Day 94

I’ve slept pretty well this past night and waking up at 7 am without the clock ringing is an achievement! The good mood is on so I jump to the shower, put my shorts on and a black tank top and I’m ready to enjoy my day. Xuan and the kids are not awake yet so I check my email and send some more résumés/CVs to production houses here in HCMC and hope that maybe someone thinks I’m interesting and good enough…

After a while Xuan comes to my door and we go for breakfast at Lady Bulldog’s place, we buy a couple of stuff for lunch at the market and we head home. The rugrats come running and Thach Thao shows me the dragons she has drawn, much better than the ones I draw! I go upstairs and post a couple of stuff on the net while Xuan makes flan pudding, a sweet delight that everyone on this house seems to love with exception of Chi Mi and Chi Lam.

When she’s finished we jump on the motorbike and head to Ben Than Market so I can buy a nice fabric for my grandmother. She’s a strong and loving women and she deserves the best! We also buy a Vietnamese costume to my mum’s friend’s daughter and a couple of things to Lilly’s daughter (Lilly is Carlos’ daughter, Philip and Til’s sister and a young sister for me). Around 11.30 am we head home and I watch a TV show while it’s not time for lunch.

At lunch we have squid and pork and some veggies and for dessert: flan pudding! I feel so full I could explode and so I decide that after lunch I’ll go for a walk and do something with myself. Before I have time to leave the house, my parents show up on Skype (it’s 6.30 am in Lisbon, shouldn’t you been sleeping?!) and we talk for about an hour. They wanna go to sleep again, which I understand perfectly, so we say our goodbyes and there I go, I’m ready for my walk!

I wanna go to the Fine Arts Museum so Chi Mi calls a motorbike taxi and the guy leaves me just at the door. The building is very beautiful and the collection inside too.

Inside the Fine Arts Museum

The inspiration from the drawing of Michalangelo

Propaganda

Of course it’s mainly paintings from Vietnamese artists and sculptures in stone, bronze and wood from Asia.

What impressed me more was, without a doubt, the feeling you have while looking at some paintings about the war in Vietnam… you feel their suffering and their hopes, it makes everything more real than what you’re used to as we didn’t live it…

The youth of Ho Chi Minh City

there was a painting that really impressed me and it was done by a famous artist but by a child, the title of the painting was "wishing the father return in peace".

After finishing my visit to the museum I head to Highlands coffee shop for a cà phê sữa đá and some facebook time that gets cut short by the hours and what I still have to do.

I pay and go to the furniture floor at Saigon Centre to check some prizes and then head to the nails’ shop to check the prizes of the machines and which ones are the best ones. Then I stop by a store where Xuan has seen a necklace she liked and I buy it to her just to show my appreciation for her. =) It’s already 4.30 pm and I feel I should go back home as Xuan still wants to do a couple of stuff today. I call a cab and tell him where to go by gestures and the word “yes”, when at my destination I leave and walk home the little bit missing.

No one’s at home besides Grandmamma who opens the door for me. I go to my room and start preparing the nail art stuff when Xuan arrives home and after a little talk and some green mango with chili we head out to the mall Now Zone. And guess who I see as soon as I enter the building? Ash Stymest for Dr. Martens! I’m starting to feel stalked, or maybe is just a sign I should go back to London… what do you say Jo Sheffield?

Xuan shows up at the door after parking the motorbike and we go around the shopping mall. 3 floors of shoes, bags, clothes and accessories, a paradise or it could be if the majority of stuff wasn’t really only for Asians… I like occident stuff and all the clothes are very girlie and smiles and eyes blinking. I want skulls, spikes, neon and blacks, I want punk! I have to say that since I’m here I’ve bought lots of stuff with skulls and spikes but it’s not enough, I want more!

I guess we stayed there for a couple of hours and when we finished walking around it’s time for dinner and we go to one of my favorite places: barbeque! They’ve been closed ‘cause the road was being fixed and today is the first day open and the food is as good as always. I taste it and when I realize I have already finished, too quickly…

At home the kids are still awake and full of energy, even if they spent the evening at the kids’ playground… I go to my room and start some nail art painting and this is the result:

Then it’s time for a shower and some TV shows… I thought by now I’d already be whishing you a good night, unfortunately is already 1 am and I haven’t been able to sleep… lately I’ve been feeling to anxious… and I just wanna sleep…

P.S. – some Biffy to fall asleep better maybe…