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Well again I find myself up before 3am blogging. Such is the life when traveling with an infant over a major time change - the longest block of sleep I've got this trip has been 6 hours. I told myself it was harder on him, but now I'm starting to wonder since he sleeps on me whenever and wherever he wants and doesn't return me the favor! I'll just add it to the list of things to remind him of when he's a grown man and threatens to move away from me.
After our fun day at hot, hot Disneyland, we spend the night in Hong Kong and head back to Hanoi in the morning. The hotel staff at our small hotel has been so great that it feels like we are returning to our home away from home. What comfort to feel that when you're staying in a foreign country with your kids. Yes, the drain in one of the rooms backs up and the bathroom carries the faint smell of sewage when the sink is open. But, the service is not just impeccable, it is like visiting a family. Everyone knows me, everyone knows my kiddos, they play with them, and bring them fresh fruit and mango juice. They invited Georgia to celebrate in a birthday celebration of one of the staff. They noticed I was drinking a LOT of individual coffee packets and began to provide more each day. They rush to the street to help me up the stairs inside when they see me coming up with the stroller. There is a tip box here for tips so you don't feel the need to hand them cash at each interaction (tipping is not a big thing here), but it has not been emptied all week. While I am looking forward to heading to Bali tomorrow, I will miss it here.
After resting for a bit from our travels back, we make the trek to the best pho place around and get in just before the line stacks up and around the corner. Surprisingly, despite it being hot and humid, it doesn't feel anything like the painful temperature of trekking around Disneyland yesterday.
The pho place offers only beef pho, the difference being only if you want the beef done well or rare. There is only one size as well. The difference between pho in Vietnam and pho at home is as follows: the broth here is lighter, there are a lot of recipes at home that call for cinnamon or star anise or another spices in pho broth - not so here. Or, it's so faint that I can't tell it is in there. There is no cilantro, Thai basil, or hoisin sauce to add. The pho is flavored with onion, green onion, beef, and there is hot sauce and limes if you're so inclined.
When we first sit down for pho, they seat us at a table with another person - a young white man. He greets us in American and says he's from New York. When we tell him we're from Seattle, he says that he actually grew up in Lake Forest Park and went to Shorecrest High School. Strange to travel all the way around the world and run into somebody that grew up in Lake Forest Park. It's a small world after all.
Tomorrow we have a travel day - it's two leg trip through Singapore to Bali and a 45 minute car ride once we've cleared customs before we arrive at 9pm. I likely won't blog unless it's a blog consisting strictly of sleep emojis. Enjoy the eclipse friends!
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