Shaw Family Blog

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Mason's story

Travel Details

Hello Again,

I know I said I would hand the posting over to Tiffany, once we came home, but I wanted to document our travels over the last two days. Plus, I am still on Hanoi Time, and everyone is sleeping upstairs (it feels really good to say that).

Our travels began when we woke up at 6:30am on Friday (6:30pm CST on Thursday). We finished packing, did one last sweep around the hotel room, and headed downstairs to the lobby, leaving our bags in the room. We had our bags brought down, and caught a cab to the Hanoi Airport.

We arrived about 9am. Our flight was at 12:15pm, so I was a little frustrated when there were no representatives available for our airline for another hour. So we waited for an hour, and were already a bit cranky from getting poor sleep the night before.

2 hours before the flight we stood in line to check in. Come to find out that Mason's ticket was not in the system. I couldn't recall if that was part of the plan or not, but what a pain to huff all my luggage to try to find another section of the airport where I had to buy a ticket for him. We waited in another "line". I use the word "line" loosely because they really don't exist in Vietnam.

We got our tickets, were able to check in, and headed to wait for our first flight to Taipei. We didn't have to wait for long since we took so much time to get our tickets. I tried to tire Mason out while waiting by having him walk around and look at all the shops.

I thought we timed it perfect. Mason had been playing, and it was time for his nap. We boarded, the plane first so we could get situated for the 2.5 hour flight, and I was pleased when we had the whole row to ourselves. Actually everyone had the whole row to themselves unless they chose not to because it was a very empty flight.

Mason did well during takeoff, but that was about it. He was up the whole time, throwing fits because he couldn't get to sleep. EVA airlines is very nice though. They give you a nice little bag that has diapers and wipes in it. Plus, in addition to the good food they served me, they provided the best little kids meal for Mason. Mushed peas, sweet and regular potatoes, and some fruit! This was great, and thankfully, before we knew it, we landed (he did well with the landing).

Taipei airport is really nice. The terminal is on the second floor and each gate has a different themed shop. You then go downstairs to wait to board. We had a 3 hour layover, so I was thankful for the "Hello Kitty" gate. They had a terrific jungle gym where we must have played for an hour and a half. He did well on the slide (assisted of course), and loved to crawl up to the second level and peak through the windows at me. We are going to have the best time at playgrounds, especially with Elisabeth joining in on the fun.

We arranged our gear for the long 11.5 hour flight, and I must admit, I was very nervous given his performance on the first leg of the trip. Once boarded, I pre-apologized to the Taiwanese women on my left, and the business traveling man on the right.

Again, takeoff was no problem. We hung out for the first hour until it was time to eat. Then we had the bassinet placed in front of us. For those who haven't seen it, when you are in the first row of business class, there is a wall that separates you from first. On this wall, they hook a basket, about 8 inches deep, and as wide as your seat that you can put infants in. It was a great length for Mason, but he could roll out of it very easily. The bassinet made eating physically possible, and it also served as an area for us to play. My neighbors were very tolerant! After about 3 hours, I convinced the stewardess to turn off the lights early (about 10pm Hanoi time). He was up and down for a while, but then had a nice 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep. This would have been great for me, but I couldn't go to bed because he could roll out of the bassinet. I dozed off just once, and one of my neighbors woke me up. So I watched a few movies, and surprisingly, the time flew by.

Needless to say, I was pretty tired when we landed in Los Angeles (3pm PST), (5am Hanoi Time).

We went through customs, had to wait only 25 minutes to clear Mason through the immigration process, and waited another hour for our bags, and the line to clear them through security. Luckily, a security woman expedited me through one of the security lines because otherwise, I would have been down there for much longer.

With our bags in tow, we headed upstairs to wait for Sarah and Nick. They arrived about a half hour later where we went to the garage to put the car seat that Sarah had brought into Nick's car. It was great to see familiar faces after the long trip. We took some pictures, Sarah, left, and Nick took us back to his house.

We had a 9 hour layover in LA, so it was nice to be able to shower, and allow Mason to eat and take a little nap. Turns out that Mason really likes Guitar Hero. He would just clap and clap as Nick played the game. He ate a strawberry and banana smoothie that Nick made. I didn't get to nap myself, but I took a much needed shower, and was excited to be in the states. We hung out with Nick's roommates a bit, and Mason had fun parading around the house.

At 9:30pm (PST), we headed to LAX. Our flight left at Midnight, so I had high hopes that Mason would sleep. More for him than for me because I was VERY tired from not sleeping since the prior day.

Again, takeoff went well, but that was about it. Mason was hysterical the whole time. The poor other passengers! Everyone was sleeping, or at least trying to on the Red Eye. It was horrible. I had to stand by the bathroom for half the ride, just to keep him from wailing. Ughhh! To top it off, despite changing him a bunch, we had a blow out on the plane. Number 1, not 2...thankfully, but the front of my pants were drenched...Yuck!

Once landed (5am CST), I took a big breath...finally, "home" at last! I was sleep deprived (35 hours straight), had the worst Pink Eye, and was just delirious. Tiff was running a bit late, so we grabbed our luggage, and waited until we got a call from her that she was at the curb, and could see us walking towards the door...YIPPEE!!!

There they were, Tiff and Tilley, my girls. And there we were, the two boys, gross, tired, and happier than ever!

We were careful not to touch too much because of the Pink Eye, so I put Mason in his car seat, and Tiffany put Tilley in hers.

We headed home, grabbed a coffee, and headed home. Once there, we greeted the puppies and kitty in the worst way. He was petrified! He is ok now with them, but there is something about animals that frightens him to death.

We gave him a bath, fed the two of them, and put them down for naps. I showed off all the gifts I bought, and talked with Tiff a bit.

By this point, I was besides myself, so finally, I went up to bed, and slept for 10 hours. Mason slept for 11 hours, so it was a nice break for Tiff.

I'll spare the remaining details, because WE ARE HOME! ...and that's all that matters!

-Derek

Home at last...

Everyone is sleeping and I have a moment to update the blog. Derek and Mason landed in Minneapolis around 6am. After a little breakfast, everyone passed out! (except mommy) Mason has been asleep for 5 hours already... Poor Derek was awake for 36 hours straight. He said that the flights went really well, except for the last leg. Hopefully he can update everyone on the finer details when he wakes up!

Thank you to everyone for all of your support to our family during this process. We can't tell you how much we truly appreciate it!

Coming soon... family photos!

Hanoi-Day 14: Our Final Day

Well, this will be my last post from Hanoi. It is bitter sweet because it has been one of the most tiring, rewarding, and memorable experiences of my life, and I am honored that all who are reading have lived it with me.

I took today to really relish the sights and sounds of the city. For those who have never been here, you should come, even if it is for a couple days. Here is what you will for sure experience:

Wonderful people who embrace their culture and thrive on sharing it with others. Walking down the streets and smelling some of the best food, to be interrupted by the smell of awful city funk. Being approached to purchase zippo lighters, wallets, books/maps, pineapples, t-shirts, hats and key chains. Being asked to get a ride in the bike carriages about 50 times a day. Being asked “you want motobike?” 100 times a day. Amazing coffee, and diverse dining experiences. There are many more things, but I think you get the point.

Anyway, here is the recap for the day:

Despite going to bed late, we still woke up at 6:30am. I tried something different and didn’t give Mason any formula in the middle of the night, only water. I want to beef up his daytime meals to get him more on Elisabeth’s schedule. He didn’t like it too much, and we woke up a lot, so we were a bit cranky in the morning.

We got ready, headed out, and it was one of the nicest days we have experienced since being here. Bright, sunny, and warm. We headed down our normal path to find out that the part of the city where Highlands was had lost power, and it would be out or 2 hours. So, we ate our banana, grabbed a croissant, and I went without coffee (ugh).

We walked around a bit, building up a nice sweat, and adding to the smell of my gear. I found out what the smell is by the way (since you were all wondering). It is my backpack…yuck. Fortunately, I will be traveling with my larger pack tomorrow, so I won’t offend the other passengers on the plane. We headed back to the hotel around 10am, gave Mason a bottle, and he went down for a nap with no issues.

While he was sleeping, Loan stopped by the room, and dropped off Mason’s Visa, paperwork, and we said our goodbyes quietly so as not to wake Mason from his nap. It felt good to have all the documents in hand. I took a few pictures of Mason’s passport and Visa to celebrate the occasion.

When Mason woke up, we strapped on our gear and headed out again. We stopped and ordered another stamp for Tilley. It would be ready by 5 because, like Mason’s, the guy hand carves it. We walked a bit further to the Water Puppet Theater and ordered tickets for the 6:30 show…Yipee!

We then headed back towards our hotel, and I stopped by the Gekko restaurant that I mentioned before. This time, they were playing Bob Dylan. I was the only patron, so it was nice when the food came, and Mason had a bit to eat, that the waitress held him for me for a good while. She even pulled out a banana and fed it to him with a spoon. I got pictures of this too. I ordered a Tofu sandwich, and fried rice for Mason. I basically just picked out the peas, corn, green beans and carrots for him, because they were already in tiny bite sizes. He enjoyed it a lot. I also ordered two banana, orange and honey smoothies…yummy!

We went home by 3pm, and Mason went down for another nap. Probably catching up on the lack of sleep the night before. He woke up, and we picked up the stamps by 5pm. We walked around a bit, mostly around the lake on the south side where there are less tourists, and more locals sitting around and enjoying the day.

We headed to the theater around 5:45pm and waited in the lobby where the exhibited some of the water puppets. I was pretty excited, and Mason was the little social butterfly, walking around with his bottle in tow, and going up to others that were waiting.

At 6:15, they allowed us to enter the theater. We sat about 12 rows back next to an American couple that was in town from St. Louis. They had kids in college and were very nice. During the performance, I took lots of pictures. Mason had the best time listening to the live music and watching the show. It was action packed, and although it was all in Vietnamese, you could follow the story line pretty well. I was surprised that the audience was 95% adults, because it was definitely more appealing for kids. Mason did fantastic for a 1 year old. He clapped and talked, sometimes loudly because he felt the soundtrack needed enhancement. He got a bit antsy towards the end (it was only an hour long), so the nice lady next to us let us play with her bracelet. I am hoping I sit next to an understanding person on the plane ride! So we did it. We saw the famous water puppets, and I was not let down.

We got home around 8pm. In the lobby I ran into another adoptive family from Oregon. Turns out, they have been in the hotel the WHOLE TIME!! They had adopted their daughter 5 years ago from central Vietnam just before the first shut down, and now just completed their second adoption of their son before the 2nd shut down…what are the chances. We snapped some pictures, so hopefully we will keep in touch.

I headed up to our room, fed Mason, played a bit, and started the packing process. I may be the only adoptive family to leave with less bags than I brought due to the amount of gifts we brought for the orphanage. Mason hung out in his crib the whole time, and didn’t get to bed until 10:30pm. That’s ok with me, because I am praying he sleeps a lot tomorrow!

With that, we are done. Mason, I know you won’t remember our time here, but I hope you read about our endeavors when you are older. You should know that we had a great time, and I think about how our love grew every day, and I get excited to think about the person you will become, and the future we will have together.

Again, thank you to our family, friends, and fellow adoptive families for following our story. You are now a part of Mason’s life forever, and the best part is that the real Journey has just begun. I ask myself, “who will Mason become”. I answer, “whatever he wants because his life will be shaped by not only his parents and immediate family, but all of you who will be a part of his life.”

People ask me all the time, “why did you decide to adopt?” There are a few answers actually, and I rattle off a number of them except for the following which I know Tiff and I talk about all the time.

One of the reasons we decided to pursue this journey is that we wanted to embrace the premise of viewing everyone as your mother, father, son, and daughter. I am sure you have heard me say that. But we didn’t just want to believe this, and keep it to ourselves. We view our process as living by example, to which we hope to inspire others. Although we have just started, we hope this dream becomes a reality, and we help make our world a better place.

Thank you!

-Derek

Photos - Day 13

Hanoi-Day 13: Visa Appointment

We woke up at a reasonable time this morning, got ready, and were out the door by 8am. Mason’s Pink eye was much better today. We headed to Highlands… again. I like the routine. This time we ordered something a little different though. I got the yogurt with fruit. I ate some fruit, but basically gave the whole thing of yogurt to Mason. He enjoyed it thoroughly.

We headed out on the streets, and of course I came across new sights I had not seen before. We actually bumped into Jeff, his daughter Jordan, and another adoptive couple. They also had a Visa appointment today at 2pm, along with 3 other families from their agency. I thought to myself, "We're in for a long wait at the Embassy with all those families at the same time." We parted ways and I immediately came across a man jamming on a guitar singing into a microphone that was attached to a little amplifier strapped on his shoulder. Mason and I stopped for a couple minutes, and dropped some money in the can his son was holding out. Mason loves music. He just starts clapping the minute he hears it. When the credits are running after a movie we watch in our room, he will stand up in bed and start clapping. Such a happy boy. We will definitely encourage playing an instrument.

We kept walking and came across a couple indoor malls. It was very busy, and featured the same items you could find on the streets.

We found our way home around noon. Had a quick bite, and went down for a nap until about 1. I had showered while he napped, and gave him a bath before we headed to our Visa appointment.

Loan met us in the lobby at 1:30, we caught a cab, and he sat with her the whole time in the car ride. I like that he can be with other people because it shows how adaptable he is.

We pulled up to the US embassy, and I didn’t know what to expect. The front door was extremely heavy, and we went through a metal detector. We went up the stairs to the second floor into a pretty large room where the other 5 families were there with their children.

Some were in line, and others were waiting and playing with the kids. We were the last to arrive, and the line to pay went pretty fast. For future families, the embassy takes all major credit cards, so you don’t have to worry about bringing cash.

We put Mason on the ground and he played with a few toys the other families had brought. He played with Macy and Jordan, who were both 6 months older…I think he likes the “older women”.

After a short wait, we hear our name called. We were the first to be called, which I thought was very nice (especially being we were the last to arrive).

We entered another small room where a woman sat on the other side of a thick glass wall. The “interview” lasted about 5 minutes. The woman was very familiar with our case, and didn’t have any questions for me. I was a little disappointed because I was prepared with all the supporting paperwork, but all I had to do was sign one piece of paper, and we were done. I called the next family in, said my goodbyes to the families, and we were on our way.

Loan would pick up the Visa later in the afternoon, and drop it off to me on Thursday, since we aren’t leaving until Friday. Not sure if I mentioned that yet, but we did confirm that Friday is the earliest flight we could get.

We got home, I gave Mason another bottle, and he went down for another nap since the prior one was so short. He must have been very tired because he slept for 2 hours until about a quarter till 6. When he woke up, I was motivated to go out for dinner because we were pretty hungry. I looked in the mirror before we left, and saw some gunk in the corner of my left eye. It was bloodshot too. Yup, I got pink eye from Mason…wonderful.

I didn’t want to just go to any old place to eat, so we walked up and down the streets again. I know I talked about it before, but I really do enjoy the different city that Hanoi becomes at night. The shops become dinning rooms for the families that run them. Their pets are out in the store, and parents are feeding their children, usually sitting on the floor of their stores.

We walked down a street that had a bunch of Hostels. I enjoyed looking in at the mostly European and Australian/New Zealand crowd, enjoying each other’s company over drinks and/or meals. There are very few Americans here. We, as a country really don’t travel overseas enough. I regret not doing the Hostel/backpacking thing in college, so I hope to afford my kids the opportunity to travel before they settle down.

We walked down pharmacy street, so I picked up some eye drops for myself. They are just to hydrate my eye, which didn’t bother me too much yet.

By this time we were STARVING. It was a good walk from where we were, but I headed to that cute street I wrote about before because I recalled a number of restaurants. We arrived, and I scanned the assortment of eateries. Irish Pub…nope. French place…not feeling that either. Family friendly pizza/pasta joint…Perfect.

It was a 4 story restaurant called Pepperoni’s. It was filled with all Vietnamese people. Couples, families, young and old. We ventured up to the 3rd floor and sat by a big open window that overlooked the cute street. Aided by the paper menu, a spoon, and the cap to our bottle, we were distracted from our hunger.

The waiter came, and I ordered the vegetarian lasagna, and veggie pizza with no cheese. When the food came, Mason and I were going to eat our arms off. I am not sure if it was that feeling or the food itself, but we had the best eating experience EVER!

The lasagna was quite unique. A thin layer of pasta on the bottom, green beans, carrots and other veggies in a curry based cream sauce in the middle, another thin layer of pasta, and topped with a thick layer of mozzarella cheese. The veggie pizza had green beans, olives, onions and tomatoes. There was a small salad with cucumbers and carrots on the side.

I dished up the lasagna in toddler sized bites for Mason with a few pieces of crust from the pizza, and he could not get enough. He absolutely loved it. Especially the green beans and carrots with the curry sauce. The sauce was a bit spicy, so we had swigs of our bottle in between every few bites. Oh, and he loves cheese just like Tilley does. Hopefully he won’t have cholesterol issues like his daddy does. He is going to get nice and plump when he comes home and enjoys the great meals that Tiffany prepares for them!

A family of 4 sat next to us, and Mason loved watching the kids. I can tell already that he will enjoy play groups.

We only ate half of both our meals, so we will get to relive the experience tomorrow for lunch.

With our bellies full, we walked back to our hotel. It was 8pm, which is his normal bedtime, however we had a long, late nap, so I didn’t expect him to go to bed right away. I was right. He didn’t go to bed until about 10:15pm. Probably the latest he has ever stayed up (bad daddy). Hopefully he will sleep in tomorrow though.

We chatted with Tiff a bit, and confirmed our travel plans with our agent. I’ll be flying out Friday, arriving late on Saturday (I think), but the bad part is that I will have a 9 hour layover in LA. I am going to see if Nick is in town and maybe he can pick me up to hang out for a couple hours. It will be a long time traveling (over 30 hours), so needless to say, I am not looking forward to it. I have never heard anyone ever complain about their travels home though, so I am sure the excitement will blind any discomfort.

So that’s it. Pretty busy day today. I am planning on going to see the puppet show tomorrow at 4pm. I’ll also pick up some paperwork from our lawyers. Other than that, we are done!

I have 1-2 more days of posting, and then I’ll hand it back over to Tiffany.

-Derek

Photos - Day 12

Photos - Day 11

Hanoi-Day 12: Visa Date Confirmed and Shopping

I am not sure when the morning actually began. Was it at 5:30am, when we had to play for an hour to go back to bed, or was it 8ish, when we woke up again. Either way, we were able to chat with Tiffany this morning, and she could see her baby boy romping around his area. He is quite vocal, so he and Elisabeth will have the best time yapping at each other. Should be fun putting the two of them to sleep ;)

As I was getting ready, I received a call from the agency confirming that we have our appointment with the embassy TOMORROW at 2pm…YIPPEE!!! That means we can book our flights any time after that. We have a request into our travel agent to find the next available flight (probably Thursday), and we are currently waiting to hear back. We should find out mid-day your time.

With a little pep in our step, we headed to Highlands again. It was drizzling outside, but no torrential downpours like the other day. We sat indoors again, I ordered the same thing I always do, but this time, one of the waitresses took Mason for me for about 5 minutes so I could eat. I thought that was so nice, I left a very generous tip ($3 on a $5 meal), which they were very appreciative of.

After breakfast we dug in our heels and hit the shops to peck away at my list I have to complete. Tiffany “inspired” me to get to it, because although I have been looking a lot, I had not accomplished too much thus far. We did quite well, and by the time we headed back to the hotel, I only had 3 more gifts to buy for Mason. When we got back to the room, Mason fought going down for another nap, but finally he went to bed. I typed up what I had purchased so far to get a handle on exactly what I needed. This helped a lot, because I had a very precise goal when Mason woke up.

After a couple hours, Mason woke up, I fed him, got ready, and headed out again. This time it was raining a little more steadily, but we had a task at hand. I spent a lot of time in one particular shop, where I was able to cross 2 of 3 items off Mason’s list, and I picked up a few more things for my girls as well.

We then came across a Propaganda Art gallery. It wasn’t the place that Kim had recommended (which we found later), but a little fancier place. I was able to get Mason’s final gift here. I think it will be his 18th, because he will be able to understand the history completely by then. Plus he will be able to vote for the first time, so it should all tie into learning about politics, government, etc.

We did have one more thing to buy. Yup, our Man U jerseys. I compromised a bit (i.e. bought the black ones instead of the red), but we officially have our Halloween costumes!

We continued to walk, and Mason fell asleep in the Bjorn. It was a little cooler today, so Mason was in sweatpants and a sweatshirt with a hoodie. He was very snuggly. I, of course was sweating my you know what off, as usual, and sore too from carrying him so much, so I was relieved to go back to the hotel room.

I peeled off our gear, and we will definitely need to wash it all when I get home because it is starting to smell bad! Mason woke up, so the first thing I did was dress he and myself up in our “costumes”. We went down to the lobby and posed for some pics (Tiff will post later).

I’m sorry I didn’t get more pictures today, but the rain made it a bit prohibitive. We played for a while, ate, and I put him to bed around 7pm.

I felt good about today. Shopping = complete. Tomorrow we are seeing those darn Water Puppets! If we get confirmation on my travel while I am sleeping, maybe Tiff can update everyone.

-Derek

Hanoi-Day 11: Passports and Visa Medical Appointment

We woke up very early again. Probably because Mason went to bed so early, so I expect him to do the same tomorrow because he was out by 7pm tonight.

We had our morning bottle and romped around the room for about an hour and a half. Loan (from the agency) was going to take us to get Mason’s passport today…one step closer to coming home.

Mason was in a good mood, and played in his crib while I showered. After getting ready, I gave him his medicine and a bath. He really does not like his bath experienced. I later asked Loan (pronounced “Lo Anne”), and she said that all the babies would get daily baths, so I must not be doing something right.

After recovering from the bath, I dressed my boy up in a blue onesy, and plaid shorts with a belt that Tiff had packed. He would totally fit in with the Annapolis sailing crowd. All we needed was some top siders and boxed wine.

We headed down to the lobby early where we had some banana, apple, and some toast (with our bottle of course). Loan arrived at 9:30, and we took a cab to the immigration office again.

We waited a little longer than last time, but after about a half hour, I was called to the window, signed a few forms, and they handed me his green passport. I don’t know why, but it felt kind of special. I will take a picture of it later because I had to leave it with Loan to be compiled with the other documents needed for his Visa.

Earlier, Loan surprised me by saying we would also be going to Mason’s Visa Medical appointment. Although we had already been to the SOS clinic, this official check up was needed to obtain the necessary paperwork for his Visa. I was thrilled because it saved us a day or two by doing it today.

The SOS clinic was pretty full. After about a 15 minute wait, a nurse called us in to do his vitals. He was 17 pounds, with a 14 inch head (that’s all I remember). The rest of the info is on the forms I left with Loan. We then waited a good half hour before we went in to a room with a nice French doctor. He was very gentle, and Mason was a champ. His laryngitis has cleared up nicely, but his pink eye is still persistent despite the medicine I have been giving him. I just hope he is all better before we get home and we are around Tilley.

We then waited another 45 minutes before the paperwork was done. We were getting pretty antsy, so we went outside, got a few photos, and played in the mirrors on the outside of the building. Despite being very tired, he was still in a good mood.

Finally the paperwork was done, and Loan took us in a cab back to the hotel. It was noon, so before I went up to the room, I ordered takeout from the restaurant a few doors down (Kitti). I was going with what worked, so you guessed it, I got spaghetti again. This time, plain.

I gave him a little, but he definitely didn’t like it as much without the sauce. By this time, he was VERY tired, so I put him down for a nap, while I watched football replays (soccer). Saw a great match between Chelsea and Manchester United, which inspired me.

When Mason woke up from his nap, we tried eating again, and then headed out on the streets for a little action. It is funny because no matter how many times we go up and down the streets, I always happen upon a new one with different wares. I am not sure if I described it before or not, but every street features vendors that sell similar things. It is like they are guilds inspired by the communist government in some way (so I’m told). So there is a baby street, silk street, shoe street, etc. Our Hotel is on paint street by the way, hence the very strong aroma of paint thinner every time we go outside. A new street I walked down today was cigarette and liquor street. I didn’t buy anything there, but I know a few people that would have had a bonanza there.

We spent some time going in and out of shops on the street that sold men’s clothing. I had (what I thought was) the best idea for a Halloween costume for Mason and I…football players (again, soccer).

Not just any team though. We were looking for matching Manchester United uniforms. Either Ronoldo, or Rooney, because they seem to be the biggest stars on the team. Man U (as its called) is kind of like the Yankees for the Premier League. They have deep pockets and attract the best players, but don’t always win the championship. Unlike American sports teams, football clubs have huge corporate sponsorships, and the companies logos are displayed prominently on the jerseys. So you are asking, “why is Derek talking about soccer Jerseys?” Well, I have been watching a lot of Bloomberg television, so I see what is going on with the plummeting stock market, and troubled companies…hence the irony in who sponsors Manchester United. That’s right, AIG! Ok, maybe you don’t think it is that funny (Tiff sure didn’t), but I think it would be a clever Halloween outfit to wear jerseys with AIG on it.

Anyway, we couldn’t find the jerseys yet. None of the shops have his size, but I am determined with this one.

At 5pm we headed back for another run at the spaghetti. A little better this time, but still not as good as in the restaurant. Mason played for a long time. He was fading at around 6:30, but I thought it was too early for bed, so I kept playing with him.

I went on the bed for about 2 minutes, and I hear a bang, look down, and Mason starts crying. He normally just gets back up and goes at it again, so I knew he must have hurt himself this time. Poor little guy banged his lip up and was bleeding. It wasn’t that bad actually, his lower lip just had a little cut on it, but he was upset none the less. I got some blood on my shirt, but didn’t care. I wiped his mouth out, and let him suck on a wash cloth a bit. He wasn’t crying anymore, but I could tell he was just tired, so although it was early, I put him in bed.

About ten minutes later, he was out. It was 7pm at this time, so I know he will be up extra early tomorrow. I felt bad because Tiff woke up early (7:20), and messaged me because she has been missing seeing Mason because he is asleep by the time she gets up. Maybe tomorrow Tiff!

I chatted with Tiffany a bit, and enjoyed waving "hi" to Elisabeth. I have had a runny nose and sneezing a bit today. Hopefully it is just allergies, because I can’t afford to get sick. So, sorry Tiff for being a little crabby. I should take a tip from Mr. Myagi, “breath in, breath out.” Yeah, I just watched Karate Kid Part II (the one where he is in Japan).

Tomorrow is a new day. We are hoping to get confirmation of when our Visa appointment is. Hopefully Wednesday or Thursday. Once we find out, we will try to change our flight to leave the day after.

Thanks to those who offered their suggestions for gifts, and places to visit. I will try to check them all off my list before I leave.

-Derek

Photos - Day 10

Hanoi-Day 10: Shopping, New Friends, and a Little Culture

We woke up early again, ready for a full day. Mason sleeps with me in bed, and this morning I woke up to him kneeling on the side of me banging my back as a drum. Since we had a happy boy on our hands, I thought I would take advantage and go out for breakfast.

I quickly got ready. No showers, no baths, just out the door. I grabbed a banana from the lobby, and headed to Highlands Coffee shop. I was in my flip flops because my shoes were still drenched from the previous day. It was hotter this morning than other days, so I was relieved when I got to Highlands, the doors to the balcony were closed, and the air conditioning was on.

We sat at a booth where I took Mason out of the Bjorn and fed him banana with his bottle. I ordered my usual: Baguette with jam, side of fruit, and French Drip coffee. He did very well next to me, and I think he is getting used to eating out, which should be nice when Tiff and I want to go to restaurants with the kids.

After breakfast, it was still early, so I went to buy some new shoes. With the walking I had planned for the day, flip flops were not going to cut it, and I didn’t want to wear wet shoes. So I went into a few shops and spent about ½ hour in one where I bartered and was able to score two pairs of Nike Air Max for $60. They are normally $100+ per pair back in the States, so I felt pretty good about it. Sorry Ben, I didn’t pick up any Jordan’s for you. With my new kicks on, we walked up and down a few streets, and then headed to the Intemax grocery store where we bought some more diapers and formula. It was 9:30 at this point, so I headed back to the hotel to put baby boy down for a nap. He was tired so by 10, he was asleep.

Tiffany had connected me with another family that was here adopting their daughter at the same time. They were from a different Agency, and province, but she made the connection somehow through another mutual friend. We had communicated via e-mail, and said we would get together, so I called them when Mason was sleeping to see if they wanted to meet up.

The family was planning on doing a little shopping at 11:30, so I asked if they wanted to stop by and they agreed. Again, Mason woke up very happy, and rested. I got a call from the lobby and invited the other family up to my room. I showed off my play area set up, and they invited me to do a little shopping. Tom’s parents were there with them, which was very nice. Tom was also adopted from Vietnam, so their journey is a complete full circle.

They were a great family. Their daughter is about 1 and a half, and was doing very well. Such a pretty girl, and very happy with her new family. We went shopping for about an hour around the Old Quarter. It was so nice going in and out of the shops with other people. They live in Gaithersberg, MD, but were from the Mid-West!

One of the first places we stopped was a shop that made custom carved stamps. Prior to coming to my hotel, they had ordered theirs with their daughter’s name and a symbol of a Pig. Both she and Mason were born in the “year of the Pig”, hence the symbolism. I loved the idea, so I ordered one as well, which will be another gift for Mason.

After a great shopping experience, Tom and his family needed to go back to their hotel and get ready to meet with their agency to get their paperwork squared away. We agreed to meet up another day and try to go to the Water Puppets, but we couldn’t today because of their meeting.

It was too early for another nap, so I opted not to go back to the hotel, and instead, go to the Temple of Literature. I recommend that others take a quick cab ride there in the future, but of course, I huffed it. Normally it takes about a half hour, but of course, I got a little lost, and it took me close to an hour. On the way, I tried to get directions from a few Vietnamese men who spoke zero English. We tried writing out where I was trying to go, kind of like pictionary. That didn’t work. The men stopped a group of Vietnamese women and we tried again. No dice. Finally, a European couple walked by, and I stopped them. They had a map, and were able to point me in the right direction…finally.

On the way, 2 more Vietnamese men were eager to lend me a hand. Even though I didn’t need any more direction, I obliged them because of their sincere generosity to help a stranger. I have experienced this a lot.

I arrived at the Temple, which takes up an area almost equivalent to a New York city block. I didn’t know what to expect, so I paid the 5,000 Dong (about $0.35) to get in, and walked though the gates. It was very beautiful. Like a garden with cement ponds and pagoda’s everywhere. I walked through the courtyard, where a wedding party was taking pictures.

We then came to the section where there were rows of huge stone tablets with ancient Chinese inscribed in them. Prior to the French occupation, the Vietnamese wrote in Chinese. There was also a room with large statues. I think they were ancient scholars. We got some nice pictures here, so you be the judge.

We walked the grounds for about 45 minutes and then decided to leave. Given the time, and the strain on my shoulders, we opted to take the $4 cab ride back to the hotel. Needless to say we were a bit tired.

We came back, had a quick bite, and I put Mason down for a nap while I caught up on other adoptive family blogs.

Mason woke up around 5, and it was already getting dark outside. Tom had recommended a restaurant called “Little Hanoi” so we decided to check it out. We sat in the back, and the place was quite full. I ordered the Spaghetti Pomadoro, an extra bowl, and some water.

When the spaghetti came, I dished some in the bowl for Mason, and chopped it up. Mason LOVES spaghetti! In addition to the small pieces, he likes the mid-sized ones where I would put one end into his mouth, and he would slurp the rest of it up.

After dinner, we decided to walk the streets a bit. Hanoi has a different flavor at night. You see families together, people hanging out, and vendors closing up their shops. At about 7:30, we head back to our hotel room, feeling good about what we had accomplished.

Walking into the room, I smelled very strong garlic breath from both Mason and myself. In addition to our sweaty bodies, we were doing pretty well for ourselves. Before going to bed, we briefly video chatted with Tucker, and Tiffany, rolled around and played in the bed, and finally I laid him in his crib to go to bed. He fought it for a bit, but he finally went to sleep. I will bring him in bed later because it is easier to give him his nighttime feeding that way. Plus, it helps when he wakes up, and sees me right away.

So, I received a few questions on my last post about timing on paperwork, and when we are coming home.

Tomorrow morning we get our passport. Then we schedule our Visa medical appointment (hopefully Wednesday), and then our Visa appointment with the Embassy (hopefully Thursday). If all goes as planned, we could be home by next weekend! As far as being “official”, in the Vietnamese government’s eyes, we are good to go. When we come home though, we have to finalize the adoption with the US government, which isn’t too big of a deal.

Those are the plans, but while I am here, I have a few other things to check off my list.

1) Water Puppets
2) Buddhist Temple
3)Finalize shopping for Mason’s gifts (I need ideas for ages 11-15)

If anyone recommends anything else that is a “must see”, let me know.

-Derek & Mason

Photos - Day 9

Hanoi-Day 9: Rain, Rain, Go Away

Sorry to disappoint, but we didn’t do much today. Not that we didn’t try, but the weather didn’t exactly cooperate.

We woke up with the intention of hanging around the room the first half of the day to try to get back on a reasonable nap schedule…mission accomplished!

We woke up nicely again, but around 8, the power went out in our room. We headed down to the lobby for breakfast, and came back up for a nap…still no power. We missed our morning/evening chat with Tiffany and Tilley :(

We played in between naps, and then ordered take out for lunch. Tiff is going to kill me, but Mason had fish sticks with his bottle, while I had pasta salad and garlic bread. I picked the fish from the fried outer layer, and harvested some for later and put it in a zip lock bag. For future adoptive parent travelers, I highly recommend brining a bunch of sip lock bags. Big and small. I put food in the small, and I put my camera and other things in the big ones. So after a nice lunch we took another nap.

Throughout the day I have been administering medicine for the Pink Eye he came down with the day we went to Ha Long Bay. Some say to just let it ride out, which we did for a couple days, but now I feel better giving him the medicine we brought. I pretty much have a pharmacy in my room with remedies for anything you can think of. Again, highly recommended for future travelers. Thank goodness for the Tiff’s preparedness because we really brought everything…and paid for it too, shelling out about $200 in extra luggage charges (so far).

At about 4pm, we had showered and taken a bath and were going to attempt to do something interesting. Since it was so late, we opted to go to the Temple of Literature. So we strapped on our gear, and headed out. It had rained earlier, but it had stopped. The guys in the lobby looked at me and said, “are you sure you want to go out? It is going to rain again.” I did not heed their warning, and we ventured out. The Temple was going to be a half hour walk, and I though to myself, “a little rain can’t stop us.”

The sky was dark, different from when I had been out in the rain earlier. We stopped at a bakery a few blocks away, and grabbed a croissant.

About a ¼ mile into the trip, the skies opened up. I am not talking about little rain drops. It was one of the most violent downpours I have ever experienced. Thunder, lightening, and very heavy rain convinced me to turn around. Luckily I had packed a small umbrella, but we still got soaked. We arrived in the lobby again with sheepish grins on our face as the guys at the front desk greeted us. I knew they were thinking, “I told you so.” We gave it the old college try though, and I think we will try to go to the Temple of Literature tomorrow morning.

We got back to our room, and while people were cleaning our room, I changed Mason out of his wet clothes. He handled the whole experience like a champ. When the cleaning crew left, I changed myself, and we ate some more fish, and played again. Mason likes books. Unfortunately he also likes to eat them and wear them as hats. I got some fun pictures of him playing after the rain. His face still glistening from the rain experience.

We had movies on, and played with the Giggles computer game that Tiff has loaded on this computer. Tilley loves the program also, so I can just imagine the two of them enjoying it together.

After playing a bit, Mason indicated that he was sleepy. Must have been all the playing. We started to go to bed at around 7pm, and finally went to sleep around 7:45. I think I’ll just read a bit, catch up on people’s blogs, and try again to get on the VPN network. I had to log into another hotel’s network, because although our power is back, the internet isn’t working…oh well. So tomorrow, I promise some more adventures. It is good for us to mix busy days with slow ones so we don’t over-do it.

Photos - Day 7 & 8

Hanoi-Day 7, 8: Ha Long Bay

Hello all! Sorry for missing a day, but we have been busy, but I have a lot to catch you up on, so prepare yourselves for a long post. Ready….

We woke up Thursday morning at 6:30am, had a quick bottle, and thought it would be nice to get out early and go get coffee. I strapped Mason on, and began walking down the two flights of steps to the lobby at 7:30, and I remembered…I was going to see about going to Ha Long Bay today!

I asked one of the guys at the front desk and he said, “sure you can go today, let me make a phone call”. After a brief conversation, the guy turns to me and says, “bus will come to pick you up at 8:15”. I think to myself, “well, it is a good thing nobody else is with me because I am not sure we could pull this off if it weren’t just the two of us.”

I ran upstairs, fed Mason some cereal, and packed for the 2 day, 1 night trip to Ha Long Bay. For those who have not been to Hanoi, this trip can be done in one day, 2 day, or 3 day increments. The one-day didn’t make sense because we would have spent 7 hours on a bus, and 4 hours on the boat, so we opted for the 2-day trip. This trip is a MUST for anyone visiting Northern Vietnam, as you will see by the pictures.

After feeding Mason, I threw stuff for the two of us in my large backpack, which isn’t easy in 15 minutes, even for an overnight trip. I received a call at 8:15 to come down to the lobby, so I threw Mason in the Bjorn, grabbed my pack, and ventured down.

Outside, a bus was waiting with one couple in it already. We would go to 3 other hotels to pick up the other 9 passengers that were going on the trip.

The first hour, Mason was doing well, observing the cars and sights on the street. He was able to fall asleep, but a half hour later, we stopped for a break, and he woke up (this broken sleep pattern would be a trend for the trip). We were sitting in the back of the bus (more like a large van actually), and I was sitting next to a New Zealand Ex-Pat, who was going on the 1-day trip with his wife. They are retired now, but he had been a science teacher in London, and was actually from Los Angeles, so it was nice to talk to him. He told me of his travels around the world, and I was very inspired by his experiences. My favorite story was of a trip about 15 years ago when he and his wife took a year off of work, took his 4 year old and 9 year old children out of school, and traveled the globe. I am not sure Tiff and I could ever do that, but that story, along with my experience thus far, have given me confidence to travel with children.

We were a little bored the second half of the bus ride, but the people on the bus were quite tolerant of the noise from the back of the bus. Mason has definitely found his voice, and he just goes on and on talking about things. He also likes to blow kisses, which he will do repeatedly over and over and over once you get him started. What a lover boy he is.

Our tour guide for the trip was named Nam, and he would turn around in the front seat every so often and provide historic facts along the ride. I enjoyed that part very much.

We arrived to Ha Long by about 11:30am. It was a bit hazy outside, but even from the parking lot where the buses pulled in, I could tell the sights I was about to experience would be once in a lifetime.

We waited for about 15 minutes in the parking lot where there were many other groups waiting for their tours. There were about 20 large Junk boats waiting at the edge of the parking lot. I say parking lot, because there really weren’t docks, just a cement narrow walkway that separated the wall between the land and water.

We waited in a line while Nam presented our tickets to get in another line that was moving across the cement walkway. It was a bit precarious with my awkward load, because one mis-step, and Mason and I were swimming. We boarded a smaller boat that would take us to our Large Junk Boat in the middle of the Harbor.

Our group would be together for the two days and one night. I gave them the blog address, so hopefully they will log on and comment with their names and info because I can only recall about half, so I will refrain from neglecting anyone by referring to them from where they are from.

It turns out, our party had quite the cast of carriers. There were two Israeli tourists, who weren’t together really, but had met up in another country. There were 3 Ladies traveling together. Two were from London, and one was from Ireland. One English woman and the Irish one were backpacking the globe for a year, and were 4 weeks into their trip. What guts it takes to do that. The other English Woman was friends with them, and decided to meet up for part of the trip. There were to other people from England (man and woman), who were also not together, Finally there was the sweetest New Zealander, who had been living in London that I will be speaking about later.

Before we went to our rooms, we were served lunch on the second floor of the boat. It was a very nice dining room, with a bar at the end, and a seating area that had a TV (no we did not watch TV…it was for something else…). We were served fish soup, rice, fish, and vegetables. I didn’t eat much because Mason was very antsy, but I managed to down a few bites of rice, a little fish, and Mason had some of the soup, and some rice as well. Mason really doesn’t like the cereal I have been giving him, so I figured that he has to eat something, which he seems to like better anyway. Plus we are on Holiday, so what the hay.

Our guide (Nam), told us that after lunch, we would have about an hour an a half boat ride to the part of Ha Long Bay where we would be docking the boat for the night. Then we would be going to hike in some caves, and go kayaking. I am thinking, “oh boy, we need to get this kid a nap quickly!”

We got settled in our very nice room. The electricity wouldn’t be turned on until night time, but the breeze was nice enough where we were comfortable. After about 45 minutes of not wanting to nap (meaning we were crawling and playing on the bed), Mason finally fell asleep. I rearranged the two double beds, pushing them together so we had more room. The cabin was very nice with our own bathroom. The toilet was basically in the shower (which I found novel of course).

45 minutes later, I get a knock on the door. It is Nam. I had to wake baby boy up, again, but before I did so, I dressed him while he was sleeping (great trick for 1st time parents).

I slipped my groggy boy into the Bjorn, and we went through the kitchen where there was a smaller boat waiting to take us to the caves.

At this point we were in the heart of Ha Long Bay. The Bay is so spectacular because there are 3,000 Islands in it that have risen up through the water over the past 5 Million years. I can’t put words to it, so hopefully the pictures I took will do it justice. I took 206 photos in a day and a half, but I think we will post only a few. If you want to see them all, let us know, and we will send you the link.

The smaller boat took us to the Island where the caves were. We got off on a dock and were surrounded by amazing mountains and cliffs. From the dock you could see the pathways that lead to the caves.
We climbed up winding steps to get the caves that were shielded by a canopy of trees, so although it was a workout, it was refreshing at the same time. I think I took about 50 pictures of the caves alone. I am glad we had a guide because as we entered each chamber of the cave, Nam pointed out historic and geological facts, and stories about specific rock formations that resembled objects. Some looked like lions, others dragons, Buddha, the Virgin Mary, Phallic symbols (I mean pointer fingers), etc… The caves were terrific, and others in the group who have seen caves around the world said that these were some of the best they have ever experienced.

Once the tour was done, we hiked back down to the dock, and awaited the small boat, which would take us to go kayaking.

We arrived at a floating dock about 20 minutes later. In the bay there are almost like floating villages, where sometimes a half dozen fishing families live. Quite a different lifestyle. There are also women with row boats that come up to ours selling candy, water, soda, etc.

I was a bit apprehensive to take Mason kayaking. In addition to lacking full naps, I wasn’t sure how it would work logistically. But again, I said to myself, “what the hay, you only live once.” Luckily, there were an odd number of us, so Nam offered to go with me. I had Mason in the Bjorn (facing towards me as usual), and we jumped in the kayak. The configuration was awkward, so I took him out and faced him forward. The good thing was that he was comfortable. The bad thing was that in order to actually paddle, I had to lean back slightly, and have my arms fully extended at all times so he did not grab onto the paddle. Nice shoulder work out for sure. We paddled out to one of the islands, but Mason was not feeling it. Once we got to the island that had a cave opened up to the water, I told Nam that we should probably head back. It was about a half mile out, so it wasn’t so bad, but towards the end, I just had to stop paddling, to let Mason hold the paddle, and Nam did most of the work.

We waited on the dock for the rest of the group. I am glad we went out, but it was definitely challenging.

The group took the small boat back to the big one, but before we did so, I was able to capture some great photos of the sun going down behind some of the islands.

Once at the big boat, I went to my room where I tried to put Mason down again. He struggled for another half hour, but finally went to bed.

While he slept, I went into the bathroom and showered. It was very refreshing after a long day. I got dressed, read some of my Vietnamese phrase book, and before I knew it, Nam was at the door. He said the group was waiting for us in the dining room and ready to eat. Everyone was very hungry. I quickly woke Mason up again, and headed upstairs.

We had fish soup, fish, and veggies again. Mason ate more of the soup this time, and really enjoyed it. Everyone was enjoying themselves during dinner, but little did I know that the party was just getting started. The 2 of the 3 girls that were together, plus the English man were throwing back the beers and vodka mixers, and once dinner was over, the Karaoke began (that is what the TV was for).

One of the staff kicked it off with a nice rendition of a Vietnamese song. I could tell the crew spent a lot of time doing Karaoke. Then, the crewmember tried to coerce one of us to get up next. At first no one jumped up, but then, out of no where, the English man hopped up to the microphone, and the intro to a Bon Jovi began. And out of nowhere, this guy starts wailing. I am talking he was a ringer, and he was into it.

Then, come to find out, that one of the girls from England is a Cabaret Singer in a band, so she gets up and sings What’s up from 4 non-blonds. She grabbed Nam halfway through and started making him sing parts of it.

Who would have thought that we had two Karaoke ringers on board. Mason was really enjoying the music. He would clap and sing himself. I had a beer, but it wasn’t enough to get me to go up there. Especially after hearing the others sing. My favorite was when the English man then got up there and sung a Vietnamese song. Keep in mind that he doesn’t speak Vietnamese, but just sounded out the words phonetically. What a great time. All the while I would get relief by the New Zealander woman, who, by the way, was a Nanny by trade. So, on board we had entertainment, and support. Plus the conversations I had with everyone were just amazing. The Israeli man and woman really took a liking to Mason, and Mason warmed up to them nicely.

At 9:30pm, we regretfully had to retire to our cabins even though the part was still going on. The dining room was right above our room though, so we could here everyone partying until midnight. I could here Michael Jackson, Spice Girls, and one of the male Vietnamese crew singing Brittany Spears.

Mason didn’t mind the noise, and fell asleep at around 10pm.

We slept well, waking up only slightly to feed once, which was nice.

We were one of the first to go up to breakfast where Mason had some egg whites, toast, and some fruit. I had the same, of course, plus coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice. The rest of the group made it up an hour later, a little hung over from the prior night’s festivities.

There were no big plans for the day, just relaxing on board and enjoying the trip back to the harbor. It was nice because Mason had a longer nap while I looked out my window and took in the scenery.

We arrived at port around 11:30am and walked across the street to a large restaurant. We were in an air conditioned room, which was much needed since it was very hot outside. We enjoyed pretty much the same meal we had had on board the boat.

After lunch we looked around the gift shop, bought some pearls for Tiff, and headed back to the bus waiting for us. It wasn’t just our group on board, so every seat on the bus (14 passengers) was filled. It was very close quarters, and I felt bad because the people that did not know us were about to get a ride they hadn’t bargained for.

The first leg of the ride, Mason was up the entire time. Basically talking and playing very loudly, and getting frustrated that he was confined. Note that there are no car seats in Vietnam. In prior posts, I mentioned that families of 4 will ride on a motor scooter. It is safe to say that it will take some adjusting for Mason to get used to a car seat, and high chair when we get back to the States.

I could tell Mason was driving people crazy. I was apathetic, so when we arrived at the rest area, I purchased the entire bus water, but they were all very gracious, many saying that they had kids and they knew what it was like.

I wasn’t going to get off the bus, but Nam insisted. 2 steps away from the bus, though, and I feel pouring liquid down my arm and on my shirt. Yup, Mason had had so much water, and his diaper was so full that it basically exploded on me. So, I grabbed my bag, and headed to the bathroom where I basically squatted and changed his diaper and clothes while he was on my knees. Thank goodness I was a catcher in baseball for so many years, because I was able to hold that position the whole time. I put my pack on the ground, had him sit on it and changed my shirt. Yuck!

We got back on the bus, and Mason was at it again. A half hour into the second leg of the trip, Mason starts grunting. I am like, “oh no, not this. Not now.”

He gets painfully constipated, so he was in tears for about 15 minutes, but it felt like eternity. I am thinking that we will be ok, there is only about an hour left. Not so. I look up, and all the traffic is stopped. People are out of their trucks and busses. Just what we needed, a Vietnamese traffic jam. Nam and I get out of the bus. We were the only one’s allowed given the circumstances of having a hysterical child. I walk him up the shoulder of the highway, carefully dodging the scooters passing by, and he seems to be feeling better. Turns out there was a Bus that blocked all the traffic, so after only 15 minutes, we were able to get back into our bus.

Mason stopped grunting, so that was good. But then, I caught a whiff of what he had been working on. Uh oh. We would sit in traffic another hour with this lovely aroma, but again the other passengers didn’t say anything. I kept Mason occupied with Ritz crackers (sorry honey), but it seemed to work.

After dropping most of the other passengers off, we finally made it to our hotel. Phew! (and Pee ew!)

Once we freshened up, Mason battled to go down to bed, but I knew he needed to. We briefly chatted with Tiff, and he is now next to me as I write this.

What a couple of days we had. I hope you enjoy the pictures. Thank you to my group members who hopefully will read this. You were the best, and I thank you for your patience and camaraderie. You will forever be a part of my families journey to Mason!

-Derek

Photos - Day 6

Hanoi-Day 6: Working Out

As the title suggests, today was basically one big work out. Boy are my shoulders sore!!

So as I stated in the previous post, the day started out very gently, and I think it really set the tone for the rest of the day.

Not only did Mason wake up nicely, but we had a great time in the tub. Previously, he was hysterical, and it made it very difficult.

I had showered while he was still sleeping, so we were fresh and ready to take on the day.

When I get ready to go out, I feel like Rambo getting ready for battle with all the gear I strap on.

First, I make sure I have my money squared away. $50 goes in my passport holder that is currently serving as my wallet. This goes in my pocket. Another $100 goes in my money belt along with credit cards, ID, and a photocopy of my passport (since my real one stays at the front desk of the hotel). The items in my money belt go in a plastic zip lock bag so my sweat doesn't drench it. I put the money belt on and tuck in under my waste line. After my shirt goes on I prep my backpack. Diapers...check, Wipes...check, water bottle...check, Sunscreen, diaper rash cream, Purell, umbrella, camcorder, camera, spare batteries, calculator, map, and Mason's hat...check. I then put a full bottle in the side pocket along with the photo album of the family to explain to whoever I meet that yes I am hear alone, am married, and have another 1 year old at home.

Next comes the Bjorn. I am an expert at doing this solo now. I put Mason in, then put the backpack on, and we are off.

We stopped at the restaurant we had gone to with all the other families the other night. I ordered Tuna Fish, and a croissant. Mason at his bottle, and had some of the Baguette that also came with it. I didn't think he could reach anything, so I was a bit surprised when I looked down and saw him eating a tomato off my plate. So Tiffany, we can now add tomato to the list of foods I have given Mason.

After basically drinking my coffee like a shot, we began our 3 hour trek up an down the streets of the Old Quarter. For those who don't know, I have the worst sense of direction, but I always stayed within 3-4 blocks of the lake because I always knew how to get home from there. It was pretty warm, but very humid. I had a good pace going, and purchased a few more items for Mason (I'll tell more about that later).

I am getting pretty good at navigating traffic and crossing roads now. I wouldn't say I an expert quite yet, but I am definitely not a rookie. At times it is like playing basketball where items (people, bikes, cars, buses) act as a pick for you.

I really like going down some of the quieter streets because you see places where the locals hang out, and it really gives you a good feel of the culture. You will see some people setting fires out on the curb to cook a meal, and others sitting having a beer with friends. I really enjoyed watching some men play a board game that I was not familiar with. I can't really describe it, but they would slam these circular pieces on the board very aggressively, and it reminded me of Dominoes.

Mason does very well in the carrier. Plus we have started to get a lot of stares and people pointing at us. He is so stinking cute in his camouflage hat and matching Vans sneakers. I wish I spoke Vietnamese to hear what they were saying.

We went in and out of shops, up and down streets, and basically walked until I was getting really tired. Then we went back to our room where I fed Mason again, and he napped for a couple hours. I watched the recap of the Market woes (my poor 401k), and tried to dial into my work VPN network, but the signal is not strong enough or something. I really need to figure it out. So for all my co-workers. If there is anything earth-shattering that you need something for (and you read my blog), go ahead and send me a message on my Yahoo! e-mail: derekshaw35@yahoo.com. Otherwise...good luck, and thanks!

Now that work is covered, that brings us to the second part of the day. It was faintly raining, so in addition to the rest of my gear, I brought a bigger umbrella provided by the hotel, and hooked it onto Mason's Bjorn.

Off we went...again! My bearings were a little better the second time around, and a ventured a little deeper into the outskirts. I stumbled across a farmers market, which isn't for the squeamish. Deep fried dog, specialty herbs, produce...it isn't like Santa Monica, that's for sure. I'm not going to lie, I only breathed through my mouth, because I almost felt nauseous.

I took some pictures of some great statues, one huge one in particular overlooking the lake of Ly Thai To. The description was all in Vietnamese, but I just Googled him and apparently he was the founder of the Ly dynasty (1010-1225).

Again, I walked up and down the streets every so often going into shops. I purchased, yet again, a few more items for Mason which leads me to that story.

Tiff had a great idea for me to buy 18 gifts for Mason while I am here that we can give him every year on his Birthday/G&R/Gotcha Day. In my previous post, we will most likely send his updates to Vietnam on this day as well, which will need to be done for 18 years. The gifts won't be expensive, but a token to remember where he came from, and the Journey we took to bring him into our family.

So, I have been buying a number of things, which I won't go into too much detail about because I don't want to spoil the surprise for him later when he is reading this blog. My dilemma is that I want to buy things that are age appropriate for all 18 years. Now if you know me, you're thinking what I was thinking about when he is ages 15-18. A young man at that age doesn't want a scarf or a bowl or anything like that. So, I am trying to think what I would want at that age. If you have been to Hanoi, you no doubt were approached by peddlers walking around selling zippo lighters and wallets. Sorry Mason, but I will spoil one surprise...

I caved and bought one of the lighters. I'm thinking it will be good for when he is 16...hey, why not :)

That leads me to my bargaining prowess. Thanks to the very expensive negotiating training that J&J has paid for me to attend, I am quite the haggler. It is almost too easy. Most of the time they bring down the price before I say a word, which is the tell tale sign that they can go lower.

Take the lighter for instance. The dude started off at $15. I said, "not interested", and walked away. He then said, "OK, for you, how about $12". I said, "I'll give you $5". He said, "how about 2 for $20". I said I only have $5 to spend on that lighter. He said, "I can make change". I said, "my other money is for other things, I don't care if you can make change". He then said "OK, how about 2/$12". At this point I am thinking that a minute ago he tried to sell me one for the same amount, so I had nothing to loose. I said, "I have got a $5 bill in my hand, do you want to sell me that lighter, or not?" Needless to say, I walked away with a $5 lighter, and you know what, I am sure he still made a couple bucks off it, so I am guilt free. Lesson to future travelers to Hanoi: Always negotiate!

So, after another 3 hours, I was completely exhausted, and so was Mason. I came up to the Hotel room, my legs were a bit shaky, and it pained me to remove all my gear. I was a sweaty mess. So I fed Mason and played a bit on the ground with him. I captured him doing the cutest thing by crawling underneath the table here in the room. Tiff, make sure you post a few of those pics. He started to show signs of wanting to go to bed at around 7:30. I was relieved to say the least, so I gave him his bottle, and he went to bed with little trouble.

I am writing this an hour later, so I will be hoping he doesn't wake up too much tonight since we are off schedule a little bit.

I hope everyone is well. I am thinking of going to Ha Long Bay tomorrow for an overnight trip, but we'll see how it goes.

Hanoi-Day 5: Getting Organized

Today we didn't adventure out too much, only once for lunch, but we had a fun filled day in our room.

Mason came alive today, wanting to play with everything, so after a brief breakfast in the lobby, and trying to keep him from hurting himself with the current hotel room configuration, I took it upon myself to get "Organized".

During a his first nap, I moved the beds together, creating a barrier between the two with pillows. One side for sleeping, the other as my changing table.

I then rigged the chairs and crib to create a nice safe, and spacious area that was 1-year-old proof. all of the outlets are covered with sports tape. I recommend this for future visitors because it is white, and yields less temptation to play with the outlets.

I then laid the comforter from the second bed on the ground, and viola, I had a nice romp-a-room.

Mason is ALL boy. In addition to the few toys we brought, we have found that empty 4 gallon water jugs and larger water bottles are our favorite to bang around.

Mason is quite the clever one, as I said earlier. He likes to put containers near the edge of the bed and chairs, then stand on them to try to get up. Very ingenious if I do say so myself. Also, if there is a toy, or other object out of reach on the table, he will use another object to try to get it down. I know I am biased, but man is he a smart one. He is also very determined. There is no quit in him if he has his mind on something he wants.

This play area is a must have for toddlers, because it also tires him out. He slept well for his nap, but woke up again in panic. He is responding much better to my soothing, though, so I am happy about that.

In the afternoon, I went a few doors down to a restaurant called Gecco. It was a fun experience.
The place was very small, but 4 other tables were filled by Europeans. I ordered the vegetarian spring rolls, which were amazing. While I ate, a male waiter held Mason for me. It went quite well, and I appreciated the break. Mason ate some Baguette, and I fed him another bottle while we were there. The best part of the place was that although there was authentic Vietnamese cuisine, and I was the only American in the joint, they were playing old Country Western Music. Nothing like a little twangy country to put a smile on my face.

After lunch, we went back to the room for another romp around our room. It was fun being on the floor with him and playing with our "toys". He will do well with our toys at home because he is already good at putting objects into containers. He can even figure out how to put the cap of a bottle onto the base of the bottle. It is more impressive than it sounds, because it wasn't an easy fit. He also likes banging things on the floor...I feel bad for the people below us, but oh well! He also likes to bang things on the wall...I feel sorry for my walls at home already, but such is life.

He laughs a lot, and also grunts when he gets frustrated. We will have to work at expressing our frustration. I really want to find out what he called his Nannies at the orphanage, because he likes to say MMMuuummm.

Another learning, is don't try to get babies to eat too much. Yup, we threw up our rice cereal again, so that was a good time. We've taken it easy since then.

Bedtime went ok, we were prepared with bottles by the bedside for his night time feedings, so that was good. Not to get ahead of my blog posting, but I found a new technique to get him to wake up happier in the morning. When my alarm went off at 7am, I actually woke him up very gently with soothing words and rubbing his back. I turned him over, tickled him a bit, and gave him a bottle. He was happy as can be. That brings us today, which I will save for a later post. I can say that yesterday's "Organization" was much needed.

-Derek

Photos - Day 4

[Rise & shine!]

[Giving and Receiving Ceremony]

[Derek, Mason & Hieu]

[Photo op in the hotel lobby]

[After dinner]

Hanoi-Day 4: Taking Care of Business

We had a pretty rough night last night. Up and down again, with pretty violent reactions. After his 5:30am feeding though, I put him in his crib where he slept again while I showered, and prepared for the day.

I was planning to go to the coffee shop with him again, but when he woke up, we called Tiff, and a new Mason (or rather the old Mason) appeared. He was laughing and playing with toys, and talking up a storm. Fortunately, Tiff was able to witness the whole thing via web cam. He likes to slap his book and stomp on things, which is pretty typical for 1 year olds, but we are working on “gentle”, because we don’t want him hitting Elisabeth or the puppies.

He is really active now, as I said. Before, I could put him in one place, and he would stay there. Lets just say that luxury is a thing of the past. He will get up, and stand faster than you can blink, so I am glad I have the crib here that was provided by the hotel. He seems to like it just fine.

Since we chatted with Tiffany for so long, we just ate his bottle and cereal in the room, then went downstairs where I fed him half a banana.

He normally goes down for another nap around 9 or 9;30, but Loan (from our agency) was coming at 9:30 to take us to apply for his passport.

She arrived about 9:45, and we had a cab come to take us to the place where we do the application. For future families, don’t forget to bring your passport from the front desk, because we had to turn around when we were halfway there.

After a quick drive, we arrived at the front of a government building. We went down an alley to the opening, and walked up the steps to the office.

It was very similar to a US passport agency (kind of like a mini DMV). The funny thing was that there were no numbers handed out. It is like their traffic here where you just know when it is your turn. Unlike the DMV, this process went very quickly. I signed one document, and Loan took care of the rest. Baby boy was very tired at this point. I had brought a bottle, so I fed him while we were there. Before I knew it, we were done. I was handed a receipt, and can expect the passport by next Monday.

I almost forgot…on our way to the passport agency, I learned that our G&R (giving and receiving ceremony) would be TODAY at 2:30. I thought it was going to be Wednesday or Thursday, so this was a nice surprise.

I got back to the hotel room, and ran up to get a shirt I needed ironing, so I could be presentable for the ceremony. The hotel staff took care of it for me. So much for buying shoes and matching suits. Thanks to the Koprowski’s, I am confident that I will be ok with a nice shirt, pants, and some flip flops.

I put Mason in his crib and gave him a bottle. He stood up once, looked at me, and I smiled while saying “Shhhh”. I was on the bed, and he just laid back down and went to sleep!

Halleluiah! No crying or anything. I am not sure if this will last, but holy cow is he a good baby. This will be imperative when I bring him home and we have two babies in one room.

While he slept for an hour and a half, I showered again, watched the Angels beat the Red Sox in extra innings, and made sure I had everything for the ceremony.

I went down the lobby about 10 Minutes early, and got the hotel staff to take pictures of Mason and I (please note the similar outfits in the pictures to follow). We were feeling like studs.

Loan (Agency staff), came to pick us up in a nice SUV, and we drove to North Hanoi where the Department of Justice for Vietnam is located. I really liked the drive, the Old Quarter (where I am staying) has very small streets, but we were basically driving on a freeway on the way North. Things were just as busy, but there was actually a street dividing traffic, which was Unique. Speaking of unique, I saw a few funny things on the way that I will reserve for another post called “Funny/Different” things I have witnessed in Hanoi once we leave…trust me, there are many.

So we pull up to a very large and very pretty compound, enter through a guarded gate to a courtyard that serviced the Department of Justice Building.

Loan had me wait in an outdoor lobby while she found out what room I was to go to.

About 5 minutes later, she brought me upstairs, down a hall, and into a small room furnished with a nice table, shelving, and walls decorated with maps of Vietnam.

Another man entered the room. I thought I recognized him, but couldn’t put my finger on where I had seen him.

Loan left the room, for a minute, and the man gestured to hold Mason. I obliged, and Mason went to him, and the secretary pointed down saying Mason’s Vietnamese name, “Heiu” (Hee Ooo). Then he pointed to himself, “Hieu”. It finally dawned on me. This was the Secretary from the Orphanage. AND, I remembered that Mason was named after him!

I later got pictures of the three of us in the courtyard, because I knew this would be very special for Mason later in life.

Loan, and another man entered the room. The other man was a high official in the Department of Justice. He was very serious, but would flash smiles every now and then at Mason.

Loan let me know that we were going to need to wait for another family so we could do the ceremonies at the same time. After about 10 minutes, an older couple entered the room. They were from Italy, and didn’t speak much English. They had a boy as well, about 8 months in age.

They brought their agency representative, and another woman from the department of Justice entered the room. So it was the 8 adults, and two babies in the room, and after signing a few pieces of paper, we began the ceremony.

The giving and receiving ceremony is taken very seriously, because the government is officially recognizing that you are adopting one of their children. The ceremony was brief, but special. When it was my turn, the woman government official came to my side of the Table, we all stood up, and she spoke to Loan to translate. She stated that the Vietnam government hereby recognizes that Pham Trung Hieu (Mason) is recognizes as being adopted by the Shaw family (it was a great moment). Furthermore, the expectations are that in the first three years of his life, we send a status report of how he is doing twice a year. Then once a year until he is 18. I liked this because it showed they really care about how the children are doing. I expect that we will send this status report each year around his G&R date. Maybe we can make it special in some way.

After the brief ceremony, we signed the final documents (I got pictures of that too), and were on our way.

On the ride home, we dropped Loan at her house and the driver took me to the Hotel.

It was 4:30 at this time, and I got a call in the room. It was another adoptive family who I had met in the Lobby earlier in the day. They were leaving the next day along with many other families, and had invited me to dinner. Although we were off Mason’s sleep schedule, I wanted to go to dinner, because I may not have another chance to do it again while I am here. Mason ate his dinner, but 5 minutes before we were going to leave, he threw up his rice cereal all over bed…Yuck!

I think he just ate too much, but I think I will change his cereal just in case.

Brian (the other adoptive family) picked me up at my room and took me to the lobby where I saw 3 other families. I didn’t know it was going to be all of us, so I was thrilled. They were all from CAS (Carolina Adoption Services), another agency that does Vietnamese adoptions. They weren’t from a group that had recently received, RFE’s, but were from a group just prior.

They were all first time parents, so it was fun listening to their experiences. They were pretty freaked out with the sleep deprivation, but seemed to be so in love with their babies. We walked to a restaurant on Hoan Kiem lake. It was very nice. I wish I had another family or families here the whole time to do stuff like that with.

We ate a nice meal, Mason was very active, and had a great time. I got pictures of the group. They shared some of their experiences, and again, I appreciated their company.

After dinner, Brian and I walked around the lake. He then took me down a great little street that had some restaurants and bars. He pointed out his recommendations, which I will definitely pursue later.

By this time, Mason was sooo tired. We got back to the hotel, and I put him to bed. We were only able to chat with Tiff shortly because he woke up a couple times at the beginning. I feel bad because I can’t talk to her as much as she needs. Sorry Tiff. It will get better the next few days, so hang in there.

We basically have nothing to do until next Monday when we pick up our passport.

I am thinking that I will be able to do some touristy stuff, catch up on work, and maybe to an overnight trip to Halong Bay. We’ll see…

-Derek