We slept for 10 hours because there is nothing else to do in this small city.

Hope Nis you're having fun at the Cu Chi tunnels!!!

We've reached Chau Doc, a city on the border of Cambodia.

Annis already went back to HCMC.

We'll eventually meet her again in Laos.

Can't wait for our 12 hours boat trip to Phnom Penh ;)

Since Annis joined us in Saigon, we've been busy busy. We're actually in the Mekong Delta for a 2-days trip. Afterwards, she'll be heading north towards Hanoi while Math and I will make our way to Cambodia. Time flies!

Today's highlight was a Vietnamese ajuma giving us a broad smile when we came back to her stall to buy her fruits. She handpicks them for us and doesn't try to screw us over. That's all we need to come back over and over again to buy her mangoes and other fruity treats.

I took a nap yesterday in the late afternoon and only woke up after 7hpm. 

We went for dinner in a nice Indian restaurant which was a special treat since it was 5 times the budget we usually allow for our meals (10$ VS 2$ lol).

 Then, we discovered that we have access to the National Geographic channel on the tee-vee in our room. (Best channel ever)

Hence, it was quite late when I finally put my head to rest.

Today, we spent the morning wandering in a food market.

We also found a place where blind people give massages for 2-3$ per hour. (with fan/aircon)

Marvelous, we'll wait for Annis...

We then walked all the way to some crappy river.

It was so hot; I felt really unconfortable under the sun.

We're now taking a break at the hostel/guesthouse.

Probably pop in the shower before Nis smells my sweaty self.

We have a budget of 30USD per day per person.

Including food, hostels, airplane/bus/taxi/tuktuk/bike/boat ticket fares, activities, shopping and entry fees to monuments/museums/buildings.

Let's say all included.

So far, so good :)

We reached Ho Chi Minh City yesterday night.

After our 24 hours bus ride, I took a shower, opened a new book The Help and read till I fell asleep.

Can't wait for Nis' arrival!!!

ps. (I finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in the bus. Marvelous)

Waiting for the goddamn bus which is more than an hour late. Much like the Italian ones haha. And ohhh msg/chatting with Nis who's in Thailand while I'm waiting. Loving Math's iphone right now...

We're in Hoi An and it's quite a nice city.

There are over 200 tailor clothes shops and maybe as many tailor shoes shops.

But no, I'm not going crazy here.

Still biding my time before Bangkok!!!

Last night, we went for dinner in a street stall as usual.

We were eating casually when a giant momma cockroach flew on Math's lap.

He shoved it to the floor and the owner quickly stepped on it.

His wife and other customers were laughing at the situation (or us).

If I was in Math's place, I would have seriously fainted.

Ayaaaah after a long bus trip from Hanoi to Hue (14 hours), we missed our connection to Hoi An. 

Thus, no choice other than to visit this small city which used to be the ancient capital..

La decouverte de la journee...

... salade de fleur de bananier

{Exquis}

Today's highlight was to sit along my 25 fellow passengers in a van for 3 hours, heading towards Halong Bay. Luckily, the van nor the boat sank.

You can tell Math and I are first-timers in the backpacking field. Yes, we have travelled to a few places before but never for more than a month non-stop. Other more experienced backpackers all possess the right gear/clothing/equipment while I look a bit clumsy with my red Birkenstocks (so comfy, I love them). I'm not even used to my backpack's weight which is only half full. We'll definitely learn a lot throughout the next couple of months... not painfully, I hope!

Internet connection is too slow at the hostel. Will need to wait before uploading fantastic food pictures of SGP and crazy busy life of Hanoi.

Today's highlight was to play with a 2-year-old girl who can run damn fast while her Beautiful mother was selling sweet ice lemon tea and sunflower seeds on the sidewalk.

Woahhh our 4 full days in Singapour went by so fast...

Already, Math and I have landed in Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), waiting for our connection to Hanoi.

While SGP was nothing exceptional (minus the food and the local funny slangs),

spending some quality time with the girls was truly amazing.

Many many many thanks to Mish for being a nenepok and an ajuma, to Xingyan for driving us around and welcoming us in her home as well as Xiuxiu for being overly present.

Will post my 600 pictures on FB soon XD

Just arrived in Singapore!!! It's super duper humid. Can't wait to meet the girls tomorrow! Food is so cheap...

Demain, on commence enfin notre gros voyage de 5 mois 

a travers l'Asie du Sud-Est, en commencant par Singapour.

Ma grosse valise va rester chez ma tante.

Je ne traine que mon gros backpack qui est pour l'instant presque vide.

Autre nouvelle:

des que je finis ce post, je vais chercher Julie a l'aeroport.

On va passer la journee ensemble.

Elle ira a Guangzhou ce soir avec son cousin, histoire de s'installer avant de commencer ses cours a l'universite.

J'essaie de ne pas penser a quand je vais revenir a Montreal. 

J'ai aucun plan pour l'instant a part etre pauvre et nostalgique.

Allez, j'y vais.

On se retrouve a SGP!!!

... just so we understand each other, 

my suitcase will be staying at my aunt's place for the NEXT 5 months. 

I only travel with backpacks.

In case of emergency, your backpack is better suited for running ...

Official return date?

06/26/2011

Hopefully, I'll have my life all figured out :)

Trying to make all my stuff fit in my single luggage

I haven't bought much in Hong Kong (and China and Korea) except a few purses and pairs of shoes... It took a lot of patience, 2 hours and a lot of tricks (such as rolling my pants and shorts in bundles) but I can officially say that my suitcase is zipped and ready to fly back to Canada (after a 5-month stay at my aunt's place) !!!

A man was selling his fruits and veggies in the street market right next to my place. 

A sign was saying 3 small boxes of blueberries for 20HK$.

He goes: "Hey missy! I make a special for you. 4 boxes for 27HK$."

I laughed because I thought it was a joke. He was dead serious.

What kind of deal is that? 

I pay MORE for the last box?!? and THAT is his special for ME?!?

Funny guy...

I'm currently reading Three Daughters of Madame Liang by Pearl S. Buck, a novel with a setting in Mao's China. Here are some excerpts from the book which I find enlightening. 

"Through our thousands of years our weakness has been in our pride. We believed and do still believe that we are the superior race, the best people. We grew accustomed through centuries, and with reason, to being the first nation in the world, our civilization above that of any other. We became the most ancient of days. While other people rose and died and nations flourished and passed away, our nation and our people continued upon the earth, the center of all. We knew this, and the knowing of it, the certainty of it, has been our undoing. We could not believe that the time has arrived for us to change, because a new power has come to mankind. It is the power of science, first manifested to us in new weapons. (...) This science was our undoing, and all the wisdom of Confucius could not save us." 

"Tell me, did you hear Americans say why they will not have us in their United Nations?"
(...) "M-ma, it was because they think we are an aggressor nation."
Madame Liang was shocked. "We? An aggressor nation? But we have fought no aggressive wars in two thousand years!"
"It was because of Korea, M-ma. We sent a volunteer army."
"But that was our duty! Korea is one of our tributary nations and has been for many centuries. It was our responsibility, always, to send a volunteer army if any of our tributary nations was attacked by a foreign power."
"M-ma, they don't know that."
"Do they not read our history?"
"No, M-ma. I don't think so."

... ehhh, we just bought a new toothpaste called Darlie. (tea mint flavor XD) 

Only when I was brushing my teeth did I notice "黑人牙膏"  written on the tube.  

I have enough knowledge to understand its meaning: "black people's toothpaste". 

I was shocked. 

Isn't that racist or simply a misconception that black people have whiter teeth because of their skin?

After a few moments on Wikipedia, I learnt that the brand used to be called "Darkie"

which is even worse...

Seriously, they should simply leave the English name and change the Chinese name.

Hop hop hop: here comes the bunny year

big parade

We couldn't go through the crowd so we went up a building.

next morning: to Lantau Island

to the temple

vegetarian meal

I'm definitely a carnivore.

Big Buddha

Is Buddha sending him a msg? Probably not.

"I'm so cute."

2 hours average waiting time for the Ngong Ping cable car

Half of the queue for the buses.

even more ppl attending the fireworks show in Victoria Harbour

bunny fireworks

There were also "I heart HK" fireworks...

Conclusion: massive amount of people everywhere for the celebrations!

You know we're back...

... when we have Sichuan diner with Cedric.

... and when we are at Senses 99.

Michele and Doug with Etienne jamming in the back

clueless about the accordeon

It doesn't matter; Math will still play it.
Others were trying to cover him up by playing louder...

We'll miss you bozo!

J'ai une nouvelle tâche...

... bâtir un portfolio a.k.a. curriculum vitae a.k.a. profile pour un de mes enfants. 

Son âge? 3 ans.

Sa mère n'est pas une folle. 

Simplement qu'ici, les enfants ainsi que leurs parents doivent passer des entrevues pour entrer dans la meilleure maternelle et/ou dans la meilleure école primaire.
  

Une chance que le petit a déjà expérimenté le piano, des cours d'anglais et de mandarin, des cours de patins, de musique et de natation, qu'il sait faire du tricycle et qu'il a déjà voyagé à Macau, en Chine et à Vancouver. 

Erick m'a envoyé un vidéo très intéressant.
La partie qui concerne ma situation commence à 10:10.

Juste pour ma chère Pascale

Je pensais vous épargner les photos de mes nombreux repas en Corée. 

Mais cette photo et le commentaire qui l'accompagne m'ont convaincue du contraire.  

Voici donc une orgie inédite de bouffe coréenne. 

We abused of good, fresh and authentic Korean food.
Au point que j'ai légèrement peur du kimchi maintenant...

Sogogi and Bibimbap
The most awesome thing is that you can order side dishes
over and over again, free of charge!

Brazilian and English guys,
very excited to taste chicken ginseng soup

chicken ginseng soup

bought at the DMZ
super disgusting

rice cakes and giant dumplings soup

This girl looks like she's 10 years old.

Not only did we sleep on the floor,
we also sat on the floor when we had our meals.

colorful (and expensive) treats

street food

omelette stuffed with rice with ketchup and mustard?!?
First and last time I'll ever going to taste that thing.

Korean sashimi night :)

Math enjoying his cheap meal:
instant noodle outside of a convenience store

ice cream waffle time!
strawberry, chocolate and vanilla
n'arrive pas à la cheville des gaufres belges...

You know it's Korean BBQ time
when you see big fans over the table.

cooking it

Even with the cushions on the floor, it's hard for the butt.

onion pancake?!?

grilled fish

Korean version of the fajita:
sesame-lettuce leaf / grilled pork or beef / rice / chili-sesame sauce

a special market where we bought barley bread

street food