Vietnam Days 3,4,&%

                These next few days I spent in Ho Chi Minh City exploring and touring around the sites and museums.

                On the third day I hung out with Hannah. She and I decided to explore the city by foot and see all of the sites from both recent history and past history. We began our day by walking. We had a map with a few circles of things that we wanted to stop at and visit. While we were walking I noticed a park to our left. So we decided to stop and walk around and of course take pictures! While we were exploring the park I again noticed a group of people dancing. Hannah and I walked a little closer and realized that it was a show choir! I got so excited. I sat there watching them in awe, I could not believe that I was watching another group practice in the park. All of a sudden a flood of memories from Wavaires came back to me. I could help but laugh out loud and smile. When their practice was over I was actually given the opportunity to speak with some of them. The girls I spoke to were telling me that everyone in the group is a music major at the College of Ho Chi Minh City and that they were preparing for a concert. It was a great conversation even through the language barrier. As the group left we walked with them to finish our conversation and move on to our first official stop on the map. Our first stop was the War Remnants Museum. Except it was closed for lunch! We had spent so much time walking there that we showed up right as they were closing for lunch! 

                So we decided that it was time for lunch too. Hannah and I walked toward our next stop. On the way we found a cool little café that is known for their Vietnamese style pizza. So Hannah and I decided to stop in and try it. We were the only SAS people there which make for a great experience in itself. The language barrier was a challenge, but nothing that pointing to what we wanted on the menu could not handle. The pizza was delicious! I don’t remember what exactly was on it, but it doesn’t really matter because it was very tasty. After lunch we headed down to the Notre Dame Cathedral. This church is beautiful. It is in the middle of a busy street that stands majestically as a remembrance of the past. I was able to go in and see the tall ceilings and simple decoration. As Hannah and I were inside we noticed a sign that told of the services it would be having during Holy week. As I read this sign I realized that during Holy week I will be in China where it is still technically illegal to practice Christianity. This was not only very thought provoking, but also very sad for me. This will be the first Easter that I will not be able to openly celebrate.     

                After the Cathedral we visited the post office. I know that sounds crazy, but this old British Colonial building is one that everyone has to go see while they are here. The building has marble floors, tall cathedral style ceilings, and beautiful paintings on the walls. It was a quick stop to purchase stamps, but a stop that was beautiful and a great way to see what Vietnam was like when all buildings in the city used to look like this.

                After the Post Office we made a stop at the Opera House and the City Building. While we could not go into either of them we were able to take pictures and explore the outside of the buildings and landscape. They were stunning buildings.  Although it was very warm outside, I did not want to leave this historical district. However, I needed to in order to clean up before my evening plans

                After dinner Hannah, Keyla, and I went to see a Water Puppet Show. This was hilarious! Oh my goodness! I could not understand a word of it (obviously it was in Vietnamese), but I was able to understand what was going on through the actions of the puppets. Basically a water puppet show is where there is a small pool of water that puppets pop up out of the water and act out all actions. Then, there are about six people on the side of the stage who speak for the puppets and play instruments. In all it was one of the most entertaining things I have seen in a long time!

                The next day a small group of friends and I went to the War Remnants Museum. This museum was intense. The whole museum is about the Vietnam War. The museum has Anti-war posters from all over the world, pictures of during and post war, and the long term effects the war has had on the Vietnamese population. It was really difficult to walk through this museum and see the opposite side opinion of the Vietnam War. The most impactful part of the museum was the room that held all the pictures of the lasting effects since the war. All of the pictures were of children with birth defects whose parents were affected by Agent Orange. It was heart breaking. I’m still trying to process it all so I don’t really have much more to stay.

                After that I went shopping. I went to the Ben Than market which is an indoor, outdoor market that is full of both tourist and non-tourist items. I got my shop on!!!!! LOL My group spent a good portion of the afternoon shopping. It’s so tiring because the whole time you are bargaining and arguing and fighting off people who are trying to sell you something! I definitely enjoy shopping and bargaining especially in the Ben Than market. It was a blast, but exhausting! One of the best parts about the market is the fresh fruit and fruit juices! I think my favorite juice was the mango juice I had. I just loved everything about the Ben Than market. It made me very excited for the rest of Asia!

                On the last day I just got some lunch and picked up my dresses! They are beautiful. I cannot wait to wear them! Well, that is about it! My last few days in Vietnam were kind of chill but so much fun. I enjoyed the experience and the country in general. I will be in China actually tomorrow! I cannot wait to be there. It is going to be a great experience. Wish me luck traveling independently and I will see you all later!  

Vietnam Day 2

                Today was a day of many different experiences. The first thing that Hannah and I did was get our friend Emily. The three of us set off on a mission: to find a tailor. Well, needless to say that is not anywhere near in short supply here. We found one that many beautiful dresses in the styles that I was looking for, and for a reasonable price. So I was fitted for 2 dresses and Hannah just had one top made for her Sari that she bought in India. This took about an hour to get all the measurements and logistics figured out. I am so excited to see my dresses!

                After our fitting we decided to walk around for a few hours and just get a layout of the land. We found this cool shopping place called Saigon Square. Here we could buy things we would find in the U.S. but for less. We spent some time (well actually a lot more than we thought) and just looked around to see what we could find. This was good practice for converting Vietnamese Dong into U.S. dollars. 1 U.S. dollar is worth 21,000 Vietnamese Dong. So sticker shock occurred all the time in this port. I don’ t think any of us bought anything because we knew the market we would go to the next day would have better deals.

                While walking around Saigon Square I looked at my watch and realized it was noon! We had to get back to the ship for a quick lunch and then for a SAS trip to a school for the deaf. I know this is weird, but I’m going to talk about lunch! For lunch today we had pizza. It was not the best pizza in the whole world, but it was pretty good considering we live on a ship.

                OK, after lunch the three of us went to a school for the deaf. The school was in a very strange place. It was literally in an alley in the middle of a busy part of Ho Chi Minh City. There were only 43 students in the school and they ranged from 3 years old to 15. The principal told us that she started the school in 1989 when she discovered that students who were deaf were not getting an appropriate education in the city. Once the principal was finished with her introduction we were invited upstairs to play with the kids.

                While I enjoyed meeting the children it was a strange experience. Right off the back I could tell that they had visitors many times before. That in its self was hard because it felt like they were on display. I don’t know it was just sad almost. The students all ran up to us and picked someone to sit with. We all sat on the floor with some students and had the opportunity to try to speak with them. It was hard even though I knew some sign. Again, sign is just like any other language, it’s different everywhere you go. So even though the alphabet is similar it was very difficult to communicate with them. Thankfully the school provided us paper and some crayons to draw and write with. I really enjoyed this part of the day. I enjoyed trying to communicate without the paper and crayons. I was able to pretty effectively communicate with the little boy named Tung (pronounced like Thong).

                After about an hour and a half of time at the school we all went to the zoo with the children. This was interesting. The kids were honestly running around everywhere so it was more like babysitting than actually enjoying the zoo, but the kids loved it and so that was all that mattered. After running around like a crazy person at the zoo with the kids it was time to drop the kids back off at school and head to the bus. So, instead of going back to the ship a small group of 4 of us signed out of the trip and stayed at the zoo.

                Now I had the chance to see the animals. Wow, were they in bad shape. I don’t really know what to say about the zoo except that if this zoo were in the states it would be shut down. This really shocked me. I guess I had never thought a zoo in a different country would be that much different than the ones in the states. It was just very heart breaking.

After the zoo we decided to grab some dinner. We wandered around the city looking for a restaurant. Okay wait, we were not really wandering. In fact, I knew exactly where we were going. I had found this cool sounding restaurant in a guide book that we wanted to try. So after about a 20 minute walk with crossing all of the crazy streets we finally found Bo Tung Xeo. This cool little place has a meat dish that the restaurant is named after that we ate. Basically the restaurant brings you the meat in a sauce raw and you cook it on a coal fire that they bring to the table. It was so much fun! I think that it is safe to say that we all enjoyed the meal, and it was very inexpensive. I think my favorite part about it though was the fact that there were no other SAS people there. It is so fun to find a cool and unique place where no one else in the group has found or is not there with you. This way I feel like we got a better experience because we were intermixed with tables full of locals. It was just a very fun night!

                Once we finished dinner we walked back to the shuttle that took us to the ship. By this time it is well past dark. Night life in Vietnam is so fun! It is full of music and people and street vendors; it is something I feel like I can describe effectively. I just loved it! Don’t worry it is very safe to walk around in a group at night. Once we got back to the ship Hannah and I sat up talking about the day we had just experienced, both good and bad, and discussed our plans for the next day.

                As I went to bed I began to wonder what the day would be like tomorrow. I was so excited to see what else Vietnam could show me. All I knew was that I had had 2 totally different and very unique days so far, and I could only hope that the best was yet to come.

Vietnam Day 1

                Today I had a relatively regular start. The shipboard community only had to get our landing cards from immigration. We did not have to have face to face immigration like many other countries we have visited. So I was up at 8 and off the ship by 9am. I walked around just for a few minutes with a group of friends. Then our plans changed a little so the group split in half based on what we wanted to do.

                My group decided we wanted to go to Mekong Delta; a small group of islands around the Mekong River. My small group of friends consisted of me, Keyla, and Alexa. We found a very nice taxi driver who gave us a great deal to take us to the river and back which was about an hour and a half each way. The drive was unique. I was able to see all sides of Vietnam from the city, the rural areas, and the almost untouched natural landscapes.

The ride did not seem to take that long as I stared out the window trying to soak it all in. Even though I was in a nicely air conditioned car I could still feel the heat from the sun. The weather while we are in Vietnam is supposed to be in the mid to upper 90’s, very humid, and thunderstorms all week.  It was barely 10am and the sun was already almost at its highest temperature for the day. We all hoped that the river would help cool it down some for us as we were about to spend the day on the water.

Once we arrived at the Mekong Delta we could tell we were going to have a great day. We got into this small engine boat that would hold about 8 people plus a driver. The three of us got to sick back and relax with our taxi driver and the tour guide of the Mekong. The first thing we did was go eat lunch. The river ride took about 20 minutes to get to this Island called Phoenix Island. As we stepped onto the island we were rudely awoken by the site of tombs everywhere. Our guide told us that the tombs are from people who died during the Vietnam War. This was our first encounter with the remains of the war. It struck us all hard I think. I could not believe that there were no cemeteries. There were just tombs in the middle of a piece of land with people’s names on them. It was definitely a wakeup call.

At the place where I ate lunch I got to see tiger prauns which come from the Mekong River, and Elephant fish. This is a huge fish that are gray in color and other than that I have no idea why they are called elephant fish. This is actually what Keyla and Alexa ordered for lunch. I would have tried it but they cook it in peanut oil so there went that meal choice. While I wait for my Pho, which is a very popular soup in Vietnam, we held a python! He was huge; I bet he weighed over 20 pounds. It was scary but really cool only because he just chilled on my shoulders and didn’t try to eat me!  Lunch was delicious and gave us full belly’s to explore the other islands on.

After lunch we took a donkey ride. Instead of using horses (which I have not seen any of) to pull carts, they use donkeys. So we took a 10 minute donkey ride back to the water. Here we got to see another part of the island; a more developed side. I think one of the best parts of the day was being able to see almost any and every form of living in Vietnam.  Once back on the water we went to another island. On this island we got to see how coconut candy is made. They grind up the coconut, add sugar and milk I think, mix it very well for 45 minutes and then let it cool. Once it is cool they cut it into long stripes, then into squares, and finally package it to be sold. I tried the chocolate coconut and it was delicious! I bought some to bring back to the states. After seeing how the candy was made we walked over a bridge to another island. On this island we only walked around to see another island. This one was very underdeveloped; it looked as though no one actually lived on the island unlike the other ones.

Our last island that we went to was Unicorn Island. To get to Unicorn Island we had to take row boats. This was a blast. Two women rowed a boat with the five of us in it. The smaller part of the river that we went down was totally shaded by trees. It reminded me of a scene from The Jungle Book. The one where Balu and Mogly are swimming in the river and there are trees and wild animals around. Well it was exactly like that only not quite as much of a jungle as a tropical forest. I think that just traveling down this part of the river was my favorite part of the day. It was near silent, shaded, secluded, and in the heart of Vietnam culture.

Once we arrived at Unicorn Island we were once again greeted by a few tombs. Walking in a little further we came upon this cool little café style restaurant. Here we were able to listen to live Vietnamese music and try some of the local fruit and tea. This was a great cultural experience. We were the only “non-locals” in the place so it felt more natural than if I had been with a huge group of tourists. It was just overall a very enjoyable part of the day.

Our last stop on this over 4 hour excursion was to stop and see some honey bee farms. Here we once again, were offered the opportunity to try some Vietnamese tea with fresh honey in it. Oh my, it was delicious; almost my favorite tea of the trip to date. I decided to also buy some fresh honey to take back to the states to use in a similar style. I just love natural sweeteners!  This sweetness meant the end of our tour though. We got back into our small engine wood boat and traveled a half hour back to the mainland where we got back into the taxi and went back to the ship.

Once we arrived safely back to the ship we decided to grab some dinner. We ate at this really neat sushi place. I’m not a sushi fan so I had a Vietnamese chicken dish, but the atmosphere was fun to be in. The three of us sat at dinner discussing all the cool things we had just witnessed at the Mekong Delta. It was a delicious and relaxing dinner. Then after dinner I was able to Skype not only my parents, but also my California family! What a great surprise to get to see them.

     I know it seems like an early night, but in reality I was up for quite a while. I went back to the ship in a great mood and ready for whatever the next day would bring!

Hello!!!

Hi everyone!

I'm sorry that I have not sent as many pictures as I would have liked. My Internet connections are just not very good. I can't wait to be back in the states so that I can show everyone all of my pictures. Here are just a few random things that I want to share with you all...
1. When I was in Singapore I was officially half way around the world from Ohio. So now everywhere I go I am getting closer to the states and back with you all!
2. I'm currently in Vietnam and having a great time.
3. The ports are going to get closer and closer so my time for blogging while be less and less because I have to do school work too. So please bear with me while I try to keep you all informed in what I am doing.

OK, I hope that everyone is doing great. The closer I get to the end of the voyage the more I feel conflicted. Part of me doesn't want this awesome life experience to end and the other part of me cannot wait to get back to the states and see everyone, sleep in my own bed, have my mother's wonderful meals, and so much more. However, I still have about 5 weeks left so I still get to experience so much. These next few weeks are going to fly! I miss you all and I can't wait to see you all and hear about your lives while I was gone.

Until next time...Bon Voyage:-)

Singapore

                Hello from Singapore! This was a jammed packed 12 hours. The morning started REALLY slow. The alarm went off and I lay back in bed simply to wake up in the warmth because no matter how warm Hannah and I set our room temperature it is always freezing. Well, needless to say I fell back asleep and Hannah and I were abruptly awoken by our P.A. announcer Stewart telling all students to go and get their passports for immigration, and of course the one day I’m not ready to go is the day that our sea is supposed to go get our passports first. So we hurried to get ready and got our passport, ate breakfast, and headed toward the gangway to get off the ship.

                When the ship was finally cleared, all 700 or so of us got off the ship as fast as we could so that we could experience as much of the culture of this wonderful country. We also went through personal immigration in the country, much like you do in an airport. This was the first time we had done immigration like this. Once I had passed through immigration I met my SAS group for a city orientation. On the city orientation we first traveled around the city via bus and saw all of the architecture of Singapore. Oh my goodness, I have never seen so many strange buildings in my life. Everything here looks a little futuristic. The tallest building in Singapore is 73 stories high. While looking at all of these buildings I felt like an ant looking out of an ant hill in a park full of tall slides and children running around playing. The city was incredible! Looking at this city I could see why there were so many strange rules here.

                Speaking of strange rules, I think that was the hardest part of Singapore. There are 6 main laws that were particularly pointed out to us on the ship to ensure that we did not get thrown in jail in the 12 hours we were there. Here are the rules and the price I would have to pay had I broken the law. Just so everyone knows the currency exchange was $1 U.S. to $1.25 Singapore Dollar 

!. No Smoking S$500 Fine

2.  No Littering S$1000 Fine

3.  No Chewing Gum S$1000 Fine

4. No Jaywalking S$500 Fine

5. Do not stand on toilet seat S$5000 Fine

6. Leaving the toilet unflushed S$500Fine

These laws are crazy! Since these laws are rather strange, Singapore becomes known as the ____. Something else that is interesting is that they believe in both Corporal and capital punishment. Their Corporal punishment is by caneing and capital punishment is by hanging. Needless to say, Singapore has one of the lowest crime rates in the world.

                These crazy laws with very overpriced fines actually work. This city is one of the cleanest places I have ever been. The public restrooms are beautiful (honestly I saw marble sinks in restrooms), there is literally no litter, and everyone is very friendly and proud of their country.

                After driving through downtown Singapore, we stopped at Precious Stone Company. Here they take precious stones and gems from all over the world, shapes them, polishes them, and then creates almost anything one could imagine out of the stones. So the tour was of how they make the shape of the stones which reminded me a lot of how they do it in India but here it was all automatic whereas India’s was done by hand more. Then, we got to go upstairs and see their show room. They had literally everything from earrings and pendants to puters to giant pictures all made from precious stones. When I started looking around I was expecting the prices to be outrageous. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I mean there were some things that were like $36,000, but they were 3D pictures of peacocks and such that you could hang on the wall. There were many things (mostly jewelry) that were only $15 or so. Everything in the store was so unique that it was hard not to purchase anything. However, I restrained myself and walked out empty handed like many of us.  

                Back on the bus we headed back towards downtown. The bus made a sharp turn and now the bus was taking me and my fellow voyagers to the Tropical Orchids Garden. There are hundreds of types of orchids, and thousands of blooming orchids. I have never seen so many colors in my life. I had no idea that orchids could look like they had polka dots of a darker shade inside them (like light pink with dark pink polka dots). This garden is a part of the Singapore Botanical Gardens. The group was only allowed to walk through for about 45 minutes before moving on to our next destination, but I could have spent the entire day just there. It was absolutely beautiful! I think my favorite orchid was deep purple with small polka dots of a lighter purple shade. All I wanted to do was cut it off and bring it back with me. Don’t worry I took a picture so I can remember it forever! This was definitely one of my favorite places in all of Singapore. I would go back just to revisit this.

                  Our final stop on the city tour was to Little India. This was where my friend Ada and I decided to sign out of the trip. By signing out of the trip here we did not have to go back to the ship and then come back into the city. Instead we could just wander around from here. So in Little India we walked around and did just a little shopping (Ada forgot a gift for her Mom). Then we ate lunch in Little India at a Hawker Station. A Hawker Station is basically an outdoor food court that is really inexpensive with many different ethnic foods. Ada and I wanted one more authentic Indian meal so we had buttered chicken (which is spicy) and fresh made Nan ( a delicious bread from India). It was so good. It made us both want to go back to India! 

                After Little India we wanted to go to downtown and really get a look from the pedestrian perspective. We took the MRT, which is their form of the subway to get downtown. Holy Cow was this impressive. Their subway is all electronic. They don’t use paper tickets like we do in the states, instead it is a credit card type card that you can refill and once you are done with it you can return it and get a dollar back from the MRT system. So Ada and I navigated the system and made it to downtown! The MRT goes REALLY fast. Way faster than anything we have in the states.

                Downtown is amazing! Everything is super high tech and full of life! I’m not sure how to explain it. It was just incredible to walk in a new downtown. It has been so long since I was in a really big city like Singapore. I enjoyed just wandering around exploring all the technology that Singapore has to offer. All I could think of was how cool it would be if cities in the states were like this. Life in the states would be much more sustainable than they are now. I can only hope that one day in the near future the U.S. can become this efficient.

                Once we were finished being amazed by every turn we took in town we decided to go and find the Merlion. The Merlion is a statue, well fountain that spits water into the ocean. The Merlion is a statue that stands for the name of Singapore because they are the lion city. This statue is so cool! I mean it looks a little strange and when I describe it it sounds even stranger, but it is a really unique statue to visit. When we were visiting the Merlion we were able to also see the hotel that has a ship on the top of it. This hotel is like 50 stories tall. The ship has trees growing out of it, a night club, bar and restaurant in it. I did not go up it but many people say that it has the best view of the city.

                After the Merlion Ada and I got back on the MRT and traveled to China Town as our last stop of the day. China Town was really cool. Not anything like the China Town in New York though, well at least I don’t think so. In China Town we visited a Hindu Temple which was cool to see especially because we just came from India and I saw some Hindu Temples there. The temple was covered in depictions of the Hindu Gods and Goddess, with an area of almost every color known to man. While visiting the temple we were actually able to see a family giving their annual gift to one of the Gods which was a very unique experience to have especially in the heart of Singapore. It was a rare moment to get to experience families giving their gifts in both India and Singapore and then having the opportunity to compare them.  These few streets seemed like a hole in the wall in the city of Singapore. I mean we literally turned the corner and Singapore went from a flourishing stainless steel futuristic place to a back in time small, quaint taste of China. We did some shopping here. There were a lot of cool tourist stuff for Singapore at pretty reasonable price. While in China Town it began to rain. It was supposed to rain all day, but instead waited until almost 5:30 before it poured. Ada and I ran from tent to tent trying to stay dry, but also looking for cool souvenirs.  

                When the rain paused we took that time to run to the MRT station for the last time. We took the MRT back to the harbor front where we wrote our postcards and went back through immigration. I was back on the ship by 8pm and we left by 11pm to begin our journey to Vietnam. In general I would say that I really enjoyed Singapore. I’m not sure where exactly this country would sit on my list to go back to. I would love to come back one day and just see how much more technology they have. I would also really like to go back to the Orchid garden. This country just made me even more excited to see the rest of Asia. So bring it on!!!!!