Planes and pains

 Tuesday November 28

Yes there is a big gap in dates. I have been home for a week plus 21 hours and should have written this on the flight home, but it didn't happen. Hopefully I can remember enough to get me from Hanoi to at least Seattle.

Back at the same hotel I had first arrived at in Vietnam, seemed fitting to be the last hotel as well. I was welcomed like i was family, without the drama. The room was huge in relation to the past two night's Monk's cell.

I settled in and went a wandering around the area. Back to the lake for some final views and a light lunch on the shore. Back at the hotel I decided to splurge again on my final meal in Vietnam, by trying a different Michelin mentioned restaurant.

Since it's my last evening in Hanoi, I check my WhatsApp the last time and see that Gia had sent me a message last night they had an opening for lunch today. I completely missed the message last night. Darn again !

Back to the streets of the city and off to dinner. I like gadgets. The fancy restaurants here like gadgets, or maybe it's the Michelin reviewers that like gadgets. Last night's meal was Japanese and their gimmick was a tower of Sake that flowed down a glass lab condenser that was filtered through sliced apples. Great tasting gimmick. Tonight's was a pickle bar.The Lord of Pickles asked if I liked spicy or not. He gave me a dish of each. One fiery hot Kimchi and one sweet onion. Both were good, but I must admit it did tear up a little with the fiery one.

Mud crab vermicelli was the main, and really good. One of the things that I have experienced this whole trip is that when it comes to food, you get what you pay for. The serving sizes are even large for American tummys. One thing I missed about restaurants in the U.S., is kind of a love/hate is the server coming by to ask if the meal is tasting satisfactory. Generally they come at the most inopportune time, like when you are telling your best friend how to access your secret lair, but I missed it. My experience so far is the food is presented and you are left alone until you signal you need attention, whether it is more wine or the bill.

I hate having to explain the food was great, the portions were larger than I wanted. Oh, don't get me wrong, I could have eaten the whole thing, but the next day to be a eating and sitting day and  I didn't need all those carbs tonight.

Back at the hotel I shuffled things around in my baggage. I went from one checked bag and two slightly heave carry on day packs, to one pretty heavy checked bag and one slightly heavy day pack. In the day pack was my iPad, 2 days of undies and 2 days worth of meds. I  managed to get 40 pounds of stuff into my 30 pounds of stuff red suitcase.

Morning came and after breakfast with the locusts it was time to check out for the flight home. The required good byes and the reminders to mention then individually in the hotel's review on TripAdvisor.

The ride to the airport cost less than any previous ride to or from the airport and was in a very plush Suburban type limo. Guess I better remember that review for sure now.

The plane leaves Hanoi at 12:15 pm and arrives in Seattle at 1 pm. 45 minutes, with twenty hours in between.

Check in, official formalities and security and I'm in one of my most hated places in the world, an airport waiting area.

Some hours later another airport, different security and more waiting. Then boarding and into my aisle seat in Delta Comfort +. The legroom is a little better and the nose room a world better than basic cattle class. Of course the price difference could pay for a nose job but that's a different matter.

The flight from Seoul to Seattle was unmemorable except for the worlds worst meal and my seatmate with the world's worst fumigation problem. I swear, maybe it would have been better to have the middle seat in basic economy than to sit by Noxious Neville. Then he orders the Spicy Pork, Haiya ! All while complaining that they moved him (unbidden) from a window seat in basic to a seat in Comfort +. I think they did to to save lives, people are much more tightly packed in Basic than Comfort. With him in that closed environment the masks would be dropping from the ceiling left and right. Haiya !

The aircraft touches down in Seattle on time and I shoulder check invalids out of the way to escape to the clean fresh air of semi burnt jet fuel. Ahh.. what a relief.

A ride home on the Big Bus, that I had to sit erect for 2 hours, oh the humanity ! A short ride home thanks to a friend. 24 hours between bed and home. I fight sleep for 3 hours once home but surrender to eleven hours in dreamland in my own bed.

Now back to the normal routine