House Hunters International, Hanoi Style

I think HGTV missed out on a real opportunity to showcase the real estate market in Hanoi.

Let's start with the fact that properties are seriously misrepresented on the advertisers website.  Oh - and not all of the ones listed on the website are actually available ... of the six that I'd expressed an interest in, I saw 1 - all others were unavailable.  Right.

Instead, they tried to match my preferences against their available inventory.  Without ever having met or spoken to me.  Without asking about any of my 'must haves'.  Now that being said, the real estate agent who showed me these places couldn't have been friendlier or more helpful - so I guess there's that.

I toured 7 apartments today, and of the seven, two stick out in my mind as possibilities.  Both in the expat district (Tay Ho), and both with a lake view.  The only difference between the two?  No washer and dryer in the one directly across from the lake.  Ruled that one out quickly.

I was getting pretty numb to all the viewings, and then - lo and behold - the clouds parted, the angels sung, and I found my dream Hanoi abode.  It's in Tay Ho, lake view, with a community park directly in front - where I saw several expats taking strolls, playing soccer, walking their dogs, etc. ... looks like a built in way to meet people.

The unit's on the 5th floor and is relatively new ... the online listing (http://vietlonghousing.com/hanoi-property/high-quality-furnished-apartment-with-lake-view-in-to-ngoc-van.html) doesn't do it justice, so here are some pics!!

Living room

Building exterior

Dining room

Park + Lake - what a view!!

Panaroma of kitchen/dining area

In short - I love it, and am SO hopeful this works out.  Evidently the landlord had another interested customer, so I'll know by Wednesday whether or not we can move forward.  I suspect there wasn't actually another interested customer, and she's just trying to hardball me - so I played the game and didn't express any great concern, telling my real estate agent that I'm sure there's some else on the market that's similar and lower priced.  The landlord didn't like that too much - guess I'm getting the hang of this bartering thing!!

And in case it wasn't obvious from the website or the pics ... there's a 2nd bedroom - I'll be well equipped for visitors (hint, hint)!!!!

7th Circle of Hell

Turns out I'm not the brightest bulb in the bunch.

On my flight from Dulles to Paris, I chose to partake of the appetizers provided in first class ... a salmon thing and some foie gras.  Why, you ask?  Because nothing can go wrong for people in first class.  Right?  WRONG.

After stepping off the plane in Paris, I started to feel a little off ... not horrible, nothing extremely wrong, but a low grade headache and a queasy feeling tummy.  As time progressed, I started feeling worse and worse, and eventually ended up losing my cookies in the bathroom at Charles de Gaulle.  Headache got worse, couldn't keep water down, and was retching all over the place.  Nightmare, right?  Welcome to my 7th Circle of Hell.

Got onto the plane and the nightmare continued.  Had two unfortunate episodes of vomiting in the mini closet that is the bathroom on my plane - I'm sure the flight attendants LOVED me when they saw that mess.

Mark my words ... 7th Circle of Hell.  Feeling better now, but it was quite touch and go there for a while.

Ah, the glamour of international travel.

Today's the Day!

After 9 months of prep, 1 month of packing, 5 goodbye visits with friends, 10 days with family, and countless hours making to do lists ... it's officially here ... today's the day I start the trek to Hanoi to begin my 12 month adventure.  I feel anxious, excited, sad, happy, full (too many Christmas goodies!), scared, ready, ill prepared ... basically a jumble of emotions that I haven't even begun to explore - I have a long 24 hours ahead of me, so I'm sure I'll start to figure it all out.

Dulles to Paris to Hanoi ... go time :)