Well that's embarrassing

So after being in my small but terribly cute apartment on my own for the past two weeks, spreading out my stuff and filling all the available cupboard and bench spaces, I now have to learn to share again.

I'm making that sound bad.. The good news is "ANDREW's arrived!!

Poor guy, after sitting on planes and in airports for the past 18 hrs...he finally touches down in Vietnam. "Welcome" it's only 100 degrees and 150% humidity..

Me and Mr Bill..my driver are waiting with smiles.

Let me just say..earlier that day I had to pop into the rehab centre to pick up a couple of shirts for Andrew, and Karen was in the office, so I popped my head in to say 'hi'. She asked if I was getting ready and excited to be picking up Andrew that afternoon. I said, yes..but was still deciding whether or not to have a shower and do my hair and makeup....as its fast becoming apparent that looking lovely, is just not sustainable in this heat. Or should I just let Andrew see me for what I am. Or have become..

Karen suggested I at least have a shower...poor Andrew, he won't recognise me.

Ok, so I decide to make the effort. It may be the last time he sees me looking half decent for the next three months.

My driver 'Mr Bill, totally Vietnamese.... Picks me up, and we start our 35 minute drive to Danang airport. Mr Bill speaks very good English, but still as is the Viet culture, he wants to know how old I am. He guesses....wait......"50 or 52" he says........

S#*^#.......... Imagine how old he would have thought I was if I hadn't  bothered with the hair and makeup.

He then asked if I had children, another common question here. I told him "yes two big girls' and he says...having children makes us look old on the outside..

Ooh, I'm feeling really good about myself now....

oh well, lucky I love my kids to bits.....I guess they're  worth ALL the wrinkles.

So Andrew arrives and we jump back in Mr Bills car and head back to Hoi An. As we pull up to the furniture shop in 'Ly Thuong Kiet' St....Andrew says surprised..."is this where we live?"....yep. Welcome to your new home.........

28kg suitcase...3 flights of stairs......too funny!!

Blah blah blah....I give Andrew literally 5 mins to get changed, and then we head into the workshop...wandering thru the streets and alleys that he remembers from our last trip.

we sit outside the shop for the next 4 hrs, chatting to customers and staff as everyone gets acquainted. Andrews always been tall, but here he's a giant..

  He even got serenaded by our neighbour Chau.

Thuy bought us banh mi and I bought some fruit off the lady who walks past our shop numerous times a day. A Saigon cafe from Neps' and dinner is complete...

At 9pm we shut up shop and walk home, the streets are still full of people, eating shopping and get tangled in traffic.

 Back in  'our' apartment, Andrew unpacks etc, and I go to pop outside to the landing to get some drinking water, and I can't open our door. After looking around for the key, I realise we've left it in the lock....On the outside ....we are locked in our room..

Ok, wait, I can climb out the window and open the door from the other side...except that the other door from the patio inside, is also locked.....poop...

The only thing to do, is wait til the morning and hope that Tan or Thien or the cleaner comes upstairs to do some washing...

The next  morning I flung my washing out the window into the garden, then flung myself out also...I do have access to the laundry , so why waste a perfectly good morning. I'll just blog while I wait for the washing , and hope that someone comes upstairs soon and let's us out of our room....

That  really is embarrassing.................

Mumma and now pappa bear.......be hugged :)

'Tim the tool-man' is now living with me in my apartment.....