Arriving HoChiMinh City

Early and shine it was. We couldn't risk missing another flight. The flight to VN was a smooth 1hr 15mins.

SUMMARY of Hong Kong: Hong Kong is truely a place where the East meets the West. Although it was not so much of a culture shock for me, it was for Han. I was still overwhelmed by the crowd and the fact that they drive on the right side. Han's first impression about Hong Kong were the girls, of course. His repeated comments were, "They are so flat, front and back. There features are not so attractive." I looked around and pretty much agreed with him and added, "the guys aren't good looking either, there is no way I am attracted to them," until Friday and Saturday night. Somewhere, better looking people came out. Our impression about HK changed. Yet, I found myself out of place until we went to Lan Kwai Fong. That was where I could find someone I could relate to - Asian root with Western influenced. There, much memory of Mike came to live. I kissed my lucky pendant and refocused my train of thoughts. For some reasons, I like Shanghai better then Hong Kong.

At Tan Son Nhat Airport, a cab driver offered us the ride, I demanded that I would ride with him if he turned on the meter. He guy refused and muttered, "10USD". I responded, turn the meter on or I will ride with someone else. The man walked away and I headed to the taxi line and hopped in another cab. I knew to not tell him where until I was inside the cab since the first guy asked me where I was going. I suspected that district 1 was not that far away - that is where our hotel is. As he took off, he asked me to pay the 10,000 Dong for the airport surcharge in addition to the ride fee. I acted as if I knew for sure that there was no such surcharge - he was only trying to get more money out of me. So I told him that I was just here a couple months ago and there was no such fee. The cab driver responded that it had just became effective in about one-and-half-month. So I agreed to the fee. I later hit my forehead with my palm and said to myself, "Steph, that was a blink,blink." I should have known better. I shouldn't have given him the change of 2,000dong for a tip.

At the hotel, I confirmed my "blink,blink" and informed Han that we just got ripped off 10,000dong which is about 75cent. I had reserved our room online and had contacted the hotel by phone from home since there was a little problem. But it was difficult to get anything across from home and so I decided to wait until I got here. Everything worked out fine, we have a large room with a double and a single bed with AC, TV, and a small fridge. Guess how much I am paying for the room? 9USD/night. Can't beat that. Did I shop? Yes, indeed. The hotel does except American Express so I had no hesitation to hand in my passport to keep in a safe place.

Han was amazed as soon as he walked out of the airport. Remember, this is his first time outside the US. After settling down with a cool shower and a change of clean clothing, we walked to Cho Ben Thanh (Ben Thanh Market) for lunch. At an intersection, Han wasn't sure when he could cross the street since there was no traffic light found. I took his hand and asked him to keep looking straight. On the other side of the street, Han looked back and was laughing really loud with amazement. He couldn't believed that he just crossed the deadly intersection.

Inside Ben Thanh Market at the foodcourt, he was 'uuu' and 'aaa' at all the food stalls. We tried banh beo (small rice pancake) and mi quang (Central region yellow noodle soup). Food aren't the best inside the market - we only ate there just so Han could have a taste of what's original inside the market back in the old days. We didn't get to roam around the market because it was too hot and decided to head back to the hotel for a nap. On the way back, we crossed a park along Pham Ngu Lao. Han saw a lady walking with 2 baskets full of goods on both end of her bamboo stick looking as if she wanted to cross the street. We decided to ask her if we could have a picture with her baskets and if Han could carry the baskets for her across the street. To our wonder, the lady was wandering around us wanting to sale us her goods. Han bought one fruit coc (will find out English name later) and the lady peel the fruit with her knife right at the spot and put it in a small bag for us. Man oh man, her hands were so dirty we couldn't figured out how people could have eaten it. We brought it back to the hotel and set it on the table untouched.

I stopped in a little shop next to our hotel to get a sim card for my phone. It was so small that Han wondered how I spotted the shop. I could only tell him to keep his eyes very open and always be in alert and not to trust people so easily. We went back to the hotel for a nap. Han couldn't sleep so he went down to chat with workers at the hotel and watched motorbikes go by until I was woken by a call from one of my business contact for dinner. Han came out for dinner with us since it was very informal - just a friendly gathering. Dinner was at a Chinese cuisine, at Hoang Long Restaurant next to the Caravelle Hotel- it was alright - taste just like in the US.

We stopped by an internet cafe to send out emails to my contacts and some people I arranged for Han to meet. Instead of me doing all the initiating to our contacts, I had asked Han to send them emails to show his enthusiams but he was not so upbeat and it got on my nerves. I was frustrated and raised my voice with him. After a while, I appoligized to him, gave him a kissed and asked him to be upbeat and move quickly because his laidback attitude and slowness not only bothered me but also slowed me down. So, everything is cool again.