We were up and heading to breakfast around 7:15am so Erin could be ready for her city tour at 8pm. As many of you know, I met my friend Long the first time I was here (in 2009) through a group called Saigon Hot Pot, and they were local students who gave free tours as a way to practice their English. Obviously, I had such a great experience with Long and now he works for another similar group called One Trip. We had told Erin that she had to do a city tour while here, and that doing it with a group like this was awesome because you get to know a local student and get so much more out of the experience than doing a group tour with 50 people! Her tour guide was AWESOME and she had such an amazing time (and even saw some things we haven’t seen!) While she was doing that Mom and I were able to relax and get organized a bit. Pretty much the only “free time” we have had is at night after dinner and we have gone right to sleep! So, we did some laundry (having a washing machine in unit is amazing especially for washing orphanage clothes!) I also had to catch up on ALL my blogging since I hadn’t even starting writing yet (ooops) I love blogging as there are so many things I forget that happen so it’s nice to have them written down, and I LOVE knowing people are reading, but it actually does take a lot of time and sometimes I feel guilty I am not at the orphanage, or out exploring, or whatever, but I look at it as self-care, a way to reflect on my time here.
After Erin got back we decided to head to Soul Burger, a yummy lunch spot (and the only place we eat meat while we are here)! It’s also near the eyeglass place where both Erin and Mom wanted to go, so it worked out well that we could hop in a cab and head there for lunch first. After our fill of burgers and fries, we headed to the eyeglass place Mom has gone before as Erin was going to get sunglasses for Scott and Mom needed some updated glasses. They are much cheaper in Vietnam than in the states (probably not after a plane ticket, hotel and food) but since we are already here it makes sense for them to get them here.
Afterward, we decided to treat ourselves to a foot and back massage across the street. As you may know, these places are very cheap (an hour is about $12) but you can hear the crazy sounds of the street, busses, construction, the workers cell phones ringing, etc. Still, it is so relaxing after being sore from traveling, the beds here, the kids, trying to walk on the street without being run over, etc.
We headed back to the hotel so we could shower, rest and change before heading to a new rooftop bar. Rooftop bars are really getting popular in Saigon. The weather at night is beautiful, and it’s a fun way to see the city! There is a new bar, Glow, that got good reviews, so we decided to head there for 5:30pm, as sunset is at 6pm.
We were the only ones there and they were setting up for Tet, and I wasn’t overly impressed with the views. But it was nice to get out! After a drink we decided to head out to Nha Hang Ngon for dinner. Long has taken us there before and they have an extensive Vietnamese menu and we thought Erin could use a break from all the Italian food! We had a delicious dinner (Mom and I even ate spring rolls) and decided to walk back to the hotel as it was a lovely night. We ended up stopping at a cute little French bakery (we saw gelato and cupcakes calling our name). After cooling down with some gelato we headed back to the hotel to call it a night.
After Erin got back we decided to head to Soul Burger, a yummy lunch spot (and the only place we eat meat while we are here)! It’s also near the eyeglass place where both Erin and Mom wanted to go, so it worked out well that we could hop in a cab and head there for lunch first. After our fill of burgers and fries, we headed to the eyeglass place Mom has gone before as Erin was going to get sunglasses for Scott and Mom needed some updated glasses. They are much cheaper in Vietnam than in the states (probably not after a plane ticket, hotel and food) but since we are already here it makes sense for them to get them here.
Afterward, we decided to treat ourselves to a foot and back massage across the street. As you may know, these places are very cheap (an hour is about $12) but you can hear the crazy sounds of the street, busses, construction, the workers cell phones ringing, etc. Still, it is so relaxing after being sore from traveling, the beds here, the kids, trying to walk on the street without being run over, etc.
We headed back to the hotel so we could shower, rest and change before heading to a new rooftop bar. Rooftop bars are really getting popular in Saigon. The weather at night is beautiful, and it’s a fun way to see the city! There is a new bar, Glow, that got good reviews, so we decided to head there for 5:30pm, as sunset is at 6pm.
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| This ram was sitting at our table! |
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