Taking a Crack at the first day

How to even begin this?  Do we start at the end and return to the beginning or should I just go in chronologically?  What is the best way to tell the story of our two weeks in Vietnam?  I’ve pondered this for the last few weeks as I’ve been thinking about writing this all up and sharing the hundreds of pictures that J and I took and the dozens of pics that Kiddo took as well.  These last days, I’ve thought of it even more, as I was coming upon the telling.

I guess I keep going back to the old school days adage that I always thought on book report days or presentation days.  Starting is hard.

Our first three days in HCMC, we ate Pho three times.  A lot of that was my fault; as much as one can be at fault for eating delicious bowls of meat and noodles in a broth of pure heaven.  

To understand any of this, however, we need to go back to BKK on the Monday before we left.  

We were eating what we had in house and trying not to generate leftover food or something that would only require a half carrot or anything that would go to waste.  Being gone for as long as we were gone, we didn’t want to come back to a fridge filled with rotted veggie and fruit goop.  In that, we (J and I) were giving the lion’s share to Kiddo and supplementing with snacks and little things like that at night.  On Monday, however, J and I were sitting around and she mentioned that Cashew Chicken with rice from the restaurant across the street would be “So good!”  

Yeah it would be.

So, I went over and ordered, also getting a beer to sip as I waited, knowing that I could just carry the bottle (22oz) across the street with me and )because BKK) no one would care of give it a second look.  The laws on that are pretty relaxed in BKK, as long as you aren’t being a major butthead, and so if you are having a brew walking out of a market or heading to one, or going home with food and a half beer… Man, it’s cool.  Sabai Sabai and you do you.

Anyways, I get home and show J the food and the beer and she asks if we can share.  Usually, I’m pretty wary of cooties, but after the whole marriage and kid thing… LOL

She divides the munchies and I set up a show on the TV and we sit and chat and watch and eat.  Half way thru the meal…

CRUNCH!!!!!

A hunk of chicken had a bone in it… And it wasn’t just a small piece, it was a chunk of thigh.  

Waking on Tuesday and the tooth hurt.  Pretty bad.  J is packing and finalizing and checking into our flight and all that, so I march to Central and get to the Dentist there about 3 min after they open.

Yup.  Cracked a tooth.  FRICK!

To make matter even better, they couldn’t fit me in for a week.

So, scrambling, I find a dentist in Vietnam located in HCMC and about ten minutes Grab ride from our AirBnB and reach out.

Those that know me well will know that I’ve had about a dozen major dental procedures, dating as far back as 2nd grade.  I’d tell you that story, but I don’t recall it all that well and I’d ask my mother for her memories of it, but we don’t speak with Dan and Barb any longer, nor anyone in the family (long story and their loss, because the last two years have been frickin’ cool), so it will be lost to time, I guess.  Regardless, I’m no stranger to the dentist and having stuff done.  The dentist, Premier Dental, was AMAZING.  They got back to me within the hour, asked some needed questions and offered me a time, the NEXT DAY for a check up and consultation.  Sadly, the time they had was went we would be in the air.  Sadly, I informed them of this and started looking at other places near us.  They came back and asked for a WhatsApp contact so we could talk in real time.  They told me they could make time and fit me in the next day, our first full day of vacation, at 0900.  Rather lose a day and fix the problem than suffer and be in pain and grumpy for the trip, so I took the slot, went to bed and we got up to fly the next morning.

The flight was fine, no news other than rain hammered HCMC when we should have landed, so we ended up circling for about 110 minutes and got in 2 hours late.  Really glad I didn’t take the risk that I could try to get to the dentist that same day.

How can I eat, thought.  Well, Pho was the answer.  Easy with my tooth and it was GOOD!  Also, they had a cute kitty friend chillin'.

The next morning, we all headed out and J and Kiddo had an adventure of their own while I sat in a dentist’s chair.  Yup, root canal.  So, I had that done and, because one of my nerves was twisted and a bit difficult to extract, I’d need to come back at 1700 for another 90ish min of work.  I was at breaking point and just wanted to cry, but the team at Premier was great and the pain was almost nonexistent during the first procedure, so I had hope and faith.  

But, with a sore mouth, still tooth pain, and some numbness, what can we lunch on.  Oh, that’s right, Pho!

I rested after that.  I had a headache.  My jaw hurt.  My tooth hurt.  My face hurt.  I just needed to NOT.  We had a home afternoon and that was good, because it RAINED.  At times, it was raining so hard you couldn’t see the street from our 10th floor balcony.  It was a water wall.  

With my needing to go back to the dentist at 1700, Kiddo and J made plans to head out and have a them evening, including yearn shopping and dinner.  It turned into an adventure for them, but we will get to the rest of that later.  I headed back to the dentist and again, I can’t say enough about Premier Dental, Dr. Richie, or the English Advocate Kate that were part of my care team.  I wouldn’t go as far as to call it the best dental experience of my life, I needed a root canal for goodness sakes, but that aside, it was the best dental experience of my life.  Professional, attentive, caring, understanding, and even with language barriers and cultural differences, they were all amazing.  A million blessings to the team at Premier and if you ever need dental care, fly to HCMC for that.  Yes, I’m serious!!!!

Coming home it was still raining and Grabs were taking a while.  So, I waited and after about 40 minutes, got a car and headed home.  Walking in, I expected the girls, but nope.  Again, we will get to that.  I showered the day and dentist off and about 5 minutes later, the ladies walked in.  It was near bedtime, so we (J and I) got on Kiddo and got her bed ready and tucked and all.  Then, I ordered a fried rice that was mediocre and J and I called it a day.  We had one more full day in HCMC and if I woke with pain, I’d need to spend that day getting the tooth extracted.  Happily, I woke with no pain and feeling great.  We made a point to make it a Pho free day.  LOL

More to come (obviously), as the girls had their adventures and a few firsts, Da Nang and Hoi An and those adventures, and finally Hanoi.  We learned a lot about ourselves and got some clarity on our next move or where we  would want to live for a period.  Today is settling back in and catching up… on shopping and food and laundry and life.  I’m guessing it’ll take me 3-5 posts to capture and catch up on the trip.  So, come on back this month for updates and other fun.