Lol phonetically that's what it sounds like when a buncha Vietnamese people make a toast! And here I am in Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City the city of bikes, toasting you good folks back there a hearty toast.
We got in yesterday after traveling 12 hrs. The kids were amazingly well behaved because of the late flight, we fed them a good wholesome meal of macdonalds, got them changed into their pjs and boarded the 8 hour flight to kuala lumpur. We lay them down as best we could (Thanks Welches for the squishy travel pillows!!) and settled them in to watch puss in boots. They were asleep in about an hour, and slept through til the end of the flight. It was awesome but I'm a terribly light sleeper so it was hard to get any real sleep on the plane. In Malaysia we had reserved a room at the transit hotel, but by the time we arrived it was 6am Sydney time which meant the kids were all up and hungry / thirsty / curious so I had a quick 10 minute power nap in the room while they watched tv/ jumped on the bed around me. Zane the poor bugger had to locate the pram after a mix up at the gate, it took him the better half of 2 hrs and a whole lotta people and positive thinking later to retrieve it- he came back in time to bathe the kids while I went in search of breakfast. Because it was 6am nothing was really open so they had to settle for a couple pies and a weird scrambled egg bagel that no one liked from Starbucks. I had to exchange money and felt excited because we were finally off on our big adventure and everything so far had gone so well.
I had worried previously about the long trip and stopover but it was a great relaxing time to travel without the big crowds we see on earlier flights and we had fun bumping into Neal and Sotherin - sorry we didn't really say bye I don't know where u guys went once u got off the plane!
Anyway blogging from an iPhone whilst jetlagged makes for really boring reading eh?!
All the photos are on my camera I have no laptop here and all you childless people tellin me it's easy to go to a net cafe and blog from there lol... Not with 3 kids it ain't. Blogging is done when the kids are asleep if you haven't noticed the time stamp on my posts... And as much as I love you all that's not happening at a netcafe in Saigon!
Haha we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City at 10am their time, and was struck at the airport by the hundreds of people outside the arrivals door. They oohed and Ahhed at the kids in the stroller and the heat- a balmy 38 degrees and the insane amount if people made the ride back to the hotel incredibly interesting! The kids were fascinated by the motorcycles and happy to be reunited with their cousins and aunties who told us that traffic was great and it was a cool day!? Lol
I've got to say one of my favorite things about this city is this insane and absolutely amAzing traffic! I love the way all the cars and vans and motorbikes weave in and around each other in this symphony of chaos and precision. I have no idea HOW it works just that it does! In the most astounding way. It's hypnotic and fascinating. I love the nightlife, I like to boogie and Saigon is a city full of life and contrasts. On a whole it is a sprawling mess of people and bikes- everything spilled over onto footpaths and roads but in parts it is made of relaxed and friendly people who watch us with a curious amusement as we giggle and roam haphazardly through the streets. We are a party if 17 a ratio of 8 kids to 9 adults. To dad we're as noisy as the traffic outside. We're occupying all but 2 rooms on the entire 7th floor of the Ha Hien Hotel. It's been a fun 2 days.
The kids were overwhelmed and amazed by their surroundings we eat constantly, and my sisters are in shopping heaven. TiVi cried when we went to a family friends house for lunch the first day here, when she needed to pee and was directed to a tiled room with a bucket and scooper thing. She held her bladder for over hour refusing despite my reassurances that it was fine and just like peeing in the shower! Hahaha... Ahh pansy snooty foreigners!
We eat til it gets hard to breathe... Then we stuff some more fruits in. Haha Quan an ngon is a favorite already, the atmosphere, the staff, service and food all up there in one of the best dining experiences ever. The kids become a spectacle and waiters pick them up entertain them and give them lollies.
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I fell asleep before finishing this post and have had no battery / net since so here u go folks. With love from the motherland.
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