Spa treatments are a fantastic deal here in Saigon. They’re hard to resist after a day spent riding through crazy traffic or patiently explaining what subjugating conjunctions are to non-English speakers. And, when the prices are this cheap, it’s pretty difficult to find a reason NOT to. In a valiant effort of self-control, I’ve tried to limit myself to one treatment per week.

In the photo below, I am getting a French manicure and Serene is getting a pedicure. “What do these cost?” I hear you ask. Well, the manicure is $1.80 and the pedicure is $3.60.  Seriously.

In this picture, Jen is getting a massage. One hour, full body massage will put you back $7.20.

And let’s check out the rest of the price list.  Bikini wax: $9.00. One hour facial: $8.00. Hour and a half hand and foot scrub with paraffin treatment: $11.00.  And at prices like this, you can afford to tip like a baller. Vietnam, I love you.

Even in a city as bustling and exciting as Saigon, after a couple months of living here you can still find yourself wondering what to do for entertainment. The other night we were in this situation, and I remembered reading that Saigon had a bowling alley. Of course, we were in.

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Location: Anh Bin, Cai Bè

The night is shorter than expected…
It’s four o’clock in the morning when:
”Cock a doodle dooooooo!”
”Cock a doodle dooooooo!”
”Cock a doodle dooooooo!”
”Cock a doodle dooooooo!”
It doesn’t stop for two hours. At 6.30 AM, I go outside the house to explore the garden.
At least thirty roosters are running around or waiting to be freed from their cages!

Roosters waking me up at 4.00AM

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There’s not much I love more in this world than rice. I’m totally serious. I frigging adore the stuff – jasmine, basmati, wild, brown, sticky – you name it, I’ll eat it, and with pleasure. At home, I have been known in my lazier moments to simply dump some soya sauce on some cooked rice and eat it all by itself. As you can imagine, I’ve hit the jackpot in Vietnam.

It’s difficult to order a meal that doesn’t include rice (in Vietnamese, it’s called “com”). It’s widely debated how many varieties there actually are out there – the numbers range from 4,000-120,000 different types. This staple has been cultivated in Asia for over 10,000 years, and there’s no sign of stopping any time soon! And that thought makes me so, so happy.

First, there’s phở, which is Vietnam’s most popular dish, eaten at least once a day by the majority of locals (usually for breakfast). It’s made from rice noodles and meat (beef is standard) and the customer gets to add basil, lime, bean spouts and chilis as they see fit. Man, do I love this soup!

And then there’s everything else in between. There are rice stands everywhere, where you point to your choice of meat or seafood and they load it on top of steamed veggies and rice. The Vietnamese also make awesome spring rolls, where the ingredients inside are rolled in a paper made of – you guessed it! – rice! We recently found a lunch buffet that specializes in these little gems:

I suppose I’ll have to find some extra room in the backpack when the time comes to leave. There will certainly be a serious withdrawal period, but luckily I love a food that’s is found pretty much anywhere.

It never gets old. I could be shopping in the market or just walking around and I spot a shirt that makes no sense whatsoever. If you’ve ever been to Asia, you know what I’m talking about. And it makes me laugh every time. I will stop and take a photo of the ones that are particularly nonsensical. A kid in one of my classes was wearing a shirt the other day that had a picture of a cat and said “Chicks dig me”. He had no idea what it meant. It’s truly a constant source of amusement for me. Here’s one of the better, weirder ones I’ve spotted in Saigon. You try to make sense of it:

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Location: Vinh Long, Anh Bin

It had been a while that I wanted to get out of the city for more than a day. I decided to go to the Mekong delta, once again. This time however, I would go on my own. No organized tour where everyting is timed to the minute. No time pressure. I would decide what I’d like to see and do, I would take all the time I want to wander around and take photographs.
Needless to say, this was my best weekend in Viêtnam.

A geico on the wall of my house.

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You might wonder why I am not celebrating Christmas on Mui Né beach with the girls.
Well, that’s because I have other plans.
A Vietnamese friend has invited me to stay with her family for Christmas. She lives in a village about one hour away from Mui Né. Her family happens to be Catholic, so I’m getting to experience an actual Vietnamese Christmas!! How exciting!!

My Christmas trip. Photo courtesy of: http://johan.lemarchand.free.fr

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So, what did we decide to do for our Christmas? Go the beach of course. We all figured that if we’re going to spend Christmas away from our friends and family, why not do the complete exact opposite of what everyone imagines Christmas to be. So we hopped on a four hour bus ride, turned 7 hour bus ride, and headed to the small beach town of Mui Ne.

We landed ourselves a resort at about $15/night (!!!!), got massages for $5 on the beach (!!!!), and checked out Mui Ne’s beautiful sand dunes and red canyon. Overall, I’m pretty happy about it. And by happy about it, I mean stoked as all hell at how awesome my life is right now.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I’m sure I can speak for Jen, Kris, and I when I say although we had a great time, friends and family, you were sorely missed.

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While we peel, crush and slice vegetables, meat and shrimps, Miss Pham prepares the seasoning with noc mam (a popular Vietnamese fish sauce), soy sauce and homemade vinegar (made with wine, banana alcohol and mineral water).
Lam crushes peanuts for the salad garnish.
A few hours later, here we are, enjoying a fabulous hearty meal along with some fruit wine. Nobody knows which fruit(s) this wine is made of, but it’s very good. Only 4% Vol. of alcohol.

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My friend Yen invited me to sneak in a Vietnamese cooking class. We were supposed to be only two tourists along with Yen and our cook. At the last minute, some friends of Yen joined us. We ended up being seven aides to the cook!

Yen wrote a list of ingredients and we headed off to the local farmers’ market. If wish you could smell the blend of fruits, meats and dried fish!

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