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.

new ring!

i spent soem time last week looking through my pictures from india in january 2007. i found this one, which is part of a tapestry in the Aina Mahal in Bhuj, Kutch. They used this handmade tapestry as wallpaper, and it lined the bottom half of the walls in the hallways of the palace. it is amazing to think of all the hours those women spent hand embroidering this beautiful work.



i ran across this picture of cold connected brooches somewhere, forgive me for not having the proper credits. i love the inegnious way of adding the clasp on these. fantastic design.




i made a new ring last week. i love it! an experiment in color, once again, but sparkly colors that seem to work well together.





i found out last week that Mobilia Gallery in Cambridge will be representing my work at SOFA NY 2009 in april. i am super excited about this! i will be making about 5 large pieces for the show, which fits into my schedule perfectly. jamie and i also decided that we will go up for the opening, new papoose in arms! so we'll stay a couple of days, get to see the show, see my uncle victor, and take a practice trip with the babe. i have already begun making the work, and think it's going to turn out great. i'm super grateful for the opportunity to show my work in such an incredible venue. i have to give thanks also to my studio mate, geoff giles, for recommending my work to Mobilia.

here's a toilet for you. one that burns the refuse and turns it into ash. pretty nifty, wonder why it didn't take off commercially? when i was in india at the toilet museum in delhi, they had a replica of one of these toilets, and the indian guide told me it turns the refuse into "ass". hilarious!




anyone know what happened to all the pre-fab neighborhoods that they showed in movies like E.T., Poltergeist, and The Outsiders? are they still around? what do they look like now?


hope you guys have a great weekend!
fermelenge!

shoes and such

i've found a few new pairs of fun shoes! hope you like them! the second pair is my fave!



remember back when i complained about nicole richey and her new line of jewelry? well, here it is! wow! i've always loved it when people use themselves as their model. just kidding!



things on this end are growing quickly. faster than i could have imagined. less than a month to go!


we had a lovely christmas here with debby, larry, and matt. hope everyone else had a greta day too! now that it is over we are trying to figure out what to do for new year's. it will probably be a quiet night, as most of our nights are nowadays.


my friend kate had her baby, a little boy named max! one day he was inside, and the next he was outside! we were super happy to have her and max over for christmas eve dinner. welcome, max thomas!




not much jewelry going on due to the carpal tunnel issues i am experiencing with pregnancy. i am working on one thing right now, but it is a gift, so i'll post a pic later when i've given it! i must say that the cortisone shots i got a few weeks ago have been so helpful and i am sleeping normally without any hand pain or hands falling asleep at night. i think the combination of cortisone and lots of acupuncture has really helped alot.

best wishes to everyone for a most delightful, inspiring, and fruitful new year!

fermelenge!