Hump Day/Full Moon Madness

So today was pretty uneventful. However, I do want to mention the workout place again. So yesterday, as I mentioned, I ran around a pavement path. Today I decided to run in this field. It used to be a horse-racing track but now people just run around it or play soccer and stuff in the middle. I liked it much better than the pavement, it's has dirt and grass and I think the whole loop is close to a mile long. However, I just have to note how absurd Vietnam is. First of all, I assume you do not need any licenses or anything to open a restaurant or cafe. There was literally a little cafe set up right next to the race track in the middle. Someone just threw down some tables and chairs and wheeled in their cart of drink supplies and bam, cafe in the grass.

The next crazy thing is that in this same track there are horses. I guess they don't race but they were just chillin, chomping away on grass while tons of people ran and played soccer around them. It was so strange. They didn't seem bothered by us at all but I just wanted to run up and pet one! Third, when it starts to get dark the bats come out. I know we have bats at home but I guess I just have never seen so many flying around all at once, they were EVERYWHERE and I was worried one might dive-bomb for me. I didn't get any rabies shots before coming here!

Running right at dusk is very nice though, it cools off (a little) and there was a light (yet warm) breeze. The race-track area is much less crowded than the area where I went yesterday. However, I cannot escape motorbikes. Even while we were going around this dirt path 2 motorbikes passed by. Admittedly, there mostly weren't any motorbikes in the track, those were the only 2 I saw, but still, they are inescapable. They are very run to ride on though. People go relatively slow so you can just kind of hang out and not worry about falling off. It is also important not to worry about hitting someone else. I'm not the one driving so I might as well just go with the flow!

Tonight was a full moon. Apparently that's kind of a big deal here. Some people don't eat meat on full moon nights, some people get their party on, and then there are TONS of stands that sell these "moon pies" which are just some kind of baked good. There is a stand near my house and it is absurdly long, at least 100ft long of just these moon pies...obviously I'll have to try one soon. I was told, however, that the price is much higher on full moon nights so I'll wait till next week.

I didn't get to take any pictures today - though I need to bring my camera to the track next time! But here is one picture of my dinner ... a hot pot! It was delicious... it has a bunch of plants I don't recognize and then various seafood - scallops, shrimp and squid, beef, and pork skin. Oh and let me note, apparently people frequently eat the shrimp shell here. It doesn't taste like anything ... but it wasn't that sweet.