There were about 10 people or so playing guitar which was amazing to hearThanks so much to Miranda for taking this photo of me looking pretty excited to have a cymbal to bang on!

Carol & Jay, congratulations on your engagement. We wish you an amazing time at your wedding. Thank you so much for a really fun photo session. We wish you all the best with your future together.

It was so cute that they brought their fur babies with them to the sessionAren’t they so cute together?We had to grab Carmen & Billy for a few photos too. Especially since Billy was making such hilarious faces!

Ravie & Kam, thank you so much for such a great engagement session. We can’t wait for your wedding this weekend! It is going to be amazing.

Oh Tokyo! How we love you so! This was my 3rd visit to Tokyo and Roger’s 2nd visit. We are very lucky in that we have a dear friend, Craig, who lives there. Craig is an amazing host taking us all over the city and sharing with us his favourite places. We had so many incredible meals in adorable little restaurants. We drank lots of yummy sake, beer and my fav, Umeshu. We wandered through Shibuya, Harajuku, Koenji and Kichijoji, all amazing neighbourhoods. On our last night in town Craig invited a bunch of friends over and we had a nabe party. It was a lovely way to end our time in Tokyo.

Thank you, Craig, for another incredible visit. You really are the host with the most. We hope to see you again soon!

Rainy evening in KichijojiOn our first night in Tokyo we all met up with the lovely Bradley and had an amazing seafood and sake meal. We still drool when we think of that meal.Craig was so patient translating menus for usI have a confession. I only like sashimi in Tokyo. It is just so incredibly good there!After dinner we went to Enjoy House for drinks. The owner there is quite the character.Beware of the swans in Inokashira Park, KichijojiIn Tokyo even the food carts are cuteOn Saturday afternoon we wandered from Shibuya to HarajukuRoger loves all of the plastic food displaysCute little garbage truckInteresting name for a shopIf you come across this restaurant in Harajuku go in. It is deelish!and we loved all of the art on the wallsThe lovely waiter who helped us cook our lunchOh yumOkOur home in Tokyo. Thank you, Craig, for being such an amazing host!The cutest coffee in TokyoOn Sunday night Craig took us to his favourite restaurant Bloomoon in KichijojiThe lovely owner of BloomoonBloomoon has great food& great decorand delicious Asahi Super DryFor our last night in Tokyo Craig kindly hosted a nabe party at his placeThe bummer for me that night was that I had a bad cold and couldn’t taste any of this yumminess!It was so nice to see the lovely Tomoko againIt isn’t a party without a spontaneous jam session& Bradley rapping alongIt was awesome!

Hanoi & Ha Long Bay were our last stops in Vietnam. We were amazed at the drop in temperature when we landed in Hanoi. We went from the mid thirties in Ha Noi to 14 degrees in Hanoi. Brrrrr! Hanoi is an intensely busy city during the day and by 10pm at night is strangely quiet. We spent most of our time doing what we like the most – wandering aimlessly & exploring a new city by foot. The street life was vibrant with scooters everywhere, the sidewalks covered with food stalls and all kinds of interesting shops. When we finally checked out some of the more touristy spots we were amazed at the throngs of tourists we found there.

After two nights in Hanoi we went to Ha Long Bay for an overnight cruise on a chinese junk. Ha Long Bay was recently listed as one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. The bay has almost 2000 limestone karsts (or mini islands) which are hauntingly beautiful. We really enjoyed the quiet of being out on the water after the hectic pace of Hanoi.

Our time in Vietnam went by so fast. We’re so glad that we have these photos to remember our trip by. Tomorrow we’ll share photos from the last stop on our trip, Tokyo!

The traffic was even more intense in Hanoi with way more cars, crazy amounts of scooters and really narrow streets. It was terrifying crossing the street.Interesting seeing a guy doing some kind of sewer work in sandals and an army helmet.More crazy wiringThe weirdest store we saw in HanoiTiniest bridal store we’ve ever seenGet your own scooter

 Why carry one coat rack on the back of a scooter when  you can carry several?We took a cooking class in Hanoi. Our instructor took us to the local market to buy supplies and we bought rice papers for spring rolls from this lovely lady.Who gave Roger such a big knife? Yikes!Making spring rolls (and one of the only photos of us together from this trip!)Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleumSo many tour buses
The Temple of Literature, a 1000 year old university in HanoiConfucius saysAfter a crazy bus ride we were happy to get on our Chinese Junk in Halong BayWe had a great afternoon paddling through the beautiful limestone karstsAnd tripping through a huge dark cavefloating village in Halong Baywaiting for all of us silly tourists

]]> http://www.unionphotographers.com/2012/04/hanoi-ha-long-bay-our-last-stops-in-vietnam/feed/ 0 http://www.unionphotographers.com/2012/04/charming-hoi-an-vietnam/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=charming-hoi-an-vietnam http://www.unionphotographers.com/2012/04/charming-hoi-an-vietnam/#comments Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:43:23 +0000 holly http://www.unionphotographers.com/?p=6312 Continue reading →]]>

Hoi An is absolutely charming. We weren’t sure if we were going to head there or not until we spoke with other travelers when we were in southern Vietnam asking them for recommendations. Everyone told us that Hoi An was their favourite place that they had seen in Vietnam and we totally agree. It was very pretty, very relaxed and the people there are so so nice. The guest house that we stayed at had bicycles that we could use for free. We really enjoyed peddling all over the the beautiful old town and exploring the countryside. It is a much smaller town so traffic was much calmer and the whole pace was low key. Looking through these photos really make us smile and pinch each other that we were actually there.

We hope you’re enjoying touring through Vietnam with us. Tomorrow we’ll share our photos from Hanoi and Halong Bay with you.

The next day we were up early to go on a bicycle tour of the countryside with Heaven & Earth Bicycle Tours. The mist in the morning was so beautiful.We were excited to take one of the ferries that we had been watching the day before.This tiny hardware store by the boat builders had the biggest nails!This amazing craftsman was hand cutting really detailed mother of pearl for inlays.You can see the flood line from last year’s flood hand written on the wall. The communist posters always looked so cheerfulAnother stop that we made on the Heaven & Earth bicycle tour in the countryside was at this couple’s ice making factory. We really loved how entrepreneurial the Vietnamese people are. It was inspiring to see.Fields full of the reeds used to make sleeping mats
A fancy family temple This floating bridge was so fun to ride our bikes acrossEven though it was incredibly hot out we always saw Vietnamese women riding around completely covered up so that they didn’t get any sun on their skin.Our last stop on our countryside bicycle tour was at these ladies’ home where they were weaving sleeping mats. Sleeping mats like these below on a Vietnamese style bed. Once we saw these we realized why so many of the beds we slept in at our hotels were so so hard.The reeds used for the sleeping mats drying in the sunWe took a boat back to Hoi An
Our adorable tour guide made Roger move so that she could sit beside me on our trip back to Hoi An. We had a lovely time chatting and giggling away.The amazing Yaly where we had beautiful clothes tailor made for us. Hoi An is filled with pretty lanternsCute little shop where we bought a suitcase to put our new clothes inOn our last night in Hoi An the lovely staff at Betel Garden Homestay invited us to a long table dinner with the other guests. It was a lovely evening.We hired this guy to make some stamps for us and he did an incredible job.We took in one last temple before our flight to Hanoi

The second stop on our trip in Vietnam was Phu Quoc Island. We were so looking forward to Phu Quoc, to getting some relaxing island time in after the craziness of Saigon. You know how we hinted in our previous post about the highs and lows of travel? Well, the first night that we arrived at our lovely little cabin in the countryside on the island I came down with a really bad stomach flu. It knocked me out for 2 days and then of course Roger came down with it too and he was knocked out for 2 days. We only had booked 4 nights at this lovely little resort and most of it we spent inside our cabin or wandering around on our own while the other was sick. Boo! So much for our romantic time on a tropical island. What we did get to see was lovely though and the food we had at our resort was the best we had the whole trip. We still drool when we think about it. We were lucky enough to meet a lot of lovely people that were staying at the same resort. That is one of the things we really enjoy about traveling is getting to meet so many fabulous people.

Tomorrow we’ll share pictures from our favourite stop on our trip.

 We loved the red dirt roads on the islandOur first time seeing cashews growing on the tree!The road to Freedomland, the lovely little resort we stayed atThe kitchen at Freedomland that produced amazing mealsEvery night the owner, Peter, would host all the guests at a long table dinner with 5 amazing courses. It was incredible and we were bummed that we each missed two nights of Peter’s food because we were sick.Guests introducing themselves at dinner.
a yummy huge prawn from our first dinner at FreedomlandBBQ prawns on lemongrass skewers from our last dinner at FreedomlandThe lovely Zoe & Sharon that we met at Freedomland Our last night on the island we stayed in town and had dinner at the night marketWe didn’t eat conch or sharks thoughJust more jumbo prawns

We can’t believe that we’ve been home from our trip for 3 weeks already. Where does the time go? Our trip was good with the usual highs and lows that come with traveling in the developing world. Over the next week we’ll share with you some photos from our time away. First up are photos from our time in Saigon aka Ho Chi Minh City, which was our first stop Vietnam. We were there for 2 days, learning how to cross the street with all of the crazy traffic and trying to figure out how the heck you say thank you in Vietnamese. In the end we never got it right!

We hope you enjoy these photos. On Monday we’ll share pics from Phu Quoc Island.

xo

Uncle Ho watching over all the tourists in the Saigon Post Office

Where should we go next?The delectable Vietnamese iced coffee. Roger was addicted!The crazy electrical wires running everywhere made us smileThis was our view when we had our breakfasts at our hotel in Saigon.
Out of our whole time in Veitnam our favourite experience was taking the XO Foodie Tour that the lovely Carrie & Phil recommended to us. (Thanks, guys!) We went on our first night in Saigon which happened to be Valentine’s Day. We spent the evening zooming around Saigon on the back of scooters stopping at different stalls to eat amazing food. Our first stop was for some noodle soup that was not Pho. I really wish I’d written down the name of it. It was a delicious beef soup with a lemon grass broth. Mmmm.

We had our soup in this little alley way in the old quarter of Saigon We loved being a part of the crazy traffic
Stop # 2 on the Foodie TourThis little cutie came over to check out the foreignersHe even blew us kisses! Isn’t he adorable?

Okra & goat breast on the BBQMmm shrimp on the BBQ!All of the tour guides with XO Tours were so so lovelyThe last stop on the foodie tour where we had razor clams, crabs & scallops. Throughout our whole trip in Vietnam we often saw people eating various sized snails. The kitchen at the food stallSome of the guys on our tour bravely ate eggs that had duck embryos inside. Eek!He ate the whole thing, beak and all, if you can believe it!The scallops were so goodWe had so much on that tour that we ended up taking their Saigon by day tour the next morning. Zooommm!!!This lady made the most delicious waffles in her little portable kitchenWahoo!!
It was amazing seeing what the Vietnamese can carry on the back of a scooter!The moving memorial to Thich Quang Doc, a buddist monk who lit himself on fire to protest against persecution by the Vietnamese government. The memorial is at the intersection where it happened. It was great to stop and have a delicious cooling treat during the heat of the morning.

Our last stop on the tour was the beautiful Thien Hau Temple.

These incense spirals burn for one week bringing good luck.After the tour we went out for lunch and with pointing and gesturing at a restaurant, we ended up ordering way too much food.For our last evening in Saigon we went up to the roof top bar of the Rex HotelWhere we had some overpriced beers
And enjoyed the view& their pretty lanterns

Well, friends, we are taking off for a much needed vacation. We’re escaping the grey Vancouver winter to backpack around Vietnam. We are so looking forward to having this adventure together. The other day we realized that the last time that we had a trip with just the two of us with no other purpose other than to explore was our honeymoon 3 years ago. Long overdue, for sure! We love South East Asia and we can’t wait to see more of it. Above is one of our pics of Angkor Wat from our trip to Cambodia in 2009.

Our lovely friend in Tokyo was trying to organize a trip for us shooting with Photohoku which unfortunately has fallen through. We are bummed about this but you know what? We realized that is OK and we’ve given ourselves permission to just relax and play on this trip. Who knows, maybe along the way another oppourtunity to volunteer with our photography may pop up.

The best way to get a hold of us while we’re gone is by email at roger@unionphotographers.com or holly@unionphotographers.com. We won’t be checking our voicemails while we are gone. We will be back at work on March 10th.

Enjoy the next few weeks. We’ll think of you while we’re having our daily drink from a fresh, cold coconut. Mmmm.

We were super excited when Lindsay, a writer from Vancouver is Awesome, emailed and asked if we would be up to being interviewed for their Love is a Four Letter Word column. We immediately said yes and we had a great time with Lindsay and the photographer, Sam. The best part about being interviewed was learning about ourselves and what we are like as a couple. That may sound a little weird, but you know how it is hard to see what things are like when you’re in the middle of it? Reading about ourselves and seeing what we said during the interview has brought us closer, which is amazing. Click through to the article if you’d like to learn more about us as a couple.

Thank you, Lindsay, Sam and Vancouver is Awesome for being well, awesome!