finally!

jamie got to play guitar hero with the curry boys. he did very well. we are so happy to get to know this family better, and we have had such a fun time with them! what special people!






we had to leave the hotel and come down the street in order to be able to sign on to blogspot! at the hotel we can get on other sites, but not his one. seems fishy to us. however, it made me realize i can post pics to flickr. so check it out!! i have posted more pics there if you are interested, but here i'll have more comment. i'll try to keep doing that, as naptime is good for this kind of thing and we get naptime 2x a day.

so before we left HCMC, we went on a boatride on the Saigon river with the currys. it was so fun! silas was not really into it, but i could tell he liked it secretly. we went on a junk, a little traditional boat. it was interesting and a little scary, but just fine. we got some great pictures of saigon at sunset from the water and we saw some super cool boats. i mean, so cool!

then we crossed the street, and i am kicking myself for not taking a video,cuz this is some serious business, crossing the road. more than in india or thailand. it is actually quite scary and involves taking a big leap of faith. thousands of motorbikes are whizzing by and there are almost no traffic lights. and the way you do it is....step into traffic and they avoid you. or so you hope. seriously folks, it is unbelievable. and when i say thousands of motorbikes, i am in no way exaggerating. whoa!

so after all 8 of us crossed the street, we went to the black cat for dinner. cnn apparently rated this one of the top 10 restaraunts, so the sign said, but this should be researched for validity. it is a hamburger joint! but a delicious one. jamie stepped out with walker and witnessed a traffic accident, and then a fight. this apparently involved two belts and a large knife. and a flying kick right into a motorscooter. he was excited!

the next day we went to see reunification palace, the president's palace where he did all negotiating etc for the american war. the interesting thing about this is that it remains as it was in 1975. decorations...everything. very weird. there were some weird artifacts, such as elephant feet and very old radio equipment. and some vintage mid-century furniture.

we got take out from a thai restaraunt for dinner and it was EXCELLENT! this is the 2nd time we ate there. here is a pic of the funny bags with sauces and chilis.

so yesterday it was off to phu quoc! the plane ride had some excellent views of the mekong delta, but i had a wiggle worm in my lap, so no pics of that. we arrived to our hotel, the kim hoa. we changed last minute from the mai spa, as we decided rustic was no good for walker. we are super glad we changed, as this is perfect for him to move about the room. AND it looks like they are gearing up for a wedding reception tonight!!! a great cultural event to witness, full of karaoke most likely. we already heard some singing which was verrrry interesting as they tested the mike! i'll let you know if it turns out to be interesting.

we walked into town today and were blown away by how cool it is. a little fishing village with a lively market! so many cool boats and curved inlets. just unbelievably pretty.

we have had some delightful meals here of vietnamese food already. we plan on venturing outside the hotel for dinner tonight. this bar we are in right n0w seems super cool, too. all open air places, very breezy and comfortable. we are using the stroller as a high chair.

walker,by the way, has settled in quite nicely. he is on a regular sleeping schedule and his mood has improved 100 fold. he loves swimming! he even spoke in his half sleep "dig dig dig" which means "hand paddle" from our swimming class. he asks to swim all day! (there is a pool at our hotel.)

the ocean has something called "sea lice" which feels like small bites. it comes and goes, so we don't think walker would like it much as we don't like it!

i think that's about it for now.

more hcmc

we are still in hcmc til the 15th, when we'll depart for phu quoc. we are ready to go, the city is wearing on us a bit! but it has been good to adjust to the time difference, learn about what we need to do to make walker comfortable, and to see the curry's.

yesterday we took a short trip over to pham ngu lao, which is the back packer district. there were tons of street side restaraunts and tourists everywhere, and it made me realize that we have been pretty isolated this week. i wanted to move hotels so we could be in a place with other foreigners we could talk to. but then we talked it over and i realized we will meet people at the beach and in hoi an, so i let go of the idea and we are staying put.

then we went to ben thanh market, which is a huge indoor market. it is full of all kinds of things form clothes to pigs legs. we ate a delicious lunch of some rice noodle wrapped rolls, and some other kind of long noodles with pork and shrimp. the pork was so delicious! i also ordered a fresh mango juice which was like a frozen mango drink, sooo good, and walker learned how to drink from the straw, so he enjoyed it too!

the later we went to the Rex hotel and paid admission to use their pool. walker had a fun time playing humpty dumpty! he really likes the pool and when we say we are going swimming he says something like "dig dig", which is what he does when he paddles. we talked to a really nice australian couple there and heard about their cool adventure down the Meking, something we missed out on.

then we met the curry's for dinner at a mediterranean restaraunt, and it was really neat! the decor was awesome! we sat in a private booth surrounded by all these hanging beads! upstairs in this very old building with stairs that were not all the same height. i had lamb shank, which was like stew with a big ole piece of lamb in it and jamie has the mixed grill. we also had a delightful mint lemonade. yum.

this morning we went to Cholon, which is chinatown, and saw two amazingly detailed pagados. there was so much incense burning, it was awesome. they had tons of those large coils hanging down, every single one lit, and tons more of these gigantic sticks stuck everywhere. the last pagoda had a horse statue, and when you left you were supposed to ring the bells on his harness for luck.

we came back to the hotel and bought more french baby food for walker and jamie and i got thai take out, which was arguably the best food yet. wide noodles with vegetables and pork. the sauces and chilis came in tiny little blown up bags. i have pics but can't post cuz i am on the hotel computer! (i pulled these images from the web.)

now we are chilling in the room for a while so walker can get some exercise. jamie is reading a book about the war form a viet cong nurse's perspective. i am reading the vietnam guide book and also a novel set in india.

this afternoon we are meeting the currys to take a ride down the saigon river on a junk, which is an old boat. not sure what we are doing for dinner. i'll tell you later!

walker & stuff

we realized the day before yesterday that walker is having a bit of a hard time. the main issue is...he has started walking! we are so happy and proud of him, but this causes some problems. he desperately wants indenpendence, and here we are carting him around in the ergo. and then we expect him to be calm while we eat out...3 meals a day with no high chair! he is not calm, he is a huge wiggle worm. and at times, he complains!

so we decided to do only one big thing a day while here in HCMC, and take it easy so he can have plenty of time to roam around the room, practice his walking, and play. yesterday we started trading off--jamie stayed in with walker while i went out to find some pants, as mine got a big hole in them!

in addition, the child needs to sleep. he is almost caught up with jet lag but not quite. the night before last he was wide awake at 1 am, then again at 4:30. today he made it til 4:30 so that is better! then back for a 2 hour nap around 6. furthermore, everyone here touches him. it is nuts! kisses his face, grabs his face, his hands, his feet, whatever! and asks to hold him. we figure there is nothing we can do about the touching but we say no top the holding. this morning it looked like he might be getting a cold, we hope not!

he is still the happy smiling baby you all know and love. he is having a good time laughing lots. he even has been getting special baby food, a french brand from the gourmet store down the street. carotte, anyone? or perhaps peche?

yesteday we went to the War remnants Museum, formerly known as the WAr Crimes Museum. Mostly pictures but also some US airplanes, helicopters, bullets and bombs.Also had and interesting recreation of a prison with various torture devices. the pictures were quite horrific. we knew these atrocities occurred, and then yesterday we got to see the pictures of them. jamie said he felt like a nazi walking through the holocaust museum. so, really fun. (not really)

we left there and went to see the curry's and go swimming in their delightful pool. walker had a good time flapping his arms and doing his "digging". we hung out there while the curry's had their vietnamese lessons, and stayed for take out dinner which was sandwiches and fries. a good time with their fun family!

then home to sleep...our internet connection is not working for our laptop, i am on the hotel computer, so now pictures for now. so i'll wait to tell you about the market and our delicious lunch until we have pics to share. hopefully tonight but the hour they promised is a bit ambiguous.

hope everyone is doing great!

We feel like we have done so much already!

To answer a question…no bassinette. We could not get the bulkhead seats, and the floor bassinette seemed a joke. It was a basket they forced into the space at your feet. Walker would much rather lay in our arms, so he did! And in vehicles here there are no such things as car seats, so he rides in the ergo…or on the floorboard..or in a regular seat. Whatever woks. Feels racy and dangerous! But not as dangerous as the kids we see riding with their parents on motorbikes! Whoa nelly!

So far we have had some incredible food, and upon wakening this morning i immediately thought about what we might have for breakfast! Perhaps a tasty loaf of French bread with scrambled eggs? or maybe a ham sandwich with cucumbers? We ate with the Curry’s at an Anthony Bourdain recommended restaurant where they cook rice in clay pots.


Then they smash the clay pot and Throw the rice to the waiter who delivers it to your table! There were lots and lots of loud smashes! We had crab, and a Vietnamese pancake, some pork with oddly cooked whole egss, delicious ginger chicken, and some spiced tofu that was so incredibly flavorful! It is fun eating with the Curry’s and their 3 kids..it makes for a rambunctious group!


this is a dragon fruit. it tastes a little like kiwi! you scoop it out with a spoon!

Yesterday nikki & philip’s driver took us all to the Cu Chi tunnels. It was an interesting day, as we drove in the country and saw rural life. A nice relief from the city. The tour of the tunnels was interesting…good to learn a little about the war from the Vietnamese perspective. Basically, the americans came in and killed these people’s families and they were forced to fight back in any way they could. And they were PISSED. And they won. And they are proud. Jamie got to shoot a M-60 machine gun. Silas shot an AK-47. We have footage! Our guide was quirky and I enjoyed him. His father died from wounds he received in the war, but he fought in the north as a Vietnamese Liberation Freedom fighter AKA Viet Cong. The area we were in was totally saturated with agent orange, and we saw some huge bomb craters. Silas wanted to say we were from Canada, but I told our guide we were Americans and he did not seem to care.

Walker is charming everyone he sees. When they say the Vietnamese love babies, they were not exaggerating. People laugh and smile and clap their hands and run over and ask to hold him. We say no. then they grab his hands and some kiss his face, and they absolutely love him. Needless to say, he loves this attention, too, and delights everyone by waving and smiling. People are also interested in the ergo, as they do not have such baby carriers.

After the tunnels we went to a floating restaurant on the Saigon river. There was a cool breeze from the river and some fans they had on…it felt amazing! And we watched large chunks of greenery float by, saw a boat pushing a huge pallette of dirt upriver, and had an incredible meal. zeb ordered the fried grasshoppers, and most of us ate some! They were tasty, reminded us of something we had had before. Jamie said they were a little leggy. But we had some more pork, some tasty springrolls, shrimp, and some most excellent sautéed morning glory vine. I felt this was in incredibly special meal and place…I absolutely loved it.

We walked up to a huge temple after th meal and found it to be a war memorial. There were 57,000 losses on the US side and 3 million on the Vietnamese side. This temple had plaques covering the walls listing the names of the dead. Truly amazing. They had incredible pictorial tile murals, large brass swans, and a huge gong which they hit several times while we were there. The gong guy was reallllly happy to see walker!

Today we change hotels and are planning on taking it easy. Walker needs a break, and so do we. We have been strangely tired due to jet lag, but all slept well last night so hopefully we are moving towards our regular sleeping schedule! So a day of exploring Saigon is ahead, but in a casual, lazy way.

safe and sound

we've arrived safe and sound!

the travel here was...well...awful. it was just SO LONG. we had 4 flights, totalling 27-28 hours on the plane. plus layovers=over 30 hours traveling. with baby on lap. thankfully walker is very easygoing!! he was such a good baby and did not excessively complain. really, i probably complained more than he did. he made lots of friends on the plane! people wanted to hold him and touch him. we had to allow the touching, but said no to the holding.

nikki and philip met us amongst the throng at the airport arrivals and i almost cried when i saw their haappy faces waving at us!!! we came back to the hotel and had a few beers and chatted, the slept almost 5 hours, waking up at 7AM vietnam time.

we had a good breakfast of scrambled eggs and mini baguette, put walker in the ergo and wentfor a stroll to check out the hood. we came across a formal gathering of about 200 people singing, waving red roses, in front of the Saigon Opera House. Pretty cool! esp at 8 AM! made me emotional as i am so happy to be here, doing this fun stuff! we strolled around and saw a local market full of interesting fruits, vegetables, and meats. and also the louis viutton store. and gucci down the way. saw someone on a motorbike with a LV seat!

nikki gave us a welcome bag with some tasty snacks. i am chomping on a sesame wafer right now, sweet and chewy. also dried fruits and seaweed wafers which walker enjoyed last night. glad to know there are immediately snacks available for walker! we still have babyfood we brought and sent, but one task for today is to figure out other things for him to eat.

then we are going over to nikki and philip's apartment to do some other scheduling, hang out by the pool, and check out their situation. then dinner with their family tonight. the food we have seen already looks DELICIOUS! we saw a guy carrying a metal tray with 4 full bowls of tasty-looking soup, on a moving motorbike. and he was driving!

pics later,
ttfn

itinerary

we'll be flying to Vietnam via United Airlines. we have reserved a baby bassinet for the flight, which apparently sits on the floor at our feet. ??? the only pic i can find is of one that hangs on the wall at the bulkhead, but we won't have this exact kind. something like it? the lady on the phone couldn't tell me.


our itinerary is short. because we will be traveling with an 11 month old baby! we decided to fly from place to place-- it is much cheaper than flying around the US, and it takes a MUCH shorter time than the bus or the train. although i will miss seeing the train in Vietnam, as it has been my favorite mode of transport while traveling in india in the past!

we fly in to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) initially. My friend Nikki said she or her husband will meet us at the airport with their driver. sounds fancy, doesn't it? can't wait to see what it's like. she said her driver costs $7 a day, but her kids want to slip him some extra cash.

we are staying at the hotel Indochine in the tourist area, close to everything! no pool. got good reviews on tripadvisor.com.

so there is tons of stuff to do in Ho Chi Minh City! all kinds of tourist stuff, american war museum, the cu chi tunnels...they call the "Vietnam War" the "American War". interesting huh? and apparently, they are better than most at not keeping grudges. that is good! i am not sure what we are going to do in HCMC, but we will do lots and have fun hanging with nikki and philip and kids and seeing how they are living as expats in HCMC!

perhaps jamie and philip will travel to the Mekong Delta? we shall see.

perhaps we can afford tickets to Siem Riep in Cambodia and we will go to Angkor Wat?






on the 15th we go to Phu Quoc where we stay at Mai Spa. Lovely! i feel a little guilty going to the beach, like i am supposed to be high brow and do all educational sorts of things. oh well, i love the beach in asia! so we are at the beach for a whole week, and we know we are lucky.






then we go to Hoi An, in the middle of the country. apparently this city has been relatively untouched by US carpet bombings in the late 60's-early 70's and has all ancient architecture. we'll stay here for 5 days,

in the old city at a place called the Nhi Nhi Hotel, which also got excellent reviews. Apparently they have really great staff. they are picking us up at the airport in DaNang, for free. Sweet! There is a pool, and we are bringing the swim diapers.

Then we go back to HCMC for 2 days, hang with nikki and philip some more, and then fly out to go back home! so not a very complicated trip. we expect to be warm, look at a different culture, eat some DELICIOUS food, spend some serious quality time with each other, talk to other foreigners, see some sights. take it easy and come back feeling ALIVE!

vietnam

we leave in THREE days for our family trip to Vietnam! Jamie and I are getting excited, Walker is hanging out with no idea we are going anywhere! he's good like that, just goes along with the flow!

Tomorrow we have a house showing at 10:30 AM (on a sunday!) and then we will pack. i pretty much packed tonight, but i threw everything into the new bag i got; i didn't have time to organize, for that i need to spread out. which i can't do because we have a house showing in the morning!

i am taking: 2 short sleeved shirts, 1 long sleeved shirt, 1 pair light pajamas, 1 pair pants, 1 knee length skirt, 3 pair socks, 5 pair underwear, 2 bras, 1 pair flip flops, 1 converse sneakers, 1 scarf, 1 lungi. Plus my bathroom stuff, minus shampoo etc which i will buy upon arrival. Plus a journal, book, Lonely Planet travel guide, Ipod, camera, battery charger, conversion plug, safety pins, etc.

i don't know what jamie is taking.

Walker is taking 4 short sleeved onesies, 1 long sleeved onesie, 2 pair pants, 1 pair light footie pajamas, 3 pair socks, 1 pair shoes, one flannel receiving blanket, several handkeshiefs, 90 diapers, wipes, desitin, 6 jars baby food, several small toys, a blow up BALL, small books, water bottle, several kinds of finger snacks, 2 spoons, 2 tupperware containers. I sent ahead more baby food (just in case), organic bug repellent, sunscreen, and baby tylenol.

we are taking a small stroller and the Ergo carrier. Jamie and i each have one packpack and one day pack type bag. and most importantly, i am bringing my small down blankie, which has traveled with me to india 2ce, thailand once, and all over the USA. i wouldn't leave home without it.

this is my new travel pack, i got it at luggageonline.com for $70. it is the best! it has shoulder straps and a waist strap that hide in a zipper pouch, it gets HUGE and it also can be a regular sized pack. perfect for traveling and not very expensive. i highly recommend this pack. it is a Rick Stevens travel pack.

just in case you were wondering how we are doing this! more soon.