Blame it on the Rain

We just received confirmation from race organizers that the Standard Chartered Bangkok Half Marathon that we have signed up for is officially canceled. Bangkok (actually most of Thailand) has been getting slammed by heavy rains and is now experiencing the worst floods there in the last 50 years. While it makes us sad that we won't get to participate, I guess it would be pretty miserable to try and run through waste deep water for 13 miles. 

The hard part for us is going to be adjusting our wake up time from 4:15 am back to the late and laid back hour of 5:30.

The Ocean is my Only Medication...

.... wishin' my condition ain't ever gonna go away.  This weekend, we were blessed with a much needed 3 day weekend.  It was the end of the grading cycle at work, so our school was closed today to allow the teachers time to grade and more importantly, regain their sanity.  We headed out of the city for some pure relaxation on the island of Phu Quoc.  The island is only a 50 minute flight away but for all we knew, we were in another world. 

The island was just what we had been hoping for.  It was small and quiet.  (We went two whole days without hearing one horn).  We saw bright blue sky and we saw stars for the first time since arriving in Vietnam.  The water was clear, warm, and free of garbage.  The sand was soft and also, free of garbage.  What was considered a "busy" time of year at our resort meant that we were 2 of about 12 people staying there.  We knew this was going to be a good trip when upon arrival Saturday morning, our resort upgraded us to an ocean front bungalow and then promptly took us for a free breakfast with fresh, hot bread and coffee.  We quickly busied ourselves with lying in the sun, swimming in the water, reading good books, eating ridiculous amounts of fresh sea food, and yup, you guessed it ... drinking cheap beer.  Jimmy Buffett would have been proud!

The view from our beach chairs.

Tree so tall.  Adam so small.

Heidi got a fresh pineapple smoothie complete with a peacock straw.

Sunset one evening.

We got to pick our seafood, how we wanted it spiced, and then it was grilled on the beach.  We chose Red Snapper, large prawns, squid, and scallops.

Vietnamese scallops.  So pretty.  So good.

Birthday breakfast = omelet, bread, coffee, tea, fruit, cheese.

Adam demonstrating how we spent most of our day.

Jumping for joy over her golden birthday.

Our lunch spot.

Heidi's surprise cake from the resort.

The weekend also happened to align with Heidi's birthday -- her GOLDEN birthday.  One of the things Heidi does best is lay in the sun so being on Phu Quoc was right up her alley.  To celebrate her 31st, we met up with some of our friends who were also on the island for a delicious seafood grill dinner.  To cap of the wonderful weekend, as we were heading to our hotel room today to check out and head home, the staff bum-rushed Heidi to present her with a birthday cake they had purchased for her.  They told us that they saw on her passport that it was her birthday so they wanted to get me a cake.  It truly cemented how great of a time we had in this little slice of paradise and made Heidi believe that her 31st year will surly be a great one!

Another look ...

Per more requests, here are some more photos from our daily lives in HCMC!

Heidi with her pully basket at the grocery store.

Sunday tradition = pastry and coffee.

A nice evening in HCMC.

A coffee shop we found served up this cup o' delight!  Yes, there was whiskey in in.  Yes, it was 3 pm and we ordered it!

Though blurry, this shows Adam dressing as a student with one of his classes.

Mild wires.  Yes, it gets more crazy than this.

Our sunrise the other day.

Children's Saftey

We have already clearly communicated that the main form of transportation for a Saigonese family is via moped.  We recently learned that it is legal to have up to 4 people on one moped -- two adults, one child under 12 and one child under 7.  Often, this creates one crowded situation with children sandwiched between their parents and typically the mother (the one at the back of the bike) has half her booty hanging off the seat. 

To resolve this issue, many people in Saigon purchase an additional seat for the young child to ride in.  The instructions for instillation of this seat might just read accordingly:  1) Purchase a woven wicker children's seat and ensure that the legs get cut to the right height.  2)  Wedge the children's seat into the open space at the front of the bike.  3) Purchase a cute pillow so that child has a place to lay his (unhelmeted) head.  4) Place a net over the child's head to keep debris out of eyes.  5)  Seatbelt?  What is a seatbelt?

We don't lie!

If You Have the Flu ...

... head for the zoo!  Since we were both quite sick this weekend, we decided to lay low and stay close to home.  Neither of us felt like doing too much, so we decided to head to Saigon's Botanical Gardens just to spend some time outside and to enjoy nature.  Imagine our surprise when we learned that the Botanical Gardens actually share a space and title with the National Zoo.  Yes, we were able to walk around and enjoy the trees while also getting creepily close to wild animals.  Unfortunately the less than ideal state the animals were forced to live in made us feel even worse ... not better.  That, and the lack of fencing, led us to believe that we might just end up on Animal Planet's "When Animals Attack," show. 

The poor elephant was chained up and emaciated.  Not a good combo.

Mere feet away from a Malaysian Porcupine.  Or as Anthony Bourdain might say, a Squeasel.

We thought this bear was stuffed and on display.  Then we noticed he was panting.

Heidi thought someone had broken this Ostrich's legs.  Research later proved it is just how they sleep.

The happiest critter in the zoo = Heidi.

These guys could have eaten us alive if they had the energy (or space) to actually move.

Heidi's haircut.

Adam's new ties.  6 for $8.

After hanging with the repressed animals, we decided to go find some new ties for Adam and to get Heidi a haircut.  This, along with a gorgeous sunset, helped once again lift our spirits and for a brief moment, help us forget that we had some sort of Saigon flu!

Fruit of the Dragon

One of the best things about living in this new locale is all the amazing fruit that we have access to.  What in the states is labeled as "tropical fruit" is just "fruit" to the people of Saigon.  We regularly head to our local fruit stand to pick out fruit for the week with one of our rules being that we must try something new, each time.  So far mostly everything we have tried has been delicious.  However, by far, there has been one standout -- the Dragon Fruit.

Not only is it a vibrant pink on the outside but the inside is different from any other fruit we have seen.  The average cost of this nectar from heaven -- 5,000 VND.

The fruit is bright pink and about the size of a hand.

It is slightly sweet, but not overly, with the perfect mix of crunch and softness.

Two Questions

Two random questions have arisen in our life in the last few days.

1) How is it possible that we move to a place where it is beautiful, sunny, and 90 degrees everyday and now Heidi and I both have classic head colds? Being from a cold weather climate I always associated sore throats and runny noses with cold and wet February.
2) How is it that we live in a super sunny locale and we are maybe whiter than ever???

hmmmmm.....These are my burning questions.

Please discuss.

Don't Mess

Since we have been riding our motorbike around town, we have noticed how completely different being on a bike is from the bus, taxis, and even walking. You really are in the middle of everything as you are cruising amongst thousands of other mopeds. Also, since you are at street level and exposed to everything, you also really notice the exhaust and pollution as you cruise about town.

To combat this (and to not get suntanned) the Vietnamese work hard to cover and protect themselves. This sometimes goes as far as ladies literally covering themselves from head to toe with zero skin exposed -- complete with special arm and leg coverings that look like super duty nylons. Inevitably, everyone kind of ends up looking like they are ready to rob a bank with their face coverings and sunglasses. The other day Heidi wore her new face mask for the first time, hoping to block out some of the stench and to stop the black boogers from forming. She was not totally convinced that it helped with the exhaust at all, but we did decide that it made her look very intimidating. Don't mess.

Google It

On our way home from work, we stopped at our favorite fruit stand to pick up our weekly helping of fruit.  Heidi began to cut the watermelon and then let out a scream (*Note: When cutting anything with a sharp knife, it is best not to scream).  The watermelon was not pink nor red.  Rather, it was yellow -- pure yellow!!  We quickly turned to the most trusted source we could think of to solve our watermelon mystery.  Google confirmed that yes, yellow watermelon did exist and that it was edible.  In fact, one Google source stated that yellow watermelon was, "rare, extra sweet, and a true treat."  We hope that is an accurate description and that it is not truly some case of Chinese pesticides gone awry.

Hello Moto

Last month we learned that there are 5,000,000 motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh City.  As of Tuesday, there are 5,000,001.  We decided to join the masses and to get a scooter to cruise around this city.  So far, Adam has been doing all the driving and Heidi has been doing all the sign reading, merge okaying, and hand signal giving.  It has been a quick learning curve, but so far we really enjoy the freedom that having access to a moped allows us.

This week we also joined a gang -- a bike gang, that is.  Our friends also have bikes and so yesterday we decided to ride in-mass to some waterfalls that are located outside of the city.  According to GoogleMaps, the falls were only 45 km away and should take one hour to get to.  GoogleMaps obviously needs to recheck their Vietnam routes because the falls ended up being about 65 km and 1.5 hours away.  Our bike gang had to cruise down a major highway, on the shoulder with the other bikes,  while being pummeled by the semi exhaust and fumes.  Man were we happy when we finally saw the signs for our destination.

The waterfalls are in a huge park in the Vietnamese countryside.  On the website for these falls, we were promised access to a lazy river, sports courts, kayaking, canoeing, sail boats, picnic areas, ostrich riding, train rides, tandem bicycles, and a funny farm (still trying to figure out what that is!!).  Upon arrival, we realized that the description of the place was about as accurate as GoogleMaps had been.  The grounds were lovely and there was sure a river and a nice pond.  However, the calm, crystal blue water that was depicted in the photos turned out to be a raging, dirt brown river and falls. 

A picture honoring the natives of .... um .....

Our bike gang standing by the "crystal blue river" and the sign which tells us the current is too strong for swimming.

The "peaceful and tranquil falls" which people can sit under and enjoy a "warm spray."

Relaxing in our swimming hole.

Our ride.  We have named her Flowanda.

We did not let that deter us from enjoying our time in the calm, quiet, country.  Rather, like the good folk we are, we quickly got down to business drinking cheap beer while cooling off in the "soaking" section of the river.  We had a wonderful day just relaxing in the water, enjoying a good meal, and planning our next trip back to camp for the weekend (oh yes, we forgot to mention the three camping options -- #1 was a traditional tent with cots on a raised platform, #2 was an A-frame tarp with a tarp on the dirt ground, and #3 were hammocks hanging between the trees).

Today, our bodies are paying for spending 5+ hours on a moped (the ride home took nearly 3 hours with traffic).  We have decided that from now on, any trip outside of the city will be spent in luxury (aka, the bus)!

Fire Drill

Today was the first fire drill of the year at our school.  Yes, this is how our school chooses to spend their money.  And, shouldn't fire drills be a surprise?

Views

We were over at our friend's house this last weekend hanging out on the balcony of their 23rd floor apartment. While the heights from the balcony were a little nerve racking, it did provide for some pretty incredible views. 

Interesting contrast between new and old with the communist block housing in the foreground and the skyscrapers of downtown rising in the background

We recently read that our district of the city is the most densely populated part of town. I think that this picture gives that fact justice.

Battle Scars

As we have been preparing for running the Bangkok Half, Heidi has unfortunately been plagued with her first running injury.  At first we hoped that it was a one time injury that would heal and never return.  Sadly, this has not been the case.  Recently Heidi's war wounds have resurfaced and this time, with a vengeance.  Her affliction -- upper chest contusions brought on by old sports bras and too much sweat.  Good thing we just got health insurance because we might have to seek out a sports injury specialist, STAT!

Coffee To Go

Adam ordered a cup of coffee "to go."  Here is the barista's attempt at rectifying the problem of the lid not fitting.  No one mentioned it to us, though, before handing the drink over.  Good problem solving, Vietnam.  Good problem solving!

Is Scotch Tape heat-proof?

This One's For Rooster Cogburn

Last night we officially became un-official Viets.  In other words, we got down and dirty with some traditional Vietnamese street food that took us off the "tourist" list and placed us firmly on the "local" one.  Our friend from work, Jimmy, took us and another adventurous eating couple out to a restaurant located right next to our apartment building.  Once there, Jimmy, who is Vietnamese American, ordered us up all sorts of fun food to try.  We are glad that Jimmy's native language is Vietnamese because we sure are not learning this food vocabulary in Vietnamese class.

We both ate garden snails in a coconut chili broth, beef-tendon stew, and chicken feet.  Adam enjoyed most of it, Heidi -- not as much.  In fact, Adam said that chicken feet might be his new favorite snack as they really are, "dessert for dinner."  Adam even went as far as to take a bite of Jimmy's dessert -- a fertilized, half developed duck egg -- complete with crunchy little beak and soft feathers!  Bon appetite!

The pile of feet = 90 cents.

Tendon beef stew with tomato broth and herbs.  Delicious.

Like candy.  Well, kind of.

This made Heidi throw up a little in her mouth and made Adam get no kisses goodnight!

Dangerous

The other day we were just cruising around District 3 of Saigon. We had headed that way to go to a coffee shop that we had recently read about in a magazine here. As we were walking we noticed that there were a whole lot of eye glasses shops around. The fact that there happened to be a whole ton of the same type of shop around was not too shocking. It actually seems to be this pretty funny Vietnamese phenomenon. One person opens a shop and everyone else in the neighborhood watches them make a bunch of money and next thing you know the whole street is selling the exact same thing, be it mannequins, stools, black velvet art, or eye glasses. 

Being the curious people that we are we stopped in to some to see how much glasses are here. Next thing we know, Adam is in the eye doctor's chair, saying in Vietnamese if image one or two of the tiny farmhouse in the distance is clearer. For those of you that have had your eyes checked before you know how much you bounce back and forth as you say "Can I see one again". I am sure that I sounded a bit rediculous.

Another happy costumer.

Whether they are real or fake is still up for debate. Either way still a heck of a find.

In the end, all was good news. Adam not only left with a eye exam but a great new pair of glasses...CHEAP. While it is great to know that one can get a eye exam and a pair of "Ray Bans" in under two hours, it is also dangerous. It is very possible that Adam may come home with more glasses than he can wear before his vision gets worse.

Xe Buyt

Coming to Vietnam, we were a little apprehensive to leave our cars behind since we did not know the accessibility of public transportation.  We relied heavily on taking taxis the first few weeks we lived in the city but quickly realized that all those "cheap" cab rides sure do add up.  With a little help from co-workers and a lot of faith, we made the transition to utilizing Saigon's best public transportation option -- the bus.

It was not long before we learned the ins and outs of how to ride a bus -- Vietnam style.  First, you must flag the bus down as you see it heading down the road (imagine an arm motion similar to one used by Nazi Germany) otherwise, even though you are standing at a designated bus stop, the driver might just blow by you.  Second, be prepared to fight the eight other people trying to cram onto the bus at the same time as you are otherwise said bus might take off with you still on the curb.  Third, should you actually plant one foot on the bus, grab onto any object in sight (hand rail, fellow passenger, random 5 gallon bottle of water sitting on the floor) so that the mass of your body and the forward motion will propel you onto said bus rather than back into the road.  Fourth, quickly find a seat and dig out your bus tokens or money because the bus's designated money collector will quickly approach your seat demanding your fare.  Next, assume bus riding position -- one arm up on back of seat, perch body in center of seat, tilt face up to little overhead fan, and let the warm-ish air try to cool the river of sweat running down your back, face, lip, hairline, etc. 

When you have arrived at your destination, stand up and shuffle LOUDLY to the back door of the bus with the hope that the driver, or his henchman, will see you and actually acknowledge that you would like to depart the bus.  If shuffling down the aisle while grunting loudly does not receive acknowledgement, then shout "yung lai" at the driver while pretending that the whole bus ridership did not turn around to blatantly stare at, and mock your attempt at the Vietnamese language.  Then, as the bus slows to a roll and opens the door, stick your head out the door and quickly look down the road to ensure that a moped is not roaring by waiting to flatten you like roadkill on your departure off said bus.  Finally, heave yourself off the still moving bus with your arms extended as if in surfing position to try to balance yourself out before hitting the ground and possibly falling, making an even bigger spectacle of yourself.

In all actuallity, we love the bus and have really enjoyed navigating the public transportation of Ho Chi Minh City.  And, at the end of the day, when we realize that 8 rides and > $1 we have been all over this gosh-darn-city, we feel pretty thankful for the SaigonBus Line!

Adam's favorite bus around town -- the number 6 -- a double-decker.

An upside down stool and sign taped onto a seat to let passengers know that the seat is broken.  From the dust you can tell it has been broken for some time.

Adam and our ever handy bus map.  Have map, will travel.