Back to Scotland

Well, the time is almost upon us that we'll be heading back to Scotland. Only just over two weeks to go...

Here's Catriona with her jacket for Scotland! I bought it for her when trekking in the Himalayan foothills in Myanmar, so should be up to the job of keeping her warm enough!

The Boathouse

We took a trip out to the Boathouse at the weekend with Catriona. It ended up we spent almost six hours there with a few friends. I've uploaded some photos here.

August Update

Just a short update this time, nothing major to report. I've uploaded some photos and video (one and two) from the last month. There's some from CC's trip down to her hometown with her brothers and sisters. And a photo of the black eye Catriona gave me when she head-butted me! Definitely has some Scottish in her!!

Until next time...

I'm Hungry!

That's a big sandwich!!

I've uploaded some photos from our 10yr anniversary party at the Drunken Duck here.

Anniversary in Con Dao

At first glance, Con Dao Island might seem an odd choice for a getaway weekend to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Can Dao was used as a penal colony by the French and others for over 100 years - think Paul Newman and Dustin Hoffman in "Papillon"...

Still, Con Dao is also a National Park, has been given protected status and Vietnam are working with the WWF to protect endangered species such as sea turtles and dugong as well as the coral reefs. And it has some really cool beaches, crystal clear waters and is pretty much unknown on the tourist circuit (so far).

Not such an odd choice after all. A true getting-away-from-it-all, romantic break for the two of us. Well, that was the theory... We turned up at the airport only to find David Appleton on the same flight, my long-time friend and CC's boss!

It's a 45 minute flight to Con Dao and we arrived on time to a fantastic island setting - the runway starts at a beach on one side of the island and ends on a beach at the other side. The resort we stayed at was right on the beach and had a nice pool. We decided to have a relaxing day, have some seafood, go for a swim and read our books.

The following day we caught up with David and his friends, Brian and Hoan, to take a boat trip out to Bay Canh island. We were able to do some swimming, see the coral reef through the clear waters and also see the turtle sanctuary. We had lunch and then waded through the mangroves to pick up our boat on the other side of the island, getting there on a small coracle.

On Sunday, we hired a motorbike and did a tour of the island, driving round Shark Cape to Ben Dam Port and also doing a tour of the old French & American prison buildings which have been converted into museums and tourist attractions.

On Monday it was time to go home. We'd had a great time and a very relaxing break, but we were looking forward to seeing Catriona, who'd been missing us a lot - she was very happy to see us!

Catriona and I sat down to a dinner of a large New York Deli pizza - she has taken a liking to pizza & lasagne, much to the consternation of CC who is trying to feed her baby food! We're going to try her with mince & tatties next, I'm sure she's going to love it!

Here's some photos of our trip to Con Dao.

Happy Birthday, Catriona!

It's one year already, Catriona's birthday was yesterday! Can't believe how time has flown...

We were in Mui Ne for a few days. It was a big gathering of CC's family - as well as all the local family there was Diem from Hong Kong with her twins, Ethan & Erin; and Duyen from Sydney with her new baby Sarina. We hired a private bus and drove up to Mui Ne, bit of an epic journey with 9 kids on board! We were renting a villa overlooking the sea in Mui Ne Domaine villa complex. As luck would have it, CC's half-sister, Ha, owns a villa in the same complex and we were able to split the group to give everyone more room. Richard & Ha's villa was very nice, with a large garden and private pool.

The next day, we stayed around the villa, making full use of the pool. Catriona was badly bitten by mosquitoes during the night - she takes that from me unfortunately, CC hardly ever gets bitten. We armed ourselves with the mozzie-killing electric tennis rackets for the following evening.

It was our 10 year anniversary that day, so we had a big BBQ dinner at the villa. We were early to bed though; Catriona didn't sleep well the previous night.

The next day we hit the beach. Catriona loved getting her feet wet and having the waves crash into her legs; no fear!

On her birthday, we were travelling back to HCM so we were all pretty tired when we got back. CC's older sister, Tam, had been at the apartment and had prepared a small birthday party for Cat. Uncle Tom's present was a hammer-and-nails toy set. This ensured the party was noisy!

I experienced a new (to me) Vietnamese tradition. A tray was placed in front of Catriona with scissors, a banknote, a pen, a book, a ball of sticky rice and a comb. Apparently, whatever Catriona picked up first indicates what she'll be when she grows up! Scissors mean a tailor/seamstress, a banknote means a banker or accountant, a pen means a businesswoman, a book means a scholar or writer, the rice means a farmer and the comb means a barber/hairdresser.

Well, cat picked up the scissors first, but settled on the pen. At least it wasn't the ball of rice!

Here's some photos from our trip.

Until next time...

Catriona Walking

Catriona's getting more confident now and is walking unassisted. I've put some video up here.

The rainy season still hasn't started, so we're still suffering the incredible heat. We'll all be heading to Mui Ne beach on the 17th June for a couple of days. It'll still be hot but not so unbearable when you're in the pool!

The following week, CC & I have a couple of days to ourselves on Con Dao Island. It's an unspoiled area of Vietnam and as yet has little tourism. That is set to change over the next few years, with top end resorts opening up, but we want to see it before all that happens!

The World Cup is almost upon us, so that'll be a busy time for the bar. A lot of the games start at 1:30am VN time, so we'll have a few late nights ahead of us...

On a separate note, can't believe what was happening in Bangkok last week. Terrible. CC's sisters are due to go to Phuket soon and were originally planning a stop in Bangkok for shopping. Even though they've declared its over, I reckon better to be safe and avoid Bangkok. Phuket should be fine though, its far removed from the troubles of Bangkok.

Last week I introduced the Glendronach 12Yr Single Malt to the Saigon Single Malt Society. It wasn't the night's favourite but was well received. The Glendronach Distillery is in Forgue, near Huntly, where a lot of my mum's ancestors were born including my great grandfather.

Phuc's Wedding

At this time of year, Ho Chi Minh City is unsufferably hot. It's the lead-up to the wet season and temperatures are reaching over 40°C.

So it was a welcome relief to go to Dalat for the weekend and escape the sweltering heat in HCMC.

We were going to Dalat for Phuc and Vy's wedding. We drove up 8 hours along with CC's family - her dad, brother, sisters and nieces.

CC, Cat and I had a great weekend away, although 8 hours in a minibus with Catriona proved to be quite trying! We don't relish the first time we fly back to the UK with Catriona...

There are some photos from our Dalat trip here.

Catriona's On Her Feet

Catriona's on her feet! Over the last week, Cat has been up and on her feet, walking (with a little help) around the apartment. She seems to have completely bypassed the crawling stage.

I've uploaded a few new photos from her trip to the swimming pool last weekend and her standing on her own two feet here. And there's some video here and here.

Off to the pool again tomorrow...

Back from Myanmar

It's been almost two months since our last post. I've been away for three weeks of that, trekking in Myanmar (Burma). It was a fantastic trip but it was also great to get back to CC & Catriona.

It's amazing how big a change I noticed in Catriona in the three weeks I was away. She's very vocal now!

She's now got her first tooth, which is quite late at 9 months.

We're taking her to the pool this weekend for a swim, so hope to get some more pics to upload.

I've uploaded some pics here from earlier this month and also there's some photos here from our Myanmar trekking trip. Hope you enjoy.

January Photos

Forgot to add a link to our latest photos (click here).

Happy New Year (Solar and Lunar)!

A belated Happy New Year to everyone! It's been a month since our last post and its passed quickly.

We were all in HCM for Hogmanay - we started off in the newly-opened Hard Rock Cafe for a late lunch and followed up with a bit of a pub crawl round the bars in District 1, finishing up in The Drunken Duck. We had a great crowd in there and we saw in the bells. By 2:30am, CC & I were ready for our beds!

My New Year's Resolution had to be postponed by a day, as we all went out to Richard Skene's house in An Phu for a barbecue on the 1st. I spent most of it in the pool and Catriona thoroughly enjoyed getting her feet wet. She had a bit of a cold so we couldn't take her swimming unfortunately.

As of the 2nd January, it was down to business - get fit for trekking in February. Four of us are flying to Myanmar for a 12 day trek into the Himalayas to climb Mt Phongun Razi (3,635m/11,925ft). Over the last 4 weeks, I've managed to lose 9kgs (~20lbs) in the gym (and no beer!) and think I'm ready for the trip...

Catriona has her Sunday routine now - we have a good swimming pool near the apartment which has a sandy beach area and is perfect for her to paddle around and play with the sand. She has no fear of the water, which is great.

We're starting to make the apartment baby-proof - it hasn't taken her long to get the hang of her walker and she follows us around the apartment all the time now.

It's not long until Lunar New Year (the Year of the Tiger). I'll be somewhere in Myanmar. CC and Catriona will be down in the Mekong Delta with CC's family celebrating Tet.

In case I don't blog before Tet: Chuc Mung Nam Moi! (Happy New Year!)