KL dash

We stopped over for a few days with Selina’s Uncle Mejar’s family in Klang, next to Kuala Lumpur. 

We got to taste so much yummy food, reminding us how much we love Malaysian food: Keoy tau, satay sticks, butter prawns, teh tarik, Korean hotpot and of course Roti canai. Olive insisted on us having sweet Roti canai everyday!

We looked round Chinatown, with its bustling market and Rajae drove us round the CBD in the torrential rain. 

We’ve avoided rushing round lots of tourist sights, instead letting the kids enjoy the local play park and the arcades in the shopping mall. 

Olive and Boo had so much fun in a super farm park: feeding the giant tortoises and goats; stroking slinks, albino hedgehogs and the more traditional bunnies and Guinea pigs; seeing the newly born baby lemur; and Olive even rode a pony.

It’s been refreshing having the slightly cooler weather and downpours. A welcome relief. Selina’s family have also been so welcoming and looked after us so well.

From here we are entering the last leg of our trip. We are spending the rest of our time in Indonesia where it is cooler still. 

Homestay on Cham Island

We took the fast jet ferry across to stay for a couple of nights on Cham Island. It is made up of lots of little islands with only one that has people living on. There are no cars and things are much calmer and more peaceful than the mainland. 

We stayed with Rau who looked after us so nicely. She fed us all our meals. We got to try things that we wouldn’t ordinarily order like Aboloni soup (a shellfish with texture more like snail!) and small grilled tuna plus our delicious favourite - banh xeo (rice pancakes).

Rau organised us to go see her family’s veg garden and the big white statue at the nearby pagoda. 

We also went on a snorkelling trip to a nearby island with a local fisherman. We got to see some beautiful coral and fishes through super clear water but we kept getting stung by something which put us off. Not sure if it was fragments of coral or small jellyfish. I definitely saw a marble sized jellyfish so maybe the latter!

Xep beach was only a 20 minute walk away which we enjoyed till dark both nights we were there. We loved the way locals washed off in a natural spring next to the beach - so we did the same!

Cham island was a really nice holiday within a holiday. We all really enjoyed the break!

Finishing vietnam

We spent our remaining couple of weeks enjoying some family activities round Hoi an. 

Olive tried out some different martial arts back at barefoot and she did mask painting and lantern making in the old town. Boo did some good drawing too!

We spent the day with some other expat families round a massive pool at Blush. 

We treated ourselves to two tourist shows - the bamboo circus which was so physical and noisy.

And the memories show which charted the history of Hoi an on a grand scaled stage. 

Our friend, Kat invited us on a fun morning adventure round the surrounding Hoi an countryside, taking in an organic veg farm, riding a buffalo, tasting some water coconut and looking round a shipyard. 

Every year Danang runs a series of competitive firework displays. We went to see the efforts of Australia and Italy. There were some stunning fireworks that we’ve never seen before. We will have left before the UK entry. 

Vietnam has been my favourite place in SE Asia so far. Lovely food, lovely people and a lovely chilled out atmosphere. 

Hoi an again

When we were planning for Kathryn and Richard to join us in Asia, we thought we would spend the whole time in Thailand and take in an island. But then we loved Hoi an so much we changed the plan and we agreed to bring them with us back to Vietnam. So here we are back in Hoi an with a 30 day visa this time. 

The flight over reminded us of why we were coming back here with stunning views across countryside - Vietnam is so beautiful. 

Kathryn and Richard spent a week with us back at Spring and Toc’s homestay. We had a lovely time. We celebrated Boo’s second birthday with painting and tasty tangy chocolate cake. 

We looked round the Old Town, enjoying the lanterns and the car free calmness. 

We went on a boat trip with Spring again - taking the bamboo boat to do crabbing, Richard lifted the Chinese nets like a pro, looking round a local market and having a bbq by moonlight while fishing. 

We got up early one day to  go shopping in the nearby market for ingredients with Spring - the herbs and salad look so bright and vibrant in the market - then cooking up all sorts back in the homestay (spring rolls, pancakes, eggplant and pork dishes). Boo was great at preparing the garlic. Me and Richard melted a bit as we cooked over the stove! Great fun. 

We finished up by going to see the ancient Cham ruins at My Son. It was interesting walking round the temples and ruins dating back 1600 years. 

We’ve had a great time with Kathryn and Richard, very chilled, even if it has been super hot most of the time.