Picture
I went to Singapore with only one thing in mind. Universal Studios. I knew that at least 4 out of 5 of us will love it. We hit jackpot. Carol also loved it.

Singapore turned out to be a place with a lot of stuff to do and see. We lived on the island Sentosa. A very green island (well, Singapore is all green but this was greener then the rest. Let´s call it jungle) with hotels, resorts and lot´s of activities. Luge was fun. It´s a track down the hill (like bob sledge in the summer). The boys tried surfing at a "bar/restaurant" (see pics).  You could also race down the hill, up in the air on a wire. You could even try indoor sky diving. And that's only around the corner from where we lived.

On TV in Viet Nam there has been a lot of commercial´s about Marina Bay Sands. Even TV shows on National Geographic. Off course we went there. You can´t resist the power of commercial. It turned out to be very nice. We sat in the bar and had a few drinks (mocktails for the kids) and looked at the spectacular view. To bad we didn´t bring the thick wallet because the shopping center at the Sands was huge with lot´s of very expensive shops. Outside the shopping center is the Promenade. It´s what it sounds like. With restaurants and places to sit down and relax. When we where sitting there watching the sun going down we had a surprise. They have a light/laser/water/fire show out on the water when it gets dark. Very nice with the famous Singapore sky line in the background.

In total, we are very pleased with this trip to Singapore. If we have the possibility at least I want to go back. So much to see and do. And so easy to get around.

If you want to read more and see pics just click on the link "read more" down to your right.


 
Picture
At Tet holiday we went to Penang, Malaysia. This Island was not what I expected. I had done no homework at all before we went there. The island turned out to be a big city with a lot of people and high buildings everywhere. I was expecting beaches and bunglows.

But the urban areas was clean and well organized. A dream compared to Ha Noi. But not as great character. The only wildlife we encountered was the butterflies and snakes and bugs at the butterfly farm. Oh, and also the runaway horse on the beach. Poor creature. I think he wanted to get into the shadows. Yes they have beaches there. They where, like the water, dirty.  The water was also murcy, just like the lakes back home in Sweden.

We took the kids to Escape. A big playground for older kids and adults. High altitude tracks (climbing and balance acts high up on wires - like an adventure thing) and other fun things to do. Do not go there on a weekend. A lot of people and the charm of novelty is not a good combination. Not for me anyway.

I would have liked to explore Georgetown a little bit more. It´s an world heritage site. The kids put an early stop to our trip there. You cannot argue with hot and hungry kids without starting third world war, so we went back to the hotel. Into the pool.

Despite my prejudiced expectations this trip was nice.

Read more and see pics by clicking on the link "read more" down to your right.


 
Picture
Update from autumn 2012. Sorry for the delay.
Anyway... we had a nice long weekend in Hue with Selin family, our neighbors. Did some cultural sightseeing and as usual the kids where not as pleased as the adults. Most of the time we spent on the beach and the pool. And at the hotel spa. Nice.

It was a lot of fun on this trip, the Selin brothers likes photography (they are 12 years old (tripling´s)). I spent a lot of time trying to learn them how aperture and shutter speed works together. And we also went around taking photos.

On the down side going to Hue is all the people trying to rip tourists off. We went on a cyclo trip (three wheeled bicycle to drive around tourists) and we agreed on a price before we took off. When we got to our destination they wanted A LOT MORE. I was really angry and was shouting a lot at them and trying to explain that we will not pay more than agreed upon... take it or leave it! When they finally understood that we was´nt any regularly tourists in Vietnam they took it and all was fine. I think those cyclo guys was well known to rip tourists off. The other cyclo people nearby did thumbs up and smiled broadly when we did´nt give up.

And then there where these people working on the streets selling paintings. They never gave up. They could follow you for 50 meters trying to show you all the paintings they had. Even when you told them during the first meter that you where´nt interested. This things never happen in Ha Noi. Here they are indifferent about you buying or not (except one or two guys selling books in old quarters).

Apart from the annoying cyclo guys and painting sellers, it was a very relaxing weekend at a very nice hotel. I can highly recommend Ana Mandara.

Took a lot of pictures. See some of them by clicking on the link "read more" down to the right.


 
Picture
Boys were off school for 2 days and we had a lovely extended weekend in Hoi An. This time we also stayed at a hotel at the beach. Unfortunately the beach had been washed away in front of the hotel. But we went to An Bang beach instead and it was lovely. We went with Clarissa and her daughter Cassandra and also a friend of Clarissa, Susanne. We had a great time in Hoi An exploring different tailors and restaurants in the old quarters.

For a change we will probably stay in town next time. If the hotel has a pool that is. The boys will refuse if there is no pool. Spoiled brats....

I also attended a early morning photo tour. It was fun. We went by boat to the other side of the river to a fishing village. We spent most of the time taking pics of the women buying fish and other sea creature´s from the fishermen when they brought in their catch. Then we went to a small fish sauce production plant to practice low light photography.

If you want to read more and see pictures click on the link "read more" down to your right. 


 
Picture
Late update..... When our boys had autumn brake we went to Thailand with the new family next door (Maria and her 3 sons). We stayed in Ao Nang and Centara resort. Last time we stayed at Centara we had a great time and the resort was really good. This time it was almost as good as last time. It had been worn down a little - and they had NO FRESH MANGO at breakfast. I missed my mango the whole week.


The boys, Ruben, Ossian, Axel, Hjalmar and Erik had a great time in the nice pool. We went cajaking to Railay beach one day and as always this Thailand trip involved a longtail boat to Chicken island. We snorkeled the whole day. It was lovely. Only we on a paradise beach. We brought pick nick baskets for lunch from the hotel. Expensive but very nice.

We will have a hard time in the future when we want to go on holiday´s. Because Ossian and Ruben are now so used to stay at fancy hotel´s that they will not like more "basic" standard hotel´s.

See pictures from the trip. Just click on the link to the right, "read more".


 
Picture
I´m sooo sorry for being sooooo lazy. It´s about time to update you on what´s been going on over here in Viet Nam.

When the kids back home had autumn holiday, Edman family came and visited us. Ruben was so thrilled to meet his friend Linus. We had one week together and the rest of the trip Edmans was in Phu Quoc.

Except the outings in Ha Noi we went to Ninh Binh, 120 km south of Ha Noi. It´s also called Ha Long bay on land. Mountain peaks rising straight up to the sky, like dragon teeth. After a short bicycle ride we went on a small boat along a river (more of a newly dug big ditch actually) to a cave that went straight through one of the "dragon teeth". The cave was very narrow and it was fun but I could do without the long boat trip before arriving there. If it was´nt for the scenery the boat trip would have been a real pain.

On the trip to Ninh Binh we also visited the Temple of Dinh Emperor. Situated just in front of one of the peaks. We only stayed for maybe 30 minutes and we did´nt get much of what the guide said. But it was beautiful.

Like everybody else visiting Ha Noi Edmans shopped a lot. That´s what most people do in Ha Noi. It was nice to have friends visiting and I hope more will come before we head back home for good.

As usual I took a lot of pictures. Just click on the link "read more" to the right and you can view them.


 
Picture
I said a couple of weeks ago that I would publish some pictures from Norway. Here they are.

One of the most beautiful countrys in the world. It helps to get this attention from me when the fly fishing spots are many and the fishes are quite big.

To see the pics, just click on the link "read more" down below.


 
Picture
This is a short version of the previous post about the Bangkok trip. When Weebly updated something my post disappeared.

Anyway, it was a really nice trip. We stayed at Ulrika, Gunnar and Veras place and they took good care of us. We whent so see a loooong laying down buddha, Siam Ocean world and Moon Bar at the 62 floor. Awesome!

I hope we can go back to Ulrika, Gunnar and Vera. Maybe next time we head out to the ocean. Get some pool time with colorfull drinks and nice seafood.

If you want to see more pics click on the link "read more" down below.



 
Picture
We went to Mai Chau this longweekend together with a lot of familys. Most of them from the Swedish Camp. JP and Aimee organized the trip and they did a great job. They had rented a homestay for all of us. It was one of those Thai houses on pillars. Under the house was room enought to sit and have our meals.

We went hiking with the kids through the rice fields, rented bikes and went out on the small dirt roads, climbed the long stairs to the cave and we did also some shopping in the village. When its low season the Thai people do handicraft and when the hight season comes they sell it to tourists.

If you can cope with a 4 hours drive one way from Ha Noi I can recommend to go to Mai Chau. Stay at one of the homestays in the village. Its very cheap and the food the house owners prepare for you is very good and the portions are very generous. If you can, bring an extra sleeping pad. The matresses in the houses are very thin. If you´re looking for real beds you can always stay at the lodge. But it`ll cost ya!


See more pictures click the link "read more" to  your right.


 
Picture
This easter the hole family went home to Sweden on holiday. 2 weeks with friends and family. It was so nice to see them all. The big event during our visit was Kayes birthdayparty. We went to the mountains up north to ski. It was us and Kaye and her partner David. At her birthday Lasse joined us all day. In the evening it was champagne, wine and good food. I hope Kaye enjoyd her birthday. (And her expensive presents;). I had a good time anyway. 


Eeaster was spent at my aunts place as usual. And as always we had a good time seing them. The most exiting thing was to meet my sister. She is pregnant and I had not seen her since we left Sweden. Now she was round and big. I´m so happy for her and her partner Henrik. I cant wait untill I meet the new family member.

Our schedule was also busy when it comes to visit friends. We had such a good time seing them and it was hard to go back to Ha Noi. I hope you all enjoyd our visits as much as we did. Thank you everybody for having us.

See more pics by clicking on the link "Read more" to the right.