Our very first group photo taken at Changi Airport Terminal 2. Used Er Yi's iphone...but eh...did not turn out too well...hahaha....We went through a roller coaster of feelings before the trip started. Aden injured his foot and we thought his entire family would have to miss this trip...On Thursday night, San Yi was still telling us that her Bana Hills hotel stay had been refunded and she had written in to SQ to ask for the conversion of tickets to credits. The sisters were rather sad. It would feel so incomplete without them.
Imagine our joy when San Yi suddenly said in the Lulu Sisters and Husbands' chat on Sat (10 ish am, I remembered this clearly as I was teaching then. I hardly ever checked my phone while working. However, it was a light cycle and there were fewer kids than usual that day) that she would be seeing us at the airport! Ah...the greatest wealth...being safe and healthy...
And having fun and spending time with our favourite people in the world
Yes, the party had started!
Papa took the big ones...
Mama with the small ones...
Arrived at Da Nang Airport! First purchase - mango smoothie...Well, San Yi Zhang bought coffee for himself, Waigong and Er Yi Zhang....and Waigong did not take well to the coffee and vomited a lot during the bus journey up the mountain...it was most concerning...erm...and disgusting too as he puked out this hideous black liquid...and San Yi Zhang and Er Yi Zhang immediately scooted to the back of the driver to avoid the sight..and smell...Oops
(Uncle Cavan and his lover from his previous generation?)
We could not locate our bus driver! Well, we came out earlier than expected, but we thought bus drivers usually would arrive earlier, but nope. We waited till 5 pm, the designated time and nope, still no bus driver in sight.
Uncle Cavan tried calling the hotel but no one picked up the phone...we finally managed to get the airport staff to call the hotel...and the bus finally came...some half an hour after five. Heh...The little lass tied up her hair and looked like a mini-xiaoyi..
Ya, the kids were restless... Oh, bother!
We took in the sights along the way...the driver kept sounding his horn. At first, it bothered us as the horn was a series of sounds with an ending echo. We wondered if we had gotten a rather grumpy and trigger-happy driver. Well, it turned out that it was just the locals' way of warning the motorcyclists of their presence!
Uncle Cavan and Papa used Gogglemaps to track the journey and there was an especially treacherous winding road that we would have to take if the cable car station was closed. So...we were relieved when the bus took a right turn and headed to the cable car...but were rather baffled when we reached a building that had the words "Mercure Hotel". Had we reached the hotel so soon? We thought the hotel was further up the hill!
Oh, it was one of the cable station stops and we hopped onto the cable car...that took us up into the pitch darkness and it just rained so there were water trails on the windows so we could neither see very well nor very far... Jie did take some beautiful night shots of the city with its glittering lights...we were also rather confused as we saw cable cars with passengers going the opposite direction. The hotel website said that the service would stop at 5 and this had caused us great anxiety before the trip!
Yay, we finally found the hotel...It was a rather confusing place...so thankful that we managed to be here safe and sound...
A rather charming and rustic place. Filled with ancient looking buildings, imbued with an air of history and romance...
A French-looking whimsical place....it felt like we had gone back in time
A look at our room...later on, we moved to a way bigger room which was initially occupied by Xiao Yi and Uncle Cavan. A free upgrade! Xiaoyi did not like that enormous room as it felt tooooo big...and quiet...well...erm...she was scared that there would be ghosts!
But we readily accepted the room...in Chinese, we said that people with great positive energy were able to 征 negative forces...Waipo always said that Papa was a high-ranking soldier and ghosts would be afraid of him...LOL...ya Papa cheekily told Xiaoyi and Uncle Cavan that of course we 征得住 coz our surname was literally 郑，so it would be 郑郑郑郑郑...i mean Mama was also a 郑 right? I was Mrs Tay and 郑太太。
Ah...relax...the naughty ones saw a sign indicating a spa on our level and cunningly said that we had had a long and tiring day, so we should go for a relaxing spa session...suggested entirely for the good of both of us...those impish kids!
Yay, we found a Chinese restaurant..
Ordered soup noodles...the soup was savory and yummy
Luckily, we found vegetarian food for Waipo...Uncle Cavan had gone down one side lane and said the shops were closed but luckily Papa went to check as well and we found the one other restaurant which sold vegetarian food! Exploring this picturesque and IG-worthy place
Youyou took this photo for us!
Yanjie wanted to try too..haha
Mama fell in love with this breathtaking church with intricate carvings, spirals and stained glass
Well, everyone was rather hungry as dinner was not particularly satisfying. Luckily, Papa bought a beef burger, nuggets and fries, which we shared with Xiaoyi and Uncle Cavan.
Everyone gathered in our gigantic room after showering...I guessed everything happened for a reason? Perhaps the fact that San Yi's family almost could not make it had taught us to value time together more. Perhaps the fact that we checked in quite late led to the room upgrades so now we had this spacious room to host everyone. Perhaps the lack of food options now taught us not to take the abundance of food, even in the wee hours, in Singapore for granted!
the kids played online games...Papa, Mama and the uncles played mahjong while San Yi and Er Yi chatted while lounging on one of the bunk beds. We hoped Waigong would feel better tomorrow and join us for the night session. Ah...San Yi Zhang was going on and on about his hunger...the room service was not available...there was not a single convenience shop up here on Bana Hill, the restaurants and even the road street stalls closed SOOO early. It was bewildering. How could such a touristy place not have some food places that opened till a later time!
LOL...so we planned to all wake up early to have a HEARTY breakfast, raid any shop that sold snacks...and order food straight after dinner to be eaten later for supper. LOL..
So here we were, at the end of Day 1 of the greatly anticipated Da Nang trip!
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