Grand Adventure 2017 Day 11: Irony at its Classiest
Today will be a short write up as its one of many transit days coming up. Unlike our flight into Hong Kong, today we didn’t have an early morning flight. Instead we woke up at a leisurely 7 AM on our own. I went for a run and Jenn got ready for the day. When I got back from my run I took and a shower and Jenn got our last Starbucks run in Hong Kong. It sure has been nice to have it around the corner from us.
We spent the rest of the morning finishing up last minute packing and enjoying a few moments of respite. At 11 AM we departed The Langham with our hotel driver to the Hong Kong airport. The drive only took a half hour and we were dropped off at the international terminal where we dropped off our bags with Vietnam airlines and made it through customs and security without problem. One of the reasons we were excited for our departure from Hong Kong was the American Express Centurion Lounge which we have access to with our credit card.
After we made it through security and customs we high tailed it through the massive airport and over to the lounge. On the way, I just happened to check my e-mail and saw a fraud notification from American Express. Sadly, someone got a hold of my card and had been charging on Southwest Airlines and a couple of other places. Once we got into the beautiful Centurion lounge I got on the phone with American Express (the irony was not lost on me at all) and they had to cancel my card. After a half hour we arranged to get my card sent to one of our future hotels, so here is to hoping it arrives safely.
With that nightmare solved we spent the next hour enjoying the beautiful lounge. The lounge had a bar and buffet (all complimentary) that Jenn and I may have enjoyed a little too much. Jenn had a glass of white wine, and two helpings of Bailey’s along with some fried rice and baguettes. I ended up going with a beer and a glass of Mumm’s champagne and basically everything in their buffet which includes fried rice, dumplings, salad, and desserts. Even with the extra stress we loved our time in the lounge. One small thing though was that about half way through we noticed a door leading to a secondary area in the lounge. Jenn inquired and that was the Captain’s lounge for black card holders. Jenn and I had a major Frasier moment there wanting to get into the even more exclusive area.
After two hours in the incredible refuge we made our way to our flight to Hanoi. Thank goodness we left when we did because when we arrived at the gate it was final call, and we were one of the last to board. The flight to Hanoi was short and sweet a little less then two-hours. When we got off the flight we went through customs, saw two men almost come to blows arguing about custom line etiquette and picked up our bags.
Once we had our bags in tow we made our way out where a representative from the JW Marriott Hanoi was waiting to take us to our car. We got in a 5-series BMW and were taken the 45-minutes to the JW Marriott. The drive in to our hotel was sort of insane. The amount of motorbikes on the street is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, completely insane. Also, because of all of the political activity happening in Hanoi including our dim-witted President making an appearance, security on the streets of Hanoi is incredibly tight.
When we arrived at the stunning JW Marriott Hanoi we saw that security was also high at the hotel. Our luggage and bags had to go through security. We later found out that dignitaries from several Asian countries including China were staying at our hotel. When we got through security we went to the front desk and checked in. To our delight they upgraded our room from a standard room to a suite, a few minutes later we were walking through the gigantic room left completely speechless.
Once we dropped off our bags we just walked around dazedly just trying to take it all in. The room is huge, almost the size of our apartment. We took a ton of photos and have to have done a couple of high fives with how fortunate we are to be here in Vietnam in this incredible suite.
From there we made our way downstairs to grab a quick dinner. We weren’t sure where to eat so we decided on the hotel’s French restaurant aptly called French Grill. When we arrived, we were asked if we had reservations we did not, so they said they’d have to check if they could get us in, mind you only one of their fifty tables was taken. They said they could squeeze us in, and gave us an incredible window seat overlooking Hanoi.
Jenn started off with a glass of Pinot Noir and a beautiful lobster bisque to start. For Jenn’s main entrée she went with a pigeon wellington (basically a beef wellington but with pigeon instead) which was phenomenal, Jenn was basically doing the happy dance while eating it. I went with their duck breast which was perfectly cooked and paired with an incredible red wine sauce. For dessert, we both had a cup of tea and some chocolate truffles. The staff here was insanely kind, they continued to check on us at every turn making sure everything was perfect.
After dinner, we were both exhausted and aware that tomorrow is going to be a very, very busy day so we went to bed full from a great meal and excited for what Vietnam will bring over the next couple of days.
