Spring is here - and grannies on their way!

The sun is shining and Kai and I are haning out at home - he's pretending he's sick, but mainly wanted to stay at home to watch Star Wars. The nice weather made us forget about that and instead we had snack in the garden and talked about how the lovely smelling flowers on the grape fruit trees in the garden actually turn into fruits. A little too complicated to explain even for mummy, especially as the kids have also been watching Bee Movie lately...

Snack time.

Lovely lovely citrus flowers, all over the garden.

Mummy the farmer. By Hana.

And now we are off to pick her up and then out to the airport to pick "mormor and morfar", that is grandma and grandpa, arrving from Sweden in just a couple of hours!

Window shopping

We have been in Hanoi for almost two and a half years now and although this strange place will never really be "home" - we have sort of known from start that about three years or so will be enough - it does start to feel rather familiar, the things around you normal and just part of every day life. You stop seeing them. But really, the things they sell. Makes window shopping a true pleasure.

I dont even have to enter the shops. The mere thought of Keisuke and me dressing up for next party is sort of enough to make my day.

Hana the photographer

Lately my camera is full of Hana's pictures. Kai was just the same and it sure gives you some interesting reflections on the perspective of little kids. A lot of interesting photo angels at least. And quite a lot of doll pictures, too.

Mummy by Hana.

Hana by mummy. Sleeping beauty and always next to Mr. Rabbit, here temporarily borrowing her princess crown while taking her almost daily afternoon nap on the sofa.

This weekend...

... we didnt do a lot. Kai and Keisuke of course went to play Saturday Soccer and on Sunday I took the kids down to Sedona for Karate. Other than that, we just stayed at home, on Sunday we even had some sun! And then Hana's friend Lena came over with her parents and had lunch. A lovely afternoon it was.

Sunday Karate Club - lunch at the Sofitel

Last weekend the kids in Kai's Japanese Karate Club took their parents for lunch at the Sofitel Plaza. Or if it was the other way around. Although, I think they enjoyed the playroom more than the overwhelming lunch buffet.

In the corner, the core gang - Kai, Moe, Honomi and Yuuki - who are also in the same class in school.

Every Day Is A Good Day

At least that's what Keisuke says the Japanese wall hanging in our living room says.

The grey and damp days are driving me - and everyone esle as well it seems - crazy and I cant wait for the sun to come back. Meanwhile I guess I just have to go out there and make the day good - as every day is a good day...

The three musketeers

Hosea, Kai and Yuuki. They play several afternoons a week and on Friday all came home with Kai after school.

Hosea is practically a Kung Fu master and Kai and Yuuki do Karate every Sunday, so a lot of the activities are sort of centered around those themes. But oh, how great it is when kids grow and it actually becomes easier to have friends over - they just entertain themselves - than not!

Art for All

Some nice graffiti up a partly abandonded apartment building on the street around the corner.

And some on our back yard wall.

Think we need even more graffiti for the people!

Perhentians - what we did

As little as possible.

As little as possible, definitely...

Perhentians - how to get there

And this is probably why it is still paradise... For us, it went something like this:
1) We flew down to Kuala Lumpur, had time for some Malaysian fast food lunch at the low cost terminal, before it was time for a short domestic flight up to Kota Bharu in north eastern peninsular Malaysia. There we learned that sometimes check-in closes thirty minutes before departure, not opens ... but managed to get through, arguing it was just very very little past thirty minutes.
2) Overnight in KB, including a visit to the muslim night market. No major incidents.
3) Next morning we woke up half an hour after the prearranged taxi, that was supposed to take us to the morning ferry, had arrived (of course no-one called us) and learned (remembered) there is an hour time difference between Vietnam and Malaysia. No time for breakfast - just threw in all stuff in the trunk and the kids in the back and off we went.
4) Hana's favourite rabbit got left behind in the lobby.
5) The drive to the ferry terminal took one hour and we just missed the morning boat, had to sit and wait for the next at the resort's office. Kai threw up on the floor, Hana peepeedd on the floor.
6) As it was still low season, they explained they were not yet using the regular speed boat, but would take us in a slightly smaller motor boat. No worries, just wear life jackets and sit at the back, next to the captain, the sea is a little rough today... A little rough? The swells were meter high, the only good thing there was absolutely no time to get seasick, busy as I was holding on to whatever and my kids.
- Roller coaster, screamed the cool teenage captain.
- Slower, screamed the terrified mother of two (me).
Back and forth.

7) Finally, we made it, and as good as immediately realized it was worth all the efforts! Considering the long car ride and roller coaster like boat trip, we even concluded it was good we overslept and missed breakfast. And seriously, I really dont think there was an earlier boat.

Hana's rabbit then travelled by itself and arrived/was delivered already next day. Going back was a piece of cake. Big boat, no waves.

Back from Paradise

A week doing nothing on a small, tropical island was exactly what the Taketanis needed after a too long and grey Hanoian winter. Think we all would have loved to stay another week - but it is nice to be back home again as well. Hm...