Last week was a cold snap all throughout SE Asia.  Schools here in Hanoi were closed for a few days because the temperature stayed below 10 C.  They are unheated, as are many of the houses and businesses, as was our apartment.  We bundled up in everything we owned, draped in blankets, constantly holding cups of hot tea, trying not to think about how long this winter might last.  We’re from drizzly, cold Seattle, so we’re tough, right?

We picked up the air-con remote for the first time (what we thought was the air-con remote) and read it;  in English.  Duhh.

On the last day of the cold snap, we cracked open some local rice vodka, moved the chairs directly under the flow of the warm air, and celebrated heat.