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Published: January 25th 2009
China Beach
Hard to believe that this is where the troops landedIt was weird watching the inauguration of Obama late at night in our little hotel room in Hoi An, Vietnam. My dad had trouble staying awake for it and kept drifting in and out. People in Vietnam seem to like Obama, but there was no celebrating on the street...or no more than usual. The Tet festival is approaching (Lunar New Year)...so there is lots of celebration going on all through Asia.
One of my favorite things we have done on this trip so far is a cooking class in Hoi An on the last day we were there. I volunteered to help the chef cook vegetable spring rolls, and when we were all putting our spring rolls in the fryer my Dad accidentally dropped his in the oil and burned another woman in the class! She wasn't badly burned, but she screamed. For the rest of the class I ripped on my dad about it.
On the day left Hoi An to fly to Bangkok (or Ho Chi Minh) and then to Singapore we had an early flight and we couldn't sleep very well because we knew that the chances of us getting our 5:00 am
Cooking in Hoi An
Me Co-teaching the cooking class wakeup call were very slim. Of course, there was no call, but we woke up anyway. When we got down to the lobby, the desk clerk was sleeping on a mattress in the in middle of the lobby.
Singapore is a really big city and really modern. When we got here it felt weird that 4 hours before we were in such a small town as Hoi An. And the prices are so much higher. I wanted a break from Asian food, so we went to the Hard Rock and it was $40 for lunch---more than we had paid for a week of food in Vietnam. After lunch we went walking around the city and thought about going to a movie. But, I couldn't see any of them because they are rated PG, PG16, PG18, and PG 21 and there weren’t any PG ones playing. Also, even with a parent you couldn't go into any of the movies unless you were above the age listed. They even required a passsport and a declaration of your age. To see the movie MILK you had to be 21 because it has homosexual themes!
Some of the things I have enjoyed
Fresh Food is Everywhere
...although it is also always on the ground... in Singapore have been the botanical garden, the river boat ride, and the night safari. In the botanical garden we saw a huge komodo dragon on the sidewalk. We also went to the national orchid garden where there are alot of really cool and rare orchids. The Night Safari had an animal show with otters, snakes, and a bunch of other animals. The part with the otters was really cool because a racoon dumps over a trash can and then the otters organized the trash and put it in recycling bins. After the show we got on a tram that went through the zoo. It was really cool seeing lions, girafes, elphants, and rhinos in the dark.
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John Stoll
non-member comment
Zach
Zach that was a great line about the need for a sister. Keep an eye on you're dad, we know mom will be cool. So glad your having a good time. Great blog! Enjoy!