A DAY ON THE TOWN

We were up early today to enjoy our last full day in Hanoi. The boys talked Jerry and Sally out of going to religion class and went out for dinner. They called after dinner and we had our last conversation with them on Skype (internet video phone). It was hard to say goodbye for a couple days.

We did some more shopping today. Maia got a little ring of beads. The store owner made it for us while we watched. Little Maia was so proud of it.

We took advantage of a beautiful day and walked around Hoan Kiem Lake. This little lake in the middle of the city is filled with so many historic monuments. Two different couples were getting married and having their pictures taken.Weddings here tend to be very small. We bought a stroller on baby street. I have been carrying Maia almost everywhere. Most of the sidewalks are too crowded with parked mopeds and people cooking food to get a stroller through. We decided with layovers in Taipei and LA a stroller would come in handy.Laurie tried to get a picture of an accident. In the two weeks we have only seen two minor accidents. Both resulting in a moped on the ground. Both times they just pick everything up and move on.We walked past this church the other night. The streets were full of people on the sidewalks everywhere listening to the service.

We wanted to see the Water Puppet show before we left. We checked showtimes and found out it was sold out for the day. Our only chance was to come back near 4pm to see if there were any cancellations. We got lucky and got tickets for the 6:30 show. Our dinner at Bobby Chins would have to get pushed back.

We came back to the motel for a little rest and then headed to the show. I realized I had not taken any photos of our Hotel. It is 8 floors high and only large enough for 3 rooms on each floor.

Maia was excited to get ready to go to the show. The water puppets are a very old form of entertainment in Vietnam and originated during times of flooding when farmers could not get into the fields and found ways to pass the time. We have had all types of our music playing with little interest from Maia. When the band began playing tonight, she started dancing and clapping along. It is obvious this is the type of music the nannies played at the orphanage. There were 14 different acts in this 1 hour show. I included a little from 2.

We had a nice dinner at Bobby Chins. Laurie loved the ladies room. The restaraunt has rose petals everywhere, evidently in the ladies room too, even floating in all the potties. Nice touch. Tomorrow we start for home. Hanoi to Taipei, Taipei to LA. We are a little nervous to see how well Maia travels. Wish us luck.