Off to the Mall...

 Sorry about the lack of updating; I didn't realize how fast time flies when I'm busy with work deadlines!  Anyways, where did I leave off?  Oh yeah...we are still in Saigon!  We left off with me switching to a new hotel room.  These series of photos are from Sunday, March 18th.  I was tricked into meeting some relatives at the mall (I forgot which one, it wasn't Diamond Plaza, but I had been there before where I played at the arcade) when I thought I was going to go to the zoo again.  Anyway, I took a cab, and here are some photos during the ride:

 Grumpy looking girl.

 LOL this photo is so fitting, wish it was a touch clearer.

A guy peeing in the middle of broad daylight downtown, no joke!  Only in Vietnam...

Finally meeting my people at the mall, I am now in the food court.  That's my youngest uncle Loc sitting with my cousin Nghia's wife, Tam.

Sau greets the camera.

My cousins' kids, Bin and Sushi.

Sisters Sau and Trang Anh.

Group photo.

My grandma outside as we wait for our taxi.

Back at the hotel, some more views from my balcony as the clouds start rolling in (a rare occurrence when I was there)

My cousin Nhung hangs out in my room later in the day.

A New Hotel and Some Bun Rieu

It was now Saturday morning, March 17.  The previous night, my Aunt Mai helped me check into a newer hotel, this time cheaper and much closer to her house.  When I say "helped me check in," I mean that it was better that she negotiated and acted as if it was going to be her room.  Why?  Because since I'm a Viet Kieu (aka foreigner Vietnamese from America), the chances were high that the hotel would try to inflate the prices on me, assuming that I wouldn't know any better.  Corrupt, I know, but that's how a lot of businesses in Vietnam operate.  Regular travelers to Vietnam already know and accept this, and honestly, there's nothing you can do about it here in this culture unless your Vietnamese is excellent and you have great arguing skills.

So what was the price of this clean and simple room, with its own bathroom, air conditioning, and wifi?  My aunt told me that she was able to get me the room at 240,000 dong/night, which is about 12 US dollars, compared to 300,000 dong/night (about $15).  Those 3 extra US dollars saved goes a long way in Vietnam.  No complaints here!

 This is the view from my window above my bed in the new hotel room.

 The camera turned a little bit to the right...

...and now the camera turned to the left.  Not a bad looking morning!  For some reason, I did not take any pictures of the room itself, although I should have.

 After admiring the scene outside my window, Trang Anh and I went out for some breakfast down in the streets.  My favorite bun rieu was the item!  Total cost for both of our breakfasts + drinks?  65,000 dong, or about $3 US.

 Again, not a big fan of having her photo taken...

The view outside where we sat to eat-- a shop that makes Ao Dai dresses.  

Female Ninjas in Vietnam

It seemed like everyday of my 3 weeks in Vietnam, the temperature would feel like 100 degrees with full humidity until it hit afternoon/early evening.  As crazy as it sounds, what's even crazier are the loads of young women who would wear jeans, long-sleeved shirts (or even jackets!), and hoods---extra bonus points for face masks!

Against all logic in the scorching weather, why would they do this?  It's very simple: they love light skin!  I had always known that Asian countries view lighter skin as an attractive trait; here in the Western world, we seem to be on the opposite side of the spectrum as tanning salons are big business and a bronzed, darker skin is in!  So covering up your skin in Vietnam's unforgiving sun is the easiest way to prevent your skin from getting too dark.  And trust me, I turned a couple shades darker in one day there!

But the extent to preserve this light skin in Vietnam (Saigon/southern Vietnam, anyway) is so fascinating to me.  Myself, I would prefer the comfort of being as dry/cool as possible.  But I guess comfort takes a backseat priority to paleness here :)  

The face masks themselves serve two purposes: to shield the face from the sun, and to help protect from the dust & exhaust fumes from the millions of motorbikes on the roads.  Also, this maintaining of the light skin seems to be more of a priority to women than is to men over there.  But enough of me talking; here are some examples:

 Wearing a hoodie and everything.

 Make no mistake, it's f*&$%ing hot here! 

A jacket in the middle of the day.

The mysterious Trang Anh, also blending in with her "pink ninja" outfit in the heat.  She came up from her hometown of Can Tho to hang out during my last few days. 

Blurry photo, but you can easily see her ninja look...

 The mask is off...!!

And here is the beautiful ninja unmasked!!! lol

Guys' Lunch Out

The last Friday (at this point there was about 6 days left of my trip) of my stay in Vietnam started off rather boringly as I woke up, had breakfast that my aunts made, and then retreated upstairs to my makeshift studio to work for a few hours before lunch.  But this wasn't an ordinary lunch; it's called cúng (I think I said it and spelled it right...not sure lol).  It was described to me as a lunch gathering that celebrates the memory of one of my grandparents--which one, I don't remember haha.  :P  The funny thing is that the lunch seemed to be enjoyed by men only, while the women hung out together elsewhere in the house.  In fact, we did this very same thing at my Grandma's house (on my mom's side) the very first time I met her two weeks prior to this, except I didn't realize the significance of the meal back then.  At that time, all men also ate together while women hung out elsewhere together.  

Looking up the word, it means "to worship."  So I guess that makes sense (again, if I am correct).  It's a very customary thing here in Vietnam.  Anyway, I was invited downstairs for cúng, and there was a table prepared with a variety of delicious home-cooked Vietnamese plates.  There were a bunch of strange men there who I assumed were family friends (these occasions can involve non-relatives as the atmosphere is more of a celebratory hangout) already present.  The only thing is, I felt like a little kid sitting at the grown-ups table.  My Vietnamese sucked, and my dad was the only relative sitting next to me (and he was too involved speaking to other guys).  I remained mostly silent as I ate and observed/listened to conversation, not understanding most of it nor having the balls to jump in with with 2 cents when I did.  It was as uncomfortable as when Doug Mahnke left me at the table at age 20 at my first Minnesota comic convention dinner, and just being smack dab in the middle of a Dan Jurgens/Stuart Immonen/Tom Lyle conversation.  Very intimidating, lol.

I was looking forward to later that day when I would be getting a new hotel room with some decent air conditioning and some wifi.  Also, Trang Anh was to return that evening to hang out.  Anyway, here are some photos from that day:

 Another early morning view from the upstairs balcony.

 My cousin Nghia asked me to take a few photos of the truck he drives for the bottled water company he works for ("La Vie" water--a seemingly popular brand here) so that he can show his dad.  This is from the same balcony as above, except later in the day when it got sunnier.

 Another angle from the downstairs front door...

The scene of the cúng lunch.

 My paternal grandparents.  They don't look too happy, hihi.

Staying At My Dad's Family's House

By this time, Steve had already left to go back home to the U.S.A., and now that I'm down to my last week with a watchful eye on the money I had left, I chose to check out of the hotel and stay at my dad's side of the family (about 15 minutes walking distance from our hotel) for a couple days before reassessing my situation/plans.

Not having Steve there anymore meant that I didn't have a regular person to communicate in my comfortable English as I didn't see my brother on a consistent basis.  So I had to flex my Vietnamese skills with the grown-ups and cousins for a while.

 This is the upstairs room where my dad and I stayed; it's the only room in the house with air conditioning, and naturally it's where I spent most of my indoor time.

 It's a pretty big room (for Vietnamese average house standards, I would say), but there are no windows and it soon seems to become claustrophobic.

This was my makeshift work area in the corner of the room for a couple days.  Unfortunately, I had no internet connection, so I just kept productive by doing a little drawing and retouching photos.

 This is the "bed."  More often than not I'd see mats/mattresses just directly on the ground instead of beds propped up on a bedstand like the States are used to.  Heck, this is considered luxury compared to relatives that I've seen sleeping on the bare, hard floor downstairs.

This can also be used to relax and lie down in the air-conditioned air as you watch TV.

 Upstairs, right outside the above room (of which the door is on the bottom right of this photo).

A morning view outside the upstairs balcony.

 For the final week of my stay in Vietnam, I got to hang out quite a bit with my little cousin Nhung (pictured above in white).  I am really thankful for getting to know her, and she was gracious enough to take me out on her motorbike to see some sights in Saigon, to take me to malls/stores, to go out and drink che (a Vietnamese shake) with me.

Here are some photos during one of our walks around town:

 Rich people live here.

 Contrast that with poorer commoners living here.  Definitely an eye-opener.

 Propoganda signs, a norm here.

You can spot the famous Bitexco financial tower here.

 My dad's friend, Bac 8, asked me to take a picture of him on his bike.

My aunt serving up a snack while I worked in the upstairs room: dried squid and sweet che pudding in a bowl--one of my favorites!  :)