One of my favorite things about travel is how quickly the world can change beneath your feet. One minute you’re gliding through quiet emerald waters, the next you’re weaving through traffic, horns blaring—and then suddenly, you’re standing on a pristine Tokyo train platform where everyone knows exactly where to be. Our journey from Vietnam to Japan was exactly that: a wild contrast of peace, chaos, and perfect order.
We spent our last days in Vietnam sailing through the stillness of Halong Bay. The jagged limestone islands rose out of the water like ancient giants, and everything felt hushed. We got quiet, watching the world drift by from the deck of our boat. It was a place where time stretched out, where we could breathe deep and feel the calm settle in. Happy L and Happy A also made friends with two girls from Toronto, Canada.
And then… Hanoi.
The moment we returned to the capital, it was like flipping a switch. The energy hit us head-on. Scooters zipped past in every direction, horns creating an unpredictable symphony. Sidewalks disappeared under food stalls, plastic stools, and the delicious chaos of street life. Crossing the road? A leap of faith (and a little game of human Frogger). We embraced the chaos, squeezing in a last meal of Vietnamese pancakes, our heads still spinning from the constant motion.
And then, just like that, we were in Tokyo.
Everything shifted again—not because life was slower here, but because it moved with absolute precision. Trains arrived to the second. Every person, every train, every sign seemed to follow an unspoken set of rules. Even the vending machines seemed to hum with purpose. After weeks of beautiful unpredictability, Japan’s seamless order was its own kind of wonder.
But the real magic? That happened at Tokyo DisneySea.
We carved out a day to explore what many call the best Disney park in the world—and it more than lived up to the hype. Every detail was extraordinary. The rides, the lands, the storytelling… it all felt like Disney, but dialed up to something entirely new.
Our favorite? Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure. It was like stepping inside a storybook we never wanted to close. Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival left us wide-eyed, surrounded by floating lights that felt impossibly real. And Journey to the Center of the Earth? Part mystery, part thrill ride, with an eruption finale that had us holding our breath.
And then there was Raging Spirits. Leila found her thrill there—riding it four times in a row thanks to the single rider line. She came off each time grinning ear to ear, while the rest of us cheered her on (and took a few spins ourselves!).
From Halong Bay’s silent mornings to Hanoi’s electric nights, and on to Tokyo’s smooth precision and DisneySea’s fairytale thrills—it was a journey of contrasts that left us with full hearts, wide eyes, and a little dizzy in the best possible way.
