During our year in Vietnam, we definitely had a few spots that we frequented often. Places we felt safe, welcome, and knew the food was good and the drinks cheap. Granted, most of the places we loved were in the "Korean district" of Phu My Hung in District 7, but this...
Tall Tales Tuesday: Family Style Eating in Vietnam
It’s no secret that while living in Vietnam, I had a tough time eating. While I enjoy Vietnamese food, it was hard for me to get past the constant upset stomachs that students and teachers alike seemed to suffer from. Food poisoning was a very real issue and one I had...
Tall Tales Tuesday: Best and Worst Toilet Situations
During our year in Southeast Asia, I experienced my fair share of very interesting toilet situations. From the sprayer the Vietnamese use instead of toilet paper, to a hole in the ground that you pour a bucket of water into to flush, I never knew what I was going to...
Tall Tales Tuesday: Strange Foods We Tried and a Few We Didn’t
While on a guided tour of the Vietnamese mountain town, Dalat, Rob and I were presented with a number of interesting foods to try. Some of them we willingly did, some took encouraging, and some were a hells no. Crickets - Part of our tour took us through a cricket...
Tall Tales Tuesday: The Joys and Woes of Sleeper Busses
The "sleeper bus", as expats affectionately call it, is a common way to travel around Southeast Asia, and Vietnam especially. Rob and I took a few of these busses during our travels around Ho Chi Minh City. Aside from my crippling anxiety before boarding for one in...
Tall Tales Tuesday: Market Scenes
A month or so ago, I shared a video of two Korean women enjoying a working lunch at the fish market, but I have yet to share with you scenes from the Vietnamese markets. Before arriving in Vietnam, Rob and I had no idea what our food shopping situation would be. I...
Tall Tales Tuesday: The Deliciousness of Seoul
One of the questions Rob and I get quite often when someone first finds out that we spent a year in Vietnam is, How was the food? Now, Rob and I realize we are in the minority when we say that the food was just not our thing. There were a few dishes that we enjoyed...
Tall Tales Tuesday: Those Four Hours My Life Flashed Before My Eyes
Back in 'Nam (sorry, I get a kick out of saying that), Rob and I visited a small village about four hours outside of Hanoi. When it was time to head back to Hanoi after a night in the village, the tour organizers miscounted the number of people who needed to return...
Tall Tales Tuesday: Beach Games
There are two types of beaches in Vietnam. The absolutely pristine, tourist only, blue water, bungalow practically on the ocean beaches, and then there are the local beaches. Oh the local beaches. Rob and I were able to visit a few local beaches in a few different...
Tall Tales Tuesday: 10 Reasons Why a $1 Bicycle is Better Than an Expensive One
During our year in Vietnam, Rob and I found ourselves on lots of bicycles. Whether it was through the countryside or through the city, it was always an adventure. While in Cambodia, we decided to bicycle the temple loop and a street side vendor rented bicycles to us...
The Accidental Duathlon
Yesterday, I laced up my new shoes and headed out in the sunny Denver morning for a long run. My goal is to slowly build my mileage, not for anything in particular, but just so in the event of wanting to run another half or full, I have a solid base built up. Since...
Whirlwind Return
Hello long lost blog land! How are you? I apologize for being out of the blog loop, both with reading and updating, for the past week. There are some HUGE events going on around here. Let me try and catch you up: 1. Rob and I got off the plane in New York (after 30+...