Sunday, June 17, 2012

A picture says more...

... than a thousand words.

Two children - one lollipop.

Lotus season

A flower so delicate that once you've picked them the leaves will fall off almost immediately (often with a little help from children, peeling them off is fun) and a smell so volatile it is almost gone before you can feel it. But oh, just perfect. And driving through the fields down by the lake on an early summer morning just a privilege.

Harvesting.

Even the trash is beautiful. And smells good.

Loaded on a bicycle and ready for sale.

And in purple too


And those are pretty much the only colors she will wear. A very picky girl, trousers are out of the question. Kai on the other hand, doesn't seem to care at all. Any t-shirt and a pair of short pants and he's fine. Luckily.

Pretty in pink

The tooth

During our last weeks in Hanoi, many dramatic things happened. Like this one. Kai's first tooth fell out!

Deception was then huge as the tooth fairy forgot to appear on the first night... Luckily she sneaked in when we went out next day, leaving a bunch of both Philippine and Swedish coins in the cup. Certainly a well informed fairy.

Phở bò - beef noodle soup

Probably one of the things I will miss most. Vietnamese beef noodle soup - a classic and delicious breakfast dish. Luckily one of the best places in town is on our street (of course!) and the last couple of weeks in Hanoi the kids and I went regularly.

Yummy!

Ah, with chili, lime and iced tea.

The kitchen. Only one dish on the menu!

Why?

During spring I have definitely asked myself that question a couple of times. Why are we doing this? Why are we moving? Why don't we just stay in Hanoi? Especially on afternoons like this, hanging out with good friends...

Kai reading Bamse with good friends Nemo and Elisabeth, Hana hanging out with Leo and Rebecka. Mummy enjoying good company as well, with Sara, Mai and Mattias.

Late afternoon ice cream stop at a small cafe by Ho Tay, the West Lake.

And... the answer... probably a combination of the nomad blood running in our veins and the fact that we couldn't really find a good job in Hanoi...

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

See you again! ... and update coming ...

The last couple of weeks have been absolutely crazy. Fun but crazy. We've packed up and moved out of our house to spend the last week at Sedona, a serviced apartment complex, and have been busy day and night seeing our friends and enjoying the last days of Hanoi.

Tomorrow we are off to Manila! After three and a half years. We will miss this crazy place so much - and it is defintely not a good bye but a see you again - a "Hẹn gặp lại!"

And as soon as I have a moment (hopefully next week in Manila) I will update with a few last photos (and come up with a plan for a new blog - any suggestions?!?)!