No expectations = a good day

Today, I woke up with culture shock and loneliness taking their toll on me. I felt far away and sad. I felt sorry for myself. It’s my first Saturday in Ho Chi Minh City. I had my curtains drawn, and I slept late. I decided I would stick close to home today.

Photos from today

Yesterday, I had explored Saigon’s lavish areas where the tourists flock to see the historic French colonial buildings, swanky hotels and upscale shopping. It was stunning, but it wore me out. After failing to be able to hail a ride on either a scooter or a cab (I finally figured out why, thank goodness — I was using the credit card pre-pay. The second I turned that off and started using the cash payment to the driver, I was all set), I walked back to my neighborhood in the rain. The traffic seemed at an unparalleled crush, even for this place.

Today, I just wanted to keep it simple and see what was in my own neighborhood, the Da Kao ward of District 1. I wanted to get a haircut, visit a bicycle shop and see if there were any vegetarian restaurants or grocery stores in my neighborhood.

And I did all those things. It was great.

Using Google maps to identify the places, I wanted to visit in advance, I set out to explore.

Breakfast was served by my neighbors again. It was a simple meal of eggs, broken rice and pickled vegetables with fish sauce. They gave me grilled pork as well, which I tasted. What made it a good breakfast, though, was some kind of coconut pudding served by a woman who carried it on a traditional bamboo shoulder pole.

Then I was off with no expectations.

Along the canal, I saw my first cool bird since arriving. It was flitting about in the branches of a tree. I stopped and tried to memorize all I could about it. It looked a bit like a humming bird with a longer curved beak, but was bigger, about the size of a warbler. It had a yellow breast and a black throat. Still researching to see what it was (UPDATE: I am 90 percent sure it was an olive-backed sunbird!!!).h

I then walked into the neighborhood and immediately felt at home, just a few blocks from my apartment. I found a good neighborhood market with good vegetables, produce and other goods. I found a reliable ATM.

My haircut was one of the best I’ve ever had. Not only did the barber cut my hair with care and precision, but when he was done, he dropped the chair back down, lathered me up and gave me a shave using a straight razor.

As he cut my hair, he talked to a young woman, sitting and watching him. Finally, I said, “are you a student, learning from him?”

Yes, she said, in an accent that was clearly from the U.S. Turns out she is from San Francisco and was sent here to be with family by her mother after she had “gotten into a bit of trouble” back home. (I laughed as I realized she had been sitting there the whole time, not identifying herself as an English speaker.)

I thought I was done with the haircut when I was asked if I wanted my hair washed and a massage.

Um, yes please!

A woman washed my hair and massaged my scalp. My toes tingled. It felt wonderful. Soothing.

Finally, she cleaned out my ears. (So, this is what the world sounds like.)

The total bill: 170,000 VDN ($7.39).

Before I left the young woman from San Francisco, told me her uncle is a famous Vietnamese tattoo artist. I’m considering getting a tattoo, so maybe this is an option.

Next, I went to a bike shop that was listed on my map. I walked past it three times before I saw the door. I opened it and there was a young man standing in a room filled with bike parts and pieces of bicycles.

Turns out, B.A.T shop builds high end touring bicycles. His father is a big long-distance biker, and he told me that he’d be happy to go riding with me when he gets back from touring the mountains in northern Vietnam. Of course, there is one problem — I don’t have a bike! Not sure what to do about that.

He could build me a bike for about 13 million VDN (just under $600), but the problem with that is that if I tried to use that to bike around town, it would be stripped of all its part the second I left it sitting out, he said.

He told me that people in Vietnam don’t quite understand why anyone would buy a bike that costs as much as a scooter. Bikes are what people who can’t afford scooters ride, he told me.

I’m still puzzling over the best mode of transportation for us while we are here.

While walking this neighborhood, I also saw what I thought was a Buddhist temple (Update: It wasn’t. It was the Jade Emperor Pagoda, a Taoist pagoda that Barak Obama visited when he was here because he is awesome). There were lots of people going in, including tourists in shorts, so I decided to check it out. Inside, they were selling candles to light and put in front of the statues. I asked if I could buy one. Sure, they said.

I bought two candles and a woman helped me light them. I put them with the other candles and tried to think about all the people in my life who are important to me.

My final stop was to find a place that was getting good reviews on Google maps for its vegan food and especially for vegan versions of the Banh Mi sandwich. It was across the canal and down an alley. They have only been open for one month, the young woman who took my order told me.

Oh, and by the way, at some point, I ate a coconut cake thing a woman was cooking in small cast iron forms. I will be eating more of those. I looked it up and I think it’s called Banh Khoai Mi (made with cassava flour!).

Anyways, I was going to eat my banh mi at home, but I decided to stay and eat it there. (The sandwich was outstanding, by the way.) I’m so glad I did because that’s when I met Tobias. Probably in his late 20s/early 30s, he drove up on his motorbike and ordered a sandwich and said hello and sat down and joined me.

Turns out he’s originally from England, but grew up in France and has been teaching English in Vietnam for about 6 years. He’s a vegan (most of the time) and gave me some great tips on what to eat and where to go.

For breakfast, he said, look for a dish called Bun Cha Gio, which is a noodle dish with fried spring rolls in it. He also said to look for something called Bun Xao Chay (Chay is the Vietnamese word for vegetarian).

I’ve been in Ho Chi Minh City for about a week now; today I started to feel like I know my neighborhood a little better.

No expectations = a good day.

Oh, I also met the rooster who lives next door. I told him to please keep it down in the morning, but I don’t think he speaks English.