Sunday-Tuesday, July 16-18 is a time to rest and sightsee in Hoi An, Vietnam. It’s another traveling day, this time from Hanoi to Hoi An, Vietnam. We must fly to the Da Nang Airport and then a car will pick us up to take us to Hoi An. John heard that Da Nang is a relatively new seaside town meant to cater to booming Vietnamese growth and wealth. There is a large, fancy housing complex going up on our way outside of Da Nang and our driver tells us that the most famous soccer star, Ronaldo, has bought a place there. John tells the driver he’s never heard of Ronaldo. Our driver cannot believe this and he must have thought John…
Chaotic & Wonderful Hanoi
By now we’ve traveled as a family to many countries and we can’t help but make comparisons between one country or city to another that we’ve already been to. It’s a small world after all. Something we see in one place will remind us of another place around the world. But Hanoi is a city like no other place that I have ever been to. It is crazy, congested, chaotic. Crossing the street means taking your life in your hands every time. If you cross the street 10 times to get where you want to go, that means you are testing fate 10 times. For anyone who loves a vibrant, lively city, and John and I do, Hanoi is the…
Bai Tu Long Bay
Thurs-Sat, July 13-15. Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay – natural wonder of the world. We’re in the middle of our cruise through Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay area. We’ve opted for the 2 night, 3 day cruise and out of 50 guests we are the only ones left on the boat. Everyone else is leaving after only one night. We have a private dining area for breakfast and a private daytime cruise aboard a small junk (boat) today.First there’s Tai Chi on the sun deck at 6:15 am for anyone who wants to get up early and have a morning stretch. John went to check it out, but I stayed in bed. We had our private breakfast at 7:30. …
Patara Elephant Farm
Tuesday, July 11. Another early morning wake up call. We are getting picked up by our transport van at 7:30am so we have to be down for breakfast at 7am. It’s an hour ride to Patara so we can have another sleep in the van, if I can take the phones away from the kids they can rest, too. John isn’t feeling well today so he has decided to stay behind and relax at the hotel. Our van has another couple of girls from Mexico who are traveling around Asia. After Thailand they’ll go to Cambodia and Singapore and then return to Japan before going home to Mexico. When we arrive at Patara there is an elephant family there to…
Cheers from Chiang Mai
July 9-12, 2017. Thailand is our first stop. Arrive in Chiang Mai from Bangkok. We’re exhausted from our initial overseas travel and the early morning wake up calls that it took to get here. We flew from Osaka to Bangkok and arrived around 11pm. Then we got up early to fly to Chiang Mai. Here we are getting on the plane for the first of our many little hops around Southeast Asia. Before we moved here I thought using the stairway to get on the plane from the tarmac was so cool. But taking a hot bus from the airport gate to the plane, and then dragging luggage up the stairs isn’t fun anymore. We’ve done it too many times…
Kimonos and Kyoto
Saturday, June 17, Avalon is signed up for a nature art camp at Ritsumeikan University, Ibaraki campus. We are meeting her friends and her art teacher at the Starbucks on campus in the morning. After the camp, my friend Satoko will drive Avalon and I to a kimono shop in downtown Osaka to go kimono shopping. This is a special kimono shop that mainly rents kimonos out to customers who need a kimono for a special occasion, or who just want to take fancy keepsake photos. I am looking for a nice used kimono or yukata (a light version that is worn in the summer heat) that I can buy for Avalon and I to share. This shop has beautiful…
Flowers and Bamboo
This year Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 14. I think that Mother’s Day is celebrated in some form in many places around the world. In Japan, Mother’s Day mirrors the US version in May. However, like a lot of holidays here, it really appears to just be a commercial holiday aimed at selling themed items. Flowers, candy and cakes that say Happy Mother’s Day are promoted heavily here. Which is nice for me because Halyard gave me a red Mother’s Day carnation with sprigs of baby’s breath. My friend here told me that carnations are the most popular flower for Mother’s Day. Well, none of my kids claimed to have any free time for me on Mother’s Day, though I…
Concert in Rome
[This post is from Halyard. He promised to write a blog post about his school trip to Rome, Italy. It only took him two-plus months to get around to it, and only because it’s Mother’s Day (May 14).] Well, this has been a long time waiting, about a month in the making. Well, maybe a little more. It’s Mother’s Day and I’ve been asked to finally complete this report, and I’m doing it out the the goodness in my heart and the love I have for my mother. That, and I want to get back to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. However, this paper is not about how I’d like to spend my sunday afternoon, but rather how I spent a…
Japan’s Manhoru Art
Call it a treasure hunt or a scavenger hunt. One of my favorite parts about wandering around Japan is looking for fancy manhole covers (manhoru in Japanese) in every new area of Japan that we visit. The first intricate and brightly colored manhole cover I saw was in downtown Minoh. The Minoh manhole features the red maple leaves and waterfall that this city is famous for. It is a beautiful piece of public art! Every time I step on them I am amazed all over again at how cool these things are. Up top, the featured manhole photo is also from Minoh. Avalon just discovered this one recently. It’s by the train station and I don’t know why we never…
Matsumoto-Jo
Saturday, March 25 is our last day at Hotel Khuls in Ichinose area, Shiga Kogen ski resort. It has been a grand time! John is torn between staying another night and going back because the snow is so awesome and he’s having such a great time. Halyard went home yesterday so we asked him to take a taxi and pick up the cats at the pet hotel and bring them home. So really, there’s nothing stopping us from another night away. One last delicious breakfast. The food has been plentiful and yummy during our entire stay. Some internet reviews complained about the selection but we (all 17 of us) thought it was terrific. John and I and the kids decided…