Cyclo Chariot Racing

The best way to see Vietnam is on a cyclo and the best way to have lots of fun is to RACE cyclos!

Today is a friend's bday and during a pool party while intoxicated he came up with this grand idea of racing around Saigon to 16 different locations on cyclos and downing a beer at each location.

The race begins today with 20 people meeting at 1:30pm and it will continue until the first person hits the 16th bar.

A map has been sent previously, and as the competive person that I am, I've already created a route, printed in colour, translated and laminated it.  It's gotta be rain proof!

I think I'm gonna win...my max is 10 beers, never 16, I wonder if that's where I'll lose the advantage. Gotta go and hydrate!  Paul will be filming on his go pro and when I figure out how to download footage I will.

Cheers!

Upcoming Trips and a Wedding..

My sister is coming for Christmas and I can't wait to hang out with her and Kris her hubby, we are going to Danang and will go on your fun beach tours!

Right after, my cousin  Billy is getting married to Hien, a Vietnamese woman he fell in love with a year ago and the ceremony takes place 30th December in the country side of Vietnam, families from USA and Australia will gather for the union, should be wild!

In January Paul and I are going to the Phong Nha caves, if you haven't heard about it google it. Basically it's the biggest cave in the world, it was discovered by a farmer about few years ago and guess what it's in Vietnam!

"Phong Nha has been voted as one of the most wonderful caves in the world for a number of reasons: for its longest underground river, for its most beautiful underground lake. for its highest and widest entrance, for its most beautiful and widest dry cave, for its most beautiful sandbank and reef, as well as for its most spectacular stalactites, stalagmites and longest water grottos." -Lynapedia

After 4 years abroad...

I haven't written in 3 years and a lot has happened.

Where to start, in the last 3 years, Paul became a famous model.  He is a celebrity in Da Lat.  Some of his projects included; Piaggio Vespa, Sapporo, Adler, Owen, Valentine Shampoo, and more...

I on the other hand dabbled in modeling and was the 'before' picture in a weight loss food program. What has resulted in more calls is my voice acting abilities.  I have had a steady consistent part time job as a Voice Talent Actress.  I have done voice overs for Kotex, Huggies, Kymdan, various switchboards, Milo, Proctor and Gamble, Nescafe and English books!

Isn't that wild?!

We have 2 clinics now and working on clinic 3.  I think Paul is keeping a secret from me, I think he might be Superman!  There is no way that he can do all the work he is doing and keeping me happy.

I work as the office manager an international school and moving up the educational ladder.  I still can't believe I'm going to school everyday! I was never an academic.

We have added 2 more to our little family; Rufus and Archie.  Eversince Riley Bear D'alfonso passed, we needed 2 dogs to fill the void. Our new boys are wonderful and you will hear a lot more about them.

Anyhow that is a quick snapshot of us in Vietnam....

On a lighter note

Paul and I will be celebrating our 5 year anniversary.  We actually don't know the exact date and agreed that it's the last weekend of June.  I was hoping to do something extravagant but we're too busy prepping for our 2 week visit to the US.

We decided to but tickets for a wanna be Cirque du Soleil show called AO premiering at the Opera House in HCMC.  I was using my Vietnamese with an American accent and the guy was happy to hear that I was trying to speak the language and upgraded our seats for free.  I just saved each of us 500k (you do the math).  He probably also felt sorry for us cause it was pouring rain.  The rain was coming in sideways.  We needed to buy a bunch of souvenirs for our friends back home so Paul and I were determined to venture out, suit up in our rainsuits and hit the streets on our motorbike.  If you're new in Vietnam, avoid riding in the rain, although that's hard since it rains 50% of the time.  Sigh........

This day was unusual though, it was like a hurricane was going to hit, in actuality I had experienced my first monsoon.  Anyway it was so strong it knocked down our umbrella parking stands and vases outside of the office.
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I'm excited about returning home.  First stop In n' Out Burgers!  Second stop, pick up Riley.  Third, drop Paul off back at the airport so he can visit his family in NY.

This will be the first time Paul and I will be apart in 8 months.  I'm going to miss him, but I'm glad he gets to see his family over Independence Day.

While in the US, we have so much to take care of.  Living abroad takes a great deal of organization.  When I return, I have to file taxes, find a new tenant, prepare Riley's paperwork, witness my sister tying the knot, reconnect with family and friends, and stock up on things that aren't available in Vietnam.  Looking forward to seeing all of you!!

Numb...

It's supposed to be an exciting month, my sister is getting married.  She is the first grandchild on both my mother and father's side and she was finally getting married.  Her wedding in the US is scheduled for July 14th and the one in Australia is on the 21st.  My grandmother is so excited because all the grandchildren are going to Australia for a big reunion.

Yesterday, I received a call from a strange number and it was a lady sobbing on the phone.  She started speaking Cantonese to me.  The line kept breaking and I heard death.  Your aunt...is dead.  What?!?!?  It didn't make any sense because I just saw her a month ago as healthy as a 50 something year old could be.  I messaged the family in US to tell them what I heard and that when it was made cleared to me that it wasn't aunty, it was GRANDMA.

I only have one grandma, everyone else passed before I was born.  So my one and only grandma has passed.  What's strange is I've never experienced a death before.  I'm not sure what to feel.  I haven't cried but I feel like I'm supposed to.

The wedding in Australia is cancelled and now, you can't have a celebration the same year of a big death.  I have to fly over for a funeral instead of a wedding.

I'm just feeling numb.....

New Ad just Published: Chiropractic in Vietnam

Pictures in April 2013

 Shooting an AK47 in the jungle

 A dead body

 Fresh seafood daily

 

 Mangrove

 Paul's bday celebration, pretty extravagant

 Feeding each other shots of whisky through a syringe

 My new asst mngr

The mind's eye

 A new religion borrowing the best philosophies of 6 current religions...

 Cu Chi Tunnel

 1 of 100s of booby traps

 Random holes leading to traps and underground living spaces during the VN war.

 Have you ever seen the inside of a tank?  It's certainly interesting!

Caoism Temple