If I’m to be honest, I think that this was the worst day of my trip. Before someone slams me with the “Stop being so negative,” I’d like to say that if I tried to be positive about this day, that would be lying. I think you would agree that lying is a more heinous crime than being negative. So I’ll be blunt: my fourth day of vacation did not shape up to be a good one.
My fourth day of vacation was shaping up to be a good one. I would finally be leaving the abysmal, appalling, and awful hotel in exchange for a superb, excellent, and wonderful cruise ship. After I exited the bedroom, I found everyone getting dressed and leaving for a place I hadn’t been told yet, because nobody cares enough to tell me where we’re going. Angel had come over last night and along with her were people’s names who I don’t know. I’ll refer to them as Stranger 1, Stranger 1 #2, and Lady with Airpods. We had to wait for Khoi’s father, who was returning from his returning of the car. And so I waited. And waited. And waited. Everyone was getting restless at this point, so we were told to carry our own suitcases down the elevator and out into the street to wherever. It turned what they really meant by “carry your own suitcases” was “Here, Nam could you carry my suitcase please?” It was irritating, but complaining about it wouldn’t do me any good. It was raining and cold, and the morning street of Milan had pedestrians trickling about. There were a lot of things on my mind at this moment. Where are we going? Where was Khoi’s father? Where’s the bathroom? The questions rattled around and around in my head. At last, we walked past a statue of a giant apple and into what looked like an ancient building. I thought it looked old, so I took some pictures of it, hoping that I was taking pictures of something with some historical significance. It turned out to be a train station.
Once we got inside, everyone started waiting for Khoi’s father to arrive. I paced around, partly because I hate standing still for long periods of time, but also because I had to use the restroom really badly. Then, Khoi’s grandmother came with the two guys from yesterday. Everyone started saying their goodbyes, and the two men left. I stood in the corner and pretended to care about what was happening. The only thing I did care about was the location of the nearest restroom. After a decade, Khoi’s father arrived, and we all headed inside the train station. Shops filled the entire main room as well as what seemed to be hundreds of people going about their business. There was a lot of neat stuff I would’ve bought if only I had remembered to exchange my money. We skipped over the stores and headed straight up the escalator. After looking at a map, we headed over to an enormous room with several trains. Then the boomers said they were going to the bathroom, so I tagged along with them, because I had to go really badly. At the entrance of the bathroom, however, was a turnstile. Apparently you have to pay to use the bathrooms in Italy. I guess Italy really wants to capitalize on my need to pee. After dropping in a coin, I noticed that the toilet stall did not have doors. At least, it seemed that way. I assumed that there was a sliding door within the stall, but I didn’t have time to figure out how to use it. I needed to go straight away. There was a toilet in the back with an actual door, so I headed in there. After finishing my business, I pressed the button on top of the toilet. Nothing happened. I pressed it as hard as I could. Nothing happened. Maybe I have to turn it, I thought. I give the little button a twist. Again, nothing. I wondered what I was going to do now. For some reason, there was a plunger in the corner of the room. Actually, there was a lot of supplies in the corner of the room. Perhaps I had stumbled upon the janitor’s private bathroom. For a moment, I considered using the plunger to clean things up. Then I remembered how plungers work. I thought about what to do next. As I stood there, the answer became more and more obvious.
Run.
I took a quick peek outside the door to make sure no one was looking, and then I bolted. I wondered if I was going to be arrested for not flushing the toilet. I pulled my hood over my face, just in case someone saw me. Suddenly, I ran straight into my grandmother. She told me that everyone was waiting to board the train. I ran over, and Lady with Airpods along with the kids were missing. I later learned that they were buying some McDonalds. If I hadn’t gone to the restroom, maybe I would’ve gotten more than a cold chicken nugget. Anyway, Lady with Airpods came running to our group, along with Khoi and Vien. Our compartment of the train was in the very front, and we were standing at the back of the train. There was a mad dash to the front of the train. This makes it sound intense, but what I really mean by a “mad dash” is me doing a light sprint and everyone else doing the slowest jog imaginable. I had forgotten the speed of the people accompanying me. The train started to leave, and everyone was in a different place: Khoi’s father, Khoi, and I were at the front of the train, and everyone else was around the middle. There was no time left, so we got on whichever compartment we happened to be nearest to. This resulted in everyone being in different compartments. Khoi’s father told me to sit tight and wait while he and Khoi looked for the others. I waited for about ten minutes. I seemed like nearly half of my day had just been waiting. A few minutes later, I found myself inside a different compartment, the one where everyone else was. Then, my grandmother said that we were going to get snacks. There had only been one other time I was on an actual train, and there had been a whole compartment dedicated to selling candy and popcorn, along with other treats. I stood up excitedly, and then quickly sat down. My grandmother handed me a little chicken nugget box from McDonalds. They were cold. On top of that, the box wasn’t even full. Along with the nuggets, my grandmother also handed me some fries. I’ll eat those last, I thought. This turned out to be a mistake. After I gobbled down the entire box of nuggets, I looked out the window. There was nothing much, so I turned to eat my fries. Then I saw Stranger 1 eating the fries. Why me? I thought.
Once the train stopped, all the passengers exited. There was a big line to use the elevator, which I assumed went to the center of the train station. Since our family is as slow as cabbages, we were dead last in line. After we got out of the elevator, we started walking down a long tunnel. On my left, I saw Vien talking to Angel.
“Whats nine times eight?” Vien asked Angel.
She obviously didn’t know, so I answered. “Seventy-two.”
I walked off, and that’s when I heard crying. It was Vien. Her father asked her what happened, and she pointed at me. I’ll try to explain what Vien said next the best I can. I myself still can’t comprehend the stupidity of what she had said. Vien was really upset that she couldn’t assert her dominance to Angel, so she started blubbering like a baby seal with a speech impediment. Yes, she was angry because I said the words “seventy-two”. I truly am sorry for uttering such horrible words, and I can guarantee that I will never say such things again.
After Vien finished her temper tantrum, we all piled into two taxis and headed for the cruise ship. After a short while, we ended up inside this large building with a miniature model of the ship in the middle. I asked Khoi’s father why we were sitting down, and he said we were waiting for the Thucs. So I waited. This isn’t the last time you’re going to hear this phrase. After around half an hour, the Thucs arrived. Everyone said their hellos while I stood in the corner and pretended to care. After more tedious security, we ended up in the ship. Inside was a massive hallway with stores lining the walls, sort of like a mall. I’d like to be able to tell you that I had great fun at these stores, trying new things and eating new foods. This would be a lie.
I was sharing a cabin with my grandmother and Stranger 1. Therefore, I appropriately dubbed it, “The Boom Room”. There was only one bed and once couch, and I was praying I wouldn’t have to share any sleeping space with the boomers. I ended up not having to, but a great price.
I asked my grandmother for my glasses, and she opened up her purse. There, inside, was my glasses, with one of the legs fallen off. My glasses were already in bad shape before this, so I couldn’t say I was too surprised. Luckily, I knew how to fix them, though it would take precision, and the glasses still wouldn’t be too sturdy. I searched my grandmother’s purse for what I was looking for. Soon I pulled it out: a tiny screw responsible for keeping the leg in place. I tried to fix it right there, but my hands were far to large, so I gave up and put my glasses in a plastic bag for later. I changed my clothes and headed down to floor 6 for dinner. Already down their was Khoi and his crew. He was wearing his glasses, and one of the legs were missing, just like mine. I wondered how he kept them on. We waited for everyone else to show up, and we headed to floor 15 for dinner. While heading there, Vien kicked me in the leg. I guess she was still angry about me saying the seventy-two-word, which is a bad word. I told her to stop kicking me. In response, she kicked me. It’s not like it hurt, but it annoyed me. As the saying goes: “It’s the thought that counts.” We walked over to the other elevators as Vien continued to kick me. I told he to stop. She kicked me. I got tired of this very quickly, and right when she was about to kick me again, I grabbed her arms and squeezed them. I was going to shove her as well, but I figured that was too extra. As I suspected, Vien began to cry like a baboon that got bit in the butt. For a moment, I thought she was going to start blubbering to the adults, but she foolishly told TL and TQ instead. This was fine with me, because their opinion doesn’t matter.
At last, we arrived at our destination. I wondered what kind of restaurant we would be eating at. It was a buffet. I have nothing against buffets; I actually like them. It’s just not what I expected. I ate a burger, a hot dog, and some actual warm chicken nuggets. A real gourmet meal if you ask me. I sat at the same table as Vien, just to annoy her. This was a mistake, because now I had to watch her eat with her mouth open. I told her to not eat with her mouth open. Vien continued to eat with her mouth open. I overheard my grandmother complaining that the quality of the food was mediocre. What did you expect? A high-class meal? This is free. My family members have very high standards for the rest of the world, while they’re okay with drinking sink water. I hate sink water.
After dinner was some pointless walking around, and then bedtime. Once I arrived in my cabin, Khoi’s father arrived. He made me switch rooms with Khoi’s grandmother so she could be with the rest of the boomers. Thus, I packed all my things and headed to the room where Khoi and friends was sleeping. My new room was a lot smaller, with just one bed and two bunk beds on top. At least I would get my own bed. This is where the day ended. The day hadn’t been good. Not at all. All I could hope for was a better tomorrow.