SE Asia "Waves" Goodbye

The day has finally come--the last day of our trip. After an uneventful and relaxing few days in Phuket (Southern Thailand) sitting on the beach reading and relaxing, we had our scariest experience yet.

Two hours before our planned departure, a siren began to sound followed by a loud announcement of, "WARNING: THERE IS A TSUNAMI. PLEASE EVACUATE THE BEACH IMMEDIATELY AND HEAD TO HIGHER GROUND." As the sirens continued, we got the impression this was not a test. We started trotting to our room (Seth had a sound lead, Castanza-style) to grab our passports and camera. Our neighbors were sitting there watching us frantically scramble back to the hotel and began to laugh at us, informing us that it was, indeed, a test. Apparently we (and half of the pool crowd) missed the multiple public service announcements that had been made throughout the week.

A scary experience, but it definitely made us realize that it is time to go home. We fly to Bangkok today and back to Detroit first thing tomorrow. See you all soon!

Temple Time

Sorry about the multiple postings...we have been having some virus trouble with the camera and were waiting until we had the pictures to post updates. Also, Julie would like to apologize that she is wearing the same shirt in every picture--pickings are getting a little slim with the wardrobe.

We're now in Siem Reap, Cambodia touring the Angkor temples of Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider fame. They really are amazing--you can definitely see why they are considered a wonder of the world. There are enough temples here to keep you busy for a week. Being the huge history buffs we are though, we will only be here for three days and hitting the high points (and the hotel pool!)

Monday we head to our final destination--Phuket in Thailand, then onwards to home on August 22nd!

Karaoke and Kuala Lumpur

After Bali we came to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. The city is super clean and is a shopping mecca! Seth and I roamed the ENORMOUS
malls for hours and Seth now knows words like "Mikimoto" and "Hermes."

During our first morning here, we jumped into a cab and two minutes into the ride our driver pulled out his microphone and yanked down his sun visor to reveal a video screen...it was a karaoke cab! We ended up jamming out all the way to the Petronas Towers attempting to sing Chinese love ballads at 8 AM...only in Asia.

Off to Siem Reap in Cambodia next. We'll be checking out the wats (temples) in Angkor.

Proud to be an American$$!!

We've started to notice a pattern-

1. A person will look at us and ask us if we're American.

2. We acknowledge that, yes, we are American.

3. The said person will then smile, give two thumbs up and say, "Obama!"

4. The said person will then try to sell us something, take us somewhere to have their cousin sell us something, or try to blatantly overcharge us.

To streamline the process, Seth has been thinking about buying this shirt. I guess I can see why Canadians put those stupid Canadian flags on their backpacks.

We spent the last few days in Bali in a place called Ubud which was up in the mountains and surrounded by beautiful rice paddies. It was a little touristy and very busy, but it was a nice change of pace. Headed to Kuala Lumpur next...

A Vacation from Our Vacation

After a little mishap at the Kuala Lumpur airport (i.e. too busy scarfing Dunkin Donuts and not hearing our flight board OR our names being announced over the loud speaker) we arrived in Bali five days ago and all is well. Our luggage was lost in the process so we made due without it for a few days by relaxing at the pool in our brand new bathing suits from the gift shop. We've been referring to the incident as "Dumb and Dumber go to Dunkin Donuts"...makes us laugh every time.

Bali is beautiful. It's definitely been a vacation from our vacation. Lots of swimming, sun and reading. Perfect.

We are off to Northern Bali on Sunday and then fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Wednesday.

Sorry no photo this time, this computer is ancient and won't read our camera.

Deep in the Heart--of Saigon

While we were walking around Saigon, we got caught in a rainstorm and ran into a place called "Texas Beef and Steaks." We wound up staying there for a few hours and drinking beers with Wayne and Gil (the owner and his buddy), two Vietnam veterans who had moved back to after the war.

Wayne opened his restaurant because he decided he couldn't stand eating Vietnamese food for the rest of his life--we couldn't agree with him more! He made some excellent chili. Flying to Bali tomorrow...

Look Who Just Fell in Love...

...with fashion. Ahem. Yes, Seth has become fashion's newest fan. Despite the fact that I was really excited to come to Hoi An (a city known for custom made clothes) I only bought a few small items.

We had to buy a new suitcase to house Seth's new purchases, which include a suit, a TUXEDO, multiple pairs of pants and shirts too! He looks great in his new duds...Joel, you'd be proud.

I took a picture yesterday at Seth's second fitting. We have one more fitting tonight with his seamstress and "homegirl," Houng.

We're flying to Ho Chi Minh tomorrow.