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Sunday, October 31, 2010

A long, overdue update!

Hello friends and family!

So much has happened in the past month in a half since we've written! Things are going very well, but our jobs are keeping us very busy. We've also begun making friends and it seems like time has just been flying by. In 7 weeks, we'll be back in the States for a visit! Woo hoo!!! This blog will be about our trips to Hong Kong and Bali, Indonesia. We feel very blessed to have had these amazing travel opportunities and we are thrilled to have many more ahead of us.

At the end of September, we traveled with other co-workers to Hong Kong for professional development. Hong Kong was an AMAZING city!! It was very clean, well organized and the people were lovely. We didn't have a whole lot of time to see the entire city because we were in trainings all day, but we still had a great time. We ate some amazing Chinese food and enjoyed a lot of shopping!!! Hong Kong is a shoppers paradise! Everywhere I turned there were shops and markets. We didn't have a chance to take many pictures, but we managed to take these:


This is the "Hong Kong" group. Bill, Aileen, Spencer, Niall, Brigitte and James


A view of Hong Kong Island


Hong Kong Island


Hong Kong Island




A view from our hotel room

Hong Kong was so beautiful. We were not expecting the mountains in the background. We were so excited to be there because they had an organized highway system. Vietnam's roads and highway systems are difficult to navigate and can be frustrating at times. We also road on Hong Kong's subway system and it was the easiest and CLEANEST subway I've ever been on. We had a blast there!

About 3 weeks after Hong Kong, our school had an October break. Bill and I got away to Bali, Indonesia! It was a FANTASTIC vacation!! We had a blast and took every opportunity to relax and enjoy ourselves. Most of you know that Bill and I had a very stressful year trying to square everything away for our move to Vietnam. We deserved this vacation and lived it up every moment! The resort we stayed at was called Nikko Bali Resort and Spa. We stayed in Nusa Dua, Bali. It was a very peaceful and quiet part of Bali. We were not too far away from some of the tourist hot spots. Instead of telling you about our trip in narrative form, I'm going to post pictures with captions. Enjoy!


Missy outside our resort.


Bill outside the resort.


A view from the 15th floor of the resort. Nikko Bali sat on top of a cliff so we got amazing views of the ocean.


Another view from up high.


A good view of the pools.


Another nice view


The gardens at the resort.


Our resort was sooooo beautiful. It was hard to leave!


Beautiful flowers I found in the garden.


Cheesy feet on beach photo...


Bill's turn...


A beach view (A know these may get boring but oh well, they are so pretty!)


A subtle but beautiful sunset over the Indian Ocean






Bill relaxing while watching the sunset.


"And I think to myself, what a wonderful world."


A wonderful place to be in love! :)


These were our camels for the camel ride! :)




Riding along the Indian Ocean! It was amazing.




Feeding the camels.




She looks like she's smiling!






Another pretty sunset





A cute baby in the middle of a market in Kuta, Bali. Let me tell you, the Balinese street vendors drive a hard bargain but we were always able to talk them down!


This is what made Bali paradise!


A view from our loungers on the beach.






On our balcony from our room.






The local Balinese people live in small villages of families. Each village has a kitchen, open bedroom, closed bedroom (for patriarch and matriarch), and a small temple. Several villages form a community. Each community has a meeting hall and a community temple. The following are from a visit to a family village.



Missy in front of an open bedroom.




The entrance to the temple.




The kitchen




The patriarch from the village. He was a bit of a ham. :)


A view from the restaurant.


Rice Paddy




This temple was built in 1625. We were only permitted to walk along the perimeter of the temple.








A gigantic spider we saw at the temple. Andre- make sure you show Jude!!


Thanh Lot is a beautiful temple built into the cliff.













We really enjoyed our trip to Bali but were happy to be back in good ol' Vietnam. Our next trip will be to Dalat, Vietnam for a bike ride. The temperature is cooler in Dalat which we are excited about. Although, the weather is Saigon has been really nice. Today is Halloween and we had a great lunch with our friend Shannon. This evening we were excited to pass out candy to the trick or treaters!! The weather is so lovely that we've been able to open the windows and turn the A/C off! It feels like fall in Vietnam!!! :)

Like I mentioned before, we only have 7 weeks until we'll be back for a visit. We miss everyone terribly. We send our love! Have a wonderful and safe Halloween!

Love,
Missy and Bill

1 comment:

  1. Gorgeous places you are gettin to experience & Desi is counting down on her calendar to see you & Bill!!! She said she needs him to help her upload more music (I just think she wants to spend time w him & that's her excuse lol). The stl girls miss you guys & Lilli will be doing cartwheels I'm thinking by the time you return home! Congrats on all the recent safe travels. Xoxo's

    Dawne Desi Lilli n Andrew

    ReplyDelete