Oodles and boodles of cuteness

Back in December, I wrote about our newest addition to my mom's side of the family, our second cousin: KimMai and we finally got to meet her, play with her and definitely pinch those irresistible cheeks!

Meet KimMai, pure adorableness!

Cucumbers? Really?!

Haircuts and I do not get along...to me, it is the equivalent of people hating the dentist. I used to have a stylist that I loved in L.A. but since moving up north, I have only had my hair cut twice and I hated the results. Since I have yet to find someone, I figured I might as well get my hair cut in Vietnam especially since the cost would be cheaper. I found a Paul Mitchell boutique in Saigon and for a shampoo and haircut/style, their set price was $25 and for that low price, the stylist surprisingly listened to what I wanted: 5 inches off plus subtle layers. Now for the craziest/best part of this experience was the shampoo. Oddly, they do the shampoo after the haircut and the shampoo isn't a standard shampoo...it included a full head massage, a partial facial, fresh slices of cold cucumber on your face after the facial and a neck/shoulder massage! This part of the haircut experience was pure awesomeness since the haircut portion took about 15 minutes and the shampoo experience was 45 minutes! I was pretty impressed with the final result and the whole experience considering that I was in Vietnam!

The only negative part of this experience was the cucumber because I learned that I am allergic to them! After the shampoo/facial/massage extravaganza, my whole face and eyes were red and swollen. I even tested the allergy this weekend eating some cucumber and my mouth did the tingle. As I get older, my allergies have started to change and at least now I know that I am allergic to cucumbers but with summer here, it makes me a little sad since I love cucumbers. D'uh....

• the unruly, too long hair that was normally kept up in a bun •

• i might have to travel to vietnam next year to cut my hair sans cucumber •

Best part of traveling...

...is returning home.

We're in Saigon with our bags packed and ready to go home. The past three weeks have been incredible but busy and quite tiring...not once did we sleep in or have a real relaxing day...instead, we were always awake by 7am and home by 10pm. Since Nha Trang, we've been to Dalat and Saigon and I just haven't had any time to sit down and write which just means that all the post-blogging will be happening once we've returned to the comfort of our home.

Looking forward to returning to our domestic lives but not looking forward to going through the 5000+ RAW images that I shot during this trip...don't worry, I won't be posting them all on here, probably just the highlights :)

Nha Trang Scuba Diving

We spent about two days in Nha Trang and that was almost one day too much. If you love the relaxing, coastal, all-inclusive kind of resorts, than Nha Trang is definitely the spot but for the more adventurous types, there wasn't too much to do. Most of the town was "asleep" during the day and the night life seemed to be more popular which just isn't our kind of place. However the scuba diving in Nha Trang was ahhh-mazing! The water was clear with incredible sealife and coral and even large boulders that you can swim through along with schools of fish...if only the diving in Nha Trang was located in the city of Hoi An, than Hoi An would be the perfect place! :)

We did a two dive boat trip on Rainbow Divers again and I attempted to take all the pictures on the first dive. As much as I love taking pictures on solid land, it's so different underwater. I still feel like an underwater tourist and I think that it will be about another twenty or so dives until I really want to start taking pictures underwater since I just really enjoy watching the view rather than fixating on getting the shots. So until I get that comfortable, I'll probably just continue to find different silly underwater poses for my dad to take of me instead :-)

• i'm superdiver! •

• underwater yoga •

• oh no, i ripped the benjamin! •

• playing with feeder fish •

• tangled up •

• moorish idol's are stunning •

• can you spot the spotted eel? •

• coral and nemo's siblings •

Scuba Diving in Hoi An

My first scuba dive experience was in '07 in Hoi An, Vietnam with Rainbow Divers and I fell in love with diving...three years later, I got to go back to where it all started, this time as a certified diver rather than a newbie. Clear and warm waters, a spontaneous wreck dive, an island lunch time adventure and even a sliced up finger from coral (I need to bring my gloves with me when diving!) makes this dive a favorite of mine! Most of these photos below were taken by my father however for our dive in Nha Trang, I will need to take more photos so I can practice photographing underwater which isn't as easy as it looks...

• heading off to sea •

• our first dive site •

• oh crap, look at the size of that thing! •

• holding a pooping sea cucumber! •

• coral for scale •

• dad checking out the urchin •

• shipwreck from 2009 typhoon •

• note: do not slice fingers on rusty boat •

• lunch and boat ride to cham island was included •

• after our two dives, relaxing on the beach •

• father and daughter scuba dive bonding •

• scuba dive vietnam! •

Ancient City of Hoi An

The an ancient city of Hoi An that is fully walkable, is close proximity to the beach, is always properly lit with beautiful lanterns and it includes a pretty sweet bonus: custom made clothing for a ridiculously cheap price! Where else can one go and buy a custom made jacket for $60?! I think that for the next trip, I need to spend about five days in Hoi An and have a full new wardrobe made :-) Some photo highlights of one of my favorite cities in Vietnam, can you see why I love Hoi An?!

• beer me please •

• would you believe that this is vietnam?! •

• the husband had this jacket custom made for $55 •

• standard entryway to someone's house in hoi an •

• just another street decorated with lanterns •

• decorated bridge •

• the river at night •

• second night and the river was so calm, it made a perfect reflection! •

Hue Festival Highlights

We've spent the past five days in my mother's hometown, Hue enjoying time with my family, celebrating my cousin's wedding and mainly, soaking in the Hue Festival which happens every two years. The city really does know how to create a magical place for a festival.

*on a side note: there is nothing more frustrating then having my wide angle lens go kaput on me while traveling! At least I have two other lenses (50mm and 70-300mm) but nothing that goes wider and that will drive me crazy for the next two weeks...at least the 50mm is fast and has allowed me to take these photos without boosting up the ISO too high. I've tried attempting to use the point and shoot for any wide photos but that camera also drives me crazy now since I have such limited control.

Next stop is Hoi An to enjoy "the city of Lanterns" and to do some scuba diving, whoohoo!

The "Amazing" Cave photos

Sung Sot, also known as the Amazing Cave or Surprising Grotto, is located on Bo Hon island in Halong Bay and was a surprise highlight of our cruise. With two chambers that have thousands of stalactites that form into numerous shapes, the wonder of the cave is overwhelming. Once again, these photos do not do justice to the actual location and even at my widest angle lens, those photos do not encompass the immense beauty of the caves.

• boating over to the cave entrance •

• welcome to the amazing caves •

• chamber one •

• chamber two •

• the details and people at the bottom for scale •

• pure awesomeness •

• looking into the light •

• what does that look like?! •

• tiny people, large cave •

• incredible •

• the view from the cave's exit •