Honeymoon - Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City, (Saigon)

Our first stop in Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh City, more commonly known as Saigon. Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam and the former capital of South Vietnam. 

Our first sight as we walked off the plane. Yes, the city is very crowded.

rush hour

It is very difficult for the common Vietnamese to buy cars so everyone drives motorbikes.

in front of Thien Hau Pagoda, dedicated to Lady Thien Hau, the sea goddess

in front of Notre-Dame Cathedral in the center of the city

"Hmm... what should we get for dinner tonight, dear?"

food at Ben Thanh Market

Honeymoon - Vietnam - Nha Trang

Our second stop in Vietnam was Nha Trang. The main purpose of this location was for a little R&R, honeymoon style. 

Po Nagar Cham Tower

the fishing harbor in Nha Trang

our beach front villa

the morning stroll to breakfast

our sunset cruise on Nha Trang Bay

Honeymoon - Vietnam - Hoi An

The third stop was Hoi An, a small city on the coast of the South China Sea, in the South Central Coast of Vietnam.

We carried these huge umbrellas wherever we went since it rained for most of the time we were in this city.

silk spinning process at one of the tailor shops

Rain always seems like a good excuse to go shopping. Fortunately for us it gave us plenty of time at "the big" Yaya for all the fitting we needed for our tailor-made clothes. 

Lisa sitting at the desk in our villa emailing family and friends about our trip

a room with a view

Honeymoon - Vietnam - Hanoi

Next stop, Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.

Pagoda in Vietnam with more of a Chinese influence

offering in the Pagoda

When I asked our tour guide about the resemblance to the Absolut Vodka bottle, he had no idea what I was talking about.

rubbing the head of the turtle at the Temple of Literature for good luck

Honeymoon - Vietnam - Halong Bay

The final stop on our honeymoon was to Halong Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site, featuring thousands of limestone island. 

our cabin aboard a traditional Vietnamese boat, called a "junk" 

Shan videotaping on the roof deck of the junk

squid fishing boat

kayaking on the bay

Thien Cung grotto 

Some of the islands are hollow with large caves. Thien Cung is one of the largest.

We're Married!!

April showers brings May flowers and…
LISA AND SHAN’S WEDDING!!!!

May 3 is almost here and we are very excited to see and spend time with each of you.

What to do in New York?
This list could get extremely long as New York has so much to offer, so below is a list of Lisa and Shan’s favorite things:

EAT
Lisa’s Pick: lunch: Penelope, 159 Lexington Avenue, at 30th St., 212-481-3800; dinner: Café at Country, 90 Madison Avenue, at 29th St., 212-889-7100
Shan’s Pick: Bond Street Restaurant, 6 Bond St., 212-777-2500

DRINK
Lisa’s Pick: Flatiron Lounge, 37 W. 19th St., between 5th and 6th Avenues, 212-727-7741
Shan’s Pick: La Bottega at The Maritime Hotel, 363 W. 16th St., between 8th and 9th Avenues, 212-242-4300

After rehearsals on Friday, May 2nd, the wedding party will be going out for a few cocktails. For those interested, after 9:30 p.m. please join us at Valbella, located at 421 W. 13th St. in the meatpacking district.

BUY
Lisa’s Pick: Intermix, 90 Prince St., between Mercer and Greene, 212-966-5303
Shan’s Pick: Saks Fifth Avenue, 12 E. 49th St., 212-644-1704

SEE
Lisa’s Pick: MOMA, 11 W. 53rd St., between 5th and 6th Avenues, 212-708-9400
Shan’s Pick: American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West and 79th St.

DO
Lisa’s Pick: Liberty Helicopter Tours, West 30th St. and 12th Avenue, 212-967-6464, and Tribeca Film Festival
Shan’s Pick: NY Yankee Game and Chelsea Piers, 23rd Street and the Hudson River

Wedding Map

We've created a wedding map to help our guest navigate the weekend. Please click here to view the map online with Google Maps. 

Wedding Update

Around here everyone's busy with wedding plans. Lisa just returned from an extended weekend in New York trying to get all plans finalized as this will be the final trip to NY till the week of the wedding. Over the weekend, Lisa was joined by the ladies for her wedding shower at La Panetiere in Rye. 

The Bachelorette!!

The girls surprised Lisa with a fun and relaxing weekend in West Palm Beach. The weather was beautiful, the drinks strong and the chatter non-stop. Everyone had a great time. Definitely worth all the planning, lying and deceptions. 

The crew: Christina, Jennifer, Laurissa, Lisa, Sarah, Ashley and Jenie (with Rex)

Dressed up in bachelorette party supplies!

Relaxing on the beach, ahh

San Francisco News

Milk

Milk is the current title of the upcoming biopic of Harvey Milk, directed by Gus Van Sant. The film about the assassinated San Francisco city supervisor and gay rights activist stars Sean Penn in the title role. Milk was shot on location in San Francisco, California and the famous Castro Street where Milk's camera shop was located was transformed in January 2008 to more accurately depict the 1970s setting of the film. The film was also shot at a number of other locations in the city, including San Francisco City Hall, Market Street and Duboce Park. Some interior scenes were shot on sound stages at Treasure Island (California). Filming most of the movie in San Francisco was seen by local officials as well as the film's producers as essential given that "Harvey Milk is such a San Francisco story."

http://en./wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_(film)

Below is a picture of a protest scene being filmed on our block right outside the window of our apartment. 

Lisa's Birthday (continued)

When back in San Francisco, we celebrated with some sushi and a fun game night with close friends. Thanks everyone!!

Happy 30th Birthday!!

While in New York we celebrated Lisa, Jenie and Sarah's birthday at Backals.
Thanks to everyone for celebrating with us!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving we had a "Turkey Showdown!"
Team White: Lisa's Dad (and Uncle Frank, jury is still out on his allegiance)
Prepared the Deep Fried Broad Breasted White Turkey

Team Red: Lisa's brother in law, Justin and grandma
Prepared the Bourbon Red Turkey, stuffed and oven roasted

After the votes were counted Team Red was announced the winner even though there is still much debate in regards to the outcome, since 4 voters abstained.

Laurissa and Justin visit San Francisco