tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2391165944728237872024-02-07T14:17:14.554+08:00Life As We Know It...one day at a timeKaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06252877243020957918noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-49106732846843088512014-02-19T01:20:00.000+08:002014-02-19T01:20:01.798+08:00Stella is 4 Months!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Sweet Stella turned 4 months on February 11, 2014. She happened to get her 4 month shots that day and was such a big girl! She barely cried and was back to her normal happy and smiley self when we left. She weighed in at 15 lbs. 13.5 oz and was 25 inches long.</div>
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Her new favorite things to do are pet Jaek and Chloe, jump, splash in the bath, talk to Mommy and Daddy, and of course smile :)</div>
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Now that Stella is on a regular schedule and quite alert, we have more flexibility to go and do things with her. The end of January we decided to head up to Lake Louise. The weather in Calgary was around 50 degrees (warmer than even Houston at the time) and another gorgeous day. The weekend happened to be a winter festival and ice sculpture contest. We enjoyed spending the day at Lake Louise walking around enjoying another gorgeous winter day.</div>
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Stella celebrated her first Valentines Day with all of her friends from our baby group. Genevieve's Mom, Carmen, hosted the party and it was a huge success. All of the babies had a great time exchanging gifts for a secret Valentine exchange, playing, and giving lots of hugs and kisses <u>XOXO</u></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy girl!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the sweet Mommies and Babies in our baby group!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella and her Valentine Hayden...he was pooped out from all the excitement :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella and Chloe during story time reading one of Stella's new books she got for Valentines Day :)</td></tr>
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February 17 is Family Day here in Calgary and a public holiday. We spent Sunday going to Bragg Creek to see Elbow Falls. The falls are no longer large water falls due to the change in the course of the river from the bad flood that came through Calgary in June of 2013 right before we moved. It was however, still beautiful landscape and a nice place to hike around for the day. Stella also enjoyed her new hiking backpack :)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella and I at Elbow Falls</td></tr>
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We are heading on our first vacation (aside from meeting family and friends at Christmas) to Playa del Carmen and Cozumel, Mexico to escape the negative temperatures here in Calgary. Stella can't wait to get to warmer weather and splash around at the beach, while working on her tan of course!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-24854283555905721352013-12-18T05:16:00.002+08:002013-12-18T07:42:45.407+08:00Stella is 2 Months Old!!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Stella Grace de Jong was born on October 11, 2013 at 1:01 pm. She was 8lbs 7oz and 21 inches long. <br />
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Her Favorite Things: Eating, Smiling, Jumping, and looking at all the fun pictures throughout the house<br />
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It's truly amazing how much happiness one little baby girl creates. Kim is with Stella during the day and is faced with the normal challenges of raising a baby but they're all forgotten when she looks up and gives you that big open-mouthed smile. Everything else in the world seems trivial at that point in time.<br />
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We're heading to Houston for Christmas to introduce Stella to our family and friends and celebrate Stella's first Christmas. Holidays will be so much more exciting now to share the joy and meaning of Christmas with a child. Kim and I are so happy and excited to show her off to everyone.<br />
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We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!!!</div>
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Kaeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06252877243020957918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-29887968610231753272013-09-26T17:00:00.000+08:002013-09-27T05:58:30.621+08:00{Patiently} Waiting...38 Weeks and Counting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="text-align: center;">Well we are making our way slowly but surely to Stella making her debut. Today I am 38 weeks and not a whole lot of action going on. She has dropped quite a bit, so it is easier for me to breathe, but no real progress on dilation after my check-up yesterday. The doctor said things could change quickly, but I am just sitting back and waiting. Don't want to rush the whole process even though I {may} be over being pregnant. I figured I have waited this long...what is another few weeks, right!?!?!</span><br />
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</span> <span style="text-align: center;">Kaes and I are just so anxious to meet our little angel and hold her in our arms. It truly has been a wonderful experience and even with a cross continent move, dealing with a very sick puppy, moving to another new country and getting settled in, I can't really complain too much. I have the normal aches and pains of pregnancy, but am very thankful that I have been healthy, feeling well, and able to keep up my normal daily routine and schedule. I know it could have been quite a bit worse!</span><br />
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</span> <span style="text-align: center;">I finally finished up Stella's nursery a few weeks ago. My and her hospital bags are both packed and ready, car seat installed, and even a sack of rehydrators and snacks are ready to go. Now we just wait...</span><br />
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</span> <span style="text-align: center;">Here are a few pictures of her nursery and of me as I have been progressing over these past few weeks.</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Not too much longer now!!! Stay tuned for pictures of our little girl!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">35 & 37 Weeks<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0Calgary, AB, Canada51.0453246 -114.0581012000000150.7256451 -114.70354820000001 51.3650041 -113.4126542tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-53279189618239585402013-08-12T23:47:00.000+08:002013-08-12T23:47:05.048+08:00Road Trip!!! Our Arrival and First Week in Calgary<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Our first week in Calgary was quite adventurous. You may have read in my last post that my Mom and I, along with Jaek and Chloe, drove from Houston all the way up to Calgary over 4 days stopping in Oklahoma City, Denver, Billings, and then into Calgary. It was a long drive of 9-10 hours each day with stops, but I am very thankful it was uneventful (no car problems, sickness, accidents, or issues at the border)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zoo Crew all ready to go!</td></tr>
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We left on Tuesday after the movers packed up our shipment from Houston of Stella's furniture and gifts and made it to Calgary on Friday around 5 pm. The movers had delivered everything on Thursday, so Kaes had been busy with a house full of boxes and where to put everything! The house is nice, but definitely doesn't have the amount of space we would like or need. I keep telling myself it is not forever and we can deal with it...also very thankful for a huge basement since that is where the majority of the boxes will be stored until our next move.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very important pit stop ;)</td></tr>
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After a busy first week, we decided we wanted to take a break and have some fun. Banff and Lake Louise are some of the most beautiful attractions in Alberta and are only 1.5 hours away from Calgary, so we took a short day trip there leaving early Saturday morning.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Louise</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom and I in front of Lake Louise - it is just breathtaking!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bow River that runs through Banff all the way to Calgary</td></tr>
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I am still waiting for the next shipment to arrive and be delivered. The moving company says this Thursday and hopefully so. Mom will be here with me until Friday, so we will not have a whole lot of time to set up Stella's nursery.<br />
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I have my initial doctors appointment (32 weeks) here in Calgary on Friday and then Mom leaves that afternoon :( She has been such a huge help from the packing, moving, road trip with the zoo crew, all of the work getting the Calgary house in order and helping me prepare dinners to freeze for when Stella arrives. It has been a busy week, but I feel great about all the progress that has been made!<br />
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Thank you for all that you do! Love you Mom!!! XOXO</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0Calgary, AB, Canada51.0453246 -114.0581012000000150.7256451 -114.70354820000001 51.3650041 -113.4126542tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-54125079529236095452013-07-29T08:00:00.000+08:002013-08-08T23:21:47.547+08:00Sugar and Spice...and Everything Nice!!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In case you don't know, we have decided on a name. No more Baby D - we have decided to name our sweet angel Stella Grace de Jong.<br />
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I had my first baby shower in Longview thrown by my sweet cousin Jessica. I am so grateful for all her hard work in getting it together. It couldn't have been more perfect! I had family from both sides come and share the special day with us.<br />
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A very close friend of mine that I have known since middle school did maternity pictures for me at the end of July. <a href="http://www.dayzphotography.com/">Day-Z Photography with Amanda Adams</a> is a natural light photographer specializing in newborns, children, and maternity photography. We did a session on a very warm evening and somehow she still made all of the pictures look beautiful! I am so happy she did them and was able to capture a special moment in our lives.<br />
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My second baby shower was thrown by Jane, Jesica and Tara. It was at Jane's house and was so beautiful! I couldn't have dreamed of it being any prettier. Stella is one lucky lady to have so many wonderful people in her life to come and share our special day :)<br />
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Mom and I, along with the 2 pups, will be driving up to Calgary over 4 days going through Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Montana, and into Canada where we will meet Kaes before he has to go back to Malaysia for the last few weeks. I am very fortunate that Mom will be with me for 2 weeks in Calgary to help unpack, organize the house, and help get Stella's nursery all set up :)<br />
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Please pray for us a safe journey up to Calgary! More updates to come once we get all settled in :)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0Houston, TX, USA29.7601927 -95.36938959999997728.878513700000003 -96.660283099999972 30.6418717 -94.078496099999981tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-83266066023607652332013-07-22T06:39:00.002+08:002013-07-22T06:39:18.298+08:00Our Sweet Boy Jaek<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As some of you may or may not know, our sweet boy Jaek had been dealing with what we found out was a ruptured disk in his neck/back for about 6 months. It upsets me so much to know how much pain he was in for so long. The steroids, pain meds, and acupuncture were barely enough to keep him well enough until we were able to fly him back to Houston on June 12th to meet with a specialist about how bad his injury was and if we could do surgery.<div>
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After a very intense surgery to scrape and clean out all the ruptured debris from his spinal column, blood transfusion, serious seizures, ICU and 2.5 weeks at the vet, I finally got to bring Jaek back to my parents where we watched him closely and were up hours on end to help manage pain and work on rehabilitation to help him walk again.<br /><div>
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Now it is July 21st and he is able to get up, walk on his own, and only has a bit of a wobble mainly on his left side from what we think was a minor stroke during one of his seizures. He appears to have lost vision in his left eye, but we hope some of it may come back as the nerves heal. We are so thankful for the huge recovery he has made thanks to the outstanding vets at North Houston Veterinary Specialist. Without their great work, unconditional patience and kindness, and a lot of prayer, we know he wouldn't be where he is today.</div>
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In just 9 short days Me, Mom, Jaek, and Chloe will start our journey up to Calgary. 4 days, 6 states, 2 countries, and 2,200 miles later, we should be reunited (for a short time as Kaes still has to go back to Malaysia) as a family after a long exhausting 6 weeks.</div>
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Please pray for us that we have a safe trip with no major hurdles or incidences! Posts from Calgary will come soon :)</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-61357167889871799352013-06-06T21:00:00.001+08:002013-06-06T21:00:08.743+08:00It's A....Girl!!! - 21 Week Check-Up<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<u>Current Cravings</u>: Still green apples, but mostly any flavor of ice cream :)<br />
<br />
We are so excited to announce that we are expecting our first bundle of joy due to arrive October 14, 2013!<br />
<br />
I am currently 21 weeks and Baby d and I are doing wonderful! We even climbed up the Great Wall of China just last week. I major feat I must say! I am very thankful that I have had a pretty easy pregnancy so far. I was sick in the beginning each morning, but it seemed to pass quickly and I know it could have been MUCH worse.<br />
<br />
At our appointment today, I had a test for protein and sugar in my urine and it came back negative (signs for diabetes) which is great news. I am right on track for weight gain, just need to make sure I keep a steady gain to not have issues as I get closer to delivering.<br />
<br />
Sweet Baby Girl has really long legs and big feet!!! It is not totally surprising since Kaes and I are both pretty tall. She is going to be a big baby.<br />
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The doctor says all other signs are normal and growth is going well. She has 10 fingers and toes, solid spinal growth, good blood flow from main artery from me to her heart, all organs growing normally, and heart and brain look good. She likes to cover her face with her arm and definitely stays active and likes to kick me quite often :) I don't mind as I know she is doing okay.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sweet girl covering her face with her hand</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The doctor says she has really long legs and big feet!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Profile pic of our sweet baby girl</td></tr>
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My next appointment will be in Houston before moving up to Calgary. The doctor says that I am fit to fly, which is good since we have quite a bit of it coming up!<br />
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We couldn't be more thrilled to know our little angel is healthy and growing normally. She is already so special to us and we can't wait to meet her in just about 4 months!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-60577783506399986082013-06-02T14:05:00.000+08:002013-06-04T11:30:17.670+08:00The Forbidden City, Great Wall, and Terracotta Warriors - Ancient Wonders Through China<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
China boasts some of the most ancient history in the world dating back more than 3,500 years ago and has the 3rd highest number of World Heritage Sites with 43 total. Exploring the beautiful countryside along with learning the rich culture that has shaped the world was a great experience and we were so glad to take advantage of our time left in Asia with one last trip to China.<br />
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<u>Tips Before You Travel:</u> Bring a roll of toilet paper (you
can thank me later) China has about 98% squatting toilets that you can smell
before you see. At what point does a modern city not dispose of bodily waste in
a hole in the ground!?!?!?<br />
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The subway system has been upgraded and has all signs
written in pinyin (English form of Chinese characters) so it is easy to
understand and follow. Most trips anywhere you go are CNY 2 ($0.75) person
around the city, so quite economical. Signs around the city are not written
in English and people don’t speak English, so have a map and plan of where you
want to go.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>Oddities in China</u>: Parents dress their babies in pants that
have a hole in the seat instead of wearing diapers. If they have to go to the
restroom, they simple squat in the middle of the street and go…interesting way
of potty training I suppose???? Kaes and I both saw it happen several times and still couldn't believe it. I didn't want to take a picture as it felt violating, so use your imagination....<o:p></o:p></div>
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We flew out after work on Thursday, May 23rd and took the Malaysia Airlines flight at 6 pm from
Kuala Lumpur 6 hours to Beijing and arrived a little after midnight. After dealing with taxi drivers, we finally got to the hotel around 3 am. During our stay in Beijing, we stayed at the <a href="http://www.novotel.com/gb/hotel-3641-novotel-beijing-xin-qiao/index.shtml">Novotel Xin Qiao</a> which was a great location to walk out to the Chongwenmen subway station (Lines 2 and 5) right outside the hotel. It is an easy walk to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City (if you start off in the right direction)</div>
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Since we got in so late, we slept in a bit and then decided to venture out towards the Forbidden City. It turns out my poor sense of direction (due only to baby brain) led us walking in the wrong
direction for 1.5 hours.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A beautiful garden we past walking in the wrong direction ;)</td></tr>
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I was also a bit over ambitious at my ability to hike through the streets of Beijing, and therefore, was pretty tired and ready to head back to the room for a nap to recharge. We were both very tired from jet lag so came back to
the room and took it easy. After a brief nap, we went out in search of dinner on the famous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wangfujing">Wangfujing street</a> and night market. Not exactly what I had in mind for dinner...you can get any insect/small animal deep fried from worms, scorpions, seahorses, and starfish to baby ducks... <o:p></o:p></div>
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Saturday we finally made it to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, or what used to be called the Imperial Palace. It was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five hundred years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government. The Forbidden City is one of Beijing’s largest landmarks and in 1987 was declared a UNESCO Heritage site. It earned its
common name from the fact that ordinary citizens were not allowed to approach
the complex during the 500 years of its use. Entrance fee of CNY 60 per person ($10 USD)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiananman Square spring flowers</td></tr>
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Sunday was another busy day to first the Temple of Heaven. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest. Next we headed to the north part of the city to the Bell & Drum Tower and to Olympic Park. The Bird’s Nest (National Stadium) & Water Cube were home to the 2008
Beijing Summer Olympics. Ground was broken on the Bird's Nest on December 24, 2003. At its height, 17,000 construction workers worked on the stadium and the project overall costs US$423 million to build.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drum Tower performance</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">National Stadium - "Bird's Nest" and home to the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Water Cube built for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics</td></tr>
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Monday we got up early to catch the 877 express bus (you can also take the 919 public bus, they are all lime green; either one costs CNY 12/pp or $2 USD) on an hour ride from Dongshenmen Tower to the The Great
Wall at Badaling It was a clean bus and fairly comfortable for such a bargain price. We started our climb at the entrance to Bear Park at Tower 10 CNY 45 ($7.50 USD with an optional Gondola ride back down for CNY 60/$10 USD) We opted for the Gondola ride down at Tower 8 as it was a feat for me to climb straight up steep stairs and inclines at exactly 5 months pregnant!!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">20 Weeks pregnant climbing the Great Wall</td></tr>
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Our morning was quite strenuous and tiresome, but we didn't let that stop us! Our next destination to hit was the <span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Summer Palace on the way back in the afternoon from The Great Wa</span>ll. The Summer Palace is mainly dominated by Longevity Hill and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunming_Lake">Kunming Lake</a>. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometres, three quarters of which is water. Longevity Hill is about 60 metres (200 feet) high and has many buildings positioned in sequence. The front hill is rich with splendid halls and pavilions, while the back hill, in sharp contrast, is quiet with natural beauty. The central Kunming Lake covering 2.2 square kilometres was entirely man made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill. In the Summer Palace, one finds a variety of palaces, gardens, and other classical-style architectural structures<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;">.</span> </span>In December 1998, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCO">UNESCO</a> included the Summer Palace on its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_List">World Heritage List</a></div>
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Tuesday was an easy day as all of the running around and climbing got the best of us. We had a nice lunch and then went to the Yonghegong Lama & Confucious Temple in the afternoon. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Wednesday morning we took an 8 am flight 1.5 hours south to Xi’an. We stayed at the <a href="http://www.gnhotel.com/en/Default.aspx?ar=xa">Grand Noble Hotel</a> which was very nice for ~$88 USD/night for a 5 star quality hotel. Since we got in late in the afternoon, we checked in and opted for an early dinner at Papa John’s with {REAL} pork and shopping at Wal-Mart to top of our first day. Not exactly like home, but interesting none the less.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Tip: If you are staying near to the center of the city
(close to the Bell Tower) take the bus one-way for CNY 26 /pp ($4.25) for a
clean and economical ride. Taxis will not use the meter and try to charge you CNY 200 (~$35 USD) <o:p></o:p><br />
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Thursday we opted to hire a private car and a guide for CNY 450 for the full day ($75 USD) to take us to the Banpo Museum, artifacts
from first signs of family life, and the main ancient attraction of Xi'an, The Terracotta Warriors - <span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>$25 USD/pp entry fee. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army">Terracotta Warriors</a> were sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first and most ruthless Emperor of China. The army was buried with the emperor in 210–209 BC with the purpose to protect the emperor in his afterlife. There are over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses that took over 700,000 people to construct.<br />
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Xi'an is well known for its Chinese dumplings, so that night we went to the <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com.my/ShowUserReviews-g298557-d2078135-r130082135-Tang_Dynasty_Music_and_Dance_Show-Xi_an_Shaanxi.html">Tang Dynasty Opera</a> for a Dumpling Dinner & Cultural Show and Dance. The show had 10 different cultural performances with majestic dancers and beautiful costumes. Definitely a must see if you make it to Xi'an.<br />
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Unfortunately, I started feeling bad and very tired so we took the day easy by walking to the Bell & Drum Tower in the middle of the city not too far from our hotel. Dinner at Papa John's was so good the night before, we had to go again, then headed in for an early night.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bell Tower in Xi'an at night</td></tr>
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Saturday we left around noon to get our flight back to Beijing. We had a long layover of about 7 hours, so decided to take the Airport Express train CNY 25 ($4 USD) into the city for dinner. It is said that if you come to Beijing and don't try the famous Peking Duck, then you haven't truly experienced China. After much research, we decided on a restaurant in the financial district well known for Peking Duck called <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com.my/Restaurant_Review-g294212-d812015-Reviews-Dadong_Roast_Duck_Dongsi-Beijing.html">Da Dong Roast Duck</a>. We ordered a whole duck with all the condiments along with a caesar salad and it was absolutely delicious! A chef came to the table and spent 10 minutes precisely carving the duck so that each bite was a perfect proportion of skin, fat and meat. The savoury crispy skin paired with white sugar melted in your mouth. It was truly a wonderful dining experience we were glad we didn't miss!</div>
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Beijing and Xi’an were both completely full of loud people,
polluted streets and air, and people that spoke very little to no English, but
despite some of the small setbacks, we had a great time learning some of the
world’s most ancient history. It was definitely a memorable trip and one we
were glad to experience as our last trip in Asia before moving back to North
America! <o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10201096649165935.1073741827.1459951651&type=1&l=d505669ed8">See the full album of photos from China here</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0Beijing, China39.90403 116.4075259999999638.352720999999995 113.82573899999996 41.455339 118.98931299999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-86977960303460193352013-05-22T09:10:00.000+08:002013-05-22T10:28:39.208+08:00It's Official - We are {FINALLY} Moving!!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Next stop....<u><b><span style="color: blue;">Calgary!!!</span></b></u></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">4 hours flying time from Houston to Calgary</td></tr>
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We are so excited to finally be able to say we will be relocating to Calgary, Alberta, Canada this summer!!! I have waited {very} patiently for the day to finally come to say we can move out of Malaysia!!!<br />
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I firmly believe we will be in for a rude awakening with the very cold winters in Calgary as well as the cold temperatures throughout the year, but it could always be worse...it will definitely take some getting used to since we have lived in either Houston or the tropics our whole lives! Jaek and Chloe won't know what to think!!!<br />
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Kaes will have a new assignment in Calgary for 2-3 years initially. FMC Technologies bought a company called Pure Energy (now FMC Completions Services) and it is currently based in Calgary with U.S. headquarters in Denver. We are open to whatever timing is needed; just thrilled to be much closer to friends and family.<br />
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I'm planning to come back to Houston mid June while Kaes stays longer in KL to finish up his current assignment then come to Houston mid August. We would then go to Calgary to move into our house, hopefully receive our furniture, and start getting settled in. This also happens to be the most beautiful {and warmest} time of year. It will be perfect for us to ease into the frigid temperatures in winter. Kaes will likely start work in Calgary mid August which will give us {hopefully} about 6-7 weeks before the baby arrives in early/mid October.<br />
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My last days with FMC will be mid June before I head to Houston. I have been there 7 years and have had wonderful experiences in all 5 locations that we worked in. It will be bittersweet to leave, but as they say, when one door closes, another door will open.<br />
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A lot of changes are happening with our family that we are really excited to share and look forward to experiencing in a new country. It will be a busy next 5 months, but in the end, we know it will all work out for the best and we cannot wait to start a new adventure in a new country!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0Calgary, AB, Canada51.0453246 -114.0581012000000150.7256431 -114.70354820000001 51.3650061 -113.4126542tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-55884511830649595382013-05-08T10:34:00.000+08:002013-05-14T14:48:55.426+08:00{Paradise in Mauritius} - Our 5 Year Anniversary Trip to the Secluded African Island<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunrise from the patio steps off our bedroom</td></tr>
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Mauritius is a French - influenced island in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Madagascar in South East Africa.<br />
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To say that Mauritius is breathtaking is a mere understatement...the crystal clear blue ocean waters and powder white fine sand stretches endlessly.<br />
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We left KL on Tuesday evening April 30th and spent 6 nights at the beautiful <a href="http://www.longbeachmauritius.com/">Long Beach Hotel</a> on the northeast side of the island in the town of Belle Mare.<br />
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Kaes was able to go diving the first full day {Wednesday} that we were there. Since I am unable to dive, I visited the luxurious Sea Spa that even had a traditional hammam bath! I chose the hammam followed by a white chocolate massage and was in absolute heaven!!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Sea Spa</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large school of barracuda<br />
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The food, resort atmosphere, and beach were a tropical oasis. The resort itself was massive with 5 different restaurants, tennis courts, rock climbing, sports center, two different kids clubs for younger and older kids, two large pools, spa center, and rooms expanding all across the beachfront. Every morning in the main restaurant we had fresh baked French pastries, crepes, fresh squeezed juice of the day, tropical fruit, spicy and flavorful Mauritian favorites, and an omelet station.<br />
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Beautiful blue waters, white sandy beach and perfect warm {not humid} weather made for a very relaxing and enjoyable 6 days.<br />
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Kaes did more diving and I relaxed between the spa, ocean, and poolside. It was definitely a tough way to spend a week ;)<br />
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Mauritius was a memorable destination and ranked high on our list of favorite places to unwind and relish in natural beauty.<br />
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Here's to 5 wonderful years and many more incredible memories together!!!<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200972220975308.1073741826.1459951651&type=1&l=55b18b6b22">Full Photo Album Here</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0Mauritius-20.348404 57.552151999999978-35.840539 36.897854999999979 -4.8562689999999993 78.206448999999978tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-29902301645233518102013-04-20T15:30:00.000+08:002013-04-25T10:30:16.506+08:00Girls All-Inclusive Spa Trip to Da Nang, Vietnam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Flight from KL to Da Nang was 3.5 hours. and stayed from April 12- 17<br />
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Helpful Hint: Get a green or white taxi when leaving the airport and demand on using the meter! Also, make sure they fully comprehend where you are going. Seems like a mundane detail, but the language barrier can pose issues. We experienced it first hand ;)<br />
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Sam, Kelly, and I stayed at the beautiful 5-star all-inclusive spa resort <a href="http://www.fusionmaiadanang.com/">Fusion Maia Da Nang</a> in our own private pool villa.<br />
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Friday, checked in to beautifully decorated serene room with our own private cabana and swimming pool. We decided to stay in for dinner and had lobster bisque and fresh Vietnamese spring rolls. After dinner, all three of us then had full body massages followed by head massage before bed. It was perfect end to our long day and ensured a blissful night of uninterrupted sleep.<br />
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Saturday, breakfast by the beach, swam in pool and got sun, foot massage followed by pedicure. Relaxed more in the room and went into Da Nang city to have dinner at The Waterfront on the Han River and listened a live music festival with violinist, saxophonist and local singers performing various types of music.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading to dinner at the Waterfront</td></tr>
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Sunday, woke up and had a wonderful facial early in the morning followed by a full buffet spread for breakfast. We relaxed by the infinity pool listening to waves crash into the ocean and just enjoyed our afternoon in the lush surroundings. That afternoon we had warm pressure massages with oil followed by a therapeutic head massage. We are truly getting pampered!!! Dinner that night at the in-house restaurant Five consisted of bamboo smoked duck with red cabbage, cilantro, sprouts and candied apples and raisins followed by sweet potato gnocchi paired with tomato relish and salad. Dessert was a phenomenal coconut creme brulee with coconut ice cream. The food, service, and atmosphere have all been impressive to say the least!!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The gorgeous dining room</td></tr>
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Monday we had our usual 2 treatments at the spalon and then took the shuttle from our hotel into the town of Hoi An just 30 minutes away. Hoi An Ancient Town is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and its street plan reflect the influences, both indigenous and foreign, that have combined to produce this unique heritage site.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHV1IY9qw7ri3C4YkPQFgifJFuila2bHqAfDG9mcRBoXP2CFfFlmzUXbegG1pERvTSg_Ol1uTx7NBM4QsezNCwgade_9X5wCtVBobr8XA74vzLH4P_mhuASpRyIsqAyIVpu5qiUFfrFUc/s1600/DSC07590.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHV1IY9qw7ri3C4YkPQFgifJFuila2bHqAfDG9mcRBoXP2CFfFlmzUXbegG1pERvTSg_Ol1uTx7NBM4QsezNCwgade_9X5wCtVBobr8XA74vzLH4P_mhuASpRyIsqAyIVpu5qiUFfrFUc/s400/DSC07590.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sam with her massive coconut at lunch in the Secret Garden</td></tr>
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Tuesday morning was one of the most perfect days we had with beautiful weather. Most of the day was spent lounging by our pool (after our delicious breakfast of course) and getting some sun.<br />
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Wednesday was unfortunately our last day...I think we all had our fill of such great spa treatments over the past week. We started the morning off with one last delicious breakfast buffet and then had a facial and a 1-hour hot oil pressure massage. It was the perfect end to our relaxing week. After we cleaned up, we had one last lobster lunch out by the beach before heading to the airport on our way home.<br />
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It was a wonderful week and we had such a great time reuniting in Da Nang!!!<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200913749313553.1073741825.1459951651&type=1&l=650840d8f0" style="text-align: left;">{Complete photo album}</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0Da Nang, Thanh Khê, Da Nang, Vietnam16.051571 108.2148970000000615.929490999999999 108.05353550000007 16.173651 108.37625850000006tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-61961978199000488682013-04-09T13:57:00.001+08:002013-04-09T14:22:06.947+08:00What to Expect When You Are Expecting!?!?!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<u>Current Cravings</u>: Macaroni & Cheese, green apples, tomato soup, and chocolate Haagen Dazs ice cream<br />
<br />
We are so excited to announce that we are expecting our first bundle of joy due to arrive October 14, 2013! I am currently 13 weeks and Baby d and I are doing wonderful!<br />
<br />
The experience here in Malaysia has been very good so far with ultrasounds every time I go into the office. Since this is our first child, I didn’t know what to expect, but was shocked to find out that we could see our little angel each time we went.<br />
<br />
I first went to the doctor when Kaes was in the U.S. and I was 8 weeks along – February 26th. The doctor was able to do a transvaginal ultrasound and confirmed I was pregnant and let me listen to the heartbeat! It was such a wonderful experience although I was sad Kaes was not there to share such an exciting time. I thought I would only have blood work and talk to the doctor, not knowing they would be able to see and hear so much right away! <br />
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Our second visit was at 10 weeks on March 20th This was the first visit Kaes attended and we were able to see Baby d right away. Baby even did a complete flip in my belly as we were watching!!! We knew right away we had a very active one on our hands! Everything looked normal and we discussed what would happen at the 12 week, end of 1st trimester appointment the next time we came in. I had no idea of all the tests to screen for and the abnormalities or diseases they could tell just by taking my blood. So many decisions to make and already I am worried to death!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgCUwH7HqBGjSHyGUVWNzsY4UL0kV3g7kf4aR1FfvSammnxxJGlH3VckCZR0M6mPozg-xgdPwf3X8KKoj3cBrdjwTkT5MuCEWJDCDtdUky0zvc83GYnNqhcArTxWisACnIeMZcIG9x2dk/s1600/10+weeks+photo+-+March+20+2013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgCUwH7HqBGjSHyGUVWNzsY4UL0kV3g7kf4aR1FfvSammnxxJGlH3VckCZR0M6mPozg-xgdPwf3X8KKoj3cBrdjwTkT5MuCEWJDCDtdUky0zvc83GYnNqhcArTxWisACnIeMZcIG9x2dk/s400/10+weeks+photo+-+March+20+2013.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baby d at 10 weeks</td></tr>
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The third visit was our 1st trimester follow up on April 2nd All looked well and looking for signs on the scan, Dr. Kiren (my gynecologist) said the baby looked normal and the signs of downs syndrome were not present. This is 70% accurate and a blood test could give us 90% accuracy on any other abnormalities present, but she saw no alarming signs. Thank the Lord! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaPOMj1QtDsFiJOc_OPOQyeUW_poFp3TNnRUwCwEnMfh3D3Ds37_X82p8TQ7A5YtVsiMh6uJUuaXcBVq4twc6Bz58qgcaSC4BOgkrr4es8pjh28mhJ7ENmWlkUCZU3FB7sXRyQkb-TOTk/s1600/12+weeks+photo+-+April+2+2013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaPOMj1QtDsFiJOc_OPOQyeUW_poFp3TNnRUwCwEnMfh3D3Ds37_X82p8TQ7A5YtVsiMh6uJUuaXcBVq4twc6Bz58qgcaSC4BOgkrr4es8pjh28mhJ7ENmWlkUCZU3FB7sXRyQkb-TOTk/s400/12+weeks+photo+-+April+2+2013.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baby d at 12 weeks</td></tr>
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I am having blood work done this coming Thursday and will get to have another scan of Baby d while seeing the doctor. I can’t wait to see how much the baby has grown!<br />
<br />
Other than our exciting visits to check on our growing peanut, I feel like I am over the worst part of morning sickness. It was a bit of a struggle many mornings, but drinking apple cider vinegar mixed with water has helped. Dr. Kiren was concerned at 12 weeks that I have not gained any weight, but I assured her that I had reserves to begin with, so not to worry :)</div>
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Our next appointment is on April 29th and we {should} be able to find out the sex of our baby!<br />
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What do you think? Girl or Boy???<br />
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Give us your thoughts and stay tuned for the next update!!!<br />
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Love,<br />
<br />
Kaes, Kim, and Baby d </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-3104195126481204812013-02-16T10:53:00.000+08:002013-02-18T15:35:04.587+08:00Namaste - Exploring the Himalayas in Nepal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg60FI16_j3I46L8HEwK1-U-iVuwGwpWUWU6aeVqJOBGm5NT2Q0GDSz2vk8omLeUQ2oFGsTt7kO1-TZ5DRdpklYtOuxJu1qDBXpufw-0lAy71IqGdS9DWpgGkqGaU4SVzXOraCPfxvhj3g/s1600/nepal-flag2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg60FI16_j3I46L8HEwK1-U-iVuwGwpWUWU6aeVqJOBGm5NT2Q0GDSz2vk8omLeUQ2oFGsTt7kO1-TZ5DRdpklYtOuxJu1qDBXpufw-0lAy71IqGdS9DWpgGkqGaU4SVzXOraCPfxvhj3g/s400/nepal-flag2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;">Fun Fact: The Nepal Flag was officially adopted on December 16, 1962 and it is the only national flag that is not rectangle or square</span></td></tr>
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Namaste!<br />
<br />
Our trip to Nepal had many challenges along the way, (only 6 hours of electricity and during the hours<br />
you never needed it, no hot water, beds harder than the ground, etc.) but was very rewarding for the<br />
picturesque scenery and views it has to offer.<br />
<br />
Friday morning we took a 4.5 hour flight via Malaysia Airlines from Kuala Lumpur to Kathmandu, Nepal<br />
and planned to stay exactly a week seeing the towns of Kathmandu, Bandipur, Pokhara, Sarangkot,<br />
and Bhaktipur. Our hotel was only 6 kms (3.5 miles) from the airport and took over 30 minutes to get<br />
there due to the heavy traffic and crazy drivers. My first thought of the city was “what on Earth did I get<br />
myself in to??" Being a developing country, there is little to no waste facilities, so the streets were lined<br />
everywhere you looked with trash. People lined the streets to sell their fruit, wares, name brand knock-<br />
offs, or anything else to make money. Street dogs were everywhere (reportedly 50,000 in Kathmandu<br />
alone) and cows, which are sacred to the Hindu religion and therefore not eaten, roamed freely and<br />
were dare not disturbed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicUktJNDE8gCeqZHzOaUVi8cqwIaviN6An59BywfPIxdvCUhAMabJC3wxCGWqcnm2_zzZRZWYU9Lbv3RqjzHFk3uE9VY9IpNJvLlzNba-n_CCSOUtc81flyv9IZIAQtcw5ffJ4Kw3DsQI/s1600/nepal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicUktJNDE8gCeqZHzOaUVi8cqwIaviN6An59BywfPIxdvCUhAMabJC3wxCGWqcnm2_zzZRZWYU9Lbv3RqjzHFk3uE9VY9IpNJvLlzNba-n_CCSOUtc81flyv9IZIAQtcw5ffJ4Kw3DsQI/s400/nepal.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Nepal is located to the north of India and the south of China</span></td></tr>
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Later Friday afternoon after we got settled in our hotel, we went sightseeing around Kathmandu<br />
stopping first at the Buddhist stupa - Bouddanath.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5iO1Yiswjvi9bn75HStt_vMlI9MD7Hikg5N7pknx4yLDeTZBpHn9xW6p1N1QHmSX74VdoDROhTovZX0Lrn3IN682dNdz5OijnC6Pj37ZK7FxoFFqLU_FDIbMOOtlovSD4VDxw_Qebe8/s1600/Nepal+Feb+2013+-+0050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5iO1Yiswjvi9bn75HStt_vMlI9MD7Hikg5N7pknx4yLDeTZBpHn9xW6p1N1QHmSX74VdoDROhTovZX0Lrn3IN682dNdz5OijnC6Pj37ZK7FxoFFqLU_FDIbMOOtlovSD4VDxw_Qebe8/s400/Nepal+Feb+2013+-+0050.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Prayer flags colored for the 5 elements: Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, Sky</span></td></tr>
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After having lunch on the rooftop of a café around Bouddanath, we visited the Hindi crematorium and<br />
temple Pashupatinath. The temple was on the (insert name) river and was the most popular<br />
crematorium in Kathmandu for the Hindu religion. Interesting was not the first thought that came<br />
to mind, but more of morbid. The families of the dead waited and watched as their loved ones body<br />
burned for close to 4 hours. The crematories were along the banks of the river and had about 7 to 8<br />
bodies burning at a time. The odd part was that anyone and everyone could stand by and watch as the<br />
families mourned the death and prayed during the very long 4 hour process. Needless to say, I am glad it<br />
is not done that way in the U.S….<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xIDXkE-Wm4tXWRxqP6dD-pfsg0Yoh757FAa8AN-WYvgdPx6OynAVpVwd_DfBMVjsuNzLmIwEZSkyq4WU4-_KKg3DLNMQBfzvEPWlT1GJiEqRoeI5o2Cd5mdd2DDIbgXNoiltOPayRxs/s1600/Nepal+Feb+2013+-+0087.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8xIDXkE-Wm4tXWRxqP6dD-pfsg0Yoh757FAa8AN-WYvgdPx6OynAVpVwd_DfBMVjsuNzLmIwEZSkyq4WU4-_KKg3DLNMQBfzvEPWlT1GJiEqRoeI5o2Cd5mdd2DDIbgXNoiltOPayRxs/s400/Nepal+Feb+2013+-+0087.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mounds of wood placed over the deceased body to help burn</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXF-WKxKsiiRpsxs7mbebnGt3tHqDtmC6BXEhgOJKzBTsPH-Qa89BWhgkcHZwGaxAyinNhp6utGO8rxs4IkYa3VpLpM9Cs5hGX1CMFccrlYeBU0nooARLVYQxHLN4Xe08rmM4z5J5LD38/s1600/Nepal+Feb+2013+-+0094.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXF-WKxKsiiRpsxs7mbebnGt3tHqDtmC6BXEhgOJKzBTsPH-Qa89BWhgkcHZwGaxAyinNhp6utGO8rxs4IkYa3VpLpM9Cs5hGX1CMFccrlYeBU0nooARLVYQxHLN4Xe08rmM4z5J5LD38/s400/Nepal+Feb+2013+-+0094.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;">People gathered to watch their loved one being prepared for cremation and others just enjoying the show....</span></td></tr>
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Upon leaving, we crossed paths with two religious men known as sādhus - which in Hindi mean "holy man" and denotes an ascetic, wandering monk with painted bodies.<br />
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Saturday we woke up and had a 200 km (120 miles) drive to the town of Pokhara with a stop in<br />
Bandipur. Now 120 miles would normally take the average driver, on decent roads, about 2 or so<br />
hours. But in Nepal, it takes 7. Yes, that’s hours. Cars that drive into oncoming traffic to pass a local<br />
bus stopping every 10 minutes and driving up switchbacks around the mountain (passing cars on blind<br />
corners as well) made for a very stressful drive. That and the fact that Kaes had to hunch down in his<br />
seat just to avoid hitting his head in the mini compact car, made for a long trip.<br />
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Sunday we had a more relaxing day sightseeing around Pokhara and started the morning off at Devil’s<br />
Falls waterfall and the cave it disappears into below.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDfABhhgjOD9rr9GL2w4Tet79R_1i5jZn0Kd7l_cV9kCTo0HQvpxnBlsSXR_cNUxjf9fb7ZJyd1P6vhnrU7DkpoAq6r8l55okUGC6DCmb-4kqRXfsfF1oKZ-HRXjOdlw4geXkIOqtiK6E/s1600/Nepal+Feb+2013+-+0157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDfABhhgjOD9rr9GL2w4Tet79R_1i5jZn0Kd7l_cV9kCTo0HQvpxnBlsSXR_cNUxjf9fb7ZJyd1P6vhnrU7DkpoAq6r8l55okUGC6DCmb-4kqRXfsfF1oKZ-HRXjOdlw4geXkIOqtiK6E/s400/Nepal+Feb+2013+-+0157.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Men and women both work very hard carrying materials in large baskets</span></td></tr>
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Monday morning we started our grueling ascent trekking up the Annapurna Range of the Himalayas.<br />
Our next stop was about 5 or 6 hours to the Australian Base Camp.<br />
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Below is a picture of the Annapurna range. The holy mountain of Machapuchare, which means “fishtail”<br />
in Nepali, is the center peak. It is revered by the local population as particularly sacred to the god Shiva, and hence is off limits to climbing.<br />
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Our $8 USD/night digs at the Australian Base Camp :) It had a hot shower and a bed comfortable enough for us to crash on after our arduous climb<br />
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Tuesday we woke up and could barely move. The sunrise from the mountain we were on was breathtaking and we enjoyed the serenity before our onward journey down the mountain. The only thing that kept us going seemed to be the fact that instead of climbing up, we were heading down, so that had to be MUCH better. BUT...It wasn't. In fact, it was <i>way </i>worse than the day before.<br />
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Wednesday we left our View Top lodge in Pokhara to head to the airport and fly back to Kathmandu.<br />
After checking back into our hotel in Kathmandu, we walked around the town Thamel to stretch our legs. Luckily, after doing a bit of shopping around the town, we came upon a spa that catered to people who had been trekking. For $18 USD each, we both got a full 1-hour Ayurvedic massage with hot oil, following by time in the steam sauna. Although a bit painful through the process, it was just what we needed to relax after our few days of intense hiking.<br />
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Thursday was Valentine’s Day and we started the day off early leaving our hotel at 6:00 am for a sunrise flight over Mt. Everest and the Himalayas. The flight was breathtaking and unfortunately the pictures do not begin to do it justice. We flew over the Annapurna range, the Langtang range, and Sagarmatha National Park that is home to Mt. Everest.<br />
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After our flight, we went to visit the old historic town of Bhaktipur known for its ancient architecture<br />
and the generations of families that have lived there for hundreds of years.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Local lady dyeing the pottery and laying it out to dry</span></td></tr>
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Spending the afternoon in Bhaktipur was nice, but we were really ready to get to our room for the last<br />
night. <a href="http://www.shambaling.com/">The Shambaling Hotel</a> in Bouda was a perfect ending to our vacation. Hidden away from the<br />
hustle and bustle of the main town in Thamel, our hotel was quaint, quiet, and helped you forget where<br />
you were. The customer service was impeccable and probably the best we have ever had in all of our<br />
travels. The food was delicious, we had a wonderful hot shower, and the most comfortable bed (even<br />
with a heated blanket) we had the entire trip. I would highly recommend it to anyone travelling to Nepal for the perfect relaxing end to your trip.<br />
<br />
Nepal has many beautiful wonders of life to see and we were glad to check it off our list. It also made me appreciate our customs as well as the "things" we take for granted such as hot water, steady electricity, and heating.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0Kathmandu 44600, Nepal27.7 85.333333327.6437645 85.254369300000008 27.7562355 85.4122973tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-66810390602653613942013-01-31T14:36:00.000+08:002013-03-20T07:24:09.167+08:00Muay Thai Boxing & Lady Boys in Koh Samui, Thailand<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As I have said before, the
holidays in Malaysia are wonderful and we try and take every opportunity to use
them to explore uncharted territory. The Indian holiday Thaipusam
allowed us to have a 5 day holiday with friends to the beautiful island of Koh Samui,
Thailand.<br />
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Kelly, Alex, Layla, James, Kaes, and I all left Thursday,
January 24<sup>th</sup> on an early morning flight to Koh Samui. There is a 1
hour time difference between Thailand and Malaysia, so we arrived with a full
day ahead of us on the island. We stayed at the beautiful Amari Palm Reef
resort on the east side of Samui of Chaweng Beach.<br />
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After getting settled into our hotel rooms, we spent the
rest of the day by the pool and beach relaxing and enjoying the beautiful
weather.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Friday we had the buffet breakfast at the hotel that was
absolutely delicious! It was by far one of the most diverse breakfast spreads
we have ever had and even more importantly had BACON! Since we don’t get pork
too often in KL, it was nice to have it as an option each morning for
breakfast. Turkey or beef bacon doesn't hold a candle to the real stuff. After
more relaxing by the pool, we all decided to go get foot massages and then the
girls roamed around the shops to see what kind of cheap knock-offs we could
find.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Saturday was an interesting day full of lady boys! Me, Kaes,
Kelly, and Alex decided to go get body massages this time instead of foot
massages. When we got to the salon, the therapist they assigned to each of us was
two lady boys!! Kaes was not excited and wanted to leave, but I told him there
was nothing to worry about since I was laying right next to him. It was quite
humorous seeing the look on his face, but he didn’t seem to enjoy the laugh at
his expense <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span>
We both agreed it was some of the best massages we have ever had! That night we
went to one of the famous lady boy cabaret shows that Thailand is known for all
over the country. The show had some great performers and some of the ladies
could fool most anyone! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Sunday was full of more lazy lounging, but at night we
decided to attend a traditional Muay Thai Boxing match. Muay Thai is taught
from a very early age and even boys as young as 14 were competing in this very
intense type of fighting. Boys that didn’t even weigh 100 pounds all the way up
to men up to 175 were involved in a series of 10 fights. Of the many times Kaes
and I have been to Thailand, this was our first experience to see a Muay Thai
match.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Monday was our last day before flying back to KL, so we had
an easy day and had breakfast, then packed up our room. No trip to Thailand
would be complete without a massage, so Kaes and I opted to get foot massages
after a delicious Pad Thai lunch at a small local restaurant, and then headed
to the airport for our afternoon flight.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We had a great, relaxing weekend in Koh Samui. It is
definitely a quick and easy trip to get to for even a short weekend away from
KL. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0Ko Samui, Surat Thani, Thailand9.5120168 100.013592900000059.2614442999999991 99.690869400000054 9.7625893 100.33631640000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-34536068334356470682013-01-11T15:29:00.004+08:002013-01-11T15:29:54.924+08:00Our Many Blessings of 2012<br />
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to wrap up on the many wonderful blessings for which we are so thankful for during our
first year of living in Malaysia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Footlight MT Light","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In May we celebrated our fourth wedding
anniversary with nine days in Japan. Springtime boasts the short lived cherry
blossoms, but thankfully we were able to see them before they withered away
until the next season. Sushi was some of the freshest we have ever tasted and
the people were friendly and hospitable. Definitely at the top of the list for
must see places to visit for anyone that has a chance to make it to Asia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Footlight MT Light","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In June, my Mom came to visit and together we
traveled to Phuket, Thailand and relaxed on the beautiful beaches of Patong
while dining on local favorites foods and drinks at night.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Footlight MT Light","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Kaes’ parents came to visit us
in August and together we traveled to Laos to see Buddhist temples, eat fresh
local food, and enjoy the beautiful sunset across the Mekong River.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In November, we traveled to Boracay, Philippines
with our friends, Kelly and Alex, who live here in KL and are also from Houston.
The powder white beaches, clear blue water, and friendly locals really made it
a wonderful relaxing getaway from the hustle and bustle of KL. Kaes and I
visited Boracay in January during Chinese New Year and loved it so much we wanted to come back knew Kelly and Alex would share the same love that Boracay has to
offer.</span></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: Footlight MT Light, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;">December we were fortunate enough to go home to spend Christmas with family. Last year we spent Christmas in KL as we had just been home in October. The holiday season is never the same without the one near and dear to your heart to spend the best time of year. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Footlight MT Light', serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 21px;">It has been an incredible year full of adventures and we hope to create many more memories in 2013. May the New Year bring you joy, love, and happiness throughout the year and always.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-23953378620071618952012-09-24T13:54:00.003+08:002012-09-25T18:16:23.953+08:00White Water Rafting Down the Selangor RiverThursday morning we took a bus 1 hour north of KL to a place called Kuala Kubu Bharu for an adventure filled day of white water rafter, abseiling, and zip cording. The best part was that it was for a Shell and FMC team building event for the Prelude project. In other words, we got paid to go white water rafting...definitely beats a day of sitting in the office!<br />
<br />
After our day was lined out and our usual safety briefing and equipment distribution, we headed out in groups of 5 with our raft. Me, Kaes, Kelly, Fletcher (our Aussie friend) and a new guy from Houston, Matt, all piled in for the 7 kilometers down the Sungai Selangor (Selangor River)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kelly and I on the bus ready to roll out</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steven Grant (Shell) and our aussie friend Steven Fletcher</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCISPr85jADHewGCkxHwfRWSamVJdjc4LLOEKWCzDVnX52C8cttP12M3FhGkeUWW8tfUFVNKm3iSNPX7CfFx8l7CBoUYU3zz586FimANdVaNKlb_H3SO7jWjuTvrr9TGUI0138WLK7Ny8/s1600/IMG_0709.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCISPr85jADHewGCkxHwfRWSamVJdjc4LLOEKWCzDVnX52C8cttP12M3FhGkeUWW8tfUFVNKm3iSNPX7CfFx8l7CBoUYU3zz586FimANdVaNKlb_H3SO7jWjuTvrr9TGUI0138WLK7Ny8/s400/IMG_0709.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kaes' boss Lee, Matt, and Chris Felt</td></tr>
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The Selangor river boasts grades 1-4 on a scale of rapids. They were quite scary in several places and after our 4 hour journey down the river over rocks, and luckily only capsizing once, we were left pretty exhausted.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fletcher, Kelly, Kaes, Me, and Matt</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And we're off!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4IavThi5o_uL7jIyo5bE8pVWF8Z9kZ-G259oI1Sl2cjc7qXHiz4AGJxPlMkma70hlqw5TEiEmY5l0I4UOAqwXj4QeWvPPImIPOjM0B7EWqsmc9FnP-UBV3CwWxkT-HLBmDLUlqWsjHRI/s1600/IMG_1764.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4IavThi5o_uL7jIyo5bE8pVWF8Z9kZ-G259oI1Sl2cjc7qXHiz4AGJxPlMkma70hlqw5TEiEmY5l0I4UOAqwXj4QeWvPPImIPOjM0B7EWqsmc9FnP-UBV3CwWxkT-HLBmDLUlqWsjHRI/s400/IMG_1764.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our first big rapid</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOXmr7UtEDfcSCk2F7AnIUUfsf6pKdYXmb45jMRyhkmIE1nyDIo1PLHwRpMBICIMFvVRv8urcucDPSOXuu-nZZLQiS3qybpGYgwh6ByNG4eYycYJb1DP1gx89OlMOPJndsrco8UBip6JI/s1600/IMG_2007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOXmr7UtEDfcSCk2F7AnIUUfsf6pKdYXmb45jMRyhkmIE1nyDIo1PLHwRpMBICIMFvVRv8urcucDPSOXuu-nZZLQiS3qybpGYgwh6ByNG4eYycYJb1DP1gx89OlMOPJndsrco8UBip6JI/s400/IMG_2007.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We made it through that one!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH8aH_h2WWgM3hBX7jwXc4ZRzbm2HA89fe2SCinO0I5yAMhi3iLUySaBJMw-ZRbJFMXtX-pel0eVT-3tj2Tf_tCjq57zZV-7PyFtv7oA0jWMP9zDL8rgWAIFWxwh-eAmEfn_wV9Tay64Y/s1600/IMG_2010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH8aH_h2WWgM3hBX7jwXc4ZRzbm2HA89fe2SCinO0I5yAMhi3iLUySaBJMw-ZRbJFMXtX-pel0eVT-3tj2Tf_tCjq57zZV-7PyFtv7oA0jWMP9zDL8rgWAIFWxwh-eAmEfn_wV9Tay64Y/s400/IMG_2010.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another one coming up...as you can tell by my face...</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4sYOMvsLhkaVzNOSgOuNMFkItu8T2t2n62_Gj2AFhMcDec0eWUa8bLWOTRruQye3y6WkZqLVvAWepIf0RvhMAKEaRtbmU1Ws7pNuI2ONmyaW6v3QVMMgvM2kPHzEyhCoE3HrjB9rwZM/s1600/IMG_2090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4sYOMvsLhkaVzNOSgOuNMFkItu8T2t2n62_Gj2AFhMcDec0eWUa8bLWOTRruQye3y6WkZqLVvAWepIf0RvhMAKEaRtbmU1Ws7pNuI2ONmyaW6v3QVMMgvM2kPHzEyhCoE3HrjB9rwZM/s400/IMG_2090.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here we go...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">Camera guy caught us right before we were overboard...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpgcTZqeHOCqvBSMNFIPXmOcX936HF5M0hv-jIZPqGpxyjMaTPooa-vMbs13y7fh6xCoUt7UpPAF_nGvkZFlVsDsnWiYx4HaugBOMsbsg49DEy753cVU8ghEwXDMJnGFMZ798QVisyobc/s1600/IMG_2094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpgcTZqeHOCqvBSMNFIPXmOcX936HF5M0hv-jIZPqGpxyjMaTPooa-vMbs13y7fh6xCoUt7UpPAF_nGvkZFlVsDsnWiYx4HaugBOMsbsg49DEy753cVU8ghEwXDMJnGFMZ798QVisyobc/s400/IMG_2094.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We weren't so lucky on that one...all of us were thrown out of the both after it capsized</td></tr>
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After rafting, the plan was to partake in abseiling and the flying fox. I had a near miss drowning experience, so I opted out of anymore activities for the rest of the day. Kaes stood by and took pictures while Kelly and I cheered the brave souls on.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Kelly and I enjoying a drink after a long day</span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Down the flying fox</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Brave souls getting geared up for abseiling and the flying fox</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmVZzqEfyWjngk8klM34oQJW6qgimt3EBqYlScpK2cj_2u93ej4Gh6KktzpkONAHEkKIVKyRRgWv2wPu0gkK0s_fZCQIxPfKHcoB8fUa9mBXQQj3LzCszuv4ai-o1jRv5RwmyWNc0xMw/s1600/IMG_0710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmVZzqEfyWjngk8klM34oQJW6qgimt3EBqYlScpK2cj_2u93ej4Gh6KktzpkONAHEkKIVKyRRgWv2wPu0gkK0s_fZCQIxPfKHcoB8fUa9mBXQQj3LzCszuv4ai-o1jRv5RwmyWNc0xMw/s400/IMG_0710.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Our chicken (a.k.a. dinner) being cooked on the "grill"</span><br />
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Everyone agreed it was a great outing with Shell to continue improving and growing our close relationship with our customer. Not too bad to get paid to go white water rafting...definitely beats sitting behind a desk all day :)</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com2Kuala Kubu Bharu, Selangor, Malaysia3.568222 101.6540323.5048305 101.575068 3.6316135 101.732996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-31636582180330970332012-09-03T11:01:00.000+08:002012-09-03T21:32:43.087+08:00Along the Mekong River – Vientiane, Laos <span style="font-family: inherit;">One thing about Malaysia that I have to admit I love is all the holidays. Another holiday weekend has come and gone (I can’t even keep up with them anymore) and we were fortunate to spend it with a weekend getaway to Vientiane, Laos with Kaes’ parents. The weekend happened to also be their 49th wedding anniversary!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Laos is a small SE Asian country bordered by Cambodia in the south, Thailand to the west, Vietnam to the east, and China to the north.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBIj_f7PUHe_gSJaC8U8ynZt1nFGi_2SqphG5Nr7FsqNhC2LB4fpPFZpusv8_ThPoDdss_GHGibyiAXIUTK8O_rhSE31eka7qyA_sm-cyMX1qfvUrRxwTu83gJWDC_7PIaC5NHZ4e3GyI/s1600/Kuala+Lumpur,+Federal+Territory+of+Kuala+Lumpur,+Malaysia+to+Vientiane,+Laos+-+Google+Maps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBIj_f7PUHe_gSJaC8U8ynZt1nFGi_2SqphG5Nr7FsqNhC2LB4fpPFZpusv8_ThPoDdss_GHGibyiAXIUTK8O_rhSE31eka7qyA_sm-cyMX1qfvUrRxwTu83gJWDC_7PIaC5NHZ4e3GyI/s640/Kuala+Lumpur,+Federal+Territory+of+Kuala+Lumpur,+Malaysia+to+Vientiane,+Laos+-+Google+Maps.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We stayed at the <a href="http://www.salanaboutique.com/">Salana Boutique Hotel</a> that was in close proximity to all the shops, restaurants, and tourist attractions. The staff at the hotel were warm and friendly and made our stay in Laos very enjoyable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our 2 ½ hour flight to Vientiane made for an early morning on Thursday as we left the house at 5:15 am for an hour drive to the airport to make our 7:35 am flight. After checking into our hotel, we headed out to walk around the town in search of something for lunch. The first place we came to was a local restaurant named “3 Sisters.” Our $15 USD lunch for the 4 of us consisted of a spicy papaya salad, Vietnamese style veggie spring rolls, fried noodles and local Lao traditional noodle soup. The meal was fresh, delicious, and most importantly <u>cheap</u>.</span><br />
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After our bellies were full, we ventured to the Buddhist temple across the street from the restaurant called Chan. It was colorfully decorated with the familiar gold, red, and green hues of many Buddhist temples. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We then wondered down along the Mekong river when it started to rain, so we ducked into a Belgian Beer Café housing over 50 different types of beer and waited until the afternoon shower passed. After a bit more walking, and since we had a very early 4:30 am start, we headed back to the hotel for a nap before finding a place for dinner. Our night ended with a delicious dinner close by at Le Vendome, and excellent French restaurant for a perfectly cooked chateaubriand and red wine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Friday morning we headed out towards a different direction and stopped first to the Presidential Palace. We were only able to get a street view of the massive residence so we moved along to our next stop, Ho Phra Keow; an old temple built in 1565 that is now the home of the Lao museum of fine art.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Me in front of the Presidential Palace</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; text-align: start;">Us in front of the Lao Museum of Fine Art - Ho Phra Keow</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our next stop was a small Black Stupa (meaning "mound" and the oldest Buddhist religious monument) called ”That Dam”…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The vertical runway is the street where the end brings you to Patuxai meaning "Victory Monument" that closely resembles Paris' Arc de Triomphe but with Buddhist and Lao designs. Across the street from Patuxai was the Prime Minister’s office that was just as grandiose as the Presidential Palace.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kaes with his parents in front of Patuxai</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Prime Minister's Office</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The heat and humidity helped us make the decision to go back to the hotel for a late lunch and time to rest before dinner. Dinner ended the evening off at <a href="http://www.tree-alliance.org/our-restaurants/makphet.asp?mm=or&sm=mp">Makphet</a> (meaning "chili" in Lao) run by Peuan Mit, an organization founded by <a href="http://www.friends-international.org/aboutus/aboutus.asp?mainmenu=aboutus">Friends-International</a> that helps urban children and youth, their families and communities to become productive, independent citizens of their country. The food was not only outstanding, but run for a great cause to help the locals.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you would like more information on how you too can help and/or to donate to this great cause, go to <a href="http://www.friends-international.org/supportus/supportus.asp?mainmenu=supportus&page=donatenow">http://www.friends-international.org/supportus/</a></span></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Entrance to Makphet</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A full day of walking called for a relaxing $6 USD/hour foot massage at a quaint but lovely beauty salon down from our hotel to end the evening.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It was now Saturday morning and our last day in Vientiane. We were brave enough to take a tuk-tuk out a few kms from town to see Pha That Luang meaning "Great Stupa", and Laying Buddha. It amazes me the level of intricate hand painting detail that some of the temples possess. I was also able to pick up my usual souvenirs (a magnet each country we visit) and a few other smaller items. On our way back we stopped at Sisaket, the oldest temple in Laos before having lunch at “That Dam Wine House” ; a $20 bargain for all of us to indulge on freshly made sandwiches, wine and home made ice cream for dessert.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5RTpCK7d3vhgMs3lhYIAYLqVV0jAkgX6v5bL8O_TdaubHvVLOBWlVWSSC9ZCIzwb-H629kDpQwfS9AKZFDgAOVeMgpqZcCfCGK7cGhak9x5dCPYvlCtBOdn7RygzOaLvsMN_q7i9D_iQ/s1600/Vientiane+Laos+Aug+2012+00165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5RTpCK7d3vhgMs3lhYIAYLqVV0jAkgX6v5bL8O_TdaubHvVLOBWlVWSSC9ZCIzwb-H629kDpQwfS9AKZFDgAOVeMgpqZcCfCGK7cGhak9x5dCPYvlCtBOdn7RygzOaLvsMN_q7i9D_iQ/s400/Vientiane+Laos+Aug+2012+00165.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pha That Luang - "Great Stupa" Regarded as the most important national monument in Laos and a national symbol</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kaes and his parents in front of Lying Buddha</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Underneath of the Buddhist temple </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Ong_Teu_Mahawihan" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">Wat Ong Teu Mahawihan</a> </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lunch at "That Dam Wine House"</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Naga or mythical water serpent, that serves as the guardian of the entrance</span> to a temple</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After an afternoon nap, we walked down the street to watch the sunset over the Mekong River and walk through the weekend night market where we purchased a local Lao painting of Buddhist monks. Children played and families sat along the river bank to watch the glowing hues in the picturesque sunset.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sunset over the Mekong River</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We ended our last night with dinner at a trendy restaurant called Sticky Fingers, started by an Aussie, that had an expansive menu of delicious Western options.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kaes and I always enjoy visiting new places and Laos was another SE Asian country we loved learning the culture, tasting delectable food, and appreciating all of the warm, smiling faces.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Happy 49<sup>th</sup> Anniversary Norma and Dirk - we wish you many more wonderful years together!!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Link to all of our trip pictures on my Facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4468711843467.2177992.1459951651&type=1&l=c177619264">here.</a></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0Vientiane, Laos17.962769 102.61442917.841932 102.4565005 18.083606000000003 102.7723575tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-70809196709777118642012-08-25T10:10:00.000+08:002012-08-29T21:59:44.876+08:00Cameron Highlands - Tea Plantations & Strawberry Farms<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Kaes, myself, and his parents drove 200 kms north to a place called Cameron Highlands last weekend. It took us about 4 hours to get there; 1.5 hours of it climbing in the car going 20 mph up the side of the mountain.... </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">We stayed just one night at a place called <a href="http://www.strawberryparkresorts.com/">Strawberry Park Resort</a> that had an English Tudor feel to it and was perched high on a hill looking out at the dense forests surrounding the hotel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Cameron Highlands is known for their tea </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">plantations</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">, honey bee farms, and strawberry farm that are very pretty to see. The high altitude in the mountains had rainforest weather and was quite a bit cooler than what we were used to in the city of KL. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">We visited local markets, tasted local steamboat (soup with fresh vegetables and meat that you cook yourself), stopped at the BOH tea plantation, toured the town of Tanah Rata, and even got relaxing foot massages!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">A few pictures of our weekend getaway are below.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Waterfall up the side of the mountain</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Small cacti at a local market in Tanah Rata</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Small plants at a local market in Tanah Rata</span> </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Local street market in Tanah Rata</span> </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Local street market in Tanah Rata - Rotisserie chicken Malaysian style :)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rainforest in Cameron Highlands</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rainforest in Cameron Highlands</span> </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acres of tea plantations in Cameron Highlands</span> </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acres of tea plantations in Cameron Highlands</span> </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beautiful view of the tea plantations in Cameron Highlands</span> </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Norma, Dirk and myself in front of the tea plantation - Cameron Highlands</span></td></tr>
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It was a nice, relaxing getaway for the weekend with beautiful views and cool weather! </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0Cameron Highlands, Sungai Bertam, 39000 Tanah Rata, Pahang, Malaysia4.4833333 101.38333334.4675033 101.36359230000001 4.4991633 101.4030743tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-29064642276542219502012-06-20T11:17:00.000+08:002012-08-02T15:27:07.942+08:00Weekend Away to Phuket, Thailand<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Kaes and I surprised Mom with a trip to Phuket, Thailand as a birthday present. I was so excited to see her face and she was thrilled that we were going. Phuket is one of our favorite places with great beaches, cheap food, and overall relaxation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thursday after a half day of work, we flew the 1 hour plane flight via Air Asia to Phuket. We arrived around 6:45 and then had a 40 minute car ride to the main town and beaches. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We stayed in a luxurious villa called Baan Pan Yaah Kalim</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> that was on </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">the pristine </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Patong Bay, not far from Patong Beach and the bustling town lined with </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">restaurants</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, bars, and shops. It had a gorgeous view of the bay and beaches from the top master suite and we could hear the waves crashing against the rocks as we went to sleep at night. The other king sized room had a view of our private jacuzzi as well as the water.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Patong Bay from our balcony</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bay from our private beach</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patio outside of master suite overlooking the bay</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our private jacuzzi</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside of the villa - living room, dining and kitchen</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cold Singha beer in the jacuzzi</td></tr>
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We walked into town, ate the fresh local Thai coconuts and relaxed on the beach. It was everything we wanted to do and more!!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tuk Tuk with local veggies and homemade banana pancakes</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful sunset over Patong Bay</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Overall, we had a wonderful, relaxing weekend. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was so thankful that Mom was able to join us for a getaway vacation out of the hustle and bustle of KL. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We cannot wait to go back soon for another visit!</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0Phuket, Thailand7.9843109 98.33074687.7327159 98.0148898 8.2359058999999988 98.6466038tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-43685342288763440642012-05-06T12:06:00.000+08:002013-03-19T15:25:51.533+08:00Cherry Blossoms, Sushi, and Samurais - Springtime in Japan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Interesting Fact:</u> Tokyo has 35 million people, granting it the world's most populous metropolitan area but has one of the lowest crime rates in the world!</span><br />
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Our anniversary has come once again, and what better way to celebrate it than to take a wonderful week and a half long vacation to a new destination. After postponing our first trip (due to the tsunami last in March 2011), we were finally able to make it to the ever captivating country of Japan.
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Saturday morning we flew from KL to Tokyo (Haneda), 6 hour 45 min on Air Asia; got in at 11:30 pm and walked 2 km after taking a bus ride from the airport to Shinjuku for $50 USD for both of us. Subway closed, so we had to walk. Great weather and cool evening. Stayed at JAL City Yotsuya Tokyo
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sunday – first day in Tokyo, went to the Shinjuku Gyeon (gardens) to see beautifully landscaped gardens right in the middle of the city; traditional Japanese ponds and lots of cherry blossoms still in bloom. Golden Palace,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Monday – Tried to go visit the Tsujiki fish market; largest fish market in the world, but it was closed due to a national holiday (the whole week was a holiday)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tuesday <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- 3<sup>rd</sup> day in Tokyo where we woke up and caught early train 7:30 to Mount Fuji. Stayed in traditional Japanese Onsen (bed and breakfast type place) that has a natural hot spring that comes from the mountains in the B&B. Traditional ryoken style tatami mats and pallet type bedding on the floor (no bedding) room about a foot longer than Kaes stretched all the way out. Exhausted when we got there and it was raining, so we took a nap. Woke up and had about 5 hours to walk across the bridge and around Lake Kawaguchi to look at the view of Mt. Fuji. Had a nice lunch, stopped for ice cream, and then had an early dinner from some pastries we picked up at the bakery. I tried to get in the Onsen, but it was ridiculously hot and almost unbearable (I really even enjoy hot water) I can now say I have tried the traditional route, but will most likely stick to “normal” hotel rooms in the future.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Wednesday morning we decided to leave Mt. Fuji early after it had rained all morning. After getting back to Tokyo we had to catch the next high speed Shinkansen bullet train to Kyoto (2 hour 45 min - back in the same direction we came from) It was still drizzling a bit in Kyoto, but we were able to use rain gear and walk around the town find the best sushi dinner with largest and freshest pieces of tuna we have ever had. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Happy Anniversary to us!!! Thursday was our 4 year anniversary that we spent in Kyoto. It was a really nice day where we went to</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Friday – headed back to Tokyo at 3 pm; stayed at Hundred Stay serviced apartments and hotel in Okuba that was 1 minute walking distance to the train station. Got upgraded and had very nice room with comfy bed and large bathroom. Best hotel we stayed at in whole trip of Japan. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Saturday – Full day where we went in search of a Samurai Sword (insert pic) and went back to Atakusa on the north east side of Tokyo in a traditional old town and found a sword.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Overall, we had a very memorable 4 year anniversary trip. I knew that I would really enjoy seeing Japan and its beautiful countryside, but was quite surprised at how friendly the people were, the cleanliness of the largest city in the world, and the sheer beauty of the countryside.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0Japan36.204824 138.25292423.145487000000003 118.03808000000001 49.264161 158.467768tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-40310371440588230192012-04-24T22:02:00.002+08:002012-04-24T22:02:27.470+08:00Kim & Kelly Go to Thailand - Our Girl's Weekend Getaway to Koh Lipe, Thailand<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My friend from work (and we knew each other from Houston) Kelly, and I, decided to take a girl’s only trip to Koh Lipe, Thailand to get away for a <u>MUCH</u> needed weekend of rest and relaxation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thursday after work we flew 50 minutes to Langkawi, on the west coast of Malaysia, where we stayed the night. Friday morning, we went to the Telaga Harbor Ferry Terminal to catch a 9:30 ferry to Koh Lipe, Thailand. While waiting for our ferry, we got to see these precious monkeys eating their breakfast. I couldn't believe how many there were and how they didn’t seem to be bothered by humans coming close to take a picture.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Telaga Harbor Ferry Terminal</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Langkawi Yacht Club</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at the tiny baby!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Are you looking at me!?!?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the ferry heading to Thailand</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We arrived in Koh Lipe at 9:30 am (they are an hour behind our time in Malaysia) and were amazed at how beautiful of an island could be so close to KL! Overall, it took about 1 ½ hours to get to Koh Lipe from Kuala Lumpur.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Immigration in a small little hut on the beach :)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our home for the weekend was at Sita Beach Resort & Spa, a beautiful hotel right on the water of the pristine Pattaya beach on the south side of the island.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entrance to our resort</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgqv6nG9-gd2IzxRZKkUMwd5evqEJtdQAhLNv1MK2VKh5pbiymj_H5nDuFRHS_Th178etjpTjQpGYk7ZKdnpaxXgCxjHqzMQBf4FptD8nQ_8oWwOQKBf9i7sitH8KvZlHZNn5VAnm_hZ8/s1600/DSC02879.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgqv6nG9-gd2IzxRZKkUMwd5evqEJtdQAhLNv1MK2VKh5pbiymj_H5nDuFRHS_Th178etjpTjQpGYk7ZKdnpaxXgCxjHqzMQBf4FptD8nQ_8oWwOQKBf9i7sitH8KvZlHZNn5VAnm_hZ8/s400/DSC02879.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">The water and sand couldn't get more perfect</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We decided to first walk around the town and see what it had to offer We didn't realize that it was Thailand’s New Year’s celebration, and there were many kids and even adults, running around with water guns spraying anyone in their paths as well as painted the faces of passers-by with white chalk (at least I am assuming that was what it was!!!) We had a delicious local lunch of Thai green curry, pad thai, and Chang beer all for $9/USD. After lunch, we decided to take advantage of the many massage places in town and had an hour full body massage for $10 USD! Kelly and I were so relaxed and enjoyed having no real agenda. As the day progressed, we decided to sit on the beach people watching and marvelling at the breathtaking sunset.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paradise</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset on the beach</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Saturday morning we woke up and had a wonderful full buffet breakfast at the resort, then decided to enjoy the quiet beach and get some sun. The water was so clear and there weren’t many people around, so it was perfect for us to lie out and enjoy the peace and quiet. After another delicious local Thai lunch at the resort, we had to indulge in more massages. We were so relaxed after an hour massage; we both agreed that we should stay longer for an hour foot massage. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kelly quenching her thirst with a cold Chang beer</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beer, massage, and vacation...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj24R_kUM2iwTY-RlYYdylNSKuthmWo5oI4OYDEZVs02_ZStx46ruIfoUatXN2KSg7tzdJs3G2C87BMjhHIdJr6dtQztFAwPSz7Xr1Z7RZ-ZJa_B5yPxgalXJkiNyiK6I7zb0JNpL3C3WM/s1600/DSC02804.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj24R_kUM2iwTY-RlYYdylNSKuthmWo5oI4OYDEZVs02_ZStx46ruIfoUatXN2KSg7tzdJs3G2C87BMjhHIdJr6dtQztFAwPSz7Xr1Z7RZ-ZJa_B5yPxgalXJkiNyiK6I7zb0JNpL3C3WM/s400/DSC02804.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The small town</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After our massage, we ventured further into the island and stumbled upon quite an interesting bar called OMG! Bar. They played good music and had some big screen TVs to show a football (soccer) match that attracted quite a few people. We hung around for a few beers and enjoyed the comical people that came into the bar. One couple in particular could not keep their hands off each other, even while sitting at the bar!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The weird couple at the bar that couldn't keep their hands off each other...</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After a few beers, it was time for dinner and we opted for a small, but delicious looking pizza stand that was busy every time we passed by. It smelled wonderful and was even a bonus since they served real pepperoni (we don’t get much pork in KL as it is a Muslim country) If we had known how great it was, we probably would have eaten there every meal just to get great tasting (real) pizza!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The day had been long and with both of us getting more sun that we had planned, we watched the sunset over the beach and headed in for an early night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sunday we woke up early and decided to try and get an earlier ferry back as we were both pretty tired and burnt. Our flight wasn’t until 11 pm that night, but luckily we were able to catch an earlier flight home so we would get in at a reasonable time to start the work week on Monday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Overall, we had a wonderful, relaxing weekend. It was exactly what we had hoped for and cannot wait for our next opportunity to return for another visit!</span></div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0Ko Lipe, Thailand6.4986111 99.30833335.9937695999999994 98.6766193 7.0034526 99.9400473tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-46363872011603922192012-03-06T11:57:00.000+08:002012-03-07T12:14:36.756+08:00Visit to PerthKaes and I were fortunate to be able to go back to Perth over the weekend for a visit with some great friends. Kaes flew in on Tuesday for meetings during the week, and I flew after work on Thursday night. <br />
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Friday night, we met up at Little Creatures to watch the sunset and enjoy the great food and even better beer. Here is a picture below of several of my old soccer buddies that came out.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQDJ6oeetPnhhRNFiPSi0HGjzpDKaSYlDW2fLX75l24vs3lBaSw81RaR03nCL0lgonhWfjhlSWv__hN7Uirg_5IjtFu3PbpPr1RUDeAh6eKvsuxKUNzlacVObH5SXwU6q-LVTeSEs_pE/s1600/IMG_0007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQDJ6oeetPnhhRNFiPSi0HGjzpDKaSYlDW2fLX75l24vs3lBaSw81RaR03nCL0lgonhWfjhlSWv__hN7Uirg_5IjtFu3PbpPr1RUDeAh6eKvsuxKUNzlacVObH5SXwU6q-LVTeSEs_pE/s400/IMG_0007.JPG" uda="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jels, Mel and Frank</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1NzdGznOAchr7WPeT0EqOxaJDyvGgOHizhGZ5E8BAcY-JKZ9cd51tW-_zQrtEBao-UDFsxM5XP25UJt2ueSjy6hRytMg69qf-osTQbHgsfGPFQNec0C0_wIHYOgk017JKp9-vA497p4/s1600/IMG_0009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1NzdGznOAchr7WPeT0EqOxaJDyvGgOHizhGZ5E8BAcY-JKZ9cd51tW-_zQrtEBao-UDFsxM5XP25UJt2ueSjy6hRytMg69qf-osTQbHgsfGPFQNec0C0_wIHYOgk017JKp9-vA497p4/s400/IMG_0009.JPG" uda="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danni and I</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEsHKro0y2ZrbxELYiTdGXRZavPVxFSjrAdo1CNfdk4SgdvIRzY0-tsw6yWHlucl4JiGr82cXzvs3oq_aJt-RuN9G3J4b_0yf78ofFygg9YKz3kmYUS722mTgy0LjSRURkJmjV3_U6siQ/s1600/IMG_0013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEsHKro0y2ZrbxELYiTdGXRZavPVxFSjrAdo1CNfdk4SgdvIRzY0-tsw6yWHlucl4JiGr82cXzvs3oq_aJt-RuN9G3J4b_0yf78ofFygg9YKz3kmYUS722mTgy0LjSRURkJmjV3_U6siQ/s400/IMG_0013.JPG" uda="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danni, Me and Nicole</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfvTdXE9fN6-Ct2AvEzAin1QIzmJ5jbUEuZRe8fSxyNCMaEF-Ko8K7KJ179vGMkT8W37JljsdJcdyMiVCSHmBPTzD7Pt0aWmgcxpyEb39tRteQX7RaelcWjsJDt_0oyuqW3ej46UCWn7o/s1600/IMG_0014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfvTdXE9fN6-Ct2AvEzAin1QIzmJ5jbUEuZRe8fSxyNCMaEF-Ko8K7KJ179vGMkT8W37JljsdJcdyMiVCSHmBPTzD7Pt0aWmgcxpyEb39tRteQX7RaelcWjsJDt_0oyuqW3ej46UCWn7o/s320/IMG_0014.JPG" uda="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Diana, Marty and Jels (will have to show this pic on her wedding day!)</td></tr>
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Saturday, I met up with my friend Lucy and her sweet baby girl Taylor for coffee before we checked out of the hotel. Kaes and I drove around Fremantle and Cottesloe taking more pictures to help remember our wonderful time there. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The park in front of the Esplanade hotel in Fremantle</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2v6VdRddbBg_z4eaSMAPqRGA5oGM5yMhRwf7tStqmJDDdgQeNiJUxUBir9yJgoIoL8WhmztLfZMqTpXX1mGVQZkhVVwVBlrBqfwNkEMwRQvdLaw1oawCxiK0RK2nZRXFf1qfroVCZXU/s1600/IMG_0032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2v6VdRddbBg_z4eaSMAPqRGA5oGM5yMhRwf7tStqmJDDdgQeNiJUxUBir9yJgoIoL8WhmztLfZMqTpXX1mGVQZkhVVwVBlrBqfwNkEMwRQvdLaw1oawCxiK0RK2nZRXFf1qfroVCZXU/s400/IMG_0032.JPG" uda="true" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old Fremantle streets</td></tr>
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We stopped to have a picnic lunch under the shade to admire the white sand and blue water of Cottesloe beach.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fremantle train station</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Cottesloe Beach</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sculpture display on Cottesloe Beach</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leeuwin Sailboat</td></tr>
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Saturday night, we stayed with Sam and Nicole. It was great to catch up with them, and we all gathered around for some great food and laughter. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nicole and I working on the stuffed jalapenos</td></tr>
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The gorgeous weather, beautiful beaches, and wonderful friends make us really miss Perth. Our weekend was much needed and it was great to see some dear friends that we have met along the way. We both created some great friendships and loved the easy, laid-back lifestyle that attracts so many people to the beautiful city.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indiana Tea Room on Cottesloe Beach</td></tr>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0Perth WA, Australia-31.9528536 115.8573389-31.9797991 115.8178569 -31.9259081 115.89682090000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-83811965094498700782012-02-13T20:58:00.002+08:002013-02-17T20:52:56.511+08:00Hong Kong & Vegas of the East<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Destination: Hong Kong & Macau, Special Administrative Republic, China</div>
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Date: February 3-7, 2012 – Prophet Muhammed’s Birthday (6<sup>th</sup>) and Thaipusam(7<sup>th</sup>); both public holidays</div>
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Getting there: Air Asia – 3 hours 45 minute fight from Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong; 1 hour ferry ride from Hong Kong to Macau</div>
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Where we stayed: Cosmo Hotel Mongkok, Kowloon – small, but clean, affordable and in close proximity to MTR (Olympic) station</div>
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Time spent: 4 nights, 4 full days (1 day in Macau)</div>
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Currency: $1 HKD = ~$7.75 USD</div>
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Things to know before you go: The Octopus card is a great card to purchase ($50 HKD refundable deposit) if you are going to spend more than a few days in Hong Kong and is used on all MTR (train) stations, buses, and can be used at many convenient stores and fast food restaurants. Very handy to have and use to travel in between the islands and throughout the city.</div>
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Our first trip to Hong Kong was a nice change to cooler weather (55 - 60˚F) away from the “winter” months of KL where we have been seeing 85-90˚F. We decided to go for a 4-day weekend and left after work on Friday evening and stayed through the two public holidays on Monday and Tuesday. Friday night was a late night by the time we arrived and checked into our hotel, so we were ready to crash for the night and start our site seeing the next day.<br />
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Saturday morning I planned for us to tour around the sites closer to our hotel, so we went to New Territories area of Hong Kong to the Po Fook Hill Cemetery and hiked straight up a hill to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery. It is said that there are actually closer to thirteen thousand buddhas, all with different faces and expressions!!! </div>
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After the Ten Thousand Buddhas monastery, we decided to head north to the (very local) Tai Po market for lunch. We ended up finding something to eat, but it was so local that we were only able to convey what we wanted by pointing, smiling, and hoping for the best ;) It hit the spot and turned out okay. After lunch, we took the MTR back down to Kowloon area to walk down Tsim Sha Tsui where there are cheap restaurants, local shopping and markets. <br />
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Victoria Peak, or The Peak, is the highest peak in Hong Kong with a beautiful view of the city skyline on the edge of Victoria Harbour. I had planned for us to try and arrive in time to take the 120 - year old railway, the Peak Tram, up in time to watch the sundown and the city lights as they come on lighting up the sky. It was very windy and chilly, but a romantic way to end our wonderful first day.<br />
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Our second day in Hong Kong, we started the day off watching part of the Standard Charter Hong Kong marathon. The next site we were anxious to see was the Tian Tan Buddha, or most commonly known as Big Buddha and the Po Lin (Precious Lotus) Monastery. We were not able to ride the Ngong Ping 360 cable car up to the Big Buddha but were able to reach it up in the mountain via a bus. For a small entry fee of $3.50 USD, we were able to walk up to Big Buddha and were given an ice cream and bottled water at the end of our tour. Big Buddha is on Lantau island and shows such a beautiful and more serene side of Hong Kong.<br />
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Big Buddha was definitely an incredible site, being the largest sitting bronzed Buddha in the world. After we got back to town, we watched a laser light show over Victoria Harbour, then got a little taste of home with a delicious dinner at Outback Steakhouse to end the night.</div>
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The next day was our last full day in Hong Kong, so we decided to take a 1-hour ferry ride (via First Ferry - $20 USD each per way) over to explore Macau. Macau is known as the Las Vegas of Asia for its glamorous hotels, casinos (a favorite pastime of the Chinese) and plenty of shopping.<br />
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Macau was a former Portuguese colony, both the first and last European colony in China. Like Hong Kong, Macau is a SAR (Special Administrative Republic) of China and<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span>Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 16th century and subsequently administered the region until the handover in December 1999. The Basic Law of Macau stipulates that Macau operates with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2049, fifty years after the transfer.<br />
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The SAR means that China is responsible for the territory's defense and foreign affairs, while Macau maintains its own legal system, police force, monetary system, customs policy, and immigration policy. According to The World Factbook, Macau has the second highest life expectancy in the world with an average of 84.36 years.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MGM Macau - Fortune Dragon of Spring</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portuguese inspired cobblestone Senado (Senate) Square in Macau</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kaes and I in front of the Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral</td></tr>
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Our last day half day, we decided to take the MTR over to the financial district and walk through Hong Kong Park. They day was clear and crisp and we picked up some lunch and headed over for a picnic in the park. Kaes just got a new 100mm macro lens and tried it out for a close up on these little guys warming themselves in the sun.</div>
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Our delicious and relaxing picnic in the park was a perfect end to our long weekend getaway to Hong Kong and Macau. </div>
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You can view the rest of the pictures at the following link<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0Hong Kong22.396428 114.10949722.161534500000002 113.79364000000001 22.6313215 114.425354tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-53525423559834793242012-01-25T08:22:00.000+08:002012-01-25T15:05:39.500+08:00Gong Xi Fa Cai: Happy New Year from Boracay, PhilippinesDestination: Boracay, Philippines<br />
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Getting there: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.cebupacificair.com/">Cebu Pacific Air</a> – 3 hours 45 minute fight from Kuala Lumpur to Manila, Philippines; 45 minute flight from Manila to Caticlan; 10 minute boat ride to Boracay Island<br />
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Where we stayed: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.boracaybeachclub.com/">Boracay Beach Club</a> hotel – Station 1, White Beach<br />
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Time spent: 5 nights, 6 days<br />
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Gong Xi Fa Cai, literal translation "to increase your wealth" is a saying for Chinese New Year, or the Lunar New Year that is celebrated throughout China. Due to the large Chinese population all over Asia, we are fortunate enough to get this as a long holiday; a perfect opportunity for a beach getaway to the beautiful island of Boracay in the Philippines. <br />
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The first day we spent traveling starting from Kuala Lumpur to Manila on a 1 am redeye flight, which was 3 hours and 45mins. Once we got to Manila, we had a 3 hour layover, then another 45 minute flight to Caticlan (Boracay) A greeter from our hotel, Boracay Beach Club, was waiting for us when we arrived and we took a quick 10 minute boat ride to the island of Boracay. We arrived at 11 am on Thursday morning and were ready to find a bed, quick. The crystal clear water and white powdery beach tempted us to start exploring, but we had to take a quick nap first as we had missed a night of sleep due to our early flight.<br />
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Boracay Beach Club was a nice boutique hotel located on Station 1 of White Beach. It was prime location for restaurants, nightlife, or just lounging on the beach. After we got a bit of rest, we had dinner on the beach at our hotel while watching the breathtaking sunset. It was the perfect way to end our first day.<br />
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The next day was even better than the first! We went out on our first dive with Fisheye Divers, with our dive guides Carlos and Peter, to the dive site Camilia that was a shipwreck that happened 10 years ago. The water was clear and warm and it was a great way to get back in the water and acquainted with diving. After our first dive, Kaes decided to go on another dive and I decided that I had overexerted myself too much for one day. Therefore, I opted out of the second dive and decided on a massage on the beach. It was the perfect way to relieve me of all the stress ;) After my massage and Kaes' dive, we went back to our room to clean up and get ready to watch the beautiful sunset with bright orange and pink lighting over the horizon.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moray eel</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nemo</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lion fish</td></tr>
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Day three we had a delicious breakfast at our hotel, and then went out for a dive to the site called Bailinghai. The dive was quite easy and relaxing. The afternoon had a few rain storms, but luckily we were able to enjoy some Mexican food at Jony’s Bar and the most delicious mango shake we have ever had. Fresh mango is everywhere throughout the Philippines and fresh fruit drinks are made all up and down the beach. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying a swim in the clear waters</td></tr>
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Of course we had to get our fill of fresh delicious Mexican food and once we discovered Jony’s, we had every meal after at the same place. Mahi Mahi grilled burritos with fresh cilantro and pico de gallo and tuna ceviche in coconut milk were some of our favorites {the whole menu was wonderful!!!}. We were thrilled to finally get some delicious Mexican food as we have not found a place in KL that is worthy of calling their food “Mexican.”<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tempted to eat here, but it was half the food for 3 times the price AND you were required to pay for your neighbor's dinner as well as your own...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entire island was stunning with beauty!</td></tr>
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The rest of the trip was spent relaxing on the beach and going diving. The coral was so colorful and full of many different species of fish and other sea life. Boracay has taken the crown for our favorite beach vacation in Southeast Asia. We couldn’t seem to get enough of the crystal blue water, white powdery sand, great diving, romantic sunsets, cheap local beer, excellent Mexican food, and friendly faces. It is definitely a place we hope to visit again very soon!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the boat coming back from a dive<br />
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In two weeks, we have another 2 day holiday and will make use of the long weekend on our first visit to Hong Kong!!!<br />
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Stay tuned for our adventures in the southern province of China - Hong Kong!<br />
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-239116594472823787.post-29730330770612210372012-01-17T08:29:00.007+08:002012-01-17T14:57:58.632+08:00New Year's Resolutions...and what I have learned so far....I know this comes almost a month now after New Year's, but I figured I would go ahead and post it anyway. After much thought, I wanted to discuss my New Year's resolutions...<br /><br />The typical resolution of "I'm going to lose weight this year" is always a given, but I wanted to really stick to some New Year's resolutions that were not your "ordinary" resolutions, and something to make me a better person, as well as help me enjoy our new adventure in KL.<br /><br />My first one is to try and be more positive. I say this in that as some of you may know, the first month here in KL was pretty rough for us. I would say it was our hardest move yet, and we should be better at it by the 4th move (in 4 years). KL is a wonderful city with a lot to offer, but like a lot of places, it has its own challenges. People do not operate and do things the way we do in the US. That being said, I have noticed that I lose my patience a lot more than I should (and need to) I guess that ties in with another resolution of being more patient. Not only for health reasons, but being patient and explaining things that you want done in a calm manner can get you much further than losing your temper. Knowing this is one thing...doing is another. Asians in general do not respond well to blowing up and being loud or yelling at them, and customer service doesn't really exist. They pretty much freeze up do not respond at all. So, I am trying each day to be more patient, calm, and to enjoy the new culture we are living in.<br /><br />My second is to do a better job of chronicling our lives overseas. I usually write up about our most recent excursion to some other foreign country, but don't do a good job of discussing what we do here on the weekends, our new friends we meet, or touring around the city in search of a new market place to get great cheap food.<br /><br />I will do my best to work on my resolutions in hopes that they become more of a way of life instead of a "resolution" (especially the positive and patient part)<br /><br />So what are your resolutions for the New Year???? Would love to hear what new goals you have for the new year!!! <br /><br />Love and Hugs, <br />KimAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08777535908829995124noreply@blogger.com0