(Note: I am no longer blogging here on a regular basis, but will continue to put up my monthly Sentence A Day posts, plus the occasional misc. posting. In that it will be pretty quiet here on the blog as a result, you might wish to follow me on Instagram instead at WestCoastTamara)
The theme for March was apparently Soldier On! in that it started off with a whole boatload of rain-generated stress. However, it got considerable better by month end so, whew, feeling like we dodged a bullet!March In A Sentence A Month
2. Rain in the AM washed out our volunteer shifts at the Whale Festival, but did lighten up enough to enable us to attend a fun wine tasting event in the PM.
3. Sunday services in the AM, errands on the way home, then a quick dinner before heading out to a Sunday night discussion group sponsored by our spiritual congregation.
4. A long day with our contractor and his team . . . walls were opened up to trace source of water leak, which turned out to be the result of missing flashing in the upstairs master bedroom that was added to the house in 1990 . . . the good news is my contractor said he can fix it without it costing a fortune!
5. Made tomato pizza tartlets, which disappeared in about five minutes flat upon my arrival at the Mardi Gras party I made them for!
6. Met with yet another painter to get an estimate on the house, grocery shopping, then attended a book discussion in the PM on this month's read, Go, Went, Gone, about the refugee crisis in Europe . . . . it was a great discussion!
7. A 'normal' retirement day of going to the gym in the AM, working a volunteer shift in the afternoon, then home to make dinner and enjoy a lovely sunset out on our balcony.
8. A little bit late for me, because we didn't know until today whether we'd be able to leave our leaky home, however, after assurances from our contractor that all would be fine, we spent most of the day getting our packing done for our trip to Cambodia and Vietnam . . . we are only taking carry on, but that can actually make packing all the more difficult!
9. Morning hike with my Sat group, then home to greet termite team in order to remediate some of the wood damage our earlier rain leak had revealed, then a dinner of random refrigerator leftovers before heading off to LAX to catch our midnight flight to Taipai, leg one of our trip into Cambodia.
10. Lost somewhere midflight, in that we crossed the international date.
11. An easy layover in Taipei after the first 14 hour leg, then a three hour flight into Phnom Peng, Cambodia, where we were taken to our hotel, checked into our room, and headed out to visit Museum of Cambodia, including a time out to experience the local beer, dinner at a little bodega where we enjoyed more beer (it's so cheap here at $1 a can!) and two $3 bowls of fish and chicken amok, then to our hotel's scenic top floor for swimming and final nightcaps.
12. Toured the beautiful Royal Palace complex, the sobering Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, then to the airport for our very short 30 minute flight into Siam Reap, where we were welcomed with dinner and a traditional Apsara dancing show during which most of us fell asleep. . . late night shows are really not a good idea at this point in the trip! #jetlagisreal
13. Spent the entire hot and humid day touring the unbelievably amazing Ankgor Wat and Ankgor Thomm complexes, plus saw a newborn monkey and mama . . . about dead from exhaustion, but what a day!!!
14. A long but relatively easy day compared to yesterday- a ride in an ox-driven cart, a fascinating boat ride to see the floating villages of Tonle Sap Lake, a visit to the National Museum of Cambodia, then off to the airport to catch our flight into Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where we headed out for late night dinner of $2 Pho the moment we landed . . . Vietnam appears to be even cheaper than Cambodia!
15. Long ride in bus to visit Cu Chi Tunnels Historic Park, which included a painful-to-watch film detailing the war from the perspective of the Vietnamese, a sampling of 'Hootch' post-tour, a fabulous lunch at Pho 2000, where Bill Clinton ate when he was here, much needed naps, then lemon grass and lychee nut cocktails, followed by a walk to dinner at the lovely Tuc.
16. Our first, much needed, slow-morning start of the trip, then off to the airport for our short flight to Dunang, where we stopped to put our feet in the South China Sea at China Beach before heading to the utterly charming and picturesque historic section of Hoi to shop, sitesee, drink the local beer . . . OK, lots of local beer . . . and to enjoy dinner, before checking in to our equally charming hotel.
17. Boat ride on Thu Bon river, stopping at asmall village to shop for hand made wooden items, plus a tour of a traditional home, then off to visit an organic farm, plus learned the art of making Vietnamese pancakes . . . insanely delicious!
18. Left early for Hue, Vietnam, stopping for Vietnamese coffees en route, viewed some scenic oyster farms, a tour of Imperial City, a cyclo ride through the Citadel, then dinner at Y Thao Family Restaurant, where we were serenaded by some of the noisiest frogs we've ever heard!
20. Long day of travel as we left Hue and headed to our Halong Bay hotel via plane and bus.
21. The highlight of the Vietnam segment of this trip - an all day cruise in Halong Bay, including a stop to explore a sea cave . . . wow, wow, wow, even with the floating plastic debris!!!
22. Hanoi touring day, starting off with a walk through the Old Quarter of Hanoi, then a visit to the uber-intersting Museum of Ethnology, a brief stop at the Ho Chi Minh Memorial, lunch at the incredibly fabulous, Anthony Bordein and President Obama visited, Bún chả Hương Liên, followed by a lake walk, a traditional water puppet show, then dinner out with a group of our fellow travelers at the lovely Seasons of Hanoi.
23. Super interesting visit to a traditional Vietnamese village where we observed glass noodles being made, a stop at Thay Pagoda, where we first feasted on Vietnamese sweets (well hubby at least, not me . . . still sugar free!) waiting out a brief rainstorm, lunch afterward at an Italian restaurant (it was nice to have something a little different, plus it was still interpreted Vietnamese style!), back to hotel for a brief rest, then out with the entire group for our farewell dinner at 5 Spice Restaurant.
24. Long, long day of travel, finally reaching home at 7:00 PM PST after 14 hours of flying, five hours of airport layovers, and a 90 minute drive home, at which point we gave each other high fives that our leak appeared to be all fixed, than fell into bed and slept for 10 straight hours.
 |
| Best meal of the trip, and all for about $2.50 per person, including the beer! |
23. Super interesting visit to a traditional Vietnamese village where we observed glass noodles being made, a stop at Thay Pagoda, where we first feasted on Vietnamese sweets (well hubby at least, not me . . . still sugar free!) waiting out a brief rainstorm, lunch afterward at an Italian restaurant (it was nice to have something a little different, plus it was still interpreted Vietnamese style!), back to hotel for a brief rest, then out with the entire group for our farewell dinner at 5 Spice Restaurant.
 |
| Hand made glass noodles stacked and ready for shipping. |
 |
| Loved this picturesque Vietnamese town! |
24. Long, long day of travel, finally reaching home at 7:00 PM PST after 14 hours of flying, five hours of airport layovers, and a 90 minute drive home, at which point we gave each other high fives that our leak appeared to be all fixed, than fell into bed and slept for 10 straight hours.
25. Our handyman stopped in to install closet shelving in our upstairs guest master bedroom, plus prepped our outside concrete block walls for painting in April, and the moment he left I fell back into bed for a nap . . . jet lag is real!
26. Slept from 2:30 AM - 8:30 AM, so I missed my AM hike, but did manage to make my afternoon volunteer commitment in San Clemente.
26. Slept from 2:30 AM - 8:30 AM, so I missed my AM hike, but did manage to make my afternoon volunteer commitment in San Clemente.
27. Overslept again after not falling asleep until 2:00 AM, meaning I missed an AM dermatology appointment, oye vey, but did manage to make it to the grocery store to stock up on the necessary items for Saturday night's big Italian dinner party event.
28. Overslept again, but did manage to make it to the harbor in the afternoon for my volunteer assignment . . . have I mentioned how miserable the return leg jet lag always is for me?
29. Attended Jazz Night at the harbor, which started with sparkling wine, moved onto wine and small bites from a variety of local restaurants, then concluded with a charity auction and lots of smooth jazz featuring the amazing Michael Paulo among others . . . such a fun, fun night!
30. Morning beach walk with my Saturday group (it was a gorgeous morning) . . .
. . . then lots of cooking and prepping for tonight's Italian-themed fund raiser dinner - tomato tartlets, bruschetta, Caesar salad, mushroom lemon risotto, garlic bread, Italian cookies, and tiramisu, plus lots and lots of Italian wine . . . the party lasted until 11:00 PM!
31. Sunday morning spiritual services, shopping errands on the way home (seriously, I need the hubby with me to find the motivation to step into a store these days!), then an afternoon of nada after last night's big event, and then leftovers for dinner.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
And so went March. Looking ahead to April, there'll be lots of wine tasting events, retro live music performances, time with the granddaughters, and, hopefully, a freshly painted house exterior!
