Day 22

If I thought yesterday as been a lazy day today has been even more. In the morning I got up and went for breakfast with Xuan and Carlos at 343 and then walked home so I could take Maxi and Till to Phò Lé. When I arrived they were ready and we walked ‘till one of the main streets and got a cab.

The cab stopped in front of Phò Lé and while we were crossing the street Till showed us how easy to cross it while dancing gangnam style. Of course everyone at the eating-place was looking at us and laughing and more surprised got when the 3 of us go inside and seat. To order I just showed a piece of paper where Xuan had written what we should order and how many by fingers. Till and Maxi loved the place and it was really funny to be there and be the only “long noses” and not needing a Vietnamese translator.

When we finished we walked home but not before seating at 343 for a refreshing drink. Maxi asked for a cappuccino, yeah… a cappuccino in HCMC, no comments! =) I tried to order a coconut water but I got a coconut milkshake instead and Till a cà phê sữa đá. While drinking the house DJ had a very eclectic music selection:

Britney Spears – ooops! I did it again

Backstreet Boys – show me the meaning of being lonely

Venga Boys – shalala lala

Spice Girls – viva forever

And when Celine Dion started singing I realize it was time to leave the place so we headed home.

Before lunch I painted Maxi’s toes and prepared them for the nail art painting after lunch party. We ate an easy lunch with veggies, steamed rice, beef with green pepper and I ended it with a coconut dessert.

So after lunch is time for mail panting and this was the result of Maxi’s nails…

I also painted Thach Tao’s nails as a orange tiger and her toes with little paws but unfortunately none survived for a photo as they got extinct before time… in the end I’m a little bit tired so I go rest a little bit.

Around dinner time Till comes to my room and we decide to go for dinner as Carlos and Xuan weren’t at home I proposed we’d go to the barbeque place. As we’re getting ready to leave, they arrive and we all decide to go back to Phò Lé and have Phò Bó for dinner.

After dinner, Till, Maxi and me walk home as it’s a really nice night and Carlos and Xuan go to buy a plane to Phuc. When we arrive, I stay at home as tomorrow I have classes and Till and Maxi go to play badminton in the park.

Night night peeps!

Day 21

Carlos arrived late last night so today is lazy day. The kids won’t go to school neither Xuan nor me. We get up late and as soon as Maxi arrives we go walking for brunch.

It’s the first time we go to this place and there’s a couple of aquariums where you can choose wish fish you want to eat in your meal.

Stone Fish

Koi fish

Xuan orders prawn noodles soup to everyone and iced tea and this one comes with a fried shrimp that is really good.

It’s time to go to the coffee shop and drink our cà phê sữa đá. We’re all feeling a little bit lazy, so Xuan leaves with the kids around noon and the 4 “long noses” stay for one more hour and also leave to go for the siesta.

At home we rest a little bit and around 4.30 pm we start to get ready as today’s Xuan’s father death anniversary and there will be a big dinner at Mr. Lam’s house.

When we arrive everyone receive us with arms wide open and everyone is in a good mood. Vietnamese Buddhism celebrates the death with lots of joy and don’t see it as a sad thing, in fact, people come all over the places to honor the dead person by offering beer and praying so the person who’s on the other side can celebrate with the ones on this side.

Of course there’s lots of food and empty tables in case someone else show up. All the dishes look really good and we start with fried prawns, Vietnamese rolls, beef rolls, snails and veggies.

We continue with boiled prawns at the table, then meat with carrots and green pepper and finally fish noodle soup.

Everyone’s happy and I’m sure Xuan’s father would be really proud. 

With celebration there’s also drinking, having a couple of laughs, singing and dancing.

Till dances the chorus of gangnam style while other musicians accompany our Vietnamese pop star and almost in the end of it Maxi shows a couple of dance moves! =)

(sorry for the quality of the video but when doing the conversion to upload it the quality decreases)

It’s time to end the fun and go back home, as by the end of this night we’re all number 1 in something because we’re happy and it’s time to celebrate and not to mourn.

the end...

Till and Maxi go for a walk and I head to my bed and my computer as I wanna upload my day and tomorrow wanna be fresh for a walk in the morning.

Night night everyone, don’t let the bedbugs bite!

Day 20

It’s time to get up so we can go for breakfast at Pho Lé. While I’m getting ready Till comes to my room and tells me he’s not feeling well so he’s going to stay at home and Maxi is also tired so I’m left alone for breakfast. Go downstairs and ask Xuan to take me there before her daily appointments.

We go to Pho Lé and get Phò bó to go. I have my soup at home and go for a quick book reading until lunch.

At lunch we eat steamed rice with ribs and fish and a soup made with peanuts and a white vegetable that is so good that I have to repeat it twice. In the meantime Maxi shows up and I take her to the nail place so she can have her nails done and then I can train my nail art on her! =)

Time for a little siesta as today we’re going to Mr. Lam’s house for a celebration. Tomorrow is Xuan’s father death anniversary and so they do a dinner to the family the night before and another one in the next day. Today’s dinner is special as it is cooked duck besides the usual chicken, the veggies and the soup.

During dinner Till stops being nº. 1 in the drinking contest as Maxi surpasses him by drinking beer and red wine. Being at the table is always funny especially with Vietnamese people who never drink alcohol alone.

Phuc is starting to have fever so we all head home and while Maxi and Till go for a walk, I prefer go to bed and update my blog. And this is it!

Night night peeps!

Vietnamese by the eyes of a Portuguese

Day 19

Another Monday starting so it’s time to get up, leave Thach Tao and Phuc at school, eat an American Vietnamese breakfast and head to our massage lesson. Today there are more people at the lesson, we almost have full classroom.

Lesson number 3 teaches how to do a facial rejuvenation massage, head massage and neck massage. After the theory and a couple of examples by the teacher it’s time to pass to practice. The teacher exemplifies in one of us the whole massage while I draw frenetically one more time.

When we arrive home Till is still sleeping so after a while I knock on his door ‘cause it’s already time for lunch. In between all this action, I grab my nail art kit and take it to the kitchen and start practicing. I’m really getting the hang of it and it’s really funny to be able to create and paint whatever comes to your mind. There are no limits!

Time for lunch and there’s fried fish, beef with green beans and steamed rice and for desert mango. Xuan tells us that we should go to a massage in the afternoon and then to wash our hair and do our nails.

Till and me walk ‘till the massage parlour and get ready to relax. Once more, I get my girl and Till gets Xuan’s one, we even fall asleep and there’s a time that I think my girl is touching me to turn and I almost throw all the hot stones into the floor. After the massage a little bit of steamed sauna and a quick shower and we’re ready to pick up the kids from school.

While waiting in the corner people don’t stop looking at us as we’re 2 “long noses” waiting in a corner in front of a kids school. =) In a little bit Xuan shows up and tells us that she came because it’s too hot and it’s better if the kids go by motorbike home. No problem! I pick Phuc, Till picks Thach Tao and they’re ready to go home.

We walk home and go get our shampoos for our washing hair time. While I get my head massage, facial rejuvenation and hair washed Till gets is hands and feet done and the lady even calls him a Hobbit as he has lots of feet hair. Hehehehe Time to change and I go have my hands done and it’s Till’s time for the head massage, facial rejuvenation and hair washing.

Maxi shows up and we get ready to have dinner: steamed rice, squids with veggies and soup. After dinner, Xuan takes the kids for a walk and Till, Maxi and me go also for a walk.

We head to a street where all the stores are open, lots of movement, lots of traffic and lots of people selling everything you can imagine in the middle of the street.

I personally like the people who are selling helmets because it’s such a rush of colour…

Anyway, after we walk for a while we stop at a Thai place and each of us asks for a drink. This drinks come with jellies inside and mine tastes really good. After a couple of laughs, many looks and some stupid photos, we head back so I can stay at home and Till and Maxi go for a drink after.

My bed is calling me so I guess I’m going to meet it! =)

Night night everyone, don’t let the bedbugs bite!

Day 18

Sleeping outside in the countryside it’s not easy peasy, that’s what I’ve learned after tonight. Too much light, many crickets singing, dogs barking and moaning, birds singing and motorbikes crossing everywhere.

Anyway, we get up; get ready and go for breakfast near the freeway. It’s raining but it’s a warm rain that after 15 minutes stop and we’re dry again. We have noodles soup and we’re ready to go on our way.

We all jump in the car and drive to another city a few km away from the village. This city is also messy and chaotic in what refers to traffic.

We stop for a coffee while waiting for Xuan’s friend, a Vietnamese who lives in Australia. As he arrives we finish our drinks and go meet his family. Right away they offer us orange juice with sugar and salt and biscuits.

Once more we all jump into the car and now we’re 10 people inside! Nothing new for us as we’re used to it. =)

We head to a park along the river with lots of vegetation, fun stuff for kids to do, a pool and some other entertainments. It seems to me a vey touristy place even if it’s beautiful.

We play a little bit with Thach Tao and Phuc and then they go for a swim at the pool while we order lunch and start eating. Vietnamese chicken wings, traditional fish soup, steamed rice, veggies and grilled fish come to the table.

After lunch it’s getting late so we go on our way to HCMC. The traffic is insane, with cars breaking in the middle of the freeway, motorbikes changing tires, mess everywhere and so we take hours to arrive home.

Everyone’s tired but we still have to go for dinner, the kids stay at home while Xuan goes to get take away noodle soup and we’re going to the barbeque place once more. Till and me are the only “long noses” in the place and communication is not easy but with gesture and chicken noises everyone get along. Xuan arrives a little bit after, we eat and we go home.

Time to go to bed as tomorrow there are classes and we need to be awake.

Night night peeps!

Day 17

Today’s a very important day in Chinese New Year so we head to the countryside to Xuan’s family temple. Xuan’s brother is driving; the kids are in the back with Chi Mi and Till and me awake trying to absorb all the landscape we can.

We stop in the middle of the trip for a fancy breakfast and Thach Tao and Phuc have a chance to run a little bit before we go back on the road.

As soon as we arrive to the temple, I see lots of people, the last 2 times I’ve been there we could count by the fingers of one hand the people. This time there’s also 2 “long noses” so Till and me are the new attraction and grown ups and kids pass by us without being able to take their eyes off us.

Xuan explains to me that today the temple will offer dinner to everyone who shows up and so all the female monks and some volunteers are already cooking for dinner. We have a vegetarian lunch and I’m just able to eat tofu and a couple of veggies with steamed rice as all the other food is really spicy.

After lunch we go visit Xuan’s old school teacher and of course as soon as we arrive we’re gifted with biscuits, fruit and orange juice with salt and sugar. After being there a little bit doing small talk, Till and I decide to go for a walk while Xuan stays talking with her teacher.

I can’t stop being amazed by everything the countryside has to offer.

It’s really beautiful, people are so much nicer than in the city and you can always find unexpected things as a showered cat or a lizard on a fence.

After our little walk we meet Xuan and head to Miss Thoa’s house where we’re going to have dinner. As we’re doing it by foot, once more we’re gifted with smiles, looks and some “hellos” from the Vietnamese. Chi Mi proudly shows us her house and even if it’s a poor place, her back windows go directly into the river and the view is amazingly beautiful.

Miss Thoa’s house is an atypical country house, as has more than a couple divisions. We sat at the terrace and we’re served a chicken soup and hot tea and it’s delicious. Laziness starts to install and we go for a little nap right there on the porch. It’s dark already and it’s time to go back to the temple and the celebrations.

At the temple, Mr. Truong has arrived and invites Till for a couple of drinks with the boys while I stay with Xuan talking and looking around how many people came for the temple’s dinner. Kids are impressed by my whiteness so they surround Xuan and me and only leave when I do a couple of pictures and show them.

It’s decided we’ll sleep at Miss Thoa’s place so we grab our stuff but we’re missing Till. Mr. Truong takes me to him and when I thought everything was lost and Till would be really drunk, I couldn’t be more wrong. The scenario is the other way around, a very sober Till and 4 drunk Vietnamese. I had forgotten Till is German and can beat the Vietnamese in a drinking contest any time.

As everything is ok, we leave our things at Miss Thoa’s place, take a quick shower and go for a nice ice cream in a coffee shop next to the freeway. We’re around 15 people so there’s a couple of motorbikes’ trips until we’re all in the same place.

Ice cream comes to the table and we have fun and laugh… and it’s so easy to live in the country (at least is what it seems for a city girl like me).

Time to go to bed and my bed and Til’s is a mattress in Miss Thoa’s terrace with a mosquito net above it. We’re going to sleep outside and why not enjoy a night in the countryside?

Night night everyone, don’t let the bedbugs bite!