Spring Break 2018 - Vietnam - Part II

Monday morning we woke up a bit late - sleeping in.  We went downstairs to the pool - only to find out that we were not allowed at the pool.  It turns out that the rental place forgot to tell us that we needed to pick up some tickets from them in order to use the pool. We got the tickets and went back down.  The kids swam and Yulia and I lounged in the shade and read our books.

A real vacation!

Our girls love swimming

And jumping into water

Lexa is a happy camper.

Lina is too.

After swimming, we came up and changed and then went looking for "street food."  We found a little place a few blocks from our hotel and sat down.  The prices were about half what we'd paid the night before, the food was yummy, and the portions were bigger.  We all had fruit smoothies along with our meals and really had a nice lunch.

Walking the streets of Nha Trang in search of food.  Plenty of scooters were also found.

Our best lunch of the trip.  Very yummy food at this hole in the wall place.

We came home and changed again and this time we all went to the beach and swam for a few hours in the ocean.  It was a great day worth of sun and swimming.  After we came home and showered and changed, we went looking for dinner.  We did a bit of walking and ended up on our block at a little restaurant.  Our experience there was a little interesting, but the food was quite good.

View of the skyline, beach, and bay from our balcony.

Walking the streets at night looking for food again.

Lina ate snails.  Lexa had a whole fish.  It was another adventurous food night.

The moment of snaily truth.  Lina shared with everyone but Mama who refused her generosity forcefully.

We stopped by the store on our way home to stock back up on breakfast foods for the next day and settled in for the night.  But not for long.  Lexa came running into our room crying that she had thrown up.  Sophie followed because she had rolled over into the throw up.  The next hour was spent cleaning up the sheets and bed and getting the kids re-situated.  Then Sophie threw up and we were back to the races.  The two of them spent the night being sick. [On a side note, I'd bought the girls blueberry Fanta that they drank before bed..... Green throw up was exciting for everyone!]

Tuesday we spent our time inside for the most part.  Nika and Lina went with Yulia to the pool in the morning, but then Nika's stomach felt upset.  Lina, Yulia, and I went to the grocery store and stopped by to pick up some food from the nearby KFC while the three girls took naps.  They pretty much slept all day.

Sick kiddo hanging out.

We had been scheduled to go on a snorkeling adventure on Tuesday, but we wrote and asked to reschedule, which they let us do - so we postponed snorkeling until Friday.

Yulia and I walking on the beach in the evening.

Night selfie!

Wednesday was another sun and fun day.  We slept in and had a late breakfast and then went to the beach and spent about two hours swimming.  The waves were very high, but the ocean was still warm and nice to be in.  There were fewer people than on previous days, but still plenty that braved the ocean. 

Swimming in the bay!

The waves were relentless.

The face of a satisfied vacationer.

Lina in the foreground - Nika, Sophie, and Papa in the background.

Proof that Yulia came with us! (The curse of being the person with the expensive camera and a desire to use it)

Builders

We came home and cleaned up and then at 4:00 went looking for dinner.  We found a seafood buffet where you cook your own food at your table.  The price was about $50 for all six of us and we really enjoyed it - it was an adventure.

Dinner at the barbecue buffet.

Squid and octopus!

At most of the places we ate, we found some pet or pets that would come and hang out at our table.  The first night in Nha Trang it was a dog and cat that fought.  The next day it was a dog at our lunch spot and birds and fish at the restaurant in the evening.  At the barbecue we had two skinny cats that came to hang out near us.  Our kids must be messy eaters and kind souls because these pets always find us.

Pets under our table fighting - from our first night in town.

Spring Break 2018 - Vietnam - Part I

Our annual spring break trip has become one of our favorite traditions in Kazakhstan.  After a long, cold winter it is always nice to get somewhere warm.  Last year we did a long driving tour of India.  It was educational and we are glad we went, but we missed the beach vacations of Thailand and Sri Lanka, so this year Yulia booked our vacation in Nha Trang, Vietnam.

Our flight left Astana at 9:00 a.m on Saturday March 17.  It was an Air Astana flight to Almaty with a connection from there directly to Ho Chi Minh City.  We decided that we would take the bus, so we woke up early and left for the bus stop at 6:15.  We can go through the school all heated and with no problem, so we all dressed quite light - sweaters and jackets for the girls, and a sweatshirt for me.  We waited at the front until our bus app on the phone told us that the bus was on its way.

It was cold outside.  Minus 21 degrees Celsius.  We figured we'd be okay because we'd only be outside for 2-3 minutes.  Wrong!  The busses showing on our app were traveling on the route - in fact the one we were waiting for buzzed right past us on its way to start the route from the airport. That meant that we had to spend about fifteen minutes waiting in the cold.  We had some complaints from the girls, but we told them that now they know how people who can't afford warm clothes feel when it's cold outside and that they should be grateful.

Waiting in the cold for our bus.

The bus came and it was plenty warm (one of the oddities of Kazakhstan is that the temperature inside busses in the winter is about 100 degrees Fahrenheit).  We arrived at the airport right at 7:00 a.m. We were able to check in and wait for our plane with no problem.  Our plane was a Boeing 757 that was equipped with entertainment devices, so the girls were very happy.

The flight to Almaty was fairly quick (when your shortest flight is normally 3.5 hours and typically 6.5 hours or more, 1.5 hour flights are easy!) and we were able to get through passport control and security and checked in for our flight without any problems.

Waiting in Astana for the day of travel to begin.

One of the most fun things is that we were on the same plane on the flight from Almaty to Vietnam as we were earlier - and sat in the exact same seats! The flight to Vietnam was about 6.5 hours long.  We had a good time.  The best part was that we had clear skies and were able to see the views as we flew over Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Thailand.  The Tien Shen mountains and their valleys were the most impressive sight of all.

We landed in Ho Chi Minh and didn't have much problem getting through passport control and contacting our hotel to come pick us up.  The pick up was quick - the hotel was literally right outside the airport - within walking distance.  Once we were checked in, we went down the street and found a little restaurant (a chain by its looks) that served traditional Vietnamese food.

Dinner in Ho Chi Minh (Saigan).

Sunday morning we woke up and packed and headed to the airport.  Once there we checked in.  We ate Pho at a little restaurant while we waited for our plane - and we fell in love with it.  Our flight to the Cam Ranh airport was quick - about 45 minutes.  Our ride was waiting for us and we enjoyed the views as we drove down the coast to Na Trang.

View from hotel in Ho Chi Minh.  Trees with Jack Fruit.

Pho in the airport in Ho Chi Minh

Once we were in our apartment, we all changed into swimming suits and walked across the street to the beach where the kids and I all swam for about an hour.  Once we had swum enough, we came home, showered, and went out to find dinner. We found a little place up the street where we ate.  The food was good, but more expensive than we expected and not as good as the price we paid for it.

The beach and view from our apartment.

Na Trang skyline.

Swimming in the ocean!

The whole crew having fun.

Nina is a happy camper.

Nika playing in the sand.

Locals coming to swim at around 5:00 p.m. each day.

Sophie ordered frog for dinner!

Lexa eating pasta with seafood.

Spring, dentists, basketball and what not.

Here is what March 15 looked like outside of our west window. It is exactly how it looked like every year in the 4 years that we've been here, and I have a feeling that it will continue to look like it for the next ... zillion years. And we even had the temperatures to match the looks: -19 C (-2 F). It is also the day when I feel absolutely justified in picking our Spring Break destination! This year we are going to Vietnam!

Here is our campus on March 15 - a beautiful Winter Wonderland!

This year is a very good year for our dentist here. We are bringing them a lot of business! Dentistry here is very advanced and it is much cheaper than in America, so we are taking advantage of it. I had some implants put in last month, and this month Nika is getting her braces, and Lina and Lexa are getting the plates to help them correct their bite.  

Here is Lina and Lexa walking on the cold morning of our favorite March 15 to the dentist clinic.

In front of the building where our clinic is. One thing that I love about Astana is that it is a city of sunshine!

Lexa getting ready for her mold

Last week we had a kind of unique opportunity to watch semi-professional teams play in the tournament right in our backyard - at the NU Sports Center. We just had to walk 100 yards from our apartment building and watch! And amazing thing happened that their games started a whole hour earlier than it was announced! Things never start on time here but I have never seen anything start early!

BC Astana vs. Barsy Atyrau

Watching the game! Some of the NU Basketball girls are behind us.

8 of March - International Women's Day

The girls' guitar teacher, Danira Amanbayevna, along with her husband who is also a guitar and a vocal teacher, organized another concert for the parents, this time for moms in  honor of International Women's Day that is widly celebrated here. Here are a few pictures from the concert: 

Lexa with her class of 1st year students. 

Our little lady!

Nika and Lina

Lexa, Sophie, and Dariya (who's also a guitar player like Lexa and she also has a twin sister who is sitting right behind her with a guitar).

On the morning of 8 of March we watched Utah Jazz win a game and then Spencer surprised us, the ladies of his household, with a beautiful bouquet of tulips, some candy and a cake, and also a delectable breakfast  of biscuits and eggs. Yumm! We love our man!

Spencer cooking breakfast

Yummy breakfast!

And then he really excited the kids (and mostly shocked me) with a classical video game system (the Super NES from Nintendo) that he found at our local bookstore a few months ago and had been eyeing it ever since.

The day couldn't have started any better!

Trying out the new video games.

Later in the afternoon we went to our favorite Uzbek restaurant (their dishes are very similar to the Kazakh ones) and then to the Opera and Ballet Theater to see the famous Swan Lake. Now the kids have seen all three ballets composed by Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake!
 

Enjoying the dinner

Our newly evolved teenager. She does look so grown up here.

Babushka is having fun

On our way to the Theater which is in the background.

Inside of the Astana Opera and Ballet Theater

We love to sit in these special balconies that usually have somewhere between 6 and 9 seats - perfect for our family!

Excited for the show? At least that is what I am telling myself.

It was a very memorable day brought to us by our true and only man in our family! We love you!