Saturday, March 14, 2015

We were awoken this morning to the maids in our room!  The “do not disturb” wooden sign apparently flipped over to the “please clean our room” side – so there they were!  Luckily we had planned to get up shortly after anyway so it wasn’t a big deal.

The breakfast here is buffet style and they had some great western and Vietnamese options (my favorite being Vietnamese iced coffee) and we sat outside – although it was really VERY warm.  

We then headed to check out the pool and decided we would hang out there so went back to our villa to change and grab our things.  The pool was great and the perfect refreshing temperature! 

We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon lounging by the pool.  It is SO quiet and relaxing here.  We did treat ourselves to some smoothies!

I was hungry in the afternoon and mom was sleeping poolside so I went to the restaurant and enjoyed some chicken fried rice!  

The afternoon weather was perfect because although it was very hot and humid it was overcast so it was just nice to be relaxing outside.

We then headed back to the villa to shower and change to get ready for our spa treatments!  Mom got a Swedish message, scalp massage and mani and I got a Swedish massage and Indian head massage (that apparently came with a french braid!)  It was SO nice and relaxing and peaceful!

I was finished a few minutes before her and the receptionist told me something about a safe, a box and open and so I think she was trying to tell me that the safe in our room had been left open.  I also realized they were probably really confused because we hadn’t locked the door (only one real key and we figured whoever was done with their spa treatments first could just go back).  They do a nightly turndown service so the maid probably realized the front door was open AND the safety deposit box (that we must have just left open after grabbing money for the spa)!  Ooops!

Someone from the spa came back with us to make sure everything was there (it was).  However, I am not sure if this is normal but after the maids left they must have left the front porch light on (makes sense so you can unlock the front door when you come back) but there were more gnats than I have ever seen in my life.  It was disgusting.

All in all the resort is absolutely beautiful but I don’t know if I could deal with the bugs again!  On the plus side they are gnats and not mosquitos (mosquitos are annoying, and their itch stays with you for days) while gnats don’t make any noise and don’t bite, but they were literally EVERYWHERE and kind of got stuck to your skin.  I took another shower to get any of the massage oil off so fewer gnats would get stuck to me and we headed off to our last night at dinner!

We had a really nice dinner (spaghetti) with some ice-cream for dessert and then headed back to pack!  Tomorrow morning we are heading back to Saigon as we fly back home tomorrow!

Friday, March 13, 2015

We were up early-ish as we wanted to take a taxi around 645am to the airport.  The nice thing about Saigon is the airport is only about 30 minutes away.  Although, there are plans (if they haven’t already started) to build a newer airport (this one is really small for an international airport), which would make the drive longer.

Regardless, we arrived at the airport without any issues and headed to the business class check-in #nbd.  Vietnam Airlines has strict policies on their baggage – only one carry on (we have two) and checked bags can’t be over 44lbs (ours are 50 on a good day).  So, once before we opted for their business class.  Two carry ons and checked bag can be 66 lbs!  Our flight previously (and this time) was only an hour, which is why we could afford business class (and why it made since to spend the extra as we would be spending it on baggage fees anyway).  This experience always convinces us how we would come to Vietnam every other weekend to see our kids if we could just fly business – they make it so easy!

After our check-in we headed thru security and made our way to the business class longue!  It wasn’t anything spectacular (they had old couches and some food) BUT  they also had a massage chair – YES!  I made myself comfortable and started my R&R a bit early! 

We also had a special line for boarding which was actually nice as they don’t do it by rows so its kind of a free for all for the common folk (those with economy tickets) so this was also less stressful!  The seats were great, very wide and plenty of legroom.  We were greeted with a facecloth and some juice and also had a little snack (I think a ham sandwich). 

The flight was far too short for such a comfortable seat.  The Hue airport is teeny tiny so you disembark down the stairs and get on to a bus – they had a special bus for the “business” passengers..all 6 of us!  The other nice thing about living the high life is that your bags are priority so they come out first! 

We booked a car service to bring us to the resort (about 45 minutes away) and luckily he had a big sign that said “Welcome Julie” so it was very easy.  They are doing some construction on the main road that brings you to the resort (it looks like they are making it wider) so I think there was a bit more traffic than usual but really no issues.

To be honest I wasn’t really sure what to expect with the hotel.  I did a lot of research for this trip.  I research, Mom & Dad pay..not a bad deal (Dad hope you’re still working hard at home…SUCKAAAAA)!  Anyway I have always wanted to stay in an overwater bungalow (and someday will make it to the Maldives) but this place has them – and for a more reasonable price!  The water isn’t clear like you would find in the Pacific – but it seemed like a great resort for those wanting to get out of the craziness of the city for a few days.

We decided 2 days would be plenty (there is JUST the resort, nothing else around) for exactly what we are looking for!

We were again greeted with a cool juice drink and facecloth.  We have decided that we are going to get the kids at the orphanage to greet us this way as well!  Well, we bring our own water, but we would like a cool face cloth waiting for us!  I think Cap could handle it!

We checked it and were brought (via golf cart – Dad there is a retirement job waiting here for you) to Villa #10.

H.E.A.V.E.N!  Wow!  The villa is beautiful as it sits out in the lagoon and is the last one so we only have one neighbor.  There is a beautiful stone bathtub and an outdoor shower (and toilet..interesting). 

Nina, our “host” gave us a little tour and was on her way!  We did some quick unpacking and then made our way to check out the pool and restaurant.  They give you bikes, but since our villa is at the end its very walkable to the pool & restaurant which is perfect for us!  It’s basically one long path, starting with reception and then 10 overwater bungalows and more on the “mountain side”, then the restaurant and pool, then a few more bungalows up on the hill and then the spa area takes up a few overwater bungalows. 

We decided to get some lunch.  Breakfast is buffet and lunch/dinner is a la carte.  Some people said the food can get old if you are staying for a week, but for only 2 days they have plenty of Western and Vietnamese options.  We chose to sit inside to cool down, but the weather is PERFECT!  80 and cloudy!  We love it!  The breeze is so nice, we literally feel like we are on vacation!  We also realized we hadn’t really spoken any louder than a whisper – we feel like we are on a meditation retreat!  It is SO QUIET here!!!

After a yummy lunch (a burger and spaghetti) we headed back to the villa to change so we could nap poolside.  We were both really tired (getting up early this morning, traveling, etc) and it was so nice at the pool as we got chairs underneath a big umbrella.  It was literally so quiet as there was only one other couple. 

I had a killer nap (well, we both did!) and then decided we would head back to the villa.  I took a bike and road down by the spa area as I thought it might be a nice place to see the sunset.  It was, but since its cloudy/hazy it wasn’t going to be anything special.  So I road back and we sat on our balcony blogging, emailing and relaxing!

We headed back to the restaurant for dinner, which was very nice and then came back to the villa.  Tomorrow is our “relaxing” day so we are both looking forward to that before heading back to Saigon on Sunday!

Thursday, March 12, 2015

I quiet possibly may have had my worst night sleep ever last night!  Yup!  I went to bed around 930/10ish and was still WIDE awake at 2am, but like, uncomfortably awake.  My legs felt really restless and I was just not a happy camper.  When I finally did fall asleep I was waking up every 20 minutes or so. I didn’t take a sleeping pill because I was so tired yesterday that I thought I could have been tired FROM taking a sleeping pill and/or since I was so tired Id sleep well!  Ha! That backfired.  Anyway tonight I will definitely be taking something.

We stopped at the coffee shop as I definitely needed a little help this morning and then hopped on the #3 and we were on our way! 

When we got off the bus there was a little iced coffee stall (I look for the word sua which means milk in Vietnamese and that usually means iced coffee with condensed milk…heaven).  So anyway I decided I wanted to try some of hers (along with some pepto bismol since I really don’t want to be sick).  I pointed to what I wanted but she actually spoke some English!  She asked where I was from, if I went to the orphanage every day, and something else that I had no clue but I answered yes.  Hopefully “yes” was an acceptable answer.  Anyway her coffee was DELICIOUS and 1/3 the price of the coffee shop, so I hope she’s there next year because I will definitely be a repeat customer (assuming, of course, her stuff didn’t make me sick.  “Street food” is a dangerous game).

I may have had the best greeting ever from Cap today – I wish I had it on video.  He saw us coming in and starting laughing and got the BIGGEST smile and starting running (as best he can with only being able to use half his body) toward us.  It was AWESOME!  He grabbed by hand and we RAN back to the big room…I THINK because he wanted to tell Dorothy we were here.  And then he pointed to the strollers and started getting everyone in order so we could go out.  Thoung needed to put away his things, Dorothy needed to get organized, etc.

The majority of the kids were in the new clothes we got them – which was AWESOME – and VERY thoughtful of Yen!  We gathered our crew, Cap, Dorothy, Thoung and some mystery child a worker put in our stroller and got ready to head out.  Cap yelled for Bob who was walking down the hallway to get his butt ready to go outside!  Oh and Katrina came as well!

We got our group to our usually spot down the other end (it’s secluded and quiet) and got ourselves set up.  I think Cap just grabbed the iPad out of the backpack and brought it to Dorothy, who LOVES the App “cut the rope” and is actually pretty good as she understands the concept but when she cant figure it out she grabs me and half the time I cant get it either!  The kids LOVE having a speaker plugged into their “device” (there were VERY few pictures today as our iPhones became on of the things they played with) and once of their favorite things was an app that has animals and modes of transportation and when you press it it makes the sound.  They LOVED it!  Thoung mostly loved when Mom would make the same sound (or try to) as the app, he was laughing so hard!

I decided to take on George II again for mealtime.  He seemed unhappy and was complaining for a bit and kept pointing to where we keep our backpacks.  He sometimes sounds like he is speaking (although I cant really tell) so I had no idea what he wanted.  I remembered he really liked the books of pictures of years past we had, so I grabbed him one of those and he LOVED it – all smiles!  I think at this point Cap and Dorothy had the iPhones, but since they needed to eat I went to grab the phones to play some music for George II and he LOVED it!  He knows twinkle twinkle so we hummed that a bit as he ate (very slowly, but he ate).  Then Bob was hanging around so I found, not just Gangman Style, but the MUSIC VIDEO.  Heaven, Bob and George II LOVED it.  At this point most people were finishing up so I thought George II needed to speed it up.  The kids usually get a fish/rice combo in one bowl and a broth in the other, which sometimes I mix to make it easier (the fish/rice is REALLY dry).  Today we didn’t get the broth but milk instead and since George II was really slow because it was so dry I mixed in a little bit of milk to make it easier (or so I thought).  He was NOT impressed and clearly gave me a look of “I am not eating that”.  Sorry George II.  He ate about 2/3s of his bowl AND he was happy to drink the milk so I figured that was good enough and tried to cover up his bowl so the ladies wouldn’t see J

After some clean up we got everyone on the little mats for naptime but had some fun with the iPhones before they went to sleep.  The animals/modes of transportation was a huge hit (George II was laughing up a storm) and Cap loved the motorbike (he would go, vroom vroom) and the bus/traffic (he would go, beep beep with his hand on a horn). 

Yen also took a lot of pictures so I am excited to see if we make her FB page!  We had great goodbyes and got lots of hugs and kisses and waves from all the kids!

Goodbye hugs from Cap!

I had another fab shower (I don’t think there is such a thing as a bad one after time with the kids) and some food and was hoping to take a nap since I barely slept last night!  I still couldn’t seem to get comfortable, my legs hurt, my hips hurt, I literally felt like a 90 year old lady!

It did feel really nice to rest, but I was almost more frustrated that I wasn’t sleeping!  Oh well, hopefully tonight I will be out like a light!

We headed out to 4 P’s Pizza for dinner!  We had been once in the past and really liked it so off we went!  It was delicious and pizza was a welcomed change from pasta ;)

We then made our way via taxi (my hips are SO SORE – I need to learn to squat like this).

Not a whole lot, although there is now a Burger King (so Scott you can join us next year and feel at home) but other than that it was the same craziness of last year.  It was funny because we both realized we hadn’t seen so many non-Asians since we arrived!
to the backpacker’s district to do a walkthrough and see if anything had changed.

After exploring we made our way to Chill Skybar.  They have a great rooftop open air bar and its fun to see the traffic below.  They try to be high end (dress code, velvet ropes, guys who man the elevators) and last time there was a huge fiasco because Mom wasn’t wearing the appropriate shoes so they gave her some loaners that were far too small…you get this picture.  THIS time we came prepared with “special shoes” AND made reservations and were treated like the high society we are!

We had a nice night just watching the traffic go by but then were ready to head back as we have an early morning tomorrow!

We have tried, whenever possible, to spend a day or two someplace outside the city before we return home.  As I think you can tell from my blog, it’s crazy here and both physically and emotionally draining.  So, we love to have a day or two to decompress before coming back to the grind!

This year we chose a resort outside of Hue, which is about an hour’s flight north of Saigon!  I think we are both excited to see a new area and to get out of the city for a few days!

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Pretty lazy morning.  We were both VERY tired (silly jetlag).  I have to say, and this isn’t complaining as much as it is just interesting, that it is exhausting just BEING!  Jetlag and the heat add to the just being tired (the two days a year its 95 at home Im poolside, not running around with kids hanging off me).  It’s also exhausting to get to from one place to another – because you can never just be.  As I have said before you always have to worry about motorbikes hitting you (in front of you, behind you, coming at the side).  The sidewalks aren’t even really sidewalks as they are parking areas for motorbikes, driving areas for motorbikes, restaurants and storefronts for people selling food.  On top of that, nothing is even, so you literally have to be mindful of every step!  I guess I am just saying this to feel a bit better about being exhausted today J

Long didn’t have a tour today and was kind enough to say he would love to join us at the orphanage!  He had a meeting this morning as he is training new tour guides on Saturday (go Long!) so we decided to meet after lunch to head to the orphanage.

I took a sleeping pill last night (yay sleep) so it was nice to be able to sleep in this morning.  Once we got up and had breakfast we headed out so I could get coffee (caffeine, sleeping pill, repeat) and so we could head to the bank to exchange some money.

We then came back to rest a bit (yup, apparently running those errands deserved a mini nap) before grabbing a quick bit to eat and meeting up with Long to head to the orphanage.

We took the rest of our goodies and the stroller with us to the orphanage today.  We ended up a bit early as the kids were still sleeping but everyone was pumped to see us and we were greeted with hugs at the door!

It was so nice to have Long with us as he was able to do some translating, so we had Dorothy in a stroller and George II (I was confused, who I thought was George was a George look alike!) in a stroller and Thoung, Cap and Bob came with us for a walk!  Though and Cap had a BLAST pushing George II and Mom was in charge of Dorothy as she is a bit bigger and needs some maneuvering over the uneven ground.

We parked ourselves at the other end of the Pagoda and brought out the music and iPads.  

Our spot!

The kids LOVE playing the iPad games, mostly I think because they like being challenged!  The spend their entire weekend laying around as the big room isn’t open, and spend about 3 hours a day “napping”/having quiet time, so I think its great to do things that stimulate their brain! 

Bob being silly!

Gangman style was another hit today – both Bob & Cap were getting down and actually George II was getting his groove on too!  The “naughty” boys…there are maybe 6-8 of them…and they are probably between 6-8, came over.  I feel awful because they are orphans too but they are so aggressive and they take the other kids games so you literally have to barricade your kid and swat the other ones away.  #terrible

Anyway we had a blast outside dancing and playing games but then it was time to eat so we headed inside.  

There were a lot of volunteers today so I sort of walked around aimlessly in the hopes I would be given a task – and another worker took me to a boy who I knew from my first year here.  At that he did NOT like girls and would NOT let girls feed him (can ya blame the kid).  

Luckily I am glad to see he has matured and while he wouldn’t look at me we had a successful go of it!

So by far the best part of the day is that Long was able to ask the head lady her name, Kim Yến.  Not only this, but…wait for it – WE BECAME FACEBOOK FRIENDS!  Ahhh technology – I LOVE IT!

So in the past we really haven’t been able to communicate and have never been able to tell her when we’d be back.  It will be interesting to see how/if/when we do communicate but Long was sweet enough to say he would be happy to translate for us.  At the very least, Long was able to tell her we would be back next January (and are currently recruiting for that trip!!!!) But one of the best things is she has posted some pictures of the kids, so it will be awesome and we are able to “see” them throughout the year! 

Photo of the "big room"

I was really tired today and cant say I was too sad when we brought all the kids back to their rooms and were ready to head out!  Unfortunately, we were going back during rush hour (it sort of all seems like rush hour until it really IS rush hour and is pretty much a standstill the whole ride home).  Needless to say I wasn’t feel too hot, but luckily a nice shower and a bottle of water helped!

It is SO so so nice having a kitchen here so we don’t have to go out to again (it just feels like so much work to get yourself to another place).  It’s so nice to be able to put PJs on after you shower and just feel relaxed while eating dinner (yup, pasta again)!