Hi everyone. Well, it's official. I'm now 6 and Lily is 3. I had a two-day birthday bash here in Can Tho and Lily celebrated in Taipei, Taiwan. She even got two cakes since my mom ordered a really cool chocolate one with an elephant on it that we ate in a really cool Japanese restaurant, but then the hotel we stayed at found out it was her birthday and also brought one to our room later that night.

I really loved Taiwan. Even though everything was in Chinese, it seemed easier to figure things out there since it wasn't so hot and things tended to be pretty organized. We roade all over on the subway and tram and they had these cool blue plastic tokens that you magically waved over the gates and they let you in. My favorite part of the trip was Sun Moon Lake. We stayed in this Japanese style hotel with 2 bedrooms and Lily and I slept on tatami mats which are made of straw. We went for two boat rides, and also went to this cool place called Formosa Aboriginal Cultural Village which was sort of like a Taiwanese Disneyland. Wow. It was sad to leave the place. We really fell in love with the place. Plus, I got to wear pants with shoes and socks! Which I never get to wear in Vietnam because it's so hot. SO HOT. I sweat pretty much every day, all day, no matter what I do or don't do. I won't miss that.

It turns out my school here in Can Tho is taking a summer break for the next two weeks, so me and Lily are officially done with school there since we have various trips and things coming up and also we will soon leave Can Tho for good, on June 13th. I have mixed feelings about it. There are things I will miss, like all the great fruit shakes and Yo-Most drinks, but I think I will be ready to get home. When my mom and dad asked me what color our house was at home, I couldn't even remember! That's how long it's been!

Anyway, thanks for the cool presents, Grandpa and Grandpa Rice in Washington, and thanks to my kindergarten class for the card. That was really sweet and made me miss you all a lot.

Tomorrow we head to Saigon and then to Vinh, Vietnam, which is in the north on the coast. My dad has some work presentation there. We travel a lot and my mom and dad said that we are getting pretty good at it, considering we're so little.

love to everyone,

Hudson