Day 1

Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions. 

Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching.  As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea.  The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning!  May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”

The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”

The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”

If you have read previous blogs, you know how much I love this story!  When I ask myself, why the heck am I doing this!?!?  I re-read this story, and I remember why!

So, here we are!!!

When we booked our flights, we knew we were leaving on January 1, but didn’t realize until a few weeks ago that we were leaving at 1:30am on January 1.  Since we are both such party animals, we couldn’t believe we would be spending NYE at Logan!

We took the 10pm C&J to Logan, which was great because it was really quiet, no traffic, really easy!

We were very excited to take Cathay Pacific, as this is the first year they started a flight from Boston to Hong Kong (direct).  It’s amazing how much time (and energy) an extra flight (usually to Newark or JFK) adds to an already long trip!

I was also very blessed because Mom & Dad hooked me up with a Premium Economy seat (Dad, in case Mom didn’t tell you, thanks!)  Premium Economy is a smaller cabin (maybe ~35 people) and has extra legroom!  The other great thing is it’s a 2-4-2 set up, so I get a window (which I love) Mom gets the aisle (which she loves) and we are able to sit next to each other with nobody in-between!

As we were waiting in the premium economy line to check in, the “direction” man (who tells you which line to go in) said he “might have a surprise for us”.  Say what!?  We kind of both looked at each other, and then he asked if we had ordered any special meals (we hadn’t) and then he walked up to the check in counter with us, and next thing we knew, BUSINESS CLASS BABY!  I literally could have cried.  The only time I flew business was in Vietnam from Saigon to whatever other place we were visiting (usually a 45 minute flight) and the seats were just bigger.  We did this because, in the past, it had been about the same cost as paying extra for all of our luggage.  But, I had NEVER flown REAL business class, especially on a flight so long (this flight is the #17 longest in the world!!!)

We aren’t exactly sure how we got the bump.  Already being in Premium Economy was a huge first step (I don’t think they would bump directly from economy to business).  We aren’t really sure what else!  The fact that we didn’t have special meals?  We do Global Entry, so we have a known traveler number, although that usually doesn’t help with international flights.  Regardless, we were flying business baby!

Ours was the only flight operating so late, and Cathay Pacific was cute and had some non-alcoholic drinks set up and some “2016” signs and a lot of the workers had NYE hats.  Our plane wasn’t really the party animal type; so new years came and went pretty quickly (just the way I like it). 

The seat was heavenly!  It was so nice to really have your own space.  The only downside (if you can even call it that) was that you couldn’t have any bags with you during takeoff/landing. 

Stretching out!

They brought out a menu and I was excited to see we were going to get a dinner to start (even though it was 130am).  I also really liked the warm face cloth to start off the flight!

I watched "The Intern" (it was cute) while I ate some food (true story they were all out of steak, boooo! But I did cheese and crackers and ice cream!!!) After the movie I was tired so put my seat in full lay down mode. I was LAYING DOWN ON AN AIRPLANE!!! Ohmigoodness it was so cool! I took a couple of pills - and I was down for the count!  It was sooooooo nice!

Mom and I were talking after, and the real difference (besides being able to lay down and stretch out) is that you really can sleep!  When you are in a “chair” you wake up every hour or so, so you really don’t sleep.  Even when I woke up, I was laying down so it was so easy to roll over and go right back to sleep.  15 hours never went by so quickly!!!

Mom sleeping

We arrived in Hong Kong and transferred without any major issues.  It’s a huge airport, so nice to have some extra time to get to your next gate.  There wasn’t a lot open (it was 6am on Saturday) and I laughed when I saw a line for Starbucks before they even opened! 

We just relaxed, checked in with everyone (thanks free Wi-Fi) I had some pizza (it’s 5 o’clock somewhere) and we got ready for our final flight from Hong Kong to Saigon (did I mention how nice it was to get here with only 1 stop)!?  We got in line for Premium Economy and when she went to scan our tickets, it made a very unhappy sound.  Uh-oh!  But don’t you worry, no big deal, just another upgrade to business!  Wahoo!  If we had known, we wouldn’t have gotten in line with the peasants and would have stood in line with the other business people condescendingly looking at the schmucks in economy. 

I have to say this was really nice because I was SO tired that I feel asleep before take-off and then quickly pressed some buttons to get my “bed” and I was out!  I actually wished the flight was longer (it was about 2, 2.5 hours) so I could sleep!

But alas, we landed and were on our way!  We have to have a visa to enter Vietnam, and you can go thru the Consulate, or have a company help you out.  The company is actually cheaper (and you don’t have to send away your passport) so we have used that the past few years.  The only downside is that when you land, you have to wait in a separate line (visa on arrival) to have your passport stamped.

This was the first year we arrived during the day (all other flights usually arrive around midnight) and we think it was the most crowded we have ever seen!  However, we were prepared (obvi) and already had our forms filled out and signed and our pictures ready to go.  We only had to wait 15 minutes (which is what we wait every year) so that was great and we were ready to rock and roll!

The international arrivals at the airport are crazy.  There are SO many people, it’s hot, loud, you’re tired from traveling for 30 hours, etc. so the past few years we have paid for the hotel to pick us up.  It’s so nice to have someone with a sign waiting for you (although stressful to find your name between all the other signs).  More importantly though, there are only 2 cab companies that are reliable.  The other ones try to scam you.  So it’s also really stressful to find a reputable cab!

Mom spotted our guy right away (wahoo) and so at that point we could kind of relax and have him work to find the driver, etc.  Even though this was my 7^th time and her 5^th it was still really overwhelming. 

It takes about 30 minutes to get to the hotel (the same place we stayed last year)  It’s a two bedroom, serviced apartment.  We really love it because it has a kitchen.  After the orphanage, its exhausting going back out and trying to find a place to eat (it’s loud, you have to be so careful of traffic, meaning you cant just walk, you have to be really careful of your surroundings, etc.) so anyway, we just found it so nice to be able to come back, shower, and make pasta or something simple in the comfort of an apartment.  It really helped us recharge.  Since we were here in the morning, our room wasn’t ready yet, so we decided to grab a quick lunch at the KFC across the street (hey, it was easy) and then grab the bus to the orphanage. 

Not much as changed, same bus stop, although the bus ride wasn’t at long.  We weren’t sure if it was because it was a Saturday and not as much traffic?  Regardless, we weren’t complaining.

We especially like visiting the orphanage on the weekends because they don’t have their normal “program”.  On the weekends, they are all confided to their rooms, and stay there all day, so we like showing up to play with them just for something different.

They tend to “nap” until 2 (not sure if any of them sleep, but its more a break for the workers) so we showed up a little bit before 2 to see who was around.  I wish I had pictures of Kap’s face when he saw us!  I love that they are old enough now to have memories!!  We got a huge hug, and he pulled us into the room to play, and also tried to get Dorothy’s attention to tell her we were there!  They are so funny because they went right for our pockets (where we keep our phones).  They love this “cut the rope” game, which is actually a great game for them to work on their motor skills.  They also love this app that they can press the pictures and hear the sound of animals. 

The orphanage has changed a little bit (where before you could enter from two different sides, they blocked off one with a fence and some plants).  While I was walking around, I saw a familiar face thru the plants, THOUNG!  He was so funny, because I could barely see him but saw a HUGE smile!  He came running (as best he could, he’s like a lanky gazelle) around the corner to see me!  I got a huge hug, and he was so excited to go back to the room to see Mom, who also got a huge hug!

We each took Thoung for a walk while the other stayed in and play some games on our phones, and by then, we were exhausted, and still needed to grocery shop, so we decided to hit the road!

We got back on the bus to go to the “Big C”, which is a large supermarket.  The place is ALWAYS jamming (think Sunday afternoon shopping, but all.the.time).  Luckily, by now we know the drill (you have to check your backpack, but don’t forget your wallet, grab a cart and start upstairs).  We wanted to get groceries so we could do cereal in the morning, sandwich’s at lunch, and pasta for dinner.  While we (ok, mostly me) are plain eaters, we are fine with eating the same thing every day.  Since we are here for such a short time, neither of us wants to get sick, so it’s much easier to stay away from any meat, and just stick with brands we know for plain types of food.  The price difference (paying more for international brands) isn’t really that much more, and is so worth not getting sick while here (that, and multiple Pepto-Bismol to coat our stomachs every day).

We took a cab back from the grocery story (the door to door service was really nice compared to taking the bus will all the groceries) and at this point our room was ready (wahoooo).  It’s very similar to last year!  Kitchen, dining room, living room, 2 bedrooms (1 with 2 twins and 1 with 1 king) a full bathroom, and then a ½ bath with washer/dryer (all in ONE unit, very different).  It was nice to start to unpack and get organized, and SHOWER (felt so good).  I’ll admit…I also put on a load of laundry.  I just love doing laundry.  Also, more practically, the drum is really small, so it makes more sense to do laundry frequently!

I made a pasta dinner (literally just boiled pasta and poured in sauce) but it as so easy and honestly tasted so good.  We also had to go and get milk (for cereal in the morning) but what’s really nice is there is a 7-11 type store on the bottom level of the hotel, so while it’s a bit more expense and limited (and why we don’t do all our grocery shopping there) its worth it to pick up milk!

I am very much looking forward to a good night sleep!