Most of our trip, we have begun the day quite early. This was often required by our travel plans to go on a tour or to change cities. Today, Monday, June 28th, we woke up very late. It was too late to expect breakfast most places so we decided to try a bakery/restaurant listed in our Lonely Planet Vietnam guide book, SOZO. It turned out perfectly! Not only does SOZO offer breakfast all day long, they also have free wi-fi and even computers to use for free. The kids loved this and Sandy and I had an extended breakfast and plenty of time to drink coffee.
We started our shopping adventures after our late breakfast at SOZO. Ivy is the only member of our family that finds great pleasure in shopping. She had been requesting her allowance in Vietnamese dong each Sunday during our trip (three of them!) and that vietnamese dong had been burning a whole in her pocket, errr... purse, for three weeks. Even Olivia, whom is not usually into shopping, was looking forward to shopping today. She loves stuffed animals and had decided for quite some time that she was going to bring a new friend home from Vietnam.
We took a taxi over to the Thong Xa Tax Market near the Rex Hotel where we had shopped on our previous adoption trips. Then, we continued on to Parkson Saigontourist Plaza. It had been obvious to us that Vietnam's economy had improved a lot since our last visits to Vietnam, but was even more obvious while visiting shopping centers. They were all very modern and luxurious. We were even solicited to experience home theater 3D technology complete with surround sound at a mini showroom inside the entrance at the Tax Market.
While different items attracted the interest of the three of us, Olivia stayed fixed on her goal of finding the perfect stuffed friend. She fell in love with one after another over-sized bear at each store and sometimes at each floor level. We were passing through the food court at the Parkson when Olivia spotted a big stuffed bear sitting with her new family. It was love at first sight! I asked the family, while pointing at the bear, "Mua sam o dau?" (Shopping at where? More clumsy vietnamese.) The dad asked if I spoke English, "Yes!" It turns out that their little boy had just won the bear at a game arcade. "Did we want to buy the bear for $200,000 dong?" $200,000 dong (their arcade game investment) = $10 USD. We bought the huge bear wearing a pink dress for $300,000 dong in hopes of a fair exchange. Whew! Nice to have that task accomplished. Now, Olivia and our new family member, Pinkie, wanted nothing more than to go back to the hotel to spend time together... First, we had lunch at the food court. Pho 24, of course!
In the evening, we went to dinner with our friend, Luan, and his wife. We met Luan as a cyclo driver on our first trip to Vietnam in June 2001. We have visited with him each trip since then in July 2001, November 2002, and December 2002, and this trip in June 2010. Now, he transports tourists by motor bike and can still be found near the Rex Hotel. It is wonderful to have a friend in Vietnam that we have seen on each of our trips. He is a kind and sincere man and has become like a brother or uncle to us. On our first day in Saigon, he arranged for the kids to have their first cyclo ride and then proceeded to give them their first motorbike ride also. So, they think that he is very cool! Our connection to him helps us to feel more connected to Vietnam. We gain a better sense of vietnamese culture and economy through our conversations with him.
We went to Huong Lai restaurant which was recommended in the Lonely Planet guide. The food was good and it was comfortable and quiet enough to talk, but it did seem to be lacking in atmosphere. Somehow, I wished for a more pleasing environment for our farewell dinner with friends. Also, the kids were annoyingly impatient. They slept especially long that night and I realized that they were needing to catch up on their sleep. It was fun to share our vietnam travel adventures with Luan and his wife, Hien, through photos in the hotel lobby after returning from dinner. It is strange to wonder if we will ever see them again.
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