Our weekend in Hanoi

We had the weekend off this weekend!

We decided to drive into town and visit Hanoi, what a crazy place, you could almost see the money signs in the locals eyes when we walked past.

We looked like total tourists in our trackies and sneaks

Stylish

 

We met a lovely translator called Trang, her and her friend showed us the real local spots, I couldn't believe this secret wee coffee shop, the coffee was essentially a mousse of egg and condensed milk on top of the most amazing coffee, and we also got served sunflower seeds to munch on.

 

We stayed at a cheap and cheerful hotel where we ended up meeting a few Aussies at breakfast time, four of them were there to celebrate a friends 50th party, and of course we tagged along! We met another Australian couple too. From our humble beginnings at Hanoi Eclipse we ended up at a 5 star hotel sipping cocktails and having cake for Bruce's 50th, we even scored the leftover cake! Cheers again fellas for a fab night.

 Overloading the lift at Sofitel (seriously though, the limit said 6 people and we had 8, the overload light came on)

Cocktail Party - Happy Birthday Bruce!!!!

Leftover cake for breakfast, yummo!

 

We also scoped out a truly legitimate Beef Pho, so far no need to drug up but it looked pretty dodgy

Dude cooking our Pho

 

 

 The markets were also great, we haven't bought too much yet though because we need to practice our bargaining skills, but after a few weeks I hope we can get some good bargains!

 

We also walked around Hoam Kiem Lake in the middle of Hanoi, and across the Red Bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bridge leading into Robyn's gob. Lols.

 

Please also give me ideas on if you want to know anything in particular about our trip, I'm pretty shocking at coming up with ideas so any input is much appreciated!

 

Keep up the emails/messages etc, I'm starting to miss everyone a lot, but the snapchats of your beautiful faces help!



Our home

We get up to have breakfast at about 7, and its not your typical toast or cereal, and there is no such thing as low carb here.

 

We have been having either noodle soup, friend sticky rice, or some noodle concoction most mornings, its nice to have a hot breakky though as its still pretty chilly here.

 

 

Hi Robyn's mum and dad, this is proof she ate her mushrooms

 

At lunch time the ladies feed us again! They made us stand on the scales to keep track of our weight, and if we lose any I think we will literally be force fed!

 

The surroundings are pretty incredible, although it has been  bit grey and drizzly the whole time

 The best way to get around is motorbike, there was seriously no exaggerating when everyone said there are heaps of motorbikes in this place!

 

Yeeeehaaaaaaa

beating Robyn 

 

 One of the spectacular sunsets

 

 

View from our room out on to the courtyard

 

 Our bed! Thankfully no mosquito bites yet but I live in constant fear.





A picture says a thousand words?

Well, I am feeling particularly sleepy this afternoon, not only are we trying to learn Vietnamese, get over the jet lag and get used to our new job, I haven't mentioned THE BELLS!!! There are a series of very loud bells, they go off at 4am and again at about 4:30 (just when you think you may get back to sleep), midday and twice again in the evening. They are not your regular sort of bells, that ring a couple of times and then stop, they literally go for about 5 minutes each time. No exaggeration!! They literally sound like a warning signal, each time I think...... is there a major disaster, do we need to evacuate the village? If not then WHY do you need the bells. (I should mention that they are the church bells and I really shouldn't get so worked up about them).

Rant over.

 

Speaking of Church, Robyn and I went with the Sisters to Church the other night, I was impressed that a Catholic church ceremony was so efficient, I and out in 30 minutes! I felt pretty guilty though because all I could think was how I was blocking the view of all the little ladies behind me, it was also weird that men were sitting on one side and ladies on the other. I'm sure it was a great service, I understood when they said Amen....

We did travel to Church in my new favourite method of transport though! Flying nuns (on the back of a Honda five speed).

 

Anyway, we have had not shortage of coffee to try and perk us back up, the coffee is chock full of condensed milk, no wonder the market didn't have any pants that fit us!

 

Anyway, the point of the title was going to be that I cant think of what to write, so lets just have a squizz at what we have been doing (physio wise) the past day or two.

 

Huong is always so happy to do her exercises! She is sitting up better in her wheelchair already!

 

Big laughs and smiles.

 

Khang is my special wee boy, the poor wee man has painful constant muscle spasms, it throws his head and body around so much that we have to feed him with his head back like this, I am always so scared he will choke but he is so clever. He also has to sleep on the floor otherwise his contractions are so powerful they throw him out of bed. In between spasms though he gives us a glorious smile, my main goal will be to have a neurologist assessment for him to see if his pain and spasm can be better controlled, lets hope its a possibility? Ah I just love him so much and want to fix him :(

 

Lunch time!

 

 Piles of people!

 

Kim Chi trying to escape physio exercises.....

 

 Smiles from Giang

 

Tummy time!

 

 But seriously how can you not love his wee smile

 

Robyns great positioning skills, lets clear some phlegm!

 

Down to business!

We are well into the swing of things now, our very first mission was to put names on all of the beds. Easier said then done when you don't speak Vietnamese!

Apparently our names are too difficult as well, so my new name is...... Hong, which means Rose, and Robyn is now Lam, which means Orchid (despite my efforts to encourage them to call her bin bin).

 

We have been working together initially to assess the current mobility levels of some of the children, there are two here in particular that we think will progress really well, In fact if they were from NZ I think they would end up in normal school with some help.

 

Meet Zoom, he is a crazy boy!! He has endless, and we truly mean endless energy! He has to stay in a play pen or he will rip apart the play room (why are we trying to get him walking again?). But he is so smiley and cute....when he is not pulling your hair out.

 

Zoom having tickles

 

We also have a very special girl called Kim Chi, she is incredibly intelligent and a fab dancer. Kim Chi has Spina Bifida, and she suffers from incontinence. Because of this she is unable to attend the local school, although she was accepted she was teased and will not go back. The Sisters and many additional inputs are working on an education programme to be held here on site.

 

Kim Chi luckily fits on of the pair of orthopaedic shoes donated by Beacon House in Christchurch, we have already seen a huge improvement in her ability to go up and down stairs with her sticks.

 

We are also hoping that the fancy new nappies donated by a Wellington Antenatal group (https://www.facebook.com/thebigsewin)  will help Kim Chi be more confident at school as they will be more discreet and easy for her to change independently. We showed Sister Linh the reusable nappies, she is very impressed!!!

 

 

 

 

 Oh well nap time is nearly over! For the kiddies and Robyn (Lam), time for more coffee! Or as Sister Hai says, gasoline! Love yas, keep in touch!

 

 

 

We arrived!

Well after a very (VERY) long day of flying, we arrived in Hanoi, and after an interesting car ride (I didn't even know they drove on the left! Never mind the complete lack of indicators)! We arrived in Hanoi to stay with a Swiss Physio named Flavia, it was our last hot shower for the foreseeable future.

 

It appears that so far we are more of a novelty, with lots of students from the local school coming to practice English with us and get photos. We also have had plenty of cuddles!

 

 

But then things got very interesting! After spending Sunday at the Orphanage getting to know everyone, we had to go to the authorities first thing on Monday for approval....

 

Without a word of a lie, first we had to ride on the back of a motorbike behind the Sisters to get to the authorities little office, now I was expecting the usual questions..... what is your reason for coming etc.

 

FIRST QUESTION: are you married?

SECOND: Would you like a Vietnamese Husband?

This was also all followed up with, how many chocolates did you get this Valentines? Would you like to have coffee tonight? and eventually we were only allowed out after promising to go to Karaoke with the big wigs.

 

One condition of entry however, was we had to complete three rounds of shots of unknown alcohol (definitely home brew of some variety) with the Nuns, Sister Lin had a definite rosey glow, causing us to question the drink driving limit in Vietnam. However after approximately 3 hours of awkward questioning and drinking, we are allowed to stay! Yippeeee! We proceeded to come home and fall asleep!