Early Adventures of Baby L - Vietnam Part 1

After a short and easy flight from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City (which...let’s be honest, most people still call Saigon) we collected all of our luggage, made a quick stop at Viettel to buy a local SIM card, and met my dad and step mom.  They were so excited to see Baby L, especially my step mom since she wasn’t able to visit us back in September! And sure enough, they made a beeline to the baby and started playing with her before even saying hello to G or me - apparently, this is a fairly common experience among parents when introducing the grandkids. Don’t worry Dad, I still love you ;-).

The grandparents were super excited to see Baby L!!!

In Southern Vietnam, when talking about relatives, we refer to aunts, uncles, and cousins by their number in their family line. The father is always #1, and then each child is numbered in birth order after that. So for example, my uncle, who is the eldest in my dad’s family, is referred to as Uncle 2. My dad’s eldest sister is Auntie 3, and so on and so forth — my dad happens to be #6.  It gets even more complicated because there are actually four different words for uncle and four different words for aunt, depending on whether they are on your mother’s or father’s side and if they are older or younger than your mother or father.

Anyway, after landing in Saigon, we made our way to our hotel to freshen up for dinner with Auntie 4 and her family. Later in our trip, this caused a few ruffled feathers because traditionally, we should have gone to see my father’s mother first before seeing anyone else. Logistically though, it would have been more difficult, and I think the family is slowly starting to change how rigid they are with traditions.

Anyway, dinner with my cousins was great! My aunt and uncle had a young fox slaughtered and prepared in multiple ways - it was a ridiculous amount of food. They also learned that pork is hard for us to get in UAE, so they also ordered a bunch of pork dishes - G and I were sooooo full by the end. We hoped Baby L would take a nap during dinner, but with all of the excitement of a big family dinner, she was wide awake (if maybe a big cranky). Between my cousins, their spouses, their kids, and us, it was a lot for her to take in!

Baby L with one of my cousin's wives

The next morning, we went to see a seamstress and a tailor so G and I could have clothes made for Baby L’s baptism later in the week. I picked very graphic white fabric with black print for my dress, and a light gray cashmere wool for G’s suit. After getting measured, we ate a quick lunch and headed to Dong Nai Province where my grandmother and Aunts 3, 8, and 9 lived. The trip took about 2 hours, and Baby L napped in her car seat for most of it.  I pulled her out while we were on the ferry, and she flirted and made friends with a number of the motorcyclists riding on the ferry next to our van.

Baby L making friends with motorcyclists on the ferry!

We finally made it to grandmother’s house, and we were welcomed with some delicious grass-jelly coconut dessert and enjoyed yummy custard apples that my step mother brought along.  After everyone unpacked, G and I were able to collect the most recent goodies that our friends had shipped to Dad to bring to us!  

Custard Apples

Grass jelly dessert with coconut milk

The most exciting one was the quilt that my friend Kristy from the blog A Chrome and Cotton Home made for Baby L. It goes with her nursery perfectly, and we just adore it! Kristy also sent us the book Intersteller Cinderella, which is a welcome addition to the space theme.

Beautiful star quilt from a dear friend!

We received a stack of board books and baby fresh food feeders from my friend Beth, a mother-of-four in Rochester, MN. I think the bibs also came from her, Dad wasn’t sure. If they came from someone else, please chime in so we can thank you properly!

Last, and probably G’s favorite, one of my besties in Houston (aka Kim 1, who also spoiled Baby L with tons of shower gifts!) sent him a pair of Astros World Series T-Shirts. Go ‘Stros!!!

Plus of course, Bà Ngoại and Ông Ngoại (Vietnamese for maternal grandfather and grandmother - aka Dad and step mom) brought Baby L a bunch of cute clothes since she’d grown out the clothes they got her previously.

Seriously, how cute is this little jumper from Bà Ngoại and Ông Ngoại?!?

We spent that evening and the next day relaxing and rearranging our luggage for our side trip to Hanoi. Dad and G went to the village church to make arrangements for Baby L’s baptism and we had some delicious meals cooked by both my dad and my aunties - there was never any shortage of food!

And just like that, it was time to jet off to the next thing! G and I consolidated ourselves and Baby L into 2 small suitcases, and Bà Ngoại and Ông Ngoại into 1 large suitcase. With Baby L’s stroller and car seat, we barely fit into my cousin’s land cruiser, but we made it!  Back in Saigon, we made one quick stop at the tailor shop for G to do a final fitting of his suit jacket, then we were off to the airport. Dad booked us on Vietnam Airlines business class, and we got to fly on a new Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Saigon to Hanoi! Baby L and I had fun in our gigantic airplane seat. She also slept like a dream on the Dreamliner - pun intended!

Family flying business class on a dreamliner!

My sleepy Michigangster - onesie courtesy of my bestie Jamie!

During our two nights in Hanoi, we stayed entirely in the old quarter. Hanoi was so cold! And rainy! Colder than we expected! 

We've arrived in Hanoi!  

We met up for dinner with one of my friends from Houston who had been working and living in South East Asia teaching English, toured the temple on Hoan Kim Lake, and walked around the busy streets and shops of Hanoi’s old quarter. Ông Ngoại and Bà Ngoại got to spend some quality time with Baby L, which meant G and I got to go out for both a solo lunch AND dinner! It was an unexpected and welcome treat for us during our hectic travels. We had lunch at a chain that we saw featured on the travel channel called “Wrap and Roll”, which was pretty decent, and we had dinner at a little hidden in a back street of the old quarter that had a pretty good bun cha and an excellent flan. I’m pretty picky about my flan since most restaurants tend to over-bake the flan or weigh it down with too many eggs, but this flan was light and creamy and delicious!

Baby L and Bà Ngoại napping while we went to lunch

Our next stop was Ha Long Bay. I remembered it being a 3 hour drive from Hanoi to the port, but because of road construction and new speed laws, it took us 4 1/2 hours to get there...and Baby L was cranky and unwilling to nap pretty much the entire way.  G had caught a sniffle and cough in Hanoi, so he was also pretty miserable during the car ride. When we finally arrived at the port, it was like in the movies, the clouds parted and the sun was shining which lifted everyone’s mood, including mine! We went through our check in process for the cruise, made our way to our cabins, and then we were off! Dad and I had cruised with Au Co before, and we had a great time — so we were excited to do it again. I guess I probably could have looked into booking with other tour operators, but one of my favorite excursions on the Au Co cruise is the Bhahaya Community Farm on Cat Ba Island, so we obviously had to do that again! Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself.

Rock formations of Ha Long Bay

Ha Long Bay, which means bay of the descending dragon, is a UNESCO world heritage site. There are thousands of limestone karsts and islets in the bay which makes navigation in the area extra challenging! The first time I went with Dad and my sister in early 2015 - it was foggy and misty the whole time, which made the bay seem very mysterious.  This time it was sunny for most of the trip, which gave the bay a more welcoming feel. I found both weather conditions equally beautiful in their own way!

Our cruise ship is the white one just behind me!

On the first day of the cruise, there were two excursions, one to a natural cave and the other to a floating fishing village. Because of Baby L’s exhaustion from lack of sleep, we went on the first excursion but skipped the second. G and the grandparents both went to see the fishing village, and Dad reported back that it was much smaller than the village we had gone to see in 2015. I think it’s still incredible that people live on these floating rafts and make their livelihood solely on the water. 

Baby L was exhausted, so we skipped the excursion in favor of naptime

Cruise day two started with Cat Ba Island (my favorite!) where G and the grandparents rode bicycles while Baby L and I took a golf cart.  In the afternoon, the cruise offered another excursion involving kayaks and fishing boats and Baby L and I took a little rest. I suspect she also came down with G’s little head cold so rest was good for both of us. That night, we were treated to classic Vietnamese music on a one-string instrument, which Baby L LOVED! She was so enthralled! Unfortunately, she also fell asleep fairly quickly, so instead of staying to listen more, I put her to bed. G wasn’t feeling 100% either with his cold and a full day of physical exertion, so we were all in bed by 8:30pm.

Farming valley of Cat Ba Island

The last day, the cruise wrapped up its itinerary with a traditional tea ceremony, and a leisurely drive to the airport. Somehow, the drive back seemed much shorter than the drive there! Since Baby L was under the weather, she slept most of the way, so I was able to get a nap in as well. Thank goodness!

Last day on the cruise ship!

At the airport, we were able to get on an earlier flight back to Saigon, which was great because it meant more rest for everyone! Stay tuned for Vietnam Part 2 - Baby L’s baptism and trip to my Uncle’s church! 

On our way back go warm and sunny Saigon!