I really love these shoes, partially because they would pop my Zara cherry but mostly because they were green suede. But would I ever really wear them? Probably not. And wear them with what? Who knows. But do I love them? Yes. And do they make me feel all pretty and worth a million bucks? Yes :) Ladies if you feel me say hell yes!...

So if I feel a million bucks and paid only a hundred dollars then I'm obviously getting a bargain. It's a no brainer! But in the interest of happy relationships, they are currently in shopping limbo. You know shopping limbo right? It's when you (and by you I mean me) try and be non-impulsive and wait. Good things come to those who wait and I should not give myself into every pretty pair of shoes I see.

Every morning for the last few weeks in Bahrain I was able to say with a smile "Another beautiful sunny day in Bahrain!" :) My daily mood has always been severely weather dependant and back at home I was a self confessed devotee of www.bom.gov.au.

On a cloudy, overcast day in Melbourne I would feel neutral and indifferent, sunny with blue sky I would be super smiley and if it were rainy and miserable I would most definitely be grumpy. And! Given the multitude of weather possibilities in Melbourne hence our infamous "four seasons in a day" tag, some days I was somewhat unhinged lol...

In all our research we only ever came across how stinking hot it was going to be in Bahrain but contrary to popular belief it isn't actually that hot here (for the moment anyway). They have two seasons consisting of summer and winter, in the summer months (Jun - Sept) the weather is hot with high humidity being mostly high 30's all the time, they say you cannot even walk outside it is that hot. During the winter season, which is right now (Dec-Mar), the climate is cooler, a nice sunny 23 deg C very comfortable and more importantly consistent!

Before we left we had joked about how you can get everything over here bar rain lol (thanks Anf) it's pronounced Ba-ha-rain anyway, the joke still has merit-ish :)

Anyway, we experienced rain yesterday! Well sort of, it started spitting but the drops were so tiny, I guess they were evaporating on impact. And we drove through a sand storm too, when it gets windy here it just picks up all the sand and you really can't see a thing.

This weather report was brought to you by Ari & Linda :)

I like holding Ari's hand... I believe this is a well known fact, yes we are one of those couples who'll make you cringe, perhaps upset your tummy, maybe even make you throw up a bit in your mouth with the amount of public affection we display lol it's just the way we roll!

We did do the appropriate amount of research before leaving to see whether this was going to be acceptable or not. After reading a few (unverified) sources, one of which claimed a woman was thrown into the back of a divvy van never to be seen again, we decided it would be best to keep our hands to ourselves in public. Not fun and surprisingly difficult...

Over the first several days in Bahrain, Ari refused to hold my hand as we considered it the safest thing to do. It was so awful, there's an episode of HIMYM where Marshall says "What do I do with my hands? I don't know what to do with my hands!", it was exactly like that.

And just as I was coming to grips with the harsh reality of not ever holding Ari's hands again in public through fears of probable persecution, we spotted a couple in local dress holding hands! Thank heavens! And the more we sought it out, the more couples there were with interlocked arms and that were hand in hand.

Our conclusions are that the majority of people who hold hands are:

1. Parents and children, this one is obvious so the little critters don't get lost.
2. Young couples, like Ari and myself.
3. Old couples, yep the grandmas and pas :)

I'm a big advocate for hand holding, mostly due to childhood fears of getting lost (see point 1) and crossing the road (which I am now perfectly capable of doing without holding hands but still prefer it lol). I know a lot of couples who don't hold hands and I guess it comes down to personal preference at the end of the day.

So, everything is normal in Bahrain, Ari and I hold hands on a regular basis in public however, he definitely doesn't kiss me in public.. yet! lol

I was completely shattered at the thought of not eating pork ever again, it's one of my most cherished meats.

Now, this is not intended to be forum to debate which is the best meat (to my darling Ari, it's lamb hands down and I don't want to bring up that heated discussion again lol) nor am I meaning to offend/make uncomfortable our vegetarian and non-pork readership. It's purely about my love for a bit of pork on my fork. And! We found it, hoorah!

We were told that there were a few supermarkets with special pork sections that we could get our salami, ham, pork sausages and beloved bacon...

I was surprised at my own excitement levels when we found it, kind of felt like we were in a local deli back at home and it's comforting in a way. We also found Tim Tams (made in Australia), totally awesome!

I'm still not convinced that the surplus in properties for rent in Bahrain is a good thing. On one hand we are spoiled for choice and the prices are quite competitive (still expensive relative to Australia) but on the other it makes it so difficult to choose and we are being very particular since we've seen everything.




Basically, our criteria came down to:
1. Floor plan, in particular quality of bathroom and kitchen
2. On site facilities e.g. pool, gym, theatre room
3. Location relative to the Saudi causeway (the bridge which takes Ari to work)
4. Convenience of amenities e.g. supermarket, restaurants

We have a shortlist and will make the final call in the next few days! Wish us luck :)

It was completely accidental that I booked us business class fares to Nha Trang (oops!), luckily though it didn't break the bank since it was such a short flight. Fittingly, this began the luxury leg of our trip and doesn't Ari look comfortable :)

Nha Trang is a beautiful coastal city located a short hours flight from Saigon. The best thing about our stay was the gorgeous hotel with panoramic views of the ocean and island surroundings, the lovely Michelia Hotel.

Excuse the plug but I must make mention of www.booking.com which helped make our holiday possible. Seriously the most quick and easy way to find a bed anywhere to suit your needs - and I'm totally not being paid for saying that, though I wish I were lol...

Now some may refer to the term "underground" as a wild boozy night out in Melbourne (Oh, good times!) but in Saigon, I mean literally under the ground. Ari and I took a half day guided tour to visit the Cu Chi tunnels, a region hosting much bloodshed and conflict during the Vietnam war.

We didn't do many touristy things in Saigon, mostly lots of eating, getting full body massages and planning the remainder of our trip. We decided against booking a prepackaged tour so that we could have some flexibility in how we spent our time... Basically we were too lazy to sort it out beforehand so we winged it :)
One of the few things we did see was a traditional water puppet show. Although it was in Vietnamese, I couldn't understand what they were saying much to Ari's disappointment but it was clever and impressive nonetheless...

I'd definitely suggest get seats a few rows back unless you are prepared to get wet!



We also got a chance to visit my mum's side of the family which was awesome. As per most family reunions, they were obsessed with feeding us, so we ate at the restaurant beside aunty 7's house. Mr Hoang and his specialty game meats and my favourite okra and morning glory with preserved tofu sauce.Yum!

My darling grandmother made the trip especially from the country to visit, she humoured Ari with conversations in Vietnamese, touched him and petted his head the whole time lol it was very sweet to watch.


My aunts were nice enough to take us back to our hotel on scooters. As you can see Ari completely dwarfs aunty 10 on the bike lol when they were in front of us the only one I could see was Ari :)