Spring break!

Hello from the other side of the world! Yes, life continues to be exciting and keeping us on our toes – whether it’s nature showing us who’s boss (here’s to living in the ring of fire!) or food poisoning that continues to find me but overall, life remains good here.

We have now more or less settled in and we already had our fair share of amazing tropical island get-aways during which we routinely pinch ourselves that we get to live here but more on that in a later post.

Today we recap our latest international escape – spring break in Singapore and Hanoi, Vietnam! While I had a work trip to Thailand earlier this year, it was the first time the rest of the family left Indonesia since we arrived in Surabaya. Why Singapore you ask? Have you been to Changi airport or spent time walking around Singapore where things work, you can easily communicate, and there is shopping galore? So, yes, we definitely went for a bit of retail therapy. It turns out that clothes shopping is much easier in Singapore (cue in the shrieks of excitement from the dressing room “Mom, all these pants fit!!!” – not like in Indonesia where our bodies do not fit easily into Asian clothing). After many, many visits to countless Sephora’s, H&M’s, Apple stores, and eating way too much food, we embraced our inner-Minions (and Sesame Street characters) and spent a day at Universal Studios before heading back to Vietnam for the remainder of our trip. We most certainly did not miss the opportunity to buy a gazillion Krispy Kreme donuts at the airport on our way out; I did mention we needed some shopping therapy, right?!

We have been to Vietnam a few times and love the people, culture, and food and were sad that our month-long journey throughout the country in summer 2020 never happened (thanks covid). This time, we focused on visiting Hanoi and exploring local street food (so good) and then spent a hands-down fabulous 3 days cruising along Halong Bay. The cruise line did not disappoint – and while the weather was a bit cooler (such a change from the tropics; John was actually cold for the first time in months!), the views were absolutely amazing and not to be missed.