Hang Gap Lai Viet Nam

Our last 2 days in Viet Nam were pretty laid back. We took an overnight bus from Chau Doc to Saigon. We paid for the "premium" seats (the 1st two seats directly behind the bus driver) but the overnight bus is a very popular option for Vietnamese travelers as they like to be efficient with their time and traffic is pretty much nonexistent between the hours of 11 pm and 4 am. When traveling to Chau Doc, it took us 6.5 hours. The return trip was only 5 hours and would have been even less if we didn't have to stop to pick up additional passengers at various points along the way. Since the overnight bus is such a popular option, our bus accidentally oversold the number of tickets and there were not enough seats, so 2 passengers had to sit in the aisle way. One fell asleep and leaned against Vinny's leg so he was a little uncomfortable during the ride. Also although it was an overnight bus, they kept playing Vietnamese music videos and since Vinny and I were about 3 feet away from the wall mounted LCD screen, it was a little bright and made it difficult to sleep.

We arrived in Saigon at 4:00 am and made it to the gates of "our" house in Saigon by 4:30 am. Exhausted, Vinny and I collapsed into bed and didn't wake up until 5 hours later. In the afternoon, we met Robin King Austin, CEO of Vinacapital Foundation for a quick cup of coffee. It was actually raining the entire day in Saigon (even though it's the dry season right now, I guess there was a tropical storm front that came through) so it wasn't too fun splashing through puddles but we made it. Robin, Vinny, and I talked about the work I've been doing at the health center, Vinny's quest to learn Mandarin, and Robin's current projects in Viet Nam. They are very interesting and for more information, you should definitely check out the foundation's website:

http://www.vinacapitalfoundation.org/

On our last day in Viet Nam, Vinny and I spent the morning packing and then had the most delicious lunch of grilled Vietnamese pork chops with broken rice, fresh cut tomatoes and cucumbers and I was able to introduce Vinny to sticky rice and banana rolls and coconut filled rice cakes. He devoured them and then we bittersweetly made our way to the airport.

The Tan Son Nhat airport was recently built and is absolutely beautiful. It really showcases how modern and upcoming Viet Nam is trying to become. Our flights home were pretty uneventful but we did have a very cute little 9 month baby who sat right in front of us on the long flight from Taipei to Los Angeles so Vinny and I had fun playing peek-a-boo with her. The mother was traveling alone with a 9 month old and her 7 year old but both of her children were so well behaved, you would have never known they were on the plane. I hope when I have kids, they are that well behaved and cute.

We landed at JFK at 5:08 am Thursday morning and after a fairly transferring through the Airtrain and subway, we dropped off our bags at Vinny's apartment, I grabbed a quick shower, Vinny and I went out for a quick breakfast at the diner around the corner from his apartment, and I bittersweetly headed into the office to resume work.

Our trip was amazing. It was everything I could have wanted (the good and the bad) and Vinny told my aunt that he would try to be back at least 1x a year so until then, "Hang gap lai Viet Nam" (translation: we shall meet again Viet Nam).

Elephant Trunks and Monkey Brains

Today we headed to Chau Doc to visit my dad's family. We would have gone earlier but there weren't any bus tickets. We ended up taking a huge charter bus that easily could have seated 45-50 people and there were 6 passengers total. I felt a little guilty leaving such a large carbon footprint.

The ride down to Chau Doc was long, about 6.5 hours + 1 hour shuttle transit time. We started our journey to the shuttle center at 8:30 am and finally arrived in Chau Doc at my aunt's house at 5:30 pm. Of course we were greeted with great food (Vinny's favorite was the egg roll that was wrapped in potato shavings instead of a regular wrapper). Vinny kept saying how the Vietnamese are crazy drinking animals and my uncles (I have 6) kept telling him, all the uncles were waiting for us to arrive so in the meanwhile, they had to drink to occupy their time. Vinny was such a trooper even trying shrimp paste (which I can't even eat because it's so pungent).

The next day, my aunt grilled us the spiciest beef I've ever eaten but the best also. My aunts and uncles love to jest with one another and the entire day was spent joking with them, translating their conversations for Vinny, and watching my uncles and aunts try to teach Vinny Vietnamese. It was such a great time, especially when my aunts told me to tell Vinny he was eating elephant trunks dipped in monkey brains (not really, it was grilled okra dipped in a sweat and sour sauce. I was able to introduce my aunts and uncles to Gchat, and for the first time ever, all my aunts and uncles were able to talk to my mom and dad via Gchat. I love technology. I was joking with one of my uncles about why he didn't say more to my dad during the 2 hour conversation and he told me that he hadn't seen my dad or heard my dad's voice in so long, he was overcome with emotion and couldn't speak. It was a really special day and I don't think I've ever see my dad that happy since the day Doug was born and he finally had a son in the family. I love technology...

Living in the Big City of Notorious Motor Bike Traffic

We spent most of the day hanging around Saigon before I had to head down to visit my dad's family in Chau Doc, which is in the Mekong River delta. Ben La, Vinny and I had a fun morning lounging around watching Wall-E, Ben La is such a little kid (for a 24 year old) and loves watching cartoons. As always, I had to stop by Thin, a hair salon on the famous Hai Ba Trung street to get my hair cut. I always joke it's my most expensive haircut since I have to buy an airplane ticket to get to the salon. My hair stylist gave me a graduated bob, so it's still short hair for Thuan :)

Afterwards, we wandered around the wealthy area of Saigon (all the nice 4 star hotels) and as Ben La jokes, all the prices in the shops are quoted in US $ and not VND $. Ben La, Vinny and I went to "Fanny" ice cream shop and ordered the "Fondue" which came with 14 ice cream flavors, fresh fruit, chocolate fondue, and really good crispy wafers. Ben La and Vinny weren't fans of the tarty flavors so I happily devoured the watermelon, strawberry scoops (Mueller, you would have loved it) while Ben La liked the caramel a lot more (Rach, you would have liked that one). Afterwards we went to "Mai", a very expensive store that uses parachute fabric to make purses to try to find a purse for Kristie. Unfortunately there weren't any cool new designs so they we decided to try Thuy Nga which is underneath the Saigon Opera House. Vinny didn't find anything but I found a great black and white silk dress blazer that was 70% off (we all know how I love to bargain shop). The original price was $195 and I only paid $65 for it :) Needless to say, I was a happy camper. We decided to end our day with $10 massages. The three of us were like Goldilocks and the 3 bears. Ben La thought the massage was too hard and it hurt, I thought it was just right, and Vinny kept saying it was too soft, the masseuse needed to use more pressure.

All in all, a great day filled with good wandering, great company, and awesome food (banh canh cua at Cho Benh Thanh)...

"Let's go!"

After arriving in Saigon and settling in(we are staying with my aunt and uncle and cousins), Ben La (my cousin), Vinny and I made our way out to the bus stop. On the way we stopped by a jewelry store to exchange money (note to my fellow travelers, when in Viet Nam, always exchange your money (preferably $100 bills) at jewelry stores, you get better exchange rates than at the bank). Then we boarded Bus #18 and for 9,000 VND total, the three of us rode to the Saigon -> Vung Tau Express Ferry Service. The ferry prices went up since last time I took the ferry, it's 160,000 VND now instead of 100,000. Actually all prices in Viet Nam have gone up significantly since I was back in 2006. Everyone I talk to says that prices have been going up 50-60% for everything in the past 2 years.

We boarded the 10:30 am ferry and happily walked off the Vung Tau docl at 11:40 am. Guess for the short travel time, we definitely had to pay the price. On the way to Vung Tau, Ben La practiced speaking English with Vinny and now that he has taught her the phrase, "Let's go!", everywhere we go, since she's our tour guide, she always says, "Let's go!"

1st stop: Banh Khoc
My hometown has a specialty dish which is crispy rice cakes topped with shrimp, green onions, and ground shrimp powder. You eat the little cakes wrapped in lettuce leaves dipped in fish sauce or eat them by themselves dipped in fish sauce. It's one of my favorite dishes and I had to make sure it was the first thing we had upon arrival to Vung Tau.

2nd stop: The marketplace to buy ghe (large crabs). We picked out fresh live crabs for 150,000 VND per kilo and bought 2 kilos (a total of 8 crabs). Vinny carried them still wiggling around in a plastic bag and we rode back to my cousin's wife's home to see his new baby girl (Ngoc Nga) before taking off to the beach.

3rd stop: My cousin's baby girl (Ngoc Nga) was asleep when we arrived so we waited a bit while my cousin's wife steamed the crabs in beer and prepared a spicy/salty/sweet dipping sauce. Then we all put on our motorbike helmets (it's a requirement now in Viet Nam that anyone on a motorbike needs to wear a helmet), Vinny carried the cooler full of beers, I carried the pot of freshly steamed crabs, and we all headed out in a caravan of motorbikes to the beach.

4th stop: It's quite cool in Viet Nam due to the time of the year and also due to the fact that the entire world seems to be colder than normal, so it wasn't really a beach swimming day. As we approached the area where you rent tables and chairs on the beach, Ben La shooed Vinny and I away so that the vendors wouldn't try to rip the family off since Vinny sticks out like a sore thumb. Afterwards we basically had a picnic on the beach of crabs and beer. I went into the water even though the day wasn't very hot and it was cooler than usual but still warmer than anything in the States. The waves were really big that day and the riptide pretty strong so I didn't venture out too far. Vinny said it was too cold to swim but we did have fun watching the waves come in and as they rolled back out, the little clams would burrow into the sand even further. It was quite impressive to watch. Vinny also learned from my cousin Viet Nam's famous drinking toast, "Mot, hai, ba, gio!!!"

5th stop: More food at another restaurant. My cousin took us to a restaurant that was famous for its dipping sauce and we grilled rabbit, venison, and fresh okra. It was super delicious but the best part was Vinny really liked holding and playing with Ngoc Nga so he decided to take Ngoc Nga for a walk. So many people looked at him, Mr. Italian dude carrying a 9 month Vietnamese baby through the streets of Vung Tau. They went to visit a funeral celebration down the street from the restaurant and walked back. It was quite funny seeing people's reaction.

After a long fun-filled day in Vung Tau, Ben La, Vinny and I took a bus back since we had already missed the last scheduled ferry. All three of our tickets came to 165,000 VND which was so much cheaper than 1 ferry ticket at 160,000 VND. Vinny claims our bus driver was crazy driving us back, but Ben La and I happily slept the entire 2 hour ride home and so we missed any crazy antics that Vinny claimed the bus driver pulled. If you can sleep on buses, then traveling in Viet Nam is a breeze. You miss crazy driving moments and the trip goes by a lot faster.

Next Post: Hanging around Saigon

Hanoi Hilton

Vinny wanted to go see the Hanoi Hilton (the prison where the American soldiers were held captive) so we went. It was a little eerie since they played this really creepy music. We had an interesting time seeing the pictures of Senator John McCain when he was a prisoner there. We also went to one of my favorite restaurants in Ha Noi, Hoa Sua.

Hoa Sua is a culinary school that teaches Vietnamese youth how to cook, speak English, and serve in a restaurant setting. The higher level students practice their skills in a real restaurant in a French mansion that is set up like a restaurant. I ordered soft shell crab with a tamarin sauce, it was culinary diviness. Vinny had the Vietnamese prix-fixe menu which included a basic vegetable soup (canh), salted pork (thit ko), veggies (rau cai), and egg rolls (chao gio). His dessert was the best though, he had a banana fritter (chuoi chien) that had the most amazing blend of spices, sweetness, and banana goodness. When the waiter wasn't looking, Vinny licked his plate clean, it was that good.

Bidding farewell to Ha Noi, we then started to make our way down to the south of Viet Nam to visit and pay respects to the rest of the family. Note to my fellow travelers, Jet Star airlines offers very inexpensive flights from Ha Noi to Saigon about $65, in case you wanted to book a flight. Only caveat, they limit your luggage to 20 kg per person so Vinny and I had to pay 110,000 VND for our overweight bags total (so about $6 USD).

Next Post: Vung Tau

Johnnie Walker, Rice Wine = Dieu Luong

Leaving China, Vinny and I headed to Ha Noi, Viet Nam's capital to visit my host family in Dieu Luong. It had been almost 3.5 years since I last stayed with them while conducting malnutrition research with Crossing Borders back in summer '06. I remember last time I was there I was studying for the MCAT in 100 degree weather, no air conditioning and the electricity would cut in and out, so sometimes the fan would work, sometimes it wouldn't.

It was so nice to return after such a long time away. My little host brother was 13 years old and now he's almost 17, almost a grown man. My host mom had prepared a lunch for us, and Vinny and I had lunch with the communist party president of the region and the assistant secretary. We rode out to the commune with my old professor from the Institute of Nutrition whom I worked with, J.P. an American affiliated with Lutheran Church Ministry Services, and Anh Hai, a Vietnamese worker that worked with J.P. I was so happy to have J.P. with us so Vinny wouldn't feel like he stuck out too much as the only sore thumb, and J.P. was great in giving Vinny advice about Vietnamese customs.

The custom in northern Viet Nam is to take rice wine shots as you eat your meal with all officials and your host. Vinny was such a trooper and took about 20-25 rice wine shots. The host's family house changed a lot since I last lived there. They had just renovated certain parts of the house, adding on a kitchen (no more cooking in thatched huts), and the bathroom finally had a roof over it instead of just a toilet with four walls around it. I was super impressed!

Needless to say, Vinny and I (more Vinny, more than me) left quite tipsy if not on the verge of drunk after 2-3 hours of eating and drinking. My professor told me as we finished our tea before taking off that he thought I would never return to Viet Nam after my last trip and was pleasantly surprised upon my return. There's nothing that could keep me away from Viet Nam, everybody knows that.

On the way back to Ha Noi, we stopped at a stand to get one of my favorite Vietnamese treats (sua chua) aka Vietnamese yogurt. At this point, Vinny definitely needed a pick me up and as we sat down on the little plastic chairs, Vinny accidentally broke one of the chairs. Oops... we also had these wonderful little things that were little thin crispy crepes that were slightly sweet. There were also very delicious.

All in all, a great day introducing Vinny to my host family who everyone absolutely adored. I think they may like him more than me... :P

Xi'an and the Terracotta Warriors

When we arrived in Xi'an, we were so used to the cold in Beijing that 35 degrees F was such a wonderful treat! Xi'an's population is about 8 million so compared to 16 million in Beijing, everything looked so spacious. Our hotel was right in downtown Xi'an about a 2 minute walk away from the Bell Tower. Xi'an is one of the few cities in China that has its original protective wall intact so it was pretty impressive coming into the city and seeing the wall. From the airport, Vinny and I were able to take the public airport bus for only 25 yuan per person instead of paying the 150-200 yuan taxi ride. We're getting pretty good about budget traveling since our money supply isn't as plenty as when we first started on our trip (I guess not that it was that plenty to begin with).

The first thing we did in Xi'an was go to the mosque where basically there is a street market with lots of street food galore. There is quite a large Muslim population in Xi'an and Vinny and I had one of the best street food items I've ever had. I like to call it the "Chinese Quesadilla" since it was beef or lamb placed in between two sheets of wonton like wrappers that were as large as regular quesadilla and then pan fried. They were delicious. Vinny was a great tour guide as we wandered around the mosque area eating various street foods. My favorite was the fresh squeezed pomegranate juice. Yummy!

On our 2nd day in Xi'an, we took a tour bus out to see the Terracotta warriors. For my fellow City High-Middle alumni, although Mr. Vandenberg's world history class wasn't the most amazing thing ever, I definitely enjoyed learning about China and its history. I don't know if you guys remember but we watched a video on the terracotta warriors and I remember thinking back in 8th grade and even getting chills about how all these warriors were constructed and the time and effort that went into their production. Now fast forward 11 years later, I'm standing in Pit #1 of the terracotta warrior site, looking down on these impressive warriors. Yup the feeling of chills taking over as I stood there in awe was still there. Although it was chilly the day we went and considering that most of the excavation site is semi-outdoors, our entire tour group was a little cold but that also meant less tourists. There were some spots that if the guard wasn't watching, I could have reached out and almost touched some of the warriors. It was an amazing sight and I would definitely recommend it to anyone going to China.

Side note: We met these 4 professors who were deans from their respective disciplines (Engineering, Law, Literature, and Biology) from a university in Malaysia. The professors were in China recruiting students from Chinese universities to participate in a student-exchange program with Malaysian students. The professors were part of our tour group and they were a riot! Just imagine 4 nutty professors with various accents (Malay + Indian, Malay + Chinese, Malay + English), it was great. They kept complaining about how cold it was since Malaysia's average temperatures are 80-90 F and they thought that the cold would be refreshing but in turn, all these could do was complain. It was pretty funny. When our tour guide announced that we would have a total of 2 hours to tour the terracotta warriors site, one of the professors announced, "2 hours?! Oh goodness, how about 2 hours hanging out with the bus driver in the warm bus instead?" They were very fun to talk to and if any of my fellow blog readers are interested in studying abroad in Malaysia, I have the hook-up for you since they exchanged contact information with us.

On our final day in Xi'an, Vinny and I rented bicycles and tried to ride around the entire perimeter of the wall. So we made it about 1/8 of the way before I deemed that the wall was too bumpy, the tire wheels too flat, and the air around us too smoggy to allow for proper breathing. I don't have asthma but I felt that the smog in the air was too much for my poor bronchioles (I had a little difficulty breathing) so we stopped after about 20 minutes of biking and headed back to return our bikes. During our brief bike ride, we saw many workers building what looked like extravagant float-like displays for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration. They were painstakingly gluing bits of fabric over wire frames that were made to resemble trees, lanterns, and other various displays. It was quite pretty.

We ended our day with a dinner date at Pizza Hut. Vinny and I joked about how we flew all the way to Asia to have dinner at Pizza Hut but it looked so popular with the locals. Our pizza basically tasted like a big saltine cracker with a little tomato sauce and cheese sprinkled on top. It was interesting but I'll take my NYC pizza from Difara's any day over Pizza Hut...

The Night Market and Yashow Clothing Market

Continuing on with our adventures in Beijing, Vinny and I went to the night market based a recommendation from one of my volunteers from Columbia. It was very cold and we got there kind of late so a lot of the stalls were packing up. There were definitely quite a few interesting items of food for sale, I believe I saw snails skewered like a kabob at one stand. We met a very nice woman from California at the market. She adopted 3 girls from China and when each of her daughters turns 10, she takes them back to China to learn about where they were born and the culture. I thought it was a pretty cool idea. She said Vinny's Mandarin tones were really good which I know made him very happy :)

So now onto the Yashow Clothing Market. It's like Chinatown x 10 when it comes to knock-offs. I wasn't in the greatest mood that day but I really wanted to go because I promised a certain Good Morning songbird I would try to get her a pair of Ugg boots and a North Face. Immediately when we walked in, two of the salespeople overhead me talking to Vinny about getting a North Face and they immediately accosted us and said, "We have North Face!" At this market, the North Face display jackets are hidden and you have to inquire about them, just like Chinatown. Hmmmm how similar... I found a black one that looked pretty good but the girl told me 600 yuan. I thought that was a little pricey and she ended up dropping the price down to 300 yuan. The bargaining is crazy because they just punch a number in the calculator. You state or punch your price back in. And then the further away you walk, the seller keeps lowering the price on his/her calculator. Most of the sellers were women though. I didn't really know the price so I just said no thank you and walked away.

Onto the basement, we found the knock-off shoe department. If I wasn't in such a bad mood, I might have shopped for shoes for myself but I just wanted to get Ugg boots and get out. We received price quotes of 280-500 yuan. I walked further back into the floor (note to other bargainers, always try to bargain with the sellers on the inside since they have a harder time attracting customers due to their location and are a little more lenient when lowering prices). I finally agreed on 100 yuan for a pair of Uggs with the two women who ran the booth. After I tried them on to make sure they would fit morningbird's feet, the seller had the audacity to ask me what I was going to pay. At this point, I was tired, hungry, and even more grumpy so I started to get a little snippity. I told her we had already agreed on 100 yuan and if she wasn't going to take that price, I didn't need the boots. She still insisted on a higher price and asked for 120 yuan. At this point, I got up and started to walk away, I was just fed up. She waited 5 seconds and then called me back and said she would take 100 yuan.

So this was when I lost it. I started to lecture both women on how rude and unethical their sales skills were. I told them 1) we had agreed on a price 2) I found their tactics of trying to raise the price rude 3) not to call me a friend b/c they certainly weren't 4) if they wanted customers, their sales tactics sucked. I let them have it for about 5 whole minutes and honestly if I could have afforded it, I would have just walked to the next booth and bought the exact same pair of Ugg boots for twice their asking price just to annoy them. After they apologized profusely and insisted that they were just "joking" about raising the price (mhmmm), granted I was a little rude back because I was so upset but I just gave her the money, grabbed my boots and stormed off. Moral of the story: Treat me like I'm a walking dollar sign, expect a disgruntled Thuan. Treat me like a human being, I'll gladly buy your stuff at a fair price even if it's higher.

Oh well... on the bright side morningbird, I also bought you a Northface for 150 yuan at another vendor. Oh bargaining... I do miss the US and its set prices.

Next blog: Xi'An and the Terracotta Warriors

The Summer Palace and Beijing Olympic Village

To really relish in the winter wonderland of Beijing and its frigid temperatures, Vinny and I ventured to the Summer Palace which is located on the west outskirts of Beijing. It must have been so nice to be an emperor in China and have a Forbidden Palace and a Summer Palace to spend hot, humid days in. Vinny and I at this point felt much more comfortable navigating the Beijing subways so off we went. As we entered the Summer Palace gates, my ears picked up something familiar. Someone was speaking Vietnamese! I was so excited to hear a language that I could understand I started hopping up and down. Turns out that there was a tour group of Vietnamese-Australians visiting and they had a Vietnamese speaking tour guide. Yay!!!

The summer palace was wonderful and was so beautiful in the winter, I can't imagine how gorgeous it must be in the summer. I do have to say that although visiting Beijing in the winter is incredibly cold (especially given the horrible cold temps in the entire northern hemisphere), you avoid tourist crowds and see the city and sights through a different lense. The summer palace was built around a lake called Kunming Lake and it was completely frozen. Vinny and I were able to venture out to one of the many pavilions (I believe the one we were one was called the Pavilion of Serenity) that overlooked the lake. The sight was absolutely stunning. Here I am standing on a pavalion carved of stone, overlooking a frozen lake, with the sun setting to my west and dipping in the sky amongst mountains covered in hazy clouds. It was an absolutely amazing experience and although my toes and fingers ached from the cold, it was definitely worth it.

Vinny and I decided to be adventorous and instead of walking around the perimeter of the lake back to one of the entrance gates, we ventured out onto the ice and walked across the frozen lake. That's another experience that I'll always remember. It was absolutely magical. I felt like I was Lucy when she goes to through the wardrobe in the Chronicles of Narnia and enters Narnia. I guess I was just entering Chinese Narnia but there are absolutely no words that can pinpoint how amazing the entire experience through the summer palace was. For my readers, if you go to Beijing, do not miss the summer palace and I suggest you go during the winter time, it's even more magical.

Since we were in Beijing, we had to see the Olympic Village and the Bird's nest is as stunning as it looked like on TV. An interesting experience for us when traveling via subway to the village was when we transfered from one line to another we had to walk through a hallway and then down a set of stairs to the other subway platform. There must have been about 200-250 people all trying to get down a narrow staircase. It was so congested that you didn't need to think about moving, you just moved because the person behind you was directly pushing into your back with their body and forcing you to move. If anybody has ever seen those documentaries where they make food on assembly lines and then they roll down the belt and are sorted and packaged, that's what I felt like. Although the Olympic Village was impressive, I can't imagine what it was like during the actual Olympics. I can barely handle the hustle and bustle of 16 million Beijing inhabitants, the Olympics must have been crazy. A part of me is really glad that I was able to watch it from the comfort of my TV in the US, I don't think I would have been able to handle it if I was in China. Maybe that's why Beijing people when as a mass act so frigid and rude, they're just so used to fighting for a little space here and there. Vinny and I agree that when you meet a Beijing person one on one, many are extremely nice but when everyone is together in a mass, watch your back and your feet (they are notorious for spitting everywhere).

Next post: Yashow Clothing Market

Bargaining at Tianya Market and Dinner at Dalian Seafood

So we arrived at Tianya Market which is basically a large building with about 6 floors of random knick-knacks. My favorite experience during the market trip was buying hair clips from a vendor on the 6th floor. When we walked into the shop, one of the saleswomen started speaking to me in Mandarin. At this point, I was exhausted after wandering through the Forbidden City and the first 5 floors of the market, so I just looked blankly at her. Vinny told the woman in Mandarin that I didn't speak any Chinese because I was Vietnamese. The look on her face was priceless. Her jaw dropped, her eyes were all wide and she just started speaking to the other salesgirl and gesturing towards us. It was pretty funny.

For one hour while I happily browsed through the vast selection of hair clips, Vinny spoke with the two salesgirls. It was great because he could practice his Mandarin. They giggled and laughed and told him that they expected me to speak Mandarin not him. Basically every conversation that Vinny has with the people we meet in China goes like this:

Chinese man/woman: Says something in Mandarin to me

Vinny (in Mandarin): She doesn't speak Chinese, she's Vietnamese.

Chinese man/woman: Oh really? (then to me) Are you Chinese?

Me: (Just gives a baffled look)

Vinny: No she's Vietnamese.

Chinese man/woman: Oh she looks Chinese. Her face, her eyes, her hair.

Vinny: That's what everybody says.

Chinese man/woman: She is very pretty.

Me: (Still baffled and then ask in English) Vinny, what are they saying?

After the market, Vinny and I decided were starving so we decided to venture out of the market (they were also closing at 5:30 pm). I've never left a market at the same time as everybody else and it was a little like leaving a sporting event right after the game ended. It was like a mad rush to exit the builidng. We ended up at Dalian Seafood which was across the street from the market and at Dalian Seafood was where I first encountered my first squatter toilet. It was the cleanest squatter toilet I've ever had to use, even cleaner than some Western toilets that I've encountered in the US or Asia. Vinny and I were pleasantly surprised.

Dalian Seafood had all their seafood on display on the first floor and you could just point at various seafoods (sea urchins, squid, shrimp, etc.) that you wanted (they were still alive). Vinny and I weren't feeling too adventurous and we were starving so we opted to just choose from the regular menu. But it was fun to see all the different seafood on display. After a long day, we headed back to our hotel to relax and to make sure our toes and fingers didn't develop hypothermia. So if we ever go back to Tianya market, we have two new friends :)

Pretending I lived in the Forbidden City and a Motorbike Cab Ride

Today after my 2nd warm shower (I'll never take hot water and a warm bathroom for granted ever again), Vinny and I checked out the weather forecast on TV. We discovered that right after we arrived in Beijing, the city experienced the record snowfall in centimeters it had ever had in 60 years and record cold temparatures in 50 years. Wow did we pick a great time to visit Beijing. Our getting ready to go sight seeing ritual consisted of applying at 4-5 layers. My checklist was starting with the first layer: a) tank top b) Uniqlo Heat-tech shirt #1 c) Uniqglo Heat-tech shirt #2 d) Warm Sweater e) Uniqglo Heat-tech Leggings f) Jeans g) Pair of socks #1 h) Pair of socks #2 i) suede boots that went up to my knees j) scarf k) wool coat l) hat m)gloves... ALL READY TO GO!

We started our day in Tianneman Square where we walked past Mao's Mausoleum (we didn't actually go inside though). By the time we walked through the Square, our toes and fingers were tingling from the pain of being so cold so we ducked into a food court to grab breakfast. I had a very delicious rice noodle soup (bun tao) with tofu and cabbage. It was just like how my mom and dad used to make it so I guess the Chinese and Vietnamese versions are very similar. Vinny had some really good Kung-Pow chicken. Afterwards we bundled up again and made our way to the Forbidden City.

I haven't studied Chinese history/culture since 8th grade but wow was the Forbidden City amazing and as grand as the movies and textbooks make it out to be. There were marble floors everywhere which if you combine marble + cold + slush from snow = basically walking on black ice. The marble was so slippery and I must have slipped at least a dozen times. Luckily Vinny was around to catch me or I was able to grab onto one of the elaborately carved stone staircases for support. My favorite parts of the Forbidden City were the Imperial Garden, the Outer Court, and the East Palaces where the concubines and emperoress lived. For a little bit while wandering around the East Palaces, I pretended to be one of the soap opera characters that I used to watch with my mom and sisters when I was little. A lot of the soap operas I watched when I was little featured stories of royal women of the court and their lives in the Forbidden City.

After the Forbidden City, Vinny and I wanted to warm up so we decided to check out a market of knicks-knacks listed in our guide book. We weren't too familar with the Beijing subway yet so we decided to opt for a cab. The cabs at the north gate of the Forbidden City were abundant but everyone of them claimed that their meter was "not working" and tried to negotiate a flat rate with us. Our amazing guidebook which we had picked up on our 1st day in Beijing warned us about these little tricks so we politely declined. A very persistant motorbike cab driver followed us as we walked away and finally persuaded us that he would take us to our destination for 25 yuan. We thought it was a fair price given that the other drivers were asking us 80 yuan. I would like to say that the reason why the price was so cheap was because our cab was basically a rickshaw powered by a motorbike that looked like it was going to fall apart if it hit a hard bump. Just think if the smartcar was cut in half and that was what our "cab" looked like. Here is a picture of what they look like.

http://www.pbase.com/ryoung88/image/111686313

Vinny wasn't too thrilled with this idea but I convinced him that it wouldn't hurt us to try. It was quite funny because our cabbie took us to our supposed market but it wasn't the right one and that was about a 2 minute ride away. We had to argue with him about the actual location and finally negotiated that he would take us there for 35 yuan. The market ended up being super far away (at least 10-15 minute ride away) so I guess it was worth the fare that we bargained. I'll probably not take another motorbike cab ride since the exhaust fumes was quite strong but it was quite the experience being cramped in a little seat.

Next blog: Bargaining at Tianya Market and Dinner at Dalian Seafood

Cold Vs. Vinny and Thuan

Sorry I haven't had a chance to blog lately, the past few days have been hectic and I also didn't have much internet access. So where was I? Oh yes... The cold won. After 2 nights in our hostal room that hovered in the low 50's and the bathroom that was in the 40's, we accepted defeat and on Monday morning, Vinny scoured Expedia.com to find an alternative lodging option. He finds a 4 star hotel within walking distance of the Forbidden City for $45 USD a night. I was so excited when he told me about it I immediately started packing (at this point, I hadn't showered in 2 days and really just couldn't wait to shower). After bidding goodbye to the Lama Temple Hostal (don't get me wrong, it's a great hostal, maybe just in the summer when you don't need heat), we happily checked into the Capital Hotel.

http://www.capitalhotel.com.cn/cn/reservation.html

Oh was it wonderful. We had a room on the 10th floor that you could see the Forbidden City from. As many of you know, I'm not much of a high maintenance type of girl but 4 stars is very nice compared to a hostal. The 2 yuan per minute to use the internet was not the greatest though (hence the lack of blog postings, I just couldn't afford to blog). So the moral of this blog as Vinny and I found out, we should have just booked the Capital in the first place but on the bright side, after freezing for 2 days, we really appreciated having heat, a warm shower, and a few extra amenities thrown in :)

Frigid Beijing

Vinny and I left Seoul yesterday and flew to Beijing with a short layover in Shenyang. One of the best things that I discovered at Icheon International (the airport in Seoul) is the greatest invention of a free internet lounge. There were two internet lounges that had 10-15 laptops set-up with comfy recliner chairs and sofas that you could just walk in and check your e-mail, Facebook, etc. for free. For those that travel though Icheon on your travels, the lounges that I found were located near Gates 111 and 124. I was really happy since I didn't bring my laptop with me and really wanted to check my e-mail. Also the entire airport had WIFI and it was also free. Oh if US airports could do that... we would probably abuse the privilege though.

So Vinny and I arrived in Beijing last night. Maybe I was really tired after all the flights and we were also hungry since we didn't have any Chinese yuan on us (Vinny and I forgot to convert money before going through security at the Shenyang airport so we couldn't buy lunch after rechecking our bags and getting our boarding passes), but I'm not feeling the vibe with Beijing yet. Hopefully that will change today as we start to venture out and explore the city.

Getting to our hostal was an interesting adventure. We took the Airport Express Shuttle Bus (they are just lined up outside the airport) and had a "fun" time trying to communicate to the employees outside the buses. We eventually located the correct bus to go on and then boarded. We got off at the bus station given to us in the directions sheet by our hostal and then tried to hail a cab. Since our address was in English and not Chinese, we had an interesting time trying to tell our cab driver where we needed to go and wondering if he understood us. We made it to the correct street (yay) and ventured down the alley to our hostal.

The hostal room we booked is pretty nice considering it is a youth hostal. It's very large for Asia standards, the bathroom is huge, and everyone knows how I love interior decorating so I can definitely give the thumbs-up that it was tastefully furnished. It actually looks very much what I would furnish my own apartment like if I had a guest bedroom and wanted it to have a simplistic Chinese decor theme.

However, our room has no heat. There is one steam radiator that is barely giving off any heat so Vinny and I bundled up in our warmest sweatpants, sweaters, and socks and wrapped ourselves in the two blankets and comforter that the hostal provided. We haven't quite figured out how to shower since the bathroom has no heat either. We told the hostal staff and he gave us the remote to the air conditioning unit and told us to try using that to warm up the room. We tried but when an air conditioning unit is blowing cold air into a cold room, it doesn't really work. I estimate the temperature in our room to be in the 50's. Today's mission is to go buy a space heater so I can shower.

Also I can't post my blog directly since my blog and Facebook are censored here (I can't access the websites). I don't know how I feel about that, right now the feeling is annoyance and I'm definitely alittle upset probably due to the fact that it's freezing cold here, it's snowing, I haven't showered, our room has no heat, and everyone knows how upset I get when I can't express my own opinions. At least I get Gmail access here and am sending my blog posts back to my brother in the US who will post them for me. So if the blog posts are sporadic here and there, I'm okay, just being censored. I have to remember this fact as I continue to travel throughout China. Vinny and I were kidding about how I need to be a little more submissive, not as outgoing, and not talk as much while in Asia, but this might actually need to be true...

Okay, we're off to go find a space heater and trek hrough the snow in Beijing. I hope to change my perspective on China but right now I think I'm just frustrated that I can't speak the language and Vinny is trying really hard but we just stick out like sore thumbs. It doesn't help that everyone directs all the conversation at me and I just stare back blankly with a slight look of panic directed towards Vinny. If anything, Vinny has perfected telling everyone in Mandarin that I'm not Chinese and can't speak a word. Somehow they still won't leave me alone...

Shopping: What else do I best?

As everyone knows, I love to shop and shopping in Korea is quite fun. Vinny and I woke up this morning and wanted to go back to the same breakfast place as our first day. This time we wanted to be prepared for the language barrier so we described what we had yesterday and then had the front desk staff write down in Korean what we wanted to order. Armed with our small sheet of paper, we entered the cafe and were ready to hand our order over, when voila! An English menu appeared! Now where was this menu yesterday when we needed it?

After another delicious breakfast of Tteok-Guk (the soup with the rice cakes in it) and Tok-Mun-Du-Guk (the soup with the rice cakes in it and Korean dumplings called Mun-Du), Vinny and I decided we wanted to go shopping and explore the markets. On a sidenote, as we walked back to our hotel, we noticed that the nightclub/lounge across the street from the hotel had various people exiting into valet cars and taxis. Vinny looked at his watch (it was 10:00 am) and said to me, "I think those people are just leaving from their New Year's Eve partying" and indeed they were. Every time the door opened, we could hear loud techno music blasting. I mean I've done my fair share of late nights out and early morning returns home but never at 10 am. Wow, are the Koreans party troopers!

Vinny and I decided to navigate the Seoul subway system (it's great) to go shopping. The fare was very inexpensive 1200 Won (about $1 USD) for each of us and the stations/trains were so much cleaner than NYC (but I guess that's not saying very much). There were very modern with LCD screens, actual closing doors at the platform, and to our delight, heated metal seats that made you feel very toasty during the subway ride. We exited close to the Myedeoung Market area. It reminded me of Puerta de Sol and the shopping areas around where everything was tightly packed with wide walkways for pedestrians to shop and walk around. Every store was blasting some sort of pop music and Vinny and I had a good time wandering from shop to shop. We found a great store called Banc which is a Korean streetwear designer and I was able to buy some really cool gifts for my nephews. Vinny and I both wanted a sweatshirt but they didn't have his size so we were a little sad. Afterwards we went to an underground shopping area where we were amazed at how extensive it was, everywhere you looked there was another area to walk and browse various souvenirs, clothing, shoes, etc.

For lunch, we decided to eat Korean BBQ and walked into a very busy restaurant (that's my criteria when choosing a restaurant, pick the one that's filled with people, especially all Asian people while in Asia). The restaurant was called Yoogane (it's a chain of Korean BBQ restaurants in Seoul) and we ordered chicken galbi (marinated Korean BBQ chicken) which was cooked for us right at our table. Yummy!!! We also had Korean salad which is shredded napa cabbage with a salad dressing that reminded me of a cool cucumber + mayonaise + a very distinct Granny Smith apple flavor. The best part, it was so cheap! We paid 16,500 won ($15 USD) for the both of us. Considering that Korean BBQ is at least $18-$20 USD per person in the US, I was pretty happy :)

I wanted to go see what the Namdaemun Market was like so that was our last stop of the day. The Namdaemun Market is like a big permanent flea market where you can find everything. Vinny and I had been searching all day for a warm winter hat for him and after going through numerous stores, we ended up finding him a hat at the Namdaemun Market. The best part is was 5,000 won ($4 USD). Now he's happy and much warmer, it's amazing how a good hat is so essential in cold weather. I bought some sweet rice cakes with a red bean paste from a vendor who was selling them on the street. It was 8 cakes for 1,000 Won ($0.90 USD). They were delicious! We were so full after our lunch that we didn't have room to try the make-shift food stands set up throughout the market. I did catch a glimpse of other patrons eating various assortments of Korean BBQ, squid, mussels, etc. The make-shift food stands had portable heaters, plastic tents, and little tabes and stools for patrons to grab a quick bite. It looked really interesting but my stomach couldn't take another bite of food. Next time for sure...

New Year's Eve in Seoul

Koreans go by a lunar calendar and celebrate the Asian New Year very similar to Chinese New Year or Vietnamese Tet. However the Western New Year is also very popular and widely celebrated. There is a large square in Seoul that hosts a New Year's celebration very similar to Time's Square in NYC. Since Vinny and I aren't the biggest fans of the tourist crowds during Christmas and New Year's in NYC, we were fairly hesitant to wander into the large square where supposely 100,000 people gather.

After our 6 hour nap, Vinny and I were still very exhausted. I've decided that the downfall of turning 25 is that I actually get jet lag now. I've never had jet lag prior to this trip but I guess that is what happens when you get older... Factoring in the near 0 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures, the fact that we couldn't speak any Korean, our jet lag, and the fact that we didn't want to be sick for the remainder of our trip, Vinny and I decided to opt out of venturing to the famous square and its New Year's Eve celebrations. So from the comfort of our hotel room where we were nice and toasty, we watched the celebration on TV and I am now addicted to Korean pop culture. It's so fun! Vinny and I marveled that the pop artists who were performing in this square had no warm clothes on and yet they were singing and dancing outside in the frigid temperatures. Some of these women were in dresses and no stockings! You could see their breath on the TV and we wondered if they would get hypothermia. I spent the wee hours of 2010, fascinated the Korean pop artists performing and now my favorite Korean pop band is 2 p.m. (just think Spice Girls in Korea). I'll have to post links to their songs when I can find them. They are everywhere in the subways, in the shopping areas, etc.

All in all, it was a great start to 2010.

Our first morning in Seoul: Gyeongbok Palace

After a delicious breakfast our first day in Seoul (and Asia), Vinny and I ran back to the hotel where our tour van was waiting for us. We boarded the van and then proceeded to pick up a few other passengers from their respective hotels/meeting points. The morning tour group consisted of: Hannah (our Korean tour guide), a very nice Korean American couple (both young professionals) from L.A. who were in Seoul visiting the husband's family for the holidays, a Canadian couple (both high school teachers: music and English) from a small town outside of Winnepeg, Canada, and a student from Singapore who was visiting Korea during her school winter break and who was staying with a Korean host family for the week. For my fellow travelers, there is a homestay program in Korea where you can get matched to stay with a Korean families for any duration of time. I wish Vinny and I had known about this program prior to arriving in Seoul... ahhh next time...

Our morning tour began with the Jogyesa Buddhist temple. I've been to Asia before but the beautiful lanterns hanging in the temple and outside the temple were very different than anything I've ever seen. From what I know, most Koreans are religiously affiliated with Christianity due to the Japanese occupation and their intent to favorably receive help from allies from predominantly Christian countris, so I was surprised to see a Buddhist temple. There were white lanterns outside the area for the dead and then brightly colored ones intended for the living. Once I figure out how to post pictures to my blog, I'll try to get a few up.

Afterwards, we drove past the Blue House (which is the Korean equivalent of the White House in the US). Our tour guide explained to us that in Korean culture, blue represented the dragon (aka the king) so that was why the roof of the house is blue. The Blue House is the official government residence so we were not able to stop in front of it because of security reasons but I have a shot of half of the Blue House as we quickly drove past.

After the Blue House, we went to the Gyeongbok Palace, which is similar to the China's Forbidden City in Beijing and Viet Nam's Forbidden City in Hue. One thing that I haven't mentioned yet is how COLD, Seoul is. I haven't felt my toes, fingers, and face freeze up and the tingly needle pricking feeling since my U of M days trekking across the Diag going from class to class. Vinny and I tried bundling up but we decided that no matter how many layers you wore, there was just no way to adjust to the cold. We also decided New York City hasn't been that cold and 5 days in the Bahamas back in mid December didn't really prep us for the bitter cold either.

In anticipation of the cold weather in Seoul and Beijing, I had purchased HeatTech gear from Uniqlo which was made specifically to be lightweight and keep my body heat in. It's a great purchase, and I recommend anyone who has to do activities outside or who lives in cold climates to buy the gear. It's not very expensive either, Uniqlo was having a sale on HeatTech gear and I was able to purchase my HeatTech shirts for only $7.90 USD (and in NYC, there's no sales tax either).

We roamed the palace and observed little details such as the wide walkway leading into the various areas (The king's, the queen's, the king's mother, etc.). My favorite facts I learned while roaming the palace (which was very cold, I don't know how the royal family lived back before heaters were invented)
1) The wide walkway was divided into 3 lanes, the center one being reserved for the king. If you looked carefully, there were no stairs in the center lane because the king never had to climb stairs, he was always carried.
2) The king's main bedroom was surrounded by 100 rooms for security purposes because he changed bedroom locations now and then to thwart any invaders who were trying to attack and then staffed the other bedrooms with his guards.

After the palace, we went to a Ginseng Center and learned that among the 4 types of ginseng available (Korean, US, Chinese, and I forgot the 4th country)... Korean Ginseng was the most valued supposely because it was the most complex in its properties. I tried some honeyed ginseng which was really good bu had to woefully put the box back once I found out that the retail price was $229 USD. Our new friends, the Korean American couple from L.A. joked that the Ginseng center was really more appealing to Japanese and Chinese tourists, not young professionals from the US who had no money.

Afterwards, our morning tour ended and Vinny and I were dropped off in Itaewon (a shopping are for tourists). At this point, we were starving so we made our way to a Korean restaurant and ordered bulgogi (my favorite Korean dish, it's marinated beef in a sweet sauce). Sometime during the meal, my body realized that although it was 1 pm Korean time, it was 11 pm US time and it wanted to sleep. Afterwards, Vinny and I took a taxi back to the hotel, and promptly took a much needed 6 hour long nap. We thought it would only be 1-2 hours but neither one of us woke up until 8 pm that evening...

Next post: New Year's Eve in Seoul