July 25th, 2018
I’m being profiled…..
I noticed something yesterday and today it was confirmed. I am a minority here and while 99% of the time that seems to put me at a disadvantage, it seems at this hotel, it is NOT a disadvantage! Yesterday when I came down for breakfast, a sweet girl greeted me and ushered me to a table, brought me a placemat, silverware, a nice linen napkin and watermelon juice. Then a manager in a suit came over directly to me and greeted me, checked in on me, asked how I was doing? I was wondering what all the fuss was. Then I got up to get my food and he rushed over to walk me through the food and answer questions. He came over to the table two more times after Troy came down and while we ate. He was making sure we were doing ok?
Then today the manager greets us right at the elevator and eagerly shakes our hands and ushers us to a table and the girls with the placemats, linens etc magically appear and today is a very yummy lemon juice. (I’m not a fan of watermelon) as I reflect back, i bet if I had asked for a different juice yesterday i am sure they would have accommodated me! Also I forgot to mention that yesterday I looked at all the other tables in the giant restaurant and not a single one had placemats, linens or special juice. Just us and it was the same today! I went to get some coffee and on the way back I see the manager talking to Troy. Shocker! As I walk up I hear them discussing how many more days we will be staying. (It is two more nights) The manager says he wants to arrange for a private roof top breakfast for us tomorrow. They have a dining area on the rooftop here (which is the 15th floor. We scoped it out on the first day we got here.) As an aside, the the third floor is entirely dedicated to karaoke (which blows my mind). They do love their karaoke here!!! We also scoped that out 🤣
So I can’t quite figure out why we have been singled out for this special treatment other than we are not Asian. At first I thought it was because of the room I booked. But I don’t think that’s it! This hotel is completely full of Chinese (and Vietnamese) people, but mostly Chinese. So maybe they are trying to get good reviews from other countries to build up that clientele. He knew we were from Canada as one time today when he was “checking” on me he asked if I was from Vancouver or Toronto? (Spoiler alert-neither) He must have checked at the front desk about our passports to be able to make conversation.
So that is happening….I’ll defintely keep you posted on the private rooftop breakfast!
It really is hot here, I know three days ago I was complaining about freezing! But the heat is impacting our motivation to spend large quantities of time outside. Thus the importance of choosing a good hotel. I am currently blogging from the indoor pool which at first I thought was a dumb idea. As it turns out, it is amazing. It’s all windows, so the beautiful Sun shines in without the 95 degree heat.
Now all that being said, we did venture out for one big adventure today. Troy had seen on his map a trail that goes to the top of the mountains right here behind the hotel. It is called To Chien mountain (also known as Fairy Mountain). As we are never ones to shy away from a novel hike, we venture out with our sunscreen and bug repellent applied and water bottles in hand! The trailhead was super sketchy and I am doubtful that this is the right place, but the map pinpoints this as the starting place.
So either we are getting soft or old or maybe this was just a really tough trail (I prefer to think the latter) but we didn’t make it to the top.
Not sure if this qualifies as “trail” or a “path” or what.
We stick with it long enough to see some spectacular views of the ocean and town.
Feeling a bit nervous about the sun exposure and heat as well as the rocky terrain (I am still not 100% confident in the ankle) we decide we have seen and done enough and we start the trek down.
Mission accomplished and we are happy with our outing.
