Tag: food

Ramblings

Thailand

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The last leg of our month-long SE Asia trip was to Bangkok, Thailand. Since we had been bouncing around Vietnam and Cambodia the past few weeks, we decided to station ourselves in Bangkok for the remainder of our trip. Bangkok is one of my favorite cities in the world. There is a special vibe and energy that that’s both comforting and thrilling. There is just so much to do, see, and eat! This is my third time there, and my feelings about the Bangkok remain the same.

It would be negligent to visit Thailand and not eat to our heart’s content. 😊 We love Thai food but as with Vietnamese food, Taipei unfortunately doesn’t have a lot of authentic Thai restaurants and we sorely miss it.

We spent the week in Bangkok eating and eating and eating. Probably gained a few pounds from this trip but boy, was it worth it!

The food prices in Bangkok were not as cheap as Vietnam’s, but more on par with Taipei’s (about $25-$30 for a casual meal for family of four). However, you can also easily find street food that’s much cheaper.

Another “must” when visiting Thailand is getting a Thai massage. Since we didn’t have anyone to watch the boys, Baba stayed at the Airbnb with them while I went to get a 1.5 hour massage. It was a relaxing experience, but not as joint-cracking as I remembered (and hoped for) 😂. At $30, the massage was on the higher-end but still very reasonable compared to the US.

Sightseeing around Bangkok: Chinatown (incredibly chaotic but in a good way!), Icon Siam (the biggest, most fabulous mall in Bangkok), and Wat Arun Temple.

Around the second or third day into the trip, Baba started experiencing GI issues. (We suspect it may have been all that coconut cream from the mounds of Mango Sticky Rice he ate.) So, I decided to book a last-minute Thai cooking class with C, my boy who lives to eat.

We had a total blast!! The class started off at a local wet market, where our teacher showed what some common ingredients are in Thai cooking. We went back to the cooking school via tuk-tuk and cooked four amazing dishes: Tom Yum Goong, Pad Thai, Massaman Curry and Mango Sticky Rice. Every dish was restaurant-quality and surprisingly easy to make! Then again, not having to source ingredients and clean up after ourselves makes a huge difference too 😅.

As the week went on, C caught another stomach bug. 😣 (Or maybe he never fully healed from the last bug in Vietnam?) With two men down, O and I went sightseeing at the Grand Palace and Wat Pho (Reclining Buddha Temple) by ourselves. I remember seeing these grand, opulent temples for the first time 20 years ago and feeling my jaw drop to the floor. It was moving to see O reacting the same way when he laid eyes on the Grand Palace, and I was reminded why we take these trips with our kids.

And that completes our whirlwind trip in SE Asia! Thankfully, Baba and C recovered from their illnesses before we flew back to Taipei. We even got to sneak in some delicious food (but with extra caution) on our last day. We got back to Taipei in the evening and the boys had school the very next morning 😅. Even after a month-long vacation, they whined and wished they could stay in SE Asia a while longer. But you know what? I felt the same way.

Ramblings

Vietnam

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Hello, it’s been awhile!

But I have an excuse. We had been traveling around SE Asia over the boys’ winter break, visiting 3 countries and 8 cities in 4 weeks. We had such an amazing time there, and surprisingly didn’t find the trip exhausting at all. SE Asia is one of my favorite regions in the world.

I’ve been wanting to visit Vietnam for some time. Baba and I both have connections there, with his parents and siblings being born in Vietnam and my family having lived there for many years. I’ve also been enticed by pictures on social media of the beautiful nature and landscapes around the country. But most of all, we absolutely love Vietnamese food and have been missing it since we moved to Taiwan (the Vietnamese food here is lackluster).

We visited Vietnam from north to south – first Hanoi, then Ha Long Bay, Hoi An, Da Nang and finally Ho Chi Minh City.

Hanoi. Despite the terrible air pollution and nonsensical traffic, we loved Hanoi! I don’t know if it’s because Hanoi was the first place we visited, but the city has that old-world charm that makes you feel like you’ve stepped back in time, with its narrow streets, cozy cafes and roadside restaurants complete with the quintessential small, plastic stools. We stayed in the Old Quarter; most things were within walking distance and every corner had something to be discovered.

The food in Hanoi was also amazing. People have told me northern Vietnamese food is pretty bland but we didn’t think that at all. I don’t think we had one bad meal there, and of course everything is so, so affordable. Our meals were usually around $8-$10 for a family of four. 😱

During our stay in Hanoi, we also booked a day trip to Ninh Binh, a city in the countryside with calm rivers flanked by stunning limestone mountains and caves. It was so scenic! After the boat tour, we hiked to Hang Mua Cave and climbed up the Ngoa Long (Lying Dragon Mountain). The hike was all stairs so it was definitely a work out!

Ha Long Bay. We left Hanoi and took a 2 hour bus ride to Cat Ba Island, a gateway to Ha Long Bay. Originally, we wanted to go on a 2-night cruise to Ha Long Bay but the atrocious prices and lukewarm reviews turned us off. So, Baba found a more economical alternative: stay in Cat Ba Island for 2 nights and book a day cruise to the bay. 🙂

There wasn’t much to do on Cat Ba Island (although the tourism department is trying to build it into a resort town) and the food was mediocre. But we had a wonderful day cruise around Ha Long Bay – the views were beautiful and we got a chance to do some water activities even though the water was freezing. Our tour operator was Cat Ba Express and they were great. They seamlessly organized the cruise and transportation to/from Hanoi.

Hoi An. After Ha Long Bay, we flew to central Vietnam which included Hoi An. Hoi An is an incredibly picturesque city and has become one of Vietnam’s most Instagram-able place.

Hoi An is a very small city so after one day of sightseeing, we were pretty much done. There were so many tourists in the main part of Hoi An that at times it felt like a commercialized tourist trap. The streets were lined with shops selling souvenirs or tourist “experiences” like the lantern release on the river (which we ended up doing anyway 😅).

Nonetheless, we ate some good comfort food in Hoi An like bánh mì (including the shop that Anthony Bourdain visited!), and dishes native to central Vietnam that we’ve never had before, like mì quảng and cao lầu.

Da Nang. Da Nang is just a one hour drive from Hoi An. We only stayed here for 2 nights, but wished we stayed longer because it turned out to be one of our favorite places in Vietnam.

There are two sides to Da Nang. We stayed at the “resort” side, which was next to a really nice beach and tourist-friendly shops and restaurants. The boys loved the beach here and kept wanting to stay. (Taipei has no nearby beaches so the boys miss it immensely.)

We thought that was all of Da Nang until we did a Google search and realized there’s another part to the city over the bridge. A part that is a bit grittier and more frenzied, but with much more authentic, delicious food and interesting sites. We loved this part of Da Nang the best and had some of the best bánh xèo of our lives here!

Before leaving Da Nang, we also spent a few hours visiting Marble Mountain, a cluster of five limestone and marble hills/caves. It was a nice break from the usual cityscape.

Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City is the most modern city in Vietnam, with wide boulevards, upscale shopping, and international cuisine. But HCMC is also incredibly vast and scattered. Even though we stayed in District 1 (where most tourists stay), it took us a long time to walk to places or we’d have to take a taxi, and many of the restaurants we wanted to visit were a 20-30 minute car ride away.

We heard that HCMC has the best food in Vietnam but thought the food was average (except for 1 or two dishes), at least compared to what we had in Hanoi and Da Nang. Maybe we went to the wrong places?

The highlight of our visit to HCMC was going to Cu Chi Tunnels and War Remnants Museum. We visited the museum one day, then booked a day tour to Cu Chi Tunnels the day after. They were the perfect complement for learning all about the Vietnam War. The Cu Chi Tunnels were a vast network of secret tunnels that the Vietcong soldiers used to combat the Americans. The living conditions for Vietcong soldiers during that time were terrible; many had to eat rats and snakes while in hiding, and had to live alongside dead bodies in the tunnels.

To accommodate tourists, the tunnels today are built three times larger than the original and equipped with lighting and air conditioning. This is crazy to me because I was already feeling hot and tired after a short trip through the tunnels. 😅 It was incredibly humbling to experience what people’s lives were like only 50 years ago. We discussed the war and Cu Chi Tunnels for days after – so much better than just learning about it in school!

We spent a total of 18 days in Vietnam. This was my first time there, but I strangely felt connected to the place. Perhaps it was the familiar smells, tastes and sounds that reminded me of my upbringing, which was heavily influenced by my parents’ time in Vietnam. For the first time, I wondered what my parents’ life was like there, and what our lives would be like if they never left.

I loved the craziness, familiarity, and of course the food in Vietnam. I can only hope to go back one day.

Ramblings

Volunteering in Taiwan

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I’ve always enjoyed volunteering. It’s a great way to spend time with the family while doing something good, often doesn’t require a huge time commitment, and you get to meet interesting people.

I already knew I wanted to volunteer in Taiwan somehow before moving here. The trouble was finding organizations that speak some English and could accommodate children. I scoped out some non-profits on social media and found two organizations: SALT Collectiv and Mary’s Doggies.

SALT was founded by a group of foreigners living in Taiwan who strive to feed the homeless (among other initiatives). When I first told the boys about SALT, they couldn’t believe there were homeless people in Taiwan. While definitely not as common as in SF, there are indeed homeless people in Taiwan! We want the boys to realize that regardless of where you are, there will always be marginalized people who need help.

At SALT events, we write encouraging notes and prepare 100 bento boxes, which we distribute to the homeless at Taipei Main Station. We’ve participated in 5 or 6 events now and surprisingly, the boys really enjoy it – even O, who normally hates being near the kitchen. 😂 The boys also donated some of their own money to SALT’s fundraiser this year. SALT events can be pretty tiring for Baba and me (they usually take 4-5 hours) but seeing the boys wanting to help others makes it worthwhile.

Mary’s Doggies is an organization that rehabilitates abandoned and abused dogs and prepares them for adoption. I’ve participated in several of their volunteer events like dog walking and socializing dogs, but most events were on school days so the boys couldn’t join. (Or when an event was on a weekend, it was too hot. Weather in Taipei is unfortunately not conducive to outdoor activities.)

But now that the weather has somewhat cooled down, I was able to sign us up for a weekend dog walking event. Many of the dogs are extremely timid, so it took some time for them to get used to us. We played with and walked 3 dogs for about an hour. Like me, C and O love dogs so this was a wonderful way for us to get our dog fix while helping to socialize them.

Other than volunteering with these organizations, Baba and I continue to volunteer at the boys’ school. Baba still volunteers as a crossing guard and this year, I’m volunteering as a “school lunch taste tester.” 😂 There is really such a thing!

Unlike the US, public schools in Taiwan take nutrition in lunches very seriously. They invite parents to taste the lunch and then fill out a form where you detail whether the food is too salty or not salty enough, too fibrous, too soft, etc. You also have to take photos of the food and upload them along with the completed form to a central system.

I find this fascinating as it’s so different than in the US. The lunches are pretty good too! The food is not unlike the simple mom-and-pop restaurants in Taipei. There’s always some kind of protein, carb, lots of vegetables, soup and fruit. Lunches aren’t free though – families have to pay $2 per meal but I’d still say it’s a good deal!

Ramblings

Malaysia

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The boys made it through one semester of public school in Taiwan! I’ll post about our school experience at a later time, but for now I wanted to write about our trip to Malaysia during winter break or 寒假.

Some people asked if we have plans to go back to SF during our stay in Taiwan. Honestly, unless something urgent comes up we don’t plan to travel back home. Our time in Taiwan is limited and there is SO much to see and experience, not only in Taiwan but in Asia! We are also constrained by the boys’ school schedule and there aren’t many breaks during the school year aside from winter and summer vacation.

This winter break, we decided to travel to Malaysia. I went on a tour 20 years ago (!!!) and stayed in Malaysia for only 2-3 days. This time around, I wanted to experience it with Baba and the boys on our own terms. I was intrigued by Malaysia’s diversity and delicious street food. We went to two places in Malaysia: Penang and Kuala Lumpur, for a total of 9 days.

Penang. Penang is a state in Malaysia that consists of two parts. We stayed on Penang Island, specifically in Georgetown, the state capital. Georgetown is charming city known for its colonial style architecture, street art and street food. Our hotel was in the heart of Little India, which is an incredibly vibrant, colorful, and at times, super noisy neighborhood!

The quaint architecture of Georgetown.

One of the highlights of Georgetown is the street art. The art is scattered around town, so we spent half a day trying to track them down. The most famous artwork is by a Lithuanian artist named Ernest Zacharevic, who incorporates 3D aspects to his art. We had a lot of fun thinking of ways to interact with them!

Penang is also known for its street food, and it did not disappoint! We loved the diversity, intensity of flavors, and of course the price. We already think food in Taiwan is cheap but you can’t beat the prices in Southeast Asia. Many dishes in Penang were about $2-$3, and there were times when we had a whole family dinner for less than $15.

Food in Malaysia is influenced by so many cultures – Chinese, Malay, Singapore, Indian – and you can often taste the influences in each dish. Baba and I especially loved all the spice, something that we miss in Taiwan. (Taiwanese food tends to be on the milder side.) Our favorite dishes were Char Kuey Teow which is similar to Chinese fried rice noodles, and Asam Laksa, a tangy, spicy noodle soup. But seriously, even random food stalls we found had delicious food!

Admittedly, Penang doesn’t have a lot of “must-see” sites, but one place on our list was the Kek Lok Si Temple. It’s the largest Buddhist temple complex in Malaysia, filled with countless statues, pagodas, and pavilions. It’s so big that it’s impossible to capture the whole complex in one shot. Kek Lok Si sits on top of a hill, and seeing it from afar is even more awe-inspiring. The entire temple also lights up at night which we didn’t get to see; I can imagine it looking magical!

Kuala Lumpur. After 4 days in Penang, we took a ferry to Buttersworth, where we caught a train to Kuala Lumpur. The train ride took 4 hours.

Kuala Lumpur (or KL as the locals call it) is a massive, chaotic city, making it challenging for pedestrians to navigate. Crossing the streets was an ordeal – you’d either have to scramble across the street because there are no street lights, or track down an overpass like the below. This would sometimes add 10-15 minutes to our commute, which wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the heat.

The subway and bus system isn’t as comprehensive as Taipei’s either, so we would often walk or hail a ride through Grab, SE Asia’s version of Uber. Grab rides are super cheap – rides were typically $2-$3. Even a 45 minute ride to the airport was less than $20! I highly recommend downloading Grab if you’re traveling in SE Asia.

Now for the positives of KL. 😊 Like Penang, KL is super diverse and that’s reflected in its delicious food. There is a large Cantonese and Indian population so we ate all the dim sum and Indian food we sorely miss since moving to Taiwan. Our favorite restaurant in KL was probably Mollagaa, an South Indian restaurant serving everything from curries to banana leaf rice. It was so good we went back twice!

Overall, the food in KL was very good and cheap. You can eat like royalty here without breaking the bank.

A favorite pastime of ours when traveling if visiting wet markets. The ones in SE Asia are the best because they have the most interesting and exotic fruits and vegetables. We ate so much mangosteen and jackfruit here (fruits that are relatively hard to find in Taiwan). We also discovered a new fruit: snake fruit, or salak. It’s native to Indonesia/Malaysia and has a mild sour taste with a crunchy texture. Not one of my personal favorites, but it’s always fun discovering new fruits.

Speaking of exotic fruits, Malaysia is obsessed with durian (and so are we!). They have their own varieties of durian – 24 of them! – with the most popular being Musang King. Malaysia durian is creamy, sweet, with a slight bitter taste. Even though Thailand is the biggest exporter of durian, Malaysia is known to have the best tasting. There are cafes and restaurants throughout KL dedicated to just durian! I think we probably ate one a day. 😋

Although it may seem otherwise, our trip wasn’t just about eating. 😅 We did some sight-seeing too! One of the most stunning sites we visited was Batu Caves just outside KL. The Batu Caves is a large Hindu temple complex guarded by the monumental statue of Hindu god Lord Murugan. Next to the statue are 272 colorful steps leading to a limestone cave. Truly a site to behold, Batu Caves is not to missed when visiting KL!

We also visited the Petronas Towers, which I have to say is one of the prettier skyscrapers! They look like shining jewels against the KL skyline. Next is Petaling Street, a bustling street of shops, stalls, and restaurants in the heart of Chinatown. Pictured on the right is the new Merdeka 118, which is currently the second tallest building in the world (after Burj Khalif in Dubai)! It’s sleek and modern, but even though Google says it’s been completed since November 2023 we didn’t see very much activity around it. Maybe it will be open to the public at a later time.

The rest of our time at KL was spent at our Airbnb’s pool and gym, which was probably the boys’ favorite part of the trip. 🙄 We also had access to the building’s infinity pool that had a glass floor looking 35 floors down. I didn’t dare to step on it but did swim over it, ha! This was our first time swimming in an infinity pool!

Malaysia is often overlooked in SE Asia, but if you’re a foodie and looking for a good bang for your buck, then Malaysia is a great place to pop by!

Ramblings

Tainan: A Trip of Gluttony

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(Long overdue post! We went to Tainan back in October 2023 but just now decided to blog about it. 😅)

Tainan is Taiwan’s old capital, and one of Taiwanese people’s favorite vacation spots due to its delicious traditional food and historic architecture. We decided to travel there during Taiwan’s Double Ten Holiday 雙十節, when the boys had a 4 day weekend.

We took Taiwan’s high-speed rail which was super convenient, clean and efficient. After booking our tickets online, we printed them at 7-11. On the day of departure, we took the MRT to Taipei Main Station, which is connected to the high-speed rail. Within 2 hours, we arrived in Tainan!

We stayed in the West Central District of Tainan in a quaint Airbnb located on top of a café. We literally had to walk through the café, go up the stairs to the attic to get to our Airbnb! It was an unusual place to stay but the location was great. A lot of people warned us that we’d need to rent a car to get around, but we never felt the need to because our Airbnb was so central.

Tainan is famous for traditional Taiwanese food, so let’s first talk about the food! As soon as we arrived in Tainan, we hit up several restaurants.

(From left to right, top to bottom)
Danzai Noodles 擔仔麵: This is a popular snack in Tainan that’s made with wheat noodles in shrimp broth, garlic and topped with marinated pork. The portion is tiny, so it’s more a snack than a meal. It was delicious and we gobbled both portions up!

Fish Soup and Fried Pork Over Rice: After eating 擔仔麵, we came across this simple restaurant owned by a sweet old lady. We ordered a fish soup and fried pork over rice. Both were so simple, yet packed with flavor. It was so good that we ordered a second plate of the fried pork over rice!

Grass Jelly with Taro and Sweet Potato Balls: Baba and the boys love this dessert. Personally, I’m not a big fan of the glutinous texture and mild taste but it’s very popular across Taiwan.

Peanut Shaved Ice 花生刨冰: We noticed a shop selling different kinds of 刨冰, but their most famous was peanut! We grabbed a cup and it was the perfect not-too-sweet and refreshing dessert on a hot night.

The next morning, we had a traditional Tainan breakfast of milkfish congee and braised pork rice 滷肉飯. I’m a huge congee lover, and was really looking forward to eating my favorite comfort food here. But the milkfish was thick and dry, and the rice was not as creamy as I’d like. I still prefer Cantonese style congee.

Later on, we took a long walk to get in line at Wen Zhang 文章牛肉湯, a famous restaurant known for a Tainan staple: beef soup 牛肉湯! We waited in line for 30-40 minutes in the heat, but it was worth it. The soup is very simple – literally beef broth with thin slices of beef – but it’s amazingly flavorful, clean, and comforting, like something your mom or grandma made. Apparently many people in Tainan have this soup for breakfast!

Eel noodles is also a common dish you’ll find in Tainan. We went to a popular hole-in-the-wall restaurant called A Jiang 阿江鱔魚意麵 to try this dish.

They basically have two options: one that’s dry-fried and one with sauce. We ordered both. Visually, these are not the prettiest looking dishes. 😂 But the smoky flavor and wok-hay were amazing. The eel was firm – even a bit crunchy – and marinated well. Personally, I preferred the dry-fried version.

Then, we hopped next door to get another bowl of beef noodle soup and ginger scallion fried beef. The beef soup was not as good as the one we had at Wen Zhang 文章, but it was still good! The ginger scallion beef was delicious – the beef was so tender and flavorful. People in Tainan really know how to cook beef!

The next morning, we had another typical breakfast item in Tainan – sticky rice dumplings 粽子! I thought this was pretty heavy to have for breakfast, but since breakfast is the most important meal for Tainan people, maybe they want something hearty?

We had lunch reservations at A Sha Restaurant 阿霞飯店, which is one of the most famous restaurants in Tainan serving traditional Taiwanese dishes. This is a restaurant that requires reservations and we were lucky we could snag one before we went back to Taipei.

The lunch at A Sha was our priciest meal (about $100 USD), but honestly, it was a little underwhelming. Don’t get me wrong – everything was decent but at that price, I was expecting something more memorable, especially since food is so cheap in Tainan.

Aside from food, Tainan is also famous for its historic buildings and architecture. Here are some places we visited:

Confucius Temple: You could pay extra to go inside other buildings at the temple, but we only walked around the public areas which was more than enough for us to explore!

Anping Old Street: The oldest street in Taiwan, filled with alleys of food stalls and shops. It was fun navigating through the alleyways spotting interesting things to try.

Anping Tree House: Probably my favorite site in Tainan. This was an old Japanese salt warehouse but after 100 years of transformation, the place is now covered in banyan roots. We loved the mystique of the tree house, and it reminded us of Angkor Wat in Cambodia!

Temples: There are beautiful temples big and small sprinkled across Tainan. It was fun to get a glimpse of old Tainan on every street we turned into.

Tainan makes a great weekend trip! It has a more chill, more laid-back vibe than Taipei, with friendly locals, interesting history, and delicious, cheap food.

Ramblings

Porto

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It was hard to leave Spain, but we were also looking forward to visiting Portugal. Portugal has been in the news for being one of the most popular countries Americans flock to, so we were curious about it.

We took a 1-hour flight from Madrid to Porto and stayed here for 4 days. Porto is one of those quintessentially charming European cities, with cobblestone streets, narrow alleyways, and beautiful river views. We also got a reprieve from the intense Madrid heat. Porto’s weather was in the mid low to mid 80s while we were there. This is a major reason why Porto is one of C and O’s favorite cities. 😅

Porto is famous for its bridges. It currently has six bridges across the River Douro, with the most famous one being Ponte Dom Luís I (pictured above). The top level of the bridge is for the metro and the bottom is for cars, but pedestrians can walk on either level.

The food in Porto was delicious, with plentiful, fresh seafood. One of Portugal’s classic dishes is bacalhau (pictured on the far right), which is salted cod. It was tasty when mixed with other ingredients but can be quite intense on its own. The cost for food wasn’t as cheap as Spain; a typical meal costs $15 to $18 per person.

Of course, we also had to try the Portuguese egg tarts (or pasta del nata) while in Portugal! They are filled with an eggy custard with a texture that is similar to crème brulée. The filling is sweeter than the Chinese egg tart, and the crust is an amazingly crispy and layered puff pastry. We munched on these little treats whenever we could.

The Francesinha sandwich is also native to Portugal, specifically from Porto. It is made with layers of bread and meats like steak, ham, bacon. Then, it’s topped with sliced cheese and doused with a tomato and beer sauce. Oh, and it comes with fries too – in case you needed more calories 😏. Honestly, this wasn’t one of our favorite things to eat in Portugal but we had to give it a try.

While in Madrid, we had the idea to send postcards to friends and family back home. We tried to mail postcards from each city we visited, including Porto. It was great for C and O to see what the stamps looked like, and how the post offices operated in each country. (Little did we know that it would take a month for people to receive the postcards, good lord! 😂)

Porto can be a little touristy, but it’s hard to resist its charm and beauty. Thanks for a great time, Porto! 💙

Ramblings

Menú Del Día

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One of the many things we love about Spain is their menú del día (or daily menu). It’s typically served at lunch and consists of a starter, an entree, dessert or coffee, and a drink. Each menú del día costs anywhere from €11 to €18, which is a steal, considering how large the portions are and the price includes all taxes and tips.

We would order three menú del días for the four of us and we always walk away stuffed. You can choose from 3-4 items for each course, and the items are usually pretty fancy!

Starters (from left to right):

Baby squid, lobster/seafood rice, snails and grilled cuttlefish. Some starters could be a meal by themselves!

Entrees (from left to right):

Seafood paella (that’s three portions in the photo), oxtail stew, and grilled squid. The Spaniards make squid so, so well. It’s perfect every time.

Desserts were usually just ok, hence why I didn’t take many pictures. 😅 But we seek out menú del día wherever we go. Can’t miss out on a good deal and good food!

I remember being worried that we wouldn’t be able to adjust to the late meal times in Spain. (Lunch starts at 1pm – 2pm and dinner is at 8pm. Back in SF, we would eat lunch at 11:30am and dinner at 6pm.) But surprisingly, we adjusted within a week. Sometimes we didn’t get hungry for lunch until 2pm! Dinner can be a challenge because we wanted C and O to sleep early. If we went out to eat, we wouldn’t get back home until 9:30pm – 10pm. So, there were times we just bought groceries and cooked dinner at our Airbnb. It can be a nice break from eating out all the time and also getting more vegetables in our bodies!

P.S. We’re actually in Lisbon now, but I’m still catching up on Spain posts!