Days 119-121 Tuesday-Thursday March 9-11 Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

The flight from Sandakan to Kota Kinabalu was easy, but as always with Air Asia, the walk from the plane to the terminal was abnormally long because, well, this isn't really a commercial airport.  Imagine Southwest Airlines only flying out of the most remote terminals and/or airports.  Makes one wonder whether the discounted airfare is actually worth it.

Enough of that.  Back to the trip.

When we got into KK, we grabbed a taxi and took the short ride to our hotel, the Hotel Eden54, which we obviously picked because of Lauren and Matthew's daughter Eden who was born the same day as my nephew Ian.  KK isn't the biggest town in the world, but it was definitely bigger than Sandakan, and had much more of a vibrant day and night life, which we were excited about after 4 days of quiet time on the waterfront.

We had several great meals while in KK, but that didn't start during our first night, which was spent at an Italian restaurant which was highly recommended in our books, and had a 50% off deal.  Well, there's a reason they offered such a discount because they didn't offer such great food or drink.  Tania's pina colada was not really a pina colada (that's what she gets for ordering a pina colada in Malaysia).  The wine was garbage.  And the food was not even close to the standard set by Anna Marie's famous Italian.  Luckily, though, we kept exploring KK eateries and found an incredible sushi joint that we visited several times, and some other decent restaurants that revamped our impression of food in KK.

Our first day we grabbed a speed boat out to two of the several islands just off the coast of KK for some R&R time on the beach.  It was a nice day of grabbing some sun, only interrupted by a swarm of Japanese tourists snapping pictures of girls in bikinis, and a hellish wind storm that forced us to the other side of one of the islands where the wind was being blocked.  We got in some good snorkeling in that quiet area, and I even braved the windy side of the island where the waves were 3 foot choppy, but paid off with incredible views under the water.  Gorgeous fish and choral of all shapes and colors.

 Where did these tourists come from, and where are their bathing suits?

 Shallow water snorkeling on one of the islands off of KK.

Our other big activity in KK was a bus tour up to Mount Kinabalu.  We were grouped with a fun set of people from all over the world, and got to take in the breathtaking views of the country's tallest mountain.  Snow capped the peaks and clouds skirted the edges, so we snapped some beautiful pics of the views.  We also got to enjoy a nice lunch, walk through a tree-top canopy park, and soak up the natural hot spring water before jumping back on the bus to return to KK.

Mount Kinabalu

KK seems to be where Malaysia as a whole is going in the future.  Catering to tourists, they're building a ton of malls (because it's so incredibly hot most of the year), opening nice restaurants, and expanding the city limits to allow for new developments perfect for prospecting home buyers.  Let's hope they grow gradually so that the worst scene we saw (more garbage floating in the water at the docks) doesn't start showing up over more parts of the city.

 Think twice about buying that case of water bottles next time you're at Costco.

We were delayed at the airport, so I walked around and snapped the below picture of a group of Muslim women dressed in a wide array of beautifully colored burkas.  They humored me and allowed me to take their picture as long as I sent them the picture to their email addresses.

 Women in beautiful burkas at the KK airport.

This Muslim country has its supreme differences from the US, but many similarities, which we hope bodes well for the middle east and west one day learning to live harmoniously together.

Days 110-111 Sunday-Monday February 28-March 1 Saigon, Vietnam

Knowing that they had to be up at 3am to make an early flight, Tony and Anna Marie crashed early at the Park Hyatt once we got into Saigon.  And since Tania and I decided to move our flight from Saigon to Kuala Lumpur to Tuesday so that we could enjoy one last day at the hotel, and to hang out with Steve, Lisa, and Luke a little more before we left.

Sunday night, Steve and Lisa's crew met at the 2 Lam Son bar down on the lobby level of the hotel which gave us the chance to say goodbye to all of these people who welcomed us so kindly into their scene over the last few weeks.  It also gave us the chance to spend as much time as possible with Steve and Lisa, who we were really going to miss when we left.  That's why after relaxing around the hotel and downtown area on Monday, we met them for a sushi dinner on Monday night to bid farewell to our time in Vietnam.  This being Steve and Lisa, though, we of course had to head back to their house and have a few more drinks before calling it a night.

 Steve and Lisa's crew growling at 2 Lam Son

And just like that, we were gone.  On the flight to Kuala Lumpur, we realized how long we had been in Vietnam, and how much we had done during our time there.  6 weeks passed in the blink of an eye, which was surreal because Vietnam was the reason we looked at SE Asia as a honeymoon destination in the first place.  It is where our great friends Dave, Steve, and Brian were from, which built our intrigue in the country over the last few years because of the traditions and food we were exposed to by them.  Vietnam was the heart of our trip, and it was over now, which could be a sad thought, but wasn't because we did more than we ever expected during our time here.  It was an incredible 6 weeks that we'll never, ever forget. 

Post sushi euphoria

Cảm ơn bạn Vietnam!

Days 89-95 Saturday-Friday February 6-12 Saigon, Vietnam

We (thankfully) took our last overnight train of our trip from Danang (Hoi An) to Saigon. Even though taking these overnight trains in China and Vietnam saved us a ton of time and weren’t too terrible, we swore to never take another one again in our lives. Hopefully we will be able to afford flights when the time comes so we can keep to this promise. The overnight trains are not life threatening or anything, but we’ve come to realize on this trip that our tastes have become refined enough to travel with certain conveniences and luxuries from now on.

And speaking of conveniences, when we got to Saigon at 4:30am, we grabbed a taxi to Steve, Lisa, and Luke’s house and were greeted at the gate by their maid. Yes, their maid. She cleans. She runs to get Vietnamese coffees or food when requested. She does laundry. She does it all, and we got awfully spoiled by her while we stayed with our friends. If only hired help was so cheap in the US.

Tania making the most of having a couch for a few days.

Having been on the road for so long, we loved back being in a home environment with a kitchen, couches, proper bedrooms, and just that homey feeling that hotels can’t provide.

Of course on our first night in Saigon, we did as the Saigonians do and went out big with Steve, Lisa, Luke, and their friends, dancing to the techno beats that are the heartbeat of the city. It was a great time, and thank God we had that homey environment so we could recover the next afternoon on their trusty couches. We also needed to rest up because we had to be at Phatty’s, the local sports bar, at 6:30am the next morning to watch the Saints and Colts play in the Super Bowl.

We were sorely mistaken in thinking that we would have prime seats before the crowd arrived just because we got to the bar before the sun rose, because when we got to Phatty’s, the place was jam packed and we were delegated to the back corner watching the game on a marginally big screen off in the distance through several support pillars. It didn’t matter, though, because we had a access to delicious bloody marys and a good enough view to see Drew Breese and the Saints pull of the big upset over the Colts. So cool for the city of New Orleans after all they’ve been through this decade.

We even sat next to several of Steve’s friends who were from New Orleans, meaning the victory tasted that much sweeter when their friend bought drinks for the group after the game. We guess football fans are football fans (the real football, American, not that crap they call football here and everywhere else in the world), whether you’re in America or an expat overseas.

After the game we walked around town, past all of the Tet decorations that were furiously being installed along the city’s largest avenues. Once past the backpacker’s district, we stopped off at Lisa’s recommended spa called Lady Saigon. And boy are we glad we did. The massages were incredible, and the environment was much more luxurious than the cheap price tag implies. Let’s just say we just happened to return to the spa two days later.

 

Scooter madness in Cholon, Saigon's Chinatown.

Thursday night was my 32nd birthday, so Tania and Lisa organized an incredible sushi dinner with 14 of their local friends. Lisa wasted no time in resuming her tradition of “shots bitches” from our LA Korean BBQ days, and we were all on our jolly way to a fun evening and worthy celebration around Saigon.

 The ladies represented at Craig's birthday sushi party.

Craig and Luke taking a breather from the birthday madness.

Other than a few other delicious dinners and a boys/girls night, we did a whole lot of hanging around the house with Toby and Guiness (Lisa’s dogs) and simply walking around town. We didn’t want to do too much site seeing since my parents were coming in a few days, and we wanted to hit all of the major sites for the first time with them.

Lisa and Steve's dogs, Toby and Guiness.  We want to clone them when we get home.

On a side note…

On this trip, Tania and I have come to the realization that we are old, really old, because our ideal night now is to have a great dinner with lively plans for afterwards, but once dessert is done and the bill is paid, we are dragging ourselves back to the house so we can crash before 10. It was a tough pill to swallow for Steve and the crew who had grand aspirations of showing us a good time of all-nighters in Saigon, but we are comfortable with the fact, after such a long and draining tour through Asia, that it’s who we are now. Maybe it’s good we’re not going back to LA and instead onto a city where we won’t know anyone. I know our livers and bank accounts will appreciate it.

Some Valentine's Day Thoughts

Since this is our first Valentine's Day as a married couple, I wanted to take this chance to brag about all of the things I've learned about my wife on this trip.

1. She's strong. The way she's lugged so much gear across the hectic Asian landscape. How she's handled many tough situations with people that don't speak her language. To being able to sleep on any less-than-ideal overnight train/ferry/bus. To keeping me in check ever step of the way. There's a ton of strength in that diminutive frame of hers.

2. She's adventurous. Before the trip, the most extreme physical activity she enjoyed was a tough yoga class or a strenuous hike. Now she has kayaking, snorkeling, motorbiking, Great Wall climbing, and bare back elephant riding to her credit. Who knew?

3. She's passionate. I've always known this, but it's come to a whole new level on the trip by the way she has planned so many details of the trip, engulfed herself into information about all of our destinations, and simply by the way that she utilizes all possible free time to the fullest, whether its regarding the trip or our future endeavors.

4. She's a teeny bopper at heart. I just need three words to describe this one: Twilight, Edward, Collins. 'Nuff said.

5. The girl likes massages. Yes, of course we all like massages, but she's made sure that there hasn't been a $7 oil massage that past her way without putting it to good use.

6. She really likes me. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the easiest person to deal with, especially when it's just you and me in a strange land for 4 months straight. But the way she's handled my temperament, she deserves a medal for that. And the fact that she's handles me so well, I have to believe that means that she really does like me. Whew.

7. She can stretch a small bag of clothes into a wardrobe that never gets old. I literally wear the same thing every day, and it shows. But she has just as many clothes, and is able to look fresh and beautiful every day.

8. She's my wife. This seems obvious, but as those of you who are married will know, it's a strange thing to get accustomed to. Whether it's getting used to saying the word "wife" to feeling the ring on my left hand, it's still something that surprises me every day, and puts a smile on my face every time I get surprised. I'm a lucky man.

Tania has always amazed and surprised me in new and bigger ways, but after spending so much time with her completely out of our element, she's finding newer and smaller ways to surprise me. I didn't think I could love or respect her more than I did at our wedding, but I do every single day, and I'm sure that will continue to happen until we're old and grey.

Happy Valentine's Day kitty!