Early Adventures of Baby L - Vietnam Part 1

After a short and easy flight from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City (which...let’s be honest, most people still call Saigon) we collected all of our luggage, made a quick stop at Viettel to buy a local SIM card, and met my dad and step mom.  They were so excited to see Baby L, especially my step mom since she wasn’t able to visit us back in September! And sure enough, they made a beeline to the baby and started playing with her before even saying hello to G or me - apparently, this is a fairly common experience among parents when introducing the grandkids. Don’t worry Dad, I still love you ;-).

The grandparents were super excited to see Baby L!!!

In Southern Vietnam, when talking about relatives, we refer to aunts, uncles, and cousins by their number in their family line. The father is always #1, and then each child is numbered in birth order after that. So for example, my uncle, who is the eldest in my dad’s family, is referred to as Uncle 2. My dad’s eldest sister is Auntie 3, and so on and so forth — my dad happens to be #6.  It gets even more complicated because there are actually four different words for uncle and four different words for aunt, depending on whether they are on your mother’s or father’s side and if they are older or younger than your mother or father.

Anyway, after landing in Saigon, we made our way to our hotel to freshen up for dinner with Auntie 4 and her family. Later in our trip, this caused a few ruffled feathers because traditionally, we should have gone to see my father’s mother first before seeing anyone else. Logistically though, it would have been more difficult, and I think the family is slowly starting to change how rigid they are with traditions.

Anyway, dinner with my cousins was great! My aunt and uncle had a young fox slaughtered and prepared in multiple ways - it was a ridiculous amount of food. They also learned that pork is hard for us to get in UAE, so they also ordered a bunch of pork dishes - G and I were sooooo full by the end. We hoped Baby L would take a nap during dinner, but with all of the excitement of a big family dinner, she was wide awake (if maybe a big cranky). Between my cousins, their spouses, their kids, and us, it was a lot for her to take in!

Baby L with one of my cousin's wives

The next morning, we went to see a seamstress and a tailor so G and I could have clothes made for Baby L’s baptism later in the week. I picked very graphic white fabric with black print for my dress, and a light gray cashmere wool for G’s suit. After getting measured, we ate a quick lunch and headed to Dong Nai Province where my grandmother and Aunts 3, 8, and 9 lived. The trip took about 2 hours, and Baby L napped in her car seat for most of it.  I pulled her out while we were on the ferry, and she flirted and made friends with a number of the motorcyclists riding on the ferry next to our van.

Baby L making friends with motorcyclists on the ferry!

We finally made it to grandmother’s house, and we were welcomed with some delicious grass-jelly coconut dessert and enjoyed yummy custard apples that my step mother brought along.  After everyone unpacked, G and I were able to collect the most recent goodies that our friends had shipped to Dad to bring to us!  

Custard Apples

Grass jelly dessert with coconut milk

The most exciting one was the quilt that my friend Kristy from the blog A Chrome and Cotton Home made for Baby L. It goes with her nursery perfectly, and we just adore it! Kristy also sent us the book Intersteller Cinderella, which is a welcome addition to the space theme.

Beautiful star quilt from a dear friend!

We received a stack of board books and baby fresh food feeders from my friend Beth, a mother-of-four in Rochester, MN. I think the bibs also came from her, Dad wasn’t sure. If they came from someone else, please chime in so we can thank you properly!

Last, and probably G’s favorite, one of my besties in Houston (aka Kim 1, who also spoiled Baby L with tons of shower gifts!) sent him a pair of Astros World Series T-Shirts. Go ‘Stros!!!

Plus of course, Bà Ngoại and Ông Ngoại (Vietnamese for maternal grandfather and grandmother - aka Dad and step mom) brought Baby L a bunch of cute clothes since she’d grown out the clothes they got her previously.

Seriously, how cute is this little jumper from Bà Ngoại and Ông Ngoại?!?

We spent that evening and the next day relaxing and rearranging our luggage for our side trip to Hanoi. Dad and G went to the village church to make arrangements for Baby L’s baptism and we had some delicious meals cooked by both my dad and my aunties - there was never any shortage of food!

And just like that, it was time to jet off to the next thing! G and I consolidated ourselves and Baby L into 2 small suitcases, and Bà Ngoại and Ông Ngoại into 1 large suitcase. With Baby L’s stroller and car seat, we barely fit into my cousin’s land cruiser, but we made it!  Back in Saigon, we made one quick stop at the tailor shop for G to do a final fitting of his suit jacket, then we were off to the airport. Dad booked us on Vietnam Airlines business class, and we got to fly on a new Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Saigon to Hanoi! Baby L and I had fun in our gigantic airplane seat. She also slept like a dream on the Dreamliner - pun intended!

Family flying business class on a dreamliner!

My sleepy Michigangster - onesie courtesy of my bestie Jamie!

During our two nights in Hanoi, we stayed entirely in the old quarter. Hanoi was so cold! And rainy! Colder than we expected! 

We've arrived in Hanoi!  

We met up for dinner with one of my friends from Houston who had been working and living in South East Asia teaching English, toured the temple on Hoan Kim Lake, and walked around the busy streets and shops of Hanoi’s old quarter. Ông Ngoại and Bà Ngoại got to spend some quality time with Baby L, which meant G and I got to go out for both a solo lunch AND dinner! It was an unexpected and welcome treat for us during our hectic travels. We had lunch at a chain that we saw featured on the travel channel called “Wrap and Roll”, which was pretty decent, and we had dinner at a little hidden in a back street of the old quarter that had a pretty good bun cha and an excellent flan. I’m pretty picky about my flan since most restaurants tend to over-bake the flan or weigh it down with too many eggs, but this flan was light and creamy and delicious!

Baby L and Bà Ngoại napping while we went to lunch

Our next stop was Ha Long Bay. I remembered it being a 3 hour drive from Hanoi to the port, but because of road construction and new speed laws, it took us 4 1/2 hours to get there...and Baby L was cranky and unwilling to nap pretty much the entire way.  G had caught a sniffle and cough in Hanoi, so he was also pretty miserable during the car ride. When we finally arrived at the port, it was like in the movies, the clouds parted and the sun was shining which lifted everyone’s mood, including mine! We went through our check in process for the cruise, made our way to our cabins, and then we were off! Dad and I had cruised with Au Co before, and we had a great time — so we were excited to do it again. I guess I probably could have looked into booking with other tour operators, but one of my favorite excursions on the Au Co cruise is the Bhahaya Community Farm on Cat Ba Island, so we obviously had to do that again! Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself.

Rock formations of Ha Long Bay

Ha Long Bay, which means bay of the descending dragon, is a UNESCO world heritage site. There are thousands of limestone karsts and islets in the bay which makes navigation in the area extra challenging! The first time I went with Dad and my sister in early 2015 - it was foggy and misty the whole time, which made the bay seem very mysterious.  This time it was sunny for most of the trip, which gave the bay a more welcoming feel. I found both weather conditions equally beautiful in their own way!

Our cruise ship is the white one just behind me!

On the first day of the cruise, there were two excursions, one to a natural cave and the other to a floating fishing village. Because of Baby L’s exhaustion from lack of sleep, we went on the first excursion but skipped the second. G and the grandparents both went to see the fishing village, and Dad reported back that it was much smaller than the village we had gone to see in 2015. I think it’s still incredible that people live on these floating rafts and make their livelihood solely on the water. 

Baby L was exhausted, so we skipped the excursion in favor of naptime

Cruise day two started with Cat Ba Island (my favorite!) where G and the grandparents rode bicycles while Baby L and I took a golf cart.  In the afternoon, the cruise offered another excursion involving kayaks and fishing boats and Baby L and I took a little rest. I suspect she also came down with G’s little head cold so rest was good for both of us. That night, we were treated to classic Vietnamese music on a one-string instrument, which Baby L LOVED! She was so enthralled! Unfortunately, she also fell asleep fairly quickly, so instead of staying to listen more, I put her to bed. G wasn’t feeling 100% either with his cold and a full day of physical exertion, so we were all in bed by 8:30pm.

Farming valley of Cat Ba Island

The last day, the cruise wrapped up its itinerary with a traditional tea ceremony, and a leisurely drive to the airport. Somehow, the drive back seemed much shorter than the drive there! Since Baby L was under the weather, she slept most of the way, so I was able to get a nap in as well. Thank goodness!

Last day on the cruise ship!

At the airport, we were able to get on an earlier flight back to Saigon, which was great because it meant more rest for everyone! Stay tuned for Vietnam Part 2 - Baby L’s baptism and trip to my Uncle’s church! 

On our way back go warm and sunny Saigon!

Early Adventures of Baby L - Singapore!

While we booked our big trip to Asia in October, we have really been planning to go since we knew we were pregnant. The first leg of our adventure to Singapore is extra special for G because he was born there. Both his dad and his grandfather were on expat assignment in Singapore in the early 1980s . Less than a year after G was born, his parents repatriated to Texas, and other than a mission trip to Mexico, G never left the US again (until he met me, of course!)

G back in Singapore after over 3 years!

Our trip had a bit of a rocky start. We planned to leave at 6pm. We were all packed and ready at 5:30pm so we decided to go ahead and leave early.  Good thing we did! It took us 30 minutes to get all our luggage down to ground level and loaded up into our Uber XL. Baby L was for a grand total of about 5 minutes, and then she started screaming bloody murder in her car seat. Eventually, she wore herself out and fell asleep as we pulled into the airport terminal - it was past her bedtime anyway. We gave our Uber driver an extra tip since he was such a good sport (and drove very conservatively, despite her crying!)

Baby L was super grumpy the whole car ride to the airport!

 At the airport, Emirates family check in seemed to take forever (also why we leave early when traveling with the little one!) G had to argue with the check-in agent about our luggage allowance since we packed per the guidelines on the website. She finally asked her colleague and was able to sort it out. By this time, Baby L had woken up and was flirting shamelessly with our check-in agent!

Baby L and I at the Dubai Airport

Security and boarding was mostly uneventful (we had a diaper blow-out and spit up on G’s shirt along the way) and once we were on the plane, we met a lovely Irish couple with a 7 month old boy. He and Baby L hit it off right away and made very similar cooing noises and liked to touch each others’ hands - it was too cute! After takeoff, they brought out Baby L’s bassinet, and she snuggled off to sleep. We had a rough flight, and since the seatbelt light kept coming on, she didn’t stay in her bassinet for long - policy is that when the seatbelt light is on, she must be in my lap. Of the 6.5 hours of the flight, she probably spent a good 4 of it on my lap. We got to Singapore and we were all quite tired, and at the same time excited to start the first leg of our adventure!

Baby L and I on our first airplane ride together!

We stayed at the iconic Marina Bay Sands resort and hotel. While we waited to check in, we had brunch at Din Tai Fung - one of our favorites! We then explored the Gardens By the Bay until it started raining, then headed back to the hotel to eat a late lunch at Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen. Between the rain, our full bellies, and red-eye flight, we were ready for an afternoon nap - and we all slept longer than we meant to! G set his alarm for 6pm and we slept right through it until 8pm - even Baby L!  

Marina Bay Sands Hotel in the background - the famous infinity pools is at the top!

Baby L giggling with her towel elephant!

We decided to have a late dinner at Yamamoto near the MBS Casino and then take a late night stroll around the Bay.  On a Friday evening, the restaurants and bars around the Bay were all hopping! As we made our way to the historic Merlion, we passed by some girls giving away free ice cream popsicles - in the dark, we couldn’t see the flavors, so I picked a yellow bar and G picked a brown one. His ended up being red-bean (not chocolate. Bummer.) and mine ended up being DURIAN!! I was so excited. It was so delicious. Less than 24 hours in Asia and I just happened to stumble upon some beloved stinky fruit. 

SOOO excited for my DURIAN ice cream pop! It was SOO GOOD!!!

Family Photo with the historic Singapore Merlion

The next morning, Baby L slept in until 8! She’s normally a 5:30am baby, so her jet lag was definitely a nice treat. While G went downstairs to the cafe for some breakfast pastries and coffee, Baby L decided to make my morning challenging. She wet herself and her changing mat while I was changing her, and after I moved her to a clean towel on the bed so I could clean her changing mat, she pooped all over the towel. She then proceeded to giggle and try to roll into her poop. Luckily, I scooped her up just in time, and got both of us cleaned up and dressed before G got back with breakfast. Whew!

As I mentioned earlier, G was born in Singapore, so we took a short cab tour of places from his history - Mount Alvernia Hospital where he was born, Mimosa Park where his parents lived, and Lucky Plaza where his parents used to shop. The cab driver seemed bemused at our itinerary, and once he learned it was because G was born in Singapore, he was actually pretty excited about our trip down memory lane.  He even took this photo for us in front of the Mimosa Park apartment buildings!

The buildings where G lived after he was born

Baby L slept through the drive (thankfully) and our driver dropped us off at Lau Pa Sat for lunch. We met with my manager one of my previous assignments - she had just moved to Singapore late last year. I had hoped to meet with one of my supervisors from that assignment as well, but unfortunately she and her family weren’t back from their holiday travel just yet! Anyway, it was fun catching up with my manager and she introduced us to lots of yummy (and cheap!) hawker stand foods. Baby L was also a sweetie sitting on my manager’s lap, and didn’t fuss at all!  

Famous hawker stands at Lau Pa Sat pavilion

MBS is famous for its huge infinity pool, so we decided to spend the afternoon poolside, despite the cloudy weather. The views were incredible! The water was too cold for Baby L, so we let her take a nap while we took a quick dip.

Baby L is not impressed by the Infinity Pool....

...but we were absolutely impressed! What a view!

Our final touristy activity in Singapore was dinner and a little shopping in Chinatown. We bought Baby L a classic Chinese-style dress, but her little fatty rolls around her neck prevent her from wearing it! Poor thing! We enjoyed delicious pepper crab for dinner, though it is probably not wise to choose a meal that covers your hands in pepper sauce when you have a sleeping infant with you. When she woke up crying, I had to wipe and wipe and wipe my hands before picking her up, and then G had to breakdown the crabs and mud lobster for me so I could eat it with chopsticks. It was so yummy!

Yummy pepper crab! Also very messy.  Not a good idea when handling an infant!

We headed home for an early night and gave Baby L a bath in the sink of our hotel room.  She was absolutely adorable and loved it!

Happy baby in the sink bath - she JUST barely fit! Giggles and splashes all around!

Happy baby is happy mommy!

Sunday, we headed to back to Changi Airport. One of the top tourist attractions in Singapore is actually the airport, so we took some to explore the different features including the enchanted gardens with their Koi ponds, and the butterfly garden.  Baby L was wide awake the whole time from sensory overload, so by the time we got on the airplane, she was exhausted! 

Hello Kitty Christmas - Singapore Style!

Baby L enthralled by the butterflies and flowers in the butterfly garden!

Fortunately, since I booked this Singapore Airlines flight on miles, we flew business class and had a little more room for her to sleep on my lap while I enjoyed lunch. G was so thrilled to see his birthplace, and we will definitely have to come back again for a longer stay!

What a spoiled little baby - her first business class flight at only 4.5 months old!