In HCMC... Still here... Still hot!

I didn’t think it was possible for it to get hotter in HCMC. It rained today. Holy crap it’s humid here!

Being the creatures of habit we are we returned to our favorite French bakery for breakfast. With some food in our belly we headed to Notre Dame Cathedral. It is the smaller much more watered down version of its French predecessor. We saw two wedding parties having their pictures taken out front. The bride’s dresses were no good at all. In total, on this entire trip, we have seen 8 wedding parties. Last Saturday in Hong Kong we saw six. After trying on my suit coat, last night, I decided it was too big. We headed back to the tailor fomr some alteration. After some pins were placed and some chalk marks were made we finally found the proper fit. The alterations would take five hours, so it was time to take in another sight or two. We headed to the Jade Emperor Pagoda. This truly was an amazing sight! The beautiful and intricate woodwork was amazing. I tried to capture its beauty with my camera, but I think this is an impossible task. The incense permeated the interior and made for a very exotic ambiance. After our holy experience we headed back towards the market area. On our return it began to pour rain... and I mean pour! We ducked inside a restaurant, had a seat, and ordered some beer. Neither Angi nor I speak a lick of Vietnamese. Our waiter spoke hardly any English, but some how we started a very slow conversation with him. He would stumble through a question; we would translate an answer. This went on for quite some time before his friend who spoke better English joined us. It wasn’t too much longer before the restaurants manager joined the conversation. It was still slow and steady. It was like a scene from The Foreigner. Before we knew it there were six restaurant employees standing around while we tried to make conversation. It was quite a spectacle. I would ask them a question... there would be lots of chatter amongst the group... The waiter that spoke better English would answer our question and ask one in return. Angi and I would chatter amongst ourselves and then answer their question. This went on for quite some time. We could have sat their all night, but my finished suit jacked was waiting, so it was back to the tailor for us. It ended up raining for about an hour.

Tomorrow we depart HCMC at 2pm bound for Hanoi. I think we are both ready to leave this cluster fuck! I want to get a T-shirt that says: I went to HCMC and didn’t get hit. Anyone that has been here before will understand. Crossing the street here is a grueling and heart pounding experience. The traffic never stops there are only lulls. This means you just have to cross with traffic rushing around you. This was very unnerving the first three days we were here, but now it is almost fun to cross the rushing river of mopeds, busses and bicycles.