12.27.08 HCMC

I had the hardest time getting moving this morning. I just felt sooooo tired. I have no idea why, but I did not want to get out of bed. Paul went to breakfast at the hotel without me. I just could not do it. Then when he returned I kept sleeping for a while longer. He is such an amazing guy…..So patient to wait while I continued to sleep. Thank goodness for the Nintendo DS….he main staple of entertainment. J He has been playing a new game which he really likes. It is called Chrono Trigger which is the #1 rated game for the DS and since we both have the R4 deal we can download heaps of games for free from the web. J

Once I finally got moving we ate lunch at the Green Leaf Café and I had eggs benedict for lunch. YUM! We walked up and down the main shopping strip in town on Dong Khoi road. There are many cool little shops. Thankfully it was not raining. Then we ended up at Ben Thanh market which is crazy. Stuff everywhere along with people. Rows and rows of stuff----lacquer ware, bamboo stuff, shoes, clothes, rattan stuff, buffalo horn stuff, food stuff, anything and everything can probably be found here. Paul even found a stall selling the deodorant he uses. At the back end of the place there are tons of food stalls with all sorts of things. Paul checked them all out and made a mental list for reference. He is so cute when it comes to food.

After the market, we were both totally pooped out and shopped out. We went back to the hotel to regroup and rest. We ended up taking naps for about an hour or so. Totally what we needed, but when I woke up though I was grumpy and easy to be upset. I don’t know why, but it is me. Paul made the decision on dinner, thank goodness. We ate Indian at a place called Tandoor. Then we walked down the road, Hai Ba Trung. I had seen this cool lantern shop I wanted to go back to. They are the assembly lanterns that are made of many smaller plastic pieces. They are put together like a puzzle and can be made into many different shapes and sizes. They are really cool. We bought some pieces and they were reasonable. For all the pieces we got it all cost only $8 USD. Fun times! I cannot wait to put them together. I was feeling much better after having food in me….surprise! So we ended up walking around the area---street after street of stuff. It was fun and we found many good restaurants and shops. We finished the evening out at Sheridan’s Irish Pub for Kilkenny beers…..so yummy! I love the stuff! Paul had never had one and he liked it. We walked back to the hotel and ended the night watching the movie, Inside Man, on cinema before calling it a night.

Today was a great day! We know that we could live here. We went in a few local like grocery stores then even found a couple gourmet ones. We have come to the conclusion that it would be much easier t o live here than in Seoul. We had found many things that we would need or would be nice to have for food stuff and other things. The best part is that HCMC is a cheap place. The meals we have had are cheaper in general and the quality is great. So depending on what life brings, we might be looking into the schools here when the time comes to decide where to next….

Here we come Vietnam!!!