I woke up yesterday morning with chills, an upset stomach, and a headache. I seem to have caught a small virus from eating something. I knew it was only a matter of time. Fortunately, due to the warm weather of Vietnam, I still was able to walk around without feeling any chills. The sickness wasn't too bad overall either, and I just needed to lay down for a bit. The headache did mess me up for most of the day though, and it also affected my eyes, making them really tired as we went along. It may also be why I'm writing this post slightly late.
We began Day 4 with the tradition of going to the house and gathering family members to eat "breakfast". Today was my favorite day of all for breakfast, as we got to eat Bun Bo Hue. Bun Bo's my favorite Vietnamese dish, and probably my favorite my favorite food of all, so I know what tastes good and what's not. At last, I was finally able to taste the dish from its source. There's still some small sanitary problems when eating at restaurants like these. Cups might be dirty, water might be tainted, chopsticks and other utensils might need to be cleaned. There's still the whole thing with the lack of sweeping the floors, so there's still food and other residue on the ground. At the restaurant, the bun bo hue was prepared right in front of us, and the waiter used primarily his hands to grab noodles, meat, and vegetables from bowls to ours. It might not be sanitary, but hey, sacrifices must be made. The warm weather combined with the steaming hot, spicy bun bo made me sweat the virus out, and I felt better for the rest of the day. Ultimately, I give the bun bo a solid 9.
For some who may be wondering why some Viet restaurants in the US fail to refill water, it's because restaurants in Vietnam don't give you any drinks until after you finish eating your food. In addition, when they do give drinks before the meal is out, they don't really drink much of the water at all until afterward. Just something that I noticed.
We called over a taxi after breakfast, and began our main event of the day: Heading over to the Province of Can Giuoc to visit my aunt Tuyen's house.
We sat in the taxi for a good 40-50 minutes, and made our way from the city to the countryside. I'm still overwhelmed by the massive amount of businesses that exist in Ho Chi Minh City. I wouldn't even know where to start. I seriously wonder if they have some kind of Yelp app here that helps you know what restaurant of the thousands within a mile radius is good. I suppose the advantage with having tons of people in one area is that the businesses are able to thrive and do well.
We crossed many bridges and I got to see many rivers. We also came across many tall, skyscraper-like buildings that were used for housing and additional business. However, what I noticed was that a lot of these buildings were not finished in construction, and it looked like they weren't going to be. Dad told me that the housing market crashed a couple of years ago, and as a result, the government ran out of money to continue building these housing structures. So you pretty much saw a bunch of skeletons of buildings scattered across the area.
We veered away from the main street to the countryside, and took a smaller side road to avoid delays. Even in the countryside, there were shops that lined both sides of street, all with different functions. Washing cars, eating food, buying things, using the internet, etc., etc. Along the way we also crossed over some very small bridges. Our taxi took up more of the space, and I looked and saw bikes go past me, only inches from hitting the taxi or the side of the bridge. There was even an occasion where we were going over a bridge, and encountered another truck crossing. It took a bit of time for us to reverse and let the other truck go, and we made a small traffic jam because of it. There were also many agricultural areas that surrounded the place, since the countryside was filled with trees and grass. We ran across a "shrimp farm", where a machine spun around in the water to make oxygen and raise shrimp for selling/eating. It was pretty cool to see, and was a nice change from the bustle of the city (but I like both sides).
At last we arrived at the house. It was fairly small and open, yet quite clean. I greeted my aunt as she was preparing food, and said hello to my cousins who were watching a movie. The house was much smaller than houses in the US, along with being much warmer. There was no A/C in the house, and only a couple of fans mounted on the walls provided cooling. I think I can see why my grandparents' house is always so hot and stuff all the time. It's because that's how it always is in Vietnam. Then again, maybe not. To wash our hands, we were given water pitchers to pour the water on our hands, since they had no sinks. As usual, we were met with tons of food. I ate as much as I could, and then went to sit with my cousins.
My cousins seem to be very fascinated with me. In fact, I have a personal fan. One of my cousins, Thu Linh, frequently fanned me as I sat, and when I tried to speak to her in my dodgy Vietnamese, she simply smiled at me, said she was shy, and continued to fan me. I think I'm speaking correctly. For the rest of the afternoon, we reunited, and eventually, I fell asleep for a couple hours until we had to leave.
On the way back, we encountered some major traffic. It was nothing I've ever seen. We were stuck in the middle of a four-way intersection, and I looked around as I saw tons of bikes crossing each other in all directions. Hundreds of bikes and cars everywhere. I have no idea how traffic works here.
Sometimes the best days are the days when you don't do much. I just enjoy exploring new places, and being able to meet new family members. I shall be off now, and I will try not to post so late next time. Till later.
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