Category: Southeast Asia 2016

Our trip to Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Penang and Singapore in July and August of 2016.

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Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok is pretty cool with some great things to see. It is very hot and humid and crowded. There is a lot going on and lots of traffic so we took the Skytrain mostly everywhere and tuk-tuks for short distances. the boys love taking the tuk-tuks, they thought they were awesome. While they were cool, all the fumes are spewing all around so it’s not too easy to breathe! We headed down to the Chao Phraya river to start our day and took a boat up to the temples. The first place was the grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The Grand Palace was the residence for the King of Siam and is now used for official events and Royal ceremonies. The complex is huge, were barely got through a few buildings in a few hours! The other main attraction in the complex is the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The temple is spectacular! As with all temples you have to take off your shoes and cover up. People wear crazy patterned pants that you can buy right outside all the temples and for women they have skirts. Or they will give you drab wraps to put around yourself to walk around. Plus you have to cover your shoulders and take off any hats. I was so hot in my very light cardigan! Our next stop was Wat Pho which has the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. The Temple has the largest collection of Buddhas is in all of Thailand. The complex is also home to traditional Thai massage, the school that trains all the masseuses in Thailand. A one hour Thai massage is about $10, and it IS respectable!! No funny business. We all got massages and the boys even got Fish Spa pedicures! They loved having the fish nibble their feet-they couldn’t stop laughing. Jeff and I had no interest at all. The night market was a fun adventure. Rows and rows of different stalls selling everything and nice stuff too not junk. We could have spent two days there but our stomachs were growling and the food offerings smelled amazing! We all just ordered different things and all shared-look at the pictures for the descriptions of each item. Wow was it good! Then we got an amazing storm-everyone battened down the hatches and the wind was bending the palm trees back and forth and rain pouring down. The boys were so happy to see heavy rain that they kept going out and standing in it. They also can’t get used to the fact that there isn’t a drought here. They keep reminding us the not run the water too long! But they like how I’m not rushing them in the shower 🙂 While we had a nice time in Bangkok, I probably wouldn’t come back here just for Bangkok, maybe as a layover. It is a little dirty and run down but has many charms, great food, beautiful temples and from what I hear, a raucous night life! It was great to visit once and the people were very friendly and loved the kids but two days was enough. We are looking forward to going to Northern Thailand next.

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Travel to Bangkok


Sadly we have to leave Hong Kong today, we really enjoyed it. Thankfully we had plenty of time to do some more shopping this morning since our flight wasn’t until 3:50pm. Shopping is amazing here, you can’t walk through anywhere without going through a mall and all high end retailers. There seems to be one on every other corner, a dream come true! The majority of our day was traveling to Bangkok. A 2.5 hour flight turns into an 8 hour day with travel to the airport a few hours before for check in, security, immigration, etc. Then baggage claim, transportation…… We made it to Bangkok late so we just had a drink and an amazing dinner right at the hotel, ready to sleep in our Heavenly Bed!

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Hong Kong


We spent the day in Central, where the business district is. It was a gorgeous sunny day, so we took the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbor and walked all over. Yesterday it was overcast with a little bit of sun so the temperature wasn’t too bad, just humid. Today with the sun beating down it was very hot, and humid! I think I was expecting a lot worse, because everyone said how horrendous it was this time of year but it felt similar to Manhattan in the summer, no different. In fact, Hong Kong reminds me of an Asian New York City. Smells, sights, street construction, traffic, full of people, food, all just in a different language. Oh, one major difference, the subways are air-conditioned!! It doesn’t feel like you are walking down into a steam room like NYC and the smells are city-like but different. It is more crowded than NYC and harder to get through the streets and subways. The boys got very annoyed by it! Not sure if I could handle that all the time but it does have a great vibe and I love it. After all the shopping and sightseeing we stopped at Man Mo Temple and the boys we intrigued by it. They really respected the temple and were very interested in watching the people coming in and out to say prayers and give offerings. I think Grant had an even better appreciation since he studied China’s geography, dynasties and religions this year in school. We met up with a friend of Jeff’s last night at Victoria Peak. It is the highest point on Hong Kong island and has spectacular views of the whole area. It was gorgeous to see at night!

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First Day Hong Kong

Hong Kong, China


Thankfully we took the high speed Airport Express train to our hotel to avoid the traffic. We were so tired! It was 4:30am pacific by then and with only a few naps we were pretty tired. But of course the boys were hungry so we grabbed a quick bite right near the hotel, squid ball soup and curry chicken. Our hotel is beautiful and our room has four beds!! We were so happy to sleep comfortably with no one bothering us! We also have a small kitchen with a sink, refrigerator, stovetop, microwave, rice cooker, French press, stocked nicely. The view is gorgeous too. Today was a lot of exploring, first to eat at a famous Michelin Star dim sum restaurant. It was AMAZING!! Then we rolled out of there and headed down to a Tailor for a custom made suit for Jeff in Tsim Sha Tsui. Down to the waterfront and the Hong Kong Walk of Fame, kind of like the Hollywood walk of fame along Victoria Harbor. Next up was the Ladies Market for some shopping and haggling. We made it back to the hotel and are ready for bed!! But we promised the boys we can go to the pool, it’s very humid but the temperature wasn’t too bad, nowhere near as hot as I thought it would be. The pool and spa is on the top floor of the hotel, what a great view. After a quick swim we all made our way to the steam room to relax our tired muscles….. Cocktails were on the 110th floor of the Ritz Carlton, what a view! Then of course we were hungry again….more noodles. Too bad the boys didn’t make it through all of dinner, I guess Jet Lag set in.

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Cathay Pacific Flight LAX-HKG

New Territories, Hong Kong


This whole morning from wake up until we took off I was a ball of nerves. We didn’t go to sleep until 1am then woke up at 6. So needless to say I was overtired and super stressed out to be ready to leave at 9am. Thankfully we have a great family who is taking care of Stanley and our house. So that was one less worry for us. We made it through security and into the KAL Lounge by 11:30! We left at 9am, traffic and security took so long. A stiff Bloody Mary, tea sandwiches and udon noodles helped a bit! It’s somewhat painful sitting next to the boys as they argue and fight over the shared armrest but I have a crisp glass of white to smooth it all over. I downloaded all these movies and TV shows but the entertainment system is amazing. I think I might start Breaking Bad since it is an offering?!? Only 13 more hours to go…, Lunch was decent considering its airline food, and the kids ate well. They are just super happy to drink sprite and eat ice cream! Now it’s time to take a nap, 3 hours into the flight, full bellies and I will finish my first episode of Breaking Bad then hopefully a nap. I managed to sleep for about two hours so that helped a lot. There’s nothing better than the Bose Quiet Comfort headphones, they have noise canceling and with that on and my music playing you don’t hear anything! I did watch the first episode of Breaking Bad before I napped. It was good but like any series, you need to watch a few to really get into it. Just had a cup of coffee even though it’s 7pm Pacific because I have 8 more hours of flight left and it will be around 6pm the next day when we arrive in Hong Kong. The boys are having fun but haven’t slept yet. They are having too much fun with the in flight entertainment choices. They had a good long game of video chess. They are also excited to cross the International Date Line. Only 7 1/2 more hours to go, made it half way and crossed the International Date Line! The second episode of Breaking Bad is over and still not hooked, but definitely interesting. I have been reading in between and eating and drinking. We had dinner at 10 pm pacific but 1:09pm Hong Kong time. I chose the Fish with black bean sauce and jasmine rice, it was surprisingly good! 5 more hours to go….2/3 of the way there. It’s not as miserable as I thought it would be. I am actually relaxing, reading, watching TV and enjoying myself. But there are five more hours, we’ll see what they bring…..nap time again zzzzz! Well I somehow slept again and for 2 hours until the boys woke me up kicking each other and fighting over space and who was encroaching into the others, etc. Just what I wanted to be woken to. Cranky now! But the monitor said only 2 more hours!! We all just freshened up and the boys ordered noodle soup-they are so happy now 🙂 I am going to do some reading and get ready for our arrival into Hong Kong soon! We are finally making our descent into Hong Kong, the flight is over!

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Itinerary

San Clemente, CA


I think that I may be planning too much but I feel like I need to see everything while we are there. The itinerary so far is this: Fly from Los Angeles to Hong Kong and stay there for 3 nights to see skyscrapers, taste heavenly food and experience ancient customs. Bangkok, Thailand for 2 nights to see the floating markets, the amazing food and the bustling nightlife. Then up north to Chiang Mai, Thailand for 3 days nestled in the foothills of the mountains with elaborate temples and a moat surrounding the old town. Especially excited to spend a day at an elephant conservation camp outside of town. From there we visit the infamous White Temple in Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle at the confluence of the mighty Mekong and Ruak rivers where Myanmar, Laos and Thailand all meet at a point. It is the second largest opium producing region in the world besides the Golden Crescent in Afghanistan. From there we will head over to Laos by a two day slow boat on the Mekong and arrive in sleepy Luang Prabang to see the former capital with golden roof temples, saffron robed monks and colonial French architecture, a UNESCO World Heritage site. That brings us two weeks into the trip….I have a few more weeks to plan. I have my ideas and itinerary in my head but now I have to put it on paper. That is the problem with being a perfectionist, I spend so much time comparing hotels and things to do that it takes me a few days per city. It is a lot of fun to plan but is overwhelming too, but I love doing it.

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Flights are booked!

San Clemente, CA


We booked our flights last week, it is now definite! We fly from LAX to Hong Kong and stay a few days there. Then fly to Bangkok and the majority of our trip goes from there, we end up in Singapore a few weeks later and fly home through Hong Kong back to LAX. Now the rest of the planning must start! I must start with visas and immunizations…..