A Life to Travel: Vietnam - Saigon - Day 11

Monday July 25th, 2011

I wake up fairly early to some text updates from Sonny regarding Luong's status. They had taken him to a bigger hospital to run some more tests early in the morning. Thankfully, they cleared him to go home.

I get a fairly healthy breakfast and lunch in thanks to Chi Thu.

Canh ca.

Sauteed shrimp and pork belly.

Limes.

Sonny shows up around 1:00PM and we finally have some time to check out the city. All the major sites in Saigon are in District 1 (downtown area). Monkey, Linh, Chi Thu, and I take a taxi to the Bao Tang Chung Tich Chinh Tranh (War Remnants Museum).

Linh wanted to pay but I refused. I ended up regretting that decision. There's a sign at the ticket office that says it's 2,000 Dong for locals and 15,000 Dong for foreigners. A 7.5 times difference. Ridiculous. My brother and I had to pay $0.75, while Linh and Chi Thu got in for $0.10. Somehow they just knew we were outsiders. Our dress code and my LA Dodgers hat were clear giveaways.

The War Remnants Museum was pretty interesting. There were three floors in the single building. An actual-size but fabricated prison sat outdoors to the left of the entrance. Inside the outdoor prison were "tiger cages," and prison cells. Tanks, choppers, and jets were supplanted outside -- adjacent to the building and outdoor prison.

The pictures and paraphernalia on display in the museum were pretty ordinary stuff. There wasn't anything crazy except for the Agent Orange room. The biochemical results were painted all over the room. Pictures of men, women, and children all genetically effected biologically: deformed bodies, missing limbs, sagging faces, extra body parts, multiple tumors, etc.

The material is definitely bias. You hear and see nothing but bad things about the Americans. Ho Chi Minh is depicted as a great hero. The word communism is nowhere to be found. This is no surprise. History is "his story." The winners get to write the story. The VietCong, Khmer VietMinh, along with the rest of the northern Vietnamese army prevailed. They get to choose what goes on display.

Looking out from the front steps.

Guillotine.

Tiger cages.

After the museum, we walked two blocks over to the Dinh Thong Nhat (Reunification Palace). Linh and Chi Thu didn't wanna go in so we proceeded on over to Nha Tho Duc Ba (Notre Dame Cathedral). On the way over there, Sonny bought a coconut from a walking vendor and I bought a soda from a vending machine. The vending machine was across from the church, right next to the park. It was a weird place (weird cause we don't see this in the U.S.) to have a soda machine but I thought it was great placement (marketing-wise). Great placement because it definitely got me ha. We took some pictures of the church and the city's main post office. Both landmarks are right next to each other. We went inside the post office but not the church (the church was closed). I pulled some more money from an ATM inside. The ATMs in here have better exchange rates and the withdrawal amount is higher (up to $300 per day).

Reunification Palace (Dinh Thong Nhat).

Notre Dame Cathedral (Nha Tho Duc Ba), left side view.

Notre Dame Cathedral (Nha Tho Duc Ba).

Saigon's Main Post Office (Buu Dien Tan Pho).

When I was done pulling money, we got into a taxi and headed over to Cho Ben Thanh (Ben Thanh Market). We walked around the market area and didn't buy anything. It started to get real hot and the two girls couldn't think of any place to eat around there. So I asked for a good banh xeo spot and Chi Thu said there's one near the house. We flag down a taxi and head for the restaurant.

At nha hang (nha hang = restaurant) An La Ghien, we ordered 3 phan (phan = 1 order) goi cuon (spring rolls), 2 phan calamari, 2 phan egg rolls, and 4 banh xeo's (2 with shrimp and pork, and 2 with something Chi Thu wanted). The food was excellent. We only had to box home the calamari. Again, the girls didn't eat much and I had to eat most of it (I had no problem with this at all because I came to Vietnam to eat!). I flushed all of it down with some nuoc rau ma (pennywort juice).

Goi cuon.

We get done with the early dinner around 5:00PM and it's now raining outside. We catch another taxi even though the cousin's house is only 3 blocks away.

We washed up, and then Sonny and I, taxied over to Dong Phuong restaurant for Ba To's wedding. We get to the wedding early, say wassup to Ba To, then chill outside for our mom's party to show up. I bought a couple water bottles, and a pack of Wrigley's Doublemint at a vendor stationed nearby -- all for under a buck. My Mom eventually shows up with only Hung and Hang. Nhi Sam and Trong stayed home to look after and care for Luong. We all get seated at a table with some of my Mom's other siblings. Hieu (mom's little brother) was there. Thuy's (mom's little sister) husband was there but I forget his name. Some older lady was seated next to Mom. And I think another of mom's brother was next to Sonny. Hung was to my right.

When the food started to come out, the backdoor opened up so people can go in and out to use the restroom. A family of four pulled up some chairs and sat at our table. We now had 14 people at our table. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but after the 4th entree was served, the family abruptly left and never came back. I concluded that these were professional wedding crashers. They came in at the right time, sat at the right table, and left quickly enough before anyone knew what happened or what they looked like. Pretty shady but I thought it was brilliant. Why? The food was excellent and this is a great steal considering we were in the ghetto. Okay okay, this was wrong and should never happen. ;)

The wedding didn't have any differences from your typical Asian wedding. The couple walked down the aisle in the beginning and stood together up front while some dancing and singing went down. They walked around each table while people ate (with no camera crew following them).

I left the wedding early because I was dead tired. I was so drained to say the proper goodbyes so I just snuck out to the bathroom and never came back. I took a taxi to Nhi Sam's to see how Luong was doing. He was in his bedroom on the bed. I talked to him for a few minutes and got back into the taxi. When I got home, I washed up and slept.