Vietnam Preview

For those of you who care, here's a run-down of our upcoming trip to Vietnam! It's going to be a whirlwind  and there's a million fabulous places I know we're missing but we've tried to balance relaxation with sightseeing. This will be our first trip to SE Asia so I'm sure it will be quite the experience.

Friday Nov 4th: Drive up to Vancouver
Saturday Nov 5th: Depart YVR
Sunday Nov 6th: Short layover in Tokyo, Arrive in Hanoi (northern Vietnam)
Monday Nov 7th: Wander Hanoi. Big city. Lots of people, street food, markets, temples and just experiencing.
Tuesday Nov 8th- Thursday Nov 10th: Ha Long Bay (staying on Cat Ba Island). The bay of 1000 limestone islands and some good hiking on the Cat Ba island.
Friday Nov 11th- Sunday Nov 13th : Arrive Hoi An (Central Vietnam). UNESCO World Heritage site,  it's supposed to be a cute old town, famous for its tailors. Time to get that three piece suit! Bicycle tour of the countryside. Also hiking and beaches at our disposal.
Monday Nov 14th - Thursday Nov 17th: Phu Quoc Island (South Vietnam). Great beaches, lots of relaxation, snorkeling (maybe SCUBA diving?) and some relaxed hiking.
Friday Nov 18th - Saturday Nov 19th: Ho Chi Minh City. Another big city, the Vietnam War Museum, temples, and possibly a Mekong Delta Tour.
Sunday November 20th: 10 hour daytime layover in Tokyo (yes we are going into the city, and yes, we will eat lots of sushi and be very lost). And then, because we can go back in time, arrive back in Vancouver at noon and head home!

We haven't decided yet if we'll be making the bigger hops by overnight train or quick plane rides...I still have a whole 12 days left before we leave, give me a break!

We're around home for those next 12 days so I may or may not post again (between finishing that 30 page paper) but we'll be mobile blogging as we go with pictures here and there and then full reports when we get home so stay tuned.

Central Oregon Wedding - Greg & Stephanie

We spent the past weekend down in the Bend/Redmond, OR area celebrating Matt's brother Greg's marriage. Matt and I drove down Thursday morning, a bunch of us had rented a house, and we worked from there the rest of Thursday and Friday. It was a great weekend getting to see everyone, catch up, spend time as a family, and get to celebrate Greg & Stephanie. We also love central Oregon and it's sunshine and were excited to get to spend some time there.

Thursday night was the bachelor party, which I do not have any pictures of because a) I was not present b) boys are not really prone to such things. The ladies and I had a nice dinner back at the house. There are an obscene number of pictures of our nephew Ben in the post but he's just too cute. I can't help it. I stole some of these from Jeri & Diane - thanks!

Me, Jen, Ben, Maya, Jack & Donette

Friday after working (while everyone else got to go play, boo hoo) we headed over to Greg & Stephanie's place for the rehearsal & rehearsal dinner. The wedding was in their backyard and they did an amazing job with the set up and all the decorations - it was adorable.

the happy couple - Greg & Stephanie

Saturday we all had an early breakfast at One Street Down in Redmond and after some getting ready it was time for pictures and the big event!

breakfast time

Uncle Barry helping Ben get his shoes on

the little man is walking and running around!

Pre-wedding mimosa and toast-writing

the little man's tux. Too cute

(Bens) Grandma Jeri & Ben

Sisters

Lookin sharp Greg

Dad & Brothas - Bob, Andy, Greg, Matt

GQ

love

the kiss

Best man toasting

cute.

too cute.

just way too cute

first dance

brothers on the dance floor

Sunday we lounged around the house some more with the family, went for a walk, and then Matt & I headed into Bend's Old Mill District where we had a great lunch at Community Flatbread Kitchen, perused REI, and stopped by the famous Deschutes Brewery for a tasting (Matt & I did the tour when we were there three years ago, Matts also done it at least 2 other times).

Deschutes River

sunny day in the Old Mill District

2011 Jubleale is out!

After that we made a quick stop a Smith Rocks, which is one of my favorite places in the area. We did the whole hike last time we were down and I wish we could have done it again, but in the interest of making it to Seattle before midnight we just enjoyed the view for a while and then moved down the road for another quick stop at Maragas Winery. You mean you haven't heard of Central Oregon being known for its wine? Well, can't say it was anything special, but it was a nice setting and a good way to break up the afternoon before we got serious about the drive home.

We're actually home for the next two weekends in a row (gasp!) before we head off to Vietnam on November 4th. We're looking forward to getting some house work and homework done, some visitors two weeks from now, and I'll be posting a preview of Vietnam soon.

San Francisco & Napa Valley

I had never been to SF before, and that's a darn shame. So when Alaska Airlines had an awesome fare sale this summer, we jumped on it. We also had a enough orphan points lying around in random places to scrounge up two free hotel nights AND a free car rental. When the star align..you should go to San Francisco.

Similar to our Victoria trip a few weeks ago, this one was characterized by a lot of walking and a lot of good food. Hopefully the pictures entertain you, since I'm sure reading about all the food and wine isn't nearly as interesting as eating it.

One of the downsides to the fare sale was no flying on Fridays or Sundays. So after a relatively late night Friday we were up in the 4'oclock hour to head to the airport. Those are the mornings where you are eternally grateful you live approx. 14 minutes from the airport. Our flight left an hour late (fog in SF, how stereotypical) so by the time we touched down and got into town (on BART, neat!) we were starving despite it not really being lunch time. We were staying downtown right in the shopping district and we headed over to Yank Sing, a great dim sum place that Matts co-worker had recommended. It lived up to its reputation, and feeling nourished, we put on our walking shoes and scooted through Chinatown, all the way up to Coit Tower, and back down again to the Embarcadero. Hills? Yes.

 

Alcatraz

Street Car

We hopped on it..

We then got to meet up with my co-worker Christina, and her husband Sergio for lunch. It's funny working every day with people you've never met so I jumped at the opportunity of being in the vicinity and they recommended a fabulous Brazilian Steakhouse - Espetus Churrascaria . So. much. good. food. It was a late lunch anyways, but we didn't get hungry for dinner until about 9pm. It was fun to meet face to face and get to hang out.

Christina & I

They were kind enough to drop us at -where else- the Golden Gate Bridge. We took some pictures, and spent the rest of the day wandering. Haight-Ashbury, Buena Vista Park, Painted Ladies, The Castro, Mission District. I wanted to see more, but my poor feet weren't having it. We had some great drinks at Regalito on quiet little street when all I wanted was to sit down. Then tapas and some amazing pisco cocktails at Limon.

Fine Arts Palace. Or something like that

Color. Lots of color.

 

View from the aptly named Buena Vista Park

 

 Alamo Square, the Painted Ladies, and downtown

We found some nice Uruguayans to take a picture of us. They asked if Matt was from Brazil.

Scoot Scoot

Sangria and agave wine margarita @ Regalito

If you're wondering what Matt looks like when it's 11pm and he's trying to be enthused about being in SF even though he's exhausted..

Sunday morning after a rather long adventure to pick up our rental car, we made our way to Boulette's Larder in the Ferry Building right on the water. Rather expensive for a brunch but excellent food, adorable little restaurant. Oh, and did I mention it was supposed to rain all weekend? You can see from the pictures it certainly didn't.

Ferry Building

Adorable kitchen

After a morning in the city we made our way to Napa. We'd never been before, despite having done quite a bit of wine tasting. I must admit, I had heard how expensive it was and was expecting a very snobby atmosphere. I've been to wineries like that, and it just makes it no fun. Well, I was pleasantly surprised and not only was the wine great, but the atmosphere was fun too and we had some really interesting people pouring.

Artesa. Great view. Very nice wine. 

We shared 1 classic & one reserve tasting 

Charles Krug.

Not the best ambiance but nice wines, and super friendly. We shared the reserve tasting and ended up with about 10 pours

Alpha & Omega. Great wines, nice setting, friendly and attentive staff.

And the guy took a bunch of pictures of us. Bonus points.

We had to go and ruin our palettes immediately after all that nice wine by fulfilling Matt's one wish every time he goes to CA: In -n - Out. By that point we were exhausted and had another early morning flight to get home in time for work, so we were off to bed.