Vietnam Day 12 (6/19/09)

This morning my regular breakfast crew, which includes Kendra, Molly, and myself went out for a hearty breakfast of crab spring rolls and clear vermacelli noodles. Afterwards we met up with Wen, Van, and Ming to go shopping. We went into just a few of the more expensive shops just for kicks. We saw everything from dresses that looked like maid's outfits to colorful purses with seaquined alligators on them, thoguh my favorite was still the giant grouper in a fish tank outside a restaurant. We then proceeded to the much more affordable Saigon Square Market, which carries tons of American brands, or rather knock-off brands of clothing that were two sizes smaller than in the US. The booths were all crammed in together and there was no room to move. I was too overwhelmed to do any real shopping, but I did get a bg I needed (a Kipling shoulderbag for $5 US, quite a steal). We tried to have an early dinner at my favorite pho place on 18 alley, but for some reason it closes for dinner, which was devastating. Dejected, we headed back to the guesthouse, resorting to dinner at the outdoor cafe there. My food was alright because I got vermacelli, but nearly everyone else ended up with instant ramen noodles (much like the packaged crap we eat at school). and beef of questoinable quality (many have compared it to dogfood). Nevertheless, everyone did a pretty good job choking down their disappointing meals and we went back to back for Dalat.

This weekend we're going on a side trip to a prvince called Dalat where we're all invited to a housewarming party hosted by Van Anh's uncle. I'm so excited to meet her family and to see how a modern Vietnamese family lives. Our bus left at 11:00pm from the same station I used last time, but for some reason it felt much more sketchy than before. There were creepy scalpers who approached us aggressively and tried to sit next to us, attempting to sell us tickets off the black market. Eventually however, they went away and we boarded the bus with hopes of sleep.