We just arrived back in Hanoi (from Vientiane, Laos) and we’re sitting in the lobby of the Hanoi Hilton (or Hilton Hanoi, as they prefer to call it). We’re mooching their free wi-fi and relaxing a bit after our hour-long flight and 50-minute taxi ride from the airport. I didn’t do a proper update once in the 14 days in Laos (five in Luang Prabang, nine in Vientiane). In Luang Prabang there wasn’t much connectivity. In Vientiane, our hotel had wi-fi, but it didn’t play well with Windows Vista (damn you, Windows Vista), so I couldn’t get online about half the time. And when I was able to get online, I had a lot of work to do for a client.

In a few minutes we’re heading out for some Italian food (I’m actually looking forward to pasta) and then we’ll head to Yonna’s apartment, where I need to work a bit before I can sleep. Tomorrow we’re heading to Ho Chi Minh City, and then to Tokyo as soon as we can. I have a ticket for the 6th, but we might try to fly stand-by if possible. I may extend my trip for a few days to stay in Tokyo, because as of this moment I fly into Narita at 6:00am and fly out at 5:00pm, which isn’t enough time to see anything (and it costs $50 just to get from the airport to downtown Tokyo, apparently).

Arriving in Vietnam I felt like I was back in some familiar place, which is really odd if you consider that I’ve only spent a month in this country. I hardly bothered looking out the window during the cab ride back. Instead I was talking to Yonna about business plans and learning some Japanese for business (Troy Brophy to-moshi-masu, yo-lo-shi-ku o-na-gai-shi-masu: “I’m called Troy Brophy, please treat me well, if you please.”)