24 Hours and 14 Time Zones

Posted by Andrew:

After about 24 hours of travel (Seattle, Seoul, Ho Chi Minh City), we have landed at the Hoang Yen Hotel in Phu My Hung, a suburb of Saigon.  Even though we are exhausted, the trip was relatively easy.  I tend to worry much more than I need to.  Some highlights -

All of Korean Airlines...The stewardesses in baby blue tops and ultra-starched white scarves. There is a ratio of about 1 stewardess to 5 passengers.  When we boarded our flight from Seattle, there were slippers, toothbrushes, and water bottles on our seats waiting for us.  Debra and I immediately put on the slippers and padded around the plane in them for the next 12 hours.  We were tempted to join the Korean Air elite passenger club which is called "Morning Calm." 

Elia's air sickness somewhere over the Pacific...The mess in the aisle was not exactly a highlight, nor was the fact that 7 flight attendants descended on us as soon as it happened and had the whole thing cleaned up in about 45 seconds.  What was a highlight was the elderly Korean woman next to Elia.  As soon as Elia stopped throwing up, the Korean woman began to vigorously massage Elia's hands, feet, and belly.  Elia immediately felt better and has been asking Debra and I to massage her feet and hands since then.   

The movie selection on the flight..."Hollywood Classics" which means anything from The Terminator to Shrek to Fiddler on the Roof, all subtitled in Korean.  How do you translate "Oy vey" into Korean? 

The meal choices were "Burning Hot Side of Beef" or "Noodles with Short Mustard."  Debra insists I just couldn't hear what the stewardess was saying.  Both dishes were very good and came with as much wine as you wanted. 

When we arrived in Saigon, after a brief layover in the shopping mall/airport in Seoul, we quickly cleared immigration and customs.  Because of our ten suitcases with a matching blue jungle theme pattern, all of the other passengers (primarily Vietnamese) began to notice when our bags would come on the claim carousel.  They would laughingly point them out to us and help pull them off and onto our overladen carts.  We exited the airport into a throng of several hundred people.  Entire families had showed up to welcome relatives, but we became a spectacle with our three carts, 15 bags (counting carry-ons) and very cute children.

Since getting here, everybody seems to be smiling and pointing at us, especially Asher and Elia. People are fascinated by Asher's braid, and complete strangers can't resist touching Elia's face.  Both kids are completely fawned over everywhere we go.  We thought Portland was kid-friendly...this place is amazing.