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Published: February 25th 2010
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Honk! beep beep! HONK! This is the sound of my wake up call, bright and early. We had changed rooms to be next to Jill's family.I really can't say that this room is any better, but our previous room was more soundproofed. This room faces the street, and even though the street is not a main one, all I can here is horns and traffic, so much so that I feel as if I were laying on the middle of the street. I checked the windows.They're closed. The bathroom kinda perturbs me a bit.I hate it actually. But last day in Vietnam, gotta make the most of it!
The weather is about 40 degrees today, and thats with humidity. We start the say off visiting one of Jills moms uncles house. They have this 4 story almost like apartment style levels, where all his family lives. He too speaks french and is eager to use it on me. C'est parfait! He tells me about his children and his brothers and how they are all doctors and one lawyer. His wife is a jolly woman who laughs constantly and brings us different fruit from her garden for us to eat.They grow
their own guava on the top floor of the house and have a couple of other fruit plants as well. She slices up ripe and unripened guava and serves it with dipping salt. The whole family is very hospitable and kind and eager to talk to us. I love meeting families like this, even if they are not my own. Genuine happy people. After we left we decided to go back down to district one to check out some more of the area that we missed yesterday. Walking around in the heat was draining a bit so we kept it short and sweet. For me I still haven't entered one museum or historical landmark, and I felt the need to fulfill that, So off Nhung and I went to the fine art museum. Jills great uncle told us later that is actually belonged to a poor Chinese man who collected bottles until he had enough money collected to buy a hospital. And he was the actual occupant of the house. Neat story, true or not but the old french style house(or mansion) was amazing. We wandered through the exihbitsand checked out the old sculptures and paintings. I noticed that they
did a lot of lacquered engraving work,and that the art compared to what I have seen in europe is less defined. The figures are not drawn up to the detail of that of Italian art, it was softer,more abstract. The museum was definitely worth checking out its kinda neat to see the different styles of of these "houses" that the royalty or the rich lived in and comparing it to that of japan or Europe, or even north america.The one thing I did notice that is a bit sad to see is the lack of care that has gone into the property to preserve it to its former glory.
So the day went on and yada yada yada, we ended up with our last night in Vietnam Back at Jill's great uncle where they took us for our last bowl of pho. Let me tell you, I love pho, but I love it on cold calgary days where a steaming bowl warms the tummy and the soul. Not when its still 30 degrees and night and that steaming bowl is causing heat stroke, and beads of sweat keep trickling down your face. I have no idea, in a climate
like this, how pho became the national dish. The pho was good, even though the place we were taken to, I must say was scary. i have avoided the travel bug for this long, the last thing I need os to catch it just before my 22 hour journey back home. But Im with the family and so here goes nothing.I know it sounds a bit weird bit I even took my chopstick and wiped it down with my antibacterial gel. So whatever, there was a bit of a clean floral taste with my soup, but this restaurant apparently was a pho restaurant/gym. there was a thin wire fence separating the pho from the sweaty people lifting weight. God, I cant wait to get back to Sanitation.
So all in all I have to say I really did like Vietnam, i think that Jill's relatives made the experience better and a lot more authentic.I prefer Can tho to Ho chi minh, Although I don't know if I would come back to Ho chi minh. I think it would be neat to check out some of the other areas like da lat and Hanoi. Another time, another blog. I do
miss Japan though. I wish I could even go back there for a week just to hang out, but I guess its back to Canada for now. Even though I do love heat, I am missing those cool crisp calgary mornings, and my routines as well. i miss running and eating fruits and vegetables, i even miss work! Well lets not get carried away, I miss my co workers and my clients. All in all it will be good to get back, close the chapter on the asia book, but I have a feeling I will be back. Japan just tickled the interest. Well see you soon! A la prochaine!!
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Crystal
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Can't believe you already coming home
Hey Shannon, I can't believe you are already coming home. It sounds like you had tons of fun and it must have been amazing to see everything in Japan and Vietnam. Glad your almost back home and I will see you soon.