Vietnam

I'm finally here! After 13 1/2 hours on a plane from San Francisco to Taipei, a 3 hour wait, then a 3 1/2 hour plane ride from Taipei to Ho Chi Minh City (HCM), I checked into An An Hotel with my mom and caught up with friends who have settled in for a week now. To make my travel blog a lot more convenient to read, it will just be a photographic account (and brief commentary) from now on. Sorry for the lack of depth and detail, but if you'd like to hear more about anything specifically, feel free to e-mail me!

So here goes...

17 total hours on an airplane. EVA Air. Over the Pacific Ocean. That's 17 hours of eating, sleeping, reading, and doodling in my sketchbook.

Chicken and Pasta. My super late dinner on board. I had two more similar to this. EVA takes good care of their guests, whether you're first class or travelling economy.

The street outside our hotel, An An, in Saigon.

The view from my hotel room. The nine-story hotel hovers over the surrounding housing complexes. Rust-colored and age-worn, balconies and miniature gates line the rooftops.

My room. Not exactly New World Hotel, but for 30 USD a night, it's a spotless clean and comfortably furnished living space with the necessary amenities. Recommended.

A few sights along the ride in the city:

The main mode of transportation. Come 5pm, streets are packed with these. Jay Walk carefully. There are few crosswalks and way too many toes in danger of being run over. I speak from experience.

If you look closely, people are wearing face masks. There's so much pollution. LA is GREEN by comparison.

Industrialization in progress.

Diamond Plaza, one of Saigon's upscale shopping centers. It used to be the Jeancontre headquarters for importing foreign automobiles by Peugeot. My grandfather worked as their supervisor of accounting in the 60s.

In the center of Saigon stands the statue of Tran Nguyen Hang, a historic hero.

My first dinner

Translation: Restaurant of Good Eats. Story has it, the owner is a Vietnamese American who hired all the owners of his favorite street vendors, and combined them here to provide guests with one of the best variety menus in the city.

You would normally see this on a sidewalk. The restaurant has one room in the center of a courtyard. Folks can choose to dine either inside or outside.

The entrance to the courtyard.

The hut in the middle of the center room. No cooking is done here, but they do take care of all the drinks and desserts, including a fresh-cut coconut my mom had.

Bun Bo Hue

Dining tables circle the drink hut. Each had its own waiter in white.

Chao Tom & Banh Hoi
Shrimp Paste on sugar cane and vermicelli patty.

Goi Bo Bop Thau
A salad/slaw with beef and starfruit.

Our meal of 5 entrees, 2 drinks, 2 teas, and 3 desserts served 4 people for a whopping 181,000 VN Dong... which is really only $12.48 USD.