Vietnam

Last night, we had dinner at the Rex

on a rooftop with palm trees and elephant statues.

There was a well-lit bar,

and a full house.

Mom and I,

and 10 other people, including Co Lan,

enjoyed drinks,

and Asian dishes like these.
There was a live band, and best of all, the rooftop was the best place to be on possibly the coolest night in Viet Nam in a while. For once, I was actually cold.

This morning, mom had a wake-up treat in store. We all climbed into a Vinasun Taxi,

and rode to the Golden Lotus Foot Massage Club, where we each got a 90 minute full body massage (even though it's called "Foot Massage". I know.) Let me tell you, it was WEIRD! I've been to Ole Henriksen in LA for a full swedish massage before, and it was so different. My masseuse, with his knees to his chest, hoisted me from under my back, and suspended my torso in the air as I teetered back and forth. More common techniques he used were walking on my back, which knocked the wind out of me, and cracking my neck, back, fingers, and toes, which I tend to cringe at the sound of. The best, though, was hearing my mom giggling and "oofing" in the lounge chair next to mine.

More shopping was done at An Dong Plaza,

then we drove home, crossing a very important bridge. This is cau sat, the FORMER steel bridge, significant because at the age of 5, my mother was almost pushed off of it while fighting with her four year old sister. Bittersweet, yes. Nostalgic, yes. haha.

We packaged more supplies,

and filled 25 bags with sweets and toys for more kids this coming Sunday until it was time for dinner.

Hai San Quy Thanh has one of the best seafood in the city.

Coconut snails, anyone?

We had shrimp the size of my hand,

crab,

and more snails.
As we were leaving, I went up to look at their display tank of fish. Nothing special usually. But here I saw KANJI painted onto the scales of the fish?

Things to look forward to: Saturday: wedding. Sunday: Orphanage in Sadec. Monday: possibly Nha Trang.