Lessons learned in the last 48hrs:

1. You need a visa to get into Vietnam and yes you can get one at airport but no, you have to ask for some letter before you leave...helpful tip if you google something don’t just read the answer you want and skip the rest. 
2. No one was super sad to spend one more night in Melbourne. 
3. Getting to airport 2 hrs before flight is not enough time to fly to Vietnam. Everyone was checking like 10 bags and boxes each for Chinese New Year. 
4. Sprinting through the duty free section of the airport desperately trying to make a flight you were supposed to be on yesterday asking every passer by in full on sprint where gate 6 is? Hearing your names and last call for your flight called is something I don’t need to do again. 

I let Todd tell us when to leave for airport. We’ve never missed a flight though I much prefer to get there super early and chill. 

Today we left 15 minutes after our planned time which still would have gotten us to the airport 2 hrs early. I requested an Uber that kept trying to send me a Prius(there’s 6 of us with bags so ya Prius was a no go). We walked across street and got a cab. 

Getting to the airport we realized after taking in and HUGE line trying to check in that it was going to be a loooong shot that we got to the front of the line before our departure time. We were the last people in line. I contemplated upgrading mine and Todd’s  ticket so that we could use the priority check in line but the woman assured me that with this airline it was always nuts and we’d be ok. When we got to check in line with 15 minutes before our departure time I was literally shaking trying to just get the boarding passes so we could run for it. We’d endured a fiasco getting these Vietnamese visas only to find that they listed Austin a girl. Which the airline said they could deny us entry for. Basically signing something saying if we got stuck there we wouldn’t hold airline responsible the lady handed me priority express passes for security and passport control, told me to “stop shaking but you’re gonna have to run”. 

We’ve got electronics coming out of our ears so normally I’ve got security down to an art. So now, now if all times I’d screw up and forget the 2 iPads I have in MY bag. Ahhhhhh!!!  Again we go through security. Now it’s 5 minutes passed our flight time. I’m bouncing up and down in the short express passport control line. I Fly to the counter when it opens up. An unfriendly man greets me with “Who sent you here?” I shove the express passes now in a jumbled mess from my extensive baggage screening on the counter...”those don’t mean anything” he relies. I believe my glance over my shoulder at the obviously 30+ minute non express line behind me, and the panic on my face he made sure I knew he begrudgingly was going to approve us by taking forever to clear us. 

Now we have to run. You know you’re late when even Todd, the eternal optimist when it comes to making flights it’s right there with me. Freaking Duty free!!! Who for the love of all things shops in the airport???!!!!  So now we’re running through a mall basically, Micheal Kor, Channel, Coach. Why why why. I need gate 6 gate 6. I hear the announcement as we sprint past a plethora of alcohol  and perfume.  “Final boarding call flight 764 to Ho Chi Mhin City Passengers Richards, Sarah, Richards, Austin........”. Well there’s 6 of us that will take a couple seconds. “Where is gate 6?!”  I glance back to make sure we haven’t lost anyone everyone in tow I seen a gate agent I recognize from check in bringing an empty wheelchair back. I see his arm motion to the left when he sees us as if he’s directing traffic. He then looks over his shoulder to wave at gate agent. Who’s standing at the door hand out for our passports. I’m out of breath, I have to pee, I believe there’s no way we will ever see our luggage again as the last thing I heard as we sprinted off to gate was agent calling someone telling them they need to turn the conveyer belt back on or come get our bags, but we made it. It was harrowing to say the least but it got done. We didn’t even care where we sat. 

Landing 8 hours later we still had the issue of picking up this visa. A corner in the airport that gave off the same vibe you experience at the DMV signaled we’d reached our bureaucratic destination. We waited in line again in the fluorescent lights. A happy faced officer finally waved us over. Handing him out passports and paperwork he let us know he’d need $20 in cash to print the paper I had a copy of in my phone, that they had send me🙄....ok. So he stopped his game of bejeweled(not kidding) long enough to hand us change and then handed me a new pile of forms to fill out(never saw the printed copy of our paperwork.) I actually have everyone’s passport numbers memorized now so it went faster than expected. We then handed over more cash for the visa, some more for the stamp, I wouldn’t of minded so much if the process had gone a little faster. Eventually we had our visas and passports and got to stand in yet another line. For the first time that day we picked the fast line. We made it out just in time to see them loading our bags(which by some miracle had made it) into the cart where they haul off all the other sad unclaimed bags.   

We got a cab. The driver in the minivan quick to say we’d need two cabs. “Nope” I exclaimed remembering the 20plus similar vans we’d become experts in India at smashing ourselves into. 

Our first glimpses of Ho Chi Minh and the notorious Motorbike traffic. We arrived at the hotel. I think they felt bad we’d had to loose a night. They offered to show me the presidential suite which occupies the whole top floor of the hotel. It was massive but here’s the logic behind saying no to a presidential suite upgrade: I had two rooms that were great and had a hallway and door between me and the kids...I guess I needed the hallway between us more than the living room, kitchen(ya really didn’t need that), and office. 

The hotel has a club level that we can grab snacks and drinks at. The kids have eaten their weight in macaroons which I never buy as they are so expensive they never seem worth it. 

We decided to go on a tour of the area and try some local food. I found a tour operated by local college students who drive you around on the back of motor bikes and take you to some sights. 

We were met by an exuberant host in the lobby. He looked like he was 12 and was about as tall as Hannah and Sierra but was so excited to show us around. He stumbled through our names practicing several times, Sierra and Todd being the hardest. 

We walked to the street and found our 5 other guides/ divers. 3 young girls and 2 other young men greeted us. We paired off and were fitted with helmets and then off it was into the amazing traffic which like India flows with some kind of magic I don’t understand. We all had smiles on our faces as this is truly better than any roller coaster at Disneyland. 

We stopped at several places trying various Vietnamese specialties, all the kids were super good about trying things. Noodles, banana and sticky rice, some sort of wrap thing, sugar cane juice, Vietnamese coffee, or orange juice, and lastly Todd tried baby duck embryo, ya it was a s gross as it sounds, complete with feathers and beak. Our guides were super friendly, Sierra found her driver a cute young girl shared her love of Taylor Swift. They exchanged Instagram contacts. It was overall a fun filled look into the culture and people.

Sydney

Soon our time would end. We’d leave Singapore the same way we came from metro to airport. Our flight was to Sydney. Our flight was on my favorite airplane the A380. I’m a little nerd about big airplanes. Have no idea why but I love this plane. It’s just massive. I’ve flown on it about 6 times and I’m always excited when I board this plane. I love how comfortable they always are and something about this monster even being able to get off the ground impresses me. I mean the wings literally flap when the thing takes off and the airport has to halt other planes from landing or taking off for 3 minutes to wait for its wake to clear...how cool is that?  See nerd. Our flight would land in Melbourne at midnight. Our next flight took off for Sydney 6 hours later, then we’d have 8 hours until we could check into our Airbnb. So basically we were going to be tired and have time to kill. I knew we’d do the airport hotel thing but I didn’t want to do it twice so we find a quiet spot in the Melbourne airport and curled up in the floor for a couple hours. After a couple hours of homelessness we moved to the gate for the short flight to Sydney. We then pulled our “no there’s only 4 of us” to get ONE room at the hotel airport.  The room was clean, quiet and only required one person, Poor Jackson, to sleep on the floor. 7 hours later we showered and went to our Sydney home. 

We had rented a 3 story home in an interesting part of town. It was close enough to walk to the amazing botanical gardens they have there. So the first night we wondered around taking in the opera house and gardens. The gardens   are beautiful and clean with interesting with beautiful plants and iconic views. 

We decide after a long time of no meat to take advantage of the ample meat options at the store and BBQ. 

The girls have been doing my makeup every day. Not sure how that started but they are apparently better at it than me. They also suggested I was in need of other makeup and apparently brushes and something called a highlighter, whatever that is. So off we all went to explore Sydney. We ended up by no surprise, at a Sephora. I’m proud to say I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been there normally only taken with someone else looking to pretty me up.  So the girls were ecstatic to get some new stuff to try on my face. Sometimes they take turns, one doing one side, one the other, sometimes that works out, sometimes it requires some correction. But overall I think I look good. :). 

The next day we decide to go to the Sydney Zoo. Todd opted to explore on his own having as he put in “put in his zoo time”. So kids and I wondered to ferry terminal to catch a boat over to zoo. 

Getting to the zoo was half the fun. A ferry ride past the opera across the bay. Then a gondola the zips you to the top of a hill. There were amazing animals who all seemed excited to host us. A highlight being when we happened to turn around and see a tiger just hanging out above where we’d just walked. We’d somehow missed the “tiger crossing sign” but the funny thing was so had everyone else.  Seeming unaware they were being hunted from above. 

We enjoyed our time in Sydney. 

Singapore

We have a marathon in Hong Kong in less than a month.  Other than the airport sprint I have not said hello to my running legs in a while.  I ran on the beach in Goa but only enough to realize I was out of shape.  

So the first thing I did was grab my shoes and head out. It's sticky and running in humidity I actually enjoy, its like you you get some physical proof of your exertion.  But this was ridiculous I was literally dripping every time I stopped.  Now here's the thing about Singapore, It feels to me like a post apocalyptic utopia.  Like the world has come to some horrible end and this is the sole surviving community and there is this collective agreement that it will be perfect, that everyone will follow all the rules, and that order will be absolute.  It reminded me of the hunger games capitol from the Books of the same name.  

It's great but there is a price to pay for that it is an absolute conformity to the rules.  That means no jay walking....I am an avid Jay walker, especially while running.  I am exceptional at timing cars, bikes, and motorcycles-I've only rolled across one car hood in Palo Alto but that I like to point out was when I was actually in a cross walk, in front of a campus police, and it wasn’t my fault(I put a huge dent in the hood of this guys BMW so that last point would be important.)  So waiting patiently, or not so, with my fellow Singaporean rule followers was the only painful part of the runs, especially as I was dripping all over the perfectly clean sidewalk.  

Pristine sky scrapers line the bay with it's high end shops and gleaming sidewalks.  Gardens with both real and futuristic fake trees are always in view.  Singapore is a city I cannot imagine anyone, even people who don't like cities wouldn't like.  It was safe, clean, fun, and beautiful.

We were there for a week,  Todd and I went to dinner a couple nights, tormenting the kids with a picture of us in front of a dominos pizza place once. One night in an effort to get the kids to do something we took them on a walk to what is called the wave bridge.  It was a 2 mile or so walk.  We made it about 1..5 miles before the complaints began, 1.75 miles before the threats of they were not going any further began, and 1.9 miles before one flat out refused to walk sitting down on the ground in protest.  But when it became clear we didn't have much issue leaving them there on the clean sidewalk where they sat, they got up and carried on.  Thankfully on the way back we found a 7-11 and it had slushies, so the complaints on the way home were less.  

I love Art Deco architecture, there is an amazing Bar called the Atlas Bar that has some of the most amazing  Art Deco architecture I have seen.  Walking in it's like you have been transported on to the set of the Great Gatsby.  We sat ate the bar and ate dinner feeling fancy.  It took us a while to figure out how to get a cab back to our apartment finally managing to locate a taxi stand. Apparently Singapore booted Uber and had another ride-share app Grab. 

The next day the plaza outside our building transformed into some international Yoga festival with about 500 people on the ground doing yoga.  The girls and I went to the  Marina Mall.  This may be the nicest mall I have ever been to.  We opted to get pedicures and get lunch.  The mall is nuts. It’s got every designer brand you have heard of and half of them also have a kids or Jr store there too. Prada Jr, Fendi Kids, Dior Kids.  Seriously who buys their kids Prada??!!  

Anyhow, my kids got ice cream and were told to be grateful. 

I had seen a building while on a ride back from what I guess is my first attempt at getting blonde hair again. It was beautiful with a lot of vegetation  covering it. So after some google research I headed out on a run. I ran almost every day here. I worked into a system knowing where to go when  to cross the street. There’s something fantastic about running in a busy city. It’s like flying for me. There are all these obstacles to be avoided, people, dogs, stairs, traffic cones, I don’t know something about it reminds me of flying.  There’s a pedestrian bridge that crosses over to the shopping center where more tourists than locals seem to hang out off the pier. People taking selfies(I took a couple) with the city in the background. So I ran and ran. Can you make up for a month of not running in one week??  I tried.

Singapore was a good spot to sneak out with one kid at a time for one of one time. 

Austin wanted to visit the Louis Vuitton store.  Sierra and I wondered and got some new shoes. Hannah and I opted to go shopping and got some new shoes too. Jackson opting for food. 

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