Mini Getaway: Yangshuo, China

Last week we headed to Yangshuo for 3 nights as a last minute trip during our spring break. We took the high speed train from Shenzhen to Guilin (3.5 hours) and then had another car ride to get to our home stay, about an 1.5 hour drive. The way there was a bit rough since Sawyer was still getting over some yucky virus that he had for about a week. Luckily, after one night in Yangshuo, Sawyer was back to his happy self and even slept in every morning we were there (what a treat!)

This is our third trip to Yangshuo, but our first with Sawyer. It is hands down my favorite place in China. We stayed in a charming little home stay in the country and it was so nice to get away to somewhere so charming and beautiful. 

The weather was drizzly and overcast, but that didn't stop us from getting out and about. Sawyer loved eating all of his meals on the stone terrace (...who doesn't love eating french toast for breakfast every morning?). He was so content just exploring and being outside. We took quite a few walks around the country side and mainly relaxed. We only went in to the city twice, briefly for dinner. It gets so busy there, I much prefer the sereneness of the countryside.  

One day, we met up with other teachers from our school who were also staying in Yangshuo and did a bamboo boat ride to see the infamous 20 RMB scene (see below). 

 There were a few times that I questioned our sanity for traveling 9 months pregnant to rural China with a toddler, but we are so happy that we ended up going. Obviously, the easy route would be to just stay home with Sawyer; however, as a family we've adopted the "Just Do It." motto. Otherwise, we'd probably never leave our apartment! It was a bittersweet trip for us because it was our last trip as a family of three. I've been trying to soak up every last moment with Sawyer before his baby sister joins our little family. It's hard to believe that in a couple short weeks, it will no longer be just us and Sawyer. 

Two Nights in Taipei

Last weekend we had a fast and furious trip to Taipei. I had a two day conference for work and Kurt and Sawyer tagged along. We had an interesting beginning to our trip. As we were checking in, the airline rep. wouldn't accept my doctor's note (the same one I used for Bali explaining that I am fit to fly) forcing us to go see a doctor at the airport! 
Side note: As the rep. is explaining this to me, Sawyer's on my hip and I'm wrestling him with my one free hand as he's doing ninja moves to escape (apparently my mommy cat-like reflexes weren't enough to convince the rep. that I was "fit to fly.") 
I was not a happy camper, since I had my mind set on a blueberry muffin from Starbucks and this interfered with my grand plans. After paying almost $100.00 for a doctor to literally hold a stethoscope to my belly and ask me the first day of my last period, I was presented a doctor's note that was deemed "acceptable" to the airline. Needless to say, I never got my blueberry muffin :( Luckily, we got to our gate, just as it was time to board. 

 The flight was only about an hour and twenty minutes... not too shabby when flying with an active toddler. Sawyer is obsessed with all things transportation, so he was in heaven when he saw all of the planes and trucks whizzing by when we were waiting for our flight. 

Our first night we ate at a popular restaurant that's been around since the 80's. In the window, you can watch the chefs prepare the dumplings from scratch. They were hands down the best dumplings I've ever had! We take our food pretty seriously when we travel to a new country ;) 

Some of these pictures are repeats from my Instagram. I didn't get a chance to take too many photos since it was such a quick trip. Kurt and Sawyer explored the Taipei Zoo on Saturday while I was at the conference. It was only 2 USD to get in, and Kurt said it was huge.  

We loved the little bit we saw of Taipei and would love to go back to explore more of Taiwan. I love how the city was set up. It reminded me of Hong Kong, but much more laid back. Strangers were helpful and kind. We couldn't believe that cars actually STOPPED for us and let us cross the street (something we are not used to living here in China. Even when we have a green cross-walk, we have to double triple check both ways before crossing). It was also nice being able to understand the language (ok...to a degree) since it is also Mandarin. 

Taipei American School was huge and reminded me of a real US high school (brick building with a retaining wall around it)

Taipei American School

Overall, I'm really glad we were able to see a little bit of Taipei. My conference was great and I took away a lot from it (always a plus). I am glad to be back and am looking forward to Chinese New Year coming up since we will be staying home and just relaxing. 

Christmas in Bali Part 3: Lovina & Ubud

Thank you so much for your sweet words and support after my last post about our Christmas in Bali. I started this blog to share about our life overseas for our friends and family back home. That means sharing the good and also the not so good parts that comes with living abroad...just trying to keep it real friends! ;) 

After spending 6 nights in Amed, we were off to Lovina for a couple of nights. Everything in Lovina was extremely cheap. I enjoyed two massages (about 8 USD for an hour) at our hotel while Sawyer napped. We found delicious restaurants, enjoyed strolling around, and went dolphin watching one morning. It was the perfect amount of time before heading south to Ubud.

My future's so bright, I gotta wear shades.

For the last part of our trip we headed to Ubud. Unfortunately, this is when we left most of our clothes behind in Lovina. We called the hotel and our clothes mysteriously "disappeared." Kurt lost his favorite shirt and shorts, I lost a lot of my maternity clothes and favorite leggings, and Sawyer lost a lot of his PJs and summer clothes... at least we were left with some underwear ;) 

Our new home stay in Ubud had charm, but I had a major asthma attack from our dusty room and we decided we there was no way we could stay more than two nights. We booked a new hotel nearby. I'm so glad we did. It was in a great location, super clean, and Sawyer enjoyed playing in the "yard" outside our front porch. We didn't do too much in Ubud...but that was ok with me! 

Walk home from dinner

Sawyer and one of his many admirers. The Balinese were beyond child-friendly and genuinely sweet. Sawyer made friends at every restaurant we visited. The staff would play with him, hold him, chase him, etc. This is one of the perks of living in Asia vs. America :) 

Pineapple Fried rice with prawn chips (delicious)

Dinner at a restaurant mentioned in Eat, Pray, Love with my dad and Michelle...and Sawyer's Buddha belly.

Photo outside our little bungalow in Ubud (notice the offerings on our porch)

Christmas in Bali 2014 from Shanna Callahan on Vimeo.

Christmas in Bali Part 1: Amed

We were in Bali for 17 nights over our winter break. We stayed in three different cities while we were there: Amed, Lovina, and Ubud. 

For the first part of our trip, we went to the northern part of the island to a small town, Amed. This was hands down my favorite part of our trip. We rented a villa with our friends. There were 3 separate houses with bathrooms, an outdoor living room, a pool, and kitchen. It was so relaxing and easy for families with little ones since we could choose to have our meals cooked at the villa (no meltdowns at restaurants, hooray!) I would go back in a heartbeat. 

My dad and his wife, Michelle ended up joining us in Amed since they were staying at a nearby island where they were scuba diving. We basically did a lot of lounging, pool time, eating, kayaking, snorkeling, and reading while we were here.

Our trip to Bali was also a bit tough on me because I found out that my grandma was very sick in the hospital. She ended up passing away a week before Christmas while we were in Amed. It is definitely hard to lose a loved one while living abroad, knowing that I couldn't be there for my family (especially my mom) or attend the funeral. My grandma was a feisty and extremely giving woman. Her grandchildren were the apple of her eye, and I am so heartbroken that she was never able to meet Sawyer (or baby Rosalie). I miss her already, but was able to talk to her briefly from Bali via Skype with a bad internet connection before she passed. 

Here are a few pictures from Amed. You'll notice we didn't really leave the villa much... but who would want to leave such a beautiful place?

Our outdoor shower. I loved taking a shower at night because I could see all of the stars in the sky... beyond beautiful! 

We decided to go on a kayak ride before Sawyer's nap.  He passed out about 10 minutes into the ride. We saw a lot of fish and coral reef.

View from our "yoga tower"

Snorkeling during Sawyer's nap time. 

Travel is More

In 3 short days, we will be on our way to Bali for the winter holiday. I am beyond ready to relax and explore with my little family.  My dad and his wife will be joining us along with our best friends here in China, so we're lucky to spend the holiday season with people we love! 

A house we're renting with our friends

I'm also looking forward to doing some reading. I mostly enjoy reading non-fiction books. Here are a few that I hope to begin this break.

Found here

Found here

Found here

 "Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living." 

-Miriam Beard, Realism in Romantic Japan 

I began to read How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm and one of the chapters started with this inspiring quote. Don't you love when you read something that make you stop in your tracks and re-read it again and again? I think it's so fitting for us since we'll be traveling this holiday. Lately, I've been in a lull. I've been feeling pretty home-sick and second guessing our decision to stay abroad for the holidays. Reading this quote reaffirmed why we live abroad- to be able to experience change, to continue to learn to be more open-minded, and grow together as a family.

I will miss our dear friends and family so much this holiday season. Please know that we are thinking about you and hope you're Christmas is nothing short of magical. We can't wait to see you all in a few months. 

Hope your holiday season is merry and bright! xo

Thailand Part 2: Bangkok

For the second half our trip to Thailand, we headed to Bangkok. Kurt and I had a tech. conference at an International school there. While we were there, we were able to explore temples, cruise via river taxis, wander about, and go to a floating market... all in just a few days. I am pretty impressed that we were able to do so much with a toddler in tow! 

We've been to our fair share of temples, but The Temple of Dawn was incredible because it is decorated with bits and pieces of Chinese porcelain that glimmers in the sunshine.  The temple was originally built in 1768 and then a King expanded it in the 1800's (that's when the porcelain details were added).  Getting there was an adventure because literally 1 minute before we boarded the ferry to cross the river, it started down pouring. The torrential (I'm really not being that dramatic) lasted about 25 minutes. As soon as it let up, we jumped on the ferry and just our luck, it started raining again! At least the ride was just across the river. The rain actually ended up benefiting us since there were barely any tourists when we arrived.

Spicy Thai Beef Salad

Lunch on the river (view of the temple) *I spy Lennon's leg

River taxi

I'm so glad we ended up going to the Amphawa floating market. We were a bit skeptical since it was at least a two hour drive outside of Bangkok, which is a long ride with a wiggly baby who's not in a carseat. We made the trek to the floating market on our last day in Bangkok and it was so worth it. I loved that it was authentic (we only saw a handful of foreigners), not a tourist trap. We did a 45 minute river cruise and saw restaurants, shops, home stays, and houses, along the river. 

Sawyer was a little celebrity when we strolled around the market (I'm assuming it's the blonde hair and blue eyes) as many people stopped to smile and wave at him, or simply just to stare. Everyone we've come across in Thailand is so incredibly sweet and kind to Sawyer. 

I would love to go to this market at nighttime because fireflies are supposed to light up the trees like Christmas lights...it sounds so magical! 

           Below is a little video I made of our travels to Thailand:

                                  

     Thailand 2014 from Shanna Callahan on Vimeo.