TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Visiting Vietnam is probably not complete without at least spending a day in the Mekong Delta River region. The Mekong Rest Stop - really nice place! Our minivan, just 8 of us guests plus our driver and tour guide. The Mekong Delta, also known as the "Nine Dragon River Delta" is the largest river that snakes through the south of Vietnam passing 12 provinces and a large network of distributary rivers. Choosing a Mekong Delta trip was quite a challenge for us because there were so just many Mekong Delta trips offered. It can really get confusing when they are almost the same. The family has to find the best one that suits the wishes of the family and can accommodate the parent's mobility challenge as well. The regions of Vietnam: We made a decision for the Ben Tre Mekong Delta whole day tour because it fits the most to what we were looking for. We were also informed that this tour will be a small group and the destination is less touristy compared to ...

Goedendag, goededag, goeiedag, goeiendag are ways of saying "Good Day" in Dutch =) Back in October last year, Dutchman and I did a combo run in Maxima Park in Utrecht. He with his skates (rollerblades) and moi with my bike. It was lovely weather for a weekend in October which only meant that beaches and parks will be full. We do not always have great weather here in the Netherlands so when the skies are blue and the sun shines, we hit the outdoors. Maxima Park, named after the wife (she is queen) of the reigning monarch in the Netherlands, King Willem Alexander. It is the biggest man-made city park in Utrecht designed to mimic nature but created as a leisure, sports and architecture park decorated with 7 big art installations. The location is not too far away from the city center, in the middle of 3 neighbourhoods, Vleuten, de Meern and Leidse Rijn. It is a relatively new park just opened in 2013. It is huge and really nice, perhaps one of the most beautifu...

The street food and street dining scene in Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon is surely hands-down impressive! Wow. Yep, people are out and dining on the streets and Vietnamese food is my favourite. Street dining in Saigon / HCMC. I am super excited these days because 2 months from now I will be flying back to Asia again, this time to Shanghai, China, and Hong Kong (and New Zealand as well!) and I can’t wait to check out the street food scene there. So while waiting for this trip to happen, let me dig some of the pictures I have on street food and street dining in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I was in Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon or HCMC with family in December 2016. Our family holiday trip was during the week between Christmas and New Years. Although Vietnam is predominantly a Buddhist (and Atheist I guess?) country and it celebrates the Lunar Year as well, there was quite some Christmas spirit in the city with preparations for the New Year. The Banh Mi is everywhere in HCMC. ...