Chi Minh, we walked around West Lake on route back to our hotel.  I tried to get Kevin to rent one of the swan-shaped paddle boats.  Kevin was worried the water would somehow hurt the baby (we were going to be in a paddle boat, not swimming) or this was just an excuse to not be caught dead in a swan-shaped boat.  However, after I saw two dead fish and floating garbage in the lake, we both thought it would be best to keep walking.

Kevin at the Temple of Literature.

A temple offering - beer, cookies, cigarettes and mystery meat.

Kevin and the tiny guards at Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum (I think we were dehydrated and delirious by this point).

Perogies

We have always relied on Mom, Alvina and my Grammas to keep our freezers stocked with perogies in the past.  We do not have that luxury in Vietnam so Kevin and I made a batch ourselves for dinner.  Wow - did they taste great!  We even found sour cream and fried up some onions in butter.

Look out Gramma Sophie and Gramma Mary!  Kevin is a cutting machine and you should have seen his perogies - they were perfect!

All ready to put in the pot... I have no pictures of the meal because we were too excited to eat them!

Our Vietnamese Chef

Having someone look after your laundry, house cleaning and grocery shopping is absolutely wonderful. Sau, our lovely housekeeper, has also started cooking a couple dinners each week for us. This is the life! Last night, Sau made a vegetarian Vietnamese meal of bun (thin rice noodles), spring rolls, beancurd wontons, salad rolls and fruit. It was delicious - in fact, the spring rolls were the best we have had in Vietnam (and we have sampled quite a few)!

Sau, our lovely housekeeper and cook.

Kevin enjoying the springrolls.