The Toy Store in Our Hotel Room

Every time we pack up to get on another airplane, we do the tally. We are now officially traveling around with approximately 30lbs of TOYS!

Khmer Cooking Lesson

I am back from my cooking lesson which was a lot of fun. Khmer cooking, which is a whole lot like Thai cooking (in my by no means expert opinion at least) is wonderfully light and tasty. And, to my surprise it's actually fairly simple and straight forward and I should be able to replicate it when I get home. Once I figure out what all the ingredients are. And track them down. Here's to living in a small town!

As much as I LOVE me some green mango salad (and I mean LOVE), my favourite thing to cook (and eat) tonight was the steamed fish I made.

Wordless Wednesday

Cambodia (and a souvenir from Singapore)

Day 1 in Cambodia: We explored the hotel. And by that I mean the swimming pool, mostly.
Day 2 in Cambodia: We explored Angkor Wat, and I explored Angkor Thom while the boys headed back to the hotel for further exploration of the swimming pool.
Day 3 in Cambodia: We "explored" HBO, mainly. And the Cartoon Network. The Discovery Channel. And the National Geographic Channel. Then back to HBO.

Why?

Worldess Wednesday

Oh, Singapore

We've been in Singapore for two weeks now, and this is kind of my first post. Gulp. Ok, so let me think... I can't say that the internet connection has been poor, so I am going to have to go with "we've been busy". And we have been really busy, so it's not really an excuse - I am merely stating a fact here. Right?! Right!

So Singapore....

Thank you! (and postcard contest winners)

Before we start catching up on the back log of posts we've been meaning to put up, we just wanted to say

 
to everyone who left me a comment, sent us a message or signed up to "Like" our Facebook page. You guys have really made my day and are helping me in a huge way to get out of this "blogger's block"/funk I have been in lately.

Also;

Gill -  a postcard is on it's way to YOUR mailbox.
Lori - send us your address! You are getting one whether you want it not.
Mom - as if we were not going to send you a postcard anyways.
Trina - how could we not send a postcard to out #1 fan?!?! We'll be dropping one in the mail for you, too!

Cheers,
Mira

Worldess Wednesday

Wild, Wild, Wet

Hudson: "I think so there is something up there"

Alright, so this post is a little cheese. I am just super excited to be able to make these now. They are super easy, too. Here is a link if you wish to make your own. 


Cheers,
Mira

Wordless Wednesday

5 Reasons to Consider Not Staying in a Hotel While on Vacation

This isn't an anti-hotel post. It's more like a pro Airbnb post. Or maybe not even. It's more like a pro "all the wonderful people who have opened up their homes and shared them with us over the past 4 months" post. Although, I guess we found them all through Airbnb, so, you know - just giving credit where credit is due.

Right.

So....

Reason #1:

 

  Because you could never serve up breakfast to a chicken even before having your own.

You could never ever "harvest" a bird, or ehm ... "fondle" (sorry love, you kind of set yourself up for this one) a goat in a hotel.

(In Hawai'i we stayed with Steve. You can find out more about Steve, his farm, or book your very own stay if you would like right here. Also, if it wasn't for Steve, we would have never camped here - which would have been a real shame.)

Reason #2:

What hotel would let you throw your 3 year old a wicked birthday party?!? Ok, so maybe they would,  (if you paid them lots of money) but they probably make it as special as this one was. Nor would they offer to drive you to the grocery store, pick you up from the train station, babysit your one and only while you ran errands, and be fantastically amazing and entertaining the entire  time you stayed with them. (Yes, we do kind of have a crush on the whole of this family!)

Reason #3

Ever been invited to a Australia Day Sausage Sizzle by the "management" of a hotel? Because Sandy and Pete, whom we stayed in Byron Bay brought us along to a "funtastic" party at their friends farm. We got to join in on a fiercely competitive cricket match, Hudson got to explore a horse farm. Did I mention that our hosts also cooked us delicious dinners. And I mean DELICIOUS. Twice. Just because we got on so well.   

Reason #4

While staying in Queenstown I got a cold. Really, it was like the mother of all colds. It was pure yucky-ness. I have never had a worst cold in my entire adult life. Watching me go through a box of kleenex every 15 minutes or so, our compassionate hosts Ian and Velda offered up their second spare bedroom for me to crash in. It was fantastic, because I got to roll around on a queen sized bed all by my buggery lone self - and the boys did not catch my cold which they for sure would have otherwise. Can you imagine a hotel doing that? Not likely... 

Reason #5

On one of our most recent bnb stays, we found ourselves in the outskirts of Auckland. One of those subdivisions that seem to spring up overnight type neigbourhoods. The kind where the normal, everyday people live. 

Our host was, once again, beyond wonderful. A natural born entertainer and one of the most genuinely nice persons I have ever come across, but that is only part of the story here.

 

On the walk to a park one afternoon, we came across a man with his 2 year old daughter. Hudson was captivated. We made a little small talk. He picked up on our "accent" -we explained our story. The next morning Karl and Hudson walked past the same man's house on their way back to the park. 

"Hey Canada!" 

"Want to go fishing with me?" 

This wasn't a "I own a boat and I normally charge people hundreds of dollars an hour to go fishing but for you I will do it for a "special" price" invitation. This was the "I live here, and sometimes I go fishing with my buddies, and I thought you could use a break from you wife would like to come along" invitation. 

So Karl went. He got sea sick, caught some fish, got to do a little male bonding. 

On Sunday morning we stopped in again to thank Parvin for the 12 Red Snapper fillets that were delivered to our hosts home, de-skinned and de-boned, while we were out. We were asked to stay for coffee. Hudson got a chocolate Easter bunny on our way out. It was kind of like visiting friends back at home. 

When we started planning this trip, we had never even heard of airbnb. Actually, the girl who came over to sell us our "sell your home on your own" package suggested it to us. For those of you who will no click through on the link, let me (briefly) explain. Airbnb is a site that puts together travelers with people who are willing to rent out spare rooms in their homes. If you are not cool with sharing a living room with a stranger, they have listings for self-contained spaces as well. You can rent entire homes. Houseboats in Amsterdam. A tree house in Seattle. A yurt in Hawai'i.

When we booked our first stay, we were looking for a roof over our heads. The Hilton was not in our budget, and staying at a backpacker with a 3 year old did not appeal to us. So we tried this instead.

We are hooked.

It's not only that we have gotten to stay at some pretty amazing places (often for a fraction of what a hotel room would cost), we have gotten to meet a whole lot of really amazing people. And for us, that's been the most valuable part of the whole experience.

I am not trying to convince you to book your holiday this way. I guess what I am trying to do is say one massive "THANK YOU" to all those wonderful people we have stayed with thus far. You've made this vacation truly special!

Cheers,
M

Art for Everyone - (and another postcard contest)

For the past 5 days now, we have been hanging out in Auckland. It probably does not come as much of a surprise for you to know that I am thoroughly enjoying city life.  It may surprise you a little more (as it does me) to know that "my guys" are enjoying it as much as I am, and that visiting cities with a toddler is actually a lot of fun. 

A couple of days ago we spent the whole afternoon at the Auckland Art Gallery.  The picture above is from inside one of the galleries installations, and as you can tell, Hudson is quite keen about art : )

Visiting the gallery on a Saturday was a smart move on our part because the place was teeming with children, and child friendly activities were put on throughout the day. Some of them, like the "I Spy" tour were probably meant for slightly older children so we skipped that one, but we did get to hang out with the Pacifica Mamas and Hudson (with some help from mommy and one of the "Mamas") made his very own piece of "Maori inspired" jewelry.

  
 Karl on the other hand kept busy by snapping pictures of the actual building that houses the gallery.
 (And earlier that day of the train station. And before that of some of the homes in the neighbourhood where we are currently staying. And before that of the home we are staying in. It would seem that this trip has brought out somewhat of an architecture appreciator in Karl. He's even started a separate folder on the hard drive for "house ideas". The families we have been staying with must find us a bit peculiar, because we have been taking pictures of anything and everything - from switch plate covers to kitchen islands, ironing board cupboards to patio doors. Some of the homes we have been staying in have been fantastically thought out - the last place we stayed in won a award in its category, which does not surprise me the least bit. Have you ever considered matching your drawer pulls to the fridge door handle? Our last host did, and I will too next time we re-do a kitchen. It's subtle, but man does it ever make a difference in the overall "look". But.... I digress....)

Back to being smitten by the Art Gallery...

Do you know what it costs to visit the AGO in Toronto these days?  - $19.50 a person! And that's just the general admission.

Do you know what it costs to visit the gallery in Auckland? As little or as much as you would like. If you want to see the special exhibit on right now, there is a set price but the rest of the gallery is accessible to everyone! (Did I mention there is also a free bus that takes you to the gallery from the main transit station !?!) It's quite extensive too, both in the number of pieces they showcase and in the variety of art on display.
 
It's not just the Art Gallery in Auckland, either. Entry to the Museum here, the Te Papa in Wellington, the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch (I am sure there is many more, but we have actually been to all these so I can say that for certain - all are by donation. Which I think is the way it should be.
I believe that it is/should be the mandate of city museums and galleries to try to reach and engage as much of the general public as possible. Charging $20.00 for admission - you are keeping out a huge segment of the population. Cementing the unfortunate adage that "art is not accessible". (How did this post turn into a rant? I really did not mean for it to become one).

We have been to a whole lot of museums and galleries on this trip. I try to make a point of going whenever we are in a city/town longer then a couple of days. Everywhere we have been thus far, admissions have been considerably lower (if there is an admission fee at all) then those we are used to paying in Canada. I wonder why that is so. 

In the interest of ending this post on a positive note, I have decided to turn it into a postcard contest since we haven't done one for a while. Thus; 

In the comments section, please let us know what your (and your families) favourite museum/ gallery is and why. We will then randomly select a lucky someone to send a postcard to. If you leave a comment and also "follow" our blog or "like" us on Facebook, we will throw your name into hat one more time for an extra chance. (It takes up a lot of my "free" time to keep this blog going, so knowing you are reading is much appreciated). Oh yes, and you have until a week from today - so Sunday April 8 to get your comments in to be put into the draw!

Cheers,
M