Sunday

Mom and Erin were up and out to do a boat tour to the Củ Chi tunnels, which the Vietnamese used during the war.  Since I had already been years ago, I decided to skip the tour and instead had a relaxing morning of laundry and lots more blog catch up!  Unfortunately, I also had to do a little bit of work as the timing of the trip coincides with a big work project, but I was happy I could do this while they were out and not miss anything!  

When they got back Erin was interested in a pedicure so we headed out to explore.  The place she found online was apparently no longer in business, so we ended up at a place closer to our hotel.  I opted for a foot massage which was lovely!  I was starving after as I really didn’t have lunch (someone had to make a dent in the snack pile!) and we just happened to be next to 4Ps, so I mentioned to Erin I thought of stopping by there to grab something to eat to hold me over until dinner.  Luckily, she was also hungry and thinking the same thing, so we stopped in to grab some pizza before heading back to the hotel to get ready for another rooftop bar and dinner!  Since Mom and I weren’t overly impressed with the view at Glow, we decided to go to Chill which was one of the original rooftop bars in Ho Chi Minh.  As you may remember from old blogs, they are VERY particular about their dress code and flip flops are NOT allowed.  You may also remember that Mom got in trouble for this and was given shoes that were too small.  She vowed this would never happen again and this time came more prepared!  

The woman who checked us in (before letting us on the elevator) literally didn’t make eye contact with us and just looked at our shoes!  I couldn’t believe it!  Luckily we all passed and were allowed up!  The view was much better than Glow, especially because we could overlook all the construction as they work on building the new metro system.

Who knows when (or if) it will ever be complete, but it would be amazing if they are able to finish it.  We then decided we would walk through the backpackers district (where I stayed the first time I came, and I made mom stay her first time).  It is as touristy as it gets in the city, filled with cheap hostels, restaurants, etc.  We didn’t come to Vietnam last year, and prior to that I don’t know if we even visited the area.  Part of the reason we like having the apartment is so we can cook our own dinner and don’t have to deal with the craziness of these types of places.  My point being, I don’t know the last time I was there, but I can’t believe how much it has changed!  It seems much more Las Vegas style now, instead of smaller mom and pop type places.  Personally, I think it’s lost so much of its Vietnamese charm and it has been replaced with neon lights and big tvs (which you never would have found before).  I was happy when we had showed Erin so then we could get out of there!  Mom, I gave you so much props for staying where we did the first year, it was a tiny little room that I wouldn’t dare set foot in now (24 year old Julie had lower standards than 32 year old Julie).  And I can’t believe we dealt with the craziness of the backpacker’s district every day/night!  Our apartment is beautiful as it gives us space to spread out and (in years past) room to cook.  Erin has brought out the adventurous side in us as we have eaten all of our meals out (albeit, Italian mostly)!

We decided we would walk to Ciao Bella (you are catching the Italian theme, right?) which is one of our favorite restaurants in the city!  Again, it was interesting to walk to see how much things have changed (lots of construction for the new metro).

Luckily we were able to get a table at Ciao Bella (the only people on the 3rd floor as the 1st and 2nd floors were full!)  We had a delicious dinner – it really felt like we were in the north end!  There is something to be said (for me at least) to be in a calm, cool place without people hassling you (which yes, is half the fun of Vietnam, but after a while it gets old!)

We took a cab back to the hotel to call it a night as we knew we had a big day tomorrow!