You Orda' Fwhy Wice?

Woot! Time for some diving! Started the day with going over to the dive shop and getting some breakfast since they have a bar and restaurant there. Plus you get a 10% discount if you're diving with them (Rainbow). To drink i got a fancy apple juice. Probably the fanciest apple juice i've ever had.
To eat i ordered the 'big breakfast' or something. Comes with Austrailian sausage, bacon, potatoes, heinz beans, 2 eggs, and toast! Of course i made a sandwich out of everything.
Took the bus to the harbor around 7am and hopped on the boat to our first dive site. Its been awhile since my dad and i have dove last (two years for him, and three for me), our instructor decided to give us a refresher which we both desperately needed.

Despite the rain and the murky water..the scenery was nice.

Over all the diving went pretty well. It was nice to get back in the water. What wasn't nice was diving with my dad again. He uses up his air so fast we had to cut our first dive short. Oh well. He'll get better with his air usage. The visibility was horrible. i could see probably 9 feet infront of me before everything going black, lame.

We got back into town around noon and it was time for lunch. Guess what we had? Pho! My favorite!

To drink i had a mocho latte ice thinking it would be a cafe sua da...but no, it was some crazy smoothy but still good.
After lunch i had to go back to the dive shop for my class. What class you may ask, my nitrox class! i was about to learn everything i needed to know to dive with enriched air tanks. So i can scuba deeper and longer with fewer surface intervals. Hip hip! i was really excited until i found out that with enriched air you risk of getting oxygen toxicity. Which isn't a huge deal...but if you do get oxygen toxicity you'll have a seizure and go unconscious which will lead to drowning...lemon. Can't wait!

After 3 and a half hours of class it was time for dinner! We decided to hit up Crazy Kim's. Apparently Kim has a soft spot for street children and has set up a bar, restaurant, gym, and spa to raise money to school street children in english and computers! Its good to know that me drinking beer is helping little kids learn.
After all that nitrox information crammed in my brain i was ready for some Tiger beer. Not just any Tiger beer..but the big kind.


To help soak up some of the beer in my stomach i had a juicy bacon cheese burger. The best part is that its Australian beef! Cow that hasn't been juiced up with hormones and grain to make them ridiculously fat.

Could not wait to do nitrox!

Letting it Hang in Nha Trang!

Was that a lame title? Meant totally to be nonsexual...oh well, i'm not changing it so deal with it. Snap i've gotten behind with my days in Vietnam. Well, woke up at the crack of dawn and packed my scuba gear and clothes for Nha Trang. Walked down to the lobby and out to the street and found that my parents had gotten me a cafe sua da. Woot! i think its so neat i can just sit at a random table on the sidewalk and have some food or a drink and that particular vendor may not be there the next day.

Kind of regretted getting an ice coffee at 4:30 am since i had not had anything to eat yet and my tummy started to hurt...lemon.
i couldn't resist. On the plane i just had to take a picture of this guy. i just couldn't stop laughing when i looked at him. i don't know what it was. i don't know if it was because he reminded me of a vietnamese john lennon or what. Plus he had these massive head phones and was rocking out with this double polo shirts on.
It was about a 45 minutes flight to Nha Trang. We took a taxi to the dive shop to figure out our schedule and found a hotel room. We then got some food. First thing was first, beer! No more Saigon beer for me. i'm busting out the Tiger beer. i've had it before so i knew i would like it. If only it was cold and i didn't have to pour it on ice.
My lunch was pretty tame. i got the wontons, pork, in noodle soup. Pretty delicious The only problem was that the portion was small.
We even shared some egg rolls but even they were small as well! Like miniature egg rolls! What's up with that? Is there a midget in the kitchen??
My dad asked if i wanted something else...sure did! i decided to be a little more daring this time and ordered the stir fry frog!
When i ordered i was thinking it would just be fried frog legs like i've had before. But no...it was a mound of chopped up bits of frog cooked with some random veggies. Oh boy, even i was grossed out a little bit.
The legs were delicious. It was just chewing on the frog skin on the cut up frog backs that made me feel a little queezy. But of course i finished the dish.
After lunch we took a stroll on the beach and watched some waves crash down. The water was very murky. It didn't look very promising for scuba diving visibility.

For dinner we hit up some crazy restaurant. We picked it because they had Tiger on tap. We didn't even care what they were serving.

For starters we had the fresh spring rolls. They were tasty.

The egg rolls were delicious too. The crazy thing about them though was that they had whole shrimp in them and usually they're ground up with the pork. They also has part of the tails left on them. Not sure what that was all about.
Not sure what i was thinking when i ordered the main course. For some reason i thought it would be good. i should have ordered one of the other dishes that are presented to look like face...like its some breakfast meal at Denny's. For dinner i had the red snapper...served with french fries and spaghetti. Seriously, what was the chef on when he concocted this meal?

Despite the randomness it was still very good. Would have been better if there was some sauce with the fish...even tartar sauce would have been good with this bad boy. The spaghetti was kind of weird, but i still enjoyed it.

Went to bed early so i'd be rested up for some diving!

Day Two in Saigon!

i'm failing pretty miserably at getting over my jetlag. i woke up at 3am. Stayed up til 7:30am after breakfast and went back to sleep until 9am when we decided to hit the market together. Pretty sure i missed the christmas land photo below. But i have seen that santa before around here. i never forget a santa, and that's definitely the one i saw earlier.

The first thing we did was check out a dentist. Weird? i thought so. But we found a tiny place and my dad and i both made an appointment right after one another. He went first while my mom and i checked out the market. To get your teeth cleaned its less that 10 bones! To get your teeth cleaned in the states its like 140 bones! Pretty crazy if you ask me. Since i don't floss my gums bled a little bit...sniff. But at least my teeth are cleaner?
Since it was morning, the market was so much crazier than when we visited the day before. The meat place was crazy. Pig ears, pig stomachs, pig tongues, pig everything. That's more like it. Walking around the place was a lot trickier too!. People going around you left and right always rushing to somewhere else.

We bought a few things but nothing worth mentioning.

More market junx...

Here my mom and i are contemplating whether or not we need any more incense burning dragons. They're so cool! But i guess we don't need anymore...lemon. They were like 20 bones each anyway.
Here is the outside of our hotel! Its very nice for 50 bones a night. Like why pay for a fancy shmancy room if you're going to spend most of the time outside in the town?
i guess if you wanted a more comfortable bed. My bed is rock hard. Sitting on it for longer than 10 minutes makes my butt go numb. But i'd rather have a hard bed then a soft one. i would cry from back pain if it was too soft.
For lunch we hit up Tien's place! He stayed with us when the bishop visited us in the states. He left the states earlier because he got bored in PA. Bored in PA?? That's unheard of! But he was more than happy to see us visit his very own Pho Shop! The place is called Pho Kim! It was located in this alley. Pretty much the worst location ever but the place itself was very nice. Its more a morning place so they don't get a lot of business for lunch or dinner. No one really eats lunch here...they just kind of snack during the day it seems.

For beer i got 333. Not only was it better than the Saigon stuff but it was cold! No ice for this guy! Hip hip!

For lunch i had Pho of course...and pho again! I had two bowls i was so hungry! The pho was much better than the stuff i had the day before. My only complaint is the meat. It wasn't flat pieces...it was like it was pounded or chopped up. But still very good.

i'm not sure what this stuff is but i've had it several times. Probably some kind of mungbean or something.

After two beers i got a cafe sua da, ice coffee! Snap this thing was good. They guy even mixed it for me! Probably because he thought i was retarded. But it was still delicious. You should get yourself one. The last one i had was in Chicago. Even though it was good...it just wasn't right. But what i had today, was the real deal.
After pho they broke out all this crazy junx. Squid and two fish dishes! i was already stuffed and i have a hard time eating fish with bones in it...makes my... But the squid looked good? Just couldn't make any room in my stomach to eat any.
Here is my mom and i with Tien and his wife. Not sure who the little girl was but she was funny. She would by shy one second and the next she would want to be in another picture. When we got in the taxi to leave she wanted to get in with us! Silly vietnamese children. Lemon, i'm a silly vietnamese child.
Here you can get an idea of the location. Just enough room to squeeze a couple scooters down the alley. Or maybe one of those smart cars...they're pretty small. Maybe even a mini cooper? But who would own a mini, they're so lame.
Here is the dash of our taxi. See anything weird? I thought it was weird, the spedometer is in the center of the dash! What's that all about!? We got in the worst traffic jam ever. Every other vehicle was facing a different direction not going anywhere. But somehow it got cleared out and we were on our way again.
When we got back to the hotel i messed around on the computer for a bit while my parents took a nap. My mom later met up with a friend (well i don't consider a friend because they never met, my mom knows her aunt or something?) while my dad and i chilled in the room. i stayed up as long as i could but passed out at 5pm and slept straight through dinner and woke up at 11pm. Oh boy, i was in for a long day. Plus i was hungry. My mom had bought me some vietnamese hoagies. So i ate those. Since it was dark i wasn't quite sure what i was eating...and she didn't tell me what kind of meat it was. Last time she didn't tell me what kind of meat was eating it was rat...oh well. i better try to get some more sleep, don't want to fall asleep scuba diving!

I Love the Smell of Napalm in the Morning

Hello! Miss me? Maybe? Just a little bit? i guess not. i've just been super lazy (crazy, right?) and haven't had anything really to blog about. Alright, well i could have written about the Phillies winning the world series, going to chicago, a birthday party, and etc... i guess you'll never hear those stories, but you will hear about my current trip! Keepin' it real in Vietnam!

i've realized that you maybe been on a plane for awhile if you last 4 meals were handed to you by a flight attendant. They airline was EVA out of Newark. We then stopped in some random place in Alaska after 6 hours to refuel. Then another 11 hours to Taipei! Luckily i slept for 6 of those 11 hours and was able to fit in a couple movies. The X-Files and Journey to the Center of the Earth. The X-Files was an alright movie but the Earth one was just super lame. Like the emergency pamphlet in the front seat pocket was more interesting than the movie. Not only was the movie horrible, i had a fat whining vietnamese baby next to me. i guess i was a fat whining vietnamese baby at one time (technically half) or maybe i still am. i guess he wasn't all that bad for a baby on the plane...

After finally arriving in Vietnam, i realized it was hot. Like humid hot...the worst kind of hot. Your body instantly becomes sticky and gross. Its going to be a stinky trip for me. Before getting the bags we had one priority, booze. Apparently the best deals are in the airport as they are duty free. So we picked up a bottle of gin, vodka, rum, and whiskey. Party! Later we found out the price wasn't that great. Maybe we saved a dollar on a few of the bottles but not much more than that.

Another thing i noticed about vietnam, is the driving. The rodes are so crazy here! There are like a million scooters passing left and right. i'm amazed that there are not a million accidents everyday.

Once we got our bags in our room i was given some money. 2 million bones of money! Holla! i'm rich! Okay, maybe not...its really a little over 100 dollars..but its nice to think i'm a millionaire.
After cooling off i the hotel for a bit we ventured off in to the city. We checked out this fancy 5 star hotel, got SIM cards for the cell phones, booked tickets for the dive trip, walked around in a random shopping center, and checked out this outdoor/indoor market.

The market was pretty crzzy, every two seconds someone tries to sell me something. Does it look like i need a woman's purse? Apparently it does. As for crazy food i didn't really see any. All i saw were pig's feet and pigs intestines. Lame chops. i was really hoping to see something a lot cooler. My mom use to have a jar of pigs feet in the kitchen while we were in Saudi. It was on top of the fridge, it was a gift. Pretty big deal in a country that bans pigs.

On the way back to hotel my mom picked up a bunch of random fruit and some crazy banana wrap junx. Later this vietnamese guy noticed my sneakers were falling apart at the toes. He said he could fix them with somet glue for cheap and good! He wouldn't leave me alone! Kept touching my sneakers and pointing out he could glue them. So finally my mom asked how much, a whole 75 cents! 5 minutes later he was done. My sneakers are still dirty but at least they're not falling apart as much. Lets see how well this glue holds up.

i saw this poor puppy on the street. i wanted to pet it but it was so dirty. But cute puppies don't have diseases right? Eh, maybe its better if i don't test that theory. Maybe later..
For dinner we hit up this crazy restaurant (Vietnamese of course). They have a pretty crazy set up, indoor and outdoor. It was raining on and off so we wanted to be somewhere well covered. The way this place works is that they have a bunch of chefs that all have their own dishes...but there is one menu! So the waiters have to run around to the right cook to tell them how many orders to make. i was pretty excited for some real vietnamese food.

First thing was first though, beer! i decided to go with the Saigon Special beer. Saw it on the Siagon Three Sheets episode. So i thought i'd try it. They're roll a little differently here in vietnam. They don't refridgerate the beer, its served at room temperature and its served with ice. That last thing i want to do is water down a beer that is already less than 5% alcohol by volume. i guess i'll just have to drink more beer. boo hoo.
My other drink was soda chan (sp?). Basically some sugar, lime, salt, and club soda. One of my favorites. This was probably the best i've ever had. Not sure why...but it was.
For appetizers my mom got something kind of crazy. These fried shrimp balls on sugar cane served with rice noodles, greens, and rice paper. We also got some goi cuon (spring rolls). Everything was good, the only probablem was the rice paper. Its fresh, like really fresh..and i'm use to the dried kind that needs to be soaked in water for several minutes before serving. Don't get me wrong, they taste delicious but its just the texture i'm not use to. But i quickly got over it and several wraps of the stuff.
For the main meal i got bun cha gio. Rice noodles with egg rolls on top. i wanted pho but my mom said i shouldn't get it because we'll be having it for lunch tomorrow. We'll see about that. i also got some grilled pork in my dish as well. This is pretty much my go-to dish when i'm not in the mood for pho. If i don't get this its cam tam bi, broken rice with shredded pork. Turns out after all that food i was still hungry, so i ended up ordering my bowl of pho! Pho Shizzle! The soup was really good, though i had the same problem with the noodles as i did with the rice paper. They're fresh! No crazy dried junx...just fresh noodles! They tasted great but because they are not dried and rehydrated again, they get a little soggy in the broth. That aside it was sitll pretty good but something was off with the broth. i'll just have to get some pho at a pho restaurant.
You're probably wondering what this cost. It was pretty expensive. Everything i just mentioned including my dad's noodle dish and my mom's stinky fish soup totalled to around 15 bones. Insane, right? Each of my dishes were about 2 bones. If only you could eat this much for this cheap in the states.

Well that's it for day 1 in vietnam. Can't wait to see what day 2 has in store for me!