KhanhLy's VirtualTourist Home Page

for a while. Had ACL reconstruction surgery in mid-January and it's going to be a long 6 months recovery.

BUT, I do so much want to go to Ha Dong next year. Found out that we have a family temple there - out in the middle of a field. I asked my mother how does she knows how to find it. She said that she had to visit some of her aunts and they arranged for a car to take her there. I love this kind of stuff. Mom said that she remembered when the French came and they all hid and they put the family dog in the temple house. He was barking like crazy so the French shot at the wood door but it was so thick that the bullets did not go through. That door on the family temple is over 100+ year old and she said it was as perfect as she remembered it. The wood healed over the bullets and they are still in the door.

Possibly a trip with my family to San Francisco or Grand Canyon (hiking? I dunno with my knee) later this summer.

They were in Hanoi and Halong Bay - I guess this summer. Wonder if the went to Saigon?

Nat King Cole sure knows what he was talking about.
Well, I just got back from beautiful historic Charleston, SC and an exhausting trip to Walt Disney World with the kids! I' m too old for it. My knees are killing me. i will post pictures soon.
... You'll wish that summer could always be here.

In November 2004, I happened on this website by accident, researching for my FIRST trip returning to Vietnam.

I have been saying for years that I was going to go back to Vietnam to visit my relatives. It took the death of my nanny before I finally made the trip. I wished I could have seen her. She was the one person I really really wanted to see. She had cancer and did not make it.

For chi Huong, thank you for bringing me back to my homeland. I felt right at home. I will treasure this trip in my heart forever. I wished I had done it sooner. I missed you...

As if I have time for hobbies. But they are stress relievers. I love gardening. Both my parents have green thumbs, especially my mother. She can make anything grow. Must be an Asian thing. :) I have been asking for an arbor for years now, and finally got it 2 summers ago. So last year, I started planting roses. I love unusual plants. My favorite plant is "Bouganvillea". It reminds me of my childhood - visiting my grandmother in Tan Son Nhat. She had this swing outside and it sat right under a HUGE red Bouganville (hoa giay) plant. But right now, I'm starting a 'plumeria' collection. I have a yellow one, but is waiting to see if a pink one will root.

I also love to paint. I'm not a great painter, but I can paint a few flowers and landscape stuff - nothing fancy. I can even do a Matisse knock-off. My dream someday is to have a shack on the beach with a screened-in porch. To be able to sleep late, wake up to the smell of the ocean, and paint at my leisure. May be I will take up watercolor. In high school, I had a friend with an old oceanfront beach house. We used to sleep in the porch. I love falling asleep to the sound of lapping waves and waking up to the smell of the salt water.