My favorite beach in all of Vietnam! This one is behind my grandpa’s house in Thuan An. Hai Tien Beach. The water is so clear, refreshing, salty and warm at times. I prefer it to be a tad cooler cause it’s sweltering hot when we went. The sand is nice and soft. I have to warned you though, there is a bit (more than a bit :)) of trash littered in the surrounding sand area. The locals, government hasn’t really figured out the trash collection pickup situation yet, because the residents still burn some of their trash! That’s probably what I missed most of my trip to Vietnam…daily swim in the ocean, steps from where we reside. 🙂

Those are my extended family from Chicago!

Japanese Garden of Hanoi. Peaceful oasis right in the middle of the busy city!

Highlight of my trip is definitely going to Ha Long Bay! This place has been on my bucket list for some time and it does not disappoint. There was a major setback in the beginning, when the NIGHT before, the cruise emailed me telling me that our original cruise boat is being repaired and they have to change the arrival port to Cat Bay, instead of Ha Long Bay! Grrrr…we were in Hanoi already, so we had to go with the change regardless, but that was soo frustrating!!!!! Typical Vietnamese! I know I’m hating on my peeps now…but it seems that’s how they do it over there. What probably happened is that they overbooked! I booked through Agoda, instead of buying directly from Pelican Cruise, to save a few bucks so learning lesson for me.

All in all, we had an amazing one night stay through Azalea Cruise! I would definitely recommend going on a cruise to see Ha Long Bay. A one night stay per person is only ~$125-150 depending where you book. But it includes meals and activities, like kayaking, cave exploring, swimming, squid fishing, tai chi, etc.

View from our balcony! You just can’t beat the swaying of the water as you sleep and seeing this view as you drink your morning coffee/tea! If I had one more day to take it all in…but we all wish for that don’t we?! Soo much to seeeeee and to doooooo.

This is actually in Korea, on our one night layover! The Palace of Prospering Virtue, Changdeokgung Palace. This couple rented those traditional Korean outfits and was kind enough to take pictures with us! They are actually from Los Angeles!

Yes, something exciting happened on this trip!!! My little brother is engaged!!! This is actually his third proposal picture. LOL…the first and real one happened in Cat Bay Island when we were leaving the cave. I recorded a video. His answer was soo funny and hilarious…he thought it was a joke. The second proposal shot was right before the one below, different doorway…but due to bad lighting, I retook the picture from this angle/doorway. Awwww…this makes me sooo happy! Kasey, his fiance, the one proposing, actually told me months ago that he was going to propose in Vietnam….I/him just didn’t know when so it was a surprise to me as well. :))))))))

Dried seafood market.