This is primarily for friends and family viewing purposes, maybe even just for family, but I decided to create a blog to just document my adventures and such in Vietnam since the trip itself is decently long, and it will take a lot of explaining and such if I were to recount all of my experiences here later on. As a disclaimer, I will generally be writing these posts at night (due to the timezone change), so pardon any grammatical or spelling errors along the way. In addition, I won't really be looking over the content that I'm writing, so I apologize if I don't make sense in places, or go off on tangents. Anyway, thanks for reading!
I'll begin by saying that this is my very first flight to the continent of Asia, and also my first flight taking a large Boeing 777 airplane to cross the ocean. We left the house at around 300, and our flight left at 600 to Houston. From there we went through a strenuous 14 hour flight from Texas to Tokyo, but it wasn't too bad in the end. The plane itself was fairly spacious, and every seat was equipped with a touch-screen containing movies, TV shows, and games. Pillows and blankets were also provided, along with meals that fit the location of our destination. It was just microwavable stuff (miso chicken and rice), but you know, better than peanuts and pretzels. By the time we arrived at the Tokyo Narita Airport, it was around 1400, making it in the evening or later in ABQ. Japan, even through just experiencing the airport part of it, was essentially what I imagined. Nice people, clean facilities. I bought myself some Pocari Sweat (aka sour, diluted Gatorade), and sat for a good three hours before the final flight to Ho Chi Minh City. It was funny hearing the flight announcers (or whatnot) as they attempted to pronounce Western names, saying that their flight was waiting for them or they had something to pick up.
After another six hour flight, and additional miso chicken with noodles, we finally arrived in Ho Chi Minh City... and pretty late as well. I would say that it was a good 2100 when we arrived there, making it 900 in the morning in ABQ. I have to say that the jetlag is real. My brain was just destroyed when we landed; body exhausted but mind thinking "I'm supposed to be up I suppose?" Our family greeted us at the entrance, with about 10 members coming to meet us and take our luggage, and we quickly piled into a taxi to head home.
The culture shock is real. The very first thing I noticed was how lively the city was at night. There were tons of people sitting on the sidewalk eating and chatting, and lots of motorbikes and cars/vans on the road. The traffic system was also a new experience. There were very few traffic lights, and instead it seemed like people just smashed themselves into the road, magically maneuvering themselves without crashing to their destination. No joke about the crashing part, our taxi driver nearly collided with two bicyclists, and both the driver of the taxi and bike seemed to just brush it off as if it was a daily occurrence, and I'm pretty sure it is. In terms of temperature, it had just rained in the evening, so when we arrived, it was fairly damp and humid, as well as being mildly warm, but nothing too bad. I would say it's similar to weather in Austin so far. And finally, in terms of smell... It's pretty much like all the smells of Asian supermarkets you go to. Just add a little bit of cigarette smoke, exhaust emissions, and incense here and there. Not a big surprise.
The house we arrived in was lodged in between two businesses, right in the middle of the city. There was no A/C, with just fans that oscillated around, and I noticed several motorbikes parked inside. The house itself was very open, with few doors, and a bunch of interconnecting rooms. A bit dirtier than houses in the US, but it was fine. There I met some of my cousins, aunts, and uncles, and we sat down to eat chao and discuss. My Vietnamese speaking skills were tested, and I performed fairly well considering I don't speak much at home, but there are some things I didn't understand. Not to mention I was extremely tired as well, and just wanted to go back to the hotel for now. The hotel we stayed at was actually about a 2 minute walk from the house, which was quite the convenience. The room itself is very nice as well, considering it's a room located in the bustle of Ho Chi Minh City, and a mere 50 US dollars a night. Hooray for Cartoon Network and Disney Channel in English!! (with Vietnamese subtitles) That pretty much sums up my adventures for Day 0. I will probably keep the reports shorter this time (It is currently 2:20am as I'm writing this, and I still need to get to Day 1)
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Day 1
Awake at 800, we headed back down to the house and gathered up some of the family for breakfast. Already I noticed the higher amount of people driving on the road, and the tons of businesses (in buildings and on the side of the road) open and ready. After arriving at the house, we proceeded to our restaurant for breakfast.
A pho restaurant.
I myself wasn't surprised by this, but you know, people might expect iHop or Denny's or whatever. I'm pretty sure we're going to be having Vietnamese entrees for breakfast every day here.
We had to cross a major road to get to the restaurant, and I must say, it was quite cool. Think of playing Frogger. Yeah, that's pretty much what it is. It's essentially walking at a slow pace as you look at cars, vans, and motorbikes zoom past you by just a couple of feet. By zoom I mean maybe just 15-20 mph... oh wait, 15-20 * 1.6 = 20-something km/h? They use the metric system here as well. Like all countries except 'Merica. Anyway, I might post up some video footage later on this. It definitely seemed to be a normal thing when we entered the restaurant and saw people of all ages packed in the building. Cleanliness was on the low side. Food and chopsticks were all over the ground, and when I sat down, I noticed that the table was still wet from the guy who briefly cleaned the table with a soaked cloth. I avoided eating some of the foods that seemed unsafe, and also stayed away from drinking anything from a glass cup, drinking from a water bottle instead.
After breakfast, we went over to the An Dong Plaza / Shopping Center, and we looked at tons of kiosks that sold an assortment of clothing, apparel, statues, Buddhas, iPhone/iPad cases, Hello Kitty things, etc. Now, let's start with the piracy part of it.
I bought some ABERCONNIE AND FICHE sandals for a good three dollars. They had some awesome NIKKE shoes and JUIOY CCOUTRE. Yeah. I mean, most of the items looked like real brand-name things until you touched them. Some of the things even used the exact same name. But when you held the shoe in your hand and looked at it, you could see the discrepancies that made it not the real thing. Still, I shall be reexamining these items, and may buy some in the future. Ultimately, the piracy is real in Vietnam. However, piracy also comes at a low price.
After that we headed down to another shopping center, and I saw tons of dried seafood items, and more kiosks that sold clothing. We stopped at a food court to buy some drinks. The businesses there were desperate for people, and immediately we were greeted by many people coercing us to sit at their area. While sitting and drinking, we were also approached by a man selling cookbooks. Quite the persistent one, who demanded that we buy a book until my aunt went up and was like, "get outta mah face". The drinks were good, and only costed a dollar. Everything is cheap here. EXCEPT brand name stuff. We also toured some of the roadside vendors in the area, and I saw lots of unique fruits that you generally don't see in the US. Fruits were really sweet and tasty in Vietnam. It was also apparently the season for them, so that was a plus.
For the rest of the afternoon/night we stayed over at the house, and caught up with our family members. I met a cousin of mine who was 21 years old, who helped me get my Vietnam SIM card in my phone, and another cousin, 12, who I mainly talked to. He understood some English, and helped me improve my Vietnamese speaking as I continuously spoke to him about things. I showed him some games on my iPhone. He was quite impressed that I had a score of 271 on Flappy Bird, and got a 4096 tile in 2048. He told me he never even got close to those scores. I also showed him my 3DS, and after just taking it out, a bunch of my littler cousins, age 5-10, rushed over and asked if I had Pokemon. I told them yes, and they shouted "OH SNAP, THIS IS CRAZY" (in Vietnamese I guess) every time they saw a legendary Pokemon they knew. I let them have the 3DS for a bit as they used my overpowered Pokemon to beat the Elite Four. Overall, I enjoyed meeting all of my cousins and family, and I was getting a little more comfortable being with them, and being able to respond in Vietnamese. It's weird how I still remember how to speak it. Anyway, that is all for Day 1. Will be able updating everyone again tomorrow! I may also add some more pictures.. It's 3AM now. Gotta go.
You need to buy some BOLEX watch and SIEEKO also.
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