First stop: Vancouver

Greetings from Haiphong, Vietnam. It's only five am, but we're all awake! We just listened to church bells toll 96 times, and now the kids are regaling us with Calvin and Hobbes stories. 

Although we've been in Vietnam for a few days, our trip first began with a much-needed rest in Vancouver with family. I had no idea how much work it would be to prepare for this trip. Not only did we move out of our house, but there were flights to purchase, hotels to book, insurance to organize and endless small purchases. I also tried to plan Makaio's bar mitzvah, which will be in October when we come back. There's nothing like trying to organize Torah portions and bar mitzvah lessons while also buying Immodium and re-hydration salts. 

We escaped the extreme cold of Kingston on February 1st and arrived in Vancouver to more temperate weather. Being in Vancouver was a little like having an early March break, except the trees hadn't blossomed yet. We hit up all our favourite food treats: Solly's cinnamon buns, sushi on Main Street and Sun Sui Wah for Chinese food. We were also warmly greeted, as always, by my parents, and my sister Marcy and her family. 

In Vancouver we celebrated my father's 80th and Makaio's 13th birthdays. This was Makaio's first birthday with family, and I think it was memorable. His day began with a birthday brunch with his Bubbie and Zeydi, a trip to a trampoline gym with his cousins Leo and Tessa, Dim Sum and a dragon parade at IKEA (conveniently located next to the gym), a Superbowl party and taco dinner, birthday cake, presents and a cousin sleep-over. Not bad, eh? Dassa was also hoping for a Vancouver birthday, but he got a travel day, dodgy street food and hugs from Vietnamese women who wanted photos with him in honour of the new year. (We're going to offer a birthday re-do when we arrive at our next destination, Cat Ba Island, which has beaches, rock climbing and hiking.)

Here are a few shots of Vancouver.

Vancouver, chillier than usual, but still beautiful.

Birthday boy with his brother and cousins Leo and Tessa

Zeydi is 80!

Our trip to Vancouver coincided with Chinese New Year. On the zodiac calendar this is the year of the pig, and we've seen a lot of pigs - in the Richmond IKEA, the Vancouver and Taipei airports and all through Vietnam. We've seen pig balloons, pigsweets, pig signs, pig embroidered dresses, and best of all, pig topiary. Some of us have eaten a fair share of pig too. The kids have lots to

say about what else they've eaten and seen so far in Vietnam and are looking forward to writing our next post on our stop in Hanoi.

Here are a few more photos of us leaving Vancouver. 

My parents had us sit for a moment before we left, which is a Russian tradition, probably the only Russian tradition my family still follows. You sit with those you intend to travel with, focus on your adventures for a moment and then you get up and go.