Anniversary and New Years

On the 30th, we had to say goodbye to Brian and Karen, as they flew from Bangkok back to Hong Kong. They'd leave for home the following day. Drew and I continued on our trip to Vietnam, another new destination for us. We flew from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City and stayed the night at a really nice boutique hotel on the Song River, maybe 30 min outside of downtown, for our 3rd wedding anniversary. We were only going to be in town for one night, as the next day we'd fly on to Hoi An for New Years, so it didn't matter to us if we were in the city or not. Besides, we would be visiting HCMC on the way home as well. The hotel was lovely, the grounds, the architecture, the view of the river, everything. It was perfect.

After settling in, we went downstairs to the hotel restaurant for our anniversary dinner. We got to sit right next to the river and had fun watching all of these shallow bottomed barges go by carrying shipping containers etc. We could also see downtown HCMC from there, as seen in the picture above.

Dinner was delicious. Drew started out with an avocado and soft-shell crab salad, followed by a gourmet burger he had been craving with bacon, onion rings, blue cheese, etc. His favorite. 

I had a beet cream soup, which was delicious. 

Next I had a tuna steak over a bed of sweet potatoes and brussell sprouts. The prices at this place were ridiculously cheap, and we'd come to learn all of Vietnam was the same. Drew could have ordered an Angus steak tenderloin for $15. Anyways, this was one of the nicest restaurants we ate at the whole trip, so what happened next is even more hilarious. 

I know for a fact I am not allergic to anything that was on my plate that night. I don't have any severe food allergies that I'm aware of. Regardless, about halfway through my meal, the inner part of my ears started itching with a fierceness equal to a religious fervor. Now, for a few minutes I thought it was just a lingering cold I had been battling, because that is a personal symptom that I get, itchy ears. However, after a few more minutes my tongue started tingling, so I knew this was unusual. I told Drew I thought I was having a minor allergic reaction, but I couldn't understand it because I knew for a fact I wasn't allergic to anything I was eating. Not wanting to waste a good meal, I finished it off. Needless to say, our romantic anniversary was taking a nose dive to the unromantic very quickly. 

After dinner, I immediately felt better. We went for a stroll around the lantern lit grounds, then returned to our room for a special treat, the Christmas special episode of Downton Abbey. About halfway through the show, nature calls, and afterwards, as I look in the mirror while washing my hands, I, to my surprise, notice that my entire body has turned a lovely shade of carrot. Literally, from head to foot, all of my skin was flushed red. I can't tell you how many people asked me if I took a picture, but no, that didn't cross my mind at the time. Funnily enough, I truly felt ok other than the carrot imitation. I jumped onto my ipad to web-md this stuff and started looking up my symptoms. They were, not surprisingly, identical to an allergic reaction to food. Still, I knew I wasn't allergic to those ingredients. After some more careful searching I found my answer. Apparently, certain fish, particularly tuna and mackerel, if refrigerated improperly, can build up an alarming amount of histamines, due to over grown bacteria converting another chemical histadine into histamine. So, when you eat it, your body reactions to the histamines like any other allergic reaction. It's called Histamine Toxicity, and it's technically a type of food poisoning. Luckily, or unluckily, I have been dealing with allergies in Hong Kong from pollution, I hope, so I had some antihistamine pills in my purse. Popped in a couple of those, went to sleep, and the next day I was back to my normal shade of ghostly pale with no ill effects. Funny, this was only the second time in all of our travels that I have gotten sick from food, (the other time being in Myanmar) and it was at one of the nicest restaurants around! Back to safer street food, I suppose. 

We flew out the next day for Hoi An, to meet up some friends of ours for New Years Eve. The friends were Ilde and Larry, South Africans living in Hong Kong, whom we met through airbnb of all things. They are wonderful people and good friends, and they let us join up on their already planned plans. They were staying at a lovely beach resort, and said resort was throwing a huge party that we joined up for. The evening began with hors d'oeuvres and cocktails by the pool, into which we released paper lanterns with lit candles within, to make a wish for the new year. There was also a lion dance and other festivities. 

The night then continued, very much like a wedding, with a huge buffet table, a stage with song and dance routines throughout the evening for entertainment, and even a chocolate fountain. The buffet table, which was almost a mile long, was obviously Drew's favorite part. About halfway through the evening, it started drizzling, hence the umbrellas given out by the resort. Clearly I'm telling a very intriguing story below. Perhaps even the carrot story again?

After dinner, dancing began, and close to midnight, they handed out all sorts of festive garb. 

The best part of the dancing was this group of Mexican 20-somethings who were going to town all night. Anytime a song came on with a hint of Spanish they'd go berserk. But it made the dancing more fun. It drizzled essentially the whole night, but that didn't stop them. It did mean that the poor Filipino cover singer put a towel on her head by the end to try to salvage her hair. Not sure it helped. 

Thanks Ilde and Larry for letting us crash your New Years Eve! We had a blast!

Bangkok-Everything Else

The first night we arrived in Bangkok, we were being driven from the airport back to our airbnb place. The driver, who couldn't speak much English, suddenly groans and says "Oh no, chickens..." I could see there was accident of some kind ahead, and immediately I thought we were going to see feathers flying and blood gushing. As it turns out, they were chickens, but ones that were already dead and on their way to a grocery store. So, it was still gruesome, but not quite as bad as I was expecting. 

There are lots of Buddhists in Thailand, and they like to have prayer flowers in their cars, homes etc. That's what this guy is making at a local market. 

One of the random, funny things we saw in Bangkok was a Swensen's ice cream parlor! And not just one, there were dozens of them all over the place! There was a Swensen's in Fort Collins that we used to go to for special occasions sometimes, but I haven't be to or seen one of these in years. Too funny.

We also went to a very famous neighborhood known as a backpacking mecca called Khao San Road. Excellent people watching!

Drew was feeling peckish, surprise surprise, so he went to a food stand to pick a few things. Everyone back home is always surprised at the street food stalls that Drew and I eat at and manage to not get sick, and this was one of those places. 

We went to the Jim Thomson house. Jim Thomson was an American who came to Thailand and rejuvenated the famous Thai silk industry. There is still a brand in his name selling high quality silks. He was a bachelor, and this was his bachelor pad, three traditional Thai homes joined together. He was also a collector of art that was broken or flawed in some way. For example, one statue was of Buddha but his torso was missing. The art was still beautiful, but Thai people don't believe in having broken art inside the home, as it symbolizes a broken family. So, they would just give this stuff to him and he would cherish it. Somehow, he went on vacation in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia, and he went missing and was never found again. Dun Dun Dun.... So now you can take guided tours through him home and property. It's really beautiful. Makes you picture what all of Bangkok was like a few decades ago. 

That evening, we went to a nice dinner to celebrate our last night in Bangkok. We found a craft beer bar on our walk home, and even a Whiskey and Cigar bar called Whisgars! Ahaha so clever. 

This was a group of friends or family all dressed alike while riding these crazy fold up bikes. Such good people watching. Another funny experience we had was going to a movie theatre to watch the 3rd Hobbit. It was just a normal theatre, but they literally played commercials and trailers for 45 minutes before the movie starting. We were starting to think it was a joke. Finally, they started playing another short film and everyone in the theatre stood up. We realized that the film was about the King of Thailand and all of the great things he had done for them. The king isn't actually in power anymore, but everyone still loves him. After that 5 minute video, then the movie finally started. I guess it would be similar in the US if we played the Star Spangled Banner in theatres before a showing. 

Kata Beach, Phuket for Christmas

After our scuba diving adventure, we were ready for some much deserved RnR. We headed down the coast towards Kata Beach, which is a more family friendly beach south of Patong on the peninsula of Phuket. The town was perfect for us, just big enough to offer a variety of stuff to do, but not too big to not feel like a quant beachy town. The beach and surrounding area was gorgeous as well. There were a TON of Russians also vacationing there, and they, for some reason, don't feel the need for age or size appropriate swim wear, nor sunscreen. I've never seen so many overweight men in speedos frying themselves to a crisp. But hey, to each their own. We mostly spent the days either at the pool, at the beach, or sipping cocktails. Marvelous. 

We were lucky enough to find a fabulous condo that we rented out for a few days. The original picture was actually the view from our roof, which included an infinity pool! Heaven!

We spent ALOT of time up there. 

We also celebrated Christmas here. Mostly the presents consisted of airplane alcohol bottles, courtesy of brilliant Karen. Exactly what we needed!

Another great part of this segment of the trip was that one of our best friends, Andrew, joined us for Christmas. It was so great to be surrounded by family and friends whom we love so much, even when you're half way around the world in Thailand. 

One of the best parts of Thailand is the cheap massages. They only cost $8 for a whole hour! Needless to say, we enjoyed a few of them. 

We also went out for a few nice dinners, including on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. 

After Christmas dinner, Drew, myself, and Andrew headed to the beach to light a wishing lantern. This is definitely not the most environmentally friendly thing I've done this year, but it was a beautiful memory. Essentially, you buy a lantern from one of the half dozen people selling them on the beach. You light the candle inside and make a wish. Then, you hold the lantern close to the ground as the hot air begins to build up inside. Eventually there is enough hot air to lift the paper lantern off the ground, so you let go and watch your wish float towards the heavens. I actually think what I wished for is coming true as we speak!

Andrew, thankfully, made sure Drew and I stayed up at least past 10pm every night. This included visiting a few of the local bars, where board games, pool, etc were very popular. 

On our last night in Phuket, we moved to another villa close to the airport. There, we had a seafood BBQ which was incredibly delicious, thanks to Brian's Master Chef skills. Dinner included fish, shrimp, squid, crabs, and chicken kebabs!

Thanks again Andrew for joining us on this segment of our trip! It was a blast having you there, and we're so glad we got to spend it with you!