Sugg's in Suzhou

Malaysia is Truly Asia!

2011-01-03T17:55:00.009+08:00

Our trip to Malaysia for Christmas and New Years was truly fantastic. Our first stop was the tropical island(s) of Langkawi. We were lucky enough to travel with our Suzhou family – Pedro, Melissa, Migdalia, and Alex. Please enjoy the photos!

Kuala Lumpur

2011-01-03T17:55:00.008+08:00

The second leg of our trip was in Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur. Our fabulous friends from Stryker Suzhou that are native to Malaysia were gracious enough to show us the ropes of this amazing city.

Recommendations from our trip:

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Where we stayed:
-Kuala Lumpur – Nikko Hotel
Walking distance to the Petronas Towers and KLCC. Great rooms and service. Two thumbs up!

-Langkawi – Sheraton Beach Resort
A bit far from the action, but we liked that it was peaceful. Resort was a bit old, but had been renovated. The staff was friendly and helpful. Overall, I would recommend this hotel.

-Langkawi - Berjaya Resort
This was just up the road from the Sheraton, so similar location. We didn’t love it here. We had our own little cabin in the forest, but it was pretty worn down. The staff and service weren’t that great either. They also seemed to be out of a lot of things which was frustrating. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend it.

To Do in Langkawi:
-Island hopping Day Trip - Rampant Sailing http://www.rampantsailing.com/
This is a must do activity in Langkawi! We spent 1 of our 5 days on Bea and Carl's pristine catamaran sailboat touring the southern islands of Langkawi. They are fantastic hosts and experts of the area. Island hopping, sea kayaking, swimming, and a jungle walk are on the itinerary (all optional of course). It was also nice to relax and enjoy plenty of cold beverages on the clean and not crowded boat. They only take 10-12 guests so it's a nice size group with loads of room on the boat for all. Two thumbs up!

-Rent a scooter and ride around the island – there are loads of scooter rentals. You can rent a scooter for 40 RM for 24 hours (about 12USD). All you need is a driver’s license and the cash!

-Sunset Cruise – We enjoyed the scenery but were not impressed with the boat we chose. Don’t use Tropical Charters. It’s a bit cheaper than others, but the boat was dirty and overcrowded.

-The bat caves and crocodile farm were pretty cool, but not a must see,

-Snorkeling out at Pulau Payar is also supposed to be great, but we didn’t make it. Our boat was rammed the day prior to our trip so we couldn’t go out!
-Lake of Pregnant Maiden (supposed to have special fertility powers!)
-Cable Car (this was closed due to weather the day we tried to go)

Where we ate in Langkawi: The food at the hotel was good, but expensive of course!
Restaurants:
-Orkid Ria – pretty good for seafood, but seemed touristy and was pricey
-PutoMayo – pretty good for some Chinese style dishes, just OK
-Oasis Beach Café – pretty good food (go for the Indian food), but great location right on the beach!
-The local dives serving Laska is a must try!

Hanoi, Vietnam June 2010

2010-06-19T20:22:00.007+08:00

Halong Bay, Vietnam

2010-06-19T20:16:00.004+08:00

The MacWilliams and Suggs ventured down to Vietnam for a long weekend. June 2010

MacWilliams in HK!

2010-06-19T19:35:00.007+08:00

Chris' friend from middle school and his wife came for a visit in June 2010. Thanks for coming Kris and Sara! Sorry my posting took so long.

Incredible India!

2010-05-23T12:34:00.001+08:00

Chris and I were blessed to take yet another trip. I joined Chris at the tail end of his business trip in India. This was a trip we had been wanted to take for over a year, so we were very excited. We only had 4 days to site see, so we chose Delhi and Agra. We were just one city short from completing the golden triangle, but we were going to take what we could get. I’m going to try to cut back the length of this blog to save you all some time. The video below is a summary of our trip. If you want more details you can read the text below and also view our photos.

Details of our trip & Photo slideshow

2010-05-23T12:31:00.004+08:00

Delhi: Is a thriving chaotic city as you can imagine. We really enjoyed our time there. Even in this big city you can see the distinct levels of rich and poor. We didn’t feel as comfortable as we did in other countries. Chris and I stood out like a sore thumb. Both of us are very light skinned (no tans for us!) and Chris is so tall and my hair is also light. We had over a dozen locals ask to have their photos with us throughout the trip. It was kind of flattering and fun at first, but the attention got old after a while. Oh to be famous!
Some of our favorite sites in Delhi were the Lodi Gardens, Humayun’s Tomb, and Qutub Minar.
I give more details in the photos below. We also had some very yummy, but expensive food in Delhi. I was afraid of the low, low standards of cleanliness around the city so we mostly ate in our nice hotels. This means we spent around $200 USD per day on food. In India?! You’ve got to be kidding, right? We did go to some nice restaurants, but the mark-up on the ingredients as got to be ridiculous. We weren’t happy, but willing to pay the obscene prices hoping that we were reducing our chance of getting ill. Well, that was a waste because within 3 weeks of returning to Hong Kong Chris and I were both on antibiotics and anti-parasite medication.

Agra - the home of the Taj Mahal is. It’s about 120 miles outside of Delhi. It took us almost 6 hours to get there because of all the crazy traffic. We left the hotel at 6:30 AM to try to beat the traffic, but still had a long trip. There are so many trucks, tractors, and other crazy obstacles. We drove through many small towns on our journey to Agra. If we were stopped in traffic or at a stoplight beggars of all ages would approach our car obviously knowing there were “rich” western tourist inside. Chris and I decided we’d opt for tinted windows next time! Our driver tried to help keep them away, but this was a difficult task. The strangest thing we saw were adult men with “pet” monkeys (monkeys on leashes) that would make the monkeys climb on the windows of the car to incise you to give them money. The poor monkeys did not look happy and we didn’t support this “profession”. Another very strange thing was at this same spot. There were two men dressed up as women standing next to the road. I thought the lady-boys were in Thailand? Maybe not? These guys needed some beauty tips! We were also offered water for sale by a few children. Chris saw them fill up clear and small plastic bags from a bucket and run the to the waiting vehicles for purchase. I couldn’t believe they tried to get us to buy their water. Don’t they know our biggest fear is Delhi Belly?!
The highlight of Agra was of course the Taj Mahal. The other main tourist attraction we saw was Agra Fort. It was very pretty as well. I did make the mistake of wearing shorts and a t-shirt to this fort. I asked the front desk at the hotel if I could wear shorts since it was a fort and not a mosque and because it was over 100 degrees outside. We showed up to the for t and literally everyone was staring at my legs. I immediately became very self-conscious. They weren’t even my shortest pair! We got about 8 photo request during the hour or so we spent there. Even the women were staring at my legs in shock. I don’t get it though. There is a type of sari that shows the woman’s back and/or abdomen. I think that is more sexual than legs! Anyway, I don’t recommend wearing shorts at all in India, even if your hotel says it’s OK.
We met our guide and driver at 5:30 am so we could see the sunrise on the Taj Mahal. Our guide was amazing and helped us be the first people on the grounds that morning. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I can hardly describe it. Tears literally almost started streaming down my face. The beauty and serenity are shocking and overwhelming. I felt embarrassed by my own reaction and hid behind my sunglasses for the next few moments. Chris and I got some fantastic photos as you’ll see in my slide show. Unfortunately, we hadn’t showered yet that day and we are both looking a little groggy! I’ll have to Photoshop in some better pictures of us. I got to sit on the bench in front of the Taj where many First Ladies have also sat. I don’t think I looked as good as Jackie-O. I don’t know how she got in with a sleeveless shirt!
They say India is an incredible place. Well, we agree with this statement. Unfortunately along with incredible sights, food, and friendly people there is also incredible poverty. Don’t get me wrong, it is a spectacular country to visit, but as most of you know they have the caste system, so you are basically born into your job and social class. I guess some cities in India are trying to get away from this way of life and promote people to strive beyond their social class. With the caste system we saw extreme poverty and extreme wealth all mixed together. The poverty was shockingly bad and the worst I had seen yet in Asia. There are people literally living in the medians of roads and on patches of grass on the side of the road with just tarps and blankets for homes. We were approached constantly by hawkers and beggars. It was very sad to see some of the children that were very young asking for money to buy food. I guess you can tour the slums now, after the popularity of the movie SlumDog Millionaire. We didn’t do this and I’m glad we didn’t. It was quite heartbreaking to see the children that suffer due to extreme poverty. Anyway, that’s enough of that. Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to India, and would go back!

Bali, Indonesia

2010-04-18T19:31:00.025+08:00

We arrived in Bali in the wee hours our first day. We got a killer deal on airline tickets. The savings were well worth our late arrival and red-eye home.
I was relieved when we arrived at the airport and found it was very easy to get our visas. About 10 minutes and $50usd later we were cleared to stay in the country for up to 15 days. I was relieved a second time when I saw a guy holding a sigh with my name on it. With some of the language barriers, I’m not always 100% confident our arrangements will follow through. We had a short car ride to our hotel, Tony’s Villa. We absolutely loved Tony’s where we enjoyed our own private bungalow villa for $67usd per night including a nice breakfast. A bargain! It was our home away from home for the next 4 nights. The grounds were beautiful and well kept. It felt like you were in the jungle but we were really tucked away in from the city. It was a great location as well: 5 minute walk to the beach, convenient store close by for bottled water and such, and it also had a burrito place across the street. I know what you’re thinking…Burrito’s in Bali? Two words – Mojo Burrito! We dined at Mojo’s about 3 times during our stay in Seminyak. I’m not ashamed of it either. They had good food and even better margaritas. We made the “mistake” of getting a pitcher to share our first dining experience there….tipsy travelers! It turns out you really only need 1 glass to do the trick. It took us back to some fabulous Sugg family vacations in Cabo San Lucas, MX!

In our first day in Seminyak we slept in a bit and had a delicious traditional Balinese breakfast to start the day. Breakfast included really strong local and fresh coffee (yum), and some fried yummy rice with a fried egg on top. This was also served with fresh fruit (papaya, pineapple, watermelon, and banana) and fresh fruit juice. We also learned the best trick ever. Squeeze fresh lime juice on the fresh fruit, the papaya and lime were especially delicious.
We then made our way down to the beach. The water was a bit rough that morning, but there were still safe areas to swim. We walked up and down the beach just to scope it out. We eventually settled on some lounge chairs right on the beach for rent by a few locals. It was about 10usd for 2 chairs and an umbrella for 2 hours. Of course Chris got us a bargain price as usual! It was heavenly to relax and listen to the sound of the waves hit the beach. There were some hawkers on this beach, so every 20 minutes or so a local would walk by trying to sell us a hat, sunglasses, sarongs, or jewelry. If you smile and shake your head no they go away without hassle. Chris and I played in the waves and cooled off in the Indian Ocean. We took the umbrella down after our first dip (big mistake!). Even with sunscreen on, we both got burnt to a crisp just being exposed to the sun for a short amount of time. I guess that’s what happens 8 degrees below the equator! Good thing I packed aloe vera gel for us. So we spent the rest of the trip lathered in spf 50 and tried to find shade when possible.

We moseyed back to our hotel later that afternoon. This is when we discovered Mojo’s Burritos and fell in love. That evening we took a taxi down South to Jimbaran Beach to enjoy the sunset and some fresh seafood on the beach. We had a grilled lobster and more prawns than we could eat, rice, water spinach, and a few Bintang beers for $40.

Since we had such a relaxing first day we decided to go for some adventure the next day. We found some flyers at our hotel and decided to do a 3 hour downhill cycling trip down from a nearby Volcano, Mount Batur. I was super nervous about the downhill part because I’m crazy and prefer the challenge of an uphill. I don’t like going fast downhill on a bike, skis, snowboard, etc. It ended up being a wonderful trip. We got picked up bright and early and headed out on a 2 hour drive north to the volcano. We stopped about half way at a “coffee plantation”, which really turned out to be a place you drink and buy coffee…It was still beautiful regardless. Then we arrived near the volcano where we would start our ride. We had a great view of the volcano and enjoyed a late local breakfast. I had banana pancakes which were like a pancake with whole chunks of fresh banana and some sugar (delicious) and Chris had banana bread which was similar but more like bread. We both tried some hot ginger tea. It was great, but I’m pretty sure was loaded with sugar. It did have chunks of fresh ginger in it, so it must be good for you, right?! Then we started out on our 3 hour (about 30K) bike ride. I had to walk down a few hills that were too steep for me, but I’m glad I pushed myself to go. The scenery for the next 3 hours was absolutely breathtaking. We rode through many small villages with each village having numerous small but very cool Hindu temples. We saw beautifully green rice fields and also rice terraces.

The deep green against the bright blue sky was gorgeous. For one of our breaks we stopped at a local farmers field to check out the irrigation and how they care for the rice. Unlike most climates Bali is special because they are able to grow rice year round. They harvest their crops every six months versus once per year. Our trip was at the tail end of the rainy season and many of the fields were ready for harvest. The Balinese irrigate and store water which allows them to grow all year. The Balinese believe in many gods. They pray to the water god for enough water for everyone in the village to have enough water for their fields. They also believe in a volcano god. If the volcano erupts they believe they did something to aggravate him. Don’t worry the volcano hasn’t erupted since 1992, so we felt pretty safe.

We ended the tour at our guide’s home for a traditional lunch that was prepared by his wife. His family lived on a large property that was shared with his family and extended family. They all seemed to be healthy and happy, but there living standards are much different than ours. I went to use their bathroom and caught a glimpse of their bedroom and it appeared to be a large room with 3 mattresses on the ground with no sheets. Ketut’s family and his brother and sister’s family all shared this “house”. I’m guessing they all (appox 6 adults and 5 kids) slept in this room together. Everyone in the family contributes. Ketut’s family was all busy at work while we were there. Several other family members were making “handy crafts” while others were working around the property.

Our lunch was served traditionally. We took our shoes off and sat on the floor and ate at low table outside. We had just finished riding bikes for 3+ hours outside and I was dying for some air con, but it was pleasant after we rested a bit. The plates were like a woven paper plate holder, but instead of a paper plate they use a thick piece of paper. It worked fine and uses less paper. We had white rice, chicken satay with peanut sauce, a bean patty thing (sounds gross, but it was good), cooked vegetables, a spicy chutney type thing, pork, and fresh fruit for dessert. The kids in the village were super cute and I got some great pictures of them. I would take their picture and then show it to them on the camera screen and they would go nuts with smiles and laughter.

We got back to our hotel in time for showers and then we hit the beach to catch another great sunset. We stopped at a hotel called The Samaya with beach access and had a drink and a snack there. They had wagyu beef sliders with foie gras mayo and black truffle cheese. They were to die for! After this indulgence and the sun setting we went for a more local meal nearby to have more inexpensive Balinese cuisine. We liked the local food, but didn’t love it. They had a stir fry ramen type noodle dish with vegetables, steamed fish, morning glory/water spinach, rice, and some a pork dish. It hit the spot, but we didn’t like it as much as the food in Thailand or some places in China.

We had another relaxing day on our 3rd day. We slept in, had a big breakfast, napped, went for burritos again, and then we went for super cheap massages. We each had hour foot massages, I got a mani pedi, Chris got an hour body massage for $50usd. The place was super cute and clean. The staff were very skilled and friendly. We ended the afternoon with a long walk on the beach. It started raining about 10 minutes into our walk, but we didn’t let that stop us. We walked in the rain for about an hour before returning to the hotel. For our last night in Seminyak we tried to get reservations at Sarong, but they were fully booked. We walked down to The Living Room hoping to get a last minute booking. They were able to squeeze us in and we had a really nice dinner. It has western food mostly with some Asian-fusion. We decided this would be our 2nd wedding anniversary dinner and celebration. Since this trip was just one month shy of our anniversary.

Ubud & Around

2010-04-18T19:31:00.023+08:00

On day 4 we headed up to Ubud. On the way to we stopped at the most photographed temple in Bali, Pura Tanah Lot. It’s a large temple literally in the ocean. The tide was too high to go out to the temple, but we got lots of great photos! We then headed to our hotel just outside of Ubud. The hotel we originally wanted to stay out was booked and that hotel referred us to the Bumi Ubud Resort. At first glance we were really happy with this choice, but once we looked closed the place was a total bust. We just spent minimal time there and were very glad we only had to stay 1 night there.
Our first night in Ubud we went to watch the traditional Balinese dance the Kecak and Fire Dance (please see video below). It was very cool to see. I think the building we were in was a temple but we were still able to buy beer. I thought it was a bit strange at first, but about half the audience was enjoying cold Bintangs, so we followed suit. We got some good photos and video of this ancient Balinese dance. After the dance we went for dinner at The Dirty Duck restaurant that was recommended by a friend. The restaurant was undergoing a renovation and we think the head chef must have been away, because it wasn’t anything to write home about. So we ate light and called it a night.

Then we returned back to our not-so-nice hotel where I managed to have a terrible night’s rest. I was worried about bugs crawling on me and then woke up at 3am to a scratching noise that seemed to come from our headboard! Eek! I woke Chris up and made us sleep with the light on for the next hour or so just in case a friend tried to come out and visit us. On our way to the room that night we noticed there was like only one other room being occupied at the hotel. Not a good sign! We had prepaid for the hotel online and were just staying one night so we decided to deal with it. When we woke up that morning we skipped the complimentary breakfast mostly out of fear and headed to the Monkey Forest and Craft Market. We grabbed iced coffees at Circle K since it was already about 80 degrees out and set out to see the Monkey Forest. There were 2 local ladies selling bananas at the start of the forest that you can buy to feed the monkeys. Chris thought it would be a good idea to get some. He made the mistake of giving them to me. Within 30 seconds of buying the bananas a large monkey ran up to up to me, jumped on me and stole all the bananas! I screamed of course and let the bananas go. He grabbed one and started eating, so I tried to get the others back and he lunged at me and tried to scratch my leg. Chris got this on video as well - please see below. It was totally embarrassing and the other patrons were laughing at us.

We had a nice walk about the forest to see some temples, a small stream, and of course, monkeys! There was a proper coffee shop at the end of the forest so we popped in for a real cup of Joe. On the way back in Chris decided he would give the bananas a try! Thinking he was cooler than me of course! Again, within seconds of walking in with the bananas an even larger monkey jumped on Chris. Chris quickly ripped off one banana and threw it on the ground hoping the monkey would chase after it. Well, this was a smart monkey. Why chase after one when you can have five from this nice tourist?! The ladies that sold us the bananas started yelling at Chris to just give the monkey the bananas. I’m sure this was for safety purposes, so I also started yelling at Chris to give up the damn bananas. I didn’t want to try out Balinese doctors or the hospital because my husband was attacked by a monkey. Finally, Chris gave in and the monkey strutted away with his fat breakfast. The ladies then warn us to watch out for our coffees because the monkeys also like plastic. Oh great! My friend had her camera stolen by a monkey in this same spot a few months prior. I was scared for the rest of our time in the Monkey Forest. A little guy monkey did come after my coffee, but no one gets between me and my morning coffee!
The rest of the day we spent browsing the many shops along Monkey Forest Road. We stopped for a breakfast of banana pancakes and fresh fruit at one of the cafes along the road. We made our way down to the Craft Market where we made many purchases and ended up having to make a trip back to the hotel to drop off our loot before lunch time. We bought 3 traditional masks of characters from the Kecak story we has seen the night before, 2 other wood carvings, 5 dresses for me (ranging from $5-$20), some Bali coffee, and some other cool things. We then had a great lunch at the famous Ibu Oka restaurant. It was made famous by Anthony Bourdain for saying it's the best roasted pig he's ever had. We agree that it’s wicked good! It was a little hole in the wall place for sure where you also had to sit on the floor and it was packed with tourists and locals. We would totally go back.
To finish off our last day in Bali we went for more cheap massages, walked around to more shops, and just hung around town. Our last dinner was at a restaurant with some great barbeque. We cheated and had western-style food, but it hit the spot. There was a lot of dining options in Ubud. We just walked around to look and menus and randomly picked this place. We were very happy with our choice and last meal in Bali. We left the magical little island a couple hours later. The red-eye to Taiwan, then Hong Kong actually wasn’t bad. We slept most of the flight back and then we both had that day off to pull ourselves back together!
Our review of Bali, one of our favorite places thus far. The people were very friendly, we felt safe, the scenery was breathtaking, there was so much to see and do, the food was great and diverse, it was pretty affordable, etc. Overall, two thumbs up!

closing

2010-04-18T19:30:00.003+08:00

Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Vietnam Trip

2010-02-26T22:05:00.016+08:00

We were so glad to have the opportunity to visit Saigon. We spent 2 days out in the Mekong Delta which is about 70 kilometers outside HCMC. Then we spent another 2 days exploring the Cu Chi tunnels and Ho Chi Minh city itself. I included lots of details again. I hope you enjoy it!

Night 1: we arrived late in HCMC and went straight to our hotel to get to bed for the night. I booked us a boutique “mini” hotel. It was only $50 per night including breakfast, taxes, etc. We really didn’t know what to expect, but luckily it was clean, the staff were friendly, and we had a nice room. The bed was a bit hard and our pillows were too big, but we would come to appreciate it after experiencing our home stay at a local farmer’s house on our second night.
Day 1: We got picked up by our private guide and driver bright and early on our first day in HCMC. After about 2.5 hours in the car we reached Cai Be.

Video of us starting our journey in Cai Be

After a short bike ride through a very bustling town we reached the pier with our private boat. We continued on to cruise over the mighty Mekong River for about 20 minutes. The river was about 1.5km wide in some areas. We arrived at Dong Phu Island and started cycling for about 3 hours. The island was lush, green, full of orchards, and other plant life. Although we were on a “secluded” type island for this part of the trip, we found the villages to be anything but quiet. We shared a very bumpy dirt trail with other bicycles and tons of motorbikes. Apparently everyone was preparing for family and friends to arrive for the Lunar New Year holiday. I almost crashed about 10 times in the first 15 minutes. Then I just finally relaxed and let the motorbikes pass by me. There were a few narrow bridges and corners that I got nervous on, but it all added to the excitement. Our guide was very fast and kept a nice pace for us to follow. The 20+ km went by pretty fast. The terrain was very bumpy as I mentioned before, so you can imagine how our bums felt after the ride. I also better mention that it was about 95 degrees out. We stopped for a few pictures and had a rest at a local “convenience” shop. The very nice shop owner was out of cold water and cold Pepsi, but had some random green tea drink. She didn’t speak a word of English but our big smiles and gesturing did the trick. A cold drink has never tasted so good! Cold drinks are a commodity out there. They have electricity and fridges, but they are very conservative. They have to get big blocks of ice delivered for coolers and drinks. We saw the iceman the next day. He has a little trailer that he pulled from a motorbike of course! After a nice, long, and tiring ride we finally returned to our private boat. We boarded the bikes and ourselves and were on our way to Ben Tre for our farmer’s home stay. We had a nice lunch served on the boat. Ramen noodle-type stir fry with tofu and veggies, white rice, green kale vegetable type thing, teriyaki grilled fish chunks, and fresh pineapple for dessert. We sat back and relaxed after lunch and cruised down the Mekong River for about 2.5 hours. It was nice to have a rest from the bike and from the heat. It was nice and cool out on the river.

Video of cruise down the Mekong River

We arrived in Ben Tre to stay with a local farmer. Not really knowing what to expect we were guessing it would be a very simple type hotel room. After a short bike ride to the farmer’s house I was so happy to see it was a nice looking large house. I got my hopes up a little too soon. Our guide showed us where we would be sleeping that night. Our room was not in the house, but next to the house. It was a large grass hut with very high ceilings. They were two other rooms in the hut separated by about 6 foot walls. Our beds were two twin-size cots raised off the ground and covered by a bug net. Chris and I were laughing immediately and already talking about how we would never forget this night! We walked around the island before sunset (6pm). There wasn’t much going on near the farmer’s house. We enjoyed a few pre-dinner beers after sunset with the company of some other foreigners. There were about 8 other French folks also staying the night. It eased our minds a bit to have other tourists there. It couldn’t be that crazy right? We had an amazing dinner prepared and served by the family. The main course was rice paper rolls filled with grilled fish, rice noodles, lettuce, & pineapple with a sweet dipping sauce. We also had deep fried spring rolls filled with chicken (I think), a soup with chicken, and fresh pineapple. After dinner we were served tea and grilled slightly sweetened rice paper crunchy things. Overall, it was a great meal. I needed some liquid courage to ensure I could sleep in my bug net covered cot. We found a new Vietnamese beer that we enjoy. If you can try 333, we would recommend it.
After dinner we decided to take showers and go to bed since it was pitch black dark and we were heading out to cycle at 7am the next morning. There were communal showers and bathrooms. I didn’t realize until I was waiting for the water to warm up that I realized that it wasn’t ever going to get warm. I should have felt lucky to have running water! Luckily it was still about 80+ degrees out, so it didn’t feel too bad. Nothing was going to keep us from showering after our sweaty day!
Chris and I decided to snuggle on 1 cot together to help each other through this experience. We stayed up laughing and talking for a bit until things started to get quiet outside. My survivor skill husband was smart enough to pack a flashlight with us (yay!). This was great since my baby bladder can’t make it through the night. He also got up and went with me twice.

Day 2
We were sound asleep and suddenly woken up by the sounds of roosters crowing, but it was still dark outside. We check the time and it was only 3am! The roosters crowed off and on the rest of the night until we had to get up at 6 that morning.
Before we set off on our 35+km day we had a great breakfast provided by our farmer friends. We each got a small crusty loaf of French bread, a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese, homemade jam, and Vietnamese coffee. We were off on our bikes by 7:30.
It was only in the 80s at that hour which was a very nice change. This day was a much more comfortable ride. We took a lot more pictures and had a more relaxing pace. Most of the path was paved and thank goodness for that. We both had very sore butts from the previous day.

Cycling Video from our second day:

We stopped at a local home to relax by the canal and stretch out in hammocks and had a snack. We then peddled on to our lunch location where we had a similar meal to the dinner the night before. The food really was delicious and tasted very fresh. We then loaded up the bikes on one canoe and got in another and started down back toward the Mekong River. We had to take the small boats at this point because the water was too low. After about 15 minutes we were able to transfer to a bigger boat before arriving back to civilization.
We got back to the small city of Ben Tre where we went to visit a crazy market that puts all markets in HK to shame. It was bustling to say the least. Not only was there lots of foot traffic, but motorbikes were also allowed in a section of the market. There were all kinds of grains, fruits, vegetables, meats, etc on the first floor. Then the second floor had clothes, drugstore type items, house wares, etc. Talk about 1 stop shopping!

We ended the journey for the day with a 1.5 hour ride back to HCMC. Our driver greeted us with cold, wet wash clothes and cold water. I almost hugged him. We were back to the hotel by 4:30 and I had never been so ready to shower and stay in a room that was in a building. After getting cleaned up and sorting out plans for the evening we decided to head out to explore the backpackers area which was only 1 block over from our hotel. I was amazed by the utter chaos of this area. Imagine streets lined with shops, bars, and restaurants and completely packed with locals, tourists, and motorbikes! It was extremely overwhelming to take it all in. We walked up and down the streets and alleys just scoping things out. We settled on a crazy street corner to have a beer watch the chaos. It was a little too crazy for our moods, so we went on to search for some delicious food. It was very hot and I was starting to get hungry. This means grumpy Maggie (as most of you know). We finally decided on a very local Pho restaurant that looked and smelled great (Pho Bo Bo Kho).

They even had menus with pictures so we were able to order and knew what it was. It was probably the best Pho I’ve ever had and it was only $6 for 2 bowls of Pho and 2 beers. For those of you that don’t know, Pho is a traditional Vietnamese soup served with rice noodles and choice of meat. The broth is usually cooked all day or longer and had just a delicious blend of herbs and spices. You can add been sprouts, Thai basil, and peppers to taste as well. We love it! We had it several more times this trip. Yum! After dinner we were exhausted, so went back to our nice clean hotel room to shower again (it was hot enough to make you sweat) and go to sleep. Good night!

Ho Chi Minh - Back to the City

2010-02-26T22:01:00.013+08:00

Day 3
We got up as late as possible and went downstairs to scarf some breakfast before meeting our guide at 7:15 that morning. The breakfast at our hotel rocked. We had delicious omelets, more of that yummy crusty French bread, fresh pineapple juice, and strong coffee. It was about an hour drive out to the Cu Chi tunnels where we would spend the first half of our day. We started off the day getting down and dirty. Check out the video of Chris below.

The tunnels were quite incredible to see. We learned about how they dug them over a span of about 20 years. The interconnected series of tunnels go on for over 100 kilometers! Going down in the tunnels was a bit scary. I almost panicked and didn’t make it in because they are so small and dark. Poor Chris had to literally crawl as we toured through. I'm short enough to crouch down and walk through. The Viet-Cong lived in the tunnels at night and would come up during the day to farm and get fresh air. They built chimney tunnels to hide the smoke from their cooking. We also got to see the traps and defense techniques they used against the American soldiers. I’ll tell you what; they were a resourceful group of people. Chris got to fulfill another dream of shooting more guns. We got to shoot an M-60, AK-47, and M-30. They were all mounted on a wall, but it was still fun. My ears are still ringing they were so loud! We finished off the tour by watching a propaganda video condemning the "evil" Americans! It was very one-sided. Those "capitalist pigs"!
We made it back in time to enjoy a half day of exploring HCMC which we really hadn’t seen that much of yet. We set out on a nice long walk to check it out. We stopped at Pho 24, a fast food Pho place we heard was good. We thought it was pretty good, but nothing to write home about. It was only about $5 for 2 bowls of Pho and cold drinks. Our next stop was the War Remnants Museum, formerly known as the “Museum of American War Crimes”. I bet you can guess the perspective of the museum was a bit anti-American. Regardless, it was interesting to know what other cultures think. We continued on to visit the Norte Dam Cathedral and the Opera house. It was late in the afternoon and we were scorching hot looking for some relief. I was so excited to see off in the distance, a Coffee Bean shop! We popped inside to get an iced frappacino type goodness drink and use their western bathroom. We set back to explore the area near the opera house which was more upscale than the backpacker’s area we had been the night before. There were tons of cute shops and more designer ones too (Gucci, Cartier, etc). The area was also decorated nicely for the Lunar New Year holiday. We headed back to the hotel for showers so we could come back to watch the sunset from a rooftop bar on top of the Caravelle Hotel called Saigon, Saigon. It was a beautiful bar with a great view of the sun setting and most importantly there was a breeze up there! We indulged in some overpriced cocktails and Chris enjoyed a Cuban cigar. It was nice to get away from the bustling city below. We stayed for a couple hours until our dinner reservations at Lemon Grass restaurant. It was recommended by our travel book and a friend, but we really weren’t impressed. The service was bad and ambience wasn’t great. The food was OK and reasonably priced, so that was good. I wouldn’t recommend going. We walked around after dinner to find that outside was even more exciting from when we left. The streets near the restaurant were blocked off and extravagantly decorated for the Lunar New Year holiday. The streets were packed with locals celebrating the holiday. After walking through this area we discovered the streets were even more packed with motorbikes. It was quite the sight to see – all the lights and decorations for the holiday and a million motorbikes packed with people. All the bikes usually have 2-4 people riding per bike. We got some great pictures and videos of this madness. They had every kind of street vendor you could imagine including some colored flavored rice, cotton candy (fresh), popcorn, dried squid, soft serve ice cream (of course I had to try it), etc. We worked out way through the people and made it back to our hotel to get away from it all. Check out the video of the madness.

Day 4: We were planning on sleeping in, but I guess after getting up early so many days in a row our bodies naturally woke us up around 6am. We rested a bit before heading down to breakfast and out for another day of touring. We had already seen a lot, so we were planning on having some relaxation time too. We walked around for a few hours looking at shops and visiting a few small markets. We stopped for lunch at a random place and had yet another bowl of Pho. Again it was about $5 for 2 bowls of Pho and cold drinks. We loved the prices. Also, Pho is pretty safe to eat because it’s their specialty and because it’s served nice and hot. Nothing is living in it!
After lunch we decided we were sick of the heat and wanted to relax after 4 days packed with excitement. Since we were staying at a boutique mini hotel we didn’t have a pool. I had read that you can pay to visit the 5 star hotel pools even if you aren’t a guest. We had randomly spotted a swimming suit shop earlier that day and headed back to pick up a few suits (we didn’t think to bring ours). $12 later we had 2 suits and were ready to hit the pool. It was 95 degrees out yet again and the passes to the pool at the Caravelle hotel were some of the best money we spent. We ordered pina coladas, went for a dip in the cold pool, and enjoyed the rest of our vacation day! A few hours later we wanted a pre-dinner snack so we stopped at a famous ice cream shop with gorgeous and delicious ice cream treats, called Fanny’s. We indulged in 2 yummy creations and walked back to the hotel to shower. Our last hours awake in HCMC we enjoyed a few beers at a sports bar in attempt to catch some of the Olympics (we weren’t successful). We did chat with some other foreigners and locals which was fun. We grabbed dinner and a “grill it yourself” type place and enjoyed prawns, beef, and fried rice. This was our most expensive meal at a whopping $30 including a few beers. We found a great people watching corner and sat and relaxed with a cold beer. My energy started to fade so we started working our way back. We popped back in the sports bar to grab one last beer since it was our last night in the city.

We had cheap airline tickets and were catching the 6am flight back to HK. That means our alarm went off at 3am. Not so much fun, but worth the cheap tickets! Overall, we had a great time in Vietnam and plan on going back to some of the Northern parts such as Hanoi, Halong Bay, and Sa Pa.

The Latest and Greatest

2009-12-19T16:18:00.003+08:00

Hello all! Here is a misc blog of sorts. I wanted to catch up a bit before our trip home for the holidays. I'm sure we'll have many more pictures to share in 2010.

Love and hugs from Hong Kong and Happy Holidays!!!

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-19T15:58:00.006+08:00

To avoid being homesick a big group of our friends got together on Thanksgiving evening to enjoy some French food together. Even our Aussie, Kiwi, & British friends helped us celebrate! We went to a private kitchen near our flat that serves great food including a huge seafood platter as the first course. Yum! Poor Chris was traveling for work and spent his Thanksgiving in Seoul, Korea with work mates. Don't worry, I saved him some pumpkin pie. Of course I made Chris and I a traditional Thanksgiving meal over the the weekend with all the classics!

New Territories Tour

2009-12-19T15:28:00.003+08:00

Chris and I went on an all day historical tour of the New Territories with a local historian. We were able to explore existing old walled villages, temples, and other historical landmarks just minutes away from modern downtown Hong Kong. We went up almost to the border with China.

Baycura and Nicola & Amos' Visit and some misc

2009-12-18T20:51:00.005+08:00

We had a few fantastic visitors last month including our good friends Mike Baycura, Nicola, and Amos. Great times! There are few misc pictures in here as well. Enjoy!

Halloween 2009

2009-12-18T20:46:00.006+08:00

Chris got another use out of his Captain America costume this year. We had a blast dressing up as superheros. We won 3rd place in a costume contest and had lots of requests for pictures!

Beijing

2009-10-26T20:12:00.004+08:00

Day 1
We technically arrived at 11pm on the 30th, but all we did was go straight to our hotel. One of Chris’ co-workers that’s from Beijing was on our flight and her parents drove us to our hotel. It was a bit of an adventure because our hotel was near the National Day festivities that would begin early the next day. We thought we were going to have to get dropped off a 15 minute walk from our hotel. This isn’t fun with suitcases at 11pm, Luckily we were able to get dropped off right at the door. This was a good start to the weekend. Thanks Jia!

Happy National Day China! We woke up in Beijing on the 60th anniversary of communism in China! Those capitalist pigs will pay for their crimes, eh comrades? (quote from Austin Powers, we aren’t communists) We were hoping to catch a glimpse of their once a decade military parade. We knew in advance we weren’t “allowed” to watch, but we wondered how they could hide hundreds of thousands of soldiers, ICBMs, tanks, anti-aircraft guns, etc from us?! We took a walk around after breakfast to find all the streets around us blocked off to cars, but people were walking around. On the end of our block we found a SWAT team looking type guy with a machine gun and there were soldiers lining the streets. We realized right away they weren’t there to mess around.

We ended up watching some of the parade on TV and were lucky enough to see the air show portion from our hotel room window. We saw fighter jets, attack helicopters, bombers, etc. It was sweet. We took lots of pictures. We got sick of watching TV shortly thereafter and wanted to venture out to see the city. Our hotel told us not to leave because of the restrictions around the celebration area. They warned us we might not be able to come back to the hotel if we left. We weren’t going to waste one of our days sitting around in the hotel, so we decided to risk it. We had to walk for about a half an hour to find a taxi which we didn’t think was bad. On our way to find a taxi we saw the parade participants that had just performed. They had busses lining the streets to shuttle the performers out of the area. It actually seemed very organized.

The taxi dropped us off at the Summer Palace. We decided to rent the audio tour and were on our way. It was perfect weather. It was in the 70s with a breeze. We both overdressed a bit coming from the HK heat, we thought we were going to be cold. We walked around and enjoyed the palace for a couple hours. Realizing we didn’t eat lunch we thought we’d try a snack. The hotdog/sausage on a stick thing looked pretty good. The vender thought I was crazy putting ketchup all over mine. The first bites were ok until I had a crunchy bite! Ewwww! Crunchy hotdogs?! I immediately spit the bite out of my mouth which is not something I would normally do. I'm glad we were outside. We tossed out the dogs and had suddenly lost our appetites. We wrapped up the tour with a boat ride across the lake. This was one of our favorite sights of the trip. I can see why the past emperors used it as their summer get-away.

We decided to take a load off and relax in the “bar area” of Beijing. After a confused taxi driver and a lot of walking we think we found this bar area. We picked a random place with outdoor seating and had a few beers. They had an eclectic variety of music including a Christmas carol…in October…It was starting to get dark and we were hoping to catch the fireworks show that we thought we might be able to see from our hotel room. We found a taxi and went back to the hotel for some dinner. To our surprise the taxi was able to pull right up to our hotel. Yippee! We had some yummy Peking duck, spicy tofu, noodles – a feast for dinner. We made it back to the room just in time for the fireworks. We could see most of the show right from our window.

Day 2

2009-10-26T20:11:00.003+08:00

The second day was probably our favorite. We woke up early to meet our guide and driver by 7am. We headed out to the Great Wall, the Mutianyu section. It’s about 50 miles north of Beijing. After a speedy ride with our insane driver we made it. It was worth the drive because it is much less touristy than the section closest to the city. I wanted to skip the cable car and climb the 1,000 steps up for the good view, but Chris talked me into taking the cable car up and I’m glad we did. We did plenty of walking once up on the wall. You can tell from the pictures that it’s not exactly flat. We wanted to hike on but some areas are restricted where the wall hasn’t been restored yet. It was a wonderful time of year to visit. It was in the 70s and the trees were just started to turn for the fall.

After a few hours of exploring around we got some locally grown peaches, apples, and roasted chestnuts for a snack on our way to the Ming Tombs. Our driver got even crazier as the day went on. I literally had to watch out the side window and pretend like I didn’t think we were about to get in a fiery crash. They made us stop at “The world’s largest jade factory!” aka “a tourist trap!” for an informational tour and lunch. We have already seen this song and dance in Guilin, China with the “silk factory”, "pearl factory”, and “art museum”. Can you imagine a museum where everything just happens to be for sale?! We hurried through their spiel and on to a below average Chinese lunch. Then it was on to the Ming Tombs. We learned a lot here, but it wasn’t as exciting as the Great Wall. After an hour or so we decided to head back to the city. I’m glad we made it back alive. When our guide told us that tips were appreciated and wanted our opinion about the driver Chris let him have it. Let’s just say they didn’t get a tip from us.

After showers and a rest we ended the day with dinner at a popular restaurant Da Dong. This was our second night of Peking duck. This place had a leaner and slightly different take which was fun to try. We ordered some fried rice and peas to go with our duck. To our surprise we were served 1 spoon full of peas each with a shot of peppermint liqueur. I have included pictures in the slide show. Interesting!

Day 3

2009-10-26T20:00:00.004+08:00

We had another early start in attempt to beat the crowds at Tian’amen Square and the Forbidden City. We arrived at Tian’namen Square around 8am to find it completely packed with people. We dodged the crowds to explore and also to view the floats on display from the parade 2 days earlier. We made our way to the Forbidden City with the hoards of people (mostly Chinese folks). One of my favorite parts of the day was actual the garden next to the Forbidden City. It was peaceful compared to the madness we had just been a part of. It was decorated with red lanterns and flowers.

We also got to watch some of the military guys go through some training.
Next we ventured into the crowded Forbidden City. It was beautiful and very impressive. The buildings all kind of started to look the same after a while though. It wasn’t the best experience to share with a million+ other people either. We tired after a couple hours and decided to head back to the hotel before our next sightseeing adventure.

We spent the afternoon in an area called Hou Hai. There was a nice lake lined with bars, restaurants, and shops. We had lunch and took a rickshaw ride through the hutongs (old style homes of Beijing). We ended the day with another Peking duck dinner at Made in China at the Grand Hyatt. It was really good, but we are done with Peking duck for a while. The best part about the duck was the deep fried skin that you dip in sugar. So naughty, but delicious!

Day 4

2009-10-26T19:37:00.004+08:00

Our wake-up call came early once again. We got up at 6am to go to the Pan Jia Yuan antique market. After 30 minutes in the car, we realized our taxi driver was lost. He was speaking to us in Mandarin and pointing to buildings, but of course we didn’t understand. We called the hotel for some translation help. About 10 minutes later we were on our way to the right spot. We arrived at the sprawling market while vendors were just getting set up for the day. It was only about 60 degrees (freezing cold to us!). We hadn’t had breakfast or coffee yet. We both thought it was a mirage when we saw a sign “Cafe”. Amazingly enough we were able to get hot coffee to warm us up while we shopped. I can’t reveal our purchases because some are Christmas gifts for our families, but we found some treasures. I did buy something for myself…I overpaid for an (I think it’s amazing) old looking cloth with Buddha’s and elephants. I’m having it framed right now. Of course we got charged gweilo prices and I paid about 4 times what I should have. I did get over 50% off his original asking price, but I still I realized I got ripped off. We had a lovely shopping experience and still made it back to the hotel in time for the buffet breakfast.

After breakfast and showers we went to see The Temple of Heaven. The traditional style architecture as similar to the Forbidden City, but had distinct blue roof tops symbolizing the sky. This was located in a beautiful park that was decorated for the mid-autumn festival and 60th anniversary. We spent a few hours touring the grounds and enjoying the nice weather.

Our grand finale of the trip was dinner at The Red Capital Club nestled in a hutong area of Beijing. It’s an original structure and dates back to war times. The staff was dressed in old army uniforms. The food was fantastic. After taking about 20 minutes to read through their witty and extensive menu we finally decided a few dishes to order.

Overall we thought Beijing was fantastic. I hope you enjoyed reading about our trip.

Chris' 2nd Birthday Party

2009-10-26T19:32:00.004+08:00

Sorry for duplicates all you facebook users! Here are the photos from Chris' 30th birthday party in Macau. We spent the weekend with a small group of friends in the "Vegas" of China.

The good old USA! 1st stop: Idaho

2009-07-27T12:05:00.032+08:00

We had a fantastic trip to the USofA in July. Our first stop was Idaho for Kari and Jeff's elopement party. We had a great time celebrating and seeing all the family. It's not often the Lasco-Vail family is all together! What a great time to be together. Congratulations again to Jeff and Kari!

Jeff & Kari also took us to their wonderful cabin up in Island Park for a night (only about 90 miles away from IF). It was gorgeous and such a nice break to be in the forest with wild animals and fresh air! We made smores, BBQed, hot tubbed, took walks, went off roadin', boating, etc. So much fun!

Sorry for all the duplicates photo's to you avid facebookers!

2nd Stop - Oregon!

2009-07-27T12:05:00.031+08:00

We had an awesome trip to Oregon as well. We stayed in Beaverton with grandma Jeri. It was great to see the Sugg-Hinkle side of the family. We also made a trek down to Eugene where Uncle Rick and Aunt Tally threw Chris a HUGE surprise 30th birthday party! They pulled out all the stops - decorations, amazing food, plentiful beverages, great people, good times! They dug a fire pit in their backyard and did an authentic pig roast! It was so delicious! Everything was just wonderful. It was so great to see everyone. Happy early birthday, Christopher!

On the 6th of 7 legs of our journey, we had a hefty layover in San Francisco. Our good friends Amy, Derek, & Michael picked us up from the airport and took us out for drinks and a quick visit. It was much too short, but great to get to catch up with good friends.

And don't worry folks, we did our part to stimulate the US economy. We dropped some major cash shopping at our favorite and missed stores. I wish there was a Target in Hong Kong!!!

I didn't take enough pictures in Oregon. Sorry for the poor showing folks. I'll do better next time.

Misc Photo's

2009-07-27T12:04:00.006+08:00

So, it's been awhile since I've published a blog. Here is a hodgepodge of pictures. You'll see our 38th stories high garden. Chris deserves all the credit. He has the green thumb and does all the manual labor. You'll also see some pictures of our friends' going away party - themed "white trash". We had a blast with this one! The rest are misc Hong Kong fun. We hope you enjoy. Thanks for checking out our blog.

Love,
Chris & Margs a.k.a. Maggie

Siem Reap, Cambodia

2009-06-02T18:30:00.010+08:00

Chris and I recently spent 4 days in Siem Reap, Cambodia. A short 3 hours by air from Hong Kong. We got a great deal going on the cusp of rainy season. The only downfall was the HEAT. It was around 90 degrees with 90% humidity and all the temples are very exposed. The city of Siem Reap was very quiet compared to high season. Our hotel, Khemara Angkor Hotel, had 120 rooms but only 21 were booked while we were there. Instead of the breakfast buffet we got room service every morning. Not bad! Some hotels were completely shut down due to the low number of tourists. We were lucky enough to only have rain showers at night. We lost power one night for a few hours. All the restaurants stayed open, so we enjoyed a cold beer and dinner by candlelight.

We had a private guide and car for our trip. You'll see our knowledgeable guide "D" in some of the shots below. What a great deal - just $25USD for the entire day. We were surprised to learn that U.S. dollars are the preferred currency there. Tuk Tuk rides were $1 and 2 bottles of water were $1. Between the entry visa, temple passes, and airport fees we ended up spending more than expected. The area is very dependent on tourism. We felt good about spending the money there in hopes to help boost their economy. The city is very developed, but the country side is still quite primitive.

Enjoy the pictures and please excuse any of my mistakes naming the temples. I should have been taking notes during the tour! This show includes: Angkor Thom, Bayon, Terrace of the Elephants, Terrace of the Leper King, Phnom Bakheng, and of course Angkor Wat.

Outer Temples

2009-06-02T18:27:00.006+08:00

Our second day of touring was even hotter than the first day. I wasn't as good about labeling as our first day...Our guide took us to some of the smaller "outer" temples outside of Siem Reap. We also made a stop at the landmine museum and learned a lot about the tragic history of Cambodia. A former child soldier of the Khmer Rouge, Aki Ra, dedicated his life to de-mining Cambodia. He was safely removed over 50,000 landmines. Sadly, thousands of active landmines still exist in Cambodia. We also visited a memorial site of the many victims killed during the Khmer Rouge in areas know as the "killing fields". Almost a third of the population were wiped out during this time.

On a much lighter note we really enjoyed our journey. The temples are truly unbelievable and the Cambodian people very welcoming. We feel very lucky to be able to visit such an incredible place.

Random - Mirror Falls Hike from this spring

2009-06-02T18:26:00.004+08:00

I thought I would share some photos of 1 of our last hikes for the AWA hiking group for this season. June - August are too hot for some of the longer more difficult hikes. Chris and I will continue to hike this summer, but will stick to covered and shorter trails.

Stanely Warm Up Race May 1, 2009

2009-05-06T12:38:00.004+08:00

We had our first dragon boat race this past weekend. It was a great warm up race to prepare us for the Stanley International race on May 28th.

Only 3 women's teams entered this particular race. We got 2nd place in 2 heats and 2nd overall. Not bad for our first race!

Deep Water Bay Race May 3, 2009

2009-05-06T12:34:00.006+08:00

We also had our 2nd race of the season this past weekend. It was the first year our team had entered the Deep Water Bay race. It is a 500 meter race versus the 270 meter races we train for. Everyone was very nervous about the distance. We hadn't even done a 500 meter race simulation in practice yet. We were expecting the worst, but ended up holding our own. We placed 5 of 6 in the first two heats. Then placed 2nd in the "losers" bracket. This felt like a triumphant victory given the circumstances. What an amazing group of women!

Check out the great video one of the husbands took. We are the yellow team. I'm 3rd back on the right hand side and have pigtail braids :)

Hong Kong Rugby Seven's

2009-05-06T12:33:00.004+08:00

These are a little old now, but better late than never. Chris and I were lucky enough to get tickets to all three days of games. I can see why rugby is so popular. Beer, beer, costumes, and more beer. The 7 minute halves were great too. That can even hold my attention!

Our Easter weekend in Cebu, Philippines

2009-04-22T20:44:00.005+08:00

We were luckily enough to book a last minute package to the Philippines for Easter weekend. We stayed at a resort in Cebu on Mactan Island. The resort was gorgeous and reminded us a lot of Cabo San Lucas, MX actually. It made us miss our family trips over the past couple years. The area around the resort was very poor and rundown, just like you see in Mexico. We only ventured off the resort a couple of times. They didn't have a Gigglin' Marlin or Trailer Park : )

Night out in Cebu City & Misc

2009-04-22T19:52:00.003+08:00

We were surprised that our good friend Jeff and a new friend Justin booked a trip to Cebu the same weekend as us. They even ended up staying at the same resort as us! Jeff speaks the local language so that was extra handy to have around, even though all the staff at the resort spoke excellent English. He coordinated a dinner and night out in Cebu City for one of the nights which was a blast. We also met some other couples on holiday from Hong Kong that we spent some time with.

A few kitten pictures

2009-04-22T19:30:00.003+08:00

Most of you know how obsessed I am with Baxter and Lily. I'm not afraid to admit that I am. Here are a couple cutie pictures I've taken over the past few weeks.

Tuk tuks, pad thai, fried crickets, bargain prices, wats – some of our favorite things of Bangkok!

2009-04-04T22:46:00.004+08:00

We arrived late Friday night after a quick happy hour with some friends in HK. Our hotel was in the Old city right off the Chao Phraya River. It was small and simple but very clean and had a convenient location.

We spent the first day touring the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaeo, Wat Pho, and Wat Arun. We also took a long boat tour around the canals. It was once called the Venice of Asia. You'll see in the pictures below. It's not as fancy! We took a dip in the rooftop pool to finish out the day to try to cool off from a hot and sweaty day of touring. Then we spent the evening around Khao San Rd which is know as the backpackers area. It had tons of shopping, street food, bars, restaurants, massage/beauty salons, etc.

Bangkok Day 2

2009-04-04T21:11:00.003+08:00

Our second and last full day we went to the Chatuchak market which is the famous weekend market. About a quarter of a million people visit the market every weekend. It was overwhelmingly big! It had great deals on shopping and lots of good food. After our bargain shopping we went to Wat Saket and the Golden Mount also in Old City. We happily went back to Khao San Rd for the evening.

After a relaxing breakfast on the riverside patio of the hotel we had to head to the airport and end our stay in Bangkok. We had a wonderful and would love to go back!

I'll have another trip to report back on this month as well. Chris and I are heading to the Philippines for Easter weekend.

Macau - They have a Vegas here?!

2009-03-16T15:52:00.013+08:00

Macau - another SAR of China. Just an hour ferry ride SW of Hong Kong. It's the Las Vegas of China so to speak. It doesn't have quite the party scene of Vegas and is more targeted toward gamblers. We played some interesting games. They actually have the card game "War" as a casino game. I thought that was amazing! Finally, a game I can play. They also have a shrimp, crab, pig dice game that is very popular. Chris tried to play Baccarat which is a very popular game for the Chinese. The cards are weighted at different values and basically if the dealer or person playing has the most points wins. It's customary for the player to bend and destroy the cards dealt to him. I thought the person playing just had a really bad temper, but I guess that's the norm. Macau is also home to the Venetian hotel/casino/etc which is the largest building in the world (not the tallest). The design is very similar to the one in the U.S.

We visited during the Chinese New Year and were able to buy and set off our own fireworks. Chris was pretty excited since we can't do such activities in HK and also because they had some fireworks that would have been considered illegal in the states. He was like a kid in a candy store!

Shenzhen = Shopping Mecca

2009-03-16T15:37:00.007+08:00

We have taken a couple trips to Shenzhen on the mainland. It's about an hour MTR ride from where we live and has an overwhelming amount of shopping. Once you're on the train you don't even have to go outside to hit up the shopping. The mall is connected to the Chinese immigration area. You can get a "copy" of anything you want, cheap massages, and Cold Stone Creamery ice cream! (we don't have anything like that in HK). We got 1 hour foot massages and 2 hour body massages for about $50 USD total. It's a pretty nice facility with friendly people, but no one speaks English. We have a funny "lost in translation story", but it's too complicated to write about here. Another time, maybe?

A shout out to the sisters!

2009-03-16T15:12:00.011+08:00

Congratulations to our sisters! Chris' sister, Stephanie, got engaged to Ryan Gore around Christmas time and they are getting married on New Years Eve of 2009. My sister, Kari, got engaged to Jeff Sanders and they were married on Valentines Day this year. We love you both and would like to welcome 2 new brothers to our families! Congrats!

Stephanie & Ryan

Kari & Jeff

Rick & Tally Visit HK

2009-02-18T14:52:00.000+08:00

We were very happy to welcome Rick and Tally to Hong Kong for the first time (aunt & uncle on the Sugg side). They stayed a short 5 days, but we packed it full of activities! Check out the many pictures below. We started the visit off at the Peak and around HK Island. I think we ended up going to Kowloon almost every single day. It has great markets, restaurants, and our tailor. Tally got a fabulous custom made suit and we did lots of other shopping :)

We also went for a moderate hike around Lamma Island and ended up missing our ferry home... Luckily we found a smaller ferry going to Aberdeen, so we hopped on that instead. It ended up being a great boat ride and took us to a favorite seafood restaurant in Aberdeen (on HK island). We saw all sort of kinds of boats - there is a lot of action in Victoria harbor!

Rick & Tally Part II

2009-02-18T14:51:00.000+08:00

One day was spent out on Lantau Island. We saw the big Buddha (largest sitting bronze statue in the world!), the Po Lin monastery, and had a leisurely lunch on lower Cheung Sha Beach. It's one of the most beautiful beaches in Hong Kong (in my opinion).

We also took a scenic bus ride out to the south side of the Island to Stanley. We had a blast walking around the market and did lots of shopping! We enjoyed a fabulous seafood lunch on the water.

As you can see we ate a lot of great food and enjoyed a cocktail or two over the visit. A good time was had by all!

AWA Lunch at the China Club

2009-02-18T14:50:00.002+08:00

I was able to have lunch at the exclusive, member's only China Club in HK. 3 floors on top of the old Bank of China building make up the club. The building is just 15 stories high and looks tiny compared to the modern day skyscrapers surrounding it. There is a main dining room, private rooms for booking, and a library of several thousand books on China and all aspects of Chinese art, culture, history, religion and literature. The food is said to embody the traditional Chinese food found in Hong Kong. In the pictures below you'll see shots of a tea ceremony, noodle making, and some of the art and inside of the club.

Homemade Chinese Noodles

Home for Christmas

2009-01-20T19:19:00.006+08:00

We were lucky enough to go home for Christmas this year. I went a few days early to visit Kari in Idaho. Then Chris met me in Indiana to have Christmas with my side of the family. We then went to Gig Harbor Washington to see the Sugg side and my dad. It was a great, but short trip. A lot of these photo's have been on various facebook pages, so apologies for duplicates!

We had a little blip in our travels to Seattle, but made it just 1 day late. We weren't expecting snow in Seattle!

It was great to see everyone while we were home. :) Thanks to all of our gracious hosts for making our stay so wonderful.

New Years Eve in Hong Kong

2009-01-20T19:18:00.004+08:00

Happy New Year! Our friend Jeff had a NYE pre-party followed by ringing in the New Year at our favorite club, Dragon-I. Some of the pictures have been edited out to protect the innocent...

Chris had my camera most of the night and did a great job taking lots of pictures. We had a great time and were glad we weren't too jet lagged to make it to midnight.

I'm kind of famous!

2009-01-20T19:16:00.008+08:00

I was interviewed for a small biweekly magazine a few weeks ago. There was a feature on new comers to Hong Kong. I was recommended by a friend from the American Women's Association for the article. It was fun to be interviewed and a photographer came to our apartment to take the picture. My 5 minutes of fame!

Suggs Visit Part III: Guangxi Region of China

2009-01-03T10:10:00.000+08:00

After a fun week in Hong Kong with Tracey, the 4 of us headed for 5 days in mainland China. We went to the Guangxi region to Guilin primarily. It was only about a 1.5 hour flight away which was nice. We stayed in Guilin most of the time but also ventured out to Yangshuo and Longsheng (more details in the sections below).

Guilin is a thriving city in China with 1.34 million residents. They get over 10 million tourists each year (mostly from China and other countries in Asia). The city is very developed, but still maintains some of it's original character. Pictures below include our sightseeing in Guilin, our river cruise to Yangshuo, a tour of a small village outside Guilin, tour of a local tea farm, and the Reed Flute cave.

Li Jiang river cruise to Yangshuo

2009-01-03T10:09:00.000+08:00

We took at 4 hour river cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo. The river is lined with beautiful limestone mountains and caves. We had a traditional Chinese lunch with some fresh river fish. The fisherman ride their bamboo rafts up along side the boat and sell fresh fish daily. It was delicious! We ended our journey in Yangshuo a charming fishing village. We did lots and lots of exploring, shopping, eating, and drinking Tsing Tao beer. We had amazing Chinese food in Yangshuo. Our guide hooked us up with some spicy local cuisine. Chris and I rode bikes through the country side with a local guide. We wish we could have had another day here.

My pictures didn't turn out of the Liu Sanjie performance on the Li River. It was choreographed by the same guy who created the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics, Zhang Yimou. It was spectacular and all done on the river! I found these pictures on the web. They hardly do it justice.

Longsheng Rice Terraces

2009-01-03T10:08:00.000+08:00

We traveled 2 hours Northwest of Guilin to Longsheng county to see the famous Longji Titian rice terraces. We were able to see the Zhuang minority village on our trek up the mountain. We all made it to the top and it was well worth the view. Our visit was after the rice harvest. Each season has a distinct beauty. We were also at the cusp of the slow season, so it wasn't too crowded. We had some of the best Chinese food I've ever had; bamboo rice, roasted sweet potatoes (whole and plain), lemon chicken, spicy red pepper dishes, eggplant, etc.

Slide show:

That's all of our trip to China. I hope you enjoyed the million pictures we took!

Double the Suggs, double the fun

2008-11-30T21:45:00.004+08:00

Part I of Mike & Tracey's visit

Mike was in HK for a couple of days, but Tracey was able to spend the week with us. We packed a lot into the week she was in town. We went all over Hong Kong by boat, MTR, tram, taxi, and lots of walking. We walked all over Central and Wan Chai to shop and explore. We also went to several markets across the water in Kowloon. The flower market was beautiful. So many gorgeous plants and flowers for great prices. We also went to the Ladies Market several times shopping for purses and other items. It was great weather - not too hot (finally!)

We enjoyed a Thai cooking class during the week as well. The 3 of us took whole chilies, lemon grass, whole garlic, shallots, etc and made a curry paste with a mortar and pistol. It was a lot of hard work, but well worth it.

When Mike joined us after his business trip, we went to a nice dinner at Sevva with a great view of the harbor and Central. We ventured out to Lantau Island to see the big Buddha and ride the cable car. We also took a ferry out to Lamma island for an evening boat ride and seafood dinner.

Sugg Visit Part II

2008-11-30T21:44:00.004+08:00

Hong Kong Battlefields and Wartime Sites

We went on an all day Battlefields tour around Hong Kong with a local historian. It was a grueling 8 hours of hiking, crawling, squatting, and riding on a tiny bus. Don't get me wrong – it was a great day. We learned all about World War II from HK's perspective. It was very eye opening for me. Hong Kong was attacked 5 hours after the Japanese began their attack on Pearl Harbor in the US. We were able to see pill boxes, bunkers, tunnels, artillery firing positions, war cemeteries, etc. It was a great history lesson (Dan Lasco - you would have loved it!)

Trip to Disneyland HK

2008-10-25T17:50:00.014+08:00

Chris and I went to Disneyland this past Friday evening. The park was decorated and themed for Halloween. It's a surprisinly big holiday here.

We had a really good time. The park is very similar to the one in California (same layout, Main St looks the same, so does the entrance, etc). It's smaller, so it doesn't have all of the same rides. There were some interesting food options - fish balls, stir-fried squid tentacles, pasta cone, and a whole chicken wing. They had some more traditional items as well.

This trip made us really miss the crew we went to Disneyland CA with last fall.

Dragon's Back Hike with Chris & Jeff

2008-10-25T17:26:00.006+08:00

I took Chris and Jeff to hike the Dragon's Back on HK island. It's a pretty short hike, but has some nice size hills. Luckily we had a cool day.

Hiking in Hong Kong - Violet Hill & The Twins

2008-10-17T18:19:00.015+08:00

I've been doing a hike with the AWA almost every week. This past one was pretty tough, we climbed over 1300 stairs!

View from Violet Hill (yes, still on HK island!)

Looking ahead to The Twins

Almost there!

We usually go for a yummy lunch after the hikes (the only reason I go!). I've met some great ladies. I feel guilty sometimes doing such amazing things during the week while Chris slaves away at the office. I'll enjoy it while I can!

National Day

2008-10-05T18:09:00.005+08:00

It was National Day this past Wednesday. Chris got the day off so we went on a hike with Jeff (Tai Tam Reservoir pics below). We also watched the fireworks from the roof of our building.

More Kittens Pics

2008-10-05T17:52:00.004+08:00

Baxter and Lily are as cute as ever. I can't help but take pictures of them almost everyday.They love napping on the couch and climbing the new little tree we got. So naughty.

Fun Pics

2008-10-05T17:43:00.006+08:00

We love having Jeff here! We have done lots of eating and drinking together. I have also included pictures from our hike on Wednesday. We decided to double back and it was all up hill. Brutal!

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

2008-09-21T13:03:00.000+08:00

Chris and I spent the long holiday weekend in Sabah, Malaysia. We stayed at the Shangri-La's Tanjung Aru Resort in Kota Kinabalu. It was considered the off season because of the heat, but it was still cooler and less humid than Hong Kong! It got down to the 70's at night. It was so nice.

TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN PARK

2008-09-21T11:56:00.007+08:00

About a 10 minute boat ride from our hotel were 5 small islands - Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. We started the day on Pulau Sapi for snorkeling, white sand beaches, and swimming. We spent the late afternoon on Pulau Manukan island for lunch, and more ocean and beach fun. I'm still afraid of the ocean, but Chris was a great snorkel coach. The underwater disposable camera hardly does the coral justice. The area also boasts top 10 diving places in the world.

Garama Wetlands Tour

2008-09-21T11:29:00.003+08:00

We traveled 2 hours south to the village of Garama to tour the Garama River. Most famous for the Proboscis monkey - only found in this area. We also saw Silver Langourm and Macaque monkeys, a Purple Heron, a baby crocodile, a monitor lizard, and water buffalo. After the cruise we had a delicious Malaysian dinner and watch fireflies light up nearby mangrove trees. It was worth the two hour bus ride!

2 new additions to our family!

2008-09-07T18:00:00.003+08:00

Kittens!!! Say hello to Baxter and Lily.

Chinese Cooking Class

2008-09-07T17:08:00.004+08:00

Chris and I took a 3 hour cooking class this past week. It was much fun and we got to eat some great Chinese food.

High Island Hike with AWA

2008-09-07T16:43:00.005+08:00

Maggie's 1st hike with the American Women's Association

80's Party!

2008-08-27T22:29:00.002+08:00

We got invited to an 80's themed birthday party last weekend. Gotta love getting in costume!

Who knew they still make Dunkaroos? They were as delicious as I remembered...

Typhoon Warning T9

2008-08-27T22:18:00.000+08:00

We survived our 2nd typhoon warning. This one went up to a 9 (1o is a hurricane). It was very windy and rainy. We felt safe and even ventured out for lunch. It's common for most Dim Sum restaurants to stay open during T8s.

View day of T9 warning

View on a clear day (you can see the green netting on the building on the left in both pics)

All the taxi's park on the street in a T8+. It looks like the abandon them!

Our First Visitor

2008-08-22T19:00:00.000+08:00

We had our first visitor 2 weekends ago. Our friend Joel from Stryker stopped over for the weekend on his way to Korea. We had a great time!

We finally moved into our apartment!

2008-08-14T21:41:00.000+08:00

Chris and I finally moved into our apartment on Friday. We've been busy getting settled. It turns out the building and area we moved to are "up and coming". We kind of fell backwards into that! Here are some pictures and links about our place. We'll send pictures of our apartment after I've had more time to clean and organize. :)

A few of the amenities...
Roof top pool - 43 stories high

Roof top "garden" also 43 stories high

We also have a nice gym - the only downfall is you have to pay per use for the pool and gym.

If you want to see more....

http://www.jresidence.com.hk/

http://www.kwre.com.hk/homespace_en/hong_kong_en.html#J_Residence

It's all about the Dim Sum...

2008-08-14T21:26:00.000+08:00

Chris and I went to yum cha this past weekend. We found a really good place very close to our new apartment in Wan Chai. The shrimp dumplings are my favorite. We were told the shrimp dumpling is the quintessential dish of a Cantonese restaurant. Chris loves the pork buns (they are delicious too!)

Top 5 Favorite Things About Our Week

2008-08-03T22:28:00.000+08:00

5) Our friend Mike told us about a great wine bar called - Tastings. We've been twice already. (picture below)

4) We found a fun comedy club and met some cool folks - Take Out Comedy - they are the first comedy club in China (http://www.takeoutcomedy.com/index2.html)

3) We bought our first item of furniture together! (our couch - still at the store)

2) We also purchased a wardrobe set and had it installed (built in closets aren't common here).

1) We found out we get to move into our apartment on the 8th! We are pumped to start getting settled. It will be a busy week transitioning into the new place.

A random encounter

2008-08-02T10:32:00.000+08:00

Chris ran into our friend Mike on Tuesday night who happened to be in town for a few days. Batman was just a bonus addition! There are over 7 million people in Hong Kong. Who would have thought?!

2008-07-30T16:36:00.000+08:00

Chris and I took a very ride over to Lamma Island this past weekend. I've included some pictures in the slide show. It was a cool 40 minute ferry ride to one of Hong Kong's 236 Islands. They have a fresh seafood restaurant that we ate at. There were several hiking trails. We hiked out to a little beach area. It was a good time. The only bad part was the HUGE spiders we saw on our hike. You can watch this YouTube video if you want to see them http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00y1IzkHzlA.

Slide Show Lamma Island

2008-07-29T20:31:00.000+08:00