vietnam - VIP treatment

tuan and stephanie got the royal treatment today - got their hair washed, massage, manicure, pedicure, and ear wax removed.  yep.  apparently getting your ear wax removed is a popular service in vietnam.

tuan getting the VIP treatment

getting ear wax removed

these are the apparatus they use to remove your ear wax 

pierce having fun with grandma

lianne got the VIP treatment too!

vietnam - mopeds

mopeds are everywhere in vietnam and it's chaos how they get around on them.  there are roundabouts, but everyone is in it all at one time.  you just have to fight your way with where you want to go. there are constant honking and i don't know how people can tell where the honking is from as you hear them all the time.  some intersections have stop lights, but most don't and cars and mopeds fight for right of way.  you can literally reach your arm out and touch the moped next to you.  mom, kristen, and i were brave enough to ride on them, but i couldn't imagine driving one.  i would be stuck on the street for days as i wouldn't be able to move.  i meant to take a picture of me sitting in traffic, but i was too scared to take my camera out.

kristen with cousin vinh

mom with cousin hau

me and cousin hau's son

vietnam - hanging out with relatives

my cousin hanh owns a flower and clothing shop in saigon.  this was our stop everytime we needed a break from the heat as the shop has AC.  hanh and her husband, vinh lives upstairs of the shop.

mom and cousin hau

tuan, cousin hai, stephanie, pierce

vietnam - tropical fruit

i was looking forward to eating all the tropical fruit and i am having my fill!  mangosteen, guava, logan, rambuttan and several more that i can't remember the names.  we have a fridge full and i will eat all of them before we leave for japan in a few days.  

mangosteen - left is before and right is what it looks like after you peel it.  i call it the cotton fruit.  

vietnam - ben thanh market

ben thanh market is a famous market in saigon.  you can pretty much find anything here.  only thing was that it was so hot and humid in the market.  after about 10 minutes, you just want to get the hell out of there for some air.  and that's exactly what happened - we were in there for about half an hour and according to kristen, it felt forever.  :)

rows and rows of merchants

one of my favorite fruit - durian

you choose the durian, they cut it up, you sample it, and then they put it in a container for you

lianne is mesmerized

fresh seafood

banh beo hue (glutenous little round things filled with dried shrimp and nuoc mam) - never had this type of food before and it was delicious

lianne trying on the rice picking hat

cousin hanh leading us around the market

vietnam - finally back

i'm officially a fan of xanax - took 2 pills from sfo to tokyo and 1 to tokyo to vietnam.  it relaxes me and didn't make me too drowsy.  16 hours later and i am in vietnam.  

we are staying at my cousin's apartment - she usually rents it out but the tenants moved out, so it was perfect timing.  apartment is on the 18th floor and it has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. 

reason for my trip to vietnam is to see my aunt.  she took care of my brother and i when we were little and i have not been back since i left when i was 7 years old.  i figure now is a good time as any.  

our apartment building that we are staying at

view from our apartment

mopeds everywhere!

my aunt bac lanh - last time i saw her was 34 years ago

one of my favorite fruit - rambuttan

market