Vietnam, Day 1

I woke up early because Thao had class for his MBA program. We had breakfast at this adorable French cafe (whatever, they were a huge presence in Vietnam at one point so it's ALMOST like eating locally). Then Thao and I parted ways and I was off on my own for the very first time. I went to check out a couple of apartments and ended up finding one that was perfect. Then I took to wandering around the center of the city taking pictures, which I will post as soon as I can find a way to upload them onto my Mac. (For those of you who don't know or forgot, like me, Macs don't have a convenient memory card slot built in - and I forgot my USB cord.) I'll figure something out, don't panic. It's better this way anyway because it was my first day with this new camera and the pictures did NOT come out the way I had thought. I like to fancy myself a bit of a photographer, however, today my ego took a bit of a hit. The one good picture is of me (so clearly I didn't take it) in front of Notre Dame, the church in the center of town. A nice policewoman (and clearly professional photographer on the side) was nice enough to take it of me and not steal my, er Daich and Masako's, camera in the process. I considered asking her for some photography tips, then I remembered that the only way we were communicating was in slang sign language.

The center of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in front of the Notre Dame

I wandered around a bit and when I was sufficiently soaked in sweat, I ran into the nearest coffee shop to get some iced tea. I know what you're thinking: "Wow, Jessie is so cool. She found an awesome coffee shop the first day she was in a crazy foreign country." Well, it would've been super cool if the coffee shop didn't end up being a...Coffee Bean. Whoops. Next time I promise it'll be a cool, local coffee shop. Promise. You wouldn't go in just anywhere to get an iced tea either when all you've heard is horror stories about the water. Anyway, I sat there for a bit and skyped on my phone, watching the downpour. Ah, the tropics.


Some more wandering and sweating to meet my boss for some lunch, then some picture taking, more wandering aaaaaand....jet lag hit like a ton of bricks. Back to the apartment for some much needed AC, shower and a nap. That about takes us up to this point and the conclusion of day 1 in Ho Chi Minh City!


Miss you all and more to come soon!


Jessie xo