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

Trapped in the Elevator!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Posted by TwoLively

Glinda, prepared for every emergency, passes out water...MarcoPolo contemplates eating Tootsie
Glinda looks oh-so-pleased, Tootsie points at the posted 5 people limit

Yes, that's right...tonight we were TRAPPED in the elevator! When the sign says "max 5 people" -- it means small, teeny-tiny Vietnamese people -- not 5 American-sized people! As we were riding the elevator up to the sixth floor (actually the 7th floor, since the 2nd floor is counted as the 1st floor), MarcoPolo told us about his friend plummeting in a Mexican elevator--which made Glinda realize the lit sign had been saying sixth floor for awhile--and we realized we were stuck! We tried yelling for help. I should mention the elevator is about 1/2 the size of an American elevator...so we were pressed together tightly. What do you do, and who do you call for help? MarcoPolo called The Travel Agent's brother (who had just left our hotel, and was riding home on his scooter) but he didn't understand what his sister's crazy family was saying! A good 5-10 minutes later, we heard people tinkering on the other side of the door, and to our relief, two hotel workers managed to pull the doors open. Our elevator was about a foot lower than the sixth floor...but we stepped up and made it to safety. Oz accused us of causing these things to happen, just so we have something to blog about. (Later: we saw the sign said 425 kilograms max....so it must've been the weight of our bags that put us over. That's our story, and we're stickin' to it!)

Views from our hotel...
The Breakfast Bunch...Oz eating fish for breakfast...the river where Oz's fish was probably caught
(where we saw a man bathing...and another one pooping!)

This morning, we went to Dong Tam (Snake Zoo.) There were cobras, boa constrictors, vipers, ostriches, monkeys (chained to trees), and goats (with funny eyebrows.) In one cage, a monkey was eating a treat out of a plastic sandwich bag, with the juice box on the ground below him. And, let's just say there was "a little monkey business" goin' on in the Monkey House. Ahem. There were R.O.U.S.'s (Rodents of Unusual Size -- Princess Bride) seriously the size of small lions! The cages were close enough that you could stick your fingers thru the mesh bars. Clearly OSHA, PETA, and the Humane Society are not well-represented in this country. We also made friends with some cute lil' kids who kept saying "hello" to us. Glinda and Tootsie gave them some gum. We're either celebrities or freaks--and we may cause some scooter rubber-necking accidents before we leave! As we left the zoo, a lady ran over, waving a paper with vital information. The paper was written in Russian, and it was an advertisement for Snake Venom to treat baldness.

Snake wine...Monkey holding chain...on the bridge
Snake charmers: Oz, Marco & TwoLively, Glinda
Tootsie's toes...Marco & Oz sticking their hands inside the cage...Marco & Baldness Cure
ROU's...ostrich...monkey business mama

We ate a yummy lunch outside...and are getting ready to have a siesta for a few hours. Nap-time is popular here in Vietnam, which is fine by us! Later this afternoon, The Travel Agent's brother will come back for us, and take us on another adventure. We will upload some pictures tonight...and add pictures to previous posts, too.

Oh yeah: the water was fixed in the other hotel rooms. The maintenance worker had to go though our bathrooms ceiling in order to get to their rooms--which was funny because their rooms are across the hall and down a few doors. He must've fixed our leaking water while he was at it, because when we returned our bathroom floor was dry. So we should be able to bathe without elecrocution. I hope it doesn't sound like our hotel is a dump, because it is really clean (just a little run down.) And for only $20.50 (we don't know if that is the cost for one night--or both nights? Breakfast included.) you can't beat the price! The city we are in is called Song Tien. (Update: I guess the water isn't really fixed in the other rooms afterall, so everyone will shower in our room. And, our light doesn't leak water...however, now water runs down our bathroom wall, which makes our toilet paper sopping wet.)

LATE AFTERNOON:
We went to a Vinh Trang Pagoda, which is a Buddist Temple, with possibly the biggest, happiest Budda ever! The building had intricate carvings, with incence burning everywhere (hate that smelly stuff!)

Happy Budda...standing by Budda (for scale)Buddist Temple
Offering...Graves...headstone

Afterward, we went to Co-Op, which is a grocery/department store. We noticed a group of about 4 teenage girls spying on us. When they realized we saw them, they hid--but we kept noticing them peeking at us. I (TwoLively) tried to find a pair of flip-flops, but the largest size marked was 8...which was more like a 6! I'm 5'7" and tower over even the men (they come to my shoulder level), so logically their feet would be tiny, too.

This evening we are going to walk down the street in search of a restaurant. Hopefully we won't get lost!

EVENING:
We took a left, instead of a right...stopped at a few restaurants that weren't really restaurants (Bars? Oz did a great pantomime of opening a menu and eating food, but it didn't translate well. I said "Pho" and they understand we were talkin' about food, which they didn't have.) We finally found the restaurant NEXT DOOR to our hotel. Yes, we completely walked in a big ol' circle--but MarcoPolo, our trusty navigator, insists we weren't ever lost! Along our route, the sidewalk was rough and uneven--plus it was dark--and Glinda tumbled on the gray brick road (she twisted her ankle for the 2nd time today.) Every time we crossed the street it felt like we were playing a game of human Frogger with the moped maniacs. At the restaurant, we were the only customers (Later: Hello! Ominous sign.) We all ordered different items on the menu, and when the food came, the puzzling thing was we couldn't tell it apart. Three ordered beef...yet only one entree looked beef-ish...and with tortoise, frog, snake and eel on the menu, it's anyone's guess, really! We gave up trying to figure who's food was whose, and just dug in family style. I must mention that this was a rice-free meal because I accidentally sent the rice from our table. Here's what happened: a mosquito was buzzing by my drink, so I instinctively shooshed it away...at the exact moment the waitress was setting the rice on the table. Thinking I was waving her away, our waitress got a funny look on her face, and scurried off with the rice. Ay-yi-yi! At the end of the meal, MarcoPolo pointed out food remnants (not his) on his chopstick...seriously dry-heaving just thinkin' about it again. At a nearby shop, I found some man-sized flip-flops, and bought them for 60,000 dong (about $3.00) Who knows? Maybe they really are man shoes...but Tootsie bought an identical pair, so we can be manly odd-balls together! Tomorrow afternoon The Travel Agent & Montezuma Revenge will arrive...yay! (We never thought we'd cheer for Montezuma's Revenge...)   

Our walk...Russian-Roulette mystery food...Sopping wet toilet paper (at least our bathroom has water!)

Tootsie and Glinda ended the day with not-so-gentle foot massages (tender-footed Tootsie is still recovering from hers!) The masseuse used some sort of sharp pressure-point tool...ouch!

-- TwoLively