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Hong Kong & Vietnam 2018
  • Tastes Like Chicken
Jun – Jul 2018

Hong Kong & Vietnam 2018

A 23-day adventure by Tastes Like Chicken Read more
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  • Trip start
    June 15, 2018
    Tastes Like ChickenHong Kong & Vietnam 2018Tastes Like Chicken

    And so it begins.......

    June 15, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    After vaccinations for:
    Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis,Typhoid, Hep A & B (again)
    as well as chugging down some Dukoral,
    and filling a prescription for Azithromycin (in case the Dukoral doesn't cut it),
    and buying some nasty assed mosquito repellent,
    and getting our Vietnam visa's approved,
    and dropping off the 4-legged bitch with my parents (thanks Mom & Dad!),
    and dropping off the 4-legged bastard at a local coyote den,
    we are ready for the road.

    ANA Airlines YVR - HKG
    10 hr flight to Tokyo
    13 hr layover in Tokyo
    1 1/4 hr flight to Osaka
    2 hr layover in Osaka
    4 hr flight to Hong Kong
    Why fly non-stop when you can experience all this over 31 hrs????

    Next stop - Tokyo    Read more

  • Tastes Like ChickenHong Kong & Vietnam 2018Tastes Like Chicken

    Tokyo

    June 17, 2018 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Our flight from Vancouver to Tokyo was fantastic. The Dreamliner lives up to it’s name - quiet, smooth, very roomy. And it was an hour quicker than scheduled. One of the cool things on those planes is the window tinting. You can change the tint for your window, everything between clear and pitch black. The meals were fairly standard airline food, leaning more towards Japanese cuisine. Edible but nothing to rave about.Read more

  • Tastes Like ChickenHong Kong & Vietnam 2018Tastes Like Chicken

    Tokyo 2

    June 17, 2018 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    After landing at Haneda Airport and facing a 13 hour layover, we took the monorail and train into the Shinjuku district of Tokyo. Thank God we have Braeden with us as he is our navigator extraordinaire. The amount of train and subway lines here is mind boggling but he figured out where we needed to go. The Shinjuku area contains hundreds and hundreds of restaurants and bars, the majority being little hole in the wall type places that would hold no more than 10. We ate at a small place that had an ordering system that was as confusing as hell, all in Japanese. We figured it out after a whole lot of pointing and gesturing with the proprietor and it turned out to be a pretty good meal of assorted noodles. Tokyo is really, really crowded and a little intimidating due to the language barrier, but I could see coming back and spending a lot more time here.Read more

  • Tastes Like ChickenHong Kong & Vietnam 2018Tastes Like Chicken

    Hong Kong

    June 17, 2018 in Hong Kong ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We flew into Hong Kong this afternoon aboard an old, creaky 767. Same airline, but we went from the penthouse to the outhouse pretty quickly with our rides.

    Hong Kong airport is huge and the road, bridge, and tunnel projects that accompanied it’s 1998 completion are expansive.

    After arriving at our hotel,we washed the 30 hour funk off ourselves and headed out for dinner. We ended up at a dim sum place. It was good, but you can get better back home.

    A few observations:

    There are a lot of people here.
    Most seem to use transit. Besides having a comprehensive and efficient subway system, there appears to be 10 times as many buses on the roads as cars.
    It’s very humid. I have clothing sticking to body parts it has no right sticking to.
    Everyone seems to hang their laundry out off the side of their apartment with whatever jerry-rigged system they can come up with.
    It’s literally raining on the sidewalks from the thousands of window air conditioners dripping condensation from above.
    They love their animals. We walked 1 block with no less that 20 pet stores. Birds, rabbits, turtles, UFT’s (unidentifiable furry things). Now either these shops are full of future Buttercup’s, Bunny’s and Cuddle’s,or they are restaurant supply stores - it’s a fine line.
    I saw bamboo scaffolding today. Bamboo scaffolding!    Read more

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    Hong Kong 2

    June 18, 2018 in Hong Kong ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Today started off with a late breakfast at a nearby bakery and cafe. We are starting to figure out how most Hong Kong restaurants seem to work. Go in, get a table, take no more than 30 seconds to decide what you want to eat as you better be ready to order when the waitress comes by, don't ask questions, food comes right away, eat, pay, leave. No dawdling, no dicking around, get in, get out, no harm. It's all about the turnaround time and getting as many butts in a seat as possible throughout the day. We had pineapple buns (with a big chunk of butter in the middle), Hong Kong style french toast (slathered in butter), iced and hot coffee. All excellent. We liked it so much we are going back tomorrow in spite of the surly staff. Maybe we like the abuse a little bit too.
    After breakfast we hopped on the subway to get to Victoria Peak, an 1,800 foot mountain with a mountain top lookout on Hong Kong Island . The Hong Kong subway system is apparently the most efficient subway system in the world. It moves 5.2 million people per day and has a 99.9% on-time rate. The trains we were on were 600 feet long and packed. Crazy volume, crazy size, and crazy efficient.
    After a tram ride to the top of the peak we enjoyed the views, and the breeze. We headed back down the mountain on a city bus, on a narrow road full of sharp turns and switch backs. If we met another bus making it's way up there was probably no more than 6 inches of space between the two vehicles. Once at the bottom we strolled around for a while, ducking into shops every few minutes to enjoy the air conditioning. I mentioned in yesterday's post about the bamboo scaffolding and I noticed a lot more today. One of the pictures below shows a tall building (I counted 40 stories) with green netting. Inside that netting from bottom to top, is bamboo scaffolding. All warped, crooked, and held together with some type of nylon tie. No thanks.
    We made our way down to the waterfront to catch the ferry back to Kowloon. Once on the Kowloon side we stopped and had dinner at a place specializing in noodles. We got a table, checked out the menu as quickly as possible and ordered our food. The waitress walked away before we could order drinks and re-appeared about 20 seconds later with a computer printout of our bill. Our meals were really good but we went without drinks as we were too chicken to order them and have her change our bill. We went up the street to McDonald's after we ate to get something to drink. I'm going to have nightmares about Hong Kong waitresses.    Read more

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    Hong Kong 3

    June 19, 2018 in Hong Kong ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We started today with another great breakfast with our favorite grumpy, impatient waitresses. After breakfast we decided to take a high speed ferry to Macau, the so-called Monte Carlo of the Orient. Not to gamble, as we don’t, but to wander aimlessly, sweat profusely, and eventually turn on each other over said aimless wandering. We learned that when it is in the 30’s, and the humidity is hovering around 90%, you don’t just head out for a stroll to nowhere in particular. We also learned that besides casinos, Macau seems to be some sort of banking center (hmmm......), has a hell of a lot of stores selling fresh jerky and egg tarts, and way too many stores selling durian in various forms. Walking past those stores is an affront to your olfactory senses.

    The ferries zip along at 80 km/h in calm or rough water. In fact I think the rougher the water, the faster they go. The seats have seatbelts and are highly recommended. It was kind of like flying through heavy turbulence. Walking around is not an option. After leaving Macau, all hot, sweaty and pissed off with each other, we arrived back in Hong Kong all hot, sweaty, pissed off, and hungry. So we did the unforgivable and ate at the first place we saw - McDonalds. I hope the food Gods will forgive us for that one. And that's all I've got to say about that. Tomorrow we jet off to Hanoi.    Read more

  • Tastes Like ChickenHong Kong & Vietnam 2018Tastes Like Chicken

    Hanoi

    June 20, 2018 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    After a nothing special breakfast this morning (different restaurant, friendly waitstaff - maybe that was the problem) we headed to Hong Kong airport for our 2 hour flight to Hanoi. A pseudo Vietnamese meal was served, a little odd considering the short flight, and it turned out to be not too bad.
    Hanoi airport was dead quiet. We were in customs for about 45 minutes waiting for our Vietnamese Visa approval and no other flights came through in that time. The terminal is new, spotless, and empty. The bored customs officers outnumbered the passengers.
    After finally getting our visa’s we met our pre-arranged driver and began the 30 km drive into Hanoi. Then all hell broke loose. The very dark, ominous looking sky opened and rained like we have never witnessed. Living where we do we have seen some awful, heavy rain, but this was a whole new level. Monsoon type rain. Instant flooding type rain. Or as our driver put it “many water”. I’ve posted a picture below to show the view through the windshield.
    Which brings us to driving in Vietnam. Absolute insanity. We've seen some terrible, questionable driving over the years, both at home and while visiting various countries (I’m looking at you, Crete taxi driver) but nothing comes close to what we witnessed over the 30 km drive. Firstly, most of the scooter drivers took shelter under overpasses during the storm but several continued on, travelling over 50 km/h in several inches of standing water, weaving in and out of traffic. Lanes in the road are merely suggestions. Driving on the correct side of the road is again, merely a suggestion. Jumping the green light in order to turn left is the norm. Not just for 1 or 2, but several. Scooters driving on the shoulder and sidewalk is acceptable. Constant use of the horn is encouraged. And yet, it seems to work. Organized chaos I guess. Terrifying to an outsider but the norm for the Vietnamese. At any rate, we made it to our hotel safely and with wtf looks on our faces.
    Dinner tonight was at a non- Vietnamese restaurant. Food was decent but the highlight for Braeden was the fact that 18 is the drinking age in Vietnam. He doesn’t even like beer but had one because he could. Looking forward to the 38 degree Hanoi weather tomorrow.    Read more

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    Hanoi 2

    June 21, 2018 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Our first full day in Hanoi started out with breakfast on the 8th (top) floor of our hotel with a nice view overlooking the local neighbourhood. We are staying in a little boutique hotel in the old quarter of Hanoi. A large room for the 4 of us, ridiculously friendly staff, and breakfast included, all for about $70 per night. Fresh fruit juice, fruit (fresh passion fruit- yum), yogurt, coffee, then your choice of entree - pancakes/omelettes/pho/rice or noodle dishes. With table service to boot, it really can’t be beat.

    We headed out exploring after breakfast and it was already stifling hot at 10:00 am. We walked for 1/2 an hour or so to a local lake/park area and were pretty much done after that. It’s amazing how quickly your ass starts dragging in this heat. So we did something that, like eating at McDonalds, goes against what we normally would do. We bought tickets for a hop on/hop off bus tour. Really good decision on our part. Braeden had some sights he wanted to see, the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, the Hanoi Hilton (where John McCain was imprisoned) and a couple other museums. The bus took us to all of them. One of the best parts about the museums was that for the next to nothing entry fee you could enjoy the air conditioning. Even if nothing about the museum was of interest, there was the a/c to enjoy.

    Dinner tonight was at a little place I had read about, Cumulus. The proprietor is a former street kid who wanted a better life for himself and worked his butt off to save enough money to rent a space to open his own place. His restaurant is tucked away in a hard to find space on the 2nd floor of a small building. We had a general idea of where it was but were stumped as to exactly where to go. Along came a young boy of maybe 8, carrying a little baby girl. He lead us down an alley and up a flight of stairs to a sparse restaurant. This was the place, excellent home style Vietnamese cuisine at a dirt cheap price. William, the owner, was justifiably proud of his food and himself.

    A few things about Hanoi:
    - Hanoi is unlike any place else we have been. There is the constant traffic noise of scooters buzzing by, and horns blaring, and the different smells as you walk along. There are food vendors and tiny restaurants everywhere. A lot of the cooking seems to be done out front at the entrance or on the sidewalk.
    - Sidewalks are a combination of scooter parking, restaurant seating, restaurant kitchen and storefront. There is never a clear path to walk, a lot of the time you have to walk on the road to get through.
    - Crossing the street is an adventure. There are very few controlled crossings and those are ignored by drivers. Nobody stops to allow you to cross. You just have to put your big boy pants on and start walking across. It’s intimidating to step out into traffic with an onslaught of vehicles coming at you but it’s how it’s done. Cars will honk at you, scooters will zip around you, but it all seems to work.
    - The people will go out of their way to help you, but they will also go out of their way to try and sell you something.
    - Hanoi tap water is not safe to drink, apparently the water is great but the pipes carrying the water are old and full of lead and other lovely things. Bottled water though is everywhere and cheap - 65 cents for a 1.5L bottle.

    Some explanation on the pictures below:

    Street scene near our hotel.

    A jackfruit tree near the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum. We thought it may have been immature durian but someone told us jackfruit. For perspective, each one is slightly larger than a basketball. Apparently jackfruit can grow as large as 55kg.

    Near the the jackfruit tree. At the time of the picture the heat index was 42 C (it topped out at 47 today) and this group was wearing long pants and jackets including the girl on the left who was wearing a thick furry/fuzzy thing. WTF?!!!

    This pagoda is called the one pillar pagoda and is regarded as one of Vietnam’s most iconic Buddhist temples. Natascha was posing for a picture on one of the steps when a lady yelled “Miss Sexy, no!” at her to tell her to get off the step. No picture posing on the steps I guess Miss Sexy.

    On board the bus. There was no seating left downstairs so we had to go up top. They supply you with these hand woven hats for some sun shade. The boys are going to hate that I posted this picture.

    Keegan and I enjoying the a/c at Hoa Lo Prison (Hanoi Hilton).

    Tomorrow we head off on our Halong Bay overnight cruise.    Read more

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    Halong Bay

    June 22, 2018 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    Friday noon until Saturday noon was spent cruising around Halong Bay aboard the junk boat Dragon Legend. Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage sight located about 180 km’s east of Hanoi and consists of about 2000 towering limestone islands. First, however, we had to get there and that meant another eye opening experience on the roads.
    We were picked up from our hotel bright and early Friday morning by a nice 8 passenger luxury van with reclining leather seats and kick ass a/c. We were looking forward to a calm, peaceful drive through the Vietnamese countryside - ha, the joke was on us.
    Rural driving in Vietnam is no different than city driving, except at a higher rate of speed. Honking is still a constant and is done when wanting to pass, after passing, waiting to be passed, or seemingly just for the hell of it. Highway driving is similar to city driving in that 3 or 4 lanes are often created out of 2. Passing is done with oncoming traffic within 50 metres or so (the closer the better apparently) but vehicles in both directions just slide over to make space for the passing vehicle. Nobody seems to panic, except for the Canadians in the back of the van. Shoulder passing is common, with vehicles somehow squeezing between a shoulder riding scooter and the vehicle being passed.
    There are a number of vendors who set up shop on the side of the highway, not off the highway, but on the shoulder. Vehicles will stop on the highway to make a purchase, while being serenaded by car horns. Most vendors were selling fruit and drinks but I did see a couple of tire shops for truckers. With a small inventory of large tires and all the tools needed to repair/replace tires it was a portable tire shop, all on the shoulder of the highway.
    One other note. It’s currently rice harvesting season so rice is out drying everywhere in the rural areas. Front yards, driveways, the side of the road, even encroaching onto the road. Yet everyone seems to respect the rice and give it a wide enough berth so as not to disturb it.
    Our drive to Halong Bay was hair raising, crazy, and chaotic and all we could do was trust that our driver knew what he was doing.
    After safely arriving at the Bay we boarded a tender to take us out to our boat. The Dragon Legend is a 44 passenger boat, and is considered to be a luxury vessel. We chose this boat because apparently the lesser priced cruises can be a little iffy (unsettling, dubious, downright scary - pick your adjective). According to online reviews, critters in your cabin and questionable food are not uncommon. And, this boat visits a quieter part of the bay as at any one time there could be 500 of these boats plying the waters.
    I wouldn’t call our boat luxury but it was clean, the food was good and tasty, and the staff were fantastic, in particular our cruise director Harry Potter (so named because no one can pronounce his Vietnamese name, and he does magic tricks). There was some discussion of a mutiny when we found out there was no wifi on board, as we were cruising out of cell range. Nothing like complaining about first world problems in a developing country.
    As we cruised out into the bay we enjoyed a nice Vietnamese lunch, arriving at our first stop of the day a couple hours later. Our boat dropped anchor and we had the option of kayaking or taking a tour aboard one of the tenders. The 4 of us choose kayaking with the boys heading out together and Nat and I sharing another boat. Spouses should not kayak together, ever, particularly when neither has kayaked in decades. We had as much rhythm paddling together as Al Gore dancing a rumba. Apparently left/right/left/right does not mean the same thing to us. No matter, we persevered and had a blast.
    Dinner followed by a show put on by the crew was next up. I had a hell of a hard time staying awake (likely because, ahem, I was doing all the paddling in the kayak. I have a boo boo on my thumb that proves it) so I retired to our cabin early and passed out. Damn humidity claims another victim.
    The next morning our boat anchored near an island with a large cave we could explore. We were tendered to the island and then led up a trail of stairs to the cave. There were only about 30 steps but we were all exhausted upon reaching the top. It was 8:30 in the morning but heat and humidity wins again. The cave was cool to see and walking through to the other side led us to some viewpoints for pictures.
    After returning to the boat we enjoyed a mid-morning brunch and prepared to disembark as we motored back to port.
    After tendering off we were picked up by our ride and had a relatively uneventful drive back to Hanoi, unless you count the herd of water buffalo crossing the highway to graze on the grassy median. Just another day in Vietnam.
    After overdosing on Vietnamese cuisine during our cruise we decided on some surprisingly good Indian food for dinner. After dinner, on our way back to the hotel, we stopped in at a coffee shop to watch some World Cup and enjoy some iced Vietnamese coffee, which are a must try for any coffee lover. At a little over a dollar a piece this could turn into an affordable addiction.    Read more

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    Hanoi 3

    June 24, 2018 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    Vietnam day 5 checklist:

    Heat - check
    Humidity- double check
    Sweating, red faced Canadians dragging their sorry asses around - check
    Traffic, horns, and general mayhem - check

    After breakfast we walked over to the Vietnam Military History Museum, which is pretty self-explanatory by name. It’s interesting to read about, and see pictures of, the Vietnam war from a different perspective. We got to the museum just as they were closing for their 1 1/2 hour lunch break so first we crossed the street to take a photo of the largest statue of Lenin outside the old U.S.S.R. (Braeden says he has a complicated relationship with Vlad), then we walked over to a nearby cafe, ordered coffees, and poached their Wifi and a/c until the museum reopened. About 3/4 of the exhibits were dedicated to the American war, as they call it, including a large outdoor area of various American tanks, helicopters, and airplanes captured or shot down during the war.
    After the museum Braeden and I decided to check out a nearby citadel, the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, while Nat and Keegan sought out some a/c for a bit of respite from the heat. The citadel was old, had thick stone walls, and I’m sure somewhat interesting but I was hot and tired and couldn’t give a rats ass about anything at that point so can’t say much more about it.
    After we wrapped up visiting the old stone place we met up with Nat and Keegan and slowly made our way back to the hotel for a rest before dinner. It’s fascinating to walk through the streets of the Old Quarter of Hanoi because you see so many different and unusual (to us) things. A single block can contain dozens and dozens of shops, all in tiny spaces no larger than the size of a small walk-in closet. Hardware stores, repair shops (the majority of repairs I have seen done are to scooters and electric fans), shoe stores, clothing stores, restaurants, and any other shop you can name, all crammed from floor to ceiling, front to back with their wares. Most don’t even have room for the proprietor so many sit on a small stool just outside their shops.
    For dinner we heeded the cravings of a certain unnamed member of our family and decided on an American restaurant (run by a South African with Vietnamese staff) that served burgers. We weren’t expecting much, but damn, the food was terrific. The burger I had easily slid into my top 5 all time. Cold beer and the World Cup on tv rounded out a damn near perfect dinner.
    Tomorrow we fly down to Hue, in central coastal Vietnam. It’s a much smaller city than Hanoi so maybe not quite as chaotic (fingers crossed). We did find Hanoi to be very interesting. I know I’ve bitched a lot about the heat, noise and chaos but it was definitely worth the experience.
    We have a bit of Delhi belly going through the family right now, or as Braeden puts it “god-damned Dukoral doesn’t work worth shit”. Hopefully it will be over and done with shortly and that will be it for the duration of the trip.    Read more

  • Tastes Like ChickenHong Kong & Vietnam 2018Tastes Like Chicken

    Hue

    June 25, 2018 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Today was a relatively uneventful day as it was a travel day. We were leaving Hanoi when we saw our first minor accidents, something I’m surprised we didn’t see more of. A couple scooters both zigged instead of zagged and had a connection, and another scooter was taken out by a car door. Neither looked to be very serious.

    Hanoi airport was significantly busier today than when we arrived on Wednesday, with long lines at check-in and security. We had to be vigilant about keeping our spot in line as some people were constantly looking to take advantage of the unaware.

    This was a domestic flight within Vietnam but was the first security area we encountered this trip where shoes had to be off, always a favourite. Hanoi airport has a strange set-up with the arrivals terminal a fair distance from the departure terminal, so every outbound passenger has to be bussed to their plane. Not the most efficient airport I’ve seen.

    Our flight was only an hour so we arrived in Hue mid-afternoon and were at our hotel about 45 minutes later. After check-in, a short walk for ice cream became a long walk as our navigator is under the weather and stayed in the room. We did walk past a durian vendor who was doing a booming business. We are planning to try some this trip but haven’t built up the nerve yet. Dinner was some decent Mexican (with $2.50 mango margaritas. I mean come on), as we’re having a hard time getting back to Vietnamese food.    Read more

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    Hue 2

    June 26, 2018 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    A relatively low key day today as I had an urgent need to, shall we say, remain within sprinting distance of the facilities (tmi?), so I stayed behind while the rest of the gang explored some of the ancient sights of Hue. They visited the Imperial Citadel, which was the Imperial City of the Nguyen Dynasty. Only 10 buildings out of 160 remain as the rest were destroyed by the Anti-French Resistance War, and the Vietnam War.
    The town of Hue is a nice change of pace from Hanoi. Less traffic and noise, much more small town and peaceful. It has also been a little cooler, particularly in the evenings which makes it nice to walk about. A significant number of dogs look to have free reign throughout the town. Most are the funniest looking things, they seem be a mix of every known breed to man. They don’t appear to be aggressive in any way, they just go about their business which is mostly scavenging for food. Not sure how they survive the scooter traffic though. Most of the tourists here are young Australians and Brits who stay at any one of a large number of local hostels.
    Later this afternoon I was feeling better so we went out for coffee. I had my first coconut coffee which is simply strong Vietnamese coffee poured over coconut ice cream. Probably not the best thing to have but it was awfully good. The others had Vietnamese coffee made the traditional way with a stainless steel single cup coffee filter. Dinner tonight was at a restaurant serving Vietnamese and western cuisine. I was the only one to have Vietnamese - pork bun cha, which was the same dish Anthony Bourdain and Barack Obama enjoyed together in Hanoi. A really good dish.
    Tomorrow morning we hop on the train for the 3 hour journey down the coast to Hoi An where we hope to enjoy some beach time. I’ve read mixed reviews of the Vietnamese rail system so could be an interesting experience.    Read more

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    Stupid Train

    June 27, 2018 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Worst. Train. Ever.
    My fears came true today with our shitty train ride from Hue to Da Nang. The train left 1 1/2 hours late, ran slower than scheduled, had little to no a/c, and had roaches and rodents as passengers.
    We sat in the steaming death box for a good 45 minutes before departing due to the single track line being occupied with another train, and it went downhill from there. All in all an awful, awful ride. We’ve been very happy with the Vietnamese airlines we’ve been flying on, but the train - never again.

    We did meet a mid-20’s British woman who has travelled extensively and is currently on a 6 month solo trek through Nepal, Vietnam, and India. She said she has never really felt unsafe anywhere but could do without the constant marriage proposals she receives as a single female traveller.

    We met up with our driver at the Da Nang train station and had an uneventful 30 minute drive to Hoi An. We really like Hoi An, in particular the area where we are staying. It has a bit more of a European flavour to it, very laid back. We will be checking out the beach sometime in the next couple of days which will be a nice change. We had a mix of Vietnamese and western food for dinner tonight, and are planning on having Greek tomorrow night because isn’t that what you go to Vietnam for?
    And Germany just got knocked out of the World Cup - god dammit!    Read more

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    Hoi An

    June 28, 2018 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    We all slept in a bit this morning, I guess we needed to sleep off the stench of yesterday’s train ride. One more item from yesterday. An announcement was made that our train would be late arriving to pick us up in Hue, first in Vietnamese, then English. No idea what was said in Vietnamese but the English announcement was “blah blah blah the train will be late blah blah blah we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and hope to receive your sympathies”. Hmmm, those would be some misdirected sympathies.

    Our hotel’s breakfast was decent. The highlight of our breakfast is usually the fresh fruit and fruit juice - mango, pineapple, dragon fruit, passion fruit, Vietnamese orange, and that devil fruit, watermelon (I’ll take the word of the others on that one). All the fruit is perfectly ripe and full of flavour - even the bananas taste different (better) here.

    We set out after breakfast to explore Hoi An. Today is the first day since arriving in Vietnam with blue sky and sunshine. Not necessarily a good thing though as we had to do the shade seeking strut - walk quickly through the sun into some shade, pause for a bit, repeat. The last place we did this was in Madrid, where it was also stinking hot. Nat gave up after about an hour or so and returned to our hotel while the boys and I soldiered on. We explored for a while longer before having a break at a local coffee roastery, sitting beside a huge fan while enjoying some iced beverages.

    We’ve noticed a lot more tourists in Hoi An than the other parts of Vietnam we’ve visited. Australians, Europeans, and lots of Chinese. The Chinese tour groups are pretty funny to watch. They all wear the same shirts or hats supplied by the tour company, all of the woman walk with open umbrellas, all of the men have huge DSLR cameras around their necks, and they dutifully follow their guide who carries a long pole with a stuffed animal mounted to the top. They are also the only ones seemingly oblivious to the honking of scooters as they block the roadways to take pictures.

    After our drink break we returned to our hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon lounging by the rooftop pool. The pool is situated mere steps from our room and as we were the only ones there the entire time, it was like having our own private area to enjoy.

    Dinner was Greek and was good, with slightly suffocating service due to an over abundance of eager staff. We then joined the hordes to walk about the old town and view all the lanterns lit up after dark.

    World Cup Football dribble:
    My head is still spinning over Germany’s loss yesterday. What the hell was that? This was not the plan. It was probably those green uni’s they were wearing. Not sure who to cheer for now. Certainly not Brazil and that serial flopper Neymar. England? Never those wankers. Love Messi so maybe if Argentina gets through, but can I cheer for the same team as that idiot Maradona? Or perhaps the ever hungry Suarez and Uruguay?    Read more

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    Hoi An 2

    June 29, 2018 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    Beach day. The perfect antidote to the 38 C weather. We went to the beautiful An Bang beach, about 4 km from our hotel. Golden sand, clear water, uncrowded, beer served on the beach, it was almost perfect.

    There were plenty of palapas with beach chairs available for rent. They are governed by employees of the various restaurants lining the beach so you can choose to either pay the daily rate of 100,000 dong (about $5.75) or eat at the restaurant and get the beach chair for “free”. We chose the food route. The food turned out to be nothing more than something to fill our belly’s, totally forgettable, but hey, at least our beach chairs were “free”.

    The water was fantastic, sandy bottom, a gentle slope out, enough wave action to keep us happy, and no jellyfish. Keegan was in it for hours. And there was a stiff breeze coming off the water that kept the temps bearable. It was a nice sweat-free day.

    In the pictures below you’ll notice a round boat, which is a basket boat that fisherman use in the area. The boats are made of woven bamboo, coated in waterproof resin, and are manoeuvred by a single oar in a short back and forth waving motion. We did see a couple of fisherman heading out in their boats until they were hundreds of yards off shore. The paddling doesn’t look like it would be very efficient but seems to work. Apparently when the French arrived in Vietnam they started to levy taxes on everything, including boats. The fisherman, worried about being unable to pay the tax and endangering their livelihood, came up with these basket boats and argued that they were not boats at all but baskets. The French accepted this and they were able to avoid paying the tax.

    Dinner tonight was Italian, which was pretty decent. Pasta was perfectly cooked and tasty, and Keegan scarfed down his pizza, not unusual but he said it was very good. Mexican, Indian, Greek, Italian, American, all on our Vietnam vacation. Shows you where Vietnamese food ranks with us.

    Off to Da Nang tomorrow to overnight before flying out to Ho Chi Minh City the next day.

    A couple stories:
    The other day, driving in from Da Nang to Hoi An after the train, we passed several rice fields lining the road. Standing just off the side of the road, in the shade of a large tree, was a gigantic water buffalo with a woman lounging on her side along it’s back. Today, driving to the beach there was the water buffalo again, this time lying down with a woman lounging on it’s back. On our return from the beach the animal was once again standing, with a woman reclining on top of it. I don’t know if it’s the communal resting spot but it was quite funny to see. I would have taken a picture but that would have meant extricating my fingernails from the front dash of our taxi. There is tailgating, and then there is tailgating Vietnam style.

    During some of our past longer vacations we’ve had need to get our clothes cleaned. We’ve always used a self-serve laundromat, sitting for hours waiting for our clothes to be done. In Vietnam they have laundry services, drop off or pick up. Your laundry is carted away somewhere (the river perhaps? I don’t really want to know) and returns the next day clean, dry, and folded. All for a much lesser cost than any do it yourself laundromat we’ve used. Across from our current hotel, sitting beside a hand made “Laundry” sign, is a little old Vietnamese lady who always waves and smiles at us as we walk by. In need of some clean clothes (particularly Keegan, he’s currently wearing a hoodie and jeans), the boys and I lugged our stinking pile of clothes across the street to this woman. All she had at her disposal was a very old scale to weigh the clothes (you pay by the kg). Not a washer in sight. She weighed ours, told us how much it would be, and said we can pick up tomorrow at 9:00 am. No receipt, no ticket, nothing. I have nothing to show that I dropped off our clothes with her. I trust she’s legit, I mean who would want some sweaty, dirty tourists clothes, but you never know. Money is pretty tight here for a lot of people. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow. Keegan may be in his hoodie for a while.    Read more

  • Tastes Like ChickenHong Kong & Vietnam 2018Tastes Like Chicken

    Da Nang

    June 30, 2018 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    First off, we got our laundry back, all clean, dried, and folded. And, I managed to get a picture of the water buffalo as we left Hoi An today.

    Not too much other action on an obscenely warm day. It was in the upper 40’s with the heat index, so not a whole lot of desire to do too much outdoor activities. We left Hoi An for Da Nang late morning, about 26 km away. The drive between the two cities follows a long stretch of beach with several huge resorts by all the usual suspects - Hyatt, Sheraton, Melia etc...

    We got to our hotel in Da Nang late morning and cooled off in our room for a bit before deciding to risk the weather and see if we could find a place on the beach to relax. We walked along the shore for a distance (warm water on our feet, sauna like breeze - it didn’t exactly have the desired cooling effect) until we stopped at a beachside stand for refreshments. One dollar for a can of cold beer, shade, and a stiff breeze coming off the water did wonders for us. We sat there for a couple hours pondering life, mortality, and the meaning of our existence (uh-huh, the only thing on my mind was drinking my beer fast enough before it got warm) before deciding to trek back to the hotel and the a/c.

    Da Nang is by far the most modern Vietnamese city we have been to. A lot of newer buildings and tree-lined boulevards exist and new construction is going up everywhere. It has, over the past decade or so, built itself up as the tech hub of Vietnam. This is the first area in Vietnam where I’ve seen any type of luxury vehicle. Any automobile is considered a luxury item here. A new imported vehicle is subject to a 70% tax and the larger cities charge a further 15 - 20% registration fee.

    Indian for dinner tonight. Two really good Indian meals here, who would have thought.

    A full day in Da Nang tomorrow before flying to Ho Chi Minh City in the evening.    Read more

  • Tastes Like ChickenHong Kong & Vietnam 2018Tastes Like Chicken

    Da Nang 2

    July 1, 2018 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    We had some hours to kill before our flight in the evening so after breakfast we headed out to see Da Nang. It was a little cooler today - only 44 so we were raring to go............. ahem. We took a cab to the Dragon Bridge, so named because it was made to look like a dragon, and walked across the bridge into the city centre area. We were sitting in the shade on the other side having a rest, enjoying the breeze when, unfortunately for Braeden, he had a bird shit on his head (that’s what you get for choosing not to wear a hat - I’m sure it’s a sign of good luck somewhere). A good laugh for the rest of us but if you know Braeden, you know how well bird crap on his head went over with him.

    We found a Baskin Robins nearby and stopped for ice cream and a head wash. We then made our way to a nearby shopping centre for some a/c, and the purchase of a couple shirts for Keegan (no more running out of clothes for him). Sufficiently cooled, we made our way back across another bridge to another shopping centre. This one contained a grocery store that carried seemingly everything, a Superstore type of store but much much smaller. There was a lot of security at the entrance, exits, and roaming the store. I counted at least 7. I don’t know if the Vietnamese have a hot-fingered reputation or not but you weren’t going to get away with taking anything from there. I guess the store owners figure the cost of security out weighs the shrinkage from theft. There was some strange looking stuff in the store, I had a hard time identifying what was inside the packaging, and there was some really odd looking items in the produce section that I couldn’t even begin to guess what they were. I didn’t check the meat section too carefully for fear of seeing something I didn’t want to see. We bought some junk food (cookies and potato chip packaging is pretty universal) and continued walking about the mall. The top floor had a food court so I wanted to have a look at that, and saw something I didn’t expect to see, an ice rink with real ice. Lots of kids racing around on the ice, having fun and staying cool.

    We took a cab back to our hotel to pick up our luggage and then we cabbed it to the airport. We were starving by the time we got there so after we cleared security we checked out our dinner options - Pho, Banh Mi with mystery meat of suspect origins, or Burger King. Guess what we chose. Ugh. Should have had the Banh Mi.

    Our flight was pretty bumpy, our first one this trip with any kind of real turbulence. Our hotel neglected to send a pre-arranged car to pick us up, and now we are in our 3rd different room as the a/c wasn’t working in the previous 2. Not a good start. I blame it all on the bird shit.    Read more

  • Tastes Like ChickenHong Kong & Vietnam 2018Tastes Like Chicken

    Ho Chi Minh City

    July 2, 2018 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Today started out with a disappointing breakfast at our hotel. I think that’s about the 4th strike against them now. We have done well with our other hotel choices thus far but this one is a bit of a dump. Our experience here certainly hasn’t matched the online pictures and reviews.

    We found a French bakery not too far from our hotel and topped off our minimal breakfast with some baked goods. Not the best croissants I’ve had but decent enough.

    Ho Chi Minh City is much more cosmopolitan than Hanoi, and about 30 years ahead of it in terms of modernization. There is also more of a French influence here. As a pedestrian it is much easier to navigate the streets as the sidewalks and storefronts are generally what you would see in North America or Europe.

    After our second breakfast, we headed to the War Remnants Museum which features a very detailed and graphic look at the Vietnam War. It was of course from a Vietnamese point of view, but it was very sobering and you don’t come out of there feeling very positive about the Americans (unlike now....... wait what?) I found myself wishing I had something visible on me identifying myself as Canadian. I’m sure the Aussie’s in there felt the same.

    The weather today was a little more bearable as it was fairly windy at times, so walking wasn’t as great an issue. After the museum we made a longish trek to a craft beer joint (the Winking Seal - run by Aussies) and enjoyed some good beer and snacks. We asked our bartender how strict they are about the legal age in Vietnam, he said it’s generally ignored, so Keegan joined us with a small sampler sized beer. To add to that, at dinner tonight when we were finishing, the waiter brought us 4 shots of lemongrass flavoured vodka. No questions were asked about Keegan’s age.

    By the time we left the Winking Seal (is spending a good chunk of an afternoon drinking beer with your not of age children considered a bad thing?) it was rush hour and my oh my, the volume of vehicles on the road was something to see. Not volume caused by a traffic jam but just the sheer amount of vehicles on the road. So far we have encountered many more controlled crosswalks here than Hanoi and in spite of the volume, have found it easier to cross.

    Dinner tonight was at a place called Propaganda Vietnamese Bistro which has stellar modern Vietnamese cuisine and a tongue in cheek view of communist propaganda.

    Tomorrow morning we are taking a scooter tour of the city, starting right smack in the middle of rush hour (we ride on the back with lovely young Vietnamese ladies driving). We had to provide our full names to them for insurance purposes. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not.

    A couple things:
    Like a lot of places in the world, World Cup fever has gripped this city. When games are on, in the late evening here, there are tv’s and projection screens set up everywhere, storefronts, alleys, sidewalks. We were walking back from dinner tonight while the Brazil/Mexico game was on and I had no trouble following the action as we walked along.

    Earlier today we passed a shop that caught my eye. Seated on couches in the front area of the shop were probably a dozen young, beautiful Vietnamese woman wearing the same tight, low cut red dress. Further into the shop was a woman cutting a man’s hair. I figured Monday was probably cut and blow day (ba dum tsss)    Read more

  • Tastes Like ChickenHong Kong & Vietnam 2018Tastes Like Chicken

    Ho Chi Minh City 2

    July 3, 2018 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌧 32 °C

    We were up fairly early this morning as we were to be picked up at 8:30 am by the ladies from XO Tours for our Saigon City motorbike tour. They arrived at the scheduled time, gave us some quick do’s and dont’s about riding in traffic, and we headed off into rush hour with our plastic buckets affixed to our heads.

    Within 30 seconds we were in the middle of it all with hundreds of scooters ahead of us, hundreds behind us and riding at least 10 abreast. Initially it was scary as hell and thrilling at the same time. To be riding in that kind of traffic with other scooters, and the occasional car/truck/bus at your front, back, and sides mere inches (and quite often a lot less) away was an experience. It actually sounded like being in the middle of a swarm of bees with the buzzing of all the little scooter engines.

    Initially we all had death grips with both hands on the seat rails, hanging on for dear life, except for Nat who had one hand clasped to her driver’s waist and the other firmly bolted to the rail (us boys weren’t allowed to touch the ladies). After a while our confidence grew and we eventually loosened up our grips. Keegan was trying his best to look nonchalant by not hanging onto anything and ended up sliding up the seat and slamming into his driver when she had to brake suddenly. Lesson learned.

    We stopped at several sights where Tai, our excellent tour guide, would explain the significance of each. Of note, we visited the memorial built to commemorate the Buddhist monk who set himself on fire in 1963 to protest the government, of which there is the famous photo:

    https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/the-burning-mo…

    And the building where the last helicopter out of Saigon took off from the rooftop in 1975 during the fall of Saigon

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Saigon

    We also stopped at the Saigon Central Post Office, a beautiful French Colonial building, where we met a fascinating character. Mr. Ngo is 88 years old and has been working at the post office for over 70 years as a letter translator, translating letters from Vietnamese to English or French and vice versa. He is the last surviving letter translator in the city. Apparently he officially retired in 1990 but the city asked if he would continue his service, so he still shows up for work everyday, bicycling in from his home.

    We made some other stops as well to sample Vietnamese desserts, fruits, and drinks. All in all a really enjoyable tour and highly recommended.

    After our tour we chilled in our rooms for a while, cooling off yet again from the sticky heat before setting out to another craft beer pub. Several beers and some excellent pub food was enjoyed while we waited out a torrential downpour before heading back to the hotel.

    Dinner tonight was at a French creperie, similar to what you would find in Paris and just as delicious. We are really enjoying the food in Saigon. I guess it’s the heavy French influence but it has all been very good, hotel breakfast not withstanding.

    One annoying habit in this city that we have encountered many times is scooter driving on the sidewalk. Because the sidewalks here are much wider and have the space, many drivers circumnavigate slower traffic by driving on the sidewalk. They will even honk at you if you are in their path. It’s awfully tempting to throw a hip at those bastards as they pass by.    Read more

  • Tastes Like ChickenHong Kong & Vietnam 2018Tastes Like Chicken

    Ho Chi Minh City 3

    July 4, 2018 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Today we slept through our hotel breakfast cutoff time, damn, so we headed over to a nearby French bakery for breakfast. Warm baguettes and croissants - yes please.

    After breakfast we walked over to the Bitexco Tower, now the second tallest building in Ho Chi Minh City, which has an observation deck on it’s 49th floor. Unlike the Space Needle or the CN Tower, there was no wait. We walked in, paid, took our own private elevator up, and had the whole observation deck, consisting of an entire floor with floor to ceiling glass, virtually to ourselves. Fantastic views of the city and outlying areas. I had read that smog can be a problem with the view but I guess yesterday’s downpour helped with that as we could see clear and far.

    After the tower we walked along an adjacent pedestrian thoroughfare, which was very reminiscent of something you would see in Europe, to city hall. Reaching the end of the thoroughfare we stopped, took some shots and moved on, looking for a cool place to stop. This has become our routine: Make our way to a point of interest, 4 iPhone’s are then pulled out and we take the same pictures of said point of interest, look for a place to cool off, and enjoy the a/c and Wi-Fi at whatever coffee house/pub/restaurant/shopping centre we have stopped at. Today we landed at a shopping centre which seemed to cater to a more affluent Japanese clientele. No matter, it was cool and had Wi-Fi. I visited an upscale food retailer to check out the products while Nat and the boys found a Baskin Robins. Somehow the boys managed to down $20 worth of ice cream. Had to remind them we are not affluent Japanese.

    In the food shop they were selling some of the real deal civet coffee. These are the beans that the cat like creature eats, and then some poor bastard follows them around until they defecate, and picks out all the beans which are then roasted (and hopefully washed at some point). Apparently the stomach acid of these animals gives the beans a unique flavour - no shit (pun intended). The coffee beans came in a nice box, contained 1.8 oz of beans and were for sale for the equivalent of about $37. Someone is making money off that and I doubt it’s Mr. Shit Sorter.

    After spending some time at the mall we headed to a waterfront area of the Saigon river. Nice enough area but holy plug your nose and breath through your mouth is that river ever polluted. Amongst all the garbage floating downstream I did see a couple of what looked to be catfish swimming along. How they can survive in that floating, festering garbage dump is one of nature’s true miracles.

    Dinner tonight was middle eastern. I think I should rename this blog “How not to eat Vietnamese food over the course of 16 days in Vietnam”.
    Just to give an idea of the price of meals here (Baskin Robins ice cream not withstanding), our dinner tonight consisted of 4 entrees, a shared large salad, 2 large bottles of beer, 2 pineapple juice, a mango smoothie, and a coke. Our bill came to $30. We’d be eating for even less if we were to eat Vietnamese food.

    Random thoughts:
    We’ve driven in a fair number of vehicles here - taxis, vans, and buses. Every vehicle has had a manual transmission. Of the dozens of drivers we’ve had, every one of them drives with super low revs. Merging onto a highway, it’s zero to 60 in about 90 seconds, changing gears at about 1200 rpm. And they hate downshifting. If they are driving along in 4th or 5th gear, and traffic slows to a speed where you would normally downshift to 2nd, they leave it. The vehicle will be shaking and vibrating and struggling to keep from stalling, but they leave it until they absolutely have to downshift. It’s the strangest thing.

    The number one job here appears to be bored security guard. They all wear uniforms so are easily identifiable and virtually every store has one, and every 20 feet or so of sidewalk space has one. The guards working the sidewalk are there to direct and charge for scooter parking. There are no parking meters or machines of any kind, anywhere. Usually the guards are just sitting on a little plastic chair in the middle of the sidewalk looking bored as hell, playing on their phone, or snoozing.    Read more

  • Tastes Like ChickenHong Kong & Vietnam 2018Tastes Like Chicken

    Ho Chi Minh City 4

    July 5, 2018 in Hong Kong ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    I headed out early yesterday morning to drop off enough laundry to carry us through to the end of our vacation. Walking in Ho Chi Minh City with a plastic bag stuffed with dirty laundry makes you a very popular person. Suddenly there were a number of individuals who seem to provide laundry services, offering to wash our clothes for “cheap cheap”. I had a specific place in mind to go and stuck to my plan, clutching my plastic bag of funk tighter before someone tried to yank it away. Braeden was up even earlier as he had to register for his courses next year at 4:00 am Vietnam time.

    Yesterday was a bit of a nothing day. We had intended to spend a day during our time in Ho Chi Minh City taking a tour out to the Mekong Delta. That was the plan, but we had reached our saturation point and the thought of driving a couple hours out to the delta, touring around, and then driving back didn’t really appeal to us.

    After a long, lingering breakfast at a bakery, due to the presence of a sudden rain and wind storm, the boys and I headed over to the Reunification Palace for a tour. This was the home/workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War and the site where a North Vietnamese army tank crashed through the gates during the fall of Saigon in April 1975, ending the war. The palace is a huge building, a total of 215,000 sq ft, complete with banquet halls, a bunker, multiple apartments for underlings, and a shooting range complete with pictures of Viet Cong for targets.

    It was interesting enough and we spent a couple hours there, then found a cafe to cool off and have some cold drinks. Prior to receiving our drinks we were offered some cold tea. The tea looked like dish water and tasted of dirt and cigarettes. We found out it was artichoke tea, made with the stalk and leaves, and there are supposedly a number of health benefits to drinking it. I think I’ll stick to my belief that beer, bacon, and butter provide me with all the health benefits I need.

    Dinner was the same as the previous night and just as good, although we went a little crazy and spent about $5 more on food - big spenders we are, but you only live once. Today we fly out to Hong Kong (hello my favourite bitchy waitresses, we’re coming back for a visit!) before heading home on Saturday

    Final thoughts on Vietnam:

    We knew it would be hot and thought we were prepared for it, but nothing can ready you for the humidity here. Vietnam was going through a heat wave when we first arrived so it made for some very uncomfortable days. If I were to come back (unlikely) I would avoid the summer months and visit at a time when touring is more manageable.

    I am glad we came here as it provided us with some eye opening, unforgettable experiences, but I didn’t see or do anything that would draw me back again for a second visit. The Ha Long Bay cruise was very nice and a must do for visitors. Time spent at the beach was the perfect short respite from the heat, noise and general craziness of the city. And the motorcycle tour was a thrilling and worthwhile adventure. Apparently only 5% of visitors to Vietnam ever return, and I understand why. It’s raw, and gritty, and loud, and chaotic - non stop. A worthwhile experience, but for me anyway, once was enough.

    And finally a big shout out to Braeden for his A+ navigation skills in getting us to where we wanted to go, for checking us in online for all our flights, and for filling in all our customs declaration forms. To Keegan for keeping it light, making us laugh, and his nose for good food, and to Nat for planning and booking flights, hotels, cars and excursions. All I had to do was write this silly blog, so I got off easy.    Read more

  • Tastes Like ChickenHong Kong & Vietnam 2018Tastes Like Chicken

    Hong Kong Part Deux

    July 6, 2018 in Hong Kong ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Hello Hong Kong. I appreciate you more the second time around.

    Our flight from Ho Chi Minh City was uneventful and we arrived at our hotel in Hong Kong around 4:30 pm. We headed out a little later for dinner and discovered a covered elevated walkway that led us to the closest metro station. Attached to the adjacent shopping centre from our hotel it would have saved us a lot of time and sweat if we had known about it on our first stay.

    We ended up at a Taiwanese restaurant at another shopping centre a couple stops down the line. Food was good, service was great, restaurant was spotlessly clean and packed, and the portions were tiny. We ate about 2/3 of what we would normally eat at a Chinese restaurant for double the cost. We are definitely not in Vietnam anymore.

    After dinner we strolled around some of the main shopping streets for a while before making our way back to our hotel to catch the early soccer game- 10:00 pm here.

    Tomorrow we fly Hong Kong to Tokyo, then Tokyo to Vancouver, departing Hong Kong at 2:30 pm and arriving in Vancouver at 2:45 pm. Must be some kind of new supersonic jet or something.    Read more

  • Tastes Like ChickenHong Kong & Vietnam 2018Tastes Like Chicken

    Tokyo Rocks

    July 7, 2018 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    Final post

    Yesterday we visited our favourite ladies in Hong Kong for breakfast. When we arrived all the tables were occupied, but the head snarky lady handled that for us. Four walking in vs one poor lady sitting at a table for 4, not quite finished with her breakfast. Guess who lost that battle. I don’t know what was said to her but she finished her food in about 5 seconds and scooted out.

    Hong Kong restaurant etiquette lesson #15. It was raining, hard, when we arrived at the restaurant. Three of us had umbrellas (the lone abstainer was the 53 year old male who turns his wet nose up at umbrellas). Do not walk into a restaurant in Hong Kong with a wet, dripping umbrella, unless you want a Cantonese tongue lashing. A stack of long narrow plastic bags are provided at the front for the umbrella to be wrapped in. Don’t be a stupid tourist.

    Our flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo was nice. We were on a new 777 with massive amounts of leg room. I could sit with my legs fully stretched and I still had a good 6 “ more leg room. Approximately 2/3 of that plane was first class/business class seating, so obviously a high revenue route. When we arrived in Tokyo we had to go through further security screening for our connecting flight to Vancouver. It was while we were loading our belongings into the plastic bins the floor started bouncing and rolling under our feet, lasting for about 15 - 20 seconds. Our first, and hopefully last, Tokyo earthquake. We found out a little later it was a 5.9 magnitude quake. I’ve felt a few jolts over the years living in the lower mainland but this was the first one I’ve experienced that has lasted for an extended amount of time. We narrowly missed the Osaka earthquake 3 weeks ago so I guess we were due.

    We were on a Dreamliner again for this leg of the trip. They carry some live tv channels so I was able to watch both World Cup matches, which is a damn nice way to spend some time while flying.

    We were met at YVR by Port Moody’s top Uber driver, Mr. Ken, (in spite of the advertised complimentary beverages being a no show, he still gets 5 stars), who greeted us with the sign pictured below. About 2 weeks too late with that but it’s the thought that counts.    Read more

    Trip end
    July 7, 2018
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