My Time in 'Nam

 

The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

I went to Vietnam over winter break but in my laziness, I'm only getting around to posting pictures now. So, Dad, here's what you missed seeing in the 70's.

 

Some electric green rice paddies, as seen from our sleeper traincar.

The countryside was very beautiful. 

A house we saw on the side of the road.

There were lots of beautiful palaces and old buildings to see, too.

A lake with a bridge in Hue.

I met my friend, Anji, in Hanoi and then, we caught an overnight bus down to Hoi An in central Vietnam. 

Hoi An is very well known for its custom tailoring. I got lots of clothes made, blah blah blah. Here's a picture of restaurant we ate at.

The restaurant next to the street market in Hoi An.

From Hoi An, we took a 22-hour bus trip (OMG 22 HOURS WTF!!) to Saigon. Somewhere in the middle of that, I ordered breakfast IN FRENCH. It was pretty exciting.

The next day we took another bus down to Vĩnh Long, a fishing village in the Mekong Delta. While there, I had to take a motorcycle taxi while carrying all my luggage, wearing a miniskirt and a falling-off helmet with a driver that seemed to maybe be sporting a coke nail. I thought I might die, just a little, as we weaved through heavy motorbike traffic, uninhibited by traffic lights. But man, I gotta say, motorcycle taxis are AWESOME and SO MUCH FUN.

We hired a boat to see the floating market the next day. Some of the produce is tied wooden poles on the boats so people know what each boat is selling.

The floating market

Although Vietnam is a much less developed country than Korea, they have a  much larger tourist industry. So, while finding chocolate banana pancakes in Korea is almost impossible, in Vietnam they are in almost every restaurant. Things were pretty touristy.

 Chicken noodle soup, just like mom used to make?

Except for this soup I had. This was not touristy at all. I tried to man up and ignore the fact that my lunch was squinting at me. But, in the end, I couldn't get past the fact that the soup also (unsurprisingly) smelled like something with a dead animal head in it. Sorry, Vietnam, I guess I'm not as open-minded as I thought.

 

The Vietnamese food pyramid

We found this food pyramid outside an elementary school in Hoi An. Even though they are communists, Vietnamese people worry about their consumption of salt, sugar and oily foods JUST LIKE US!

 School's out!

Except instead of Mom in a mini-van, Dad will pick you up from school on his moped! Heck yeah!

Ferries & Caves

Last Sunday, I went sightseeing with some friends to Chungju in the center of Korea. We took a bus down and then rode a ferry to see beautiful lakes and rocks!

 As promised, the beauty was shocking.

 It was a bit cold and dreary but this turned out to be for the best since I'd forgotten to put on sunscreen.

I was on a boat.

After the ferry ride, we went hiking to see a big natural stone arch. 

 The Stone Gate

It was pretty cool. It's hard to see them but if you look closely there are some tiny people in the corner of the above photo. The arch was, in fact, huge - a scale not really conveyed by this photo. So, obviously, the thing to do was climb on top of it. And here's the view.

 

Pretty, no?

Our tour guide told us this area was where nobles used to enjoy themselves and 'play with women.' Niiiiiice. 

Afterward, we wen't to a really big cave. This sign was posted near the exit. I thought it was a good life message to keep in mind.

Wise Korean sign.

Celebrations and Deprivations

Happy Lunar New Year/Mardi Gras/Birthday Fei (and Kim Jong-Il?)! I'm a little late posting in my (laziness and ) rush to pack for vacation. I've quit America for the present and am on my way to Vietnam for the rest of vacation.

Mardi Gras has passed which means we are now in the season of Lent (do Catholics say that?). Although I'm not a Catholic myself, I attended a Jesuit university for two years so I like to think of myself as an honorary member, a cultural catholic, let's say. (Or are all Catholics just cultural Catholics?) I enjoy many Catholic type things, like feeling guilty and seasonal self-deprivation, so I am participating in Lent. Will you be giving anything up?

In Transit

As I write this, I'm looking out the window at some palm trees gently waving in the wind, backed by some rugged, green mountains. This layover in Honolulu is lasting an age. At least it's a nice change from the somewhat bleak Seoul winter I'd gotten used to, though.

The woman working check-in and I bonded over our enjoyment of Korean Dramas. I felt like a good person because I told her about www.mysoju.com. Have you been to mysoju? No? You should go! It has East Asian dramas and movies with English subtitles. Then we, too, can discuss crying all night over Jan Di and Gu Joon Pyo.

Potato Fever

Since I've been single, I seem to get approached my Korean guys a lot more. Girls joke that most of the white guys here have 'yellow fever,' but apparently there is a corollary to this in Korean culture. When Koreans have a preference for white people, they call it having 'potato fever.'

Like this?

I admit, I'm less than thrilled at the association. But, considering the term 'yellow fever' is also pretty inaccurate, I guess I can't really complain.