Lucky To Have Been Where I Have Been…Lucky To Be Coming Home Again

Last night, by the time I researched everything I wanted to do today it was 2am. When my alarm went off at 7am, I debated seeing ANYTHING and just sleeping, but where’s the fun in that?

My first stop was the Queen Victoria Market. I had read it was the place for shopping (food, clothes, gifts, etc) and that it opened at 6am every day so I caught the tram @ 730am which got me there around 8am. However, NOTHING was open! Well I shouldn’t say that..the food stuff was open (I literally gagged walking in the fish section..YUCK!) but the stuff I wanted to see was JUST setting up at 8am. If you ever travel to a place where they have markets, go when you can watch them set up or break down. During the day they can be so annoying (not so much here, but in Asia) haggling you and bugging you, but it is AMAZING to see how much work goes into setting up their stalls for the day.

There didn’t seem to be much point in me waiting around, so my next stop was to explore the city. There isn’t a ton to see as far as buildings or sites, more rather neighborhoods, etc. I went to China Town and the Greek area and then spent some time exploring the alleyways. They say you don’t know the real Melbourne unless you walk the alleys, which feel very French/Italian. They have tables set up in the middle and lots of little boutiques and restaurants..I really liked it!

I was also on the Pavlova hunt! In Sydney, Erin looked in every bakery shop for this Australia dessert, Pavlova, which is a meringue type dessert with fruit. No luck! However, I asked my trip advisor peeps (love them) and I had TWO suggestions! BOTH were on the spot! The first place I went was a chocolate place, aka HEAVEN! I wanted everything on the menu, but chocolate pavlova it was! The woman took FOREVER to bring it over, but then I realized it was because SO much time was spent on the presentation! It was beautiful! Since I didn’t know what regular pavlova was suppose to be like I didn’t know if this was accurate, but it was very good and had strawberries on top! Yum! I then had to try out the other place (which was supposed to have real Pavlova) and it did! This was beautifully presented as well and VERY yummy! While it wasn’t chocolate, it was VERY sweet and I can see why Erin likes it!

After having two desserts before 10am (life is good!) I decided I would try the free city bus. It is a tourist bus that brings you around the city (hop on hop off) and I figured this way I could go back to the market and get a tour of the city. The tour bus has a pretty long route (1.5 hours) but it’s a good quick way to see the city and then decided what you want to go back and see! I stopped at the market (which was up and running) and it was nice because it was your typical market, without the pushiness!

I then decided I wanted to head to Bridge Street which was supposed to have good shopping. This was a short 10 minute tram ride away, although I was not impressed. I guess it’s a factory area for designer clothing (but obviously I don’t know those brands) and overall it just didn’t seem that happening.

At this point I was exhausted (and it was only 3pm) but I came back and got myself on another tram to go to St Kilda. I wanted to make the most of my last day in Melbourne and figured I can sleep the next week and I would hate to leave and think, “Oh I wish..”

The ride to St Kilda was about 20 minutes and I realized I got off a little too early as there was really NOTHING around. Basically there was one strip that had a lot of shops and restaurants and then an esplanade where the beach is it. Again, it was cloudy/cold/windy so I am sure in their summer this place is happening but it still was pretty busy!

By the time I got back, grabbed a quick bit to dinner and showered, I realized I need to pack and get some sleep! I need to be up at 6am tomorrow to catch my flight to LA and then Boston baby!!!

I have decided (or realized again) how much I LOVE to travel. I just love it! I was afraid I would “forget” how to travel alone, or freak out since I was spoiled and had my mom here, but I was pleasantly reminded how I was lucky enough to be raised to be independent and self sufficient (well..for the most part!) I have just LOVED every second of this experience and at one point today I thought, “Graduate school is overrated, where should I travel in the fall?” Alright Dad sorry for the heart attack, I will go back to school!

In all seriousness though, I want to remember how I felt today, because I am afraid once I get back in “the grind” I just take life too seriously and forget all that’s out there! I think I could be very happy “working” to travel, coming back poor and starting all over again! I love the adventure, I love learning about new culture and people and exploring new areas. I just love it all!

With that being said..

Hugs and Kisses from a Wonderful World!

Penguin Parade!

I hit snooze a few too many times this morning! I wish I had one more day in Melbourne so I wasn’t doing FULL days on 5 hours of sleep! BUT life is still good! After some breakfast and a quick internet café stop, I was off to catch the train to Swinburne, the university Merrimack will now be sending study abroad students to. I really think I do better in countries where English is NOT the language because I was so confused about the whole system! I did manage to get myself a ticket and to the correct platform, but couldn’t seem to understand which train was coming, which was going, etc. I guess a lot of the trains were behind schedule so that sort of messed things up. It was 930am but the sign said the 917am train or something like that. Anyway I managed to get myself on a train and prayed I was heading in the right direction!

It was only a 10 minute ride to the campus, but I have to say I was not impressed when I got off the train. The area seemed dirty and sort of had a back alley feel to it. LUCKILY that changed when I got to the center of campus. I met Justine (who is the contact for Merrimack) in the International Programs office. I also met two other women, Sonia, the regional team leader and Xenia the manager.

We went to a coffee shop (the campus has a few outside vendors) where I was able to talk to them about Merrimack students studying abroad, etc. It was actually VERY cool and it got me even more excited about my future in the field of international education. I then went on a campus tour. It has a very industrial/modern feel to it, but I liked it. They just completed a couple of new buildings (a technology center and a student center) and I was also able to see a residential option for students. We then went out to lunch as there is a main street about 2 minutes from campus with banks, restaurants, shops, etc. Overall I had a really great time learning more about the school and I think it will be great to be able to talk about my experience when I am advising students at Merrimack.

It was about 140pm when I got back on the train and I wasn’t quite sure what to do. My penguin parade tour left at 445pm so I had some time, but I wasn’t sure how long everything took that I wanted to do. I eventually decided it wasn’t worth going far away (and having to worry about being back) so I decided I would stay in the area.

I had read that at Federation Square there was a Disney Princess exhibit. I know, I know..not a very Melbourne thing, but I HAD to see it and honestly it was one of the BEST decisions of my life! The exhibit was set up VERY well. It was all about how they went about animating the movies and they had actually drawings and sketches from the beginning process. It was really cool to see the “rejected” ideas for some of the characters (like the Beast). As you can expect I spent most of my time in the Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast sections. They had projectors so I walked over because the *Kiss the Girl* scene was playing. However, out of the corner of my eye I also saw the *Be Our Guest* scene was playing as well! How’s a girl to choose? I couldn’t believe my two favorite Disney scenes were playing simultaneously. LUCKILY, I was spared this tough decision as I realized they had two or three of the movies best scenes on repeat, so I was able to watch both! I really could have stayed in there for days, but I had to check my bag so I had no clue what time it was and figured missing the penguins for a Disney exhibit wasn’t cool, so I headed out. I had about an hour and thought about doing some exploring, but honestly I just wanted to rest for a bit! I decided to come back to the room and do a little write up on my time at Swinburne before I forgot everything!

Before I knew it it was time to head off to my penguin parade. There were a lot of tour options for this, but I wanted to do the penguin express, right to the penguins and back. If I had more time in Melbourne I might have done more of a full day tour, but this seemed good. The bus left at 5pm and didn’t get to the penguins until around 7pm (it was a long ride). They have bleacher style seats set up along the beach where you wait until dark for the penguins to come out from the water, cross the beach, and go back into their homes in the bush.

It was VERY cold out and windy..so I was even more anxious for the penguins to arrive. After sitting outside in the FREEZING weather, we started to see a few emerge from the water. It was really cool because they just sort of swim up in packs of 5 and quickly waddle across the beach together. They were so little and SO cute it literally made me laugh out loud. It is malting season for them (they get new feathers) so they aren’t able to go into the water for 2.5 weeks so there really weren’t a lot of penguins. I was a bit disappointed, but on the walk back to the main building I saw a lot on the sides of the walkway. It was so cute because some of the penguins would come out from their home to welcome the new penguins back from the ocean!

It was a VERY long night again (2 hours on the bus each way) but since I LOVE penguins it really was worth it! On the way back I had a woman (in her 50s) sitting behind me, who was the WORST and I mean WORST singer I have EVER heard. Honestly at first I thought it was a dying cat..and THEN I realized she was just singing out loud to her iPod. It was to the point that it was socially unacceptable; although since the bus wasn’t full I am not sure anyone else could hear it. It was like a train wreck though, I couldn’t stop listening. I mean I KNOW I can’t sing, but this lady was AWFUL. I really wish I could have recorded it because I was literally laughing, and I know that sounds mean but you should have heard her!

We didn’t get back until 11:30pm and I was starving and LUCKILY Subway was open. I asked the guy what time they closed (it didn’t seem like he was shutting down..) and without looking up he responded “24/7” Well..good for me!

I don’t mean to be complaining but I do wish I had a few more days in Melbourne so instead of doing FULL days on 5 hours of sleep I could actually sleep at night and then do half days! I just didn’t realized there would be so much to see OUTSIDE of Melbourne but I guess it is better than being bored! Tomorrow I will actually have a day to explore the city!

Hugs and kisses from little penguins!

Great Ocean Road

I woke up very tired this morning as I barely got 5 hours of sleep last night. After all the running around and getting myself settled in I was still looking at the clock @ 2am and I was up @ 7am for my tour!

When reading about things to do in Melbourne the *Great Ocean Road* was one of them. It is comparable to the Pacific Highway in California and people say it is just beautiful. I decided I needed to do it, but had a lot of trouble finding a tour I liked! All of them were at least 12 hours long (at best) and most included Koala and Kangaroo stuff which I had already done! I finally settled on this tour as it was one of the shortest I could find (8am-730pm) and didn’t include any animal stuff. I had scoped out where I needed to be last night so after a quick breakfast I was on my way!

Aaaaaaaand I was cold! Brrrrr! Granted it was in the morning and the sun wasn’t up, but ugh I was not a happy camper! It is their fall here and that’s what it feels like! I met my tour and was on the bus and on the road by 8am. Our tour guide/bus driver, Chris, was telling us about the schedule for the day (I was half listening) but my ears perked up when he said, “And we should have you back here around 10:30pm!” I COULDN’T believe it! All this research and somehow I had booked one of the later trips! Ugh! But that’s when Chris said, “Haha only teasing, how about we have you back here by 7:30pm”. That’s when I knew I was going to like him! Touché Chris, touché! He had the corniest “tour guide” jokes but I was cracking up in the back of the bus. I wanted to tell him when the tour ended how much I appreciated his jokes and I was laughing in the back, but unfortunately when it was time for me to get off at the end of the day it was a quick stop and not enough time. I will email his company! Anyway I am getting way ahead of myself!

The bus was pretty full but I was able to have the seat next to me free (yay!) We spent the morning driving along the coast and stopped every now and then to take pictures. The view was so beautiful, and luckily I got a seat on the left side of the bus so I could really enjoy it! It was getting around lunch time and I realized the bus had stopped, people were getting off and I had NO clue what was going on. I knew I was dozing off, but I didn’t realize it was enough to be CLUELESS! THESE are the times I miss traveling with someone! I went up to Chris and said I “couldn’t really hear him” in the back of the bus so wanted to double check what time we were leaving! We had an hour for lunch, so I got some pizza, walked around the shops and was able to put my feet in the water.

The afternoon was spent making our way through the jungle to the “12 Apostle” (now I think there are only 8) which jet out of the water and are really VERY cool. We also saw the London Bridge which just recently fell during the past few years. It is weird to think that as the water beats on it all of these will eventually fall into the water. The ride back was long, but it was definitely a cool trip. Even though we have the beach, this was a different type of beach.

We had the option of being dropped off at three different stops along the way and even though I was exhausted I figure this was a good time to do some exploring. I walked along the Southbank which feels a little bit like the Seine in Paris (yes, yes I am a travel snob) and made my way to the Eureka Tower. You go up 88 flights in 9 seconds (yes my ears felt every one) for 360 views of the city. It was REALLY cool to see the overview of the city like that!

It took me a while to walk around Southbank and when I got back I was so tired. After pressing the elevator button and waiting for a few minutes, I realized it was stuck on a floor and definitely NOT moving. Since the reception was closed, they had a sign that said, “dial 9 if any problems”. Did anyone pick up? Of course not! So I took out my cell phone to call their other number. I was sort of frustrated because what if I didn’t have a cell phone? Why should I have to waste my minutes calling them? Anyway that’s beside the point because I did call. I don’t even know who picked up as I hadn’t had any interaction with the “front desk” yet since they were closed last night and this morning when I woke up, but the guy said he would be down to fix it. When he came down he didn’t introduce himself or anything, but said sometimes the elevator does that and he would restart it. The whole situation was weird, but then it started working so all’s well that ends well.

I wanted to try the free wifi at McDs (which turned out to be SO slow..Vietnam style!) but as I was sitting there (waiting) I started overhearing this guy and girl in front of me (in their 20s) The guy was saying something like, “I don’t know if you’re my girlfriend anymore” and that got me hooked. I guess I am a very nosy person. I could only see her from the back and I couldn’t hear her, but then he said, “I can’t even drive anymore because I don’t remember how to get home, what did I do wrong? I didn’t drink, smoke, do drugs..I ate healthy and exercised..WHAT DID I DO WRONG?” At this point he was speaking VERY loudly to the point that I was even a little afraid. I was trying to figure out if maybe something happened in his brain where he couldn’t remember or something. Again I couldn’t hear her and I was trying to pretend I wasn’t listening, but then I heard him say the things again. At this point I thought maybe he had short term memory loss and didn’t remember he had JUST said this to her..and then it hit me. They were practicing for some acting thing! After his third time saying it they both laughed and I could hear him giving her acting advice. It was VERY strange..and I was almost tempted to tell him he did a great job as I totally believed him!

Anyway after my crazy night I headed back for a shower! Tomorrow I am off for a meeting at Swinburne and a penguin tour!

Hugs and kisses from the Great Ocean Road!

So Long Sydney!

Erin and I slept in a little bit today..although she was up before me because she was going up the pylon of the bridge. Since I had already done the climb (yes I am way cooler then her, ha!) I decided I would stay in and pack (since I had to worry about liquids, weight, etc.)

I think this was the first time in my life that I was packed AND ready to go before we had “scheduled” ourselves to leave..it was amazing! We had signed up for the Oz Jet boat in Sydney Harbor, so we left our bags at the hotel and made our way down to the water. I had done some research and found that with this company if you printed off a card online it was buy one get one free (not a bad deal) so that worked out well now that Mamma Wilson left and we are on our own (DEFINITELY not as much fun without her!)

The boat was fun, although I don’t think I would recommend it if you had to pay full price. It goes really fast and does some spins and it’s definitely a different way to see Sydney from the water, but I wasn’t crazy about it. They had these big ugly red jackets for us so while our clothes didn’t get soaked our heads did. It was a bit cooler and cloudy/windy so maybe if it was a warm sunny day it would have been more refreshing!

Since we wanted to do some shopping, we snuck into a hotel to use their nice bathrooms to wash up! We then took the free shuttle bus to the market (which is closed on Mondays) so we headed to their upstairs mall. The place was WEIRD..there’s no other way to describe it. It was a mall, but there would be a Chinese store (since we were in China town) next to an upscale store, next to a food vendor. It just seemed like nothing fit together. We ended up doing the 30 minute walk back and stopped in some stores along the way. It was getting a bit cold and we wanted to have a lunch/dinner meal (we were both going to be on planes during dinner) so we headed back to get some warmer clothes and then found a pub place for lunch where we had some sandwiches.

The whole day was just so relaxed because we had ALL this time..we were early for everything..it was amazing! We stopped in the art museum since we had some time before the airport shuttle was to pick us up at 5pm and then around 430pm we headed back to the hotel to get our bags etc. We got there around 440pm and they couldn’t find our bags (great) but it was because the shuttle was already there and the bellboy had already put our bags in the van! We picked up a few more people and were off to the airport!

I will have you know I weighed in at 21kg (I have 23kg) and since Erin and I were both domestic flights we were able to go through security together!

So a couple things about Australia. Their airport security sucks. Well I mean, I guess it’s kind of nice..until someone gets killed and then not so much. Erin and I went through with our shoes and sweatshirts on. I DID take my laptop out, but water (in my massive bottle) was allowed. I kept waiting for them to pull my bag and tell me I had a 3.1 ounce bottle (which has happened to me in the States before) but there hasn’t been any problems!

The other thing is the signs for traveling are great! In both the Gold Coast and Port Douglas we didn’t have a GPS..just maps and signs! I actually think it worked better as we didn’t have the GPS telling us to continue for a mile (as we pass our destination) and then tell us “recalculating route”.

Anyway Erin and I were able to hang out together for a bit, but then our flights were in different wings so we had to go. Erin I know you read this and I am not just saying this to say it..but I really had SUCH a fun time with her..BOTH weekends! I realize a lot of the time I say, “Oh I am here visiting my brothers girlfriend” but I really think of her as MY friend now (sorry Scott!) so it was really awesome to travel with a friend! Ok enough of the sappy stuff!

As I got to my gate, I saw 4 airport policemen talking to a man about his bag. Never a good sign! So obviously I took a seat close enough to be a part of the situation, but far enough away that I didn’t look like I purposely sat there to get in on the action. I am not sure how it all started, but they said they needed to go through the man’s bag. He was PISSED (yelling all sorts of bad things) and I could tell this guy was DRUNK. Two of the cops stood to the side and it seemed like they were taking an inventory of his bag while the other two stood around him (and took a verbal beating). One cop did most the talking and was actually very nice and kept telling the guy he could get his flight tomorrow after he sobered up and they were just trying to help him and keep him safe, etc. It sounded like they were going to take him back to his house (he was flying to visit his Dad). I was ready for a fight, but the guy seemed to chill out a little bit. Again, I don’t know the whole story, but as much as I joke it was actually kind of sad.

My flight was delayed (every Virgin Blue flight I have had has been delayed) but it was only about 45 minutes before I was on the flight. I obviously fell asleep (and quickly) because when I woke up I thought, “Ugh I can’t believe we haven’t left yet..” as the captain came on and said, “We are now beginning our decent into Melbourne”.

I actually had to RUN to get my bag off the carousel (I guess I could have waited for it to go around again but where’s the fun in that!) and then hopped on the shuttle bus to the main station in Melbourne. I knew I was racing against time because this shuttle also provides free transport to your hotel before 1030pm. It was about 1025pm when I arrived and luckily I was the only one heading off to the hotel..so off I went!

Fortunately I had emailed the hotel saying I was checking in late so they gave me directions on how to get in since they door is locked in the evening. It is NOTHING to write home about (reminds me of something you would find in Hampton Beach?) but the location MORE than makes up for it! It also doesn’t have wifi, which is a little bit tricky as I am STILL planning and researching Melbourne. So, even though it was about 1130pm, I decided to go find some internet AND figure out where my 745am tour was going to be leaving from!

Ahhh Melbourne (pronounced Melbin). For some reason it seemed like EVERYONE was drunk! People on the streets were SO weird (granted it was late) but they were yelling and screaming..some girls were running barefoot with huge stuffed animals and the place seemed dirty and it is MUCH colder than the rest of Australia! After finding internet (and 24 hour McD’s, 7-11’s and internet shops) I also managed to find where my bus is leaving from in the morning!

Hugs and kisses from Melbourne (or Melbin)!

Bondi Beach!

I woke up sad. My mommy is leaving me today! How dare she! We slept in today (till 10am!) which was SO NICE! We decided to go to Pancakes on the Rocks again and it seemed like a great sendoff for mom! There was a little wait (it was Sunday morning) but they do a great job of moving the line along AND we knew just what we wanted! It was delicious and afterwards we checked out the weekend market (where there are lots of crafts, etc).

We went back to the hotel to help mom finish up her packing and got her on the airport shuttle and she was off! I am very sad she is leaving because I feel SO lucky she has been able to join me. I was SO excited to share Vietnam with her and it was amazing to see her with the kids. I knew she would be great with them but it was better than expected! We have had a BLAST in Australia and she has been SUCH a fun travel buddy! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful mother! I am glad I am not staying more than a week because I honestly don’t think I would want to travel alone anymore…it’s just not as fun!

On a happier note, Erin and I wanted to check out Bondi beach and since tomorrow is suppose to be a bit rainy we figured this afternoon would be the best time to go! We had to take a bus to get there and we were so happy because since we were one of the first stops we actually got a seat (yay). The bus was VERY crowded as we continued on the 45 minutes to the beach.

The place was happening (it was a beautiful day and a Sunday) but we found a good spot! There were a lot of people and a lot of sun, which made it lots of fun! I love people watching and there were all different types. While looking around, I noticed, BOOBS (excuse my language). I am not sure why it took me so long to notice but I felt like all of a sudden everyone was topless! It was like once I saw one boob I saw them all! I had read that “parts” of the beach were “European” but honestly it was a pretty small beach so I think by parts it just meant “do whatever you want!”

Erin and I were laying there reading our magazines when some guy came up and asked if he could put his stuff down while he took a swim. He was on Erin’s side so I wasn’t really a part of the situation. However, when he came back he plopped himself down and started talking to Erin. At this point I was on my stomach resting, but once he kept talking I realized I needed to help a sista out! He was kinda weird (this is on top of the fact he was in a Speedo, never ok!) so I asked Erin if she wanted to come with me to the water! Who came with? Max..Erin’s new boyfriend (sorry Scott!) I told her I thought by asking her to go for a walk he would get the hint and maybe he was just trying to be friendly but we were freaked out. We ended up walking the beach and when we came back he was still there! I couldn’t believe I couldn’t fully enjoy the beach because of this creeper! Anyway we decided we still wanted to do the costal walk and I definitely didn’t need any more sun, so we picked up our things, said goodbye to Erin’s boyfriend and were on our way!

We stopped to get a snack before taking on the Bondi Costal walk. It was beautiful (on the cliffs overlooking the water). We didn’t do the whole thing (which said it takes 1.5 hours each way) as it was getting dark and we still needed to take the bus back. We decided we would head back into Sydney to shower and get some dinner. As we were waiting at the bus stop, bus after bus passed us filled with people (from the lower stop) so we made our way down there and crammed ourselves on the bus and then WE were the ones on the bus passing the people at the next stop (we actually got a seat again!)

The bus ride back was long as we were both SO tired we just wanted to crash! After washing off the sand, salt water, and anything Max related we headed out to dinner. There was a pizza place we saw that always had a huge line outside, so we decided to try it! The wait wasn’t that bad and the pizza was good, but the service was..different. We heard the guy tell the table next to us that since they were finished they needed to leave since there was a wait outside (very different then at home!) It was definitely good and worth the little wait we did have.

We then walked down by the harbor to a whole area we hadn’t seen yet (sorry mom that you missed it!) It was really pretty as all the restaurants were on the water overlooking the bridge and opera house. After treating ourselves to some ice cream, we finished the night off with a movie and packing!

Hugs and kisses from Bondi Beach!

Manly Beach: We’re like the locals!

I was very sleepy when I woke up this morning! After some cereal (and a skype date with Scott where he got to see his three favorite women!) we headed off to catch the free bus that would take us to Paddy’s market! I was actually very surprised there was such a thing as a “free” bus and I got talking to the bus driver who said they tried it a few years ago and it was very popular so they stuck with it! Erin and Mom were commenting on how I just went up and started talking to the driver (it started off as..”where do we get off?”) but honestly I just find it so amazing I am in a country where I can speak to people. It is SO awesome to get on a bus and say, “hey do you stop here?” or to go in a convenient store and say, “hey do you know where this is?” I just feel like talking to everyone because I can!

We arrived at the market which was HUGE (lots and lots of stalls) but it was nice because they weren’t very pushy (unlike many other markets). We spent the time doing some souvenir shopping before heading back. I think our original plan was to get the bus, but there was a TON of traffic so we ended up passing buses on foot. When we finally asked a bus driver she said there was a demonstration or rally or something so she was going to be stuck there forever. We decided we could just walk back (since it seemed quicker) but then we saw a few buses pass us so I don’t think they were stuck for a while!

It was about a 30 minute walk and we were all STARVING! We ended back at the hotel (well the area) and ate at a café. Mom and Erin had good sandwiches and I had pizza which was just ok.

We then walked back to the hotel to change into our bathing suits so we could head out to Manly beach! We pooled our sources to come to the conclusion that Manly beach is the “locals” beach and that taking the Ferry there is one of the best (and cheapest) ways to see Sydney from the water! The ferry was PACKED (I was really surprised how large the ferry was) so we ended up having to sit inside. It was about a 30 minute ride to Manly and then about a 7 minute walk down the corso to the beach. The beach was pretty and shaped like a half moon. We plopped ourselves down (ready for a good nap in the sun) only to be greeted by clouds! We couldn’t believe it! It was beautiful when we left the harbor, but we saw the massive cloud and realized the sun was NOT coming back! I was FREEZING (I don’t know how I grew up in NE because I have been cold since I got to Australia!)

Since it was obvious the sun was not coming back we decided to go and walk the corso area AND buy me a sweatshirt! Luckily we found a souvenir shop that was closing so we were able to buy some cheap things (including a $10 sweatshirt since I am a little baby). I was MUCH happier after (and probably more fun to be around!)

We decided to leave the beach so after a well needed ice cream (guess I wasn’t too cold for that) we took the ferry back to Sydney Harbor. We weren’t able to get a great seat this time, but Erin and I snuck up when we got close to try and get some pictures!

After showering, we decided to head over to Darling Harbor again (it is probably a 15 minute walk). Dinner was MUCH faster tonight (woohoo!) but I was sad it was my mom’s last night! On our walk around the harbor we did find a cookie place (that looked promising) but their cookies were dry (NOBODY can bake like Mamma Wilson). This time we splurged and got a cab home (our first cab of the trip) and it was well needed after a day of walking. We ended the night with Father of the Bride: Part Two which Erin had never seen and I started doing some research for Melbourne!

Hugs and kisses from Manly beach!

Bridge Climb

I was actually a little nervous when I woke up this morning. Not scuba diving nervous, but “can I climb a bridge” nervous. I had signed up for the first climb of the morning so needed to be at the Bridge Climb @ 815am for my 835am climb. It was about a 15 minute walk so at 8am I was out the door! At 835am on the dot our group was taken inside a room where we filled out some paperwork and took a breathalyzer test. I’m not sure if they’ve had problems with drunken people wanting to climb (or people who feel the need to get drunk in order to have the guts to climb) but I thought it was interesting how I didn’t get tested or anything before skydiving!

Before we entered the room I had some time to hang out in the gift shop where they had pictures of famous people who had completed the climb (including Oprah) and I thought, if Oprah can do this..I can do this! I was also sizing up my competition in our group and I felt pretty comfortable as well!

Anyway I passed the breathalyzer test (wahooo!) and we were then brought into another room where we introduced ourselves. I met a couple who are on their honeymoon from Quincy MA (got married on the cape) so I became their third wheel! There was also a couple from Florida and business partners from LA here for work. The other three couples were from Australia! We then got our suits and were brought into yet another room to change, put things in our lockers, etc. I got a special strap for my sunglasses. After a metal detector we headed again into another room for the rest of our gear.

We put on harnesses, but they really just went around your waste so if you really DID fall off I can’t imagine they would help THAT much! We also got rain gear (which THANKFULLY we didn’t need) and our headsets. This whole process took about an hour (it was around 930am the last time I saw a clock) and we were ready to roll! The whole building was very industrial and at this point we walked on a bridge over the people who were waiting for their bridge climb. It was a little teaser..us saying that they TOO can wear these awesome jumpsuits!

Our guide was Ash (short for Ashely and she was awesome!) She studied outdoor recreation at university and said she didn’t really want to leave Sydney. The Blue Mountains are where someone with her degree would work but it’s about 2.5 hours away so she said the bridge climb was perfect for her! She’s been there for 3 years and has done 435 climbs! I asked her if she had brought any celebrities up and she replied, “Brittney” and I looked at her and said, “As in Spears?” to which she replied, “Uhhh is there any other?” I was DEFINITELY impressed with that! She also did a climb with Pink and said she seemed to be matched with “pop” people, which was perfect for her personality.

I was third in line (behind my new friends Jordon and Emily) and we were off! The first thing (that really got a lot of people) was the catwalk. Honestly heights don’t scare me at all, but you could definitely tell some people were really holding on for dear life when they realized they could see below us! Ash said they bring up about 1,000 people a day and only about 5 REALLY freak out (they might have to be cut off and brought down on stretchers). I thought about making up a story about how one of them was in my group, but I’m pressed for time so I shall continue!

I asked when their busiest day is and she said on January 1st and 2nd they do about 3,000 people. The fireworks in Sydney on New Year’s Eve are set off from the bridge so they have to close earlier on the 31st. So the people who plan on going that day realized it’s closed and then sign up for the next day! She also said it takes 3-4 months before and after New Years to set up and dismantle the fireworks (we saw a few machines taking them down!)

After the catwalk (yes, our group made it through) we had about 5 flights of VERY step ladder’s. I am not afraid of heights but this was the only time I was like, “ehhh I don’t know about this” mostly because we were going straight up over the cars.

We stopped enough so Ash could tell us about what we were seeing and so she could answer questions. We also had pictures taken of us (they will come soon!) and for obvious reasons we could not bring a digital camera with us.

We were talking about the whole idea of a “Bridge Climb” and Ash was saying how the department of motor vehicles said it was ok but people needed to be in gray suits to blend in. On the other side of the bridge is the train and they said it was ok but people had to be wearing florescent shirts. I guess after 8 years the train finally gave in..because our suits were grey! We also saw a Zakim Bridge in the distance so my new friends and I are going to start a Tobin Bridge climb. All of you are welcome! Near the top of the bridge we learned more about the Sydney Opera house and how it was only suppose to cost 7 million but ended up costing 1.2 billion (whoops!) and we also saw John Travolta’s house (where Oprah supposedly stayed).

1,439 steps later we were back..probably around 1130am! I was exhausted but so happy I did it! It was definitely an adventure! I made the walk back to the hotel where it was starting to rain. I was ALSO very happy I didn’t have to climb in the rain (they climb no matter what as long as there is no lighting) but it definitely wouldn’t have been as fun!

Erin flew in from the Gold Coast (yay!) and while her flight was a little delayed she arrived at the hotel in the early afternoon. We were all VERY hungry for lunch and had heard great things about this pancake place, so that’s where we headed. It was AMAZING!

Erin was definitely the most excited about it. They had regular pancakes, but then they had more like dessert pancakes (including chocolate pancakes which I have never had). We decided to start off with something more lunch-ish since we were going to be pigging out, and decided on nachos. While devouring the nachos we realized we were making this our “healthy” lunch choice, so you can tell how healthy we actually are. Our pancakes were delicious (although I do have to blog that Erin was the only one who finished). I got a chocolate pancake with ice cream, chocolate sauce and strawberries (I TRIED being healthy!)

After our tummies were STUFFED (and we realized how late in the day it was) we decided we wanted to get a tour of the Opera House. The weather was kinda blah so we figured it would be a good inside activity. We were actually impressed with the tour (it started off a bit slow) but it was really good to see the whole place. It really so beautiful inside! Our tour guide was telling us how Kanye West played in the main Concert Hall (not the kind of venue you would picture Kanye) and it was really nice because we were able to snap a few shots (if there’s a play set in the room you can’t).

As we left the tour we took a walk through the Botanical gardens which were very pretty (and much needed in a city) and we saw 2 brides! We were tired and hungry so we came back to the room to take needed showers!

We decided to head to Darling Harbor for dinner. We had heard that Darling Harbor was the “happening” place to be at night!..and it definitely was! It had a bit of a “Disney” feel to it and it was really cool. There was restaurant after restaurant after restaurant! It was all along both sides of the harbor which has LOTS of lights so it was beautiful reflecting off the water!

We ended up at an Italian place that took FOREVER (we legit waited 45 minutes and this is AFTER we starting timing) but the food was good. We walked around afterwards (even though it was 10pm the place was happening) and ended up at a Lindt chocolate place for dessert (courtesy of the best mom in the world)! There, we saw ANOTHER bride with MY dress on (ok, ok, just a dress I loved!) There were also fireworks going off which was cool but it was sort of hard to see them from where we were sitting.

After stuffing ourselves ONCE again I was the one who suggested we head back as I was exhausted (the bridge climb kicked my butt)!

Hugs and kisses from the Sydney Harbor Bridge!

P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney!

I was the one who woke up late this morning as I had set my alarm for 7…pm! Since we napped last night it I had switched to pm and I never switched it back! I hate that feeling of being rushed! I was also worried about the weight of my bag. They are SO anal about your checked bag (which hey..I get) but also your carry-on! Last time I tricked the woman and she didn’t see my backpack (which would have been over) but I was trying to pack, weigh, unpack and reweigh to get my bags right. My checked bag was WAY over and I realized it was probably because of my shower tote. I am embarrassed to say I think I’ve made a rookie mistake and tried to save money by buying shampoo etc. at home in bigger bottles instead of bringing travel size and buying more when necessary. We stopped at the Coles grocery store on the way out to buy mini bottles of water that I could then dump and put my shampoo etc inside those.

The ride to the airport was beautiful and SO different from what we experienced the other night (near death!!!!) Part of the ride was along the ocean and even though it still wasn’t a great day it was very pretty.

Mom dropped me off so I could unpack my bag, reduce my liquids and get rid of the evidence. We are each allowed 23kg for our checked bags for a total of 46kg that can be used however. Mom’s bag was 20kg and mine 24kg so we did alright! And get this..we didn’t even to weight our carryon!!! Ugh so annoying. Well I guess not really because I probably would have had to unpack and repack again, but I couldn’t believe after all that work this morning (on top of waking up late) I didn’t have to weigh it!

Our flight was delayed about 30 minutes which really didn’t prove to be a problem. But, The flight itself was..awful!! Mom and I were both VERY tired so we figured we would just sleep the whole time but neither of us could get comfortable! We did choose the “cheaper” airline, but STILL! Ugh I couldn’t wait to get off!

Our bags came quickly and we took a cab to our hotel which is in a GREAT location! We have a one bedroom (that Erin and I will sleep in) and mom is being such a good travel buddy and is sleeping on the couch!

We went out and started walking around to “The Rocks” and “Circular Quay” both of which are near the bridge and the Opera House. It is definitely VERY cool to be someplace you only see in pictures!

We then walked half way across the bridge (I am doing the bridge climb in the morning) but we were STARVING (we hadn’t eaten a real meal all day) so stopped for some pizza and pasta before calling it a night!

Hugs and kisses from Sydney!

Koalas

I could NOT fall asleep last night and after a day of diving I have no idea why! I hit snooze a couple of times this morning (and I am NOT a snooze girl) before dragging myself out of bed. Luckily mom was still sleeping too as she had set her alarm for the right time in Australia but still had east coast time on her itouch! After a slow start, we headed down the main street to the Wildlife Habitat.

Our plan was to have “breakfast with the birds” which received very good reviews. It was funny because I guess in their high season you have to get there right away or else all the tables are gone, but we got there 45 minutes into it and we were the second table! They have a buffet breakfast and birds are around you. At first I wasn’t that impressed but then two beautiful birds came over and started eating mom’s bread which was funny. After they were done with us they went to another table to drink their juice while they were up getting more food! The breakfast itself was decent but it was cool sitting amongst the birds. We then walked through the different parts of the park. They do a really good job of keeping the animals “natural” environments. We were able to hand feed kangaroos which was awesome. Again since it isn’t tourist seasons we were really the only ones with them for a while. It was VERY cool when we saw one with a baby in its pouch (although the baby didn’t eat). There were birds in the area too that got VERY aggressive and would try to eat the food so it was a workout trying to feed the kangaroos without the birds stealing the food. Mom found a kangaroo she LOVED (a cute little hungry fella!) and said it was her “Cho Con” of kangaroos!

We then made our way to the Koala presentation which was interesting, although let’s be honest we really just wanted our pictures with them! That was pretty cool, although they are not soft but rather bristly! Pictures to follow! After that we headed back to the room to cool down (it isn’t really rainy, just VERY muggy) and print out boarding passes for Sydney tomorrow!

We then decided we were going to take a drive north which is where the Daintree Rainforest is located. Not to be travel snobs (which we are) but we had already done zip lining etc. in the rainforest in Thailand so we really didn’t have any interest in doing that again and since we had a car we figured we would make the most of our time by driving ourselves.

Our first stop was Massimo Gorge which reminded us of the Kangamangus highway in North Conway, NH. It was cool because it is the rainy season so the river was definitely worth checking out. They had a couple of nice walkways and paths and after some pictures we continued on.

Our next stop was a restaurant I had read about as a resort and spa. The resort and spa is VERY nice (way too expensive for us) but lunch was beautiful as it was on a deck overlooking the river. The whole place was very tranquil and zen-like and we felt VERY relaxed when we left.

We then decided to head up to Daintree Village which actually ended up being NOTHING (well..a convenient store and a tourist shop). In order to see what Daintree really had to offer you have to take a ferry, but the rental car doesn’t have insurance for that, so we ended up driving through the “town” (we didn’t blink) and then back to Port Douglas.

We were EXAUSTED when we got back. We have been getting up somewhat early here and going to bed late but it has been nice and this is really the first place we’ve been able to relax. I think the rain also makes us tired. So after well needed naps (that almost turned into sleeps!) we headed out for dinner at what turned out to be a place with great steaks! We were both pleasantly surprised!

Now it’s packing (again!) and off to Sydney in the morning!

Hugs and kisses from Koalas!

Finding Nemo

Woke up this morning, had breakfast and we were off to the Great Barrier Reef for the day. It wasn’t really rainy this morning and only about a 5 minute drive to the marina. The plan for the day was for me to scuba dive and mom to snorkel. Scott and I got PADI certified in 2007 and then I dove in Thailand in 2010. However, that’s not really a lot of diving, so when researching companies to dive with, I picked one that I could have a private dive master with me (I am a princess and all). While it is a little bit more expensive, (I did this in Thailand as well) I think it’s money well spent as I feel a LOT more comfortable. I also have a lot of trouble equalizing my ears, so with a private guide I can descend slowly and take my time if my ears are hurting.

On trip advisor this instructor Mark got great reviews and does a lot of intro courses (so he’s good with beginnings) so I was excited to dive with him! We joined up with a bigger company on their boat, Calypso, and got our briefing for the day. It was great review for me and I also felt comfortable knowing I was always going to have someone with me. Mark was great and made me feel very comfortable before my first dive.

For some reason, when taking my PADI class I felt like I was the only one who couldn’t breathe under water! I have been in the water since I was about 5 months old and very feel comfortable, but for all my life I have been told I can’t breathe under water and have had to plan according. However, when I had my regulator in, I couldn’t convince my mind it was ok to breathe!

After getting our gear situated we were ready for our first dive and I was very nervous. I made it into the water without falling apart but could already feel my breathing exaggerated as he began to lower me to check my weight. I will have you know he had to add MORE weight since I am oh so skinny!!!

I knew as I got more comfortable my breathing would get better, but we took the first descend and entire dive slow, which was nice! It was AWESOME! We did three dives throughout the day..all being around the Opal Reef. Our first site was called “Sno”, a reef dive on the North Opal Reef. It was great to get more comfortable in the water and diving again and it was so cool to see all the fish!

We had only about 5 minutes between the first and second dive to grab a quick bit to eat and a warm drink before we were suiting back up! It reminds me a lot of skiing as it is a lot of work to get prepared (and your exhausted by the time it’s time to go) but once you are in the water it’s all worth it! I felt more comfortable with this dive. I felt like I was able to get my breathing down and enjoy it a bit more. This dive site was called Split Boomie and was on the South Opal Reef. It is one large bommie split down the middle to form two circular chunks and can be categorized as a shallow wall dive. Here we saw a white tip shark. It was probably about 10 feet long! Ok ok, it wasn’t, but it was definitely cool to see. I saw a shark (I think the same type) in Thailand so I didn’t freak out or anything. We also saw some trigger fish (I remember this from Thailand as well and it was the same time of year) and they are nesting so you have to be careful. They nest in the sandy areas and if you get close they get aggressive so if Mark saw one he gave me the signal and we swam away!

After the second dive we had time to grab some lunch (I was SO hungry!) but after lunch we were suiting up again for our third (and final) dive. This was at Blue Bouy also on the South Opal Reef. This was my favorite dive, mostly because THIS is where I found NEMO! He was right there waiting for me..it was really cool because it was just like the movie! There was a massive (and I do mean massive) hunk of coral so that was cool because all the fish hung out there. We also saw a blue spotted stingray (far enough away that it was cool) and we played with string worms. They looked like spaghetti but Mark told me (afterwards) that we were touching its guts (which it sends out to get nutrients) and it thought we were its nutrients so it sucked itself back in. Jokes on the string worm I guess! We also saw a trigger fish but this time we actually watched it. It looked like it was digging in the sand (and made a lot of “smoke”) but Mark later told me it takes rocks and surrounds its nest so that’s what it was doing!

I was actually pretty tired after the third dive. My body was sore from hauling all the gear around (and I didn’t even DO a lot of the work) but it was WELL worth it! Mark was AWESOME and I am so glad I decided to have a private dive master again, it just really makes the experience that much more enjoyable for me.

Mom and I both fell asleep on the boat ride back and we arrived back to Port Douglas while it was down pouring (again!) After WELL needed showers and some resting, we headed out to dinner. It was kind of sad because the weather was warm and if it wasn’t down pouring we would have LOVED to walk to the restaurants, but this isn’t the “walking” kind of rain. We drove to a beautiful restaurant on the water and sat on their covered porch. The area reminds me a lot of Portsmouth because a lot of shops and restaurants are closed (for what would be our winter) and this restaurant is a happening place (where you have to wait for a table) when it’s nice out, but on a rainy night we had our pick! Dinner was actually very good and after a quick stop at the grocery store we were ready to call it a night!

Hugs and kisses from Nemo!

Lazy Day

We were up and out of the apartment at around 1030am to a VERY muggy Port Douglas. While it wasn’t rainy, the air was heavy and the sky was cloudy. We went down to reception to find out about some possible tours and then headed to the grocery store which is conveniently right across the street!

After picking up some groceries we headed back to put everything away. Our apartment is really in a GREAT location and it is smack dab in the center of town. We had lunch at a restaurant down the street (pizza) and then spent the afternoon wandering around and exploring the different shops. We are here during their non-tourist season (mostly because it is the wet season) so we saw a lot of signs for things that were opening up in March (had been closed since January). Think Hampton Beach after Labor Day. It is a bit nice as there aren’t crowds of people AND important things (like gelato shops) are still open! It started to rain in the afternoon so we got in the car to drive around a little bit.

Port Douglas is really small (there is really only one main street) but we did make the drive down to the marina and up to the lookout point. I bet the lookout point is really pretty, but we weren’t able to see anything!

At this point I had the WORST headache I have had in a while and I figured it was from the heat (or more so humidity) so we came back so I could lay down for a bit, which turned into a little nap. We also spent the day coming back and forth to the room (yay for a great location!) so we could do laundry! It is SO SO SO very nice to have clean clothes and we have a washer and dryer right in the unit which is awesome!

After my cat nap we needed to get some dinner but it was POURING out, so we picked the restaurant right next door. We only had to be in the rain for a few seconds so we figured it was a good pick! The food was actually very good (as is most of the food we have had in Australia) and after making it back without being completely soaked we are getting our things ready for our big day on the Great Barrier Reef tomorrow!

Hugs and kisses from a lazy day!

Rainy Australia!

The plan was to wake up around 9am and see what the weather was like. If it was nice we would go pick up Erin and spend the morning lounging by the pool. We hadn’t really talked about an alternative as we were trying to stay positive. But, 9am rolled around and the sky was filled with clouds and it was VERY windy. Mom and I went back to sleep for about another hour and then woke up to start packing.

We check out of the hotel and started the hour drive to the Brisbane airport, although it did take a bit longer because of construction. It was pretty hot today (the sun was sort of out) and we were blasting the AC but something wasn’t right as it was just blowing warm (not hot) air. At one point I felt my heart start racing..I felt like I was trapped in an oven..it was awful! I quickly looked through the manual and felt like it was a race against time. I realized we had to push in the button for it to become AC! We were so thankful when it started working because mom said she was at the point of pulling over it was so bad!

We were VERY hungry when we arrived (apparently Australia doesn’t put food signs on the highway..this is NOT our type of country!) and we found an area near the airport that had restaurants. We headed that way and the place was happening..we still aren’t sure why. It would be kind of weird to come to this mall(ish) type place unless you were at the airport, but there were a ton of cars and not a lot of people had carry-on luggage..so who knows! We stopped for a delicious lunch (or we might have been very hungry) before heading back to the airport.

When we originally arrived in Brisbane the car the man told us we had to drop the car off at the international terminal. When driving back to the airport the “car return” signs all pointed to the international terminal, so that’s where we went! Unlike other airports where we have returned cars, at Brisbane you park your car and then go inside to return the keys. We did this and the woman said we could have returned it to domestic and now we had to either take a bus or a train (both costing $5 per person) to the domestic gate! Booooo!! That was annoying. We opted for the bus and in about 10 minutes (and $10 later) we were ready to check in! When checking in we had to weigh our carry-on luggage (which I have never had to do before) and put the excess in our checked luggage (mine was overweight..surprise surprise) so then we had to pay more money for excess weight. Ugh. It was an annoying airport!

Surprisingly we managed to make it through security without being detained, so I guess all in all it was a good day! Our flight was short (only a couple of hours) and I don’t know WHAT it is with planes but all I wanted to do is sleep! I took out my laptop to blog (since I am SO far behind, I know I know..and yes I have received threatening emails) but I could barely keep my eyes open. I don’t know if I have trained my body to fall asleep (I usually take pills) or if it is just the motion, but I passed out!

We arrived in a very rainy Cairns. We rented a car (the same car we had before, just a different color) and headed out (this time with AC)! We were about 15 minutes into the ride and very surprised about how there was nothing around. We did see a sign for McDonald’s (which honestly neither of us really like) but decided we should stop for dinner because we didn’t know if we would see anything else! And it was a GOOD thing we did. We took the SCARIEST road to get to Port Douglas! It was SO windy, every turn was a hairpin turn (I felt like I was going to be sick) it was SO dark (no street lights) and it was DOWNPOURING (we legit couldn’t see anything). Good thing mom is the best driver in the world because I had a headache trying to keep my eyes on the road as well! I really thought we were in a scary movie..it was the PERFECT setting! Port Douglas is a tourist town, so maybe in the daylight it really won’t be as scary, but this road put me in a really weird mood!

FINALLY we saw civilization (and signs for Port Douglas) and when we turned on the main road we saw..PEOPLE! It was very comforting. We are staying in an apartment and on our first trip down the road we missed it because there is retail on the first floor. However, once we turned around we were able to find it! The location is PERFECT (well…we think..it’s dark) and it is SO nice to have some space! Mom booked the two bedroom because she knew at this point we have been together for over a week (including in the very small hostel in Vietnam)..and while we love each other..space is nice! We each have our own bedroom and bathroom, and a kitchen/living room/dining room! It really is nice to have some space to move around! It is supposed to rain all week (boo) but as long as there isn’t lightning (which means I can go diving) I will still be happy!

Hugs and kisses from a rainy Australia!

Isn’t this called the GOLD Coast?

Since I had a rough night last night I slept in till about 1030am (a good 12 hours) and did feel better when I woke up! We headed out to Bond to pick up Erin and our plan was to go to Byron Bay for the day. We had all heard it was beautiful and since we had a car and Erin hadn’t been it seemed like the perfect time to go!

We took the coastal route for the first part of the trip as we wanted to see some of the beaches. Our first stop was Burleigh Heads which was nice and we could see the Gold Coast skyline (where our hotel is). But since it was cloudy it definitely wasn’t beach weather so we continued on. We ended up at a Hog’s Breathe restaurant and Erin said at the last one she was at she saw a NH license plate, yay! Unfortunately this one didn’t have it, but we all had chicken tenders and they were so yummy!

Mom had read that the Quicksilver Pro (which is the world championship of surfing) was taking place. Erin wasn’t sure if it was actually still happening. I guess they book 2 weeks for the event and then pick the best days for waves. So if the best days were at the beginning of the 2 weeks the event might be over. However, we made it to the beach Mom had read about and saw huge Quicksilver signs so decided to venture over. First, we were surprised we could even find parking within walking distance (for free!) and secondly that we weren’t charged to get into the event. As we were approaching the beach, the skies opened up and it DOWNPOURED! We were soaked! Isn’t this the GOLD COAST!? Erin was so bummed because she said it really never rains here, but we still had fun! The surfing competition was really cool! We don’t know anything about surfing or the surfers, but it was still cool to say we were at the surfing world championship. It would downpour, then stop, then downpour, then stop, so after watching a couple of the women surfers we decided to move on.

We made the hour drive to Byron Bay and at some points on the highway it was raining so hard we couldn’t see anything! Mom did a great job driving (on the left) and in the rain because I fell asleep for a bit! As we were nearing Byron Bay we saw signs for the local hospital that said to be quiet! We had never seen signs like this before and it became our joke for the rest of the trip that whenever we passed a hospital we needed to be quiet.

We decided to make our way to the lighthouse as everyone said it was beautiful. The rain seemed to have stopped as well so this seemed like a good time to spend some time outdoors. The lighthouse was beautiful and overlooked Byron Bay, but we could NOT believe how windy it was! The parking attendant said it was gale force winds and it was actually a little scary! Luckily the lighthouse blocked the wind on one side so we took most of our pictures from there!

We made the drive back down to the town area and were on the hunt for an ATM and a coffee for me (I don’t know why I was so tired). Westpac is the name of the bank in Australia that works with Bank of America so we get less fees when we use their ATM. We asked a convenient store where a Westpac ATM was located and the women told us, but it got me thinking if I would know where ATMs where and what bank they belonged to. It was a little after 4pm and now that we had money to was time to find some coffee..but NOTHING was open! It was so sad. I guess a lot of those type of places (that would serve coffee) close in the afternoon to prepare for dinner, but I was definitely missing Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. We did manage to find a gelato shop so I guess that was an ok coffee substitute.

Since all the shops closed at 5pm (like most things in Australia) we decided to head back as there really wasn’t much to do! Since it was still a little rainy, we were able to get a driving tour of Erin’s campus before heading back to her room to use some wifi! We then made our way to Broad Beach (which is next to Surfers Paradise) for some dinner! Erin knows the area pretty well which was nice because she was able to give us a little tour.

It was VERY windy and I was actually a little cold in shorts and a sweatshirt! But we had a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant. I asked about where the restroom was located and our waiter pointed around the corner and then gave me a combination. When I followed his directions I ended up in a maintenance area. One door said “men” and the other said “mothers room” both with key pads in front. I just stood there staring for a few minutes until a guy behind me pointed at “mothers room” and said that one was mine. I entered the password I was given and I was in! It was very very strange, although the bathroom was very nice!

After dinner we walked around a bit to people watch and WOW I could not get over the “young girls” dressed up to go out. I felt like a guy as I was ogling them and could not stop staring. They all had the tightest shortest black dresses I had EVER seen! It looked like they were going out in Miami Beach. Erin said you can’t get into a club with flip flops on (you have to wear nice shoes). I felt so frumpy and couldn’t believe I didn’t even OWN the appropriate clothes to get into a club here!

I guess I was ok with it as I was ready to go to bed anyway, and Erin made me feel better saying in an hour she could have me ready to get into a club, but I really had just never seen anything like it. I guess I live a sheltered life in good old New Hampshire!

We headed back to Bond to drop off Erin before returning to our hotel to pack. It seems like that’s all we do, pack, unpack, repack, repeat!

Hugs and kisses from the not so gold Gold Coast!

G’day Mate

Last night, we checked out of the hotel and got into the cab (well, the hotel’s car) to go to the airport. While I am not pro on how to get to the airport, I quickly noticed the man was NOT going the way I have always gone. We were hitting all the red lights and there was a lot of traffic so eventually he ended up pulling a u-turn. We then ended up in the slums of Vietnam on a VERY rundown road with a LOT of traffic. We had left early enough, but it did take about an hour (I have gotten there in 20 minutes before) so I am not sure what the problem was!

We checked in for our flight (and knew our bags were overweight..like person like luggage? Hmmm..) but were VERY confused when the woman started explaining we had to pay a LARGE fee. She was saying the limit was 20kg (which we knew) and one of our bags was 23kg and one was 24kg. She said she would give us 25 kg each, but she was saying how we were 22kg over! We were very confused until we realized that when she asked how many bags we were checking we said 2 and she thought 2 each instead of 2 total! You are only allowed 20kg regardless of how many bags you check, so once we got that situated we were ready to go! We had no problems getting through passport control (unlike last year). Vietnam use to work off a paper system and last year when trying to leave the country I didn’t have this paper they supposedly gave me. I was really nervous because I heard from another volunteer (an American born in Saigon) that even when she has her right papers they give her a hard time and don’t let her through until she gives them money. Luckily the guy eventually let me go after I was scared out of my mind. SO this year they have it all on the computer..YAY! We were able to get some dinner (roast beef sandwiches, yum) before boarding our plan to Singapore. As I was walking down the jet way to get on the plane I heard someone say, “Excuse me miss, excuse me!” I somehow thought that maybe if I pretended I didn’t hear and walked a bit faster she would give up on me, but she didn’t! She said it was a very full flight and since I had a carry on and backpack I would need to check one. At first I was NOT a happy camper. Just because they booked a full flight doesn’t mean I should have to check my bag. But THEN I quickly realized this was a blessing in disguise. Now I wouldn’t have to lug this baby around, fighting others that are 20 rows back for my overhead bin space! I would have checked it if I could, but since I was only allowed 20kg, blah blah blah! And this way they check it for free! Wahooooo!! I was probably the last one on the plane and mom and I were in the same row but she had an aisle and I had a window (just the way we like it). There was a Vietnamese woman in between us (living in Texas) who was all upset because she was told she had an aisle but didn’t. When we finally got going, she was able to sit Indian style in her seat and fall asleep!! We were amazed!

The flight was short and sweet and we had about 1 hour and 20 minutes to connect in Singapore. Turns out, we needed every second! The airport is huge..and BEAUTIFUL! There were so many times I wanted to stop (at the movie theater, the showers, the spa) but we kept trudging along! There was a beautiful mall area in the middle, but once we got to our gate (I am not kidding when I say we were power walking for 45 minutes) there was nothing around!!! It was so boring! It was also very weird because each gate has their own security!!

This was our longer flight (8 hours) but once we had boarded we realized the flight was not full. We asked the flight attendant and she said it was not a full flight so we quickly moved ourselves to the middle rows with four..yes FOUR seats! It was heeeeaaaavvvveeeen!!!! We were on a night flight (12am to 10am with the time change) so I really should have slept, but I was so excited that they had about 6 episodes of *Modern Family* (one of my new favorite TV shows) that I stayed up WAY too long watching them! I was able to fall asleep for a bit (and was actually pretty comfy) before arriving in Brisbane.

After collecting our luggage we headed to customs where mom and I were in separate lines. I picked up my bags, but saw the man starting to go through hers. Turns out she was getting nabbed for bringing bags of popcorn into the country. Apparently they are considered “nuts” which is a big no-no here! Somehow I managed to get through with popcorn AND bags of almonds..guess I am a sneaky packer! The guy let her go with a “warning” but this was a written warning and will go on her “file”. Little did I know my mom was such a rebel!

After making it on to Australian grounds without a trip to the jail, we headed over to pick up our car. Strangely, they did not have any maps available, so after a trip to the info desk and to get some snacks we got our car and hit the road..in..RAIN! boooo!! Luckily it was really just spitting. We were on our way to our hotel on the Gold Coast (about an hour away from Brisbane). I think I spent the entire ride saying, “STAY LEFT STAY LEFT!” but mom did a GREAT job as we made it to the hotel in one piece!

Our hotel is beautiful with the SOFTEST beds and GREAT bathroom and I realized, I was born to be a princess! After well needed showers and a little unpacking, we headed to Bond University which is where Erin, Scott’s girlfriend, is spending the semester abroad. It only took us about 20 minutes to get there and we were off to find food. Our first stop was a place about 15 minutes away from her, but we quickly learned that pretty much EVERYTHING in Australia closes at 5pm!!! Weird! It was a big mall with restaurants and it still closed at 5pm! We ended up back by her school at a pizza place and food never tasted so good..I was STARVING!

After stealing the wifi at her school (its $30 a day at this hotel..booo) we headed back to our hotel for the night as we were exhausted. The last couple of days in Vietnam were SO busy during the day and were only sleeping about 5 hours a night and we spent the night on the plane so needless to say we were tired! When we were in the car trying to find dinner I got really car sick (which I do a lot) but felt better after I ate. However, driving back from Erin’s I was not feeling good again! To spare the details, I threw up everything when we got back to the hotel! Not ok! How did I make it 2 weeks in Vietnam without getting sick and in Australia get sick!? I was actually surprised when I was in Vietnam I hadn’t gotten sick so I thought I was a seasoned traveler, but I guess not! I decided to go right to sleep and woke up about 12 hours later! Now we are off for our first REAL day in Australia!

Hugs and kisses from “G’day Mate!”

It’s not goodbye, it's see you later!

Mom and I were both tired when we woke up this morning as we didn’t sleep much. We were off to breakfast (where they did NOT have my rice dish..and on my last day?? Not acceptable!) and then to the bus station! We realized how good we have got at crossing the road because we saw a 3 bus as we were getting close and did NOT want to have to wait for another one, so we booked it across! We realized it is so hot today because the sun is out! I did think it was much hotter last year (but thought it might be the time of year) but realized today I really think it is because the sun hasn’t been out this trip (and it’s been great!!!) Anyway we were able to QUICKLY cross the street and get the 3 bus.

When we got to the orphanage we didn’t see any of our kids, but heard there were a new group of volunteers so figured they might be outside. We walked half way around the Pagoda and then found Thoung’s shoes so figured he was inside. It was so cute because mom was in front of me and all of a sudden I heard him laugh and he started running towards us! He was out for a walk with a guy from Japan, and while he spoke a bit of English, we weren’t able to explain to him that Thoung was “our” child and it was our last day so we were saying goodbye, etc. I felt bad, like I was stealing him away. But our new Japanese friend hung out with us too which was good because I think we were able to show him the things we do with Thoung. It is nice to know someone else can love him once we leave!

After some time playing outside we needed to head back in for lunch. I fed a child I have never interacted with before. His muscles were very tight and he couldn’t keep his body flat (when he laid down he was deformed). He was a great eater (he ate everything) but he was very slow and he had his head turned (I’m not sure if that was natural for him or if he was being difficult) but it made the meal a little messy. Afterwards the kids go down for a nap, so once everyone is situated we leave. Thoung had his camera and was playing with another kid and his camera so we snuck out. To be honest, I know I will be back within a year (get pumped for more blogs) so I wasn’t saying goodbye to them, simply see you later.

We got the 3 bus to the Big C to look for cereal and snacks to bring with us for our long flight to Australia, but didn’t have much success. We did, however, stop at Tutti Frutti for some ice cream (no sunglass man, yay!) and then headed back to the hotel to start packing up! After we felt pretty well situated, we headed to Bobby Brewers for a late lunch and some wifi! Oh how I have missed decent wifi! It was SO nice because I was able to upload pictures and videos while eating a bowl of spaghetti!

And now, we are leaving Vietnam..until next year of course!

Hugs and kisses from Vietnam!

Last FULL day in Vietnam :(

Mom and I were both tired when we woke up this morning. Just “being” is tiring here. Between the heat, the noise, the language, etc. daily living becomes exhausting! We headed out to breakfast and then to drop off our last things of laundry. It was about 7:45 when we got to the laundry place that opens at 7:00 and he literally just pulled in and was opening up shop! Oh to own your own business!

We then found a motorbike man. If you are in Vietnam, you have to experience riding a motorbike. Last year I had the oh-so-fun experience of taking a motorbike when there was a traffic accident in Hanoi. Kahly and I had gone for the weekend and there was a huge accident on the highway and we were going to miss our plane. However, our driver from our hotel got us some motorbikes to weave through to get us to the airport. But, we had a couple of bags (that don’t fit easily on a motorbike) and I didn’t really understand what was going on. My driver literally took me down a mountain (ok, ok maybe a hill) but still we ended up tipping over (not cool). I very quickly lost sight of Khaly and had no idea where my man was taking me as he did not speak English. I was more than relieved when I heard airplanes and I made it there alive (and eventually caught up with Kahly). So anyway we hired two drives to take us to the war museum and made it there in one piece. I think I have become a little too confident because on the bike I realized I needed to take some pictures of mom. In order to do this, I had to take off my backpack, unhook my water bottle, unlock the pocket with my valuables, take out my camera and put everything else back. I think my legs and core will be sore tomorrow since those muscles were working overtime to keep me from falling off!!!

We made it to the war museum safely and it was nice because nobody else was there! I suggested we go in the morning to avoid the crowds and beat the heat so I was impressed with my tour guide skills! The war museum is very interesting and I think an important thing to see while in Vietnam. Mom and I were talking about how people just believe what they are taught and told. It made me think about how Long was saying it wasn’t until he started meeting tourist and learning about different ways of life that he began questioning his own beliefs and what he was taught, another reason why education is so important. The museum consists of a lot of pictures (many of which are hard to look at) but again, very important to see.

When then walked a few blocks to the Reunification Palace (where the South set up camp and where the war ended). Since I had already been (and wasn’t overly impressed) I sat in the park to write postcards and mom went in. We made our way to the cathedral and to the post office, where we saw the cutest Vietnamese kids on a class fieldtrip! They all had matching outfits and more tourists were taking pictures of them then of the post office!

We had to make a stop by Liberty Mutual (where my mom used to work) because a few days ago on the bus she spotted their sign (apparently she can find those signs anywhere!!) We also did some “hotel hopping” on the way back since we were in the area of the nice hotels. I found it interesting because those are the type of hotels we would usually stay at (we are very blessed when we travel to be able to stay at those type of hotels) but to be honest I felt uncomfortable in these hotels. I felt like they were too fancy and everything seemed wasteful. But I know if I was in another country (Australia) I would feel like it was a great hotel and very comfortable. I don’t know if it is because I know that 45 minutes away “my” kids are in the orphanage with nothing, or what it is, but I have never felt that way in a “nice” hotel.

We stopped at a western grocery store to “stock” up on some snacks since they are reasonably priced here and very expensive in Australia. My mom asked if I was ready to leave and I said no, but wondered why. Last year I was here for a month and this year only 2 weeks, so wondered if maybe I didn’t have enough time. I came to the conclusion that I feel like I was “jipped” last week as I spent 3 days in bed and about a whole week just not feeling well, so I think that’s why I feel like the time has gone by so fast!

After a quick lunch and a little AC to cool down, we met Long at the park to head to an appliance store to get some fans. There is a room in the orphanage for older blind boys (12 boys in a room on the 3rd floor) so needless to say they need some fans!

We were able to get 5 fans and a taxi to take us to the orphanage since taking the bus was out of the question. The man/monk who works with the boys speaks a little English (before this year I had not been upstairs) and said how thankful they were. It was very nice to hear thanks in English!

We then went back to the main room to spend the afternoon with the kids and as we walked into the room, I noticed a face I hadn’t seen before..Cho Con! Cho Con is the boy I spent a lot of time with last year. He is about 4 years old and blind, but he loves to sing (in English). My mom fell in love with him from the videos and I felt awful because he hadn’t been at the orphanage. He is a day students..which means he has a family but they are too poor to take care of him so they send him for the day. We brought a lot of kids outside to play and Thoung (I haven’t said this, but it is pronounced Tung) loved his new golf club. He was so funny because he was seeking out rocks and stones that looked like tees so he could tee off! Watch out Tiger Woods! Cho Con (which is his nickname and means little dog) was in a stroller, and he would yell mot, hai, bat (one, two, three) and then someone would push him really fast and he would start laughing. Lisa (from Nantucket) had one boy with her that is very hot and cold. One minute he is hugging and cuddling and the next he punches and kicks. It is sort of sad to witness and makes it seem like he is bipolar. It was really cool to see Long talk to Cho Con (in Vietnamese). Long said some of the times he really wasn’t making any sense, but I remember Khaly saying the same thing last year. At one point Long started laughing and said Cho Con told him he needed to go to the bathroom. So Long put him in the stroller and said he would take him inside. But, a second later Long and Cho Con were back and Long told us that Cho Con said he wanted to go play with his friends and he would go the bathroom tomorrow. We all laughed at that! Needless to say it was a pretty crazy time outside and we were all ready for dinner time!

There were enough volunteers to feed the kids which was nice because I was able to take some pictures and scope out the scene. Mom ended up feeding the bipolar kid and she said he was great until he got upset, threw rice at her and punched her in the face (her glasses went flying). I am sad to report I did not witness this event.

It was another crazy, but, great day at the orphanage and after dropping off our stuff at the hotel we headed out to dinner. Since it was our last night in Saigon we also treated ourselves to a massage! I don’t think I have mentioned this but massages are $6 per person for an hour..which is a splurge in Vietnam but is NOTHING compared to at home!!!

When we finally made it back to the hotel room I was ready for bed, but I wasn’t so lucky! I can’t believe I haven’t blogged about my gym fiasco yet! Here is the story. I wanted to work out while in Saigon (I have a tendency to eat A LOT while traveling so I needed something to counter this..). I found a western gym and signed up so I could use it for the two weeks. They charged my credit card and we were good to go. However, (I check my credit card daily to make sure I don’t have any problems) I logged on last week and it said the gym charged me my fee (no problem) but they charged me a second time for $1,146. Yes, that’s US dollars, NOT OK! So I went to the gym and tried explaining it to the woman (who DID speak English) but she really did not seem to understand and kept saying, “You signed it, you know I didn’t charge you $1,146!” I explained that I know it was an accident but it needed to be taken off my credit card. The problem was it was the weekend (banks were closed) so she took my phone number and said she would take care of it. And that’s when it all began. In the course of the week this woman must have called me 60 times and I am NOT exaggerating. It is SO hard to understand her over the phone, but at first she would call to tell me she would take care of it (great!) Then she would call and say she was talking to the bank, etc. Then when I stopped by the gym to ask she talked about giving it to me in cash, but I said I didn’t want it in cash I just wanted it refunded. On Tuesday she called when I was with Long so I asked him if he would mind talking to her. He said that she said she couldn’t give it to me in cash (apparently she thought I wanted it in cash) but said the bank would refund it..perfect! I thought I was all set, until she called me Wednesday morning saying she had no idea I was so worried (yeah because $1,146 is chump change). Since all this was going on I contacted capital one to put in a formal dispute claim. They said they would mail something to my home address and I would need to mail it back or the claim would be dropped and considered closed. I emailed them back saying I was out of the country, to which they responded “call this number”..great! Wednesday night my gym lady had called me a bazillion times (I might be exaggerating on this one) and I honestly just didn’t feel like talking to her so she finally texted me and I thought that would be good because I could understand her. She said she had contacted the bank and gotten me the money. Now I did not want it in cash, but just wanted to be DONE with it, so we talked about meeting at the gym tomorrow to pick it up. Then I realized I had no idea if she meant USD or VND and when I asked she responded VND. This is when I started to get frustrated. I appreciated her trying, but we both knew I would be losing money if I got it in VND. I told her if she wanted to give me cash then she would have to do it in USD because that’s what I was charged. She said this wasn’t possible and then said we could go to the bank together to exchange it but I might lose money through the exchange (which I already knew). She said it would cost money to have it credited on my credit card. At this point I called capital one and went through about 4 different people trying to explain the situation and explain I wasn’t in the country to be able to check my mail (I did email to my dad to keep his eyes open, but they needed copies of my receipt that obviously isn’t at home). After what seemed like forever, I finally got a woman who said they would extend my deadline (I would have to fill out paperwork when I got home). I texted my gym lady to say I was going to deal with it with my credit card and they would credit it back, to which she responded, “goodnight”. Oh well, I just hate wasting this time dealing with something that isn’t my fault!!!

On that note, I am sad tomorrow is my last day in Vietnam, BUT I am excited because I know I will be back!

Hugs and kisses from our last full day in Vietnam!

Mekong Delta!

We woke up excited for our trip to the Mekong Delta today! After breakfast we were greeted by Long and a massive 12 seater passenger van. He said they didn’t have any smaller cars available so that would be it! We started the hour and a half drive to My Tho and actually spent a lot of the ride talking. It was very interesting to talk about Long’s views on the war and of Americans in general. It’s great because at this point we have a great relationship and can be very honest. We were commenting that we think Americans often come off arrogant, because, as a whole, we are (yes, we included ourselves in this) and he agreed, until he started giving tours. He said spending more time with tourists has helped him see that not everyone is like the “typical” American.

Our talk about the war was interesting as well. Long’s father is from North Vietnam (was in the army after the war) so his viewpoint comes from that of a northern Vietnamese. But he basically said he thought while the US said it wanted to help southern Vietnam, he believes it was very political. It still amazes me that they have no hard feelings towards Americans.

Another interesting thing we learned on the ride was how people are buried in the rice patties so the land will stay in the family. Mom commented how maybe she would be buried in the back yard so we’d never sell the house..we shall see about that!

We arrived and met up with a friend of Long’s (who is a local and gives tours). Long said he knows the information to give tours but really thinks it better to have a local. We took a beautiful, QUIET boat ride and it was so nice to be on the water and feel the breeze and not hear the sound of busses. We went to a coconut area, where they build a million things out of coconut, it was great! They can use every part of the coconut for something different and they use coconuts (and the tree) to build houses which is cool. We had some honey tea, which was just A LOT of honey and tea, but it was yummy.

We then took a local taxi (horse and carriage) which was exciting, although we felt bad for the poor horse that was obviously not use to Western woman. We had Long tell the horse (in Vietnamese) we were sorry for being so much bigger. It was funny because as we were experience the “old” life, the horse driver’s cell phone rang. So we had a bit of old and new. Our taxi dropped us off at a place where we had fresh fruit and listened to traditional music. The fruit was delicious, MUCH better than in the US!

We were then brought to a rowing boat, where a man rowed us down the river. We got to wear the hats Vietnamese women wear. Long’s family was saying we were so beautiful because our skin was so fair. Women are often covered up because they strive to have fair skin. Anyway our boat brought us to a place where they make coconut candy and Long fell in love with the coconut candy maker. We had to practically drag him away from her!

After watching how coconut candy is made (it’s like taffy) we went to lunch. It was interesting because they had it set up for just me and Mom, but we asked that Long and our guide (Duyen) join us! They did but said they were going to give us our privacy. I guess if you didn’t know your guide well it could have been awkward, but we consider them friends! I guess the waiter was asking Long where we were from and how he knew us and he said we were his friends. We had a MASSIVE lunch; they just kept bringing us MORE food. We felt awful because there was no way we could have eaten it all (even if it was American food). I made Long be honest with me and he did say they are upset (maybe that’s not the right word) when you don’t eat what they have prepared for you (basically when we didn’t eat much at his house). But, it was fun to sit down and talk as both Long and Duyen have a great sense of humor and I felt like I was talking to friends at home.

We then took our final boat road back to the dock where we said goodbye to Duyen (who invited us to her house for dinner, even though she has seen how little we eat). We got back in the car and Long gave us a quick Vietnamese lesson. He was teaching us the word “hoa” (flower) and depending on where you put the accent and say the word it can mean 5 different things (although all the words sounded the same to me)! I think the three of us were asleep within 5 minutes after our lesson.

We said goodbye to Long (until tomorrow) and after a quick rest stop, mom and I headed out to the market (which she hadn’t seen). However, neither of us are really “market” people (we don’t like hot, stinky aggressive vendors) so after a quick tour through we found a “western” ice cream shop and decided to stop in to cool down. We passed a sunglass vendor and I have wanted another pair, so I stopped to see what he had. I found a pair I liked and he got out his calculator (to start the negotiating) but I was shocked when he wrote down 2,200,000 VND which is about $100 dollars. I then realized he had designer sunglasses (I was holding a pair of Gucci) but they obviously aren’t real so I still don’t know why he started so high. Once I realized what I was dealing with I quickly put them back and said I was all set. Normally this would be the start of negotiating, but I really was NOT interested. I felt bad because the rule of thumb is if you’re not interested don’t start looking, but I didn’t know!

We went into the ice cream shop which was a “make your own sundae” and the ice cream was SO cold and yummy, I loved it! We sat down at a table and when I looked up the sunglass man was outside the window! I felt like I was being stalked! Again I felt bad because I really wasn’t interested at all in buying them but he kept standing there waving them at me. I felt trapped in the ice cream shop (worse places to be trapped I guess..) and when I saw him look the other way I told my mom to run and we were off! I did hear him yelling some number as we crossed the street. Oh well!

On our walk back we were fascinated with the traffic. There was a 12 seater passenger van going straight and there were a bunch of motorbikes coming perpendicular (it was an intersection) and NOBODY could move (I am still not sure why the van wasn’t moving). Anyway the whole thing was a mess (more than normal) and people were hitting their horns, etc. Finally we saw a cop in green (dark green, and its night out) with a baton (that barely lit up) trying to direct the traffic, although he did NOT seem to help at all! The big van managed to make it through, although everyone behind him had to wait through that round of their light. We couldn’t leave the scene JUST yet and it’s a good thing we didn’t because the SAME thing happened the next time, although this time it was a taxi van. We started wondering WHAT on earth the man in green was going to do to help this situation and THEN we saw he had backup! Not only was this traffic director in TAN but he had a HELMET! He came ready for battle! His baton still could have used some help, but I think his helmet showed he wasn’t messing around. Now not only was he faced with the traffic jam, he also had two kids trying to cross the street. I will admit, I was nervous for this guy, until I saw HE brought a friend, another tan man with a helmet! Now I KNEW everything was going to be ok! The tan men definitely took over to show the green guy how it was done and before we knew it traffic was flowing and the kids were on the other side of the street! AMAZING!

We then decided to go to Pizza Hut..I know, I know, but my mom will take full responsibility for this one in saying that it really was her idea as she wanted to know what to expect for dinner. They also have great wifi (the hotel’s is so spotty) so we were off to dinner at Pizza Hut! We both wanted cheese pizza (easy right?) but it seems like all they have is a cheese lover’s pizza (two kinds of cheese) but we just wanted regular cheese. This was much easier said than done because she didn’t seem to understand. Finally we had to explain to her we wanted the cheese lovers but with one tomato and one cheese. We ended up with cheese pizza so I guess it worked! She was so cute because she was running around all night trying so hard to make everyone happy! Although they kept running out of everything, so we kept hearing her say, “I’m so sorry, we are out of ____”. We figured they wouldn’t run out of cheese since they had extra cheese from both our pizzas!

We were tired when we came back and after well needed showers we crawled into bed!

Hugs and kisses from the Mekong Delta!

Traditional Vietnamese Dinner

What a night we had last night! Long lives about an hour outside of the city, “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore” and while it wasn’t as urban as downtown Saigon, it was still busy! We took a cab to get to his house where we were welcomed by his father, mother, sister, brother in law, baby niece (9 months) and his grandmother who is 80 and visiting from the north. At the end of the night he told us it was his grandmothers first time seeing Americans, very cool! Last year when I was visiting his family his sister was pregnant, so it was awesome to see her with her 9 month old baby girl!

We started out with tea while his mother finished cooking dinner and then we all sat on the floor for our meal. The meal began with peel your own shrimp and then we had deep fried and regular spring rolls. They cooked us SO much food that I felt bad because I knew we wouldn’t be able to eat it all!

They all thought mom was hilarious because she would comment on how much bigger we are and how she and I can barely sit together on the bus (seats made for two Vietnamese people). Long was so great and spent the whole night translating. It was very interesting to hear his parents say (again) that they don’t harbor any resentment towards Americans for the war and that we are all brothers and sisters.

Throughout dinner they were all so sweet and made sure we had PLENTY of food. They even got us champagne and we were explaining how in the US that means a celebration and Long said it was to welcome guests (we also learned to cheer in Vietnamese). Half way through dinner Long’s cousins or uncle and aunt or SOME couple showed up (it kind of got lost in translation!) and they were great! The uncle was so funny and asked questions about life in America and our thoughts of Vietnam.

After dinner and lots of laughs, Long explained how they had a room for us upstairs. We did get a late start to the evening, but we were not prepared to stay over, although it was so sweet that they expected us to! We kept saying how we didn’t bring anything and we were going to get an early start tomorrow and his dad kept insisting we stay! We felt bad as we didn’t want to offend anyone, but we were ready to head back and go to sleep! After grapefruit for dessert (good for digestion) his uncle/cousin had a friend in the cab business he called to take us home. He told us (through Long) that it was late and he wanted to make sure we got home safely, which was very sweet. We were tired after the drive back, but the experience was MORE than worth it!

We didn’t end up getting a ton of sleep as we got back late and were up early this morning. We headed out to breakfast and also to drop off our laundry. We wanted to drop off the laundry first thing in the morning as we were washing towels and blankets and needed them back in the evening.

We then went to catch the bus to take to the orphanage and to the Big C to get some more supplies for the orphanage. On the bus we ran into the other volunteers (small world) and told them we would meet them at the orphanage as we were stopping to get some supplies. We were able to get everything we needed (and could carry) and brought the supplies to the rooms in the orphanage.

We then brought Thoung out for his walk, where he had a BLAST laughing with mom and still remembered how to tickle! He was so cute and would start laughing before we got to a certain area because he remembered something funny him and mom had laughed about yesterday. He also loved using her camera today! He remembered how to zoom and started directing some of the other volunteers in order to create the picture he wanted!

I feel so bad because “Cho Con” was the little boy my mom fell in love with last year and she was so excited to meet him but he has not been in at all!! I think the women were saying that he is still at home (he is a day student) but I wish she could meet him! Today a new little boy fell in love with her. It is the same boy Khaly helped feed last year and today during feeding time mom was helping him eat. It is amazing because last year he was completely dependent on someone feeding him puree food and this year he can eat real food on his own! Anyway after his meal he gets a bottle which he wanted on the mats that they have nap time on. Mom sat next to him and rubbed his head and then all of a sudden he just climbed into her lap to snuggle. It was SO cute!

We took the bus back to the hotel for lunch and an afternoon of resting. We didn’t get much sleep and tomorrow will be a long day as we are going to the Mekong Delta with Long. We ended up both taking naps and it was so nice! I then headed off to the gym (I am trying) and mom met me after so we could head out to the market, which was conveniently closing for the night! We then decided on dinner in the backpacker’s district at one of the main restaurants on the street as it has GREAT people watching! After our tummy’s were full we headed to my new favorite massage place for WELL needed massages and after some showers and some packing we are ready for our Mekong Delta trip tomorrow!

Hugs and kisses from the real Vietnam!