Alone in Hanoi

This is Eric and it's my first-ever blog entry. Be patient.

I've been in Southeast Asia for almost two weeks. Alone. I'm normally OK by myself for a week. But at about two weeks I quit brushing my teeth, bathing, eating...pretty much give up on life. Wendolyn and Pearce were supposed to join me last night, but because of apparent rampant baby-selling in the Philippines, our rendezvous has been delayed another two days. Why? Because the Philippines is run by schiztophrenics, and Hawaiian Airlines is run by first graders. Wendi arrived at Honolulu airport yesterday only to be informed that she couldn't board the plane without a notarized letter from me stating that it was OK for her to escort Pearce. No joke. She called me, but being 3 a.m. in Hanoi, I was unable to round up a U.S. notary in time. Besides the fact that this rule redefines the meaning of stupid, it would have been helpful to know about it before Wendi arrived at the airport. But neither our travel agent or the airline, in any of its fine print (I've since read through it all), thought to inform us beforehand.

Now Wendi is set to arrive either Saturday or Sunday, depending on if Cebu-freakin-Pacific Airlines erases its Manila-to-Hanoi route. A complete mess. But it's kind of par for the course when you're mixing the Philippines, Vietnam and Hawaii into one pot.