Our first Sunday FUNday

We went to the clinic three times to see the opthamologist yesterday. Three times. The first time, we were told he would not be in until 5. Then we came back at 5:20 and he had just left. We then returned at 6pm, he looked at Hubs for about 5 minutes and confirmed that he had a mild case of pinkeye. It was almost comical at that point.

We got three prescriptions, were told "come back on Tuesday, that's the best day for me", and cabbed it back to our apartment. We opted to stay in last night and ordered in. Naturally, what people do in Vietnam is order Indian food. Not really, but from the list of menus given to us in our move-in packet, it sounded delicious.

IT.WAS.AMAZING.

This is how our food was delivered: in plastic bags and foil, it worked surprisingly well. Clockwise from 12:00 we had samosas, chicken tikka masala, garlic naan, palak paneer, samosa sauces and white rice. I spent most of dinner being jealous of Hubs' tikka masala. The spices were incredible.

Look at the COLOR of this Palak Paneer! It was pureed spinach, which I am not a huge fan of, 

but it was still pretty good.

We felt jet lag creeping in and went to bed before 10pm. 4:30am came very early and we were wide awake by 5am. Therefore, we did what any regular American would do: watched several episodes of the West Wing. I am convinced that if I would have watched this in high school Social studies, I might have actually been interested in American politics. 

After several episodes, we confirmed brunch plans with a friend from my language class in DC and cabbed all on our own(winning!) to The Old Quarter, a place in Ha Noi filled with tourists and things that tourists like. We had brunch at Southgate and it was .....can you guess? Amazing. 

Brioche french toast, carmelized bananas, sausage, bacon & caramel sauce

....perhaps the best french toast that I have ever had. 

The dudes enjoying bbq buns

After brunch we headed to a "craft fair with local artists" which turned out to be four tables with some crafts. We met up with our sponsors and a few other new friends, checked out a bookstore and tried to decide what to do with our day. I was quizzing the ladies on what I should wear to the Marine Corps ball(it's less than a month away!) so my lady sponsor volunteered to take me back to the Old Quarter and show me around. She and her husband have ruined me for any other sponsor we may ever have, they have really gone above and beyond to help us get acclimated.

The Old Cathedral, built in 1886, is on the outskirts of the Old Quarter, it's so majestic!

I didn't want to be too touristy and take a million photos, so this was a "drive-by" picture, as you can see, the sidewalks here are used to motorbike parking--and sometimes driving!

I did find a Marine Ball dress, but it was too pricey for my liking, so I am opting to have it made. It was hot and balmy outside and after a lot of walking, window shopping, street crossing(Old Quarter street crossing is the SCARIEST), we decided to go to a coffee shop with a rooftop overlooking another lake in Ha Noi.

Our view from the top of the coffee shop, this was on the 4th floor--can you see the pagoda on the Lake? I left our nice new camera at home, so this is iPhone quality. Sorry!

After our adventure, I took a cab(BY MYSELF) back to the apartment. I was feeling really good about myself and my Vietnamese, until we pulled up to our apartment and I had to pay. The cab driver "didn't have the right change"--or something, I didn't understand him--so I let him keep the change(which was about 50 cents). 

We spent the evening making dinner and getting ready for our first day of work tomorrow. I am almost glad we have jet lag because I know we will be able to sleep. We are both pretty excited to begin our new jobs! 

I think our first Sunday FUNday was a success. It was really a great weekend and everyone we met has been really welcoming. 

How pretty is this cake?! One of our new co-workers brought this to the party on friday, we are overwhelmed by how incredibly nice everyone is!