On Monday morning, I took Anh Hung's three kids plus Linh to watch Cars 2 in 3D. Three adults and two child tickets went for about $22. Pretty expensive. The theatre was located in CT Plaza, right next to Tan Son Nhat Airport (Ho Chi Minh City's). The movie experience isn't much different from the States. The popcorn and soda were cheap but the taste quality stank. After the movies, the kids wanted KFC so we got some. The chicken isn't as good as the U.S. yet the price is about the same. The ketchup and hot sauce ain't up to par either. But the kids loved it.
Cars 2.After lunch, we went to this place nearby called Saigon Superbowl. This too is near the airport. We went here for the arcades. A token went for 2,000 VND each ($0.10). I traded 50,000 VND for 25 tokens - 5 each. That was more than enough. We played the basketball game, finding the difference between the two pictures game, puzzle bobble, and foosball.
We had to leave at 3:00PM because Mi had class at 3:30PM.
After taking the kids home, I left for Nhi Sam's house to visit Mommy and Sonny. I get there around 4:00PM and chill for a bit before heading out to the street vendor marketplace. Mommy and her sister went on one bike, while I rode with the smoker sibling, Hung (pronounced different from our cousin's name). This guy is the definition of a bum. He's 55, with no wife or job, smokes more than a pack a day (always smoking), sits on his butt all day, gambles any money he has away (made me wait 5 minutes on the bike while he ran across the street to buy some lotto tickets), didn't have a bike (until Mommy just bought him one a few weeks ago), etc. His life sucks and I feel sorry for him but I truly believe it could be different. Even over here, if you have the drive and just a little wisdom to work hard, you can lead a better life than this uncle of mine. He doesn't even help out around the house except for cooking once in awhile. I'm not sure what future he has left. It's never too late until you hit the graveyard but his habits are beyond bad. I paid for whatever he wanted at the outdoor market. I told him to pick out whatever he wanted and I'd pay for it. I also ate dinner with him and took him for coffee. He drives pretty reckless on the moped so I'm not going anywhere else with him on his bike.
Momma (red) and her sister Sam (rider).
Outdoor street market.
Eating bun bo in the streets.
Pomelo.
View from my coffee seat at a coffee stand in the street market.
We got back to Nhi Sam's house at around 7:00PM. This is when I found out that there are four college students renting out the second floor of my aunt's house. They share one small bedroom, one kitchen/laundry room/living room, a bathroom and a small wash corridor.
Everyone sleeps on a mat spread over the floor, although they don't consider this as sleeping on the floor. I interacted with 3 of the 4 roommates for about 3.5 hours and this is a small sample of what I discovered:
They pay $10 each a month for rent. An extra $3 a month for utilities. They make about $120 a month working 8 hour shifts with an hour break. Their tuition is about $300/year. They go to Nguyen Tat Thanh college. Their gas bill is about $10 to $15 a month. They all have cell phones but they don't use it much because it's expensive. They rarely eat out and cook almost everyday. They eat fairly healthy and more than enough. It's mostly canh (soup) and rice dishes (with chicken and veggies). Their days are long. One of them wakes up at 5:00AM and come home at 6:30PM. All of them leave the house for at least 13 hours a day. They clean and wash their area real well. They're all single ha.
I take a taxi home at 10:30PM, wash up and crash.
Photo of family photo.
Trong's room. This is where I crashed a couple times. No mattresses.
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