The zoo by Ava

Today we went to the zoo. We saw, giraffes, monkeys, flamingos, lions, hippos and tigers. The monkeys were my favorite because they were trying to impress us. The lion was hiding but then it came out and roared. Here are some pictures of the animals.

Diamond head by Ava

Today we went to the diamond head mountain. We walked through a path to get to the top. When you get to the top it is hard to get down. there were two tunnels. One was not to long and the other was pretty long.it was really high.

Hawaiian necklaces by Ava

Today we arrived in Hawaii.
When we got to the airport the girls that worked
there gave us a flower necklace.
We didn't know what type of flower it was.
It smelled really good.
They were white, there was about 15 flowers on it.
Here is a picture of the necklaces.

Location:Hawaii

Regina to Honolulu

So excited. We are going to Hawaii for our first time. Our friends, Chad and Maxine are getting married on Friday and we'll be there to celebrate with them. I just realized it's a four hour time difference. We land at 9pm, but it will be 1am in Regina. I still want to explore when we get there.

I'm feeling nostalgic about when I used to Hawaiin Dance and my cousin Jen and I were on Tiny Talent Time dancing 'Pearly Shells'

Cinque Terre - Monterosso

Everyone says this is the place to visit in Italy and it is. I wish we would have stayed longer. The sea is so perfectly blue and the views from the hikes between villages are amazing. We stayed at the Hotel Margherita. Very modern. Short walk to the beach and train station.




Rented umbrellas and sun beds and relaxed all day long.



Stopped in the village next to Monterosso called Vernazza for gelato.



Ate delicious sea bass and pesto at Ely's.

Ference's in Firenze

I was most excited for this stop on our trip, because last time we came, we only had 3 days. We have 5 days on this round and do not need to stand in line for the Duomo or Uffuzi Gallery.

I love this Popsicle shop called the Stick House. Everyday stop included Limone, noccioli (hazelnut), fragile (strawberry) and chocolate. Also, amazing gelato near Piazza Pitti.



Took a train to Pisa. Had fun with trying to hold it up.


Ate at Ristorante Paoli. Splurged on a huge meal of zucchini salad, duck breast carpaccio, grilled fish, salted cod, pasta, limo cello, prosecco, chianti.










Love the markets. Nobody is aggressive in trying to sell you anything.






I love Florence!

Venice is so very!

I actually got teary eyed when we arrived in Venice. Bonnie says it's because I'm a Cancer and we love the water. I believe her. Besides becoming a gelato snob (only buy from places with metal lids over their gelato) I've become souvenir snob. Love these masks.


The food has been delicious. Grilled sea bass, salmon with peppercorns, fillet steak. Yum.

Last day in Rome - Parasol Fiasco

Last day in Rome. Wanted to shop, eat and relax. The girls were dying to buy a parasol all week, so when we got to the Spanish Steps we were in luck. There were several men selling them They couldn't decide on a colour. Meanwhile, I'm holding a green one (haven't paid) when the street vendor flees and a cop walks up to me and tells me it's illegal for them to sell them. Agh! It was utter chaos. What do I do with the green parasol? I totally thought the street vendor was going to come after me to pay for it, so we hid in a camper store. Expensive hide-out, because Chris bought another pair of shoes. (Yesterday,we hit the Gente' outlet and found him red Prada runners. What has become of Chris?



Walked in +37 heat back to our hotel and did laundry. (after we got locked out of our room)



Then we ate at Cotto. Chris had a filet. I had lamb chops. The kids shared risotto. Arrivederci Roma!

Mouth of Truth

Walked forever to find this only to realize we passed it last night when we were lost. Both Mia and Ava saw it and we didn't hear them say it. Ava was sure someone was going to bite her finger off in there.

I feel so Spartacus

It really is amazing when you turn the corner and see the Colosseum for the first time. Trying to explain Gladiators to the kids was funny. Chris would have never wanted to take these cheesy pics, but Mia and Ava were so excited to stand with these guys.

Inside the Pantheon

Love the natural light in the Pantheon. We want to come back here when it rains.







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Rome Day 2

After an hour delay on the plane in Toronto, we made it to Rome on my 40th birthday. Happy Birthday to me!
Joel and Vi met us at our hotel. So nice. Took cab to a great restaurant where we drank prose co and ate starters or cheese, tomatoes and salami. Delicious apple balsamic. Had to buy some to bring home. Walked through Piazza Navona. Love all the street

Happy Canada Day! (Off to Italy)

Day 1 - Travel Day.
Sweet Panda goes where Mia goes. I hope there's a good movie selection on the plane, otherwise, I'll play hours and hours of iPad Jeopardy and Family Feud.

(Just overheard Mia say, "Why aren't we flying Cathay Pacific?" Air Canada will just have to do.)

One More Sleep Until Rome

Yay! So excited to blog again.
Leaving for Rome, Italy on Canada Day. Managed to pack the four of us into one suitcase (including an extra duffel bag for shopping) I'm the master of packing. The kids spent the day with the grandparents - Treated to a bento box at Michi, Mr. Popper's Penguins (for the 2nd time) and slip and slide, while I did laundry, re-made 3 beds, ironed, vacuumed,re-packed, recycled (and bought new stylish flip-flops), while catching up on everything DTVR'd like MasterChef and a special on Julian Asange.

I definitely do not feel like cooking tonight, mainly because I don't have much food in the house and have washed all our dishes.

I love traveling with the family.
Stay Tuned

The Library

Our hotel for 3 days. Heaven.
I can't wait to post pictures.

Upgrade to Business Class

At the Bangkok airport, we were warned to not wear red as there is a big protest today. We realized our tickets were for Business Class which allowed us access to the Bangkok Airlines Blue Ribbon lounge = Free food, drink and internet in lovely surroundings. We had Chang and Singha beer, Prawn Wonton Soup, Chicken Basil pastries, popcorn?, sticky rice, etc. Hello!

We met my brother here. He had just arrived from Comox, BC, so he was tired, but a trooper. The kids love Uncle Ed!

On our 45 minute flight, they served us freshly baked apple scones, dry fruit and oat scones, fresh papaya and pineapple and drinks. Chris and I had a Heineken.

2 nights in Bangkok

Best food ever. I swore I wouldn't eat off the street, but MAN, how can you not? Barbequed banana on a stick, coconut rice cakes, corn on the cob. Everything is so fresh.
We've tried every type of transportation: Walking, taxi, riverboat taxi, tuk-tuk, and skytrain. There is so much traffic, that skytrain and riverboat are the way to go. Shopping is crazy...everything from cheap street stuff to high end malls. I was in techno-gadget heaven in the Siam Paragon BE store. Cute little iPod speakers, stationary, lego jewellery, stuff you see in Wired magazine, all in front of you. Agh! I wish I could take everything home.
The Grand Palace is the home of lollipop trees. The kids were tired of me taking pictures of every tree I saw. Lots of tourists. Many who wanted pictures of Ava as a souvenir?

My mom and I went for foot massages. Holy! I didn't know you could spend 60 minutes on feet. It was painful, yet wonderful. I didn't know I had that many spots in my foot to massage. How can they only charge $12 for this?..and at a higher end hotel nonetheless. They even spend the last 10 minutes on your back, shoulders, arms and hands.

More later.

Fitting Room Blackout

It was Women's Day Sale in Ho Chi Minh City. Everything 30% off for women.
I found three cute dresses to try on, headed to the fitting rooms and there was a black-out. Hilarious. It was pitch black. I thought I'd just leave, but NO...they wanted me to stay and buy something, so one girl held her cell phone to light up the dressing room, which meant that she was in there with me. So, I started undressing (Mia horrified that this girl was seeing me change) Next, two more shop girls came in, each with a lit candle, and they both watched me change. I had to SQUEEEEZE into a size 10 (what's up with the sizes here) and they tried to convince me I didn't look like a sausage in it's casing.

Crossing the street

Yes, this deserves it's own post. So far, nothing has made my heart beat faster than having to cross the street here in Ho Chi Minh City. It's scary because their are 4 million scooters, many buses, cars and cabs. Mia says, 'In Regina, you would never cross the steet in front of a moving bus' Here, you have no choice. We have a family mantra/chant while we cross the street. First, we all hold hands. Then we say in unison 'Don't stop, don't run, just walk' 'Don't stop, don't run, just walk' We always make it safely, and Ava's walk always ends in tears and a comment 'I'm never doing that again'

Yummy Food

We have eaten at some great restaurants. It is so inexpensive.
Example, our meal at Barbeque Garden last night cost $46 for 5 adults and 2 children. This is what we ordered:
2 Tiger Beer
2 Lipton Lemon Iced Tea
1 Pepsi
2 Tropical Garden smoothies
1 Fresh Pineapple Juice
1 Iced Vietnamese Coffee
1 Iced Mocha Latte
2 Grilled Lamb
2 Coconut Chicken Kabobs
3 Pork Kabobs with Vegetable
3 Grilled Pork ribs with garlic honey
1 Jumbo Shrimp with garlic
1 Fried Spring rolls with crab meat
2 Spicy Beef
RICE
Chocolate Fondue with bananas, watermelon and pineapple.

WHAT! We were stuffed.

Shopping in Ho Chi Minh City

Hello! I thought Manila was inexpensive. This is unbelievable.
Chris went to the bank to exchange $100US and we got over 2 million Vietnam Dongs.
Dong is such a great word. I can say 'hello' sin chow (sp?) and 'thank you' cam on (sp?) It's getting us by. The shopping highlight is around the Ben Thanh Market. Don't laugh, but I've re-stocked Chris' underwear drawer with new faux 'Louis Vuitton' and 'D&G' boxer briefs. I've stocked up on sunglasses, silk pajamas and boxes of fake eyelashes. We stop for fresh mango smoothies and root beer. The kids can't stand the smell of the food stalls. Neither can I.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam is HOT

I've never experienced HOT like this before. We landed at 6:30pm at it was +32C. Love that feeling. Stayed at Hotel Magestic, which was built in 1925. Chris says that it's the 'grandest' hotel he's ever stayed at. Truly, high vaulted ceilings, lots of wood, immaculate bathroom, bedding, views of the water, views of rooftop gardens. Sweet. We have an adjoining room to my mom, Tita Jazmine and Margie. Man, we are having fun. The girls were shy around Margie at first, but have completely opened up. Went for a night swim and finally had a good night's sleep :)

Dim Sum for Everyone

We actually spent less than 24 hours in Hong Kong as a stopover to Vietnam, but trust me we packed a lot in. Met my mom's friend Feloria for Dim Sum at 8:30am. We tried not to eat as we were meeting Kirk and Faye for dim sum at the Eaton Hotel at 11:30. OMG the food is good. We also walked around and found the Hong Kong version of Sephora, called Sasa. Walls of eyelashes, walls of cute tweezers and eyelash curlers..a girlie girl's paradise :) (Then I found out that Faye's real name is Sasa)

My new favourite treat are these mango filled, coconut covered desserts. Not North American Mango, but the yellow, soft, deliciously sweet mango. I had to buy 4x6 packs to take with us.

Side Note

I haven't had a chance to load any pics from our camera as I didn't bring a laptop and the computer in our hotel doesn't have a slot for my media card.

Kirk and Faye

Got to visit with Kirk Kenny and Faye. He's been living in Hong Kong for 6 months. We walked to a little night market. There were so many cute dress shops on the way. It was 10pm, but the kids came with us so we hyped them up on pop. Bought cutesy little Hello Kitty cube lights, Super Mario mushrooms and my aunt found a miniature mah jong set for the girls. I love this stuff. It's great having Faye to speak Cantonese and barter for us.

We dropped the girls back at the hotel and took a cab to a night club on the 29th floor of a building that overlooked both Kowloon and Hong Kong. There was some Bollywood type band playing. It was the most crowded, party situation I've ever been in. (I know, I haven't been out in 15 years, so it was a shocker) I don't think there are any fire regulations for how many people they can squeeze into that place. For some reason, I only saw about five Chinese people. Everyone was Indian (except Chris and Kirk)...probably because of the band. FUN!

Some pics of our family in Hong Kong courtesy of Mr. Kirk Kenny

Hong Kong - First Impressions

Yay! Our baggage arrived. The Hong Kong airport is so clean and white and futuristic. Great shopping, great art. Love. Went to the drugstore and 7-11 just to check out their product. Everything is so cute with Chinese characters on them.

Took a shuttle bus to our Kowloon hotel, CityView. First impressions: Clean city, huge skyscrapers (there was one apartment building that we were told has 200,000 residents. Imagine.) long bridges, bright neon lights, everything is massive, it's a cross between Vancouver and NYC.

I was soooo super tired, but also very pumped up with energy. Couldn't wait to have a quick bath, then get out to the night markets of Hong Kong.

Movie Extravaganza

I slept for 1/2 hour on a 15 hour flight. I couldn't get comfortable next to Mia and Ava all sprawled out beside me. I was happy to get caught up on a ton of movies I've been meaning to see. Up in the Air (Loved it), BlindSide (Holy, Sandra Bullock deserved to win), An Education (Great young actress), Couples Retreat (hee hee). Also, there's nothing like Cup o Noodles mid-air. The girls did very well on the plane, despite Mia's worries about getting motion sickness. I hope those days are behind us.

Flying Day - Landing in Hong Kong

Love the Vancouver International airport. They completely decked it out to impress for the Olympics. Quatchi this and Miga that. Chris bought a neck pillow for the 15 hour flight to Hong Kong. Right before we boarded the plane we realized our bags were checked straight through to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (instead of Hong Kong) Uh oh...Cathay Pacific was able to pull them on the plane, retag our suitcases and issue our new luggage tags. Trust me, I was prepared for lost luggage.

The adventure begins

Just packing the car,took a family photo (note: Panda goes everywhere we go), downing my protein shake and watching Mia and Ava play a last minute game of chinese checkers.
First stop, Vancouver....short wait, customs, board Cathay Pacific for Hong Kong.

What to wear to a Cambodian Wedding?

I can't wait to experience this wedding. The religious cermony is first. The dress code is no black, no sleevless and nothing too short. That rules out everything in my closet. My capped sleeve, colourful dress is way too short too wear..Stacey and Clinton would shout out 'No mini skirts over age 35' I now realize I only own black dresses and need to expand my horizons. We are going to be sitting on the floor, I'm assuming on mats, blankets or pillows, so the 'too short' rule is a good rule.

Chris gets to wear a barong (Filipino dress shirt) and pants. Easy.

We are bringing two suitcases that are only half full.

4 Sleeps until our Asian Adventure

I'm getting really excited about this trip. My cousin Joel is getting married to Vi in Siem Reap, Cambodia on March 18th, which instigated our whole family to have another big vacation.

Itinerary Summary
Hong Kong to see Kirk Kenny for one night. (Dim Sum and the night market)
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (Parks, food and cheap shopping)
Bangkok, Thailand (High hopes for the lollipop trees at The Grand Palace)
Koh Samui, Thailand (my hot beach getaway)
Bangkok, Thailand (hanging out)
Siem Reap, Cambodia (Wedding parties and Angkor Wat)

It will go by really fast. I'm trying to pack lightly so I can fill my suitcase with stuff I buy there.

The ME Cancun

The ME Cancun hotel. I was NOT disappointed. The hotel is beautiful. This was our room!

Ava is an artist

Calgary with the Krugers

It was so great to arrive in Calgary and have Carmen pick us up! Her kids are soooo cute. (and mine are really brown)

Au Revoir Paris

We are going to miss Paris and Rodney & Marjo's beautiful home & garden.

Rain, Rillette and Rainbows

On our last day in Paris we went back to Le Marais area near St. Paul metro. It started POURING rain. We had nowhere to go. We ran from awning to awning to get moments of relief. Finally, we spotted a place to go and sit down. It was a gay bar that only served drinks and baguettes. It turned out so great. I had panache', Chris had beer, the kids drank coke and ate delicious rillettes (pork spread...doesn't sound do good in English) on crusty baguettes. Ah, the memories.

why do I take these shots?

The best play structure in Paris

Jardin du Luxembourg. I think it was about 1.5Euro for the kids to play here. So fun.

The Statue of Liberty in Luxembourg Gardens

The first model (on a small scale) of the Statue of Liberty was builty in 1870.

Popsicles outside Hotel de Ville

The cheapest place to get delicious popsicles are in the metro.

Babar

I'm 99% sure this is the same place we bought Marmar's Babar print in 1993 when Chris and I traveled to Paris.

Gotta love Mist Machines on a hot day

That man with his shirt off sure loves mist machines too! Remember, this is part of Paris Plage...the Louvre is right behind us.

Paris Plage

No! There isn't a beach in Paris, but in 2002 they started putting sand on the banks of the Seine for all of August. There are people sun bathing like they're on the Mediterranean.

Making the most of the last 2 days!