Asia 2018 Photos
adminDay 1 – Singapore
Day 2 – Singapore
Day 3 (Sea Day) and Day 4 (Saigon)
Day 5 – Nha Trang
Day 7 – Hong Kong Day 1
Asia 2018 Photos (duplicate using WordPress formated galleries…ignore this)
Singapore – Day 1
Day 3 (Sea Day) and Day 4 (Saigon)
Day 5 – Nha Trang
Day 7 – Hong Kong Day 1
Day 8 – Hong Kong Day 2
Flight 110 to SF and 111 home!
It was a loooong trip back. We had an 8 hour layover in the SF airport from 11pm to 7am. We made a little corner of the food court our very own for the night!
Last Day in Hong Kong
For our last day in Hong Kong, we had planned to go back to Disneyland in the morning then meet up with Kenzie’s friend, Hailey, in the afternoon before heading to the airport.
While on the boat, Kenzie loved to spend time in the kids club Where she met a seven-year-old girl from Hong Kong named Hailey. When Hailey’s parents found out that we were not able to continue on to Taiwan and would be spending an extra day and a half in Hong Kong they were extremely helpful and offered suggestions of where to visit, what to do, and even invited us over to their house. When they found out we had plans to go to Disneyland, they offered to meet us there. Kenzie and Haley had a wonderful time running through the park and going on all the rides together.
Haley brought Kenzie stuffed Nemo and wrote her a letter, and Kenzie brought Hailey a friendship necklace that splits in half. They promised to write each other letters so hopefully they will be pen pals for many years!
Hong Kong Disneyland!!!
What do you do when you have an extra day and a half in Hong Kong? You go to Disneyland!
It’s much smaller than Disneyland in California and has some different rides. But, the entrance and Main Street were very much the same! So much fun to check out Disneyland in a different country. Our highlight from the first day was the “English” version of the river cruise. We understood about 5 words but it was extremely entertaining!!
Big Buddha and Tai O
Today we took the public transport system to the Big Buddha and the fishing village of Tai O. It was a tremendously hot day… the cable cars up into the hills were beautiful but the 250+ steps up to the Buddha did us in! Thankfully there was ice cream waiting for us at the bottom!
We then took a bus to the fishing village of Tai O…..stinky!!
3rd and final port: Hong Kong
The plan was to dock in Hong Kong for one day then continue on to Taiwan but the weather had different plans. Super typhoon Maria is scheduled to hit land in Taiwan at the same time our boat was scheduled to arrive so they are delaying the departure from Hong Kong until later tomorrow. That delay would cause us to miss our flight from Taiwan back to Hong Kong and then from Hong Kong back to the states, so we’ve decided to get off the ship and stay an extra day in Hong Kong starting tomorrow.
For our first day in Hong Kong, Kenzie decided to stay on the ship in the kids club. We took the hop on hop off bus and found that the city is just huge! There are so many tall and modern buildings – it’s difficult to describe!
2nd Port: Nha Trang, central Vietnam
Because we had to take the shuttle boats from the ship to the dock, it took several hours to get into town. We weren’t interested in the traditional tours offered by Princess, so Brad found a taxi driver willing to take us to a few stops that looked most interesting. Our taxi driver didn’t speak any English so when he had a question he would call a translator and have Brad talk to him on the phone, and that person would translate for the driver. We definitely felt like we were on an adventure!
Our first stop was a rural home where the women made mats (floor mats, place mats, etc). It was interesting to watch but then they quickly got us involved! I think they were just as interested in watching us as we were with them!
our next stop was at a home where they were making rice paper. Again, interesting to watch but the women there were just as interested in Kenzie and liked to touch her hair.
After our personal taxi ride tour we took a few minutes to play at the beach. We didn’t really cool off much – it was 88 degrees but felt more like 100 with the humidity and the ocean felt like bath water! There was also a ton of trash on the beach and in the water so we didn’t stay long.
1st Port: Phu My, Ho Chi Minh Vietnam
We took a full day tour from our port in Phu My to Ho Chi Minh city, formerly known as Saigon. The best part of the trip was ridding the cyclo… like a rickshaw but with a bike. Traffic was crazy and had NO rules!!! People on motorcycles or mopeds would zip by all around going in any direction. Our guide gave us a tip for crossing a street.. “go slowly and don’t take a step backwards!” He said the drivers will recognize that we’re tourists and go slower around us.
We stopped at temple, had Pho at a very popular restaurant where Bill Clinton ate (Pho 2000), walked through a market. One section was run by the government so prices were fixed but a second section was for private sellers and prices could be negotiated. Kenzie was a natural at the art of negotiation!
Off to Cruise In Southeast Asia!
After almost 24 hours of flying, including a 16+ hour flight from San Francisco to Singapore we finally arrived. It was early morning in Singapore so we powered through to try and get ourselves on local time. After checking into the hotel we headed out to see the town.
On our first day, we wandered the streets getting our bearings, rode the subway, shopped in Chinatown, saw a Boodhist shrine, and ate at the local “Hawker Market” (a big outdoor food stand market) where the food was AMAZING!
By the time we called it a day we’d all been up almost 48 hours with just a couple of quick naps (Kenzie included). As we were walking back to our hotel at the end of the day we were all pretty tired. I was talking with Kenzie and I said that even though it’s a lot of fun, sometimes traveling is very hard like when we are this tired. She looked at me without missing a beat and said “yeah, but I love it…” For being 6 years old, this kid is a trooper!
