Happy 4th of July

Today we woke up early to meet Hong’s friend from Singapore for a Chinese Breakfast. It was very good and a welcomed change in the cuisine. I am not sure exactly how to spell her name; however Hong is giving me her contact information in Spore so that I can contact her to take me around the city. She was a very nice girl who is studying Economics in Singapore which is the financial capital of Southeast Asia.

Following breakfast we went to another tailor where Hong’s mother had arranged for us to get shorts and a pair of dress pants made. The shorts are really nice and comfortable and fit perfectly. As I had said in the past Hong’s family has treated us extremely well. Hong’s Aunt, who runs a clothing manufacturing operation, is treating us to lots of clothes. She gave us Valentine business shirts, silk pajamas, undershirts, ties, Vietnam Tourist shirts, and various other things. She said that this is her gift to us for coming to visit. I am set on business clothes for a really long time! Hong’s aunt sent us out to look for dress shoes also as a gift. We spent the majority of the morning looking at various stores, but Americans just have too wide of feet. So no luck on the dress shoes here in Vietnam.

After being on the back of the moped all morning, we where extremely exhausted and decided we needed to have a little fun and celebrate the 4th of July. We went to the Diamond Plaza in downtown Saigon to go bowling. We signed up for a lane, but they never got to our names for some reason. We played billiards with Hong’s friend Nam. He was much better at pool than Charles and I. They play another form of billiards called 3 ball in Vietnam. You have three balls on a pocketless table and the goal is to hit two balls with the Q-ball. You score 1 point for hitting one 3 points for hitting both. Nam is an awesome guy who has been hanging out with us. He told me today, you might not have American Brothers, but you have two brothers in Vietnam, Hong and I. It was really special to be considered his brother. It has been fun hanging out with Nam and helping him learn English. I will miss him when I leave in a few days.

The rain set in as we played billiards but we decided we wanted to get out of the downtown area. We got a little soaked but all was well. We went to a book store to find a Vietnamese Flag, which is a yellow star on a solid red background. I purchased it for less than two dollars. We then went to Cho Lon, or China Town, to look for a dragon costume to take back for a friend of Charles. We weren’t successful in finding one that we liked and in our price range.

We then went to pick up our suites from the Mangrove in downtown. Perfect fit and I absolutely love the colors I choose. They will look really professional for interviews and other events. Tailor made suites in the US usually run 400-500 US, but here only 85 and that’s expensive here.

Hong’s family lives all on the same street. It is similar to what my Uncle calls FM 485, Hollasville. It is nice to have family nearby! We went to family dinner at a seafood restaurant. We had my favorite soup called Crap and Corn soup. Crap refers to a mixture of seafood including squid, crab, and fish. We also had fried squid, spring rolls, and various other traditional Vietnamese dishes. We where full as usual.

The Karaoke rooms where our next stop! Hong’s cousins and brothers all took there turn signing Vietnamese songs and Charles and I sung That Old Time of Rock and Roll and You’ve Lost that loving filling! I did alright scoring an 86. I tried my hand at signing a Vietnamese Song to work on my pronunciation, and I scored a 100 on the song. I totally sing better in Viet than English. Vietnamese songs are amazingly beautiful to hear, and usually talk about love.

The bars all close at Midnight here, however we where finished celebrating the 4th of July and Charles’ last night in Vietnam. We went to downtown Saigon to find an all night bar. We found one where several tourist where hanging out. We had a few drinks and hung out pretty much all night. We met four ladies from the United Kingdom, Lucy, Zennie, Alice, and Kate, who had been traveling for six months. Taking six months to a year to travel around the world seems to be a very popular thing to do in the UK following completion of an undergraduate degree.

We staid at the bar till about 4 AM! We then went to eat noodles at an all night shop. We came in at about 5 and went to sleep. Charles wanted to stay up all night like we both did before coming to Vietnam. Staying up all night helps to adjust to the American time difference as you travel!

I put some pics up on yahoo photos. Check it out at: Brandon's Photos