The Finale...

After a whirlwind of travels over the past two weeks, our last few hours with Jane & Herb were enjoyed at a nice dinner with our friend /owner of The White Palace.  

Our host, Phu

A portion of our meal, Bun Bo Hue. This is a noodle soup with beef, pork, and pork paste.  It was a little spicy so I only ate a few bites :)

Dessert. The center sculpture is made of a sugar syrup.

The next morning we took Herb & Jane to the airport for their quick flight home :)

Thank you for coming out to visit us Bachan & Grandy.

Phu Quoc Island

Beach + Relaxation + Enjoyment = Phu Quoc Island. We loved Phu Quoc Island so much with my parents that we were glad to go there again with Jane & Herb, and we were not disappointed! I can honestly say that after visiting this island two times, it is hands down the best beach in all of Asia. I know that my sample size may be small when making such a bold statement, so if anyone wants to challenge me I will gladly do further research and prove it.

Monday-

Sea Star Resort beach bungalows

warm, clean, shallow water...nothing beats it!

Enzo had a strict diet of eating only watermelon this past week.

mmmm...fresh fried coconut and banana stuffed pastries...delicious!

I'm not complaining....

.....nor is Bachan :)

Tuesday we rented scooters and toured the island countryside.

Awesome.

searching for sea shells with Bachan.

lunch at a local restaurant along the countryside.

.....going off the beaten path

.....and getting stuck :)

The local fish farm.  Millions of tiny fish caught in these screens and dried out in the sun, then seasoned and sold in the markets.

squid drying out in the sun.....

....Troy drying out in the sun :)

Heaven! Did I mention we were along the countryside? Notice the cow in the background.

There were a couple points in our travel that we may have been a little lost.  At one point we had to cross this wood bridge on a scooter....I held my breathe the entire ride across waiting to fall into the stream.


Wednesday

front row seat at a wedding on the beach.

The best find of the week was Alanis cafe. I would say this has been one of my favorite places to eat in all of Vietnam.  The owners worked on a cruise ship and then at the Sheraton Hotel before opening this cafe in Phu Quoc. The BEST sandwiches, fries, drinks, and desserts. We ate there 4 times in our three day stay.

Passion Citrus smoothie

caramel pancakes

view from our room.

Till we meet again Phu Quoc....hopefully sooner than later.

Ha Noi - Ha Long Bay

Our last stop on our travels during the past week was Ha Noi and Ha Long Bay, located in Northern Vietnam. This visit was a shock to my system since it was the first time I have felt cold weather in over a year. I mean cold weather as in the month of November in Utah + a little humidity. Enzo thought wearing socks was pretty funny and Drey kept asking why his pants were so big?

Wednesday - Ha Noi

Our hotel had a crib set up for us knowing that we had a baby. Drey was more excited than anyone and wanted to relive the good ol' crib days.

Wish me luck on trying to get Enzo to sleep in a crib when we return to Utah. This kid is used to a King size bed!

We took a little walk around the city to see the Tet celebration and flowers. 

buying hot  dogs (I think).

The famous red bridge.

I actually saw geraniums and a supertunia ....get out! made me a little homesick.

Enjoying the BEST soft ice cream around. Coconut ice cream on a homemade sesame cone...mmmmm.. even the cold weather won't stop us from eating treats.

After a little nap for the boys we went to a water puppet show.

This was very fascinating to watch. I had a hard time at first trying to figure out how they were manipulating the puppets...are they swimming under water? Oh I get it, the puppets are on long sticks..haha.

At the end they revealed the puppet masters. To the left are the singers and instrument players.

It actually was a pretty cool experience.

Then for a ride on a Xich Lo...only in Nam.

Thursday - Ha Long Bay. We took the three hour van ride from Ha Noi to Ha Long Bay for a quick two day/one night stay on the Bay. Ha Long consists of many islets most of which are made of limestone. It's a remarkable place to visit.

Our ship, HaLong Phoenix Cruiser

Captain at the wheel and his first mate...

These ladies row around the bay and bump up next to the ship yelling at the passengers asking them to make a purchase. Then they use a net on a long pole to send it up to you. It's a mini snack bar / grocery mart on water.

The first afternoon was spent touring a large cave and visiting the beach.

view from the top

Do you think he's excited to be on the beach? 

rolling around in the sand

playing in the water...pants on and all, only because he's a 3 year old...

I have never seen Drey pull this face but I love it! What a goofball!

The second day we kayaked around the bay. Jane and Herb stayed back to watch the boys.  

This is what they had to deal with. Enzo was ready to jump out the window and onto our kayak when he saw us pass by.

Let's be honest, Troy did all the work and I took the pictures. In my defense,  I am not much of a kayaker  and I was just  pushing us around in circles. 

Coming back to the mother ship...I was a little relieved that I remained dry and didn't dump the kayak.

Our last activity before debarking was learning how to make fried spring rolls. 

Please ignore this face... I'm pretty proud of my springroll.

Vietnamese springrolls are the best!

Ha Long Bay was awesome and I enjoyed seeing another part of Vietnam. However, the cold weather made me glad to return to Saigon. On to the beach please :)