I slept through the night last night thanks to my Vietnamese mystery medicines. I woke up refreshed and thinking the illness was behind me. We walked to a nearby coffee shop and I couldn’t finish my excellent egg sandwich. A bad sign.

We came back, played a bit, showered, and then set off for the day. We visited the dark tourist attraction of Hoa Lo Prison, where many Viet men were held by French colonialists, and later held many American prisoners of war. I was feeling weak but tried to power through. At one point I had the thought “am I still sick or is the energy of this place just so bad that it’s making me feel weird?”

After the prison museum we walked towards the old quarter to find Millie her Friday ice cream. I started feeling worse as she was ordering. I felt cold sweats coming on and asked them where the bathroom was. The little ice cream shop didn’t have one so in a moment of not thinking straight whatsoever I ran out and threw up onto a busy Hanoi sidewalk. Ugh. I wish I knew what this sickness is and when it will end.

I felt a little better after puking but Nick insisted I go home and to bed. So I did just that for the entire rest of the day. I have no appetite so I’ve literally just been lying down in bed for 8 hours. Every time I stand up I feel weak and nauseous. The lymph nodes in my armpits are very sore so my body is fighting something nasty.

Meanwhile, the two amigos had a great day together. They went to a traditional water puppet performance. Millie loved it and sat still and watched for the full hour.

Afterwards they went to a cafe and made friends with various other tourists. Nick said he went to pay the bill and came back to find Millie deep in conversation with a Californian.

They walked home at dusk and told me all about their afternoon.

At dinner time I was still feeling bad so they went out without me to the famous little Bun Cha place that President Obama and Anthony Bourdain went to. The review was “good, not amazing”.

Tonight Millie said “I’m glad we got to have another dad day today”. I am so grateful that these two enjoy hanging out with each other, and that they’ve gotten to have a fun few days together. But… I’m ready to be back in the game.