Cambodia Pictures Posted

View the slideshow in our photogallery...
more details later, but suffice it to say we had an awesome time...

Vietnam Snapshots

Snapshots from Vietnam have been posted in the photo gallery...
Take a peak...
There are definitely more to come...

Hanoi and Halong Pictures

Hoi An Pictures

Sorry for the random smattering of photos, but I can't seem to get Picasa to mass upload pictures...

Sorry for being so delinquent...

So, things have been pretty crazy around here. Last I wrote, we were departing Hoi An and headed to Hanoi and Halong Bay. After a whirlwind tour of Hanoi and Halong Bay, I'm actually writing from Siem Reap, Cambodia. Where to start...

We met up with our friends John and McKenna in Hanoi and went out to dinner at Bobby Chinn's. They gave us the lowdown on the city and what they liked and disliked. It was sort of funny since we found out that even though they had been in the city for about 3 days, they completely slept through one day taking a "nap" and woke up another morning at 3:30am counting down the minutes until 5:00am so they could go to the gym. Pretty hilarious.

From Hanoi, we went to Halong Bay. It is absolutely beautiful. The limestone formations are amazing the experience was one that I would highly recommend to others. That being said, I would recommend that people "adjust" their definition of the word "luxury." Our boat was labeled a luxury boat, but apparently, that just gets you A/C, better food and a shower. Our boat still had the problems of bugs and even a four legged friend or two.

After our overnight, we returned to Hanoi, where we spent the evening hanging out with our new friends from the boat. The Aussies as we referred to them somehow talked us into going to "dinner" with them which included some light food and heavy drinks. Somehow, a group of 7 of us managed to go through as many bottles of 80 proof rice wine. People started eating fried crickets, putting on pouty lip gloss, and falling asleep at the table. Not a good combination.

The next morning, a little slow from the evening activities. we informed out guide and driver that we weren't in the mood for museums and we were a little temple-ed out, so we had him drive us to see Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum and then take us shopping. It was a great, if not eerie, outing as seeing the former leader of Vietnam lie in state took me a bit by surprise.

Siem Reap and the Angkor temples were amazing. I'll post a little more about them later as well as some pictures.

On Our Way to Hanoi

With great sadness, we are leaving Hoi An. We have grown to love Hoi An. It's a good mix between old and new, beach and city and has a fair bit of good food thrown in for good measure. We are savoring the last few hours of time here, but will definitely be back. It's an awesome place for a vacation and I could see myself spending weeks here. Unfortunately, I don't think my soon to be employer does much business in the hamlet of Hoi An.

I wish we had gotten a picture of this, but the pool got so hot yesterday (about 32c) that they brought out huge blocks of ice to throw in to cool it down. I'm not talking about ice cubes here. These icebergs were about the size of a large suitcase. They were the hit of the pool while they lasted. People were floating on them and swimming with them as if they were floaties! Unfortunately, the ice only lasted about 5 minutes because of the boiling water and blazing sun.

In Hanoi, we'll be meeting up with McKenna and John. Hopefully we'll be able to post some pictures there as the internet connection here is as slow as molasses on a cold day.

Beach Time!

Since our last post, we departed Ho Chi Minh City for a little more relaxation from the hustle and bustle of the city. HCMC was great, but Hoi An is amazing. Beautiful beaches, amazing old town, beautiful hotel and very cool pool. (Well, it's actually about 28c, but still refreshing.)

We are staying at the Victoria Hoi An Beach Resort which is awesome. We were upgraded to the Honeymoon Suite which is pretty cool. Outdoor shower in the middle courtyard and big windows and doors that lead directly to the beach. We arrived on the 25th and have been relaxing by the pool most of that time. We did take a break on Monday morning and attended a local cooking class which was run by the Red Bridge Restaurant. It was awesome. Some dishes turned out great. Others, we had to have a second go at it in order to make it look right, but it all ended up delicious...and we ended up very full...

We'll probably spend most of today on the beach and by the pool before we head up to Hanoi to meet up with our friends McKenna and John on their first leg of the trip. I'll upload pictures of the beach and pool later once we get them on Elaine's camera and we get to a better internet connection. Probably in Hanoi.

Mekong Delta and an Interesting Foot Massage

Yesterday, we went with our guide out to the Mekong Delta to visit with some local residents and observe them go about their day. It took nearly 2.5 hours to drive from HCMC to our launching point in the Mekong Delta. Along the drive, we saw many more motorbikes and even some that acted as family caravans or even moving trucks. However, it was well worth the drive. We started out by meeting another guide who took us onto a private boat which ferried us to a candy making shop run by a family that lived in the area. We saw the process to make coconut candy, peanut brittle, rice paper crackers, etc. We then got to sample the goods. We did manage to stuff a few bags of candy into our carry-on (carry on only rule for this trip) so be prepared for some delicious treats...unless we eat them first!

Next, we went to a home on a side canal and enjoyed a delicious lunch of Elephant Ear Fish, spring rolls, pork, rice and fresh fruit. While Elaine wasn't a huge fan of the fish, she did discover her new favorite fruit, the Rambutan. It was at lunch that I also made friends with a pretty big anaconda. Our guide thought it would be funny to put it on my head. Elaine didn't think it was as funny.

After our lunch, we enjoyed some traditional Mekong music, which typically chronicles simple life on the delta. Stories ranged from a man working for another woman's farm and his wife begged him to stay with sweet potatoes to a man who falls in love with a streetside woman selling fruit. Pretty cool overall...including the fact that they served my favorite fruit, the Rose Apple. If you haven't had one before, you must try it.

After several hours cruising the Delta, it was time for us to say goodbye and return to HCMC. After 3.5 hours driving through torrential rain (Which only happens in the afternoon, by the way) we decided to end our day with a foot massage. This is where we had a little bit of "Lost in Translation." We were shown to a massage room where the following exchange happened:

Masseuse: Take off all of your clothes except for your underwear.

Me: Um, I've never had a foot massage like that before.

After we got everything straightened out, we received an hour long foot massage which was heavenly. My masseuse was a bit chatty and she was completely boy crazy. Both her and Elaine's masseuse kept on rubbing my legs almost to the point of being inappropriate.

Ho Chi Minh City

HCMC is quite a beautiful and strange place. The 60's architecture is juxtaposed against more modern buildings and a sea of scooters. You would not believe how many scooters there are. Combined with the cars, it is somewhat of a ballet of metal with nary an accident. We ate at Pho 2000 today, which is where President Clinton ate lunch when he was in Ho Chi Minh City in 2000.

The downer of the day was the War Remanants Museum, which chronicled the Vietnam war through the eyes of photojournalists and survivors. It definitely was sobering to see the documentation of the war from the side of the Vietnamese. Despite your thoughts on the war, it was sobering for all and a realization that war is not the answer.

On a brighter note, I didn't completely sweat through my shirt. It was hot, but bearable. And, we lucked out as it was beautiful during the morning and early afternoon when we were touring around, but it started pouring down rain just as we got back to the hotel. Instead of getting stuck in our room, we went for a massage at the spa which was FANTASTIC!

Later that evening, after the rain had passed, we went to an awesome dinner at Mandarine. It is traditional Vietnamese food that was definitely targeted towards expats and upper class citizens, but the service was awesome and the food was delicious.

In front of the helicopter at Reunification Palace

Making a quick phone call on the Vietnamese Mobile of the war era

At a Chinese Pagoda in Cholon

Quan pointing out the "Ten Levels of Hell"

Good Morning Vietnam!

We just arrived in Vietnam last night after approximately 30 hours in transit. A few delays along the way, but overall, everything went pretty smoothly. We were seated on the upper deck of the UA 747 across the water as well as from HKG to SGN. It is pretty nice, but definitely not as nice as other Business Class seats out there. Service, however, was exemplary.

After landing at SGN, we exited the arrivals area and you would have thought that Miley Cyrus just walked into a middle school. There were throngs of thousands of people waiting outside for their family to arrive from the US. It was pretty amazing. We met with our guide for the week, Quan, outside the arrivals gate and were taken quickly to our hotel in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City.

Today, we're meeting Quan for a tour of the city including Notre Dame Cathedral, the War Remnants Museum and Chinatown. I'll take plenty of pictures and post when I can. In the meantime, here are a few from our journey.

Moving: Day 2

The movers came this morning and picked up all the furniture, boxes that were packed yesterday, and a few last minute odds and ends. The move was actually pretty painless.

We did however experience a pretty crazy storm last night here in Austin. The winds were howling with gusts up to 70mph, rain was coming in sideways and we had hail the size of a baseball shatter one of the windows in the office. We are pretty lucky that nothing else was really damaged. The funny part about it is that since we signed the closing contract on Monday, we are actually tenants of the building and repairs should be absorbed by our new landlords.

We had to call our friends over to help us seal up the window since the packers did such a great job, they packed all of the garbage bags and flashlights that we had. They did however, leave several rolls of tape that came in handy.

Moving: Day 1

The packers have arrived to put everything of ours into boxes. There have been some pretty great quotes from them throughout the entire process that I found to be hilarious:

1. Did you guys know that as a couple, you have dinner service for 36 people on fine china?

2. Ma'am, you have too much stuff in this bedroom.

3. I've never packed anybody who needed 2 boxes and a wardrobe box labeled "Purses, Totes, and Handbags."

That being said, they are super efficient and pack much better and faster than we ever could. We took Sadie to daycare so she wouldn't be stressed out by the movers. We all know how sensitive she can be.

We're Homeless!

We went into the title company to close on the sale of our condo. We're still waiting for the buyer's paperwork, but it seems like everything should move forward smoothly. The packers and movers will be here on Wednesday and Thursday, and after that, we'll be sleeping on an Aerobed for a week. I'm looking forward to a week of fun with graduation events and my family coming into town, but I know that things will get hectic after we return from Southeast Asia.

Wish us luck and for you folks in San Francisco, let us know if you hear of a cheap, short-term lease in a desirable location that accepts 80lb labradoodles.

Watch for updates!

We're going to try to keep this updated as we travel through Southeast Asia in the upcoming months. Hopefully, this gives us a quick and easy way to share our experiences with our friends and family back home.