El Nido - Island Hopping Tour C

October 11, 2016
With one day left in El Nido, we decided to do the highly recommended Tour C. Because we had had such a great experience with the Umi Tour group, we went with the same company again. We booked through Arkitel Bed and Breakfast, the place where we were staying and got a significant discount, and Eva at 6 years old was free...which really helped keep the experience budget friendly. 

The most talkative and interactive of our crew was Jayson, a young guy who chatted us up and played games with the kids. He was a lot of fun. We had 5 stops on this tour.

Jayson and Veronika

At the entrance to Hidden Beach

Wading through the tunnel to Hidden Beach.

Little hermit crabs all over the beach.

Hidden Beach

Racing hermit crabs on the beach.

Lunch at Star Beach, prepared aboard our tour boat.  Our guides had a small grill at the back of the boat and managed to create a feast!

Delicious lunch!!!

Snorkelling and swimming in the beautiful blue waters.

Time to relax.

Nice cold Red Horse at the end of a great day.

Kuala Lumpur Sleepover

Sept. 23-24, 2016

One weekend in September, Viktor, Veronika and I whipped over to Kuala Lumpur for a quick visit. You may be thinking what's the point?  Why?  24 hour visit is a little quick.  It was a great multipurpose visit though.  Viktor went for a sleepover with his friend and former classmate Bryan (hemoved from HCMC to KL at the end of summer, and they really miss each other). I was going to pick up my super nutrition shakes, which I can no longer get in Vietnam, but are available throughout many other countries in Southeast Asia. And Veronika came along for a girls day in KL...action packed, but super fun and purposeful.

Jet-setting with my middles. :-)

We arrived downtown KL at night.

We were picked up at the airport by Bryan's aunt Amy,  She drove us to our hotel (the PNB - a great place, clean, very reasonable price and walking distance to the Petronas Towers, but a little far from all the great shopping and food that KL has to offer), if we were to do it again we would probably stay closer to KL Sentral or Brickfields to be closer to the action of the city - especially the delicious Indian food found in the Brickfields area).

Bryan's family hosted us for dinner, Bryan's older brother is a chef and cooked an incredible array of meals including Indian, Vietnamese, Thai and Malay food.  The hospitality of the family was incredible, and even though Bryan and Vitkor were good friends, we had only met at a school function, but they cared for us like family.  After a great social evening Amy drove Veronika and me to our hotel downtown and Viktor stayed for his KL sleepover.

The next day, Veronika and I had a great breakfast, we walked around the Petronas towers, had fun taking pictures, and did a little shopping.  It's so nice to hang out with my kids one on one, and really get to talk to them and get to know them.  It's special time, that really needs to be planned on a more regular basis.

Veronika was on a quest to find and H&M store and we did...they are actually all over KL.

Veronika and I headed to the Malaysian Isagenix headquarters and pack our suitcases full of products.  I was supplying not only my family, but a couple other friends who were in Vietnam, and wanted to be healthier.  Later in the day we took an Uber to KL Sentral, did some shopping and met with Hazel, Amy, Bryan and Viktor.  We had lunch, said our goodbyes, and it was time to take the train to the airport for our flight home to HCMC.

Me and Hazel

It was a little more than 24 hours.  Not even a weekend, but such a great little getaway, and with Air Asia flights coming in at $57/per person, totally doable.  Thank you Air Asia for making travel affordable, my family is getting to experience SE Asia like we never imagined.