A little blue...

We had a lovely few days in Hoi An. It really is such a special town and wish our family and friends would experience it for themselves. Our hotel Long Life Riverside was exceptional. In the dozens of hotels that we have stayed in as a family, I don't think any other hotel has met with our needs as well as this little hotel did and at US$75 a night we were happy customers. It was clean, spacious, friendly and helpful staff and the breakfast was surprisingly very good. In all everything was much better than the hotel we stayed in last year that was 3x the price. And on departure this morning, Iman and I were given a small gift each and the front desk staff came out to wave us goodbye ... something you don't get in a 5*hotel!

I would post more pictures but unfortunately we left the camera in a taxi today in HCM. We're still hoping that the driver would come back with it (wishful thinking) and the staff here at the Somerset are trying to find the taxi number from their security cameras. Luckily I have been downloading the photographs and on the card was only photographs from the beach yesterday and dinner last night. These things happen and when they do there's not much we can do but be thankful that all we lost is a material thing. We are all safe and well and that's all that matters. The person most upset by it was Iman and now says that I can have her camera.

So in this New Year's Eve from HCM city, we wish all our family and friends a Happy New Year and all the best for 2011. May this new year bring us all happiness and good health.

Day out at Red Bridge

Challenged by the cool weather and the kids eagerness to go for a swim we decided to give Red Bridge a try - restaurant, swimming pool to use and free boat ride - what more would we want?

The boat ride itself was rather slow due to be overladen with a group of tourists going for a cooking class but once we got to the restaurant we were awed by the set up and location. An open air restaurant/cooking school with swimming pool by the river in the middle of no where. And apart from the eager beaver chefs-to-be we were the only people there. And to top it all the Vietnamese food was excellent in taste and value.

The kids would have argued that the pool could have been warmer but all was forgiven with Jack's steering of the boat all the way back to Hoi An. Iman was not so keen but Jack took the task very seriously!

The Monsoon Beach

Had it not been for the rustic huts and persistent peanut sellers, we could have been at an entirely different beach compared to last year's tropical beach experience. It was cold, windy and the sea was a definite no-no. Still with the lack of sun, La Plage was just as relaxing with decent food and very cold drinks and the kids didn't seem to mind the weather having a ball playing in the sand!

We're back in Hoi An

After such a great holiday last year, we're back in Hoi An again - really because the flight to HCM is so short from Brunei, it's very economical and we couldn't get a decent family hotel in any other beach resort in Vietnam. It's nice to be back and we headed straight to our favorite restaurant, Cargo Club which was as good as we remembered it. We even bumped into another expat family from Brunei there

Unexpectedly the weather is much cooler than it was last year. Last year was sun all week we were here and we even had a few days on the beach. Much to our surprise when we landed in Danang today it was a jumper day. Nice change from balmy Brunei ~ that is if you are prepared for it. Luckily I had packed the kids and myself a cardie each but Donncha didn't as we brought it all last year and didn't need any. Still it feels like an Irish summer he says!

We're not staying at the same hotel as we did last time and opted for the Long Life Riverside which conveniently is in the centre of town and so far seems great. For US$75 the room is large for the 5 of us, clean, has wifi (thus the post), all the TV channels and there's even a PC in the room. I've read that breakfast isn't so great but after all that who cares cos Cargo is just 2 mins walk away! Hopefully the weather will get better and we don't end up crawling the walls!!

Christmas 2010

Wishing all our family and friends a

Merry Christmas !!

Starting the holiday with a Bang !!

Within 10 minutes of the kids hitting the pool in Miri on our overnight before heading to Mulu, Ayden was enjoying himself as usual on the kids slide. Despite multiple warnings, which of course are ignored, he slipped at the bottom of the steps and cracked his chin on the first step ! Maria, having just left to go shopping for medicine (just in case we had an accident in Mulu which is remote), had to turn around and come back to the hotel so we could bring Ayden to hospital.

10 out of 10 to the doctor and staff at the Miri Medical Centre - Ayden was seen immediately and within 10 minutes was back out the door with a 'glued' chin. He was a real hero, taking the injections with a little cry and recovering pretty quickly - enough that we could head out for dinner that evening and he ate happily with his friends Thomas and Sam !

Pictures taken at Mulu airport while we waited for our baggage

Ayden's Home Again!

Thankfully Ayden's home today after spending a night in hospital. It was just over two years ago that Ayden first experienced febrile seizures. Touch wood yesterday's episode will be the last. Thankfully Donncha was with us this time but seeing it for the first time, got the scare of his life.

The staff at the hospital were great and the room was very comfortable except Ayden wanted to know why the "hotel room" didn't have a fridge! It was great to get home today and have a cup of tea. As for Ayden he's recovering well from the severe sore throat but still experiencing fever as a result of it. Needless to say he has been getting plenty of hugs and playtime on the iPad!!!

Second Santa 2010

Last weekend Santa came ashore at Serasa.

The evening started off beautifully...

That is until Santa appeared and the kids started going wild...

Ayden still not into it

But this guy was very excited

As was Iman