November 27/2018

I’ve been waiting to use this phrase for months and now I can finally irritate the hell out of my family every morning for the better part of  3 weeks! Life is GOOOOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!

We apparently get on the wrong flight as this airline only has children’s seating.As I slide my Northern Alberta carcass into the fisher price chairs on said plane, I nestle in for what will most likely be a most uncomfortable experience. Well, wouldn’t you know it. It’s actually doable! My arms bend enough at the elbow to reach my keyboard and the seats aren’t that bad. I can deal with th… What the HELL??

Sooooo, along with the small people seating comes a free lean your seat back until you squish the white guy option. Patty… trade me before I rock and roll the passenger ahead of me. I literally cannot type on my laptop in front of me. The tray table is touching me. Breathe…

It was relatively easy to enter the country. We don’t have a whole lot planned today besides finding our room and exploring the vicinity. The cab ride was ludicrous as usual. Lines on the road don’t mean shit. Honking has made its nasty return to the local language and so has “lets’ see how close we can get to a scooter without running them over.” Holy crap! Upon arriving at our new home for the next week or so, It shows well from the outside. New construction all around our recently completed 44 floor apartment building. $60/night CDN gets you a two-bedroom apartment brand new on floor 28. Looks good to me! Lots of amenities around as well. Though fairly expensive most likely because of the private nature of the compound area.

A nice dip in the pool for the family will round out the evening. Operation, GoodMorning Vietnam commences tomorrow!

November 28, 2018

Goooooooood Moooooorning VIETNAM!!

It was less annoying than I had thought. Though everyone was waiting for it… The beds in camp HA-NOI-HA are none too comfy but I didn’t expect to be the Taj so I won’t complain about that any longer. I will complain about the time thatConstruction Day starts here in Hanoi. Getting forcedly awoken at “what-the-heck:30” is not my idea of a good start to a day. 6am comes a little too early when the beds suck and party room is right above you. Nonetheless, it is light out so I suppose progress must take place. Finding coffee is much less of a pain in the ass here in Vietnam. There are coffee huts on every corner and some side by side. A couple “latte hots” and we be in business…

There is also a grocery store right next to our building but we didn’t figure that out until after the day was over and we had already hit the grocery store a couple blocks down several times already. We play “who can pay attention the quickest” often. I lost this round.

Every time we cross cab street, we get the “hey you want a cab” gestures until we are out of sight. Well boy are they in luck this morning! CAB PLEASE!! We all pile in enroute to the MEGA MALL. We show the address and buddy knows where it is straight away (his names not really buddy but Nhong fong thrang Trong is too hard to say)

Something is much different about this cab. There is a distinct smell of…

Reid says what we are all thinking. “It smells like the Falher Pirates dressing room in here!” That describes this smell to a tee. Could it be because of the lack of hygiene here? Maybe… Lela points out the rotten fruit on the console. “I think it’s that.” Cute… Yup… Awesome…

Window opens. Buddy shuts A/C off. We are laughing our heads off.

OK… I am going to level with you. What I am about to tell you is NO EXAGGERATION and I have video to prove it. First off, if you are thinking of coming to Hanoi, or apparently any of the major cities in Vietnam and thinking about renting a car…Give your frickin’ head a shake.

There are VERY FEW LIGHTS, almost NO SIGNS and intersections aren’t really a thing.They intersect and that’s about all. There are lines on the pavement but they mean squat. Remember the ANT PILE analogy from “Homeless in HKG”? That was nothing.I was wrong to compare the population density of Hong Kong to this country’s cities. HK was about 6400 people/km2. Hanoi has a density of 2300/km2.

BULLSHIT. Yes, while I agree that there was exactly 2300 people in the square km that I was in at the moment, the said 2300 people were actually DRIVING a MOTOR VEHICLE and all of them were in 500 square yards. OMG…

It didn’t bother me in the least actually. I wasn’t driving. I would never even consider it. As with the ant-pile, NOBODY hits each other. Even when crossing straight across as the 2300 people on scooters honk, brake, slow, speed up, change “lanes” etc…

This was AWESOME to witness. I kid you not. I HAVE TO cross the street at least once before I leave Vietnam. Not today though. NO effin’ way.

The Mega Mall proves to be just that. A big building containing stores with overpriced merchandise that we are all accustomed to in Canada and the USA. This did house a surprise though… A skating rink! Never thought I’d see that here. It also had a surprise for Patty and Lela.

Piles of poop on the floor in the bathroom. Unfortunately, not everyone shares the same love of photography as I do and this was never caught on camera. BOOOOOOOOO…

We decided to walk down a couple streets around the mall in search for some deals but they are few. Since prepaid sim cards are so cheap here, we decided to grab patty one as well. $13 for like 60GB of data and unlimited calling. In North America we sure do take in the tailpipe…

The kids are absolute troopers here so far. The entire trip so far really. I am very proud of them. I have lost my shit a couple times but we all get it figured out in the end. LOVE…

Uneventful besides the sweet ass cab rides for $0.61/km (right in the butt again in Canada) which I have to tell you are so worth the money just for the ride, we head back to the room and go check out overpriced swimming pool number 2. It doesn’t matter where it is. If Reid and Lela have water, they are happy. Some more PHO for supper and we’ll head back to get some long overdue homework to complete. Let’s hope we sleep a bit better tonight. The OLD QUARTER is on our hit list tomorrow along with a supper together with another family fromEdmonton that we have been following and keeping in touch with. The Eliuks have been 2 steps ahead of us all the way so far and we finally caught up with them.We are excited to compare notes and hear their take on their travels thus far.

November 29/2018

Bidets, I miss you. The End

Reid and I decide to head to coffee town together this morning. A sweet bakery was spotted last night and scoped out as the early morning hit on our list. Crossing taxi road was extremely boring this morning. As a matter of fact, I didn’t wake up till 6:45am. What the heck? Did the locals take the day off? Its Thursday. Maybe it’s a religious day or… I don’t know. Asking for a coffee in Vietnam is different than other countries that we have visited so far. A“coffee” here is really like 3 shots of espresso. Good if you are looking for that immediate JUMP in the morning but not exactly what I, nor “picky coffee patty” is looking for.  The breakfast bun/donut selection here is satisfactory for a nice gluten filled breakfast. I ask for two black coffees. I get two black espressos. The barista, speaks a bit of English so I school him on how I like my coffee. He is impressed enough to ask what it is. I explain to him that it is a “Canadian”. Coffee plus hot water with some whip cream. Sounds legit…

The morning is spent getting some work done along with the kids doing homework. They are super happy. Totally lying… Grumbles and growls eventually lead to finished assignments and our trip for the day…

THE OLD QUARTER!

The old quarter is a part of Hanoi that has been in existence since imperial times.The quarter use to be a residential, manufacturing and commercial centre but is now an absolute MECCA of tourist shops and scooters. If you want a real taste of smallish Hanoi streets and cheap articles of clothing, come here. The cab ride was once again, and will continue to be one of the highlights of our trip…EVERYDAY. Nuckin’ Futs… As we land at our intended position in “I don’t know where to go” place, the traffic subsides and we have no trouble walking at all. Hahahahaha… As if. Holy frogger… Shit is about to get real. We can’t stay on one side of the road here. WE HAVE TO CROSS STREETS. Well shitballs…

Like any Canadian, we adapt. A couple of “holy shits” and “effin’ hells” and we are a cross the street in no time. That wasn’t that hard! Let’s buy some stuff!! In fact, let’s get a haircut as well… and that was our crazy Old Quarter visit. Not much else besides, multiple street crossings that I am getting as good at as my Mandarin. No sweat. Follow the “marine” (that’s how my barber described me) Yeah… I work out.

A nice rest at Legends Beer at the north side of Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square or as I affectionately call it, The Traffic Circle of Death, bides the time until we finally meet with the Eliuks! This family from Edmonton has been traveling for about 2 weeks longer than us. They were featured along-side us in a Global interview before we left on our adventure. We have been keeping in touch with them on our trip and finally got the chance to hook up with them inHanoi before they head out to Thailand. A nice night of food and conversation mixed with the yelling at kids was just what we needed.

Note:If you are in Hanoi, visit Emm’s French Café/Bistro. Great food and the dude is super english. The staff kicks ass and are great with kids. Very neutral food for the travellers with kids. Score here. Not super cheap but super worth it.

Cab ride home… Amazing. This guy is heavy on the horn. Get the fuck outta my way…Beeeeeeeep Beep, beeeeep, beep, beep… Lol too funny. It doesn’t make a lick of difference. I’m starting to think that it may be a part of the show. We will find out soon…

Beddy time. HA LONG BAY tomorrow. Probably going to have a big influence on my next tattoo. Better get some sleep…

November 30/2018

RushHour cab ride, 7am, in Hanoi, Vietnam. Oh My Gawd… An early morning rip to The Old Quarter to meet our bus enroute to Ha Long Bay. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is best known for its emerald waters and to be exact, 1969 towering limestone islands topped by rainforests. This was very high on my list of MUST SEEs as well and as I had mentioned before an inspiration for my next tattoo. The cab ride took a little bit longer than expected and we are LATE. Luckily the “Hanoi Mini Bus” makes sure to meet us at an alternate location so that we wouldn’t miss our 3.5-hour ride to Ha Long.

You all must think I complain a lot…

DISCLAIMER:

This isn’t what I am hoping to leave you with. I want you to feel what it is like to be ME and US on this trip. Not what every other “tell only good things” blogger does. I hope that clears this up before I talk about our bus ride.

This bus should not carry adults. It is a kids only bus. The seats are tiny, There is negative leg room and the max speed is 70km/hr. Remember when booking HaLong or any other tours from Hanoi to inquire about transportation comfort and MOST OF ALL… TRAVEL ROUTE. The bumpy, Indy 500 (minus the speed factor) trip took us on a scenic tour of tiny little towns east of Hanoi on our way to Ha Long. A stop at a tourist trap, which is understandable and everyone had to pee anyways, lengthened the trip by another half hour. The total time taken from Hanoi to Ha Long was an excruciating 4 hrs. Here’s the kicker…

There is a highway that gets you from point A to point B in 2 HOURS! More to come later in our story.

Arriving at Ha Long Bay, the crowds are insane. This is a TRUE STOP for TOURISTS. I can’t see any other way to really go about seeing this besides going to a different port but we didn’t investigate that far into it. Our tour guide leads our busload of 30 peeps to a boat that will feed us lunch, take us on a cruise of a couple of the most famous limestone islands in the bay, Hon Ga Choi Island or “Fighting Cocks Island” or “Kissing Chickens” and the Island on the back of the 200,000 Dong bank note, which we didn’t get to cruise up to for some reason.

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Long story short, The Bay was all that. Only in the movies and in videos do you get to see such a world of wonder.

The name Ha Long translates to Descending Dragon. It is said that the Gods once sent a family of dragons down to protect Vietnam from the enemies. Pearls and jade were spit out by these dragons, which in turn became the islands that we saw before us. These rocks are said to have appeared so quickly that the enemy ships crashed into them and sunk.

The pictures, videos and experience of being here was way worth the money that we paid for this tour. We did get what we paid for. There were other things that could have been included such as a view of the floating villages and closer views of some islands but we didn’t book an overnighter so time didn’t allow it.

Another quick stop on our tour was the Dau Go Cave or “wooden stakes cave”. A 100 stair climb to the top of the cave entrance leads you into a plethora of stalactite sand stalagmites. Very eye catching and another crazy spectacle of the Bay’s offerings.

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Learning of the 2-hour road that I had mentioned earlier from one of our traveling families forced me to pose the question, “how do we use this road?” to the tour guide. I could see that I had just caused some stress and he answered, “it’s not cheap.” Apparently, this is a toll highway. A freeway with brand new pavement which allows you to bypass the small towns and head on collisions for the expensive price of… $50USD. “Done”, I said. I will start collecting money. Together with my new friend and partner in operation “2-hour bus ride please”, Wayne, we started polling people interested in chipping in. Concluding that only 15 people have interest or even understand what we are asking, we are set and let our guide know that we have solved the problem of “the unnecessarily long bus ride.”

He does not seem as joyful as we do… and our efforts are for naught! Throwing the lame excuse that our bus is not fit for highway travel and squashing our dreams. Shitballs. 4 hours home in the dark with “wrong side of the road guy”at the helm. This was the most intense bus ride to date.

Note:  I don’t know why and maybe someone can enlighten me but the bus driver fails to gear down when passing someone. This to me does not make sense. Especially when big trucks who actually own the side of the road that we are driving on, are heading straight for us. He gears up. Losing speed. I was losing my shit. Patty calmed me down and we made it to our destination to catch a “calm” cab ride home. It was bliss…

Tomorrow is a rest day. We are tired and weary from travel, language and people. A day of “chilling” is needed before we kick the shit out of each other.

December 01/2018

Holy crap! It’s December! We are all looking forward to a day of rest and getting little things done like blogging and video making for the kid’s classes. We all head down to the local bakery/coffee house Tous Le Jours for some pastry and “Canadian coffee” made by my new friend Duc. Do you have a friend named Duc? I bet not…

As cabin fever quickly strikes, our “rest day becomes another day of exploration.  Another trip made to The Old Quarter to see what’s shakin’ is in order. It’s the weekend so we are assuming that it may be “lit up”.

Cab rides differ from one driver to another. One will take you on the fast route, another on the slow meandering route but to my surprise, they both get you there on time. Our cab driver this morning, we believe to be a rookie. With eyes wide as a baby kitten and a sweet as molasses, “mole beard” (I must research the reasoning behind growing 6-8 inches of hair out of your mole), the driver of the day slowly but surely got us to our destination. That route that he took us on was one that we had never traveled before and incredibly got us there in good time and CHEAPER than we had spent so far.

The Old Quarter was hoppin’ ! Dancing, music and games riddled the streets. The atmosphere was filled with joy, fun and happiness. Just what we needed for our quick little tour today. Relaxing was still on the agenda for today but staying put in a cramped apartment was not our idea of world travel. Our festival visit will be a short one as we have an early morning and still must complete school work before bed.

I will try not to spend too much time on the transportation but I believe this be a very important aspect of global adventure. Here in Hanoi, there are a few ways to get around. Cabs, buses and Grab-bike. I have touched on the taxis enough and have not tried public buses, (which I cannot see really being an efficient way of traveling if you are a tourist) so let’s touch on the Grab-Bike. If you have watched videos, seen pictures of or developed pictures of your own in your head reading this blog then you can imagine what riding on the back of a scooter as a professional taxi driver with a two-wheel motor vehicle under him would feel like taking you through the psycho streets of big city Vietnam. Grab Bike here in Vietnam is comparable to Uber back home except it’s a frickin’ death-cycle with a crazy dude at the helm. I am not remotely interested in getting on the back of one of these even if I believe that they would keep me 100% safe. The End.

December 02/2018

Early to bed and early to rise makes a man… On time for his TOUR BUS to HUA CAVE andTAM COC! We chose to upgrade our seating on this bus to a “luxury limousine”.The was merely a “bus” with kickass seating and less tourists. Well worth the extra $25CDN or so for comfort and speed. Right off the bat we met a pair of cool Aussies that just got married and a couple from Vancouver who was one half “La Cretian”. Yes… He was from La Crete, Alberta. Lol. We knew that this was going to be a great bus ride. Australia and Northern Alberta?? Oh yeah baby…

I am not a fan of tours. Never have been. I prefer heading out and fending for myself. Finding my own way around or if I have contacts to help me then asking for a hand. The bus ride was relaxing in itself. The Turnquist family hit the back of the bus as per usual and just chilled while taking all the sights in as we cruised south of Hanoi.

Tam Coc-Bich Dong (LOL), a a very popular tourist destination and yet another UNSECO World Heritage Site. Tam Coc is a flooded river cave system located inThe Ninh Binh province of Vietnam. I nice boat ride down the river is just what these white skins need to increase the serotonin levels to a point where they should be. As usual, we are the stars of the trip, especially my glow in the dark skin tone seen especially well since I took my shirt off. Jeers and cheers from many other boats become the running joke but I do not falter. The shirt stays off. Our boat ride showed the rivers beauty and the mountains captivated our every glance as they held eagles, goats and some sort of pelican type bird.As we drew close to what seemed to be a stopping point, the driver signalled he needed a rest. These boat captains paddle with their legs. Quite a scene. I agree and we pull up to a boat with food and drinks. We are thirsty but not hungry as we have already had a massive meal so I simply ask for a beer. She nods, opens the cooler and proceeds to put this grand bag of fruit, a sandwich and juice in a bag and passes it to me. I decline. She again pushes the meal towards me. I say again, No Thanks! She says…For Him, and points to the driver.I’m like oh… hahaha ok sorry and hand the bag to him as I wait for some money to pay for it. NOPE… She says, YOU PAY! What the hell? Hahahaha. I’m laughing loudly and shaking my head but am so blown away by the insane marketing skills that I just decide to say “fuck it” and buy him the $5 lunch. Obviously, I am a little set back but that’s fine. Would rather have a happy driver then a crusty one for the ride back.

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Same mountains, same river… A few hundred yards from the shore, the driver taps Patty on the back and yells… Hey You Tip! Again a WTF comes out of my mouth. This is kind of silly…

Now…I tip for good service. VERY GOOD TIPS for good service. I have to say that I wasn’t 100% impressed with the way this all went down but did respect the job they do and the fact that I did not want to paddle this river myself so tip it is. Don’t slap my wife on the shoulder though. It doesn’t make me giddy…

Boat tour over and time to climb a mountain! This is what we’ve been waiting for.The views from the top of this peak are kickass. The kids counted 458 steps up to the first peak with a lookout capped with a 30-foot-long dragon. Pretty sick actually. We then descended the insanely steep and under code stairs about half way to scale yet another 70 steps to the second peak. Another sweet view and down we go. This was all rather impressive. There were many more people here then our last epic stair climb (The Great Wall) but we managed and the views were worth the effort.

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I am going to recommend this trip to you and give it a 7 out of 10 for expectation but a 4 for impressive as a tour. If you can, do it yourself. Tours suck. In my opinion. It can be done easily by booking a car or van, getting there and hiring a boat right from the same dock as the tourists leave from. You can shoot me a message if you need some guidance.

Needless to say this was a very quiet bus ride back and really not that spectacular. It was so nice to drive the freeway. As we hit Hanoi, the traffic was a little heavy but that was because Vietnam was playing Philippines in the Semi Finals of the AFF Suzuki Cup. The streets were jam packed with scooters pulled over to watch one of the many television screens that were setup outside on the sidewalks in anticipation of a Vietnam victory. We made it back to our room just in time to watch them pull it off. Was great to be a part of international sports.

That was our final night in Hanoi. Our flight tomorrow will see us head to Danang.  Known for its sandy beaches and history as a French colonial port, our next destination is much needed. We crave BEACH TIME!!

December 03/2018

The flight was super quick. Up and down in one hour. We paid the extra few bucks for extended leg room but it wasn’t really any better once I sat down. VietJet threw me for a loop though and offered for me to move up to the front of the plane after takeoff because of my leg room. Well played VJ! I of course helped out a fellow traveler on my way who was obviously a body builder and his tall skinny dad. Reminded me of a friend and his father from back home. VietJet agreed and they too were moved up. Going that extra mile when the opportunity is presented, really makes a guy feel good and it was very much appreciated by the two Americans.

Landing in Danang and feeling the heat really took the pain of the overall Hanoi experience away. We are doing this to feel what the locals feel, yes but that doesn’t mean we have to like it.

A balmy 28C takes us directly to our hotel to change into swim attire the directly to the beach for a quick dip in the South China Sea…

AhhhhWATER!!! SAND!!! We have been waiting for this for a month. The beach doesn’t disappoint either. The short time that we will have this evening is enough to satisfy the craving. The waves are massive, the lifeguards are tooting their whistles and the sun is setting on our first night in Danang, Vietnam.

December 04/2018

The weather report was for scattered showers so we decide to head for Hoi An to get fitted for a tailor-made suit and shirts in case we happen to move back to corporate Alberta and I have to run for office to fix that shit show. Our hotel, The Ruby Light makes a great offer to drive us there, wait for us and drive us back for the price of a cab. Yessss. Impressed. A misty morning leads to an absolute torrential downpour in one of Vietnams’ most visited tourist destinations. There are many shops to choose from here in Hoi An so we have togo with our gut instinct and hit Kimmy Tailor. It just sounded right. As we got started, examining the prices left me wondering if this was the right store. We had heard that you could get suits tailor made for anywhere between $60 and$100. This will run me twice the max plus a couple shirts so, $300… When inRome? My suit that I was fitted for and eventually wore for my appearance on Grant Cardone’s, What Ever It Takes ran me about $650 plus shirts and ties that came out to around $850 total. Decision made. Let’s do it… The appointment took roughly 45 minutes including the picking of style, material and measuring.Pretty quick. The manager, Doug Le,  turned out to be from Edmonton at one point so we even got to talk a bit of hockey. I can’t forget to mention Luna. This gal was no stranger to the inseam. Perfect English made it so easy to deal with them as well. Finished at the tailor for now but we were required to return at least 2 more times for fittings. Beings that we reside in Danang which is 40minutes away, we choose to stay in Hoi An for another 7 hours and do some shopping. Holy crap, did it rain. I thought we were going to be whisked away atone point. It was rather nice though… As Patty pointed out, we don’t get to experience this very often. Warm downpours that soak you but at the same time, refresh.

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This gave us time to do some Christmas shopping. Little things that we can send home, that actually mean something to those that will receive them. We plan to ship a box of stuff home including things that we have decided we don’t need which we’ve carried since day one.

This will be our first experience with Bia Hoi. I haven’t had a chance to have a glass of this yet but that’s mostly because it looked disgusting in Hanoi. Our first glass was $8,000VND or $0.47CDN. Affordable for sure. It actually tasted not bad. At an assumed alcohol percentage of 2.5% it was worth the coin. More shopping, walking, some shopping and some walk/swimming, we found ourselves with about 2 hours left to waste before heading back to Kimmy. As we continued on our leisurely stroll down the street river, a sweet voice screams from the west. MASSAGE!! FY DOLLA!! Well we have some time and it’s only a foot massage so hell, let’s get one for the kids too!

Isn’t this a treat…

Here’s something not many know about me. No one touches my feet. I may have, at one point, stuck them in your face but that’s only cause you’re my friend. I don’t get foot massages. Yes, I’m missing out… Patty has rubbed my feet probably 3 times in 12 years for a collective 7 minutes. I worked out to be a fantastic idea. The kids loved it, Patty needed it and it wasted the right amount of time. The rainy walk to Kimmy Tailor was enjoyed much more now that we have fresh feet!

We show up an hour and half early for my fitting but it was destiny seeing that they have time for me right now! A quick fitting… (I can’t believe what been done in 6 hours) and we are out. My plan is to sneak a free tie or two in tomorrow in exchange for a wicked shout out on my social media sights. Will let you knowhow that goes.

As Is it here, finally caught up and deleting more than I type because of a half bottle of wine, I am thankful. Thankful for my family. Thankful for having 3 other beautiful souls that share the same frequency. Thankful for this opportunity. Thankful for my career that allows me this opportunity and thankful for the different cultures for accepting me into their world, but for a fleeting moment…

Another day awaits us in Danang…

December 05/2018

The forecast was rain. A bleak outlook at best. Sometimes you have to ASK for what you want, even if the results seem unattainable.

Thank you, UNIVERSE!!!

The sun is shining and we are about to enjoy our first beach day on our trip so far. As I look out at the South China Sea, I still am in a state of wonder. Are we really here? It hasn’t really sunk in yet and we left Canada 1 month ago…

This family needs this day. The sun, the waves and the sand. Reid and Lela can’t get enough of it. Patty and I must take turns with them in the waves so family beach pictures are tough. We aren’t about to test the trustworthiness of the locals even though there is no reason to not trust them. As the sand crabs scurry about and we run back and worth playing “Wavy Time” (there are big big waves that only Dad can go out to with both of the kids), the beach has a calm. There aren’t many tourists here. It is their low season. Score for us!

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The lack of proper sunscreen, and the time constraint to head back to Hoi An to pickup my suit, forces us in earlier than we would have wanted but this whitey is no match for the Danang heat. I am going to be hurting tomorrow. I never learn. 44 and still an irresponsible sunbather. Perhaps if we lived 24/7 in the sun or even a total of more than 2 months out of the year, I would have sense enough… Probably not.

Our hotel van again agrees to take us into Hoi An. Dragon throws on some American tunes covered buy a Vietnamese artist, J Fla and off we go to experience Hoi An in the sun! As I’ve mentioned before, Hoi An is one of the country’s most revered tourist destinations and now in the sun, we can see why. Lanterns, lights and longboats on the river make the walk almost dangerous. It’s impossible to pay attention to the sites and also the shops. Christmas shopping is on the agenda. We can’t bring anything with us but we can ship home from Danang.

Once the shopping is complete and our time had run out, we head for Kimmy Tailor for the final fitting and pickup but get side tracked by the lantern and boat show in the river.

 We can’t pass up a quick 20-minute ride and a chance to set some prayer lanterns in the water as we think of those who aren’t with us any longer. It is their chance to shine as we know they follow us and look out for us on this trip.

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Getting to Kimmy and trying the finished product on, I am absolutely blown away by the perfect fit, speed and overall quality of this clothing. Also overly impressedwith the customer service. Nole is there waiting for us and fits me quick before picking out my complementary ties the Doug Le agreed to give me in exchange for some social media shout outs.

Note: I would have given the shout outs for free. I give credit where credit is due and credit is due here. Thanks again Kimmy Tailor for the wonderful suit and shirts. I highly recommend this shop to anyone looking for this type of purchase.

Back we go to Danang and upstairs for a quick dip in the pool. Sun beat and tired, there is still work to be done. It never stops when you travel with kids and decide to post on Fbook, Instagram and run a website…

I wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world. Quality family time at its best. Another day of “nothing planned” awaits us…

December 06/2018

The forecast once again calls for cloud and rain but rain is not present outside this morning. Second floor for a quick breakfast and its beach time for the Turnquists! The sun does not dare beat down on our white skin (well brown for the kids. It is insane how fast they tan. Not burn… TAN! This skin was not one of my genetic pass-ons…) as hard as it did yesterday. Cloudy with a hint of misty rain looks like what we may be getting this morning. Sure enough, after an hour or two, the rain comes. Oh well… There was a date with homework for the kids anyways. Classroom is cut short by the appearance of sun and the fact thatPatty and I fell asleep, are now full of energy and ready to rock some more ocean time! Of course the kids are game and off we go! The waves here in Danang are like nothing I have ever experienced. I haven’t been to many areas that have waves like this so my experience is limited but I can tell you that they are awesome! You can choose from any level of wave depending on the size of your cojones…

It is on this night we choose to enjoy the ocean into the night. The sand, the water and of course the lights. The FlashPackerz are in heaven and heaven is beautiful…

December 07/2018

The sun, again plays hide and seek with us but we decide to head out to Monkey Island to view the “Big Buddha” and the 9-story pagoda. Dragon is our chauffeur of course. I now have a friend named Dragon and one named Duc. I consider myself lucky beings that at home I only have names of humans for friends.

Today we have decided to ship some goods home via FedEx. Christmas gifts for family plus stuff that we either don’t need any longer or have accumulated along the way. My suit of course is included in the box and makes up most of the bulk. The entire shipment from Danang to Falher will end up costing us just over $200CDN. I was hoping for a bit cheaper but we aren’t using regular mail so as not to lose the box plus it will get there within a week to 10 day’s time so we can live with that price.

A drive through the other end of Danang reveals a part of town that we didn’t really have time to investigate. It seems more of a party atmosphere on this side. One of the coolest bridges we have seen to date is shown to us as well.The Dragon Bridge shoots water and fire out of its mouth on the weekend. Unfortunately we leave on Saturday so we only get to view “dry dragon bridge”. Upon arrival at Monkey Island, Dragon pulls over a couple times for cool photo ops and a view of the island overlooking a small fishing village. Very neat indeed. Monkeys are prevalent here but don’t seem to enjoy humans as much as much as one would think. We were able to spot a couple but no close ups or close calls with monkey attacks for us today…

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I am very taken aback by the number of buddha statues, temples, pagodas and other spectacles that are here for the eye to see. This is like a hidden gem of Danang in my opinion though the amount of people would indicate that it is not at all hidden. The towering buddha is a staggering 30 stories tall, overlooks the sea and the entire city of Danang. Truly beautiful to be able to be in the midst of this statue and all that partake in its holiness. Many have come hereto pray and the feeling of peace is very present.

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This visit is a short one as we are still seeking another day of quality beach time. We quickly jump aboard the “Dragon Train” and head back to our hotel hoping to catch the sun for a bit.

Luckily enough, it decides to shine on us just in time to run into a group of three Canadians. I of course start the conversation letting them know that we knew they were Canadian by the “sorrys” that have been heard coming from their chairs. As it turns out, one of the guys ask if my son plays hockey then notes that he remembers us from the Serdachny Goalie Camp in Edmonton in the summer. Small world. This fella was one of the coaches and remembered me coming into the dressing room after the camp had ended thanking the coaches and talking about the possibility of our upcoming trip. Pretty cool to meet someone who has already experienced places that we are about to travel to. Passing on small tips helps the traveler plan a more enjoyable time, that’s for sure.

As they leave, the skies start to open up and we are forced to hide in the beach tents momentarily before deciding to return to our room, shower up and head for a nice supper on the eve of our Danang departure. An enjoyable supper with wine and seafood finds the kids FINALLY deciding to try another dish that they normally don’t eat. The shrimp are a hit with them and bingo, we can add one more item to our kids’ menu going forward! I am very impressed with my kids thus far. They are trying new foods and integrating into new cultures will little complaining. We are truly blessed to have kids “BUILT FOR TRAVEL”.

Its movie time in the room and Ace Ventura Pet Detective is on TV. We thought it time to introduce them to a Canadian icon and in my opinion the funniest man alive. Aaaaallllll Righty then! Our next destination awaits us tomorrow…