Saigon

We arrived in Vietnam on Friday afternoon. In one word: Motorbikes. There is an odd synchronization that occurs between the cars, motorbikes, buses and pedestrians, though I wont pretend that I understand it. I frequently froze up in the middle of the street when I was darting traffic, where the ratio of motorbikes to cars is about 30:1. 

Once you make it across the street without getting hit, you start to a notice a few things. People napping on their bikes, slurping soup on their bikes, and street vendors taking a break by resting their inventory on a stranger's bike.

Pho, Banh Mi and coffee can be found on every corner. I expected delicious pho, but what I didn't expect was their coffee to be so damn good. Strong coffee and condensed milk. Yum.

I also started this trip not knowing much about the Vietnam War. I know a little more now, at least from the Vietnamese point of view. We visited the Reunification Palace, the location where South Vietnamese surrendered. We also stopped by the War Remembrance museum, which showed a graphic photo history of the impacts of Agent Orange, among many other sad images of the brutality of war.

We also made a side trip outside the city to Cu Chi, where the residents of this jungle-town built a series of underground tunnels. Initially it was to designed as a place to hide weapons during the war against the French, but later is was expanded as a defense against the Americans.

Saigon was my first stop ever in Asia. (And my first ever stop in a communist country.) Now we are en route via bus to our second stop: the beach city of Nha Trang.

Taking Flight to...

IIt's been nine years since I took a 15 hour plane ride. That was to Jordan. 

But this long plane rode will take me to Korea and finally Vietnam. I have a few expectations- humidity, "pho-king" good pho, and a lot of traffic - but in general I don't think I'm as mentally prepared for this trip as I should be.

I will also be traveling with my boyfriend. Lets call him Reky. He is a seasoned traveler and expert navigator.

I have a feeling that I am grossly underestimating what I'm about to experience...

Where are you going?

It's been awhile since my last adventure. Actually, I've had several adventures, but in my mind none were as cool as Peru and therefore not worth writing about. LA Marathon, a couple of Vegas trips, Lake Tahoe, lots of restaurants. Those have all been in the list.

But this one is worth it. Today marks the first day of my 10 day, three domestic city trip. I didn't plan it that way, but my worlds happened to collide within that time frame.

Today through Monday is Boston for fun. Tuesday through Friday is DC for work. And the June 15 is Bay Area for Fathers Day.

Hopefully I will find joy - or at least humor- in each trip. For now, the fun has been delayed slightly because Obama's plane has landed and we are waiting for it to get out of the way. Apparently, it's visible on the left side of then plane. So I basically just met Obama today...

Finding Solace in the Small Things

Sexy Town. That was the great idea I pitched as a way to rebrand our Old Town. Sadly, I don't think the idea will stick.

I can only attribute my whimsical idea to my post-vacation mode, which as I revealed earlier, appears to be fading fast.

But even still, I managed to make the best out of my workday. How, you may ask? Excess...

1. Enjoying a hot tea out of a tiny elephant mug at Changs Thai Bistro in Monrovia. And we managed to get a very cute photo on the Customer Wall of Fame (I don't think that's the real name for it).

2. Enjoying a triple shot of espresso from Friends Cafe. Unnecessary, yes. Delicious, yes. Caffeinated...an understatement.

3. Stopped into the new Old Town Monrovia store, Puff Monkey. Cute stuff if you have a child who likes Hello Kitty.

4. Filmed co-workers displaying their hidden talents. Filming has taken a long time dud to the fact that our employees are either camera shy or talentless. Or a third more viable option: they don't like me.

Meanwhile, my boss seems to want uptight Jen back. I'm sure that Jen will be back in a week...

Honeymoon's Over

My dear boss pointed out that I was glowing yesterday at work. Vacation, it seemed, had served me well. I'm tan. No bags under my eyes. Even my hair had grown thicker and shinier.

I'd like to think that this glow - and shiny hair (not to be confused with greasy) - will last until the next vacation. But I think this vacation euphoria is fading fast.

The good news, however, is I'm still trying to hold on. I'm still dedicated to taking a salsa lesson, enrolling in a Spanish class and booking a longer South America Trip.

But seeing as that I'm both out of money and time, it will be about a year before the next vacation. So what to do between now and then? I'll start with downloading my photos from the trip. And looking for a bar that serves Chicha beer with a side of coco leaves...

Worst Flight Ever

The flights on the way over we're terrific. Spacious seats, no one next to me, on time. But not this flight.

I was fine with us being thirty mins late. If anything it was better because it means my layover in Mexico City is shorter.

But what made this flight special - on a bad way - were the people sitting by me. There was the young woman for Mexico who kept speaking Spanish to me even though I didn't know what she was saying. Shame on me for not speaking better Espanol.

But the main issue I had was why, despite having a free aisle seat, she insisted on sitting next to me.

Midway through the flight, a very chatty Italian man sat in the open seat. I don't know why other than to flirt, which he proceeded to do with the flight attendants, too.

But my favorite character on the plane was the woman behind me, who started screaming and sweating as soon as we took off. She managed to grab and shake my seat throughout the flight.

Oh, and while on the plane it was announced that someone lost their wedding ring.

I'm very grateful for headphones, my iPod and my book.

It was the worst.

But now I'm here at the Mexico City airport, where ill be until my flight departs at 630 pm. So my goal is to do a bar hop. I had a warm up appetizer in the food court - the same food court that was shut up in July of this year. I had a chicken huarache, which is served on a open face tortilla.

I started with a beer at Wings watching a soccer match, now I'm at Taba Bar watching the New Mexican President get sworn in. It's pretty cool - all eyes are on the screen and passerbys are stopping to listen to the speech. Meanwhile, protests continue outside of the Congressional building in downtown Mexico City.

At least I end the trip with a little excitement.

Day 16: Adios el Sur America

I did not party all night. But the rest of Lima did. And seeing as that the location of the hostel is near a strip of bars - and that the windows don't close in the hostel - I may as well have partied. I at least got to live vicariously through my dorm mates, two of which had a conversation about whether they would bring a girl back to the hostel to "smash" or get a hotel by the hour. I think it was wishful thinking on their part, because they came home alone and went straight to bed.

The cab showed up ten mins early - which was a relief since Peruvian custom seems to run late. I have read and heard many a people get robbed or tricked by the cabs throughout South America.

One scam I heard of was a cabbie who told his riders that all the bills they paid with were fake. So these guys kept on handing out bills until the cab drive away. Even though that sounds stupid, who knows how you'd act in the thick of it. And that was just one of about ten stories I heard of people being mugged, scammed or screwed . Needless to say, my heart sunk a couple of times when my cab drove through desolate parts of the airport. But, as he explained, there was simply no traffic that way.

Anyway, I am relieved I am at the airport, that my flight wasn't cancelled, and that I have all of my credit cards and a ton of pics. See you on the other side in about fifteen hours :)