Hoi An

We usually try to plan a 2-3 day “vacation” after our time with the kids at the orphanage, as a way to relax and decompress before the 30+ hours to get back home.  This year, we decided to go to Hoi An, about an hour north (airplane ride) of Saigon.  We met a woman from Canada last year who had just returned from Hoi An and loved it, so we figured we would give it a shot!

Our flight was at noon on Sunday, so we had some time in the morning to finish packing.  It was a quick drive to the airport, and an easy check in (sadly, no business class for us).  The flight itself was unfortunately pretty bumpy, but it was short, so no complaints!

As the city/hotel was about 45 minutes away, we had the hotel pick us up, and it really is so nice to have someone waiting for you with a sign.  It just makes it a whole lot easier. 

After checking into the hotel we got a late lunch at the hotel restaurant and then spent some time by the pool.  Unfortunately, it isn’t as relaxing as I think maybe we hopped, because they are doing some construction (new walkways) and I think unrelated to this property the next door lot is doing a lot of drilling.  It’s still very pretty and nice, and actually still quieter than Saigon!

We decided to head into town for dinner, and picked a spot right on the corner of a happening place.  We didn’t exactly understand where we were (we had read about the “old town” and then also about a night market, but really weren’t sure where we were dropped of, as the area becomes pedestrian at night).  After dinner we decided to walk around a bit, and got a better understanding of where the “night market” was situated, verses the old town.  Hoi An is known for the lanterns that light up the streets/shops at night, and they really are very beautiful.  It was also awesome to walk around on flat pavement and not to worry about motorbikes and buses hitting you.  It’s definitely touristy though, lots of people trying to get you to buy their items eat in their restaurants, etc.  The area is also very well known for their tailors, so we might have to make it another trip for some new clothes!

On Monday we were up and went to breakfast at the hotel, although it wasn’t all that good.  We are pretty “bland” breakfast eaters, and since our stomachs don’t fully adjust while we are here, we tend to stay bland.

We then decided to lie out by the pool.  I think we have officially realized that we are really looking for a place where we can completely veg out after our time at the orphanage.  In theory, I would love to say that we would like to sightsee more, but to be honest, we are happy to just relax and do nothing for a day or two. 

We were both very excited as we booked foot massages at the hotel.  While the ones in Saigon were nice, these (while a bit more expensive) had a more “spa” feel to them.  This one was lovely!

We then made our way into town for dinner and decided to walk around for a bit before getting ice cream.  This was going well, until it down poured!  We went into a shop to try and dry out a bit, and then decided to high tail it to our ice cream shop, which was a 57-flavored scoop it yourself shop!  Yum!

On Tuesday, we were up, had breakfast and parked ourselves by the pool again!  We both got Swedish massages today, although unfortunately, they weren’t all that great (is there really a thing as a bad massage? Probably not).  After, we went back into town for dinner and walking around.  The nice thing, and I think the thing people really like about Hoi An, is most of the old town (and night market) is blocked off, so it becomes pedestrian friendly (some bikes and motorbikes) but this is a HUGE difference from the rest of Vietnam where even if you are on a sidewalk there are still motorbikes zooming past you.  The old town is also pretty at night because of all the lights and lanterns!

Tomorrow, we will leave around lunchtime to head to the airport to fly back to Saigon.  We are trying another potential apartment style place (to see if we like it any better for future years) and then Thursday we fly out at 11:30am to head back to the U.S.!

Day 8

Charli and our "goods" ready for the bus

Today was a day of sleeping in!  I was still up at 7, but was able to drift in and out of sleep until around 10, which I will consider a success!  I was able to catch up on some blogging this morning, and then we headed out (with all our goodies in toe) to catch the bus!  It was another bad bus, very hot and crowded, but luckily after each stop (or so) a seat opened up so the 3 of us were able to sit!

We stopped at Jiao’s coffee shop and met her 4-year-old son, Alexander, who was very cute!  We also met a couple from Vancouver who just arrived in Vietnam and will be traveling for the next month, so we had fun chatting with them!  I was curious what brought them out to that neck of the woods, but they said they are staying in an airbnb down the street, as they didn’t want to deal with all the tourist nonsense!

Mom & Alexander

After some delicious bolognese and a banana/nutella crepe, we made our way to the orphanage.  Our plan was to drop off our goods in the big room and have Long translate via Facebook to Yen that everything was left there.  However, we were really surprised when the big room was open and everyone was in there!  We have never seen them working on the weekend in the past, and even last weekend nobody was there, so we have no clue what that was about!  It also didn’t feel like a typical day because not everyone was there, and it seemed like they were cleaning up for the day (where as normally we would play and then eat).  But, everyone seemed excited to see us and Yen was happy with our goodies.  She is very sweet and good about putting the kids in the clothes we buy and posting pictures, and today was no different, she put all the kids in the new clothes we bought! 

George the 2nd in new clothes!

Since there weren’t as many kids, and we weren’t really sure what the schedule was, we stayed in the room and played on the floor.  It is a bit weird with Yen because I feel like I know her and we “talk” throughout the year via Facebook, but then in person I feel bad because we can’t communicate at all.  The other workers were kind of sitting around, so I figured she would kick us out if it was time to go.  They (and Bob) seemed to really like the puzzles!  George the 2^nd really liked listening to the music, Kap and Dorothy were playing some games, and Thoung was playing with the iTouch and animal sounds.  He LOVED when Mom makes the same sounds as the animals – even I can’t make him laugh as much as she does!!!

Kap must have been told it was time to eat, because he motioned to us eating and then took a hike!  We rounded up the troops to say goodbye to everyone and got lots of hugs!

Dorothy in her new outfit!

We took a cab back to the hotel, although the cab driver took a bit more of a roundabout way, because we ended up going by the airport first.  We (or at least I) don’t really think he was trying to “scam” us or anything like that, but maybe he wasn’t really sure the best way to get to where we were going?  Anyway, it just added a few more minutes and dollars to the ride, and I was very thankful that I was sitting (and had AC on).

Charli showered and packed up and then got ready to head out!  I am so thankful she was able to visit, to both see and experience the orphanage and have time to tour the city with Long!

Charli, Me, Yen & Mom

I also cant believe it was our last day at the orphanage…the week went by so quickly!  We are off to Hoi An tomorrow for a little R&R.  People say the town is very cute and relaxing and quieter and less crazy than Saigon, which I think we are both looking forward to. 

I haven’t really decided if I like having R&R at the end, or I’d like some in the middle.  I think it was Wednesday or Thursday of this week that I really could have used/wanted a day off, just to do something different.  But, I also like doing something different at the end of the trip, as it’s a way to decompress before coming back home and jumping right back into things! 

Day 7

Guess who slept till the alarm went off this morning!!??!  Wahoo!  Mom and I were up to get ready for the orphanage, and Charli was heading out with Long for a city tour!

Mom at the bus stop

Mom & I tried a bus stop in the opposite direction to see if we thought it was any closer, but we don’t think it was, and we were walking “backwards” (to then have the bus drive past where we just walked).  But, now we know for sure!

On our way to the orphanage Jiao’s coffee shop was open, but she wasn’t there and the woman who was working said something about it not being opened yet, waiting for Jiao, so we said we would come back. 

We had a light load come out with us today, Bob, Thoung & Katrina!  We also ended up with an older guy (maybe teenager) who we often see out and about, but never inside a room!  He loved listening to music.  A worker came out at about 9:45 to tell us to get our butts moving, so we headed back inside!

I was cracking up because George the 2^nd seemed to be upset (and I feel bad, he’s trying to talk to me in Vietnamese and I have no clue what he’s saying or what he wants) but I finally manage to understand he’s pissed at another kid (Sarah Blanchette, your boy) was wearing HIS FACE ON HIS T-SHIRT!  George the 2^nd I don’t blame you!  Well, I couldn’t tell take a t-shirt off another child, but I was able to find Kap’s t-shirt (we have already decided that in the future we will make shirts with multiple pictures, so nobody feels like they “own” a t shirt) so Kap’s t-shirt went on George the 2^nd and he was pleased with this.

Mom started feeding him, but apparently my fast thinking t-shirt problem solving skills really made an impression because George the 2^nd was eating for nobody but me!  We actually did pretty well, but, Mom totally rocked it with the boy I have been feeding (and finishing last) and George the 2^nd and I were second to last today. 

Since it was our second to last day (but last day in the big room as they work M-F) we wanted to give all the workers “thank you” cards with some money in them.  Long helped us translate “thanks so much for all you do with the kids” (thanks Long!) which I printed at home and we put in a card with the money.  We had 7 cards, for what we thought was 6 workers (there is a white board with their names on it) but we were a little confused because when we tried to count we thought there may be 7, and one was in a different color outfit so we thought maybe she was training!?  Anyway, long story long, after handing out all SEVEN cards, Yen motioned that there was one more coming out of the kitchen!  EKKKK!  And, the one in the kitchen is definitely one we see every day, so it’s not like this mysterious friend appeared.  Luckily, we had extra money on us, so I took a photo book we made, put the money in there, and handed it to her.  So awkward, ha!  Hopefully, Yen will explain that we didn’t mean to leave anyone out!  I’m still not sure who got a card that “wasn’t” suppose to (and it could have been a worker from another room).  Anyway, we will know something is up if next year on the last day there are all of a sudden 25 workers!  But, I think all is well that ends well, and they seemed very happy and pleased!

Volunteer shot that Bob put together

We headed to Jiao’s place for lunch, which was delicious!  We split spaghetti bolognese (I know, but it was fab) and a banana nutella crepe, which was so yummy!  It really is an awesome pit stop, to have some AC, wifi, a comfortable place to sit and rest and relax! 

We are going to head back tomorrow and she is going to bring her 4-year-old son to meet us, Alexander!  We are excited to meet him!  Jiao told he doesn’t like to practice Vietnamese because “he’s from Edinburg”, so cute!

We took the bus back, and while it wasn’t as bad as yesterday, it was still pretty bad (my feet feel the worse when I am just standing) so I think tomorrow a cab might be in order (although since it’s the weekend it may not be bad). 

We both were able to shower, and then Charli was back from her tour with Long, and Long was generous enough to take us to the market to shop for the kids!  We were very successful, and got washcloths, bath towels, fun clothes, practical clothes and sandals.  We went back to the same stall to get the towels as in years past (I’m not sure I would have remembered which one, but Long did) and the woman said to him “long time no see”, ha! 

After a successful shopping trip we said goodbye to Long and came back to the room to rest a bit, before heading out for pizza (I just can’t get enough Italian).  There is a really good pizza place we have tried before, but the only reservation we could get was for 5pm, so we headed out and had a delicious meal!

After pizza I was looking for another foot massage and had done a little research in the area to find a place with decent reviews, so we headed there.  We decided we would do an hour foot massage (with some back and shoulders) and they gave us these sweet pink outfits to change in to!

Buying towels

We were then guided to a second room which had the chairs for us to sit in and were greet by 3 men, our masseuses (when you type masseuse into google, the definition is “a woman who provides massage professionally”) for the hour!  I don’t think I have ever seen that many men in a massage place in Vietnam, it tends to be mostly woman, so that was a bit surprising (especially after reading the definition). 

The massage was nice as they put a cucumber “thing” on your face, which was nice and cooling but most of it felt like PT for me, very painful, but I figure it’ll help get the blood moving and “promote heeling” (at least that’s what they tell me).  Toward the end (after they do feet, legs, and some upper back) they had us sit up.  Luckily, my guy was about 5-10 seconds behind Charli’s and Mom’s, so I had a little warning of what I should expect.  Well, I am glad I did, because all of a sudden I heard a yelp so I looked over to see both Charli and Mom pretty much in the air, and their massage men were nowhere to be seen.  WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE!  I’m still not exactly sure how and what happened, but I think the massage men kind of lay on their back, and somehow hoist you up on their feet and knees?  I literally thought I was going to crush my little man so tried to breath a very shallow breath so I wouldn’t!  It actually felt pretty good as it stretched out your whole back and upper body, but I spent most of my time trying not to giggle. 

That was pretty much the end of the massage, but we all had a case of the giggles when we changed back out of the outfits thinking about what just happened and how all of us were trying so hard not to giggle!

Since we were really making it a “treat yo self” night, we decided that Häagen-Dazs was in order!  I think we may have spent more on the ice creams than we did on our massage, but it was so yummy!  For the last part of “treat yo self”, we decided PJs were necessary, so we can back to get comfy for the night!

Day 6

Sleeping did not go so well last night, as Scott can tell you when were texting at 3am.  At least when you can’t sleep in Vietnam there are plenty of people awake to keep you virtual company. 

We were up and out and by 8 and luckily didn’t have to wait long for the bus.  Jiao’s coffee shop doesn’t open until ~10am, so we headed straight for the orphanage and we were greeted by Kap “running” (as best he can) down the stairs, with a huge smile and a big hug once he reached us!  Why he wasn’t in school, we aren’t exactly sure, but he pointed for us to head into the big room as he had other things to do (although we saw him back in the big room a few minutes later).

Thoung was kind of curled up on the floor really crying, which we usually see once a visit.  It’s so sad and hard to see, but we try and look at it as at least we are there to keep him company and take his mind off things.  After a few minutes he stopped crying, we got him up, got his shoes on, and we were off! 

Bob & Charli

Since we had Charli with us (yay Charli) we had power in numbers, so we had Bob, Thoung, Kap and Katrina (she really needs a one-on-one for constant walking).  I would say our IT support has really improved and if they could review us I think we would get 8 out of 10 for our customer service.  They actually crack me up because I have a folder of apps called “Vietnam” and so I can just hand them my phone and they can get in to the games they want.  Bob was doing a great job with this “farm” game (a new one I downloaded) where he had to find the animals and Kap was rocking out a puzzle!  As I was walking around with Katrina, one of the workers came out to say we needed to head inside to eat.  I was trying to tell her, “ok let me go round up the troops” but she wasn’t having it and I almost thought she was going to block me from going back!  Instead, I just handed Katrina off to her (suckerrrr) and made a break for it!

Hide & Seek with Bob

We got everyone back inside and Dorothy was back from school.  Kap was hoping for some sunglasses for her, but we were all out, so I think we hooked her up with some other goodies! 

I had my same guy for meal time today and we really have masters our rice to broth ratio, although we were still too slow because we were the last ones and the worker had to come over and mix it all up and kind of rush him.  I felt bad, but hopefully he enjoyed our slow pace!

Since we were the last ones to finish everyone was already ready for naptime so we were ready to hit the road.  Jiao was excited to see us (and met Charli) at the coffee shop, and she was so cute and turned on the AC for us!  We chatted more about her move to Vietnam (and all the hassle) and liked her Facebook page and said we would go back tomorrow for some lunch!  It’s definitely an awesome post orphanage stop!

Little did I know we were about to get on the bus from hell, aka hell on wheels.  It was so hot, and so crowded and standing room only – it was awful.  If you’d like to skip over my venting, please precede to the next paragraph.  So, I have plantar fasciitis, and have had it since September when I was trying to do couch to 5K.  In October, when I realized it wasn’t getting any better, I went to a podiatrist (talk about feeling like an adult, yes I have a podiatrist) and started a frozen water bottle, night splint, anti-inflammatory pills regiment.  In November, with no change, I started PT!  And that’s where I am now.  I am supposed to wear sneakers and do my exercises every day, but that really hasn’t been happening (the exercises are my fault, but there are no shoes inside the orphanage, so its easier to wear flip flops and then slide them off when we get there).  ANYWAY, my point is, in combination with everything else, the bus ride was really miserable because I don’t think my feet have ever hurt more.  Then it was like, I’m tired of my feet hurting, I’m tired of being tired from not sleeping great, I’m tired of these noises and smells and sounds and heat!  I also can’t seem to figure out my computer and photos (of course, the second day here my phone says its out of space).  I think I have it managed for now, but if anyone understands photos on a Mac, or iCloud and wants to offer their knowledge and services to me, I’m game!  Needless to say, it was a well-needed afternoon of a shower and a NAP!  I kind of just dozed off (and haven’t been napping at all because I didn’t want to mess up my sleep any more) but it was definitely needed today!

We had talked about going to a pizza place for dinner, and I had emailed to make reservations and they never emailed me back so I figured we would just show up, but I’m glad we didn’t because they emailed back to say they had no tables between 6-9pm!  It was not that busy when we came last year, so I am not really sure how they do their reservations, but anyway I’m glad we didn’t venture there to be turned away!

I was still ready to go out (I felt like I needed to get out) but Charli and Mom were happy to stay in, so I took myself on a date to Ciao Bella!  You all may think I am adventurous, but I'm really not, and couldn't wait for some Italian!

I felt bad as I went to get a taxi out in front of the hotel (there is usually one waiting along with a guy at the hotel who hails it) because I guess my driver was maybe grabbing a drink or a newspaper or something because all of a sudden he was running from across the street!  Luckily, I wasn't hangry, so wasn't in any rush.

I was one of the first ones in the restaurant, where I was greeted with champagne (I don't even like champagne but I liked being greeted that way!) and bread! Yum!

I ordered a ginger ale that came in a big glass with ice, just like back home! Wow! It was so nice!!!

My cheese pizza was delicious, and the place was packed by the time I was ready to go!  I decided to treat myself to a foot massage, and was so glad I did!  Not to be a Debbie Downer, but it was a little bit too much leg and Thai (meaning they stretch you more than they massage) then I was hoping, but it still felt fab, and now I’m thinking I need one every night as it cheaper (and more enjoyable) than PT back home!