December 7, 2004

• too lazy to write one of my entries so i stole this from marilyn and tracy.  thanks guys! get ready for a looooooooooooong entry:

  
  

  this is our adventure in vietnam   we were in hoi an for 3 1/2 days, then saigon for a day.

  
  

   

  
  

  20 cent vietnamese sandwiches and 15 cent chicken and rice plates.  my roommate angels, her uncle made us eat at least 8-9 meals a day, and we couldn't just share something, since everything was so cheap.  no exercise, cuz it was all flooded, so we only took canoes that i swore would tip over in chest-high mud water, or we'd roll up our pants and carefully trudge through the thigh-high flood water.  the flood water has various garbage, geckos, insects, mud, and also a dead body in it (someone got pulled in by the water and died).  luckily, we didn't see the body, but we walked rght by it.  never again will i complain about taiwan floods!(http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/11/28/vietnam.flood.reut/index.html the flood that hit us..)  

  
  

   

  
  

  ooOOOH flooding!

  
  

   

  
  

  cart food is taken to a whole new level there.  we literally squat 6 inches off the ground on tiny ass tables to eat, and it's completely dark cuz the stands have no lights whatsoever.  it's hella dirty, but they don't have disposable chopsticks cuz those cost too much, and they rinse off the utensils in the river flood water.  they offer "napkins" that are little squares of paper, and everything has hella fat and grease on it.  don't get me wrong - food there was the best viet food i've ever had, but after a while, there are only so many variations with rice and the rice noodles.. it all tastes the same.as for toilets, let's just say i'm now grateful and happy to see the toilet in my dorm.. very very HAPPy. 

  
  

   

  
  

  so the first day was killer on thursday.  wednesday night we had our thanksgiving buffet, so i obviously totally over-ate, then we went to plush to club for an hour for jessica's bday.  i slept a total of ZERO hours.  damn tea and its caffeine. 

  
  

   

  
  

  we got to ho chi minh, then took another small plane to hoi an in the center of vietnam.  it's an old fishing village with no commericalization.  a lot of european tourists go there, actually.  it's all hella dim everywhere with no trafffic lights.  we sat in sit-lo's.. like a carriage for 1-2 people with a guy on a tricycle pushing it.  anyway, we went hiking the first day to this cool place where the monkey king in the chinese legends got stuck.  we hiked for like 2 hours, but it was rainy, so we had to wear ponchos and be careful of all the stone steps.  we hiked up mountains to see temples and stuff. that night, we ate like 4 dinners after we checked into our hotel, which was probably the nicest one in hoi an.  althought the showers had no water pressure and no hot water,  the room was pretty cool.  it was nice sleeping on a full size bed again...as opposed to the twin i've grown accustomed to here.

  
  

   

  
  

  monkey king mountain

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  after climbing through a narrow ass hole to get to the top of the monkey king hole mountain.  hMmm...wet limestone and rocks, narrow holes makes for good slippage...oh and much slippage there was trying to climb back down.

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  oh lovely, me w/ no makeup.  ahhaha

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  hotel lobby

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  hotel room!

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  the next day, we took tours in the sit lo's and saw 5 different temples, palaces, museums, culture houses, etc. we also ate a lot, and we had viet coffee ahah.. good - with strong coffee and condensed milk over ice.  we then went shopping and got hella clothes custom made..  i got 2 suits (one black, one pinstripped gray), a gray coat, a white coat, a blue cudouroy (spelling?) jacket, a pair of green pants, and a long skirt for $132. too bad i coudn't pick up some of the stuff due to the flood, but angels' cousin will mail it to us. 

  
  

   

  
  

  sit lo's with our driver in the one with tracy

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  outside a temple

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  these were incenses...those red twirly things. haha kinda cool

  
  

  

  
  

  me and tracy in ponchos outside the entrance to umm..a temple?

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

   marilyn and angels, same entrance

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  kinda cool, eh?  cave/temple/shrine  looks like something out of the movies

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  looks like a sweatshop but no, just a gift shop at a museum

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  muahaha.  handmade cloth laterns!

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  "mmMMmMMm tasty," says marilyn

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  the third day was flooded the worst, so we didn't get to go to the mountains we planned on. instead, we hiked to another mountain to a temple in construction (aka no temple.. haha we went to the top and saw nothing), went to a hella ghetto mall in the "city" of danang, ate vietnamese desserts and hella seafood at the beach (huge shrimp, crabs, giant clams.. sooooo goood!!)  we went to a local bar that night and mixed drinks at the bar cuz the bartender sucked haha.  we also went to angels' uncle's house and walked through the shrimping waters, where i got bitten by red ants.  we had hella good fruit, too.

  
  

   

  
  

  temple in construction

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  by the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea (where we ate seaaaafood)

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  tracy and angels' cousin

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  scary looking but good tastin fruit that i'm not allergic to!

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  local bar with vomit tasting pina coladas.  yeah, dunno how that happened

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  the next morning, we took an early flight out of danang to ho chi minh.  we went to her cousins' house, where it's like 4 stories, and each family gets a floor - all connected.  hella cool cuz it's one big family with hella cousins and stuff. her aunt made us hella good lunch of this super good chicken soup that you dip baguettes in and also a noodle dish.  wIT WAS SOOO GOOD!!! AKLDJF;LKASDFJ   we had to leave our purses in the house and take off all jewelry for safety reasons.  i also got a real vietnamese manicure and pedicure, and part of my toe cut off $5. yeah...the cut off not only the cuticle but also a chunk of skin by accident.  it hurt like a bitch and i almost cried but tracy told me not to cry so i didn't.  ahaha no no.  its cause the lady kept like rubbing it with alcohol and like wiping and rubbing and wiping.  my god!  argh.  we also had coconut juice while manicured, and we had a hella good ice cream - coconut ice cream in a coconut shell wth fruit on top.  yum. then, we went back for broken rice, spring rolls with fish, more baguette and a beef stew, and hotpot and homemade ice cream.  we also went clubbing at a hella happening bar, dressed in flip flops and a skirt and it was sooo loud we thought we'd die.  we were there for like 30 min, but no one dances.  it was a huge remy martin party, so for 15 minutes all they played was "FEEL MORE. REMY MARTIN.  FEEL MORE. REmY MARTIN.  FEEL MORE. REMY MARTIN." and so we left early.  angels' cousin says people start doing drugs and getting naked and having sex after midnight there.  nice, nice.

  
  

   

  
  

  yesterday morning we woke up and had another broken rice dish and pho made by angels' other aunt, and then we had more home made ice cream, and we headed out to the airport.  never have i been so happy to hear chinese.  yay for no diarrhea in vietnam!  too bad i can't say the same for marilyn, angels, and tracy. 

  
  

   

  
  

  oh how i appreciate taiwan even more now...ahahha.  ITS SO CLEAN! ahahhaa.  man, berkeley is going to be like friggin gorgeous to me when i get back...hahaa

  
  

   

  
  

  
  

  5 ways to know that you are in vietnam:

  
  

  5.  when you drive, there are no rules!  basically, you drive where ever there's room.  be it, on the left or right side of the street.  or in the other lane.  all are acceptable. 

  
  

  4.  can you say, flooding hotel?  yes.  interesting.  oh, and the streets turn into rivers at this time and you have to take a canoe to get around.  kind of like venice.  but minus the romance and plus a ten times more ghetto.  oh, and let us not be forgetting the brown, muddy water.  yay!

  
  

  flooded hotel; outside the lobby.  its about 4 ft. high in flood water

  
  

  

  
  

  in vietnam, thats your mode of transportation...wooden boats. well, at least when its flooded. 

  
  

  

  
  

  these shoes have been with me ever since freshman year of college.  i remember buying them for only $14 at ross...been with me to france, taiwan, and now i shall leave them behind at vietnam.  damn floods.  if it weren't for the floods, you'd still be with me now (they got pretty wet and started to emit crazy smelling odor...)  *sigh*  bye bye dear roxy's!

  
  

  

  
  

  3.  remy martin, feel morre!!!  imagine that line being repeated over and over and OVER again out of 15 ft tall speakers right next to your head for 5 min straight.  actually, don't.  it SUX.  but that was my awesome club experience.

  
  

  2.  when you eat in restaurants, there are 5 geckos on the wall eating with you!  yummers!

  
  

  1.  they really do wear those rice hats.  it's ridiculous!  i love it!

  
  

  ok, all in all.  awesome trip.  minus deb almost crying while getting a manicure and everyone having mysterious stomache problems.  but angel's relatives were bomb, and the food was awesome.  even though we ate 3 meals every 2 hours.  ahhahha.  too much eating!!!

  
  

  tracy's dough toes. hahaha her toes look like dough!  like lady fingers! hahaa

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  yes, these are toes and not hands.  yeah, marilyn is a big freako

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  tracy and marilyn saluting the deboah land country flag (my toe nails looked like a damn flag of some country...it was NOT suppose to turn out like that!!!)

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  the hammock in our room at angels' cousin's house in ho chi minh.  beware!  crazy turtle on hammock might bite and attack innocent passerbyers! scary, huh?!!

  
  

  

  
  

   

  • 12:35 pm
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