Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in buildthebear's LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]

Saturday, April 21st, 2007
9:16 pm	flower field in carlsbad Saturday: Rich and i and mom went to flower field this morning in carlsbad. Rich said he want to go to flower field in temecula. It's because his friend gonna be there and he doesn't know the address. I was still sleeping. It took me 2 hours to wake up and then i tried to figure out how to get there. I am laughing how our relationship works. Rich gave me the idea and i connect the points. The flower field was beautiful. It costs $8 with AAA member and $4 for the wagon ride. Rich said he would go there again in few years. I don't think i would go there unless i run out of places to go. We ordered 1 kobee hamburger that cut in 3 and shared after finishing the tour. Then we went to outlet next door. Mom bought baby clothes for her grandkid. Then we headed to carlsbad village drive and to the beach. It was nice clean beach. Then we went to lagoons which i thought it gonna look like hawaii but it turned out urgly. Neither of us want to finish the trail so we left We didn't go to the noodle place because it gonna take 31 miles which is too far for us. Instead we headed home for 7 courses beef at the corner brookhurst and hazard next to starter bros. Current Mood: calm (Comment on this)
Saturday, April 14th, 2007
6:16 pm	birthday I am contemplating of what to write on your birthday few weeks from now. i love how you would 1) how you would fuss over which part of the blanket should be for the feet every night. 2) how you would eat and ask me to eat bowls after bowls of blueberry after sharing a charbroiled steak for dinner 3) I love how you would wipe off bengay cream after applied to my tummy because you can't figure out if it gonna harm the baby 4) how you would massage my cramped legs every night that felt like a goft ball 5) how you would drink directly from the bottle but decided to drink from the cup when my mom is around. 6) I love how you would let me cuddle you when my mom is not around but pushed me away when you heard the footstep 7) how you come up with a recommendation to have me to drink 2 glasses of milk everyday after knowing that our baby weighted 4lbs at 33weeks 8) how you would take the opportunity of not sleeping at 8pm but at 1am watching Tv and waiting for me to get home when i work evening shift 9) I love how you would fuss over the nice clothes that I bought, where i bought them, whether at the brandname stores but end up using them daily as if it comes from a brandname store. 10) I love how you know to how makeup, buying roses, cooking dinner and buying jampa juice when you make me cried the night before because i worked extra shifts. 11) how you would come to bed and give me a kiss before you left to work and when you get home. 12) how you would "cang nhan" when i told you that OSH might carry your old dirtdevil vacumm bag and refused to go there but started laughing when i come out from the store with the right vaccum bags that we have been looking for. 13) I love how you would sacrified your 1 weekend a month to work NODA so we can afford few things whether new furnitures or fixing the car. 14) how you would take care of the garden, ants, so we can enjoy the blooming flowers and insect free house everyday. 15) Most of all I love how our simple life filled with joy and laugher everyday Happy birthday baby Current Mood: calm (Comment on this)
Friday, April 13th, 2007
5:23 pm	4lbs 33 weeks yesterday, i told your dad that you were weighted 4lbs by ultrasound at 33 weeks. Your dad was so worried that you gonna be a small baby. He read for hours about fetus weight. Your dad hoped that you gonna be a girl since it's normal for a girl newborn to be small. He worried about having a small boy. Your dad regreted that we didn't find out your gender because so we can correlate with your current weight. Everything is too late now, we wont' be able to find your gender until a month from now on your birthday. You dad said that once you are born, he gonna feed you q1h until you are a chubby baby I was laughing. This morning, your dad looked on the internet and found out the 4lbs is normal at 33weeks which make him less worry. I wasn't worry. As long as you are full term, I am happy because birth weight usually depend on genetics and many other factors. For now, your dad and I are enjoying seeing you making wave on my tummy. Your dad read to you last night. You kicked alot everytime, he read to you. I don't know if you enjoyed them but I enjoyed listening to your dad's voice. We bought books about "questions/answer" and read to you. So later on, if you have question like "why the sky is blue" then we know the answer. 33 weeks and counting down, we can't wait to see you Current Mood: calm (Comment on this)
Sunday, April 8th, 2007
5:36 pm	watts towers Friday, Rich and I went to linder furniture and we spotted a nice dinning room table that has bright wood color. We really loved it but we gonna wait for Rich's NODA and my CVS moonlight money in April because we have only $100 in the bank. Then we went to ikea to return the carpet that was little small for the living room. I was upset that the clerk won't take back the twin quilt cover that doens't fit our ikea blanket. He said that we opened the plastic bag. How we gonna know if it fit if didn't tried it on. Anyway, it costed only $3. Then we went to vegeterian restaurante and ordered for dishes. I don't like either one of them. I won't go there again. We were negociating how we gonna accommodate BlueBee, uncle Dzu wedding and Rich's vacation and I don't have enough hours. So we decided that Rich gonna take the baby for 1 week to NJ, while I work during the week, I will show up for the weekend wedding and both of us gonna fly back home afterward. Afterward, we stopped by barnes and nobles but couldn't see to buy. We headed to the airport, slept in the car at burger king while waiting for Andrew to arrive. After pick up Andrew at the airport late night, Rich and I went to sleep right away. Saturday, I was so annoyed by Rich's dad email about "lam lanh" and he suggested me to call Rich's mom on her birthday. For some reasons, the words "lam lanh" really got on my nerve. I was planning to call her 2 weeks ago after Rich's said his mom's bd is comming up until this email arrives in which i gave up totally. I called her last year out of random when i was driving eventhough there were troubles. Luckily out of random, I decided to call Rich's mom on her birthday while Rich and i still in bed and halfway awake cuddling. I didn't want to wait later because once I start to think about all the troubles, i gonna chicken out. It was a normal conversation, felt like 15 minutes longer than my 2 minutes last year. Then Andrew, Rich and I woke up because Eric said that his wedding ceremoney is at 845am. Anyway, it wasn't until 1200 noon. So Rich, Andrew and I went to have pho for breakfast at thanh litch. I like their service. The pho bo is good but i can't tell anyway. Rich and andrew had a haircut while i slept in the car. We then headed to Eric's ceremony. We had lunch there. It was typical wedding cater lunch with goi, eggrolls. Then we headed to the mall for andrew to shop for his clothes for the reception. He wasn't able to get this lugage to the airport ontime. Rich and I walked around the mall. Rich wants to buy his MP3 headphone. It was $14 which was expensive so he didn't buy it. I felt guilty to buy my cigarett splitter adapter for $10 when Rich mentioned that i rarely need it. I might return it tomorrow. We stopped by Border book store and spent $10 on two on sale books for Bluebee so we can read to him/her at night. Then we went to Pauline's house for andrew to get ready. 4 of us just hang out and chit chat. Rich rolled up the window so fast it slamed into my finger by accident. I was screaming inside but i was able to use another hand to find a button to roll down the window. Now i start to worry that our kid might get into accident for no reason from either one of us. After dropping andrew off, we went to living furniture store in cerritos. It was nice. Rich liked their free starbuck coffee overthere. I found another nice dinning table. Then we went have dinner at huong giang bun bo hue, we ordered banh canh and banh beo combination. I was nervous when Rich said he is short of $2 dollars cash. I don't carry money/nor cash usually. So i started dig around the car and come up with additional $3. Then we headed to ong noi to hang out until dark. Andrew slept over at felix house. He apologized that he couldn't get hold of us to cancel the pick up after he asked us to pick him up. Rich and I was upset but everything is ok now. Sunday, Rich bought me pink roses for our aniversary. I almost forgot about it. Everyday with Rich is the happy day for me. We had dimsum at princeton seafood restaurante with felix, andrew, pauline, thao. It was a good dimsum, we ordered too much. Then we tried to see more furnitures, everywhere stores closed. We went to see Watts tower. It was located in the getto area, very scary places with houses that had their windows installed with metal bars. The towers were contructed by metal without tools by some guys who is bored. Mr Watts is not Rich. He just has blizzard interesting hoppie. Afterward, Rich dropped me off to work at va and he headed home. It was an exhausted weekend. 1) thanks for our beautiful relationship 2) thanks for Bluebee's health 3) thanks for all the safe driving 4) thanks for an opportunity to hang out with friends 5) thanks the Rich's opportunty to work NODA to sofa and bookcase for the house. thanks Current Mood: calm (Comment on this)
Saturday, March 31st, 2007
6:48 pm	another enjoyable day Friday, Rich and I borrowed my brother new Honda element. We brought our new corner sofa home from Ikea. We were lucky that everythings fit the car perfectly and we were able to drive freeway without problem. It took us 1 hour to put it together since i wasn't able to help much. It looked really nice for the house. It has been 1 year since we were able to afford anything. Rich worked extra days at Kaiser to buy us the sofa and bookcases. Everything matched. I worked extra days at CVS trying pay off our loans. We were able to pay off my mom's borrowed money for the house. We still owned Rich's parent's. My goal is too pay them off by the end of the year. It's funny that i have been married to Rich for more than a year but sometimes, it's hard to believe. I have never thought that i will have a wonderful family as i have today. Saturday, we worked up and enjoyed looking at our sofa again. I made bun rieu for us for lunch. We cleaned the house, we drove around rpv along the ocean as usual. Then we stopped by sushi boy and ordered $4 california roll and $4 for two scoops ice cream at baskin robin. After getting home in anaheim, we took a nap. thanks for our finance beinng able to afford a new sofa and bookcases from Ikea Thanks cothuy for bringing up lynn's possible autism which neither Rich or I will speak up eventhough i saw the sign when she was 1. 2 years have passed thanks for the safe trip that my familly and Rich's family traveled Thanks for a non-critical pregnancy Thanks for everybody that we knew a good health (Comment on this)
Monday, March 19th, 2007
5:28 pm	lizzman trail Sat: We went to ontario in am to pay toward the principle of mom's equity that we borrowed, we finished pay her off. Afterward, we went to taifai dumpling in arcadia. It was a good lunch since we were so hungry, quite expensive although $20per person. Then Rich dropped me off at macy to buy gift for Julie's baby Kaitlyn. Then we headed to lizzman trail as one of the attraction in GPS. We were thirsty, we ordered two smoothie and a scoop of icecream at coldstone before we headed to the trail. We talked around sierra padre downtown boutque shops. We only walked for 20 minutes total since i was so tired and my legs hurt. Afterward, we stopped by huntington library. We were there at 330pm but the garden closed at 430 and we aren't willing to pay $15 admission for 1 hour remaining. So we parked the car and ate the left over dumpling and felt asleep. Then we drove to san gabriel mission. Either the museum closed or we can't find the entrance. We left after walking around the perimeter of the church. We went to tapioca express for boba drink. I ordered green apple snow bubble. Afterward, we went to mission 261 restaurante for Julie's babyshower. 10 courses dinner with lobster like a wedding. She had 4 tables total. sunday, we went to costco, homedepo, lowe. Rich loved to buy the outdoor table setting at lowe. I told him to wait for 1 week grace period since it costed more than $200. It was a nice setting but i wished it's taller. Then we went to walk at the ocean for 1 hour. We had salsa for lunch. We had coupon of buy 1 meal and get 2nd for free. I felt like a buffet. I orderd taco salad and rich had schrimp taco. Overall, we had a great relaxing weekend Current Mood: calm (Comment on this)
Saturday, February 24th, 2007
5:31 pm	port o call restaurante It's another weeknd that i was able to have it off for both sat and sunday. Rich and I went walking around donald trump goft course. We found this new 1.5 hours pave walkway that we haven't seen before along the ocean. I was very beautiful. I was so tired after the walk and my stomach started to hurt every step. Afterward, we went to Korean friendship bell. Then we head to port o call restaurante in downtown san pedro. It was a nice place. We saw the restaurante but didn't go inside instead we had lunch outside. The lunch was disappointed because I didn't a complication of how to order individual items and have them stir fried together. We ended up having calamari for lunch which was not that great. I saw a lot of mexican family ordered a tray of stir fried stuffs which looked so good. I would come back here again but with more people so we can order a tray of things. This place reminded me of Redondo beach but in a third class world. Afterward, I drove Rich back to anaheim while he had few sleep on the car. Then we ate few more junk foods at home and went to take a nap before Rich headed to Kaiser for NODA thanks for our nice job at the va thanks for a nice chinese new year last weekend. I had drink with Loida while Rich and chu cuong went out with ong noi thanks for my journey during pregnancy without critical incidents thanks for our family's health thanks for our wonderful relationship that i enjoyed everyday. Current Mood: awake (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 7th, 2007
9:32 am	seaworld Rich, I, Tom and kimmy went seaworld yesterday. I am not a fan of theme park but i want to go because of Rich. Last time i was there when i was in undergrad. I didn't think the ticket from Kaiser was a good deal. $43 for 2 entries (discount) vs $56 for multiple entries if one buys directly. I had babyrib from shipreck cafe which was decent meal. We saw a few shows. After 8hrs there, we get out at 6pm when they close. We headed to minh ky mi gia for a good bowl of noodle. thanks for 2 days weekend off thanks for our family's healthy life thanks for the new pda that i bought using my extra money from cvs. my old one is, the charger is broken thanks for having rich in my life, i adored him every day thanks for our safe driving Current Mood: peaceful (Comment on this)
Monday, January 1st, 2007
10:30 pm	happy new year Saturday, We woke up late and ended up in anaheim late. We went to little saigon for vegeterian Van restaurante. Afterward, we headed to yorba linda park to check out the pond which was small and dirty. We walked along the ditches that my brother wanted to kayak and I said no. Afterward, we hit the theater to watch, edragon, night at the museum and the good shepherd (CIA). The museum movie was fun. Rich felt asleep throughout the three movies. Sunday We had vegeterian lunch at zen restaurante in bolsa which is yuck. All the dishes were salty. We won't go here again. Afteward, we went to napple island in long beach for kayaking with pauline, her bf cuong, anh hai. I t was fun. We didn't want mom to come along. She just got off from graveyard this morning and she needs sleep. We left early before she woke up. Besides, there was not enough space and we were already in long beach. The kayak time was 2 hours in a loop. My brother and Rich switched the boat because pauline and cuong had a hard time to manuever my brother's old kayak. It was a hard work out for Rich and my brother. We got home at 5 to wait for my mom if she wanted dinner. She was in the bad mood and refused to go to dinner because we left her behind. Rich, I and my brother went to dinner at bo bay mon thien an anyway. It's my first restaurante. The food is comparable to hong van next to ong's noi house. I was teasing Rich that i am glad it's my mom. If it was his mom, we probably gonna be hungry because same incidence happen before while Rich's mom were here and Rich didn't pick me up for dinner. When we got home, we watched another movie which was interesting Monday, Rich and I went to rose parade with mom and anh hai. My mom argued with us that we didnt' want to ask stranger for direction instead driving around and looked for. I and my brother hated to ask for direction when we are with our mom. But we figured out ultimately from our internet cell access. we found the place which is separately from the rose bowl football (the parking ticket costed $80 private drive way for the football). It was nice postfloat viewing. I was surprised that i can walked for 3 hours. The ticket cost $7. We took alot of pictures. Afterward, we went to King restaurante for hotpot which was good. Mom argued with me that I wanted to order small bowl of fried rice vs white rice. I get annoyed that i want fried rice doesn't matter what and order the white rice for her. She threatened to leave the restaurante if i don't respect her. It is really pissed me off. If it is my car, i wouldn't care but we drove her car. Sometimes, i don't understand this sort of relationship between mother and daughter. Overall, we had a fabulous new year weekend. Current Mood: content (Comment on this)
Monday, December 25th, 2006
11:21 am	xmas xams,mom had her graveyard as usual. Yesterday, Rich and I stopped by ong noi at lunch to hang out. Brian is getting big and cute. I am glad co thanh and chu hung shared some of here experiences with us about labor and delivery. We brough algae as usual because we can't think of anything. Afterward, we went to pick up my brother for the show at crystal catheral. The line was long, we were planning to see 430 show but ended up saw 6pm show. We parked illegally at kaiser. Rich was worry that the car might be towed. I liked the musical and the choir, no much talking from the pastor. The restroom was very luxury to my surprise. We got out at 8pm. I was plannning to drop off Rich at ong noi's house and pick him up later but he refused. Co Thanh invited my brother for dinner but i felt odd. I don't mind spending my xmas eve with my brother alone. I like solitude sometimes. So Rich called and said that we can't make to the dinner. My brother, Rich and I had dinner at tai bu's restaurante. I ate too much. We ordered bun moc, banh canh, banh mi truong, beefsteak, mang cau smooothie. My brother wanted to kiyak at night along the cannal in long beach to see the lights. I didn't like the messy. So we ended up walking around the naple island to see xmas light. It reminded me of a gentleman way back that he took me here for the first time. Now am I back here with my lovely husband whom haven't been here before. It was beautifully decorated with alot of lights. It was a loop walking in a circle. This place was better and baboa island that we went 3 weeks ago. Afterward, we drove home, i felt so nauseated and had watery diarrhea throughout the night, probably food poisoning that neither my brother nor Rich experienced. Current Mood: full (Comment on this)
Friday, December 22nd, 2006
5:31 pm	birthday Happy birthday to myself. It was hard to believe I am 29 years old. The age when my mom was pregnant with me. Now i am repeating history. Looking back, i have a wonderful year with alot of up and few downs. Mental: Up, i got to go experience alot of campings. I had more campings experience this year than last year. We didn't hike much this year because our new house is far from LA forest. I enjoyed every moment that I am with Rich. Even right before the vow at the wedding, i wonder if i made the right choice giving his family situation earlier in the year. I know i did now and appreciated everyday since none of his family nor my family is around. We had great times together experienced alot of fun things such as seeing the beautiful sunset surrounded by moutain and ocean in anacapa island, swimming with turtles in hawaii, kiyaking in baboa island, walking around Danish town upnorth. We also experienced alot of anxiety, misadventure things such as getting anxiety sharing camp with the homeless who might peek into our tent, got scared of aggressive birds in anacapa island while laying halfeye open, got scare of people might run us over in ocean dune. But those experiences brought us togther. Nothing have changed between us besides we gonna be parents soon. I still enjoyed quiet moment with Rich, shared our daily chores, cooking. Down, having our house broke in. My mom's car got broke in yesterady with her wallet and our gps gift to her was gone. Few bumps with his family before the wedding that i can't recall. My brother is going to buy lobster for our dinner tonight. I can't wait. He has been so nice and thoughtful. He fixed things that Rich and I can't do, he removed that old washer and installed the electrical outlet for us, changed our dishwasher disposal. He gonna be a fun uncle for our kid. Education: Nothing have changed, haven't learned anything news Physical: haven't learned anything new. I haven't exercised qd. Finance: rich and I got approved for loan reembursement with the Va. We paid off Rich's car finally. I am maxing our his 401K this year. We still haven't been able to have any reserve yet. Current Mood: content (Comment on this)
Saturday, November 4th, 2006
8:18 pm	kiyaking in baboa Rich, luan and I went kiyaking in baboa today. We brought the equipment from home. It was nice to sit in the middle having Rich and my brother did all the rowing. The weather is very nice. I took us 2 hours around the baboa island and to corona del mar beach. Rich and luan had to carry the kiyak all the way to the top which was hard. We were hoping to join other people for bbq but my brother knew nobody so we left. Luckily we bought some eggrolls to fill our tummy along the way. On the way back to baboa took only 15 minutes short cut rowing. We picked a cleaner landing site. Surprisingly, I wasn't feel nauseated on the kiyak. On the way home, we picked up Rich's acura from the dealer for maintenance and went to costco for his flat tires. We had steak ciabatta at jack in the box for dinner using 2 coupons which save us $6. Now I feel nauseated...suck 1) thank for the wonderful day with Rich and my brother kiyaking 2) thanks for no vomiting episodes, so far only severe nausea 3) thanks for having compassionated Rich, he is so caring about his baby that he insisting me eating 70 gram of proteins a day which i felt nauseated thinking about it. He gonna be a great dad 4) thanks for tomorrow opportunity to taking xmas picture with mom and us. I am so glad to be off both days this weekend 5) thanks for the love that i am surrounded Current Mood: nauseated (Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 17th, 2006
11:20 am	pregnant I don't know the date that i missed my period. Last time i was spotting was august 8. august 26 and sept 9 i am negative before going to jap/vietnam. I am positive on oct 11 and oct 16. So am I really pregnant?. Neither Rich and I really sure because i am still spotting here and there after positive test. The nausea is really killing me but at the same time i cause me not feeling hungry. Next obgyn appt is in nov 8 to find out. Rich is worry about me taking flights to hawaii in december and the risk of radiation on the plane and leukemia. I am not worry since alot of pregnant women fly all the time. I wished i can ease his worriness. I just told my brother that i am pregnant and he is laughing not believing me. He thought i looked fat which made me laugh. Current Mood: calm (Comment on this)
Monday, October 9th, 2006
12:11 am	ortega falls and tenaja falls Direction to tenaja falls is the same as previous entry. Once you pass the first parking lot, drive 4.4 mile to the pull out before hitting another metal exit leaving the national park. The trail is visible on the left. Keep left side at the fork, will pass the metal bar block. Then walk pass the concrete on the floor. It might be flooded during spring. It took us 2 hours to finish the hike around trip. Direction: from lake elsinor, right on high way 74, pass el cariso village, drive 2.5 miles. The parking place is on the right hand side with "national adventure pass" require sign. This morning, mom, I and my bro went hiking. Rich went to va to work. Rich's dad is here this weekend but we don't have enough bike The fall was dry but the area i beautiful. My brother and I packed 3 bikes thinking that the 4.4 route won't open but luckily it opened. I don't think I can bike up/down the roller coaster hill for 4.4 mile one way. We didn't have to use the bike at all. The trail is little bit confuse but managable. We walked on top of the falls where the water supposed to be. It was beautiful looking down the valley. the breeze was nice and the rock is shinny. After few relaxing minutes and snacks, we headed out. Ortega fall was adventour. We took the trail on the left hand side and it was straight down. very gravel. I didn't enjoy it much. But i heard few little kids down there. We all thought that there should be an another route. We found them when we climbed up. It was on the right hand side after few seconds from the begining of the trail. The fork is not visible. There were more rocks to climb which is better than slippery gravel. Mom said she sweat alot. Heading home, i was exhausted and slept for 2 hours. Current Mood: bitchy (Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 4th, 2006
8:39 am	mortan steak house Friday, Rich and I went to cme, talked about restless leg syndrome. Interesting topic with cool video sample. The pt was really restlessness. The steak was good and huge, not as juicy as I expected. We were so full from the steak, we had our cheese cake and chocolate cake to go. Saturday, Rich and I went to the conference *update in cardiology*. it was 2 days conference (friday/sat) The topics were good. I enjoyed the CPR topics the most, who would have known that vasopressor is preffered over epi when you try to shock the pt. The lunch was decent. Stuffed chicken with spaguette noodle. Sunday, I have to work. I want to go to the el dorado center but it costs $6. I didn't want to enter and Rich doesn't want to park outside the park and walk in. So we left (Comment on this)
Sunday, September 24th, 2006
8:38 am	short weekend walk i worked both day this weekend am shift. Rich is off. He help us with organizing the house. Saturday, since we can't find the Mcbribe trail as described in the magazine, we ended up at the Del cero park. at the end of the park is the hiking trail passing the fire gate. We have been here before. Rich can't recall it. We took the longer route last time and end up at the bottom of the hill. This time, only 5 minutes to see the overall ocean view of rpv and pv, quite beautiful since we are at the highest point of the hill. Anyway, I still haven't get paid yet from cvs, they still owned me $14+11+8 hours. (Comment on this)
Monday, September 11th, 2006
8:40 am	vietnam trip Monday, we woke up and had breakfast at our seahorse hotel and enjoyed this place for the last time. The hutieu soup was good. I enjoyed the ocean view while eating than the foods. Pauline forgot her password to the safe which took us awhile to get the master key personnel to open it. Then we headed out swimming in the neptune pool for 2 hours. I ordered taro and la dua ice cream for every one. I craved for those homemade ice cream. It cost 10,000 dong per scoop. We had our pool money which everything was paid from there. BTW, mom lost her REI hat at this hotel. The waitress found mine but couldn't find hers. Then we left the hotel and head out to Canary resort for lunch for lunch at its restaurante. Everybody ordered coconut drink and ate its meat. One the way to Nha Trang, we stopped by the view point to see the Nha Trang coast which was beautiful. We encountered 3 little kids who were trying to give us shell clams. We refused but they said "no money" so we took a few and gave them 9,000 dong for candy money. We felt guilty. After 4 hours driving, we arrived at the yakasa hotel. After checking in, we had our dinner at den long do restaurant. The flower vegetable dish was new tome. It tasted great. At night Loida, mom and I walked ~30 minutes around town along the beach to digest all the foods that we ate. Tuesday, sept 5 @ 10 pm vietnam time. I am using computer at the Yasaka hotel for 20,000 dong/hr ~$1.5. This cost 3x more than at mui ne 5,000 dong/hour. Current rate exchange is $1=16000 dong. My colleagues are at the coffee shop currently. I didn't want to drink coffee this late so I walked from the shop to the hotel along the beach ~15 minutes. Guys with their motorbikes parking along the street asked if I want a ride and a guy commented that I walked too fast. I ignored them like a foreigner who didn't understand Vietnamese. The hotel was nice but not as nice as the Seahorse hotel that we stayed last Monday night. We had to walked across the street to get to the beach. The swimming pool was not a standard size. The food was good. I liked "hot fresh banh cuon" made directed in front of me. According to Mr Nguyen that the best hotel in vietnam is Vinepearl in its separate island. They had their own speed boat from nha trang shore or direct hanging cable car to its resort. Anyway, we didn't stay at vinepearl, might be next time. It cost only $135/night or $125 if on tour. Anyway, we woke up this morning, had breakfast and headed to the pier. We bought our big brim hat for 5,000 dong each. Felix bought his VC hat for souvenir. We took our private boat from the pier ( Cang Cau Da) to the Hon Tam island, close to 45 minutes boat ride. The boat stopped at Hon Mun and allowed us jumped out and snorkeled. The water was clear and deep. I saw only few fishes deep on the bottom shore. . Even though I can swim, I wore lifeguard including my colleagues. Felix is funny that he wore both lifeguard and had a donut float on him. He looked like a big whale. The water was salty and it hurt my eyes even with snorkel gear on. After 1 hr, we climbed back to the boat and headed to the Hon Tam Island. I have been to the island before with a friend of mine. We snacked so much when we arrived. We bought sweet purple jam, ballut, quail eggs, algae, coc. Mom went swimming by herself since she brought her own a goggle that doesn't leak. The rest of us wandered freely shopping for snacks. We had lunch at the restaurante in the area. The food was ok since I had so many foods for the last 4 days. It started to taste the same. After lunch, Loida and I, Emily and Pauline ski jet together with the help of an assistant riding behind us. . Loida and Ann parasailed together. Mr nguyen discussed hosroscope to each one. Felix had his fingers and feet pedicures + massage for 90,000 dong, ~$6. He gave 190,000 total including tips. So far Felix had the most generous tip and had the most massage among us. Everything was cheap to him Then we headed to mud bath at thap ba. It was awesome. We had our own private mud bath. I thought we have to share but since we had 8 people, we had our own tube. The mud bath was slippery. The picture/email that cothuy sent was exactly what I experienced. It was cool. Then we had our mineral bath. There was no fresh water shower afterward so we just dressed on our regular cloth and headed to Thap Ba This is Thap cham temple. It was a nice and big cham temple. We took few pictures then headed back to the hotel for a refreshing shower. Mom and I went swimming at the hotel for 15minutes We had dinner at Nha trang seafood restaurant. The Fish with lime and butter sauce is interesting. The Jumping oc dish was interesting. This dish was new to me. I collected its shell back to America. The canh chua was the best. It had strange rau dang? vegie that tasted sour. There were so many things in the soup from bap chuoi to raw fishes. We ordered drinks every dinner. I had combination grapefruit and pineapple juice. After dinner mom and I went to a massage palace with felix. The rest of the girls went to the bar. It was raining when we got back to the hotel. Wednesday, I am here at the rex hotel using the wireless service of the coffee shop inside the rex. I burned the electric converter. I made a pop sound and smoke come out of it...scary. This morning, mom woke me up this morning to accompany her to swim in front of the hotel. I dragged myself to the beach grumpy. I am glad I did it. It was interesting and beautiful. A lot of local elderly people swim early until the sun getting hot. The water get deep every quick from the sand. We swam for 30 minutes, showered, and had breakfast. They had bun bo hue this morning which was good. I left $4 tips hiding all over the room so the actual person who cleaned it would get the money. Mom asked me for the spare changes to give to the waitress that served her, including the two ladies that made ban cuon. After breakfast, we checked out and drove to Long Son Tu temple where they had standing and sitting Buddha. Loida, I and Felix shared that cost of buying the postcard since the students were saying that the money contribute to their education. Loida thought that one buy would contribute to every student. The rest of the students asked us to buy from each. It cost 100,000 dong and we were broke. We had nuoc mia on the bottom of the sitting budda. A 2 years old kid begging Loida for money. We asked her not to give/spoil them. Emily gave the boy a pack of gum instead and he was all jumping up and down. We had lunch at Hon Co Ca Na Afterward, we headed home. On the way, we stopped at the rest stop for restroom and bought few fishes for snack. The local lady who sold cha hue to Thuy cheated her. Thuy gave her 40,000 dong bill but she didn't gave any chances back. The actual cost only 4,000 dong. We arrived at the Rex hotel in the eve. It was raining along the way but once we arrived it stop. So far I encountered only 2 rains this trip. I can't believe my eyes that we are actually stay at the Rex hotel. Due toThuy having connection, we were able to stay for $60 per night. The actual advertised cost was$135/night. Mom was very happy. She said that she never dream that she ever would be able to afford the Rex hotel. The hotel belonged to Saigon tourist holding company. It was very nice and luxury 4 stars hotel. I loved the room, they way they decorated in French style. Even though the hotel was old, it still look new due to constant update. Mom and everybody had dinner at Huong ty restaurant on Le thanh ton street. It is a very famous food "banh trang trai ban" We arrived late, so it wasn't too crowded. The food was good which was worth the 30 minutes walk. We got lost for 10 minutes. Afterward, we walked back to the hotel. Mom tripped and felt. Her arm and face were bruised and bled. I hope she didn't break any bone.I salted her wound. I am glad the fall happen after the tour. Thurday. We had breakfast at the hotel. Like their mien ga soup. Then we check out the old swimming pool. After breakfast, we went to take pictures at anh tuan studio. Mom took felix around town to say hi to her friends. The whole process was fun. I liked the wet look photoshoot. Afterward, I met up with mom and we went to visit bac nam. Their grandson was so cute. His name is Khai Minh. Then all of us (bac nam trai, gai, anh dung and be khai minh) went to the river to have dinner on the boat. The dinner was expensive ~$50 total. The rest of the girl went out to a bar and listened to Philippino comedy band. They said it was good Friday, Loida, Pauline, I , mom and felix went to cu chi tunnel. It was fun. The tunnel had 3 layers and we only get to the 2nd level. They enlarged the entrance for the tourist to fit in. The actual entrance is small. Felix tried the actual entrance and got tuck. We laughed so hard and I filmed the whole process. The tunnel took 20 years to complete and was extremely long. It has its own well and hospital. There were so many amazing traps for the American solder. The tour took 6 hours since it had to come to different hotel to pick up guests. The ticket cost $25 from Saigon tourist. In the Eve, I went around ben thanh market. The rest had their hair done a round the corner. Mom visited her colleague. I bought 2 dvd next to co Kim’s pharmacy. Afterward, I and others went to see the pictures that we took yesterday. Pauline pictures come out nice. I didn’t like those pictures that much. But taking it was fun process. It cost ~$80 total including 37x10 wooden frame. In the eve, we packed and took one SUV taxi to the airport for 70,000 (100,000 total for tip). The airport process was nice. There is no chance that you can bride anyone like it used to be. Airport tax was $14 USD. Saturday, we arrive at narita. We had 8 hours to kill. After fumbling around with map and asking for directions from bus to metro. Japanese people doesn’t speak English at all I have to admit. Only a few can speak and tried to help us the best they can for direction. We decided to take metro $4 round trip to boutique shopping area and visited the temp at the end of the road. The temple is big and crowded as usual. We walked to the garden which we all though it looked like a grave park with many tombstones. . We saw a chef cutting live eels and remove their bone very quick and smooth. The bone and its head after he threw them in the trash still moved. I bet the food must be very fresh. Anyway, after 5 hours walking around boutique shop and had few ice creams waffle from the vending machine and ate at McDonald, we headed back to the airport. The fly back was nice. Mom, Pauline, and loida occupied us with many seats slept across it. Highlight of the trip Japan: sleeping on the tatami hotel was awesome experience. Bidet was hilarious. Japanese people are so polite. Everywhere I went is very clean even the fish market Vietnam: mud bath and seahorse hotel was awesome. Rex hotel was dream come true to me. (Comment on this)
8:37 am	random thought about vietnam since I come back to vietnam 2nd time. My feeling toward the country was different. I felt like it is just another tourist destination where people speak vietnamese instead. I don't feel sad at all. Mom said she felt the same. She cried on her first visit. On the second visit, I speak vietnamese more than the first. I enjoyed the walk around town. We walked alot in vietnamese. It used to be very long walk from the river to independence palace when i was young. Might be my legs were short. Now I felt like it just a short distance. I guess mom and I went hiking alot so we didn't feel the distance. 2-3 hours walk is nothing to us but is alot of many local vietnamese. In addition, there were so many boutique shops along the street. I can't predict the distance at all. Walking to cho ben thanh and bought my few snacks was the foundest memory. When i was young, I used to walk around isles of food vendors looking at it wishing that I can eat all i want and never think about money. Now i can afford anything i want but i still didn't buy anything, this time i am afraid of getting diarrhea. So I bought only a few I walked/drove past the house that I used to grow up in, the house next to the independent palace. I was searching for the "cay mai" trees that grew both sides of the gate and they bossomed beautifully during vietnamese new year. They were no longer there. Passing by the area, I felt like i had everything in the world, supportive family and friends and wonderful husband. I am glad that i have been grown away from this neighborhood. For japanese culture, I felt its submissive personalities of their people for some reasons. I guess because every body is so polite, they bow to each other every encounter. Seeing a geisha in training was a wonderful experience. She is exactly what I imagine from the movie "memoir of a geisha" (Comment on this)
Friday, September 1st, 2006
8:01 am	japan I am here at the Nikki kansai hotel. Mr. Tan said it a 5 stars hotel which I didn't think so because it is similar to any other hotels we have been to. The receptionist wanted to charge me 500 yen for business access. I told them I don't have money. Besides, I just want to use it for free. The let me borrow the lan cable for free. It is our turn tonight to take felix in. In the morning, we went and picked up geisha in training girl who looked cute. We were so excited. We had so many opportunities to take picture with her. It costed $500 to rent her for 2 hours. Afterward, due to contricted time, we get a taxi for her to go home. She had a white make up on which I saw before in documentary. Her kimono was beautiful. Felix got to hold her hand in an escorted style which he was so thrilled. We went to ....temple which we saw a big sitting buddha. We got a chance to slip our body into the small hole. Felix is too big to slide through the collum. The column was the pilar of the temple. We thought we won't be able to slide through but after seeing Mr. Tan did it. We followed them side way. This temple is located on the deer park. I paid 150 yen to buy deer bisket. The deers were muching my thigh right and left. It was very cool to feet them and there were alot of them. Afterward, we went shopping behind the temple corridor. I bought a japanese doll and picture frame. The Yugata was too long so I didn't bother. We shaw a kimono fashion show today at the silk factory. We bought few sew cloth, picture of mt fuji. We had lunch here. It was a fried chicken. It is just an ok lunch The Tokyo Castle which looked nice from far away. We had our last icecream for the trip. I think i had been having 5 ice cream cone in the last 6 days in Japan. Mom had 7. The green tea ice cream cone is so good overhere. Then we went shopping. Mom spent few $ for the thermal clothes. I spent nothing as usual and enjoyed taking pictures. We had sushi buffet and hide our rice beneath the dish. It cost 1250 yen for women and 1550 for men which I thought is interesting. The sushi was served on the conveyor belt which i saw it before. The selection is not that much but my friends thought it differently.b Mom didn't eat anything and spent all 3 hours shopping. I bought my brother a long stocking for a niece of a friend for 105 yen. This place is a 3 miles shopping. We didn't go all the way. I got to see pachinko for the first time, interesting. The guard didn't want us to take pix but we were able to snatch one. It was crowded place on friday with girl dressed in a funky styles. Then we headed to the nikki kasai hotel which located in the manmade island. On the way there, Felix sang a song for us *Mr. Lonely* His sound is very funny and he sang well. BTW, The island is 11 years old and is sinking. This is the only hotel on the airport and it took only 3 minutes walking to the airport which we will take tomorrow. At the end of the trip, we gave Mr. Tan and his driver $120 for me and mom as required tips BTW, this morning, I realized the cover seat of the toilet is heated. It's so cool at the holiday inn hotel. Current Mood: cheerful (Comment on this)
Thursday, August 31st, 2006
6:53 am	japan Today, Thursday. We woke up early this morning at 530 to have our second and last hot springs spa. Emily, Ann and pauline joined us few minutes afterward. It is so funny to see them naked. Emily is shy, she tried to cover but unless one does this everyday. It hard to cover everything. After 15 minutes we rinsed, took few pictures and get dressed. Since it's still early, Mom and I walked along the narrow street to enjoy this small town. Mom was impressed that there are soft drink machines everywhere and nobody stole it. We walked up the hill because we were curious to see the upclose the look alike ancient hotel. We had a breakfast set with a small hot pot. I think I am tired of hotpot. It still tasted salty as usual. But we had this small leek wraped with purple leaf tasted every interesting. We then stopped by the fish market. Mom bought some dried squit and I bought shredded fishes. We had so much free samples. The sellers are very nice to us eventhough we didn't buy anything at all. The fish market doesn't smell at all and very clean. Loida, felix and pauline gonna be disappointed at vietnam's fish market. Emily and Hang bought shrimp crackers for snake. We snacked them on the bus. The whole bus played bingo and i won a japanese cake. We also sing karaoke. I picked and sang "manic monday with loida eventhough I don't have a clue how to sing. Then we headed to Shizuoka, tea plantations. The tea house is beautiful, decorated with japanese styles. I voluntered to be in the tea ceremony. It was fun. I realized that I not supposed to step close to the window, that is for god only....oopp. We has green tea ice cream. Mom had two ice cream cones since she loved it too much. She picked mixed greentea and vanilla flavors. Afterward, we took a bullet train from Hashima to Maibara station which took only 10 minutes vs 1 hr drive. The train was very fast. I don't feel anything compared to amtrak that I used to take. This train is not the fastest on on the world. The fastest on the world is from france We went to a very big red temple in Kyoto. We took few pictures and left. We are now at Kyoto. The town is very beautiful, everything is small and wooden. We check in the holiday inn hotel which is way nicer than in usa. I am here using my own computer typing email because I can't read japanese character and unable to figure out how to reply using provided computer. They lent me a lan cable. We had Chinese buffet for dinner which was yuck. We had mi xao don and other stuffs. There was a mall with 3 stories behind the hotel. We went there but didn’t buy anything since it costs the same as in us. Loida is doing laundry for me and felix since she wanted to wait for her laundry. Laundry cost only $400 yen (~$4) Yesterday, wednesday, we went to mountain Fuji, we drove to 5th station, the last station for bus. Most japanese people hike here at least one in their life time as a pilgrimage. It will tak 7-8 hours, usually they hike in the afternoon, camp over night and the next morning they wake up early to see the sunset. Loida and I want to go there next time. Loida and I sent postcard home. I sent one to Rich since I remember only my home address. Loida sent to her husband quang, sister, parents and va hosptial. I signed my name on her postcard to the va hospital. After 1 hour of shopping, snacking, more vendor drinks and few pictures we left. We went to Owakudani for hot rivers where felix bought black eggs. It smelt like fart overhere due to sulfur. The egg tasted the same like regular egg. We had a lunch set buffet. Then we went to Hakone and to lake ashi, ride a dragon boat to see the view of the lake. Then we ended up at hot spring, I skipped the bar with friends due to cost $30/person. We had great dinner. Everybody want to know what kind of paper that doesn't absorb water and can burn under fire. Mr. Tan said it's oil paper and can't be bought. They used oil paper to make it a mini bowl and put in a hot soup. Mom and I was mesmerized of our room. It took us a while to figure out where is a slide door to the bedroom. We were at awe at the decoration. The sliding door covered with paper. The floor laid with tatami. We slept on the thin layer mattres with down blanket. I had a great sleep after hot spring spa. The phone is the room is very old, the rotary phone. The yutaga?? was very long so mom made some sign language and asked for the short one. Surprisingly, they understood her. I thought it's interesting that the toilet doens't connect to the bathroom. It is outside before the entrance to the bedroom with its own door and slippers. After dinner, Loida, I, Hang, and mom went to 7/11 to buy ice cream and saw a japanese family playing game (shooting gun game). They asked us if we want to join them. Knowing that we don't understand their language, we declined. Loida, I and Hang were shy at first but we were ok afterward. The spa was nice, warm. I felt like my skin pores open up after the spa. The men and the lady room rotate every 6 hours so everybody had a chance to try out different location. Blue curtain for men and red for lady. Current Mood: cheerful (Comment on this)