On our last night in Hà Nội, we had dinner with two of SB and SIL's former teachers from Colorado Academy. They are now living in Hà Nội where C works as a guidance counselor/academic adviser at an international school and L is retired and busy taking part in long distance bike rides. They have been living in Hà Nội for six months and seem to enjoy it.
Youngest nephew is the age of SB when he was L's student
There was a lot of catching up as well as finally being allowed to find out the gossip that the parents had kept from the kids years ago (yes, the headmaster really did write an erotic book and seemed to think that the school was a dating show). After dinner, SB and I joined C and L for a drink at La Badiane, a very beautifully decorated and upscale French restaurant. All of the staff spoke French natively, and I thought that they were likely Việt Kiều (overseas Vietnamese who grew up in France). We were very under-dressed but made up for it in charm and by asking to sit at the bar and not in the dining room where men in black suits and women in cocktail dresses sampled the degustation menu.
I did not do anything so gauche as pull out my camera to snap images of the drinks while already committing enough fashion faux pas to cause the maître d' to swoon (I was wearing the aforementioned safari shirt and cruise ship escapee looking sandals), so you will have to be satisfied with my verbal account. C ordered a fizzy coffee cocktail that sounded revolting to my ears but it was in fact a well balanced drink with lightly sweet coffee flavors in a martini glass. L ordered a piña colada that the bartender made by hand, vigorously shaking fresh juices and rum together. It was not overly sweet like expected, and probably the best piña colada that I have ever tasted. SB and I ordered alcohol free (damn you, gout!) smoothies with mango, passion fruit, and ginger, but later the bartender, convinced that I resembled a movie star that I do not vaguely resemble at all, plied us with some experimental concoctions for feedback.
He mixed gin, cinnamon infused gin, lime, sparkling water, a splash of sweet, red wine, and a splash a bitters. I thought that the ingredients sounded insane but the drink was refreshing and again, not especially sweet. It tasted like something that I would love to wear as a perfume, if that makes any sense. It was lightly sweet, not cloying, with citrus, warm cinnamon, and an effervescence reminding me of 1970s chypre perfumes (Eau de Rochas meets Paco Rabane 1 Million). I was sad for the evening to end but our holiday was coming to an end and we were departing early in the morning.
It was only to soon that we had to say good-bye and leave the paradise to return home to our jobs and life.
It was only to soon that we had to say good-bye and leave the paradise to return home to our jobs and life.
the last cup of cà phê sữa in the airport
a market on our way to the airport
Driving to the airport
This is the plane from the Paris Air Show
Throughout our trip, SIL and SB had been on the lookout for a specific Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flown by Vietnam Airlines. It was famous for a steep, vertical takeoff at the 51st Paris Air Show in 2015. They find its sibling, registration number VN-A862, in HCM when we were flying to Danang but finally on the morning of our departure, there it was parked in the gate next to us, VN-A861.
Source: Cargospotter
We landed in Hong Kong at lunch time and made our way to a Shanghainese restaurant at the airport express station, which is a favorite restaurant of SB's. He always orders the la mian noodles swimming in hot chili oil, with a side of xiao long bao (soup dumplings).
SIL and I split the locally microbrewed Bun Bong Be wheat beer, infused with 15 Chinese botanicals to celebrate Crystal Jade's 15 year anniversary. The botanicals include osmanthus, red dates, goji berry, chrysanthemum, rose, jasmine, da hong pao, pu-erh, yangmei, lu hing mui, roselle, zedoary, ginger, liquorice and chan pei. I was skeptical of the beer, with so many ingredients, but it was pleasant.
The usual crowd at the Peak
After lunch, we went to the market to purchase fruits that the family wanted to eat before they left: jackfruit, custard apple, and mangosteen. I also found Chinese bayberries, which was very good luck because they are only seen for a few weeks every spring. Everyone else then departed to the Peak to catch the views of Hong Kong while I went home to collect the dogs. I received ecstatic greetings and squeaks of joy, especially when I picked up their leashes.
We finished the day walking the ring road around the Peak with the dogs and taking in the amazing views of the city from above.
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