Another Unusual Day In Vietnam

Day 11 July 25th Wednesday
Written and submitted July 26th

Today we had a lot of down time. Everyone slept in and as usual we went down for breakfast. After some conversation with the parents, we went to the information desk to inquire about the trip to HaLong Bay for this weekend.

The hotel has a two-day trip that is similar to what the tourism center offered us yesterday. They can give us an air condition cabin (extra cost) with the meals and transportation included for $55 US per person. We were waiting to hear from Christy to see if she wanted to join us. Christy and her husband David and little girl Grace is switching from the Melia hotel to our hotel today so we will hear from her later before we confirm the trip.

After checking on the travel plans, we went up to the room to settle in for a long day. We thought we were starting to figure Gracie out when it came to her cries, but she proved us wrong today. She normally cries a little and sucks her thumb before she takes a nap during the day, but today she whaled away like something was moving through her system. She had eaten 5 oz of formula only a couple of hours before so we thought it couldn’t be that she was hungry. We couldn’t do anything to help calm her down so we gave in and made another 5 oz bottle. She sucked it right down and was happy as a clam. She didn’t get to be called “chunky monkey” for nothing. The girl can eat. She then proceeded to take a long nap.

This afternoon Becky wasn’t feeling her best so she lied down for a couple of hours. Logan and I played pinball on the computer. Logan is now in my realm so I put it to him while I had the opportunity. He’s impressed with how ol’dad can handle the flippers. He has been kicking my rear in game boy since we had been here so it’s nice to see him get challenged.

Sometime around noon, we called Christy and David’s room to see if they had checked in. They were there so we explained to her the deal we got and she said she was interested in joining us to HaLong Bay. David has to get back to his practice by next week so he is leaving for the states Friday night. He really feels terrible about leaving Christy and baby Grace. Unfortunately they’re not the only couple were the husband has had to return before the final paperwork has been completed. I am very fortunate that I work for Caterpillar. It is comforting to know my immediate supervisor told me to take as long as I needed to complete the adoption. I couldn’t imagine flying 36 plus hours alone with a new child with carryon bags and everything else. Becky told me not to get any ideas. Anyhow, I went down to book the trip with two cabins for Becky, Logan, Gracie, myself, Christy and Grace. It’s going to be a blast minus the 3 hour bus ride to get there.

While I was down stairs, I inquired about Asian Cup tickets for tonight’s game. Team Japan was taking on Saudi Arabia at the stadium in Hanoi and David had mentioned he would like to go. The crowd at the game shouldn’t be that large so getting tickets won’t be a problem. I ran into Tong (hotel manager) and asked him if he could get me three tickets for tonight’s game for David, Logan and myself. He said he could get me zone one and immediately jumped to his feet, pulled out his cell phone and said to give him a little time and I could pick up the tickets at the front desk. This man has too much energy. I returned to the room to finish Logan off in pinball.

Dinner at KOTO

David called the room a couple hours later and said he ran into Tong in the lobby. Tong had the tickets and had already charged them to our rooms so we were all set. We then all decided to meet at 5:00pm in the lobby to go to dinner before the three of us guys headed to the stadium.

We met in the lobby at 5:00pm and loaded into a larger cab that the front desk had called for us. Becky and I told David and Christy about a place called KOTO that was a non-for-profit restaurant that was run by culinary students that were previously homeless children. It is supposed to be a very good place to eat. It was located next to the Temple of Literature that is about a 10 minute cab ride. Every place we go seems to be a 10 minute cab ride from the hotel. When we pulled up in front of KOTO, it looked as though it was closed, but sometimes the shops/restaurants look as though they need are being renovated. As soon as we got out of the cab and he drove off we realized this wasn’t the case. The place was under renovation and it was closed. We all decided to walk around the wall surrounding the Temple and see if there was any place to eat close by. We walked completely around the temple and saw no place good to eat so we headed for the front of the temple to catch a cab. On the way across one of the busy streets (people were starting to go home from work) an older gentleman on the opposite side of the street saw that I had Gracie in my arms so when I was about half way across the street he stepped into the street and put his hands out to stop the traffic behind him. I told him thank you very much. He asked if the child was Vietnamese and then asked were I was from. I was kind of hesitant at first but I told him she was Vietnamese and that I was an American. He was so happy. He repeated it out loud (she Vietnamese and you American) and gave me a thumbs up; I just smiled and returned his thumbs up. I often wondered what the Vietnamese people thought of us adopting babies from here. Becky told me she heard they are very pleased with it. There are many poor families with the children working at too early of age and finding themselves on the street. We finally got back in a cab and headed for a restaurant closer to the hotel called the Paris Deli. We took a table on the second floor where there was more room. They have many selections on the menu but I’ve learned to not get too exotic. Logan had more spaghetti, I stayed with the vegetable fried rice, and Becky had a cheese sandwich (she was starting to feel better and didn’t want to blow it). It seems like the four restaurants on this street that we have patronized are geared more to foreigners and the prices are just a little higher but still not too high. I think we got out of there for around $20 US. The added bonus was as we were walking down the stairs as we left we heard Christmas music over the sound system. There’s nothing like Christmas in Hanoi in the summer time to make you feel cooler. We walked the two blocks back to the hotel were us boys got ready for the game.

Soccer Game – Japan vs Saudi Arabia

Logan and I went up to the room to get ready for the game. My shirt was soaked with sweat from the walk from the restaurant so I changed shirts and we headed back to the lobby to meet David. David had the tickets that Tong reserved for us. The tickets were for zone 1 and the price was $200,000 Dong which is approx $12.50 US. The three of us jumped in the cab and headed to the stadium for an 8:20pm game. It’s going to be a late one for Logan. The traffic wasn’t as bad as the other game Logan and I went to because Vietnam was not playing. It cost about $100,000 dong to get there by cab. We arrived with about 20 minutes to the start of the game so we were able to get something to drink and head to the seats. The seats that Tong got us were first row at center field. These were great seats. The stadium was only about one third capacity so there was room to move about. For not being a big soccer fan, the game was actually very entertaining. It was a close match with Japan, the favorite, losing 2 to 3. I wasn’t rooting for Saudi Arabia because of the higher gas prices back home. At half time the three of us went to the concession area to get something to drink. If you order something in a can or a bottle, then you have to pour it in a plastic cup in order to take it back to your seat. When you are finished pouring your drink into your cup, kids are wondering from person to person with large bags to get the recyclables. After David and I finished pouring our glasses, we gave the cans to the kids. By this time, there was probably four kids around us waiting for Logan to finish pouring his. The kids were pretty competitive about getting the can from Logan. One girl had her hand on Logan’s soda can before he was finished emptying it. As soon as Logan was done, a couple of other kids went to grab it as well. Logan’s eye’s got pretty big at this. Logan told me he should have turned around and threw it behind him because it would have been cool to watch the kids dive after it. I told him that wouldn’t have been nice but what do you expect from an eight year old. We returned to our seats to watch the remainder of the game.

When the game ended, we headed for the exits. We only had to walk a short distance before we grabbed a cab and made our way home. It seemed like the cab driver understood where we needed to go. We showed him our hotel business card and he shook is head yes. We asked how much to get there and he responded $200,000 Dong. We said it only took $100,000 to get there and then he pointed to the traffic. We said no thanks and turned to walk away so he said $180,000 and again we went to walk away and then he said $160,000 dong and this time we factored in a little traffic and agreed. Sometimes I have to realize I am only squabbling over one dollar or so. He started down the road but David and I both realized on the first turn that he went the wrong way. So I looked back at David and said I think the cabby is going the wrong way and David confirmed this so we announced this to the cabby. About this time, the cab pulled to the side of the road as he approached a street sign that had arrows with locations on it. The cabby stopped and asked someone walking down the street which way to go. We couldn’t understand the words spoken between the two, but there is a universal “Oh crap, I’m lost” language shared by all. He quickly turned the cab around and headed towards our hotel. He eventually made it to the Old Quarter and stopped at this dark corner and the cabby pointed up the road and said something like “your hotel”. It didn’t look familiar to me, so because of getting lost the previous night I told him to drive around the block and come from the other side of the hotel. This direction to the hotel now looked familiar. At night when the shops are closed everything looks different than during the day and it’s hard to find your way around. I haven’t walked through the hotel this late at night (11:00pm) since we have been here. The lobby was very dark but the doorman was still there and the lobby was half filled with the employee’s scooters. Logan and I went up to the room to unwind so we watched a little Terminator III before going to bed. Becky and Gracie were already asleep.