Blue Ribbon

Adam claims to have found, "the best sandwich in the world."  A big statement ... we know, but this sandwich can live up to the hype.  This sandwich is so delicious that we literally count down till the weekends when we can make the drive and pony up the $1.50 to enjoy this little slice of heaven on earth.

Fresh pickled veggies, onions two ways, pate, and fresh sliced pork, donor kebab style all on a crunchy-yet-fluffy baguette.  Amen and hallelujah!

Falling Prices

How much does this cost? 40,000 Dong? 30,000 Dong? 20,000 Dong? All of the above. 

A funny thing happens in Vietnam. When we first go to a new food stall, or veggie stand, or roadside fruit vendor (or any place that does not post prices), we inevitably get ripped off some. This mark up in price is what we call the "white price." If we were able to speak Vietnamese better than we do we could certainly talk to the merchant and tell them that we are well aware that they are over charging us. Unfortunately, our Vietnamese vocab is still on par with that of a six month old baby. Luckily, there is a way around the white price. All you have have to do is continue to go back to the place that overcharged you and you will see the prices drop.

This morning we swung by a noodle shop close to our house for breakfast. We have been to this place a couple of times and really enjoy it. We like it even more because we feel that it is very cheap but high quality. Every time that we have visited this noodle stand the price of our meal (and we get the same thing every time) has dropped by 50 cents. We thought that we were getting a great deal the first time we ate there but our customer loyalty and getting overcharged in the past is is now paying us back. Today we paid the same price as the Vietnamese couple next to us. Victory.

Cash Cab Asia

We loved to watch the TV show Cash Cab back in the States. How could you not like 30 minutes of television based solely off of random trivia? Well, good news for us, there is also Cash Cab Asia which takes place in Singapore. So while we were in Singapore last weekend we were on the hunt for the Cash Cab. Now granted we never took cabs because they were too expensive, but by God we would have flagged down the Cash Cab in a second. To keep us on our game we practiced our trivia over our entire trip. "Quick, name all of The Backstreet Boys in alphabetical order...GO". In the end we did not find the Cash Cab. I think that with our travel budget we should look of the "Cash Subway".

Filth

Just yesterday, we posted about the amazing city-state that is Singapore.  It was flawless -- clean, quiet, polite, beautiful, and green.  Really, it seemed to almost be the most perfect place on earth.  Ironic, then, that in this most beautiful locale, we also experienced one of the lowest-of-lows that we have ever come across in our lives and it looked a lot like public toilets!

Yes, these public toilets we chose to use were the most disgusting, dirty, stomach-churning, toilets that we had ever experienced.  We want to spare you from the nightmares we have been having but here are a few words that might get the idea across:  hair clumps, wet floors, female troughs, rat poo, no TP, and do-do smears.  Sorry Singapore, but this bathroom stinks!

Walking toward the public toilets.  It was quiet and eerie even then.  Maybe it should have been a sign.

The doorway to hell.  (Please note the man sitting outside collecting money to use the facilities.  We are glad he did not try to take our money for there might have been an uprising).  We were so upset after this encounter, we had to go drink a beer!

Latitude 1

After work on Friday, we hopped a cab and jumped on a plane to Singapore.  We only had about 36 hours total in the Lion City so we had big plans to make the most of every minute.  Those plans were promptly discarded as we realized that you don't run Singapore -- Singapore runs you. 

The island at latitude one is such a different pace of life than HCMC.  Instead of motorbikes and rickshaws crowding the roads, Ferraris and Bentleys take over.  Instead of street stalls selling food for 40 cents a plate, westernized restaurants dominate with $18 appetizers and $12 beers.  And, instead of women heading out in their best matching pajama sets, women head out in $2,000 dresses and $800 heels.  Despite all these things, we managed to travel in a style that was authentic to who we are.  We walked the city, enjoyed Hawker food, saw beautiful sites, met some awesome locals, and sweated more than we ever have in HCMC.  Yes, life at latitude 1 was a fun experience ... one we hope we can repeat again in the near future.

We were glad that our breakfast buffet at the hotel was free because the hotel itself cost almost as much as a down-payment on a house!

We stayed in the Colonial district with a ton of original buildings from the time when Singapore was a British colony.  This museum used to be a home for boys.  Adam wished he had lived in a home like this building.

We walked through Fort Canning Park named after a Brit named Canning.  Half the island seems to be named for him.  The park was beautiful, green, and ridiculously humid.

Heidi was nervous about this cannon being aimed at modern buildings at the bottom of the hill.  Good thing there was a sign stating it was "only for decoration."

One of the coolest finds of the day was that we stumbled into the Singapore Civil Defense (Firefighters and EMT's) free open houses.  We were so excited to play on all the equipment.  Us and the 25 kids under the age of 5 who were also there.

Adam decided that being a firefighter was nothing like his PlayMobile toys made it out to be.

On our walk around the city, we came across another awesome building (the old Police Station) where the over 900 window shutters were painted vibrant colors.

At the river esplanade we marveled at the clean water that did not smell like raw sewer.  Magical.

Then this guy showed up ...

After walking for hours, we found some hawker stalls where we got big bowls of pork-wonton soup and beer for about $5 each.  A true bargin.  (Note:  Heidi was too hungry to have her picture taken!)

We spent some quality time in this H&M where, gasp, we were yelled at for bringing coffee inside.  That is a $500 fine in this country.  We got over our grumpiness and still purchased some much needed clothes.

Adam enjoyed the spice exhibit at the National Museum.  It was free to go on Saturdays from 6-8 pm and for some reason, we were the ONLY people there.  Weird.  Like other people have something better to do than check out a museum on Saturday night.

We went to Chinatown Hawker stalls for dinner.  Adam with his two Baos -- pork and yam.  Delicious.

Where our delicious dinner came from.  Here we got Singapore fried noodles -- a common staple across SE Asia but these ones were actually from Singapore.  Amazing.

Don't try to take away his noodles.

Heidi's dinner choice included a HUGE plate of spicy, spicy stir fried bean sprouts.  Thank you, Singapore!

Anytime, Anywhere

You need or want something? Well, in Vietnam it is likely that there is somebody selling the item that you so desire. Oh, and don't worry about having to drive to the other side of town, because shops are mobile in Vietnam. People move goods here in whatever way that they can. Sometimes that may be by bike, motorbike, pushcart, or carrying baskets. The other day we were lucky enough to have our shopping needs met right outside our door as a man on a bicycle came by with a selection of about 1,000 DVDS. At about 10,000 Dong (about 50 cents) a piece, we were able to pick up some films that we had been wanting to see. Dang, so convenient.

Wow!!! That is a impressive bike-cart combo.

Ice Cream

Today was a first for us in the country of Vietnam.  We went to an ice cream shop and ate actual ice cream!  Yes, we have enjoyed frozen yogurt, ice cream bars from a Circle K, and maybe even ventured into homemade durian frozen milk on the street.  However, none of those can compare to eating an actual ice cream cone.  So, when last month, Baskin Robins 31 Flavors broke into the Vietnam market, we put "eat BR ice cream" on our to-do list.

Today, we made that dream a reality.  We fought the crowds and respected the workers who sacrificed the holiday (it is International Worker's Day, after all) so that we could enjoy a delicious afternoon snack.  We kept smiles on our faces and our anticipation in check even as we realized that in HCMC, "31 flavors" really means "9 flavors just repeated throughout the 31 slots."  All in all, it was worth the nearly year long wait to enjoy some frozen heavy cream and sugar on a Tuesday afternoon.

So far there are about 8 new Baskin Robins that have opened in Saigon.  Somehow all 8 are within a 2k radius of one another.  Hmmmm....

Adam holing the delicious cones -- Pralines and Cream for him.  Gold Ribbon for Heidi.  (Note:  even in air conditioning, ice cream melts much faster in Vietnam).

Just another glorious Tuesday afternoon in a corporate ice cream shop chain.