The warm humid air that welcomes you when you step out of a plane, I will never get enough of it. Maybe someday I will have the same feeling going to a country with a totally opposite climate but for now that’s one of the main reasons I go to Asia every year.

Ho Chi Minh city is by far the largest and busiest city in Vietnam. The main means of transport is the scooter and everybody has one. On almost every street corner you will find a scooter shop of some kind, it’s a booming business!

What’s remarkable is that you will see a whole family of three riding on one scooter with both parents wearing a helmet but not the child. I am talking small children even babies!

It’s also very challenging to cross the streets, there are hardly any traffic lights so you have to know what you are doing, take a chance and adapt or you will be standing forever on the other side of the street.

First thing on my to do list when visiting a new city is to drop by the local street market, there is something about markets that I find so authentic. Among the variety of different stands I ordered an exotic fresh fruit drink made out of sugarcane and orange juice, it was delicious.

I couldn’t spend a full day in Ho Chi Minh City because my flight got rescheduled, it was time to hit the golden beaches of Da Nang.

The flight was only an hour short so I still had the entire afternoon ahead of me. First thing I did when arriving at my accommodation, the beautiful Hyatt Regency resort, was to quickly put on my new Shiwi bikini. It was so warm I couldn’t wait to take a dip in the pool or the sea. Options, options. I took a look in the mirror and to my surprise my body wasn’t as bikini proof as I thought it would be. Ok maybe I am not being totally honest here, I did try and make an effort by starting to cut out sugar and drinking 2 liters of water per day, I also had big plans to go to the gym, but in the end all I did was take one Pilates class which I hated (I am more of a Zumba person). On top of it all, the last two weeks before the trip I started having ‘cheat’ days like every single day. So uh yeah that didn’t help. That my body is not what I expected it to be I only have myself to thank for and now that I am already here I am not even going to stress it, I am here to relax and eat as much Asian delights as I want. I will give it another try when I am back home. Pinky promise. So for now what you see is the real deal, no photoshop, because at the end of the day I am just human right?

 Shiwi bikini www.shiwi.com/ Small rings www.monocrafft.com /Flash tattoo www.flash-tattoo-by-think-imaginary.com