The Bug
Well, I tried to ‘go native’ or ‘when in Rome’ or any of those other little phrases that indicate that you are trying to act like the culture you are living in, but tonight I draw the line.
For the last few nights, we have had the balcony doors open after dark and the fan on instead of the AC. Part of this was to save energy, and part was that I had gotten a sinus infection from too much AC and wanted to try a new approach. It didn’t work.
Shortly after nightfall, a HUGE wasp came cruising in and made a beeline (bwah ha ha-get it?? BEE line?? Hee hee hee) for the light above Anthony’s bed. I mean, seriously, it was like a B-52 bomber. (Oh just let me get this last one in, would you?) This thing had the girth of my ring finger and was about half that long. With a noticeable, sizeable stinger, I might add. We could clearly distinguish the stinger from across the room—without my glasses on. And it was red. Pollination is most assuredly a secondary function of Red Bugs. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that their primary function is to STING. Hence, NO ONE was going to bed with that thing in the room.
I sent Anthony in search of help, but the only person at the desk was the Useless Child (don’t ask) and so I went in search myself. I found the guy who is our usual front desk help, the guy we adore and bring food to occasionally. I dragged him to our room and pointed at the Red Bug. He kind of laughed, went and got a broom, and chased the thing around the room for a bit (Anthony and I hid near the bathroom door, just in case we needed to put something between it and us.) He finally got it killed and swept it out the door. I’m sure he has a story to tell about the cowering Americans who were afraid of The Red Bug, but that’s fine.
Tomorrow, before dusk, the balcony doors get closed and the AC goes on. Hell, I may not even open the doors after 4:00, just to be safe.
Map of Vietnam
Monday, July 19, 2010
Kim Loan Trucks
Hung Bui's mom owns a car dealership, which we visited, outside of HCMC. It was so fun to see the trucks that she imports from the US and Korea! We had a wonderful afternoon going out to visit her shop.
Anet's Visit
So, many of you know that Annette traveled through Vietnam from June 19 to July 14 or so, then went on to Cambodia. We got together on the 12th and had a couple of beers and did some art shopping near her hotel. Her hotel people are fabulous and helpful, and I highly recommend them: Saigon Sports Hotel 1. There are 3 of them in District 1 of HCMC. Her hotel is booking our Mekong Delta tour, by the way.
The artist who did my 'Sunflowers' oil painting was darling. They got a kick out of the fact that the $2 I had left over was going for "beer money"!The telephone lines downtown are one of a kind, so I took a few pictures. Anet says she's never seen anything like it anywhere in the world. I thought Tony would get a kick out of it. They've even made T-Shirts about it!!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Cholon Market Pictures
We went to CholonMarket the first or second week we were here, but I never uploaded the pictures, so here they are! By the way, don't ask me what any of this stuff is. I have no idea for most of it. I just liked the pictures.
Booking the next Hotel
Booking a Hotel to Mui Ne
OK, I wasn’t going to go to Mui Ne/Phan Thiet. I was going to go to Nha Trang, but my boss’s wife and all the girls at the office insisted that going to Phan Thiet would be so much better, and Ms. Ouahn said she would get the train tickets for me (I’ll pay her back, but she’ll take care of finding them and getting them), so I looked into booking a hotel.
Well, the Thai Hoa hotel I wanted didn’t seem to have an online booking option, so I sent an email, and they confirmed my hotel dates, but would not hold my room without either a wire transfer of funds or a credit card payment where I had to fill out this form and then fax it to them—by today. I don’t have a fax, but there is a little travel agency next to my hotel where although they don’t really speak English, I figured if they read my email from the hotel and called him, they could book it with my credit card. What a ridiculous mess.
First, they tried to talk me into a different hotel, because the one I chose was only 2 stars. By then, Nguyen Thi had shown up, so she could interpret, and I asked how much the 3 star hotels they were recommending would cost. About $80. Well, my room was going to be $40, which was one of the cheapest in town. I wanted my Thai Hoa hotel. No? They couldn’t book that hotel? Well, I might as well leave, then. Pissed, I might add.
I snapped my computer shut and started putting on my shoes. Suddenly, they agreed to call the hotel I wanted. However, when they came back from their back rooms, after talking to my hotel, the nightly price of my room had gone up to $50/night! What the hell??? I smiled and said thank you so much but no (come on, people, the numbers were in my email that I showed you) and Nguyen and I went back to my hotel.
Later, she called the Thai Hoa hotel for me. First, she saved me $5 a night, as she got the price down to $35. Then, she arranged for their emissary to come to my hotel on Monday at 1:00 to take my cc payment and thus secure my room. And that travel agency couldn’t manage any of this??? Last, she admonished me for not asking her to do it all in the first place—but I didn’t want to bother her!! Next time, of course, I will bother her first.
OK, I wasn’t going to go to Mui Ne/Phan Thiet. I was going to go to Nha Trang, but my boss’s wife and all the girls at the office insisted that going to Phan Thiet would be so much better, and Ms. Ouahn said she would get the train tickets for me (I’ll pay her back, but she’ll take care of finding them and getting them), so I looked into booking a hotel.
Well, the Thai Hoa hotel I wanted didn’t seem to have an online booking option, so I sent an email, and they confirmed my hotel dates, but would not hold my room without either a wire transfer of funds or a credit card payment where I had to fill out this form and then fax it to them—by today. I don’t have a fax, but there is a little travel agency next to my hotel where although they don’t really speak English, I figured if they read my email from the hotel and called him, they could book it with my credit card. What a ridiculous mess.
First, they tried to talk me into a different hotel, because the one I chose was only 2 stars. By then, Nguyen Thi had shown up, so she could interpret, and I asked how much the 3 star hotels they were recommending would cost. About $80. Well, my room was going to be $40, which was one of the cheapest in town. I wanted my Thai Hoa hotel. No? They couldn’t book that hotel? Well, I might as well leave, then. Pissed, I might add.
I snapped my computer shut and started putting on my shoes. Suddenly, they agreed to call the hotel I wanted. However, when they came back from their back rooms, after talking to my hotel, the nightly price of my room had gone up to $50/night! What the hell??? I smiled and said thank you so much but no (come on, people, the numbers were in my email that I showed you) and Nguyen and I went back to my hotel.
Later, she called the Thai Hoa hotel for me. First, she saved me $5 a night, as she got the price down to $35. Then, she arranged for their emissary to come to my hotel on Monday at 1:00 to take my cc payment and thus secure my room. And that travel agency couldn’t manage any of this??? Last, she admonished me for not asking her to do it all in the first place—but I didn’t want to bother her!! Next time, of course, I will bother her first.
The Bus and District 1
The Majestic Hotel Coffee shop ;
After coffee at the Majestic, where Nguyen Thi’s friend showed up, we walked to “Old Market” which was just another little street market, and then to Ben Thanh Market, the motherlode of markets in Saigon. I can’t believe it took us 4 weeks to get to this place. It was a typical packed to the gills market made for foreigners to buy clothes, textiles, chopsticks, carvings, trays, bowls, lacquered dishes, etc. etc. Oh, yes and of course luggage and purses—same brands as Diamond Plaza, too, but probably not the same makers. The stalls are packed together, and they start to repeat themselves, and you get turned around and lose your direction and it doesn’t matter because eventually it opens onto a main thoroughfare in the middle or out a door to the street, where you can figure out which side of the building you just came out of. We popped out onto one of these places, and I looked ahead at the next stall, and I asked my counterparts, “Have we been here?” The girls said, “I don’t know” and Anthony said, “They repeat themselves” and some American woman standing near us pretty much agreed with that and laughed. Sadly, no pictures in Ben Thanh market, as there are ‘no picture’ signs everywhere, but it looks pretty much like Cholon, where I took lots of pictures and I think I uploaded them.
Did I mention that we walked to Ben Thanh in a monsoon downpour? Yes, we did. Through huge puddles of standing water, through gushing water down the street, and soaked through from head to toe. It’s monsoon season, by the way.
Well, once all of our money was spent we decided we had better take the bus home, so we caught a different bus --#3 – near the market, to ride as far as GoVap, and then we were going to catch the #18 from that stop, but Anthony saw the Big C grocery store and insisted we could walk. Well, I will never walk from Big C again, as it was a couple of miles in my soaking wet shoes and clothes, but it finished off an interesting day, and I slept like a baby last night.
I would like to say, for the record, that every time we have an expedition with Nguyen Thi Minh Thu, it pours, and we march through it, and I told her that he is officially my Rain Girl now. ha ha!
at the top of Diamond Plaza, in the arcade/bowling area
Well, the US government website listing all of the dangers and ‘be carefuls’ of VN, as well as one or two other sources, somewhat discouraged foreigners from taking the bus. Things get stolen, fares get changed, yahdi yahdi yahdi. Now, that’s all well and good, and I can see the negatives, but the bus is about a 25 cent ride all the way across town, 50 cents round trip, and the taxi is a little closer to $20, round trip, depending on the driver’s choice of roads and the traffic on those roads, which is nothing to sneeze at and certainly something to behold, particularly in rush hour, which seems to be most of the hours of the day, or at least those in which we travel. Therefore, yesterday we took a bus!
Of course, we asked Nguyen Thi Minh Thu to help us, as we always rely on her here, and she went with us. She had even researched, on the internet map, the fastest and least dangerous way to get to the bus stop, which was down 3 alleys that we can probably find our way down again from the hotel to the bus stop, but might not be able to do backwards. Unfortunately, we certainly can’t do it backwards, which is really too bad, for there was nary a car to be seen on that walk!!
It popped us out on a 6-lane road with a divider (not the kind you stand on, just the kind that sticks up like a short fence) across the two directions. Our goal was to cross that street without getting hit. Now, that’s no small task on a regular street around here, but those 6-laners with dividers are ‘meant’ to drive faster, so it’s even more challenging for pedestrians. Since I am now typing this the next morning, you can see that we survived, but we may choose to go down to the intersection light, a short walk down the street, and cross there, where the cars at least have to stop at some point, in theory if not in practice. At least there, we generally only have to look ONE way when we cross.
Anyway, we crossed the street and waited for BUS 18, which, when it arrived, was relatively empty and we got the first two seats! The bus looked exactly like the busses that I took in Korea every morning, same seats, handrails, etc. etc. That was reassuring. The payment system, on the other hand, was a lot different. There is a ‘porter’ on the bus, and when you sit down, he asks you where you are going. The amount you pay is dependent on how far you are going. This is where foreigners get stuck, sometimes, paying a bit ‘extra’ although the difference between 3,000 vnd and 5,000 vnd is far smaller than the difference between a bus and a taxi ride. It was 3,000 for each of us and we paid and got our ticket from him, and that was that. The bus took about 45 minutes to get downtown, and we could follow the streets and get our bearings easily because we were up high and able to see everything.
The bus stopped at Diamond Plaza, a large and very expensive shopping center/4 story building. It had ALL the name brands for bags, cosmetics, and some clothing (including Ecko), all priced at US prices and beyond. We saw a lot of people looking, but very few people buying. On the 4th floor, however, there was a video arcade, 2 bowling alleys (using blacklights) an ice cream shop, a bar, pool tables, a Pizza Hut and a KFC. This is all in addition to the food court on the 3rd floor! Anthony played a couple of shooting games—I saw him log in the high score on one—and had some ice cream, and then we ate at the food court.
We left Diamond Plaza and started walking the several blocks down the street to the Majestic hotel, a 125 year old icon decorated in French Colonial style. I wanted to have coffee there. On the way, we saw “Lucky Plaza,” and thought, what the hell, let’s go in. I’m so glad we did! They had ALL the doo-dads for sale at all the markets, and it was fun to check on prices and barter. I will never find the scarf deal I got in Cholon, and paid twice as much for the scarves I bought here than I did there, but still today’s price was half of what they are everyplace else. When you walk past the stalls, they call out, “Hello Madame, please look,” and “Madame! Buy here, I have the best price.” When you do stop to look and ask a price, they tell you one, then you balk, and they say, “Oh but you are my first customer today” (even though it is noon and the place is buzzing) “so for you…” and they give you a better price, maybe 10,000 vnd less, which is about 50 cents. It’s all fun. We found the greatest T-Shirt for Anthony, and I took a picture of my 2 favorites so Tony can see them and choose. Anthony cleaned out his wallet on a Playboy Zippo lighter. He’s collecting them.
We were half way through the Lucky Plaza when it started to DOWNPOUR. We tried to wait it out, but I got too impatient, and we decided to hop out into it and head to the Majestic. It was a very short walk, but by the time we got there, we were drenched. I laughed as I looked at the doorman, and he laughed and said, “Shower!” Yup. Looked like I had showered with my clothes on, and I was walking into a 5-star 125 year old icon. That’s me. I had a hot Bailey’s coffee, the first of my stay, and it was wonderful and very expensive. Nguyen Thi looked at the prices and said, “Oh, it’s so expensive!” I said, “I don’t care. We’re only going to do this once.” I used my last $20 bill, but the coffee shop and lobby were extraordinary, and I learned that the restaurant had a reasonably priced 6-course lunch and dinner (set menu) there every day. It might make a nice lunch excursion after teaching one day.
Of course, we asked Nguyen Thi Minh Thu to help us, as we always rely on her here, and she went with us. She had even researched, on the internet map, the fastest and least dangerous way to get to the bus stop, which was down 3 alleys that we can probably find our way down again from the hotel to the bus stop, but might not be able to do backwards. Unfortunately, we certainly can’t do it backwards, which is really too bad, for there was nary a car to be seen on that walk!!
It popped us out on a 6-lane road with a divider (not the kind you stand on, just the kind that sticks up like a short fence) across the two directions. Our goal was to cross that street without getting hit. Now, that’s no small task on a regular street around here, but those 6-laners with dividers are ‘meant’ to drive faster, so it’s even more challenging for pedestrians. Since I am now typing this the next morning, you can see that we survived, but we may choose to go down to the intersection light, a short walk down the street, and cross there, where the cars at least have to stop at some point, in theory if not in practice. At least there, we generally only have to look ONE way when we cross.
Anyway, we crossed the street and waited for BUS 18, which, when it arrived, was relatively empty and we got the first two seats! The bus looked exactly like the busses that I took in Korea every morning, same seats, handrails, etc. etc. That was reassuring. The payment system, on the other hand, was a lot different. There is a ‘porter’ on the bus, and when you sit down, he asks you where you are going. The amount you pay is dependent on how far you are going. This is where foreigners get stuck, sometimes, paying a bit ‘extra’ although the difference between 3,000 vnd and 5,000 vnd is far smaller than the difference between a bus and a taxi ride. It was 3,000 for each of us and we paid and got our ticket from him, and that was that. The bus took about 45 minutes to get downtown, and we could follow the streets and get our bearings easily because we were up high and able to see everything.
The bus stopped at Diamond Plaza, a large and very expensive shopping center/4 story building. It had ALL the name brands for bags, cosmetics, and some clothing (including Ecko), all priced at US prices and beyond. We saw a lot of people looking, but very few people buying. On the 4th floor, however, there was a video arcade, 2 bowling alleys (using blacklights) an ice cream shop, a bar, pool tables, a Pizza Hut and a KFC. This is all in addition to the food court on the 3rd floor! Anthony played a couple of shooting games—I saw him log in the high score on one—and had some ice cream, and then we ate at the food court.
We left Diamond Plaza and started walking the several blocks down the street to the Majestic hotel, a 125 year old icon decorated in French Colonial style. I wanted to have coffee there. On the way, we saw “Lucky Plaza,” and thought, what the hell, let’s go in. I’m so glad we did! They had ALL the doo-dads for sale at all the markets, and it was fun to check on prices and barter. I will never find the scarf deal I got in Cholon, and paid twice as much for the scarves I bought here than I did there, but still today’s price was half of what they are everyplace else. When you walk past the stalls, they call out, “Hello Madame, please look,” and “Madame! Buy here, I have the best price.” When you do stop to look and ask a price, they tell you one, then you balk, and they say, “Oh but you are my first customer today” (even though it is noon and the place is buzzing) “so for you…” and they give you a better price, maybe 10,000 vnd less, which is about 50 cents. It’s all fun. We found the greatest T-Shirt for Anthony, and I took a picture of my 2 favorites so Tony can see them and choose. Anthony cleaned out his wallet on a Playboy Zippo lighter. He’s collecting them.
We were half way through the Lucky Plaza when it started to DOWNPOUR. We tried to wait it out, but I got too impatient, and we decided to hop out into it and head to the Majestic. It was a very short walk, but by the time we got there, we were drenched. I laughed as I looked at the doorman, and he laughed and said, “Shower!” Yup. Looked like I had showered with my clothes on, and I was walking into a 5-star 125 year old icon. That’s me. I had a hot Bailey’s coffee, the first of my stay, and it was wonderful and very expensive. Nguyen Thi looked at the prices and said, “Oh, it’s so expensive!” I said, “I don’t care. We’re only going to do this once.” I used my last $20 bill, but the coffee shop and lobby were extraordinary, and I learned that the restaurant had a reasonably priced 6-course lunch and dinner (set menu) there every day. It might make a nice lunch excursion after teaching one day.
After coffee at the Majestic, where Nguyen Thi’s friend showed up, we walked to “Old Market” which was just another little street market, and then to Ben Thanh Market, the motherlode of markets in Saigon. I can’t believe it took us 4 weeks to get to this place. It was a typical packed to the gills market made for foreigners to buy clothes, textiles, chopsticks, carvings, trays, bowls, lacquered dishes, etc. etc. Oh, yes and of course luggage and purses—same brands as Diamond Plaza, too, but probably not the same makers. The stalls are packed together, and they start to repeat themselves, and you get turned around and lose your direction and it doesn’t matter because eventually it opens onto a main thoroughfare in the middle or out a door to the street, where you can figure out which side of the building you just came out of. We popped out onto one of these places, and I looked ahead at the next stall, and I asked my counterparts, “Have we been here?” The girls said, “I don’t know” and Anthony said, “They repeat themselves” and some American woman standing near us pretty much agreed with that and laughed. Sadly, no pictures in Ben Thanh market, as there are ‘no picture’ signs everywhere, but it looks pretty much like Cholon, where I took lots of pictures and I think I uploaded them.
Did I mention that we walked to Ben Thanh in a monsoon downpour? Yes, we did. Through huge puddles of standing water, through gushing water down the street, and soaked through from head to toe. It’s monsoon season, by the way.
Well, once all of our money was spent we decided we had better take the bus home, so we caught a different bus --#3 – near the market, to ride as far as GoVap, and then we were going to catch the #18 from that stop, but Anthony saw the Big C grocery store and insisted we could walk. Well, I will never walk from Big C again, as it was a couple of miles in my soaking wet shoes and clothes, but it finished off an interesting day, and I slept like a baby last night.
I would like to say, for the record, that every time we have an expedition with Nguyen Thi Minh Thu, it pours, and we march through it, and I told her that he is officially my Rain Girl now. ha ha!
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