Some things are getting back to normal here in the city. People are coming back and businesses are opening back up. I had my eye on a few laptop speciality stores and was able to go in one today that advertised “LAPTOP BATTERY.” To my surprise they had the exact batteries for my model, but at $120 for a 6-cell and $160 for a 9-cell it was well over double the price of the batteries on E-Bay. And on E-Bay, those batteries being sold from Hong Kong so maybe I can try to find a place to buy them direct next time I’m there. My battery power has been getting worse and worse since I use the battery so much.
I decided to save some money and take the public bus to the airport today. If you take a full taxi it costs $7, but by looking at a bus route map I walked to the bus station and boarded a bus for 19 cents. Except the bus dropped me off a mile from the airport terminal (there was a different bus that went directly there, my mistake). My 7:50PM flight was delayed to 8:20PM.
Once I arrived in Da Nang, Vietnam, I found a motorcycle driver and bargained for a while trying to get to Hoa’s Guesthouse on China Beach. It was night and he didn’t know the place I was asking for. I didn’t like this situation. He had to ask other taxi drivers for help, but finally I pulled out my computer and showed him the street address. I think that helped. After what seemed like a half hour of driving through the cold wind, he got me close to the place I wanted. Actually next door to Hoa’s Guesthouse, but I couldn’t see Hoa’s since it was dark.
Things weren’t going that great. My room came without heat, electric plugs, or a key. The TV made a harsh sound when I tried to turn it on. I ended up sleeping with all my clothes on since it was so cold. There is no heat in this part of the country since it is not supposed to get this cold here.