Greetings from Song Tien!

Monday, January 9, 2012
Posted by TwoLively

Here's the post I tried doing earlier, on the airplane (but I can't get the Kindle's internet connection to work...)

Leg Two: Seattle to Tokyo
Loooong flight (12 hours.) Downloaded all my music into Kindle...but didn't move it from "the Cloud" into the device, so I couldn't access it without internet. So, I stayed up all night in vain! Since I didn't have my own playlist, I had to listen to the Madonna channel...over and over. By the third loop, I couldn't take another round of La Isla Bonita! Wish I had packed GasX...'nuff said. On this flight, we crossed the International Date Line, and we were always following the sun, so our day never turned into night... Every time I opened the window, I expected to see it was dark outside, but it wasn't!

When we got off our flight (in Tokyo), I noticed a woman (from the airline) holding a sign with our name on it. Instead of the 3 hour layover we were expecting, we had about 15 minutes to make the connection. So, this woman raced us thru the airport...the opposite end of course! When we got there, we bumped into Oz and Glinda. (We assumed, but didn't know for sure that they'd be on the same flight.) Glinda was having passport issues (her passport was issued before she married Oz, so the name on her passport, and the name on her ticket didn't match up), and jammed up the line--so, our escort (can I call her that?) raced us to another section of the airport. We had issues because a) all six pieces of our checked luggage were put in just my name alone, and b) the date of our entry into Vietnam did not match (because they changed our flight to an earlier flight.) We had five Japanese ladies robotically typing into their computers, consulting their manuals, and trying to call anyone in support. Finally, our escort called someone herself...and told them whatever code it took to make it work. Luckily, the 15 minute delay ended up taking about 45 minutes (thank heavens!) and we literally walked up to the gate as everyone was boarding the plane. And, fortunately, Oz and Glinda made it too. Throughout our flight, we saw the empty row where Group 1 should've been sitting...

Leg Three: Tokyo to Ho Chi Minh
Six and one-half hour flight... As we mentioned earlier, we didn't have the 3 hour layover like we were expecting, and we wished we could've had that layover to walk around a bit, to stretch our legs. This flight (All Nippon) was extremely nice. There were built in entertainment systems for each seat -- FREE! There were movies (new releases, plus older movies, like "Field of Dreams" from 30 years ago!), video games (Tetris, Scrabble, Pong, Asteroids), music, etc.  They had cameras mounted on the plane, so as we took off and landed, we could see the pilot's view, and the ground beneath us. Nice...but sometimes ignorance is bliss. Unfortunately, we didn't notice the footrests until we were landing (but we know for the flight home.) 

MarcoPolo mocks TwoLively's gaming (I don't get that obsessed!)...bento box meal
Add your best caption: Tootsie discovers a spoon ???...Japanese characters on Sprite can

We exited the plane, then had to wait in customs to pay our entry visa. After we made it thru (the very last travelers!) we exited the terminal and were greeted by throngs of Vietnamese...maybe a crowd of 1000 people? It felt like we were celebrities, and they were our paparazzi! Scanning the crowd, I noticed one guy holding a sign with our name on it. It was our sister-in-law, The Travel Agent's brother. Thank heavens! It was such a relief to see a friendly, unfamiliar face. He helped us get in the shuttle, and we drove for a good hour + to our hotel. Our driver was very good...but driving in Vietnam is craaazy! The scooter people weave in and out like road lice. Horns honk nonstop! Our drive kept honking his horn at them, and about clipped a duo on a scooter, who didn't move over. Other drivers were using the dotted line in the road as a suggestion, not a firm guide. We've determined that the biggest vehicle on the road wins the driving game. We made it to our city...but I'm not actually sure what city we are in (Later: Song Tien, which is outside My Tho [pronounced "me ta"--the area where our sister-in-law is from.] It's about 1 1/2 hours to Ho Chi Minh, aka Sai Gon.)
When we got to our hotel (Song Tien Hotel), it was dark and locked up tight. Brother had to keep yelling for someone to wake up and let us in!

Our hotel is about 6 stories tall, and we're the only people here. Digger, Glinda & Tootie got bigger rooms (with Lucy & Ricky--single--beds)...while MarcoPolo and I got a smaller room, with a bigger bed. Another bonus is that our room has water that works, so we can flush our toilet and take a shower. The other rooms don't have water, and the hotel people have disappeared again. Our hotel room has water dripping from the ceiling, by the light fixture. So, we can take a shower...but we might be electrocuted!

It took us about 30 hours to travel to Vietnam. I'll type more later! --TwoLively