Dumpling Day

From 11/1

We woke up and had some plans to go to the Chinatown district and wander between pagodas and food stands. It's about 5km away from where we stayed so we cabbed it over there after a light breakfast at our hostel.

Al and I usually like walking around most cities because it allows us to really see the city. Unfortunately Saigon is massive, and is not a walkable city if you want to see a lot of it.

Our cab got us to the first pagoda and we enjoyed the sights and smells. Every pagoda has it own unique features. Whether it's the different gods to worship and give offerings to, or the style of the woodwork, or the scent of the incense, they all have their own special touch. 

(Some of the woodwork from afar. This pagoda had stories acted out by the carvings)

(Last lighting one of the cool incense spirals)

(Cute kid in front of some pagoda art)

Most of the pagodas were right by each other so it didn't take long for us to get around. Then we walked around Chinatown and looked at all the Chinese things. It's interesting to me to see a Chinatown so close to actual China. Like why not just live in China if you're so close?

Anyways, walked for a while (about 3-4 km) before finding the Top Rated Pho place. It was a longggg walk so we were glad to sit down. We walked in and it was even hotter and humid-er than outside. We accepted it because we just needed to sit - we get used to the heat pretty quickly anyways. 

The Pho was probably the best Pho we've had. It was at a place called Pho Hoa in District 1. On our way out we saw these dumpling looking things and wanted to get one. Since we already paid and were walking away we decided to skip it this time, but stop at the next dumpling place. 

We continued the circle and were heading to a shop we wanted to check out. This one was called Vietnam Quilts. We walked OUT of the way for it and it wasn't there. It was gone. Our book (2014 version) told us bad info! Come on Lonely Planet. 

Super bummed out we kept on our long search for cool shops. We happened upon a cafe called The Loft at the perfect time for a drink and snack. We needed a rest and needed some liquids so we went up. We chilled on the second floor porch to do the usual: read, write, and cribbage. I'm going to start using that as an acronym to save time. So when you see RWC, it forever means: read, write, cribbage. 

So, we were RWC and had some coffee and a fruit smoothie. So good. And cold, it's nice to have a tastey cold beverage in a hot place. We cooled off there for a bit and than continued our journey towards the hostel to swap out some backpack things. On the way out we grabbed one of the bun things that we kept wanting! 

I was wary that it had beans in it or something nasty, but we bit in and it was delicious! Why hadn't we been eating those every day for snack. It's a thick but fluffy dough, with two small eggs (hard boiled) and a chunk of meat in the middle. So good. #meatsnacks

(I'll get a picture of one half eaten soon - there are more where I'm at right now as I write this)

As we were walking we noticed a sign for Pasteur Street Brewing, and as a Seattleite I always assume it's beer. Being in Vietnam is different because they have a lot more coffee places than breweries. There is like one brewery in Saigon and one in Hanoi. But we were curious, so we walked down the alley, up the stairs, and poked our heads in. Sure enough it was a brewery!

(Some of their wall art)

(The tap room)

Nothing like a little taste of home on the other side of the earth. They brew an hour outside the city and just recently opened. We of course got a flight and tried all their beers. They were good, and I loved the vibe of the place, but I've had better beer. I would highly recommend checking it out if you go to Saigon. 

While we were hanging out I got a FaceTime call from Bridget! She was in Seattle visiting a friend and she happened to be at our house with all our friends! It was so cool to see all our friends again, it's weird not talking to them or seeing them at least once a week! I'm not rushing anything, but when we are reunited it will be glorious #athletes. 

After the wonderful conversation (we couldn't hear each other at all) we walked back to our hostel and quick swapped things in backpacks and went back out in search of our final shop: Mekong Creations. After being let down twice earlier in the day it was crunch time. 

The store was right down the street from our hostel, until we found a restaurant where the store was supposed to be. Why? We're good people. Why do bad things happen to good people? Distraught, we fell into a cab and headed to our dinner place. 

This was another top pick from the book and it had similar style dishes as the Secret Garden. The winner of the night was carmelized tofu. I literally never ate tofu before this trip, and I don't plan to after, but it's good here on their dishes. 

On the way back we heard all this loud noise across the street and had no idea what was going on. We almost didn't go into  it, but we turned a corner and it looked exciting. It ended up being a holiday market for Halloween and had all types of clothing and jewelry and other fun stuff. We wandered around for a bit, we each got one or five things. It was crazy busy, but fun to see what their Holiday Markets are all about. They actually had nice clothes there, and not just fake Lacoste, but their own designers in Vietnam were there. Anyways, we couldn't help ourselves with this pictures. Guess what we were for Halloween (guess before you see my comment under the picture):

(We were tourists! Everyone knew what our outfit was, that's why they stared at us)

We had a long walk home from the restaurant so despite getting dessert at the restaurant (it was a light porridge, so it doesn't count) we stopped in at an ice cream place called Fanny. The best ice cream and they make some crazy cake ice cream flavor stuff. It's hard to explain but we just got the classic ice cream cone. 

Then, out of nowhere, almost back to our hostel, we stumbled into an amazing shop! It had everything we were looking for in the other shops that weren't there. There was all kinds of handmade stuff - from ceramics to pillows to bags to you name it. It was a fun shop, but since it ess closing we made a point to come back first thing in the morning after the War Remnants museum. 

Finally able to make it back without another distraction we got to our hostel and called it a night. Early morning to get the day started so we can fit everything in before we fly to Phu Quoc Island in the evening. 

Thank you to everyone who reads this and is enjoying it! It makes it even more worth while for me to write knowing that all of you look forward to hearing about our adventures. Honestly there are times I want to put it off to tomorrow (and I do), but I don't want to leave you hanging for an extra day so I do my best to consistently post! I love the comments both here and in Facebook or messages. Thank you all!

R

"Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends [#athletes].

You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things: air, sleep, dreams, sea, the sky - all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it."

- Cesare Pavese