Jenn and I left San Francisco Tues, Jun 16 at 1 pm. We took a 12 hr flight to S. Korea. During our 4 hr layover, we found my parents who had been touring Korea for 5 days. After another 4 hr flight, we arrived to Ho Chi Minh City on Wed around 11 pm.

After passing through customs, we were greeted by about 30 relatives!

We stayed with my great uncle (my grandma's brother) in Thu Duc, one of the districts of HCM, about 1 hr away from downtown which people refer to as Saigon.

The 3-story house was remodeled a few years back. It had Asian bathrooms (no separation betw toilet and shower) and one air-conditioned room where my family spent most of the time when we were home. I'm faking being comfortable in 90+ degree heat with high humidity.

Grave site of founders of the area across the street from the house

Day 1 (Thu, Jun 18): Morning karaoke

We took a taxi to Saigon in the morning. Jenn and I hung out with our parents and aunties while they ran errands.

We were lucky for most of the trip since it was cloudy/muggy. I'm sure it could've been a lot hotter. Rain storms seem to come from nowhere.

Banh khot maker

"Call me"

My parents got some dancing shoes custom made at this little shop. They'd measure the feet by outlining them on graph paper. My size 8 feet couldn't fit into any shoes at the stores, so my mom's size 9's had no hope.

Traffic outside of Cho Ben Thanh, the famous market filled with knick knacks, prepared foods, dried food. Most of the produce was outside of the market.

Most of the day was spent in Saigon going to various air-conditioned shopping centers. Parents bought some jewelry, Dad bought some fake Lacoste polos, and I got some sunglasses for $7.

Dried snacks at Cho Ben Thanh

We went to my mom's favorite restaurant when she lived in Saigon. My dad only liked to eat at restaurants where there was A/C.

$3 hu tiu, rice noodles w/ seafood

Visited my dad's old house in Saigon where my parents lived when they married. My parents kept joking, "this is where you would've lived. Are you glad we moved to America?"

Neighbors came out to talk to my parents. As we'd leave one house, another neighbor would come out to talk to them. Some even remembered my older sister as a baby.

Lay's chips - chicken & lemongrass chile, Brazilian bbq, and Cheetos-like chips

Day 2 (Fri, Jun 19): We took the public air-conditioned bus into Saigon. It took about an hour and costs about 17 cents. This saved a lot of money vs. renting a driver for the day.

Within Saigon, we'd take taxis. I'm sporting my new sunglasses. I dropped them in Nha Trang and the screw fell out.

We went to district Cholon, which literally means Big Market, Saigon's Chinatown.

Chinese Buddhist Temple #1

Hanging coils of incense

Temple #2

Broke the coil while trying to light the incense

My mom's old house in the middle of another outdoor market

There were some people who have worked at the same market since my mom was a kid.

Lunch downstairs of the Cholon market.

bun thit nuong - vermicelli with grilled pork and meatballs

banh canh cua - thick rice noodles in crab broth (one of my fave dishes)

banh beo - rice cakes with ground shrimp

Day 3 (Sat, Jun 20): My family had a hard time adjusting to time change. We usually woke up around 4 am and slept at 8 pm. But Vietnamese are def early risers.

Banh cuon breakfast

Waiting for the bus with aunties, my mom's cousins. My great aunt, their mom (all blue), is in her late 70s.

My parents convinced us to go with them to a disco at 3 pm.

It was actually pretty fun to watch... lots of styles of ballroom dancing. Lots of men asked us to dance but it wasn't creepy at all.