Bumpy Ride

Yesterday was an emotional doozy…….we had to say goodbye to Joe, Laura, and Molly. For those of you that understand the term “people” you’ll understand when I say, it hard to leave behind some of our people. They’re good folk. It was also nice for the rest of us “seasoned” parents to be able to share our trivial baby knowledge with them; seeing how they are first time parents with no other resources from which to draw. But like I said, they’re good folk so they will do great. (It’s us seasoned folk who need the help!)

Minh, our guide, gave us great instructions so our trip through the airport was uneventful. Lucy had a great first flight. We almost gave her “take off” bottle too early, but she had enough formula to get her up to cruising altitude. Now Tricia on the other hand had a little rougher time in the air. We experienced some radical turbulence (I don’t usually use the term radical, but it seems to fit when describing turbulence). It’s needless to say, Tricia is not a turbulence fan and especially the time it felt like we dropped about 500 ft. in a split second. Things equaled out in the landing which was so smooth that I couldn’t even tell we had touched down, but then again….it could have been the beer on top of the Dramamine.

In Hanoi we were met by a driver. The funny thing was that he was driving a huge tour bus. So we had 1 driver, 4 adults, and 2 infants on a huge tour bus on the 55 minute drive to the hotel. Our hotel experience has been very different here in Hanoi than back at the REX in Ho Chi Minh City. We are staying at the Somerset, which is not a hotel but a serviced residence. A serviced residence is an apartment. We are staying in a two bedroom, two bath, living room, dining room, and full kitchen. This may sound great, but I would rather be back at the REX. This apartment has a lot of great stuff, but stuff we don’t need. The REX was more like a basic suite which fit our needs much better.

One of the things we miss the most about the REX is the complimentary breakfast buffet. It was excellent and became our favorite meal of the day. When you stay in a serviced residence you don’t get a complimentary breakfast buffet and for that matter you don’t get anything complimentary except for a couple bottles of water which is great for teeth brushing, taking morning meds, and giving morning bottles. The REX gave us bottled water as well.

Here at the Somerset you can get just about anything you want, you just have to pay for it and the prices are more what I would expect back in the USA. The Somerset is where the wealthy business people stay when they bring their families on business trips. If I were here on business with my whole family and were staying for an extended period of time, this would be perfect.

Well, I have to go pay 162,100VND per day to get the internet turned on so I can post this blog and talk to Cooper after he makes it home from a weekend with his Gram and Papa. Oh and if you were wondering, the Wi-fi internet connection at the REX was complimentary. Sorry if I sound cranky, but I skipped breakfast this morning.

Peace, Kirk
PS. On the way to pay for internet service we stopped at Jaspas, the restaurant on the 4th floor, for lunch and they had FREE Wi-Fi. Yea Jaspas!! I hope they are open early.