Tuesday. We do math until lunchtime, when we look around and realize there’s no food in the house, and I go down to buy something to eat. I go back to Pappa Roti, as they always have something for everyone.
When I shortly after lunch head out for my dentist’ appointment, now that I’m done with the antibiotics they got me on last Wednesday, I see that outside is changing, again. There’s more stuff being set up, and today there are blankets with piggie banks on them in the middle of the street! We are so excited to see what it will end up being!
My dentist appointment is at 2pm, and today’s dentist looks at my x-ray and my tooth, and tells me that the tooth that hurts has too deep of a filling, if I want anything done to it, it’ll have to be another root canal. Then he lets me go for the day, to decide whether I want to go through that again, or not. I leave very discouraged, but call Joe and the girls, and they hop in a taxi to come pick me up outside the dentist’s office. Joe has a destination in mind, and it’s a far drive, even from where I’m at.
VinPearl is, as far as we understand, a hospitality company with hotels, resorts, spas, amusement parks, safari parks, so many things… Here in Nha Trang, the VinPearl complex is on an island, but it’s not all that’s on the island, there are also other international resorts there. So we’re heading across to spend the afternoon/evening checking out the public areas! (The reviews for this amusement park are not great, and we are choosing to visit two amusement parks in Hong Kong instead of spending the time and money to visit this one…)
We gratefully stumble out of the cable cars once back on solid land/island, and the building on this end is no less grand than on the mainland side. Téa spots some characters in black with spiky helmets on, hiding right outside the door, so when they enter the ongoing pirate show on the plaza right outside, at least we aren’t scared.
Once the show finished, we decide to explore the neighbourhood. It’s kind of like a ghost town. Are we visiting out of season? Is it under construction? Why are so many places either coming or going, it looks like? Lots of spaces have professional signage, but an open door reveals a completely empty inside. Not a construction site, just … empty.
It’s 4pm by now, and the girls spot a Lotteria burger chain, right next to a Mixue ice cream spot and a KFC. We’ve never tried Lotteria, and it’s snack time, moving into dinner time, so we decide to try a couple of their snack options.
The views on this island are stunning, and our snack stop was right outside the main amusement park entrance. Around the corner we could see into the park, with the eye catching ferris wheel, an entire arena, and a very luxurious resort.
There is a middle area where there are lots of vendor stalls, all in the same type of bamboo that is being set up outside our AirBnb. All are empty, except one. One lone rolled ice cream vendor stands at his booth, twirling his chopping tools to create some sound and draw your attention. We, as visitors, are completely outnumbered by bored-out-of-their-minds employees.
One such bored employee has a mirror maze, and we pay $5 for our family of 4 to go through her shiny space!
After our 5 minute mirror maze experience, we walk uphill. Still deserted, still cute. A shop and a restaurant here and there is open, but the visitors are few and faaaaar between.
We browse some souvenir shops and an indoor market, and then Joe says: “it looks like a High School Musical is happening, dancers went that way”. So of course we follow!
It was a very confused show, but there were elements of a Grease style show, there were fairies and butterflies and ballgowns and what looked like a heroes vs villains dance off… And men on stilts! And jellyfish!
After the show, it was getting dark, and we had walked around enough for the day. We had seen a restaurant we wanted to try, and went back to Meo Kitchen. Every other table than ours is a Korean group. Joe and I order a meat dish that comes with rice noodles and leafy greens. It’s delicious, and the noodle and greens plate is refilled for free. I could sit and eat the noodles in the broth all night long, if it wasn’t getting so late!
By the time we’re done dinner, it’s pitch dark outside. We make our way back to the cable car building, and just miss a fancy dress show. No matter, the dancers are standing in a line, and one of them approaches us, and invites us to take a picture with them. Then he tells the rest of the staff to crowd around, and he takes our picture!
Right before we head up the escalators towards the cable cars, we notice a sign that says “your cable car ticket includes a free gift”, which we hadn’t noticed before. We find the vendor with the free gift, and each of us is given a metal heart pendant/token/coin, which he says we can choose to keep or choose to toss into the fountain in the middle of the square. Joe sacrifices his gift for a family wish, and each of us girls keep ours as a memory.
We finally make our way to the cable cars. There’s a super long escalator from the first to the third floor, and a queue network that leads us to a smaller escalator back down to the second floor. This is confusing and severely unnecessary with the few visitors present.
It’s a long drive home, and it’s later than we usually get home. But there are so many people milling about! It’s warm, there’s excitement in the air, and even though nothing is happening, you can sense people are getting excited for what’s to come.
It’s late, so we watch some TV and settle in for the night. Tomorrow is a new day, and I have a decision to make. Do I want another root canal? If it truly is the only thing that can make the pain go away, then maybe?