I’ve been struggling with tooth pain ever since that not-so-awesome day last Tuesday when I went to the dentist twice. Today I have my appointment with the hospital dentist, hoping that they’ll fix whatever the other dentist did wrong, and I’ll not be in pain any longer.
We have an early breakfast, and I’m out the door by 8.25am to get to my appointment by 9am. Last time I was here to set up the appointment, the employees upstairs at the dental office took my passport details and entered me into their computers, so I thought I was all set. Turns out, I still have to fill in paperwork and sign at the registration desk downstairs. Once that’s set, I head to the elevators.
The staff at the dental office are so polite. They all have impeccable English. Everything is so clean. What a world of difference from my experience last week! I go sit down in the dentist chair, and the dentist takes a superficial look at my fillings, reassuring me that everything looks as it should. She picks at the filling I’m struggling with the most, and pats my arm saying “if it was a really deep filling, it might hurt for a while”. I’m ready to leave, saying “I’ll just keep on taking the ibuprofen and acetaminophen to keep the pain at bay”, when the dentist says “should we take an x-ray just to make sure?”. Yes please!
Dental x-rays are my kryptonite. I feel like I’m going to throw up when they force that stiff piece of film into the holder and cram it into my mouth. But, it needs to be done. I just wish it didn’t have to be done twice, because the first one is on an angle and doesn’t show the problem area in full…
The dentist comes in to look at the images. She points to a dark area at the bottom of the root of my molar. “Look, you have an infection, and you need a root canal.” I cry in relief, there’s a reason for my pain, my pain is validated and expected and allowed! She prescribes me antibiotics to deal with the infection and once-a-day painkillers that are specific for this type of pain. Because of the holidays, there is no root canal specialist available until after we’ve left Hua Hin. I have enough meds to last me almost until we reach our new base in Vietnam. I have the regular painkillers to cover the day or two I might be without.
After leaving the hospital, I walk north to Market Village. I call Joe and tell him I need a root canal by the time we reach Nha Trang, as our few days in Ho Chi Minh City are too hectic. Joe and the girls start packing up to head to meet me.
As I arrive at Market Village before they open, I head to Brunch & Brew to wait and to have a snack. I order my matcha latte and mushroom cheese danish, and head outside to wait for my food. It’s so pleasant in the shade, it’s early enough to still be a liveable temperature, and I sit down to people watch. I see local-locals, foreigner-locals, and newly-arriveds.
It’s interesting to observe how the population has shifted from early December to now, the crazy-busiest time of the year for Hua Hin. I’m sad that our stay here is coming to an end, way too fast for our liking. In fact, we won’t be staying anywhere this long until we reach Hong Kong, where we’ll be in our family’s apartment for 10 weeks minimum. In Vietnam, we’ll be five nights in one place, three weeks in the next, and one week in the last place, before heading to Hong Kong. We’re so anxious to finally get to HK and properly unpack and settle in, and of course return to the food we all love. I only hope we are able to fully appreciate Vietnam for what it is, and what it has to offer. I’ve made the mistake of anticipating my next destination too much in the past, when I wasn’t able to take full advantage of my present surroundings because my focus was on what would come later.
Joe and the girls finally arrive, and we roam the mall together. We go upstairs to the electronics area to pick up a night light/bluetooth speaker/charger thingy for the girls’ room. We browse any last minute souvenirs, and then head for the market area in the basement for lunch. Joe and I both have noodle soups, Maylin and Téa share a fried rice. When Téa takes Maylin over to the bakery to pick up treats, I finally remember that I’m a blogger and I’m supposed to document if not every moment of every day, then at minimum every meal! I hereby present to you, Maylin’s strawberry danish treat:
Téa was feeling sorry for her mom, and so she bought three mini muffins. A banana chocolate for herself, vanilla for Joe and double chocolate for me. A delicious little mouthful to lift my spirits!
We head home, it’s early afternoon, and the girls want to go swimming. I’m feeling not great, so I lay down for a nap while Joe takes the girls to the pool. It’s a great nap, I sleep while they swim, while they shower, and while they settle in for a relaxing afternoon of games and work.
When I get up, I am thirsty and in need of a snack. I spy Joe’s stocking stuffer, Crispy Crab Sticks, on the shelf, and divvy it up. There are also Digestive biscuits left over, so they go on plates or in bowls. I also add the remaining potato chips for the girls and Joe. It’s crunch time, empty those cupboards! We’ve finished the ground coffee, so we can pack the filters and the stainless steel, collapsible dripper. We have to plan our laundry schedule so that everything dries in time, and we don’t carry too much dirty laundry into the week that we’ll be travelling.
I bought Thai tea sachets at the beginning of our stay, and it makes for great iced tea. Also ended up dumping the rest of my crispy crab sticks into the girls’ bowls, not because I didn’t like it, just because they liked it more. I think I’m the only one in my family who actually enjoys Digestives… Maybe because they rest of them are not tea drinkers?
When 5pm finally comes around, we head over to Tamarind for dinner. Maylin heads straight for her favourite hot dog vendor, and changes it up today by adding cheese to her order. Here’s what that looked like:
I have been eyeing the Vietnamese vendor whose booth is right by where we usually sit. The fresh rolls looked like they would be more of a sharing and tasting experience for the whole family, so I ended up getting two dishes from this vendor today.
We had to have our smoothies, of course. I figure it’s a guaranteed popular way to get fruits, vitamins and fiber into the girls, no matter what they choose for their meal.
I take my last combination of ibuprofen and acetaminophen tonight, and tomorrow switch to the once a day pain killer. I hope for relief, and seeing as I’ve already taken two of my antibiotics (out of 21), my infection should be almost gone, right? Right??