Previously on the Real Housewives of Laos...

Wow! What's been happening in Laos, hey? Like, soooo much!

Actually quite a lot, which has made me a little el-slacko on this thing. So, I thought I'd re-cap some highlights of the past week or so.

Afternoon tuk tuk-ing <3

House and car:
We have found both! Picking up our little Kia tomorrow and at the same time learning to drive in crazy Asian traffic and on the 'wrong' side of the road. Should be fun. Let's hope we don't die. Luckily for me I don't have my driver's license here yet so I have a few weeks of shirking driving responsibility. Unfortunately for Christoph he already has his Lao license so he will be navigating potholes while I pray to god we don't perish in a ten-car-and-scooter-pile-up-of-doom. Vientiane drift!

On the real estate front it looks like we have found a place that we like and doesn't have random babies or gaudy chandeliers in every room. We aren't getting our hopes up just yet as our first experience left us both pretty jaded about the whole getting a house thing, so we'll share more once we have actually moved in. After we've caught up on Game of Thrones. And Mad Men.

I unknowingly ate tripe thinking it was some kind of cabbage. My Lao friend said 'not vegetable' then pointed to her stomach :(

Port Hedland in Laos:
Imagine my surprise when I learned a few weeks before we left Australia that Port Hedland journalist Mark Scott was also moving to Vientiane. Weird or what!? Well Mark is here now and as those who are schooled in the ways of PH do, we got sufficiently sauced last weekend (did you know they sell towers of Beerlao here?) and ended letting some random tuk tuk driver take us to the local 'discotheque'. Upon arrival we realised we were at a full-blown Lao nightclub rubbing shoulders with Vientiane's clubbing elite (think Asian Jersey Shore). The weird thing was no one was dancing and the dance floor was filled with drinks tables that people just rearranged if they wanted space to dance. We migrated towards the only other white people who weren't gross old men and ended up partying with them and a group of very enthusiastic Vietnamese kids who every five minutes would make us all toast our drinks, yell 'hey' and then dance around the table in a conga line. It was really, really fun. Oh and we danced to Psy. And the Harlem Shake. What is happening to us??

We stumbled upon a Lao block party and watched a break dance battle. Amaze!

China!:
So our first Asian adventure is in the works for later this year - we are going to China! I'm a little nervous, I have a feeling I'm going to just walk around shaking my fist at everything and muttering 'China!!' under my breath. I also think I might buy too many knock-off handbags and get arrested coming back into Laos. Here's my China to-do list so far: eat dim sum everyday, also eat duck everyday, see a Panda, visit a flea market, find some cool art. If anyone has any suggestions of cool stuff to add to this - please let me know what to do and where to go. We will be going to Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong.

Jam Fancy shrine on the street.

Tom has been playing football for the Lao Elephants and has signed up to go on a footy trip to Thailand to play teams from Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines, PNG, Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam. He's representing Laos y'all! On a footy trip... to Thailand... oh brother!

I helped out with the install of an photography exhibition fundraiser and somehow ended up as MC for the night. It was veeeeery different from my old gallery but I had a fun time and met some really lovely people and bonus: I think we raised quite a bit of $$ for health and education programs for disadvantaged women and children in Laos. Good cause! I have also been contracted again to do some work for that advertising firm for the next few weeks so that will be keeping me busy until we move in at the end of this month.

Not-so lady of leisure. Wah!