As I reached the hotel, I went into my room and put on some more appropriate clothing. I sat on my bed, pulled out my computer, and started doing some work. In my windowless room, I began to feel the High noon heat warming the heart of this historic hotel. I opened my room door to let some air in and stepped onto the landing. I leaned over the stairwell and looked down through her marble-lined descent and saw the shadow of my head projected onto the floor far below. I looked up and saw the stairwell rise into a bright jungle sky as sun rays danced down the open-air hotel center. I walked back into my room, leaving the door open behind me to let the air circulate the stagnant room.
I took a shot in the dark, plugged up my Chromecast, and set it up. It worked! I was pleasantly surprised by this and settled into catching up on e-mails, chatting with some friends back home, and updating some entries. All while the comforting comedy of Friends played on the T.V. in front of me. Diem came in to collect my dirty laundry and told me she would take the opportunity of my time to relax to get some things done. Laundry matters at the bank, and to arrange some stuff for the next few days for us in Hanoi. I would be here till the evening of the first, and there was no reason to rush. Diem returned a couple of hours later with a much-appreciated pate banh mi and a bottle of water. I was ready for the delicious lunch and afterward settled in for a lazy afternoon nap.
It was initially planned for us to meet some friends of Diem’s for dinner around 5 o’clock across town. I, in no hurry, was not moving fast enough after my deep jungle snooze for us to meet our scheduled goal. I was beginning to learn some things about Diem, and the reason she had so many friends around the country was quite interesting. She was a bit of a popular and very good player in the Vietnamese gaming scene. A game called Rules of Survival, which I was unfamiliar with. but was, as I was beginning to realize, very popular in the land of the blue Dragon. When we had downtime I would often find her updating her player account or getting in some practice matches while we were inactive. 
We finally left the hotel and began walking down the endless crisscrossing streets and alleys that were Hanoi. A young couple played a variation of hackysack with a woodcock while children played a netless game of bad mitten in the mossy, stoned courtyard of the Cathedral. A young woman set paper images of her deceased relatives’ belongings on fire in the street. Another passed by with her ancient balancing pole complete with goods for her stall, as we stepped into a pharmacy.
I needed something to help me stabilize my sleep patterns. They were still giving me trouble. I was getting terribly sleepy at midday and waking at 2 in the morning, unable to fall back asleep. I said one word: sleep. The pharmacist handed me a box dotted with words like hypnotic and tranquilizer. I assumed she was reputable and that the use of the words was merely lost in translation. Diem settled the bill, and we stepped back into the twilight streets.
On the streets, shopkeepers had begun preparing their stalls and setting out their blue plastic tables and chairs on the bustling sidewalks. Pots of the evening’s delicious offerings started simmering in the openings of the endless storefronts. An alluring, delicious aroma began to permeate the air around me. It was quickly approaching dinner hour in the ancient city on the Red River and my stomach knew it.
