I'm back and happy to be sharing our photos from Hoi An today. Hoi An is such a bright and beautiful place. It sometimes felt like we were walking around on a movie set because it was just so charming. We got shoes made (mixed results), went on a few boat rides, bought some art, ate the best pizza I've had seen moving to Asia, and drove a scooter to the beach. We also celebrated Christmas. Of course we missed our families, but we couldn't complain too much when we were busy exploring such a pretty town! :)

Next up: Beautiful Halong Bay!

Mike and I spent a day in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). I know that's not really long enough to get a feel for the city, but it's just what worked best for our trip. HCMC was a bustling place, and I honestly found it a bit overwhelming. Crossing the street as hundreds of motorcycles and scooters whipped past was no easy feat (Mike enjoyed the challenge immensely!).

We were happy to stumble upon two neat shops during our brief stay:
1. Artbook - a very cool bookstore with a nice selection of art as well. We picked up a photograph and a neat calendar there. 
2. L'usine - a hip little shop/restaurant. We had some lasagna there which was a nice break from typical Asian cuisine! :)

I really agonized about where go for the beach-y part of our trip. Miu Ne? Nha Trang? Koh Rong in Cambodia? We eventually settled on Phu Quoc, a Vietnamese Island that is located in the gulf of Thailand.

It turned out to be a terrific spot. Even though we were there right over Christmas, it wasn't very busy. A new airport  opened just before we flew in, so it apparently will get much busier in the next few years. But for now, we were able to get a little place, just a short walk away from a beautiful beach for a very decent price.

One day, I sat by the water and read a whole book. Another day, we rented a motorcycle and zipped around the island. The rest of the time, we napped, read, restaurant hopped, and swam in the warm water. The only blight on our time in Phu Quoc were nasty mosquitoes, but not much you can do about that.

I am happy to report that Mike is back from the hospital and in fine form. It turns out he had an intestinal infection, which manifested itself in multiple, nasty ways. I'm so thankful he's back home (after you get used to living with someone in a space, it's very lonely being by yourself!) and that it wasn't more serious.

Here is the first batch of photos from our trip down south. We were in Siem Reap, Cambodia for four days. While planning our trip, we discovered that Cambodia is a bit of a difficult country to travel around as they have no train system, night buses aren't recommended, and flights are very expensive. So we decided to only visit Siem Reap and spend the rest of our time in Vietnam, where it was easier to move around.

We stayed at Happy Guesthouse which was a fantastic experience. It was absolutely the best place we stayed our whole trip. The guesthouse set us up with a fantastic driver who took us to numerous temples and anywhere else we wanted to go. By the end of our stay, we were a bit templed-out and spent a lot of time by the pool down the street from our guesthouse. So what, we were on vacation! :)

We really loved our short time in Cambodia. The food was delicious, the people were so friendly and for the most part, most Khmer spoke excellent English (coming from Korea, this was a pleasant surprise!).

Next up: the dreamy island paradise of Phu Quoc...

If you have been following me on instagram, you'll know that Mike and I just finished up a two and a half week trip in Cambodia and Vietnam. It was a fantastic trip and we obviously have heaps and heaps of photos to share. We were excited to get settled back into life here in South Korea, but unfortunately Mike contracted some sort of abdominal infection while we were out there - at least that's what the doctors are thinking until his test results come back in.

So he's holed up in a South Korean hospital, donning on pink garb, while I try and throw together some semblance of a normal school day with my kids at school. It's a bit of a crazy time (and I'm sure you can imagine what our apartment looks like right now... still haven't unpacked properly!). But the important thing is that he's going to be okay and the doctors are very competent.

So the photos, my blogging friends, will have to wait. But here's one to start with. Looking forward to checking back in soon.

We had a legitimate Christmas turkey dinner this past weekend at a nearby pub. This was truly momentous since all of us live in tiny little apartments without ovens. After ecstatically stuffing ourselves with turkey and pumpkin pie, we had a very merry evening! Yours truly even won a game of darts.

We didn't know a single person before we came out here and we are just blown away by the fun-loving, friendly, kooky group that we now find ourselves a part of. I feel sad just thinking about our paths parting one day...

A bunch of us gals bought some ugly Christmas sweaters and cajoled Mike to take some photos of us (...actually he didn't need much coaxing. He's such a good sport!). Happy December everyone! :)