The title says it all. Today was all about FOOD!
Since Jess and I haven't completely adjusted to the time here yet, she knocked at around 4pm and I slept at 9pm last night. Mind you this wasn't voluntary. Remember the scene in Avatar where the human people get woken up and their avatars just fell over? Yup. That was me.
Anyway, so we woke up at around 3am this morning. I tried calling the front desk for more towels, but apparently things don't work that way around here. We chilled until about 630, when Jess went to see if her aunt was up yet/wake her up (since we didn't have dinner, we were both starving). Apparently (Obviously) her auntie, 2 uncles, and cousin weren't awake and ready yet, so Jess and I got breakfast lite, which consisted of sticky rice and taro soup. After breakfast lite, we came back to the hotel to check on Jess's entourage, who were still getting ready. That took another hour, but then we went to grab real breakfast. Since the portions here are so small, Jess actually finished breakfast lite and most of regular breakfast, which was a bowl of bun cha ca and another fresh coconut. Mmmmmmmm...It was actually really good. I think there were 4 different kinds of fish/fish balls in the soup.
After that, we went to get a phone set up for Jess and I. I brought a simple LG which I figured I could use if I just bought a Vietnamese SIM card, but nooooooooooo, the damn thing had to be unlocked. So we left my phone there for the guy to work on it. In the meantime, we visited the temple across the street, which was really big and had a lot of floors that, except for the 2nd floor, were all closed to prevent theft (yep, people steal from temples).
After resting for a bit at the hotel, we went to check up on my phone, which apparently was more complicated than the phone people originally thought, so they asked us to come back later. I was a bit annoyed at this phone, but I figured I should just be patient. With more time to wait, we headed over the Cho Ben Thanh.
It was just as I remembered it when I first saw it in 2007. There was a bunch of propaganda lining the walls of this place, and the inside was PACKED with everything that you could ever want in another country - cheap generic crap and exotic foods. This place, for those of you who have never seen it, is like an indoor flea market with a really cramped food court. Because everything is so crammed in there, things are very competitive for the vendors, but imagine my surprise when the first thing that happened was that a lady GRABBED MY ARM and TOLD ME TO BUY SOMETHING. I tried to ask her THREE TIMES to let go of my arm, but she was quite persistent, so I physically pulled her hand off of me and walked away.
I was definitely turned off of shopping after that, but not eating! We bought jackfruit, which me and Jess's cousin snacked on while Jess and her aunt walked around. The jackfruit here is so much sweeter than what we get in the US. After that, we got eggrolls, which were delightfully oily. I also got a couple orders of nem nuong for myself, which was also delicious, but I would say is not as good as Brodard's.
By this time, I'm close to full, but not quite there yet. We explored Cho Ben Thanh and Saigon a bit more before we got real lunch at 2pm at a restaurant who's name translated into English means Clock restaurant. I'm not sure why it was named this, since there wasn't a clock in sight, but it was beautiful! We were next to a gorgeous lagoon, which turned out not to be such a great thing because I was reminded that mosquitoes love still bodies of water...and my legs. We munched on grilled beef, squid, and bittermelon soup as I drank Tiger beer and tried very hard not to scratch my calves off.
We got back to the hotel at 4pm, where I was totally full and in need of a nap. I was really looking forward to dinner, but either because of the food coma or my inability thus far to adjust to Vietnamese time, I slept for 5 hours. What was worse is that I was supposed to hang out with Ryan "The Man" Hubris and Anna "The Man-Eater" Nguyen, but slept right through it. While I was asleep, my ghetto rigged LG phone rejected the SIM card and Ryan and Anna couldn't reach me at all.
So now I'm quite awake trying to find ways to sleep to tomorrow morning around 7ish. I am DEFINITELY meeting up with Ryan and Anna tomorrow, and Qui if she calls me. I have to grovel for forgiveness for being a jerk and standing Ryan and Anna up.
Good night yall. That means good morning to you Americans.
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