Greetings from somewhere over China! Would love to tell you where we are and how high and all that jazz, but ... I'm flying one of the most inept airline carriers in the history of the planet - no announcements, no English, no WINE, shitty service, BITCHY stewardesses, 3 hour UNEXPLAINED delay, then the decision to take off during a THUNDERSTORM ... and
get this!! The meal is CHICKEN. Um HELLO?!?!?!?!? You people wear SARS masks in open CLEAN air and you're eating CHICKEN from China as your AIRPLANE meal? Bird Flu, anyone?????
Jesus. My, my, my.
On the cool news front - I was heading to Kathmandu when I wrote the little diddy above ... RIGHT before it started going HARDCORE bump in the night. I'm talking - you're up one second, down the next. I was saying the Our Father like it was my job. And of course, I was imagining we were going over the mountains when the serious turbulence started and kept picturing the crash scene from Alive (haven't seen it? Watch it NOW ...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106246/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) and thinking "well, at least I'll feed the Chinese folks on my flight for a good month while they're awaiting rescue". It was BAD. But I got here in one piece and am not too much worse for the wear ... focus on the positive, right?!?!?!?!?!
OK, lots to catch up on (and lots of pics to share!!) ... so here goes ...
Went to the
Spring Festival at the UN International School (UNIS - one of 3 in the world - NYC, Austria, and ... Hanoi - totally makes sense) with my friends Nathalie and LaMont and their daughter Monae. The Festival was for the students and parents of the kids that attend UNIS, and was really cool ... boothes set up representing different countries around the world and their "go to"food - had a hot dog in Australia, paella in Spain, coffee in Italy, chicken in Canada ... felt like Hanoi's version of Around the World at Epcot Center. Fun way to spend a Saturday!
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| UNIS's version of "Around the World" at Epcot. |
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| Big-ass paella! |
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| Helicopter play area for kids, Vietnam-style ... 100% cardboard. They're crafty! |
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| Monae and me, after she very patiently got her face painted! |
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Playing with the rice wine (aka vodka) mommy and daddy won -
because those are the prizes at a fair in Vietnam :) |
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| The Grun-Wynn family!! |
Vietnam being a Buddhist country,
Easter is really for the Westerners living in Hanoi. Daraca, Damien and I enjoyed a lovely brunch at the Movenpick ... and it was epic - Damien
owned that buffet. I totally missed the traditions of dying Easter eggs and searching for my Easter basket Easter morning but ... brunch with friends was a nice substitute.
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You maybe can't tell, but that's an Easter bunny ice sculpture,
holding what (I think) was supposed to be an Easter egg ... but MIGHT'VE been
a little too phallic for Easter ... just sayin' |
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| Dessert! |
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| Still got my chocolate Easter egg :) |
Cassie came to visit me!!!! It was
so fantastic having a friend in town and showing her the "magic" (both the good and bad) of Vietnam. She arrived late Tuesday night ... Wednesday morning we were up and at 'em, taking a 4 hour car ride up into the mountains of Northwestern Vietnam to Mai Chau ... GORGEOUS scenery ... BEAUTIFUL mountains ... headed back to Hanoi on Thursday. Friday morning we met up with Daraca and Damien and caught the bus to Halong Bay ... SPECTACULAR views ... gorgeous boat ... and we very much enjoyed the "Buy 1 Free 1" happy hour. Sunday and Monday were spent touring Hanoi - a bit overwhelming for Cassie I think :) ... but fun to show off my new hometown!!!
Pics of Mai Chau ...
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| Up the mountain to Mai Chau! |
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| We were totally there!! Spectacular!!! |
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| Mai Chau Valley |
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| White Thai neighborhood |
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| Dinner in the village! |
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| Handicrafts of the White Thai |
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| Love the coordinated outfit for rice harvesting ... |
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Butcher shop ... in the open air market ... with no refrigeration ...
Right - I'm not judging ..........................................
(but seriously - there was a pig snout on the table opposite this lady ...
and of course I took a picture, but will spare you)
You're welcome. |
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| White Thai village |
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| Dried fish stall in the market |
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Military base in Mai Chai. Note the statue of Uncle Ho (aka Ho Chi Minh) on the balcony
of the building. He is always watching and with us ... |
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| More White Thai village |
Pics of Halong Bay ...
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After 4 hours on a miserable bench seat over not-well-paved roads through the
Vietnam countryside ... we made it!!! |
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| It's just gorgeous. |
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Bless her heart ...
the poor lady that took the 4 of us around the floating village on her rowboat. |
Pics of Kathmandu so far ...
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| Bottom of picture ... hair in my coffee at work. Not mine. Awesome. |
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| View from the office |
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| Cool gateway. Not sure what it's for, but it's cool! |
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| Looking back from the gateway - near the office |
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| Elephants and motorbikes - welcome to Kathmandu! |
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View from my hotel window ... you can see a hint of the mountains
in the distance. Hoping to get more impressive views this weekend! |
BUT - I'm going to a town right outside of Kathmandu tomorrow (Pokhara), and I imagine it'll match my original visions of Nepal ... mountain views, green everything, old temples - should be cool.
More pics of Kathmandu and Pokhara to follow!!! In the meantime, enjoy some Hanoi scenery :)
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| Zebra crossing = crosswalk. Love this! |
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| Karaoke, Vietnam style ... |
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My team - they love their karaoke!!
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| Balloon man in front of my house! |
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| Hanoi's electrical grid. Yup. |
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| My Kroger :) |
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| Hanoi's carnival - next to my house |
Wow Becca! You are living the dream! These pictures are amazing - keep em coming!! Miss you and thanks again for all the fun cards we received the other day!
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