bike ride to DiHua street

On the Friday before Chinese New Year, Gareth, Vivian & Fiona hopped into the saddle and took a bike ride to the famous DiHua street, which is the place to to to get all your holiday snacks and supplies.

Fiona rides in style, in a trailer pulled by Gareth's bikeStopping at the riverside park for a rest and a little run around

I like playing in the grass!

Here we are at last. Brace for the crowds...

Vivian pushes through the throngs of shoppers

All kinds of different snacks and edibles on display. Huge bags of pistachio nuts here

A mountain of dried squid, in assorted flavors

Want to try some dry mango? Most of the shopkeepers encourage people to taste before buying. One could enjoy a meal's worth of food at DiHua street by sampling everything on offer

Cured meats and other innards... I'll take a pass on the sample thanks

Huge bags of 'shrooms

Peering up above the crowds and chaos, we catch a glimpse of Taipei's past: ancient brick façades overlook the street. This area is one of the oldest in the city

Shopkeepers usually hire college students to hawk the goods on offer. This one has climbed a stepladder in the middle of the road and is delivering his pitch via a blasting megaphone

OK, enough of these crowds already! "People mountain people sea" as we say in Mandarin. Time to get back to our bikes and ride home

借來的溜滑梯

學校同事晏豪和育如真好！把他們暫時不用的溜滑梯特地搬來借給孟田玩。孟田剛開始只上去了一、兩次，似乎沒有多大的興趣。但到了第二週，她已經會用各種姿勢滑下來，坐著、躺著、甚至趴著用頭先下，一天要玩個至少五十趟。可把我和孟楷累死，有時還被嚇出一身冷汗。因為一個不注意，就發現孟田高高的站在溜滑梯的頂端上跳舞，雙手還高舉在頭上揮呀揮，很得意的樣子。這時，爸爸或媽媽就得拋下手中的一切，健步趕去保護她！

今天晚上實在太累了，只好把溜滑梯暫時收在陽台，休兵。

WeiWei and Sunshine are on winter break暐暐、想想放寒假

終於等到暐暐、想想沒有冬令營，沒有任何課要上。把她們接來，住了兩個晚上。孟田整天姐姐、姐姐的叫個不停，愛死他們兩個了。



去ACC美僑俱樂部玩，有兩個姐姐陪，孟田玩瘋了

帶三個小女生去爬山







吃撐在士林夜市

希望她們不要這麼忙就好了，可以常常來玩。童年可是一眨眼就過了呢！

Vietnam Trip, Part 3: Hoi An and area

After departing HCMC we flew north to Danang, in the middle of Vietnam. Our hotel was on China Beach, a popular rest spot for American soldiers during the war. Now there are quite a few fancy resorts in this area Vivian and Fiona take a pretend ride in a traditional Vietnamese fishing boat Here we are in Hoi An town. Hoi An used to be a thriving trade center a couple of hundred years ago. The Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and Europeans all came through here doing business. Today you can still find many old houses and relics from that time. A little further down the road from here was the Tan Ky house, built over 300 years agoA famous landmark in Hoi An: The Japanese Covered Bridge. You can see a 360° image of the bridge by clicking here
Vivian and Fiona relax at one of the many streetside cafes. There's lots to do in Hoi An: Shopping, eating, sightseeing, getting clothes made at any of several dozen tailors in the area, cooking classes, boat rides, bike rides, the list goes on and on
Exploring one of the Chinese Assembly Halls. Chinese from Hainan, Guangzhou, Chaozhou and Fujian all came down to Hoi An to do business back in the day. Here's a 360° image of the inside of the Fujian Assembly Hall
Visiting an art gallery. We bought a few simple pictures for souvenirs. The most money we spent was on clothes. Both of us had pants and shorts made from existing items, but made to measure. Even after the labor it was cheaper than buying new clothes back home
Buying some silk lamps from a local artisan. Silk is still a big export item here, and the locals make lamps, clothes, paintings and more out of it
Stopping for a drink at a French villa. This colonial-era house belonged to one of the French leaders in the areaBack in Danang, visiting the Museum of Cham Culture. The Cham people lived in Vietnam around a thousand years ago. Their culture borrowed a lot from Indian motifs, which is where this elephant comes from. The museum visit was a prelude to our My Son expedition. Not far from Hoi An is My Son, the former religious capital of the entire Cham empire. There are still dozens of ancient edifices like these standing today. Click here for a panorama view of the My Son site
Back in Hoi An, enjoying the reflection of shopfronts on the river. With our shopping and exploring at an end, it was time to pack up and return to Taipei

Vietnam Trip, Part 2: The Food越南行，美食

Vivian was especially interested to Vietnam on account of the nice food they have there. We often go out in Taipei for Vietnamese food, but on ourtrip we had several chances to try the real deal
去越南的另一個理由是我和Gareth都很喜歡越南菜，想到可以天天吃到生牛河、蔗蝦、生春捲，怎能不心動呢！

Outside the front door of Quan An Ngon, one of HCMC's best original Vietnamese restaurants
這家餐廳超讚，11點開門，11點20分就客滿了。
毎道菜上來我們都滿意的不得了，但一轉頭看到別人桌上更誘人的菜色，真希望自己有十個胃
最後一天臨上飛機前又再去了一次。真恨不得能把菜單全部吃一遍



The classic iced coffee, plus some roast pork
越式冰咖啡，炭烤豬肉



Most Vietnamese dishes come with a handful of fresh herbs and leaves to add to the flavor
毎道菜都配上大量新鮮的香料



Pham An Ngon is an old French villa, with a courtyard surrounding the main building. At the periphery of the courtyard are all the cooking stations: numerous little kitchens where dishes from all over Vietnam are quickly prepared




The ladies working at the spring roll station




Vivian samples the beef noodle, or Pho
我的最愛，生牛河(孟田在旁邊享受用吸管喝水)

BBQ beef with toasted French baguette
這道烤牛肉配上烤法國麵包就是從別人桌上看到的


Spring rolls from the ladies




BBQ squid with fresh vegetables and rice

And this amazing desert drink. Still not exactly sure what was in this thing, besides coconut, but it was delicious
這杯甜點也是從別人桌上看到的，找來服務生，不會說英語也沒關係，只要用手指比一比，一清二楚
看起來不起眼，卻好吃到讓我又外帶了一杯！

Vietnam Trip, Part 1: Ho Chi Minh City越南行，第一站：西貢(胡志明市)

January was vacation time for us, and this time we decided to take a side trip to Vietnam, only 3 hours away from Taipei.
很久沒出國玩了(去加拿大除外)，決定趁著春節漲價前，去越南看看


Downtown Ho Chi Minh City (i.e. Saigon), Vietnam. The former Hotel de Ville is in the background. Looks a bit like Europe, eh?
因為曾是法國殖民地，胡志明市有許多法式建築，這個角度很像在歐洲吧！？


Vivian stops to by some fruit from a street vendor. These peddlers were everywhere, hawking all kinds of different foods, snacks and souvenirs
這兒還有許多挑著擔子賣東西的小販，我一直覺得Gareth(或西方人)喜歡來越南的原因是，坐飛機到越南，就好像是搭乘時光機，一口氣把他們帶回到20或30年前的光景。



Fiona came along for the trip too!
孟田當然也一起來了。考慮了很久，實在捨不得把她丟給婆婆阿姨們，雖然知道他們一定會把她照顧的很好，還是捨不得。她是個天生的旅行者，一路上跟著我們東跑西走，十分合作，該吃就吃，該睡就睡。在飛機上也很安份。



In front of HCMC's Notre Dame Cathedral, the largest and oldest church in the country. This church was built over 120 years ago by the French




Another grand building: The central post office, also built by the French




A legendary Saigon landmark: The Hotel Continental, favored meeting place for journalists in the French colony days. Author Graham Greene spent much time here soaking up material for his seminal book The Quiet American



Across the street from the Hotel Continental: The Municipal Theater




Vivian and Fiona relax in the pool at the Saigon Club
會去越南的一個主要原因是因為Gareth的爸爸有一個好朋友Alan現在定居在越南，有個三層樓的大房子，兩個佣人，兩個司機。有了他的幫忙，在胡志明市玩的安心多了。而且還有司機接接送送，俱樂部讓我們游泳休息，舒服極了




Playing with Jenna and Jack, the children of our hosts...
這是他的兩個孩子Jenna和Jack，孟田很喜歡跟姐姐玩，姐姐也很喜歡孟田



...Alan and Anh Slater were very nice to put us up while in HCMC. We were even able to use their driver to take us round to the main attractions. Thanks Alan and Anh!
我們在他們家住了四個晚上，這就是Alan和他的越南太太Anh。看到滿桌的菜了嗎？



The Hotel de Ville by night -- taken from the patio on the roof of the Rex Hotel