Vietnam

Yes, finally we managed to get it done. To travel around South East Asia was one of the incentives to come here to Singapore in the first place and it has taken so long. Scheduling with Robert's work is not easy.

We left very early on the 19th - on Beatrice's birthday. She was very excited. On the flight I told the attendants that it was her birthday and they produced a card written on a sandwich box with greetings from the captain and crew. There was a little present of bisquits, a song and the captain mentioned it in his arrival greetings. There she sat gleaming all over her face.

Ho Chi Minh City greeted us with it's usual traffic jams and it took quite a while to get to the hotel although it was only 7 km from the airport. It is still very much a developing place, dirty and disorganized but has a fantastic feel of vibrancy all over. "The attraction" for me were the millions of rollers on the roads going in all directions at the same time so that it was actually hard to tell sometimes which side the traffic is supposed to flow. Some seemed to be on a suicide mission, crossing 6-lane streets against the flow. It was not unusual to see a family of 4 on one roller or a merchant and all his goods - like WC rolls or durians etc. We stayed at a hotel on the main street that was full of high-end designer shops and nice restaurants. However we went to look for more authentic stuff and had our lunch at a popular Pho24, which is a chain selling the famous noodle soup - a huge big bowl for 2$. Even the kids liked it.

There are lots of art galleries selling "old french masters" and the like. Strolled down to the main square where Ho Chi Minh sits with children - all very nice and clean and full of flowers there. Just next to him the famous Rex hotel, which used to be a hangout for foreign journalists during the war. We went up to the rooftop bar. There were a few older couples there, looked like old US soldiers coming back to visit. Has great views over town.

The rest of out HCMH sightseeing plans went all wrong. We went back to the hotel, so that the kids could have a little rest which they didn't. The room next door was being renovated - some walls taken down or something similar, so not very restful. Decided to go out then anyway, only to have Raoul fall asleep in the bookshop... I carried him to a restaurant a few quarters away where he continued to sleep as well as Beatrice. So the 3 remaining of us had a nice dinner but that was about it. Took a taxi back. And unlike in Singapore in Vietnam you have to discuss the price with the driver which we are not used to any more. The closest we got to nightlife was the view from the kid's rooms balcony. They were all still on rollers, even girls in pretty dresses and high heels.

Next morning we headed north to the seaside resort of Mui Ne. It is 200 km from HCMC but because of the traffic and road conditions takes over 4 hours. Was quite interesting though. The style of buildings reminded us of Korean countryside a bit. Basically everybody can build whatever they like. The first two hours the roadside was still very densely populated by bigger and smaller businesses selling anything from fruit to scrap metal. Then after a while it got a bit more rural with orchards and dragon fruit plantations etc. All the while the road was still full of rollers and bicycles. Quite a few times we saw wedding parties - just a big tent by the road with pink curtains, a big photo of the couple and loud music. 

I was very anxious if the long trip is really worth it. But when we finally arrived at the resort it was beautiful. No plywood or tin foil huts to be seen there. Everything was very nice, clean well kept, beautiful gardens, and the sea ... . Our villa was right at the beach so at high tide it was maybe 10 steps to the water. We had 2 bedrooms on two floors and a very nice big sunken bath + outdoor shower. We shared it with at least 5 geckos. They were very friendly though. The sea is open and mighty, so not really for swimming but we played with the incoming waves - not too big to jump in and out. Great for surfers! It felt very quiet, just the people from the resort on the beach, no vendors or passers-by. It was great just to listen to the waves and watch the few fishing boats. So different from Singapore. There were many very funny boats - round and flat woven from bamboo, 1.5 m diameter. On land they didn't look like something I would want to sail in on the South China sea. But there they all came every morning with their loads of fresh seafood.

Went running on the beach every day, what a bliss! But of course the buffet breakfasts and dinners have left their mark... .

Raoul was having fever on and off so we didn't want to be too active, just play and be lazy. One day we booked a jeep tour to the sand dunes. Surprisingly there are huge dunes of red sand just off Mui Ne coast although the sand on the beach is white. Once the jeep stopped a whole flock of young boys stormed at us "slide down, slide down!". They had plastic boards that could be used to slide down the dunes. We negotiated our way through them. Very business minded kids. And they spoke a far better English than most adults. Beatrice and Karl had a good time sliding down on their tummies and backs anyway. Raoul was not very keen on sand. On the way back stopped at a "fairy stream". Well, you can make a tourist attraction of everything we thought. And there as well a bunch of young tour-guides jumped on us. One stayed finally. Got to the stream and it turned out we had to walk in the water for quite a while to get to the scenic spot. But it was actually quite nice to cool the feet off a little. As we walked on for about 500 m we got to a point where the stream flew through sandy cliffs that were quite spectacular - upper part red sand, lower white. Also the guide showed us a funny little plant that closes it's leaves when you touch it.

Then we had to buy some ice-cream to get change for the guide. And headed back. But it was not a brilliant idea to try to eat melting ice-cream in an open jeep. It was all over the place. Learned something.

Somewhat unexpectedly the single largest group of tourists seemed to be Russians. There were quite many in our resort, apart from them a few Danish families who had adopted Vietnamese or maybe Cambodian babies. But the main village seemed very oriented towards the Russians, all restaurants had signs and menus in Russian, as well as travel agents etc. The Vietnamese seemed to speak some Russian because they replied when spoken to in Russian. Don't know if it is a thing of old friendship or just a fad now.

On the 24th of Dec had to get up 2.30 am to make the whole 4 hour journey back to the airport. It was not too bad though as we had a minibus so that all kids could lay down and have a sleep and we slept a bit as well. By 5 am life was already starting with roadside stalls opening up and at 6 am when the sun rises, everything was in full swing. Kids going to school, whole families on their rollers, people eating their breakfast at noodle soup stalls, traffic getting more and more dense. Just before 7 am we saw a funeral procession with buddhist monks chanting and a brass band playing a Christmas carol. As we were stuck in all these rollers I was getting very worried if we will make it to the airport in time, the last km took like 15 minutes. But we made it in time. What a contrast landing in Singapore - wide smooth highways, perfectly manicured greenery, everything so perfect. Sometimes too perfect so that it is good to get out and be reminded that there is a different world out there.

History night

After having been out for a company dinner on Friday night already I didn't really fancy going out the following night again. Also the kids were not happy about it and gave us hard time before leaving. But as it happens so often - if you don't really want to go, it turns out the best. And I definitely would have hated to have missed the party last night. It was a couple from Robert's taekwondo class who had invited all the TKD buddies around to their amazing place. The hosts were rather amazing as well - she is Chinese Singaporean and at 46 the "oldest" lady in the TKD class as she kept pointing out. He is Indian-British Singaporean and the oldest man in the class. Both black belts. They kept cracking jokes about it. Their house is like a museum - an old so called shophouse near Chinatown. The houses all look quite neat from the street but quite small, like some old terraced street in England, just more ornamental. But as you get inside it's just one wow after another. The house just keeps going on and on 6000 square feet altogether complete with two airwells and secret staircases and outdoor kitchen. Their interior was quite minimalistic but very stylish as it had been renovated keeping as many old original features as possible. Mostly inspired by japanese design with a zen garden in the former drainage area of the airwell being the centre point. They complained about the kitchen though during rainy season, because it has only 3 walls. I suggested they could have soup when it rains. Of course it is easier to keep such a zen design without kids. 

I also got a great insight into the traditional life in these houses because it turned out one of the guests grew up in a house just like that on the same road. Back then it wasn't just a place for a couple but for a business and 3 generations. Her family had been traders and the ground floor was used for business including the kitchen for feeding the employees. Also interestingly her room had been on first floor on the street side and there was a whole in the floor of her room so she could see who is at the front door. Lots of interesting stories about the role of the oldest grandchild in a traditional Hakka family. The grandparents made everyone learn Cantonese because that was the trading language even still in the 80-s. Granddad was convinced jeans would damage internal organs so she had to sneak out and change somewhere else if she wanted to wear the jeans. 

There were many very interesting people, different nationalities (incl. one Finn) as well as Singaporeans. It was really the first time that we had such a great insight there. And all the ladies look stunning in the evening (the hostess gave us a great lecture about her techniques starting with foundation up to the lighting!) Also some TKD mums who have their boys in Karl and Raoul's class, whom I didn't recognize in their night-time disguise! And the coaches, including Ms Lee whom we always only see in her TKD kit - now in a pretty dress. The owner of the school had got engaged recently in Korea so there was a lot of teasing and fun going on about and with him. All really good and funny guys. The mood got better and better as everyone had brought some typical drinks from their country and the Champagne flew.

And today a rainy day and tired so took the kids to see Madagascar in the movies...

Don't try building gingerbread houses in the tropics!

We have been so extremely very busy that I haven't managed to keep this blog up to date at all. So sorry!

Beatrice had her last week at school and there was a lot to do with that. Also trying to keep the boys entertained. They were not very well which didn't make it easier. On the last day at school we had a little Christmas party in class with a visiting Father Christmas again. It was funny how Raoul and Karl joined in the class at the end. I thought the school might start charging fees for that hour.

Robert had a whole Sunday off for a change and we actually managed to do some sightseeing again. At first though we tried to build our gingerbread house. It worked out really well this time, the sugar was sticky and hardened well and it looked lovely with all the sweets. Raoul of course found millions that were "broken" so he had to eat them. Then we went out for the afternoon and when we returned in the evening, the house had turned into a ruin. The humidity had made the gingerbread so soft that it could not possibly hold up the weight of a house. Well, at least we had fun building it and then even more fun eating it on the same day. 

While the house was quietly disintegrating we had been to the Labrador park, that had been on our to-do list for a while. It is a nature reserve / seaside park with old british canons and bunkers and tunnels in the rainforest that served to keep away the pirates and later the Japs. The kids quite liked the big canons on the hilltop and Raoul put his masculine side on the show reassuring us that the "war-men" will not come, "don't be afraid!" We also went into a tunnel system that had been restored a few years ago.

Afterwards went to Vivo City which is a big entertainment centre and shopping mall by the seaside, quite nice setting for the many restaurants. Wanted to try a German restaurant to get a taste of sauerkraut now at Christmas time. It was quite a strange experience - the restaurant had had very good reviews but what we tasted was not all that great. Most of all the sauerkraut was spicy as well as some other dishes. I cannot remember ever eating spicy German food. There must have been an Indonesian chef in the kitchen.

On Tuesday we met another newcomer colleague's wife with her 3-year old twin boys. Very funny how they were so different from each other just like our boys. 

Then yesterday went to see a kids play in the theatre "The Toothfairy". It was very good indeed and the children were absolutely fascinated. Especially Raoul because the main boy-character was called Raoul as well. It was a good story with lots of music, dances, visual effects. And very good point about keeping ones teeth clean! Which is especially important for Raoul.