Happy new year! It's been a while, but this is my first post of 2013. I've been busy with work lately, but soon I'll have more time to blog. This post will be an update of the past year 2012...
January
We ended 2011 in an awesome way, at quite possibly the most beautiful building I have ever seen...the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. After seeing the Taj on the last day on Dec. 31, we attended a NYE party at our guesthouse, met some cool people, ate some delicious Indian food, and then headed back to HCMC.
The vacations didn't stop there... almost right after the Christmas holiday, we celebrated the lunar new year with a 2-week holiday in the Philippines. John, Alex, and I went to Boracay and Palawan, where I saw the most beautiful beaches and became brown. It was so nice to just relax after a crazy holiday in India.
February
Back to reality... aka work. I don't remember what we did in February besides work, but my photos tell me that we did have some fun at the "trick art" exhibit in HCMC.
March
Long weekend... time for a trip to Singapore! This was our second time visiting Singapore (and Universal Studios Singapore) but it was still a lot of fun. We also saw the play "Wicked" and enjoyed walking around the nice, clean Marina Bay area.
March also brought us another fun weekend getaway, to Dalat for our friend Brittany's birthday. We enjoyed some cooler temperatures, pine trees, winding roads, and abseiling down rock walls and waterfalls. Crazy, but some great memories!
April
We seem to have discovered the Saigon Heat (HCMC's semi-pro basketball team). Good times!
We also travelled to Chau Doc to attend our friends Andy and Julia's Vietnamese wedding. It was so nice to experience a cultural event like this with our good friends!
May
We were winding down the school year nicely with a 1-week trip to Thailand/Laos. We even spent a day in the "Golden Triangle" area and were allowed in to Burma for a day to hang out in a country that isn't common on most travellers' lists. In Laos, we did the "Gibbon Experience" for a second time... ziplining through a lush jungle to our treetop accommodations. Laos is pretty chill and I enjoyed visiting it again. We also had our biggest celebrity encounter to date when we saw "Charlie" from LOST at the airport in Laos. Weirdddd! A little bit nervous getting on that plane with him (LOST fans will understand).
June
The last month of school! I survived teaching grade 1 for a full year. This month was full of assemblies, field trips, report cards, and goodbyes, as we had to say farewell to some great people who were leaving our school. This was also the month where we said goodbye to Vietnam temporarily, and hello to our family and friends in CANADA! After a lonnnggg flight, it was great to be back home.
July
Summer vacation in Ontario... happy and relaxing! I was happy to see everyone after so long. We had a lot of fun hanging out at home, and going to Pelee Island for some biking and winery tours.
August
After a fun time in Niagara Falls (more biking and more wine), and lots of hangouts with family and friends, it was time to get back on that plane to HCMC to start a new school year. We also moved into our new place with new housemates - Greg and Tanya.
September
We barely started teaching, now another trip? Yes, we do have our vacation spread out pretty nicely at our school. We spent the September holiday weekend in Mui Ne, for the second year in a row. This place is just nice... beaches, sand dunes, cool landscape, no crazy traffic... I could get used to that!
October
The thing that stands out most in my mind from this month, is the amazing week we spent in Korea, visiting our old friends and favourite hangouts there. I felt very sad to leave, but I know that I'll visit again some day. We also had a random stopover in Shanghai for a day which was a fun place to explore.
November
We attended the International Terry Fox Run during this month. It's awesome to see so much support for this cause, even outside of Canada on the other side of the world.
December
School was busy with Christmas concert practices, assemblies, and holiday festivities. We celebrated another year end with a trip to Europe, kind of pricy but worth it. We visited Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, and stopped over in Dubai for a cool city stay on this trip. I ended up meeting my 30 countries before 30 goal on this trip, and John and I got engaged in Prague!!! It was a wonderful holiday! We ended 2012 in Vienna... where will next year bring us?
January
We ended 2011 in an awesome way, at quite possibly the most beautiful building I have ever seen...the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. After seeing the Taj on the last day on Dec. 31, we attended a NYE party at our guesthouse, met some cool people, ate some delicious Indian food, and then headed back to HCMC.
The vacations didn't stop there... almost right after the Christmas holiday, we celebrated the lunar new year with a 2-week holiday in the Philippines. John, Alex, and I went to Boracay and Palawan, where I saw the most beautiful beaches and became brown. It was so nice to just relax after a crazy holiday in India.
February
Back to reality... aka work. I don't remember what we did in February besides work, but my photos tell me that we did have some fun at the "trick art" exhibit in HCMC.
March
Long weekend... time for a trip to Singapore! This was our second time visiting Singapore (and Universal Studios Singapore) but it was still a lot of fun. We also saw the play "Wicked" and enjoyed walking around the nice, clean Marina Bay area.
March also brought us another fun weekend getaway, to Dalat for our friend Brittany's birthday. We enjoyed some cooler temperatures, pine trees, winding roads, and abseiling down rock walls and waterfalls. Crazy, but some great memories!
April
We seem to have discovered the Saigon Heat (HCMC's semi-pro basketball team). Good times!
We also travelled to Chau Doc to attend our friends Andy and Julia's Vietnamese wedding. It was so nice to experience a cultural event like this with our good friends!
May
We were winding down the school year nicely with a 1-week trip to Thailand/Laos. We even spent a day in the "Golden Triangle" area and were allowed in to Burma for a day to hang out in a country that isn't common on most travellers' lists. In Laos, we did the "Gibbon Experience" for a second time... ziplining through a lush jungle to our treetop accommodations. Laos is pretty chill and I enjoyed visiting it again. We also had our biggest celebrity encounter to date when we saw "Charlie" from LOST at the airport in Laos. Weirdddd! A little bit nervous getting on that plane with him (LOST fans will understand).
June
The last month of school! I survived teaching grade 1 for a full year. This month was full of assemblies, field trips, report cards, and goodbyes, as we had to say farewell to some great people who were leaving our school. This was also the month where we said goodbye to Vietnam temporarily, and hello to our family and friends in CANADA! After a lonnnggg flight, it was great to be back home.
July
Summer vacation in Ontario... happy and relaxing! I was happy to see everyone after so long. We had a lot of fun hanging out at home, and going to Pelee Island for some biking and winery tours.
August
After a fun time in Niagara Falls (more biking and more wine), and lots of hangouts with family and friends, it was time to get back on that plane to HCMC to start a new school year. We also moved into our new place with new housemates - Greg and Tanya.
September
We barely started teaching, now another trip? Yes, we do have our vacation spread out pretty nicely at our school. We spent the September holiday weekend in Mui Ne, for the second year in a row. This place is just nice... beaches, sand dunes, cool landscape, no crazy traffic... I could get used to that!
October
The thing that stands out most in my mind from this month, is the amazing week we spent in Korea, visiting our old friends and favourite hangouts there. I felt very sad to leave, but I know that I'll visit again some day. We also had a random stopover in Shanghai for a day which was a fun place to explore.
November
We attended the International Terry Fox Run during this month. It's awesome to see so much support for this cause, even outside of Canada on the other side of the world.
December
School was busy with Christmas concert practices, assemblies, and holiday festivities. We celebrated another year end with a trip to Europe, kind of pricy but worth it. We visited Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, and stopped over in Dubai for a cool city stay on this trip. I ended up meeting my 30 countries before 30 goal on this trip, and John and I got engaged in Prague!!! It was a wonderful holiday! We ended 2012 in Vienna... where will next year bring us?
Now THAT is what I call a blog!!! CONGRATULATIONS to you both!!! Hope that this new year will bring MORE fantastic adventures!!! WELCOME to the family, John! :))
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