Exploring - So many pictures!

So this weekend has been pretty fun. Yesterday I did nothing most of the day but then for dinner had another hot pot with fish and such. Hot pots and Pho are really delicious but seriously, I do not understand how Vietnamese people eat them. I already am a messy eater and then throw chop sticks and noodley soup into the mix. I literally just keep wearing black when I know I'm going to be eating something like that because I literally get it all over me. I feel like I need to be wearing an apron or a poncho while eating. The soup just splashes all over the place and they don't give you napkins half the time to put on your lap or anything. Many places give you these wet towels - which they then charge you for, so crazy - but they aren't much help. I was watching the episode of Anthony Bourdain - No Reservations when he was in Vietnam and he even mentioned that he was going to buy a bunch of cheap t-shirts for his family for when they eat soup and things in Vietnam. I just kind of go with it.

So this morning I had brunch in District 1 with this guy from this organization called Study Group. They recently started collaborating with the University of Maine and he's going to be meeting with my school here to see if they can work together ... it's kind of boring but the point is, we met for brunch and it was pretty sweet. His name is Matt and he is British and his wife his from Texas and they have been living in Ho Chi Minh City for a few years. When we were arranging to meet he said he would have his "impossibly cute" daughter with him. He was not joking, she was probably the cutest 2 year old I've ever seen. We went to this really nice place for brunch called The Refinery. They serve western food which is awesome because I was not in the mood for rice-based meals today. I had eggs benedict and it was extra amazing because I probably haven't had butter in a few weeks. Apparently Matt's daughter is practically a celebrity because every single woman that saw her was instantly obsessed. Apparently his daughter used to have a Chinese nanny so she ends up wandering over and hanging out with all sorts of Vietnamese women. We sat down and the waitress literally just took the kid away for a while and she came back over with a plate of some fondue. She obviously made a huge mess with the chocolate and after Matt cleaned her up she ran off again and we didn't see her for probably a half hour. Matt seemed pretty unfazed. She ran back to check in once or twice so clearly she was just off doing her thing...very independent. When we were getting ready to leave and she was back with us again the lady next to us asked to take a picture with her. It was pretty silly, but for realz, she's super cute.

Anyway, meeting Matt was very nice. We obviously discussed some business-related matters but mostly we just chatted and he gave me some advice and invited me to meet some of their other friends and such. Plus, he generously put our brunch on his company credit card, since it was work-related and all. After parting ways I decided that while I was down in District 1 I might as well explore. I walked around for hours. It was a beautiful and obviously hot day out for most of the day. I shopped around, though a lot of things are actually expensive in this area so I didn't buy anything. Oh, and today was the first time I tried a Xe Om, or a motorbike taxi. They are EVERYWHERE but you have to kind of bargain and find a reasonable one. I wasn't really in the mood for bargaining much this morning and I had been told I should expect to pay anywhere from 60,000-80,000d (which is about $3-$4). I ended up finding this guy who originally suggested 100,000d but we settled on 80,000d which was fine because I was not in the mood to search for another guy over $1. Plus, this guy agreed to come pick me up later so I didn't have to worry about finding a ride back. However, walking around with a helmet subjected me to having at least 30 other Xe Oms offer me rides. They would see me and say "Madam!! Motorbike?!" I got very used to it by the end of the day. At least I knew if my guy didn't show up I'd have a backup plan. But I figured the Xe Oms in District 1 might try to charge me more since that is the more touristy area.

Since I had started my day with some delicious western food I decided why not go all out and I decided to get pizza for dinner. Pizza in Vietnam?! Yes. And it wasn't any worse than pizza in Maine so I was totally satisfied with it. I needed a break from rice and noodles and soup. Where I live there is pretty much only Vietnamese food - and a KFC but I haven't hit that yet. So being in District 1 where there is international cuisine ... hell yea.

Anyway, I took a bunch of pictures so herrrre they are:

 1L beers at "Big Man Beer"

This was actually tough to finish ... but I did it, no worries.

 Pretty plant!

 Financial Tower - tallest building in Vietnam! And with a helicopter landing pad.

 Pretty roundabout ... and it's even easy to cross the street here!

 Mango smoothie ... it tasted like an actual mango, I was taken aback because I expected that fake mango flavor I've grown so accustomed to.

 Opera House

 Cool windows.

 I love this sculpture!

 Turtle park or something like that ... lots of young kids hanging out here!

 Apparently there is usually water in it

 Weird little trees

 These people just happen to be in my picture ... the sculpture from the side and the opera house in the background

 I just think there are a lot of cool looking buildings

 War Remnants Museum ... I didn't actually go in or anything

 Alleyway that leads to a cute looking cafe

 Alright they may have gone a little nuts with the lanterns but I thought it was cool!

 The Mekong River!

 Not super scenic ... and muddy looking.

 I don'tttt know what this is but clearly it's touristy.

 Cute little dogs playing in the sidewalk! Who do they belong to?!

 Circle K in Vietnam? I wouldn't have thought! I actually thought we called the Circle K in NJ that because it was on a circle ...

Ok, this picture isn't good but next to that crazy sign there is a Subway! They are everywhere! I was tempted...

 But I had this sad looking pizza. However, like I said, I didn't hate it. It had cheese and bread ... thank god.

Coconut water .. or juice, I don't know it was delicious and refreshing and probably overpriced!

So this is made out of paper and it folds into a card. They sell them everywhere and I think they are so cool! So I bought this one for my grandma since she is never going to read this blog because that would require her to use a computer and she refuses to join the 21st century so I had to buy her a sweet card. Now I just have to figure out where a post office is. This is why the internet is so handy! But then again, this card is sweet.