SE Asia 2020 – Day 02 – Vietnam Arrival
Leaving Incheon Airport
Welcome to Day 02! Since I couldn’t sleep properly, I woke up early enough to shower, get ready for my flight, and sit in the hot tub for a bit before I left the spa. Ahh… That was nice.
The airport is so big I ended up breaking a sweat walking back and forth. I had to check-in at the opposite end from where the spa is located. I then got confused with where my gate was so I walked from one end to the other…more than once. Shhh. It’s also ridiculously busy, I thought I wasn’t going to make it to boarding on time! But security was pretty quick and efficient even with that many people, I was impressed and had time to spare.
When I finally got to my gate I realized I didn’t drink much liquids for the past… I don’t know how many hours. Good thing they had an Angel-in-us Coffee stand by my gate!
I picked up a nice Strawberry Sparkling Ade, even finished it before boarding, haha. And of course, after finishing a drink and before you get on a plane, you should always hit up the washroom. At least that’s what I have to do, and that is where I found this gem…
Such a nice area to relax in… While waiting for someone to take a shit because it’s in the washroom. Like… What?!
Anyway, didn’t want to put much thought into that (or should I…), I finished my business and proceeded to board with Asiana Airlines. It was about a 5-hour flight, not too bad. I was going to try to nap as my sleep the night before was awful (snoring lady in the spa), but it turns out this was worse because there were crying babies and screaming children almost the whole entire flight… The flight attendants were pretty awesome with the children though. Props!
So food! We had one meal served on this flight.
Beef with rice and hella saucy! I loved it. There were bamboo shoots, shitake mushrooms, and peas as well. Nice and hot with no hard rice~
Arrival in Vietnam
My flight arrived an hour later than the scheduled time, and waiting for my luggage took some time too. One of the reasons why I pack so light and never check-in baggage is because I’ll never know if it’ll make it. It’s like a rotating belt of anxiousness until it shows up near the end… Or not. But hey, I wanted space to bring home snacks so… Priorities.
Before meeting up with my dad, I picked up a sim card for around $15CAD in the airport with data and incoming calls that’ll last me the duration of my stay. Honestly so much better than $12 a day with Roam Like Home. My connection has been A+ in the city so far.
We took a taxi to where I’ll be staying, I consider myself lucky to have come at a time when everyone has gone home for LNY. Meaning the roads are less hectic and not full of people, vehicles, and scooters. Good way to ease myself into this chaos they call traffic. Vietnam traffic.
Lunar New Year with the Family
I knew that I would meet some of my family here for the first time but damn, I didn’t expect this many new faces in one day. I can’t even remember half of them and what I should call them. Ha. What did I expect from lunar new year though, it is time to eat, celebrate, and party!
Nothing is open in Vietnam during this time because everyone goes back home to celebrate with their families. So expect take-outs and homemade food for the next couple days!! Homemade always the best.
It’s the first day of Lunar New Year so most people don’t eat any meat. My parents do it but they never made me follow this tradition so I usually eat anything on this day. Honestly though, I love Asian vegetarian dishes. I got some Ho Fun for lunch, and curry vermicelli for dinner today. Both vegetarian!
We literally gambled to pass time until others show up to gamble some more. Haha. I played some bingo and then I learned a new card game that is literally based on luck. Playing with family is ok, I normally wouldn’t gamble outside of that. It’s not my thing.
I went to relax a bit until it got super rowdy outside and I came downstairs to join the fun, I guess. They are all so filled with high energy, it was great. We got the gambling table, food and drinks table, and kids running around. This is the type of liveliness I’m missing in my life.
I totally gave in to these snacks, it went really well with beer! After a couple of drinks and my no sleep catching up to me, I passed the eff out until morning. Best sleep I’ve had in days!
This concludes my Day 02! I hope you’re looking forward to Day 03, where I just eat some more and celebrate the second day of LNY!
Keep chasing, awesome nerds!
