Vietnam

After months of planning, altering and finally booking our 'BIG' holiday to Vietnam we were off. We had 15 days from top to bottom - Hanoi to HoChiMinh City. I designed the trip visiting all the World Heritage listed sights, with a beach resort thrown in for chilling out. We had guides and private transport the whole trip which was fantastic - we didn't have to think about anything other than having fun.

Hanoi was an eye opener. We stayed in the old quarter, and I have to admit I was glad to get out of the place after 4 days. The constant noise drove me insane. We LOVED HaLong Bay, but unfortunately it rained. You couldn't help but be awed by the beauty of the place - the green, green water and limestone karsts that jut up to the sky straight out of the water. The bay was all misty with the rain which gave it an ethereal quality.

We took an overnight train from Hanoi to DongHoi (OMG - never again!) to visit the Phang Na caves just near the demilitarized zone between the old North and South Vietnams. No tourists here! It was impressive... we boarded a dug out canoe with an outboard motor and motored down the river for about 30 minutes until we entered the cave. The cave had some impressive limestone formation, and was used by the North Vietnamese to store amunition and provide safety during the war. We viewed ancient sanscrit writing from the Cham people on the walls of the caves dating back @ 7th Century.

From DongHoi we enjoyed a few days visiting the beautiful Hoi An, and Hue - the old Imperial City of the Emperors. Hue was my favorite place. It was just stunning.

From here we boarded a place for Nha Trang, a seaside resort which by this time was a very welcome break. Zoe had a blast playing on the beach. We took a boat out to a reef and spent most of a day snorkelling. The beauty and quality of the coral was amazing. It was only the second time Zoe has snorkelled and she loved it.

From Nha Trang, we flew to HoChiMinh City - a city with 12 million people.... Can you imagine? The traffic was unreal. Crossing the road was an adventure! We noticed the further south we travelled from Hanoi, the more 'western' Vietnam appeared. HCMC was no exception.

We really had a blast in Vietnam. The food was absolutely amazing! Lunches were included in our package, so we enjoyed 7 - 10 course lunches every day! It was WAY to much, but it certainly was the way to experience true Vietnamese cuisine. Zoe was a true trojan... she loved sightseeing, the food and shopping. By HCMC, she had mastered bargaining - and would have the sellers in stitches, so often bought items at very low prices. We came home with 25 kilos more in our suitcases - luckily we were flying Singapore Airlines!

I went to a fish spa!

Do you know what a fish spa is? Well, I didn't until recently. It's a place where you sit with your feet in a fish tank and have Doctor fish nibble at your feet and legs removing all the dead skin! They're very popular in Singapore at the moment - a bit of a fad, I think. I thought it was pretty stupid, until my friend Sylvie suggested we try it.... Ohh, why not I thought and so off we went.

The little fish tank.

We had our legs sprayed with a vinegar like substance to start before entering the room. There were 3 tanks, one with little Doctor fish, a tank with bigger Doctor fish, and one with BIG fish. We had 30 minutes to try them all, so we naturally started with the small fish. As soon as you put your feet into the tank, the fish swarm around you and start nibbling straight away. It's a sensation between a light tickle and a light vibration. The two of us couldn't stop laughing - luckily we were the only people there.

The bigger fish tank

After 10 mins, we migrated to the bigger fish and got a good giggle out of the stronger vibration sensation they made. And then the larger fish - it was akin to someone rubbing a scrub on your feet and legs.... wierd. I must admit it works - my feet are very smooth.

The BIG fish tank

It was all good fun - and I'm going to take Zoe and Craig there, just for the fun of it.

Aboriginal Art

Now who would have thought Zoe would learn about Aboriginal art in Singapore.... not me! The french school! took each class of Zoe's year to an Art Gallery who specialise in Aboriginal paintings and artwork. At the gallery, the children were introduced to Aboriginal art, and told how the painting often told a story. Different dot patterns resembled different things - water holes, emus, dingos, women, kangaroos, etc - similar to a language. The children were then invited to create their own 'story' in paint using the Aboriginal symbols. These 'works of art' were then displayed at the Gallery for a week for the families to come and visit. This is a picture of Zoe and her artwork.

The teachers will pick the paintings up from the gallery next week and give them to the children to bring home. What a brilliant excursion!

Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve

Saturday, we were Craigless, (he's in Australia), so we girls set off to explore the Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve - a fancy name mangrove mudflats. We had a choice of 3 different walks - all along a raised wooden boardwalk, of 3kms, 5kms or 7kms. We chose the 3km walk and set off to discover the wetlands wildlife. Well, before we had walked 20 metres, we saw jumping fish, spitting fish (true! - they spit water at low flying airborne creatures to knock them into the water, so they then eat them), 2 otters and a crocodile. Zoe was so excited - as usual it was she who spotted all these creatures, and then spent the next minute trying to point out the creatures to her blind mother.

We continued around the boardwalk, and it wasn't long before we discovered two large prehistoric like monitor lizards.... they were sunning themselves on the mudbank. We spotted quite a few more of these wierd creatures as we continued the walk, along with a mudskipper, dragonflies, damselflies, and a squirrel. It was a really interesting morning. By the end of the walk, we were wet with persperation - it was so humid... and hot.

On the way home, we dropped in to a Goat dairy - we missed the milking, but we got to view the goats, and Zoe had her first taste of goats milk. She didn't like it much.

There is so much to see and do in Singapore - I'm working my way through the guide book. I'm positive I won't have reached the end of the book before we leave!

Visitors and counting down......

Things are starting to speed up - less than 4 months left in Singapore before we leave. Craig has been travelling a LOT - he was away most of the last two weeks in Geneva then Mumbai. He spent two days with us and has now left for a week in Sydney. We have 3 big trips planned between now and July, and family coming to visit in May and June. I've already inscribed Zoe into school in Collonges sous Saleve starting September and Craig and I are revisiting all the insurance policies and paperwork we have to reinstigate ...... UGH.

The three day Easter weekend (we extended to 4 days), we spent in Penang, Malaysia with Diane & Chloe Di Gemma. We all had a lot of fun and more than a few laughs. We did a bit of sightseeing, lots of eating, shopping and swimming. The Easter Bunny even managed to make it to Penang, bringing the girls Easter eggs (thanks Diane!). The resort was very nice, right on Batu Ferringhi Beach. The main town - Georgetown is UNESCO Heritage listed, but it was SO hot, our 'sightseeing' entailed being peddled by a 60 something year old man with few teeth for 2 hours around the main sights of Georgetown in a tri-shaw ( like a rickshaw). Our guy kept telling us 'we' were the king of the road - all the cars and buses would get out of our way.... I can tell you the cars and buses in Penang don't see it the same way, and cries of terror escaped my lips on more than one occasion. Anyway, we live to tell the tale.

The night market ran along the main road in front of our hotel each night and sold all sorts of things. Chloe had her hard-earned pocket money to spend and was an inspirational bargainer. I learned how to bargain from a 9 year old!

All in all, it was a super break, made even better by seeing and spending time with Diane and Chloe in Singapore and Penang.

More than half way

We are more than half-way through our stay in Singapore. The move here has been a big success and great opportunity for both Craig and Zoe, and I am enjoying it too. Craig's project is going very well here, with Singapore and Jakarta well intergrated in the new system. He's currently working on India, China and soon Australia transitions. He recently had an op, to remove some varicose veins that were causing him some problems. He was off work 1 day after laser surgery and 3 days later, is now in Jakarta.

Zoe is enjoying school very much and doing well. Her class are currently rehearsing a play they will present to the parents next tuesday night. She's a cicada.... and last week they went to see an english production of some Aesops Fables. They do fun things at the school.

Singapore has brought out the athlete in Zoe. When she started Little Athletics in September, she was coming 13th or 14th in all her events, 100m, 60m hurdles, long jump, discus, shotput, 200m, 300m. She's now coming between 3rd and 6th place in all events, and is throwing some 2m longer in the field events, and running 2-3 seconds faster in all track events. She loves it - particularly when she gets a 'PB' sticker. PB is for personal best, and the aim of the meet is for each child to strive to beat their own PB, and not each other. She's so funny - when she sees me, she'll give me a big grin and wave while she's running her race.

Her swimming is progressing well too. She's just jumped a class or two, and now trains in a 25m pool. She is swimming confidently in all strokes. When we arrived, although she was super confident in the water, she couldn't swim a stroke - she was just learning to use her arms in freestyle. So, she's come a long way.

It's amazing how well kids can do in sport when they have good teachers, good facilities and 365 days of summer!

Turning 8.

Zoe got to celebrate her birthday this year, like no other..... February in the tropics is HOT! So we made the most of it, and Zoe celebrated her birthday - Hawaiian style. The only disaster of the day was her birthday cake - 3 attempts later, and 2 hours before her party was to start, Craig was out in search of a birthday cake to buy!

Zoe invited 8 friends from school and we held her party at our condo, around the pool. It was fun and sooo easy. The kids were in and out of the pool in betweeen games of hula hoop, skipping and a limbo competition. Continuing on the theme - we had a palm tree pinata, which took forever to crack!

We then continued on into the late hours of the evening, with two french families we have become close to with an aussie style BBQ. The kids (5 of them) have become close friends - all being within 2 years of each other.

A girls day out.

With Craig's 'go-live' date being the 1st Feb, he wasn't home much mid january to mid february, including a couple of weekends. So, instead of just hanging around the house, Zoe and I set off to explore more of Singapore.

One saturday, we took a 3 hour harbour cruise on the Imperial Cheng Ho (a replica chinese junk). It was a great way to see Sentosa Island, Singapore port and some of the small islands off the mainland. We stopped at one island called Kusu where we could walk around it, and visit a temple. It was just gorgeous, with not a sole to be seen. Kusu island is also called Turtle island, where during the 9th lunar month (November this year), the Temple attracts thousands of pilgrims who pray for health, babies and a peaceful life.

We hope to visit it again, bringing Craig and a picnic lunch!

It was a fun day. The junk was pretty amazing, and within minutes, Zoe had the boat checked out. She had fun exploring the many rooms on it. She bonded with the staff and in no time had them supplying her with packets (and packets!) of biscuits to munch on.

It was a cool way to spend a morning and discover a bit more of Singapore into the bargain.

February school holidays in Laos.

It was a little strange going on holidays without Craig, but with Nanny & Ampar in tow (my parents), the four of us set off to explore Laos. We really had no idea what to expect and so we prepared for it - we'd had our shots, we had our anti-malaria medication, had the mosquito repellent with DEET, packed long shirts to protect us from the mosquitos at night, and I even bought a 'travellers emergency medication kit'. I was ready for everything from a bout of conjunctivitis to rabies!

I had arranged a private trip - with the itinerary pre-organised and local guides and air-conditioned cars to ferry us around. It worked SO well! We were picked up at the airport in Vientiane (the capital), checked into our hotel and were off visiting temples in no time. Our guide was great - a local Laotian who was quite a character! Zoe drove him crazy asking SO many questions - she would raise her arm like in school. By that evening, she could say hello, hello how are you, and thank you in Lao, and knew the meaning of most of the buddah's hand positions.

The next day, we flew Lao airlines (yep - I was a little worried too) from Vientiane, to Luang Prabang in the north. It's a World Heritage listed town and it lives up to it's reputation. We had 6 days in Luang Prabang and loved it.

We learned alot about the history and culture from our guide. Did you know, in Lao, it's compulsory to study as a monk for a minimum of 3 months.... Amazing huh - in some countries it's compulsary to do military service to learn how to defend your country, and in Lao it's compulsory to learn how to uphold Buddah's values - a bit like our 10 commandments (but don't quote me on that!). Our guide in LP had been a monk for 14 years - leaving the monastary when he was 28 - every Lao mother's dream catch for her daughters! A virgin, learned, gentle man who knew how to look after himself.

In LP, we saw many, many more temples, took a day trip up the meekong by boat to the Pak Ou caves, visited many hilltribes who still specialise in local silk weaving, rice wine and crafts, visited the beautiful Kouang Si waterfalls and walked and walked......

The highlight of the trip was Zoe's birthday. She was a pig in poo when she discovered she'd got a Nintendo DS for her birthday -finally! After breakfast, we set off to the Elephant camp where they rescue injured and tortured elephants from the logging industry. Zoe got to not only ride the elephant on a trek, but to sit just behind it's head as the mahout. A mahout is an elephant's master - but it goes much further than that - they are best friends for life, living, working and sleeping side by side. The elephant responds to the mahout's touch and voice. It's amazing to see the bond between them. It was a brilliant day, and one that I don't think she'll ever forget.

It was also pretty unforgettable watching Nanny and Ampar hanging on for dear life - they had an elephant that had a mind of it's own:)

Mum and I also manged some serious silk weaving shopping - it has to be said. The silks were just amazingly beautiful and intricate.

Dad and I experienced the famous morning ritual of the monks walking through the town taking their food from the locals at sunrise. It was pretty amazing. They eat only twice a day and must finish eating by lunchtime. They rely heavily on the sticky rice and other food given to them by the locals.

The country was beautiful and I would definately love to go back again and explore more of it. It was clean and safe. The threat of mosquitos or other diseases and illnesses were non-events. It is an amazingly beautiful country with very gentle people - influenced by french, chinese, japanese and american cultures that have impacted or invaded them. We all felt very safe even at night. The older generations could all speak french, but the younger people couldn't. They are being taught english or russian in school now.

My most memorable experience was just watching the Meekong - from the sunrises (only managed one of those), to sunset, watched the fisherman, saw locals commute across the river for work, heard the kids playing in the water - everything happened on the river.

Tree-tops walk

By 9am on sunday morning, we'd started out on the jungle walk to the tree-tops walk in the Macritchie reservoir area. Normally we're just getting out of bed by this time on a sunday!

The first 3kms got us to the start of the tree-tops walk, and already we'd spied a monkey and some fish in a small stream. It was a good start. It was so humid in the jungle, even though there was a cool'ish breeze blowing.

The tree-tops walk was a 4km one way walk starting out 25m above the ground at the tree top canopy - the view was spectacular. Before long we spied more monkeys eating the blossoms and berries, then a sea-eagle, more monkeys and a squirrel. It was fantastic. I think it was our lucky day - a lady beside us exclaimed she'd done this walk before and hadn't seen monkeys.

The walk continued through the jungle until we reached the fork in the path, where we headed back to the car - all in all about 9kms. Have to say we were pretty proud of Zoe - who didn't complain at all. I think having an ipod stuck in her ears on the route home helped :) Think I lost about a kilo in sweat.

We stopped on the way home for some lunch at a local hawker centre - and filled up on BBQ pork and noodles for $3 a piece. It was SO good. We were the only caucasian's in the place.

With our belly's full and thirst quenched, we visited a local wet market to pick up some green mango's for tonight's dinner. We just LOVE green mango salad. It's so fresh and yummy.

We were home and in the pool by 2.3opm.

As I write this, it seems so bizzare to think of how we would be spending this day in France.... and indeed the way most of our friends will be today. While we're trekking through a jungle, they are skiing in snow-capped mountains... Can it be any different?

Green Mango Salad

Ingredients:- 3 unripe green mango's, 1-2 chilies deseeded and finely sliced, 1 carrot grated, 1 tbsp coriander finely chopped, 1 tbsp mint finely chopped, 1 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1.5 tsp fish sauce, 4-6 small dried shrimp, ground to a powder.

Method:- Combine all ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate the salad in covered container until ready to use.

PS - if you cannot find green mangoes, buy the least ripe mangoes that you can find and double the amount of lime juice.

Nature walks

In the heart of the island is a large nature reserve with three reservoirs. Yesterday, with french mum Sylvie and her 10 month old, we set out to explore the Macritchie reservoir - it's about 100ha of pristine rainforest. It's an area very popular with joggers and walkers.

It was beautiful - an enormous 'lake' with a 4km raised boardwalk on the edge of the reservoir and walks through the jungle. It's an 11km walk to circumnavigate the reservoir. At one end of the reservoir is a 'tree-top walk' where you walk on a suspended boardwalk 4 kms long, and 25 metres above the ground. This Zoe, Craig and I are going to tackle on sunday.

It was a beautiful walk - we managed about 5kms (there and back) with Eloue in the stroller. It was so peaceful and calm. We came across a group of monkey's who had stolen a pack of chips from a silly girl who didn't read the signs and brought food into the park. There would have been about 15 monkeys (I've since found out they were long tailed macaques). We got SO close to them about 3 feet away - it was great. They were so human like in the way they ate, and they sat in a row, one in front of the other and groomed each other. It was a unique experience.

Fogging

Take a look at this....

This is called 'fogging'. People 'fog' as often as weekly, but our condo fogs every 2 months. The 'fog' is insecticide to kill mosquito lavae. Singapore is one of the few countries in Asia not to have Malaria or other mosquito-borne killer diseases - although Dengue fever is around.

I can't believe that the men that do this, have no protective clothing or masks! It can't be good for you. There are no 'laws' governing how frequently you fog, however the Environmental agency does regular spot checks and it's a $200 fine if they find a mosquito larvae on your property. (We have an inspection of our apartment due this week).

Heaven on Earth

I've always thought of Stradbroke Island as 'Heaven on Earth'. It's an island off the coast of Brisbane, in Moreton Bay. It's only accessible by water taxi for people, and a barge for your car. It's a large island (about 80kms long) but has only 3 small settlements. As a family, we have been visiting Stradbroke Island since I was about 12 yrs old. Everytime I come back I am flooded with memories.

This trip to Australia, we got to visit Straddie for 3 days. Our last visit was about 4 years ago, when Zoe was 3 yrs old. Everytime I come here, I re-live my childhood. It was great to show Zoe some of my favourite places on the island - the walk around the headland and look for marine life, to sit and listen to the blow-hole and watch for turtles and walk from Frenchman's beach to home along the beach and rocky headlands. The Island didn't disappoint - we watched some large rays off the headland, and saw some turtles around the blow-hole. It was low tide when we walked along the beach, and Zoe and her cousin Tess collected shells and discovered small fish and crabs in the rock pools. Zoe got to swim in the Ocean for the first time in her life! Waves!!! She was very funny to watch - trying to hold her footing against the breaking waves and squealing the whole time with a grin on her face. With her cousins, and a loan of a surf-mat, she surfed the waves like a real Aussie.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year to everyone!! I hope you all had a great Christmas and had fun welcoming in the new year.
We had a nice Xmas in Aus. Everyone grouped in Brisbane, with Craig's sister and her two teenage boys and Craig's parents driving up from NSW. 4 families living under one roof for 5 days was 'interesting'.... no really, it was ok. There were 10 of us - luckily mum and dad's house is big!
Christmas day was fun with the entire two familys for lunch - 16 in all.
It was an early start, with Zoe discovering Santa had left something at the end of her bed - at 5.30am! A record awakening time. So, we all sat in our bed discovering what Santa had left in Zoe's Santa sack. It was lovely. So, by 6am - the whole house was awake, with Zoe visiting each bedroom, waking the occupants to look what Santa had brought her.

Craig cooked Christmas lunch - with a hot meal. He cooked Martha Stewart recipe of honey glazed ham with pears and cranberries, a large potato gratin, and steamed veges. It was delicious.
After lunch we gathered around the tree and gave each other our Christmas presents, which was followed by all the kids swimming in the pool.
It was a relaxed and fun day.

New Year's Eve was a very low key event.... after dinner Zoe lit some sparklers to celebrate the coming of the new year but was in bed by around 10pm. Dad also didn't make it past 10pm. Mum, Craig and I saw the New Year in, quite by accident. We were watching Lord of the rings - the return of the kings which finished aroun 1am!!

Christmas carols?

Just before the end of school, the parents were invited to a musical concert to see the children sing and partake in some munchies afterwards. It's a little strange to say this was only my 2nd formal visit to the school so I had to study the school plan on the website to figure out where the auditorium was!
Any preconceived ideas I had about a cute group of children singing quaint christmas carols was completely blown away when the 7 classes of CE1 filed into the auditorium with large drums, decorated plastic milk containers and objects resembling pogo sticks with tennis balls on the end. Conducting the children were two men - both in their mid 50's, one with a bongo drum between his legs.
And so the concert began with the children thumping, banging and singing to the beat of the drums. They sang 4 or 5 songs, each one with more gusto and tempo than the previous - the kids were moving to the beat, and the teachers, one without the bongo drum had a whistle firmly planted in his mouth driving the kids on. The bongo drum beat out a rythym and the children would echo the beat. The parents were brought into the fray echoing the drum beat by clapping their hands. For a moment I thought I was in Brazil! It was certainly entertaining. They were very hip music teachers.

Afterwards in the class I got talking with some of the mums and Zoe's teacher. It was nice. The children's work was scattered around the walls, and I easily found the letter Zoe had written to Santa. It was hilarous. She told Pere Noel that she had been very, very good this year. She wanted a Barbie and a DS Lite and she thought she deserved them because she had been helping mum around the house, and because she said hello to her papa when he came home from work. I had a good laugh.