Day 17 - Thu Duc & Glamor Shots

We decided to get up early today and head to Thu Duc again to meet with more of my father's side of the family. We've been to Thu Duc twice now and it's always been so rushed. Being ready to leave at noon, we were told at the last minute that it might be best to go there for the early afternoon instead. So my mother and I took a walk out to grab some lunch and then headed back to the condo to rest (aka, afternoon nap).

When we go to Thu Duc, we met with my other cousins on my father's side. I have no idea how to address people in my family sometimes because the family is so big and I don't know whose family goes before whose. I have been calling everyone "aunty" or "uncle" and my mother keeps reminding me that I'm supposed to address them as "brother" or "sister." Anywho, I have a cousin who I call "Co Ty" (translation: Brother Ty) and he's a second cousin on my father's side who is the same age as my parents but on the same "level" as I am. He now lives in Vietnam and I haven't seen him in 5 years so we were all so excited to see each other.

Instead of staying in Thu Duc, we were taken by taxi to Bien Hoa, another district nearby Saigon. I must say that I'm learning about all these different cities within Vietnam and I find that each of them has a different feel. Bien Hoa is an up-and-coming district in Vietnam and I could tell that a lot of development has been taking place. New condo buildings are going up, new restaurants are being opened and the nightlife is taking off.

We went for dinner at a seafood joint where every dish we were served was completely fresh. We were placed in a VIP room and dish after dish was like an adventure. We tried everything from eel to soft-shell crabs. I can't say that it was my favourite of food experiences but it was definitely worth a try. When we were finished with dinner, my cousin took us to a cafe that had an amazing patio. This is kind of how I pictured Vietnam to be - many cafe patios, taking advantage of the wonderful tropical weather. It started to rain heavily while we were having coffee but it felt so much cooler and because we were sheltered from the rain, it was just so pretty to watch and hear.

It was a late night for us and we didn't get back from Thu Duc until after 10pm. I was exhausted...and then I thought of my glamor shots and I was re-energized from sheer embarrassment. Here's a preview:

Day 13 - Thu Duc & Glamour Shots

Last night we had a good sleep with no plans in the morning. However, when I woke up, my mother was staring at me and ready to start her morning with a conversation. We have been sharing a king bed in Saigon but it still hasn't been enough space for both of us! I am constantly woken up by her stirring in the room at four in the morning, ready to get her day started - which means that I'm averaging about 4 hours of sleep! LOL

This morning, she had the brilliant idea that we should go back to Thu Duc because she still had people to see and we were asked to leave money with a relative for my uncle. We took a taxi to Thu Duc, which is about 35kms from Saigon but it would take about 45 minutes to get there. We were told by our tour guide that we can always trust MaiLinh Taxis because they cannot adjust their meters according to company policy. This doesn't mean that they can't take you for a ride around the city, but at least you know it's a fixed rate. :)

When we got to Thu Duc, my mother asked the taxi driver if he'd be willing to chauffeur us around for the day and we'd pay him for his waiting hours as well as the taxi fare. He agreed to it because he said he'd have to drive back to Saigon on his own gas money and he isn't guaranteed a passenger.

My mother said that growing up, she had four girlfriends who were very close. They all were around the same age and lived in the same neighbourhood. Only two of them still live in Thu Duc and she wanted to go see them. So our first stop was the local post office where her friend Thuy worked. I wish I had taken a video of their first encounter after 28 years because it was hilarious! My mother and I both walked in and she asked for "Thuy." The girl in the front yelled out for Aunty Thuy and she came out with sunglasses on and said, "Who's looking for me?" My mother said, "Are you Thuy?" and she replied, "Yeah, it's me." Then she took her sunglasses off and as soon as they recognized each other, both ladies literally ran to each other and embraced. It was an incredibly sweet moment.

It took all of 10 seconds for Aunty Thuy to ask for a longer lunch and she was out the door and into the taxi with us to go find my mother's second friend, Aunty Tuyet. We got to her house and nobody was home so Aunty Thuy called around and found out that Aunty Tuyet was working in the little cafe down the street. They decided to both go and surprise her. And so another surprise happened and I missed the opportunity to get it all on video!

It's been really fun to see my mother surrounded by family and friends. In Canada, although she has good friends from work and family on my father's side, I can see that she has a whole other life in Vietnam too. The ladies took each other out for lunch and I sat and listened to the funny stories about old boyfriends and neighbourhood gossip. They told me that my mother was once the most beautiful girl in Thu Duc and that the boys would always pretend to walk through their neighbourhood for a glimpse of her. I heard stories about how they would help each other sneak out of the house to meet their boyfriends...and how my father impressed them all by treating them to delicious Chinese food at his house.

We couldn't stay very long because I had my glamor shot appointment at 4:00pm so we left shortly after lunch, which lasted until about 2:30 or so. We laughed at Aunty Thuy because she had left the post office at noon and said she'd be back at 1:30pm. Time goes by too quickly when you're having fun! As soon as everyone separated and we departed from Thu Duc, it started to rain like I'd never seen before and the streets were starting to flood. Our taxi driver laughed because my mother and I were getting so scared. He said, "I can tell you're not locals because this is normal - just relax." hahah! He was pretty funny and he only cost us $40CAD for driving us around for 5 hours!

As soon as we got home, I had to get ready to go out with my 6 cousins to get glamor shots. Now, this was a hilarious experience as well and I'm not sure yet what the pictures are going to look like - all I know is that when you put 7 girls in a room together, getting hair/make-up done, it's chaotic. I felt so bad for the photographer because it seemed like we were the only ones having fun! I think we're quite the intimidating bunch travelling like a gang of girls. hahah!

Getting your makeup done in Vietnam is like no other experience. They do such a precise job and aim to please. The makeup isn't caked on but its very specific. For example, I have one eyelid that is slightly larger than the other...the girl that did my makeup noticed it RIGHT away and proceeded to add eyelid tape on my eyes to even them out. I was skeptical at first but when I saw the finished product, I thought, "Wow, my face has never looked this symmetrical before!" She also added shading to my nose to make it look more refined in the photos. I know that there is still a lot of photoshopping to be done to the pictures but I'm already impressed with the time they took to make each and every one of us look our best.

Of course, there were a few shots that I think are hilarious - like the one of me playing a Vietnamese zither (đàn tranh). I hope that they do a good job with the editing so that I can post some up on this blog. Otherwise, you're just going to see the one with the zither for good humour! :)

Day 8 - Danang & Hoi An

When we got to the airport this morning, we were surprised to find out that we had been upgraded to Business Class. It was the first time my mother or I ever flew in business class and we both giggled like school girls as we were given access to the Business Class lounge and then were escorted to the front of the line when boarding time came. The seats were spacious and I managed to sleep on the plane for the first time since we boarded for Vietnam. We were so comfortable that we said we'd try to get an upgrade for our plane ride home - even if it costs us more money. :)

When we arrived in Danang, we were greeted by our tour guide, Huan. He drove us to a local cafe and said that we had to wait for an hour at the cafe until the rest of the group arrived from Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City, I should say). While we were there, my mother had an iced coffee and I had a Soursop Milkshake (Sinh tố mãng cầu). This is one of my favourite milkshakes, next to the avocado one.

Once we left the cafe, we headed towards Hoi An because it was too late to explore Danang (we'll be returning there the morning before our flight on the 29th instead). As we drove through Danang, I was surprised to see how much development is taking place. It is a mountainous region that is also right by the ocean. The amount of resorts that are being built in this little city is amazing...the resorts rivaled any that I've seen in the Caribbean!

It took us a while to get to Hoi An because the roads aren't as straightforward as they are in more developed countries. Most of the time, what should only take about 15 minutes may take about an hour - with a lot of stops and honking along the way. When we got to Hoi An, our hotel was across a tiny old bridge so our tour bus couldn't go over it. Instead, we stopped in a nearby parking lot and were transported in minivans across the bridge to our hotel while our luggage followed in another small truck. We stood out like sore thumbs on the streets of Hoi An where cyclo drivers and bicyclists rule the streets.

We stayed at the Van Loi Hotel in Hoi An, which was fairly nice for a 3-star hotel. My mother asked to be on the lower level so she didn't have to climb stairs but when we got to our room and turned on the air conditioner, about a litre of water started to drip out of it...right over the television. The hotel sent a repair man who arrived in what seemed like 30 seconds and the only thing he was equipped with was a screwdriver, a towel and a tube so he could blow out the water. My mother and I laughed and she said, "Oh my goodness, he doesn't even have tools! We're going to get electrocuted." It took us about five minutes to call the front desk and move to another room.

After getting situated in our hotel and taking an afternoon nap (I'm starting to get used to these), we headed out to town on a walking tour of the different pagodas within Hoi An's downtown area. The downtown core is saturated with clothing stores as Hoi An is known for its expert tailors. I'm told that you can get a whole new wardrobe sewn for you here in a matter of days. I set out determined to find another maxi dress tailored to fit me perfectly. There are a lot of tourists in the area too - more than I've seen anywhere else, which made it a little difficult for bargaining. I found that almost ALL of the vendors knew a little bit of English and that meant that my mother and I couldn't share our desired price in English before bargaining! hehe!

When I finally found a dress that I wanted, after what seemed like visiting a hundred different stores, the sales lady (at Thu Van Tailors) told me to go try it on in the back. Excited, I ran to the back with the dress only to find a half naked lady trying on another dress in what seemed like a back storage area of the store! She gave me an annoyed look and continued to undress! The sales lady nudged me and said, "Go ahead. Take off your clothes and try it on!" Then she laughed and said, "Oh ok, if you're shy, I'll just turn around." You can imagine the look on my face - half horrified and half embarrassed, totally mortified. After the other lady left, I hurried put the dress on and went out to the front of the store so they could measure me. She asked me to put down a deposit and said she would have the dress altered within an hour and will deliver it herself right to my hotel. Now, that's customer service!

Hoi An is really beautiful, with the Thu Bon river passing right through it and the many colourful vendors that line each street on both sides of the river. You will not find a more happy and light place - it caters to tourists with the many cafes, bars and bright hotels. In between the businesses, there are historical pagodas that are centuries old and you can pay a minThe best part is, many of the historical buildings have been preserved even through development and natural disasters. At night, the entire city is lit up with paper lanterns and soft Christmas lights. Floating paper lanterns are sold along the river and you can find children sending them into the river with their well wishes.

Life feels different here - people work hard but they also have time for play. All the retail vendors close at 9pm and there is a band that plays music by the river every other night. We went down to the river yesterday night and enjoyed the fun atmosphere a little. When we got a little tired and decided to head back to the hotel, my mother suggested that we try taking a cyclo back. I was hesitant at first because the men who ride the bikes look like they are all of 95 pounds and there's no way they can push my mother and I both the whole 5kms back to the hotel, especially across the arched bridge. For those who don't know what a cyclo is, click here.

We chose a young cyclo driver who we thought could handle the both of us and he gave us a quoted price only to turn around and tell one of the oldest cyclo drivers on the lot to take us! My mother sat in the back and I had to sit on her lap. You can only imagine how ridiculous we looked on this cyclo being driven by what seemed like a 70 year-old man. The worst part was, because we were too heavy for him, he was going incredibly slow and only picked up momentum when we went down a small hill. To get people to get out of his way, he insisted on yelling at the top of his lungs, "Yo yo yo! Yo yo yo!" You can see it here in this video... note that the little fat boy on the left outran our cyclo:

Day 8 - Scooters & Other Vehicles

This morning on the way to the Hanoi airport, it was raining outside and we were picked up in a tiny Hyundai. As we drove to the city, I kept noticing the different ways that the Vietnamese deal with the rain - especially on their scooters!

I've seen a lot of situations on the scooter that amaze me and crack me up at the same time. It just goes to show that the Vietnamese will always find a way to make it work. Check out this picture I found on the internet. I've actually SEEN this in the city before.. no joke...but I'm usually going to fast to snap a picture!

I know it's not the safest way to travel but I have yet to see one accident since I've been in Vietnam. In Saigon, there are officers standing at almost every street corner, ready to give out tickets for any and every traffic violation! And it's not just people that get piled on to these scooters, I've seen everything from large electronics to livestock to boxes of merchandise! You name it, I've probably seen it being hauled on the back of a scooter.

Today, however, was the funniest. With all of the rain, I didn't see more than two people on one scooter - but I saw two people sharing one raincoat! I saw another man was wearing a raincoat but to avoid getting his feet wet in the rain, he had his legs pulled close towards his chest so that the only part that could get wet were his hands. He was almost in fetal position...It was hilarious! Here are a couple more pictures that I took:

Day 5 - Wicked Hat Tan and Humidity in Hanoi

We left for Hanoi at 6am this morning and have been going ever since. It is about 7pm right now and my mother and I are resting. We are getting used to taking ice cold showers to help make this incredible heat more bearable. It is 36°C right now in Hanoi and the humidity makes it feel even hotter. It actually reminds me of being in Delhi, India when I was there last March.

My uncle Hung picked us up this morning and took us for breakfast - he must have had a direct line into my stomach because he took me for what I've been craving since I got to Vietnam - Bánh cuốn, which is a wide, thin rice sheet filled with a mixture of ground pork and mushrooms and rolled. You eat it with fresh basil, blanched sprouts and pork sausage (well, more like ham) and you drench it in fish sauce. I have to say, I was in heaven for the five minutes it took me to inhale this dish. LOL

The plane ride was about 2 hours and we slept through most of it because of the early morning start. I always find it interesting to know what they serve on plane rides in other countries. On this domestic flight, they served us sticky rice with pork for breakfast! I didn't eat any of it because I was still full from the banh cuon but my mother did have a bite and said it was all right. I have no idea what vegetarians would eat on these flights.. there really were no other options!

When we got to Hanoi, we literally jumped right into the tour. There are 28 people on the tour, which makes it more fun and my mother is already trying to make friends. Because we booked this tour through a Vietnamese company, we found out quickly that the tour caters mostly to the locals. There were no other foreigners in the tour group, which meant that we would go to local restaurants and the tour is entirely in Vietnamese. Herein lies the main problem though - I cannot understand the Northern Vietnamese accent at all! The other problem is, my mother is the worst translator ever. She actually said to me on the bus as I struggled to understand what our tour guide was saying: "Now you know what it's like for me in Canada!" haha!

Our first stop was lunch at a local restaurant where we were served some local dishes. In the Vietnamese culture, we basically get a bowl of rice each and then a number of side dishes are placed in the middle of the table to share. It's a free-for-all and if you don't eat quick, no one will save a portion for you! It's customary for the younger ones at the table to wait until the elders take their first pick. We all use chopsticks and there's no serving spoons - no fear of germs or shared spit!

Our second stop of the day was at Hoan Kiem Lake (Hồ Hoàn Kiếm), which is a major site in Hanoi. When you walk over the Huc Bridge, there is a little pagoda where they keep the Hoan Kiem tortoise that apparently came from the lake. It was found in 1967, weighing 200 kg (440 lbs) and measured 1.9 meters long (6 ft 3in).

Here's my mother being sassy in front of the lake entrance. Note that we are wearing the bright pink hats from our tour, which you can spot from a mile away. It is also the hat that gave me this wicked hat tan - my forehead has a clear horizontal division now (sorry, no pictures were taken of that).

The weather in Hanoi is absolutely horrid right now and if you're going to travel to Vietnam during this time, make sure that you bring sunscreen and that you're not afraid to walk around drenched in your own sweat. Everything that we drank was absorbed by our clothes in the two hours that we spent walking around town. There are many people walking around selling fans and cold water but the problem is, with the humidity, ice melts as soon as it hits your cup and everything becomes room temperature. There is no relief from the heat.

The third stop of the day was the Temple of Literature (Quốc Tử Giám). This is also the site of Vietnam's first University. The people who were on the tour with their children found this place fascinating and my mother told me it's because they believe that coming here will help the children with their studies - most of them stopped at the Stalea of Doctors to touch the stone turtle heads that would give them luck. We walked through the five perfectly groomed courtyards within an hour and by then, it was already five o'clock and we had to head out for dinner. It was also scorching hot and most of the tourists were dying to get back on the air-conditioned bus!

After dinner, the tour bus dropped us off at the hotel and we are going to call it an early night at just a little past 8pm. We are leaving for Ha Long Bay tomorrow at 8am and I'm told it's going to be beautiful. The tour guide told us that we might be sleeping on the boat tomorrow night so I'll wait to find out if he's telling the truth - I mean, I think that's what he said! LOL

Good night and I'll talk to you tomorrow.. :)