Vietnam trip - Day 22 and final post (12/22/11)

I got a wake up call at 5:30am this morning :). I was able to go back to bed and got up at 7:30am. I did my thing, went downstairs and my cousin got my a bowl of pho...yum! After breakfast, my parents stop by and picked me up. They took me the former Vietnamese President's home (equivalent to the white house) which is now just a tourist attraction. I did the tour for like an hr (see pix). We then got something to eat. The layout of the restaurant regarding to the preparation food is pretty cool. When you walked into the restaurant, the customers are seated in the middle and the food stations were surrounded on the outside. They have the noodle soup station ( pho, bun no hue...), the rice station, dessert station, banh xeo station...etc. It was a quick lunch then we headed home. So I'm just sitting here at the shop and watching my cousin's fam selling clothes. Man, they are working hard. Especially this time of year, holiday season, they get up sometime at 4am and work until 7pm-8pm. They barely take a lung break. She did say thing do slow down a little bit after the holidays. They do sell individual clothing items but they mostly sell in bulk.
It's 10pm an we just got back from didn't and walked around the town. Dinner was good, there was four of us and we tried another type of Lau (hot pot)..see pix. Oh earlier, my uncle took me for a spin during rush hour in Saigon. Man! That was madness, you have to experience itself but you have to ride on a moped. There were so many people on the road and so close that you sometime can see the other person's pores...ridiculous traffic!
Anyway, I can't believe tonight is my last night in Vietnam. What can I say about this trip? I don't know, I don't think a word can filling describe how I feel. I learned so much about my families, the cultural and about me. Everywhere I went the hospitality had been well beyond tremendous, all my relatives from Tuy Hoa, Nha Trang and Saigon were awesome. For the majority, I don't remember any of them but they treated me like one of their own and I'm grateful for that. I hope that one day I can return the favor.
It's 11pm and by this time tomorrow night I should be on a plane getting ready for take off. It's sad that my trip is coming to an end but at the same time i'm ready to go home to see my families and friends.
Anyway, goodbye Vietnam and i'll see you in a few years :).
The chroang is heading home!

Vietnam trip - Day 21 (12/21/11)

Man my stomach didnt feel so good last night. After dinner last we went for some dessert. Everyone got ice cream and i got a mixed fruit yogurt. Boy, that was a mistake! I woke up at 2am with my little napkin in hand. I got a wake up call which by the way i did not ask for this morning around 5am from my feather friend. I stayed in bed and didn't get out of my bed until 8am. I took a shower and my cousin got me some noodle soup, it was pretty good. I came down to the shop and helped around some more. Around 10:30am, my parents came and we went over to their's friend place ( The over the hill gang). We had lunch there around 12pm and and chilled a little and head over to another of their friend's hotel. The hotel is Park Hyatt Saigon, it's pretty nice hotel. While my parents were chatting with their friends in the room, i went to the lounge and got some quiet tea time. We chilled a little bit and then went with my cousin to get some stuff.
It's 5pm and I'm just waiting for my cousin to finish working so we can get some food.
We left the house around 6:30pm and went and get some more stuff to bring home. We went around for like two hrs. We were done shopping around 9pm. We stop by and got some lau (hot pot) for dinner...yum!
It's 10:30pm and we are home. I'm going to take a shower and chill :).

Vietnam trip - Day 20 (12/20/11)

It's 6:50pm and I'm at a relative's house. We got to Saigon around 5:45am. The family that i'm staying with, he used to be my 1st and 2nd grade teacher, so that's pretty cool to see him again. He doesn't teach anymore, him and his family have a shop and doing quite well so really happy for them. It's a nice house, I'm sleeping on the top floor (3rd floor), it's like my own penthouse :). I have a pretty nice view and have my own wake up call (see pic). It was a chore bringing my luggage up to my room, lucky I had help. Anyway, once I settled in the room, I took a two hrs nap. I got up and need to do my business. I sat down on my throne btw this make get a little graphic. So i sat down and i was about to drop my deposit. At the last second i happened to look at the toilet paper holder and there was no paper. I was like "aww man!" i had to cancel the deposit. I went and asked uncle about toilet paper and it wasnt the answer i wanted to hear. He said they dont use toilet paper. "WTF!" in my head of course, i said oh ok and went back to my room. I had to think fast because my deposit is about dude. I started scramble for papers and happened to find some napkins in my bag. I had to use the napkin sparingly but let just say the bank excepted my deposit. After that little adventure, i took a shower and my cousin got me a bowl of pho. It was goood, it was a beef and chicken bowl...sooo goood! I then took another nap :). My cousin woke me up around 12:30pm and we went and got some chicken rice. After lunch, I went back and helped around the shop. I did for like 2 hrs and then went upstairs for a nap :).
After my nap, my cousin, her daughter, another cousin and went and got dinner. We ate at a seafood place, nothing to brag about. We got done with dinner around 8pm. We then took a cab to the center of the city where there are shop and Christmas decoration. It was madness! People were all over the place and traffic was insane! We walked around for 2 hrs and went home. I'm exhausted and can't wait to catch some zzzz.
To be continue...