The Weekender: Let's Get Physical

Hey guys! 

So not much to report from the weekend - our biggest event was purchasing bikes! Road bikes to be exact. (Which I learned the hard way, is not the same and much more difficult to ride than a 'normal' bike)

A recap of our weekend... 

Friday night started off with dinner at our favorite Dim Sum (dumplings) place: Din Tai Fung. Michael was running late from work so it was an awkward dinner date for 1 for awhile there...

During my Saturday jog I stopped to check out the Extreme Sailing event set-up. Here are a bunch of little kids taking part in a little 'sailing' class which was actually more like bumper boats complete with a bunch of screaming and laughing. It didn't look overly safe, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.  To note, surprisingly it gets aggressively windy in the marina.

p.s. the dark, green-ish building in the middle is where Michael works!  

Here are some of the competitors in the event. We talked about checking it out, but we didn't end up having time and it was pretty steamy outside so we lost our motivation to go. Maybe next year. 

Now on to the highlight of the weekend - bikes. We are bike owners now, normal. We were laughing that we were a salesperson's dream. We walk into the store knowing next to nothing and are like - we want bikes! and need every single accessory to go with it! Stat! We have never picked up a hobby so fast...  

Here she is, what a beauty...

After a shaky start - (we rode our bikes home from the store on Saturday, probably a bad idea), Sunday we found a proper bike path and started to get the hang of things.  

Love this view of Singapore. 

Hi, Michael! 

OH and we did a juice cleanse, which was pretty much the worst thing in the history of man. And before you ask, yes we cheated and had lunch on day 2 of 3 (salads!) As Michael put it, it's just so unnatural to not eat! Day 1 was the worst day of our lives, day 2 was better (maybe cuz we cheated?) and day 3 is yet to be seen, but appears much better because we are at work. Doubt we do it again, but anyone else considering it, I would suggest doing it during the week not weekend. 

Okay, so all this does not go in vain, we are triathlon training(!) 

I know, that's insane right? We are doing it for a few reasons. 1. The crew in Michael's office is doing it 2. We have a 50m pool in our apartment and 365 days of training weather 3. Hello wedding diet! and 4. Well we kind of feel like we are reaching the point in our lives with work and everything else going on we need to sign up for an organized event, download a training program and do it. Sadly, 20min on a elliptical machine while reading US Weekly does not keep this bod in check like it used it. Well actually it probably never did, looking back I had some seriously puffy years in college.

ANYWAY, the event is the Bintan Triathlon. Bintan is a small resort island in Indonesia but is only a short ferry from Singapore. So although it is in a different country, it's not a big deal to get there.     

Photo source

Michael is doing the full tri and I am doing the sprint distance. Here's how it goes:

Sprint Distance:

750m Swim, 20km Bike, 5km Run

Olympic Distance: 

1.5km Swim, 40km Bike, 10km Run

Also, don't think for a second we have gone too hard core on you guys. Obviously we are making a full weekend out of it to lay on the beach and sip some well earned cocktails afterwards... 

The resort
Photo source: Angsana Hotels & Resorts 

Luckily my sister is an old pro and is helping us through it, as we are totally clueless. Niki, can you please check if swimming in shark cages is allowed? ;-) 

Cheers to buying biking shorts and eating solid foods again!

Love,

C

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The Weekender: Happy Valentine's Day

Happy belated Valentine's Day All! 

Michael and I had a nice little weekend - just the right amount of eventfulness (is that a real word?)

Some pics and a recap of events.

I was asked this question a few times this week - do they celebrate Valentines Day in Singapore/Asia? Answer - Yes. For whatever reason Valentines Day was technically on Thursday Feb. 13 here, but it seemed like everyone I saw protested that and celebrated on the 14th (maybe cuz it was Friday?) 

I absolutely loved how all the Valentine's flowers in Singapore come as proper bouquets. They are all tightly bound and arranged - as compared to the U.S. they don't come as loose or long stems or in a nice glass vase, they are a legit bouquet, exactly like one would hold at a wedding :-)  

Thank you Michael, Xoxo

We went out to dinner at this amazing steak frites place L'Entrecôte. It is modeled after one of our favorite and most amazing restaurants, Cafe de Paris, in Geneva - if you ever have the chance to go, it will change your life. The restaurant was in the cutest neighborhood called Duxton Hill. We will definitely be back to the area for more eats and drinks. 

We had no plans to get each other gifts (in fact we have been crazy busy and both failed to even get each other a card), but Michael wanted me to have something to open at dinner - 

awwww...   

...too sweet. 

Fun fact: this was our 5th Valentine's Day together :-)

Saturday Michael played in his usual flag football game and I had my first bridal dress fitting(!) If you recall, I got my dress in NYC, but had it shipped here to get it altered. 

(p.s. dress shopping seems like 2 lifetimes ago!)

I found the cutest little bridal boutique in the Duxton Hill area. I am really excited about it and can't wait to see how it turns out. 4 more months! 

Looking through lace samples. 

Saturday night we had plans to watch the USA - Russia Hockey game with Michael's boss (who is Russian). Well technically from Azerbaijan, but grew up in Russia. I mean he owns a Sochi t-shirt...

We watched the game live at 8:30PM on Saturday night. As I was getting ready I was joking - what does one wear to a USA - Russia hockey event, at an Australian bar, in Asia? Only in Singapore. 

It was a GREAT game and win or loose a great time was had by all. 

We are lost. 

Sunday we had plans to get up bright and early and go to the Airshow.  In true Singapore fashion, you had to buy tickets like a month in advance and you absolutely could not ('CANNOT' - a word you get a lot living here) get them at the gate. We should have known better. After some talking it over with our taxi driver, we decided on plan B and watch it from the beach. It turned out to be great! There were plenty of people watching from the park, it was a perfect view and totally was free! Take that ('CAN!')

Best part of the show! Valentines heart <3

After the show was over we decided to try out Singapore's famous East Coast seafood since we were in the area. If Singapore had a signature local or best dish, most likely everyone would say it is the chili or pepper crab. Up until now we have not tried it 1. because we don't get over to the east coast very often 2. we were kind of saving it for when we had people in town visiting and 3. well we really don't know how to eat it. 

  

We tried Long Beach (the inventor and home of the famous pepper crab). It was great! Not something you would crave everyday, but it was something fun and different and we could check if off our Singapore to-do list.  

Beach selfies! 

A short walk along the water to work off our lunch and take in the scenery. 

Is this embarrassing Michael? 

The rest of the day we napped, swam (where Michael spent 45min teaching me how to do a flip turn - I think I used to know how to do it?), made dinner and alternated between Downton and House of Cards. 

Now back to the weekly grind...

Miss you guys!

Xo,

C

Oh! Gosh, how could I forget - we got tickets to see the Rolling Stones in Singapore March 15. Michael is absolutely beside himself with joy. Tickets sold out in 10min. It should be pretty cool - they are playing at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel (the famous, huge, boat looking hotel) and the ballroom only holds about 10,000 people so it should be a really neat experience. Please ask Michael about it every chance you get... 

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The Weekender

Happy Monday. 

It was killing me to be working while everyone else was relaxing with some bubbly and melted cheese watching the Oscars. I was going to tape it, but I knew I wouldn't be able to keep myself from looking at the dresses and winners online before I got home tonight so I decided not to.   

My best dressed picks at first glance: Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Hudson (along with the rest of America I am sure) + Kevin Spacey looking dapper in blue! 

Anyway...back to reality...a few pics from the weekend. 

When we lived in NYC one of our most favorite traditions was to meet up at the Yale Club on Friday's after work. It was the exact half way point between our offices, it was the perfect place to decompress, the cocktails were always extra strong and they had this amazing little snack dispenser of cheese-its, peanuts and wasabi peas. It was the perfect way to unwind and catch up with each other. We had some of our most serious and meaningful life conversations on those Friday nights. If those walls could talk. Many a problems of the world have been solved within the walls of that lounge. (the whole senerio sounds a little stuffy, but clearly we are not that classy seeing as how we have a nice little collection of stolen drink stirrers.) 

Oh, I had a point. Friday we felt like recreating this vibe. So what if there was no one else in the room, we were sitting on our Pottery Barn L-couch, not leather winged-back chairs and we were surrounded by photo prints and artwork from Ponak's, not presidential portraits,  it still felt a little bit the same and it still felt good. Oh to be young again... ;-)   

After cocktail hour we had a sad attempt at making homemade White Castle sliders. Micheal has been begging me to make these ever since he saw a couple of our friends make them via that one time he got onto instragram - (thanks a lot Katie and Lauren!)  

Hmmm the recipe says the meat and buns are the shining star. Well let's see, I have no clue the % leanness of the meat, much less where it comes from or if it's organic. Potato roll buns? Ha! Charight. American cheese? Strike 3. The outcome was pretty decent all things considered: mystery meat, English muffins, generic 'sandwich cheese' and a celsius labeled oven.  

Saturday I ventured out for a solo bike ride. Michael had his last football game of the season and his team won the championship! (I asked to come with, but not sure why I didn't get the invite to watch ;-))

A panoramic view from the Green Roof at the Marina Barrage. 

After a long morning of triathlon training (we both had 2-a-days!) naturally we headed to the bar to reward  ourselves for our hard work (can't teach an old dog new tricks). We both brought some work with us and had a nice little productive afternoon.  

Saturday night ended with dinner at our favorite Korean BBQ joint and 'Rolling Stones class.' Stones class is what we call Michael playing every single Rolling Stones song/ concert/ documentary he can get his hands on to prep for the concert in a few weeks. Michael takes Rolling Stones class very seriously.  

True life I live in Asia: I eat dragon fruit next to my bamboo plant

Sunday was a lazy day with nothing too exciting to report. It was too hot to do anything special. 

Okay, have a great week everyone! 

Xo,

C

P.S. my bridesmaids dresses are starting to arrive to their respective recipients - exciting! 

(pictured below: not actual bridesmaid)

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Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Greetings friends and family! 

I am finally up and running with our Vietnam recap. I was a little overwhelmed with where to start so I thought it might be best to structure the recap in FAQ format. Hope you enjoy!

FAQs:

Q: Do they call it Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon?

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC for short) was formerly named Saigon when it was the capital of anti-communist South Vietnam. As you know the story goes, Saigon and the South eventually fell to the North in 1975 ending the Vietnam War, and the city was later renamed Ho Chi Minh City after the leader of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). In terms of the people living and traveling there, we felt as if many people there still refer to the city as Saigon. We observed that any of the hotels, restaurants, businesses, etc. included the name Saigon as opposed to HCMC. Many people in Singapore that we spoke to about our trip often referred to it as Saigon as well. But either way works!  

Q: Why did you go there?

Great question! A couple of reasons. Well the main reason was we had 2 full days off of work for Chinese New Year so we were going to travel somewhere for sure. The next reason was, well, frankly it's close and most all of our neighboring countries are on our 'to-do' list. The flight from Singapore was only about 1 hour 45 min. Lastly, in terms of travel, there are basically 3 types of vacations one can choose from: beach, culture and adventure. Since our last trip was a beach trip (I may even file our Christmas trip under adventure ;)), we decided we wanted to travel to a 'culture' destination. Also, it doesn't hurt that Vietnam is very inexpensive to travel to and within. Add all those factors together and we decided on HCMC! 

Q: Was it strange being an American in Vietnam? 

Yes and no. Yes, really only when we were touring the War Remnants Museum and the Cu Chi Tunnels, for obvious reasons. However, you do have to remember that Saigon was the capital of the South, which fought alongside the Americans during the War. But the so-called 'strange feeling' for us, was more a personal feeling of astoundment and respect. There is SO much history there, you can only take a step back and try and take it all in. 

Walking down the street, eating, shopping, and everything else we never felt a sense of hostility or resentment toward us for being American, not in the slightest. In fact the people were very, very friendly - happy to be sharing their culture with us (and happy for us to spend our money on them). Today there are many American tourists who travel to Vietnam every year. Michael and I, a handful of times, would seriously stop in our tracks and think aloud how crazy it was that today 2 young Americans can safely walk down the streets of Vietnam chatting, taking pictures, like its nothing. 

Through the horrific war images in the museum, to seeing the guerrilla warfare tactics firsthand, it was an internal struggle of basic human emotions, our life-long American pride and our ongoing experience within the city. It was a strange mix of emotions, but at the end of the day, I personally left feeling very thankful that 1) Michael and I were born in a time and place where we have not had to experience that type of war-time horror and 2) the American government and the people of Vietnam have allowed us to have this amazing experience and allowed us to peacefully walk down the streets. 

The Vietnam War was not that long ago and the fact that we were able to travel there and have the experience we did is mind-blowing. This is not an exact comparison, but friends my age, can you imagine your children taking a weekend holiday to Iran or Iraq? It's a great testament to a lot of great people. I am sure there are people out there who have a different opinion or might have a totally different experience, but I had a feeling of thankfulness that we are people and two countries that can now have peaceful and prosperous relations with one another even after such a horrific history. I kept being reminded of this quote:  

An Eye for an Eye Will Make the Whole World Blind 
- Gandhi

Q: Was it easy to get around?

  

Yes and no. Yes because almost everyone speaks English (or at least everyone we interacted with) and we had working phones and google maps. Also, taxis were easy to come by. I read a lot about getting ripped off by taxi drivers, but from what I heard and experienced even if you do get 'ripped off' it's paying $3.50 for a $2.00 15min ride - fine, I can take that. It was not easy because the city is literally a real-life game of frogger. Saigon is well documented for its out of control motor bike traffic and it certainly lived up to its reputation. You seriously wouldn't believe how many BABIES and small children ride on these things smashed between their parents or in balancing jerry-rigged highchairs at the front of the bike. It's not every day you see like a 3mo old baby with no helmet drinking a bottle zipping past you on a motor bike. Like, what!? Also, we learned quickly that the cross walk signs (when there are ones) go directly from green to red in a blink. What, no yellow or blinking man or nice little countdown? Yup, got it.  

Q: How was the food and drink?

Awesome! In case you didn't know (and I didn't until very recently) Vietnam was a French colony (honestly I can't keep up with who was a colony of who around these parts). The French influence can still be seen (and tasted) around Vietnam. On our first day we had seriously the most amazing lunch at this French restaurant near our hotel. We also had 2 amazing Vietnamese dinners - one very authentic, one more modern. Our impression was it is very similar to Thai food, but with less curries, fresher ingredients, and more herbs (mints and basils). Also, as with many other Asian nations, heavy on the seafood. Drink = Saigon Beer. Very good (and crazy cheap).

The Refinery - restaurant in an old Opium Manufacturer  

 Side note: I am pretty positive I got food poisoning from our last night (not pictured below), but Michael said it was from one too many Saigon's. I swear it was the food! ;) but I won't hold that against them - the food was great. 

Dinner at Cuc Gach Quan

Q: Where did you stay? 

We stayed at the Park Hyatt Saigon. Highly recommend it. Perfect location and a stunning hotel with excellent service. Also a gorgeous pool (and super fun bar!)  The Park Hyatt is rated the #1 hotel in the entire city and let's just say it cost about the same amount as my wedding block hotel in Omaha, NE. 

2 Lam Son Bar

Q: What would you suggest to anyone planning to go there?

1. Get a visa before you go. You can get them upon arrival but it is much easier to have one before you arrive. 

2. Take a tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels. You can get there either via bus or boat. We highly recommend the boat. It was really neat to get out on the Saigon River and see parts of the city that you normally would not really want to, or have the opportunity to explore on your own otherwise. We saw traditional fisherman, motorbike ferries and all kinds of homes from decrepit house boats to some really large and intricate colonial mansions along the waters edge. 

Early morning on the Saigon River

We did our tour via the Saigon River Express. Our guide was so friendly and knowledgeable and our boat was pretty nice. Our guide hosted us (and about 10 others - 2 other Americans who lived in Beijing, some young Aussies and an Aussie family who lived in Hanoi) and led our tour from pick up at our hotel to the boat all the way through the tunnels and back. The tour also included a simple breakfast on the way there, lunch on the river after the tour and fruit and snacks on the way back. The ride was about 1.5 hours each way, but it was really fun and there was plenty to look at along the way. I was convinced there were massive man-eating crocs in the river, but I didn't spot any (or at least any I could show Michael in time to be validated). The full adventure was the highlight of our trip. 

The stick in the leaf - the marker Viet Cong would use to warn other V.C. of hidden traps.

We learned this type of trap was used  more to scare the enemy than to kill - thus slowing down their movement. 

Fact: this tunnel was made 50% larger for tourists. Few, if any, modern-day Vietnamese can fit into the original tunnels.

Everyone gets a try.

Except Michael ;)

AK47

M60 - via a U.S. military vehicle.  

Rice paper making.

3. Download a currency converter app. It drove me crazy the conversion was not mental math friendly.  1 Vietnamese Dong = 0.000047 USD. It was funny our total for lunch would be something like 1.2 million dollars :) It was hard to keep up when you are in a taxi or bargaining buying something off the street. 

We got a Go Pro for Christmas! 

Traditional lunch on the river. Actually they said it was 'normal' food for us ;)

The water hyacinth was out of control - but pretty to look at. We probably had to stop our boat 3 or 4 times to get it out of the motor. It was scary thick in some parts.  

My favorite pic from the entire trip <3.

More mystery fruit to add to our repertoire. 

4. Map out your dinners and bars beforehand. Saigon is not like Paris or some romantic European city where you can whimsically twirl around the city drinking wine out of the bottle waiting to be swept off your feet by some guy on a horse out of a fairly tale. You should probably know where you are going and how you are going to get there. Motorbike gangs stalking you and stealing your bag or valuables as you stand on the street corner - and they zip past you - is no joke. Besides my dashing and strong 6'3 fiance/body guard, I made a point to go hands free for most of the trip and not bring any kind of bag. Ladies: contrary to popular belief, I have heard from more than one person that when travelling a cross-body bag is actually more of a red flag invite for someone to target you and steal your bag than anything else. You are better off carrying a small under the arm bag or better, nothing at all.

   

5. Dress for heat. Why is everything in SE Asia so bloody hot! We need to venture farther north for our next trip. You guys at home are probably silently cursing me for complaining about the heat. Sorry ;)  

Downtown Saigon

6. Note on traveling during Chinese New Year. In Vietnam the Lunar New Year is referred to as Tết. (Remember leaning about The Tet Offensive in school?) While there is definitely a very festive atmosphere around the city, you can expect a lot of things to be closed. We missed out on a few 'street eat' locations we had planned on trying.

A major highlight for us was seeing the annual Nguyen Hue Flower Street display. It felt like the equivalent of everyone flocking to the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree with their kids and family in the days and weeks leading up to Christmas. The street was packed with people and they were blasting holiday music on repeat.  

Year of the horse! 

Overall, it was a fantastic and very memorable trip. I even got a lucky horse balloon to round out the weekend.  

Peace, peace. 

 - Cassidy 

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