The DVD Player came in handy as we planned to stay in Friday night because we planned to get up early the following day to watch both the Louisville football game and the debate if we could find it on television here.
Saturday morning, Steven woke up at 7:00 a.m. and watched the first hour of the game before I got up to watch the debate. To my delight, BBC Asia played the debate live in its entirely. After the debate and the game, we decided to take a nap before setting out on our afternoon of sightseeing.
We had a lunch of left over red curry vegetables and rice and then took the #1 bus on Tran Hung Dao to the center of the Dong Khoi district in District 1 at Pasteur and Le Loi. We had decided to go to combine a trip for groceries with some sightseeing at local temples. As we were walking along Le Loi one of the ladies selling snacks on the street caught me eying her waffles and reached out to hand me a sample. Having passed these waffle ladies numerous times and wondered what these thin, crispy waffles tasted like, I was intrigued. I accepted the sample and almost immediately she was offering me a sample of another snack of paper thin fried bananas, almost like a banana fruit roll up. While I was eating up my banana snack, she handed me yet another pastry looking thing, which was my least favorite of the three. By this time, Steven had wandered off not wanting to be accosted by the other touts who inevitably begin to hover the second you stop to look at someone else wares and the touts and legless beggars were closing in ;I had to make a decision fast and get out of there. I asked her for half a bag of the waffles, handed her a 10,000, handed 1,000 to the bagger and rounded the corner to catch up with Steven.
Our first stop was Veggies, a small upscale grocery store selling such western delicacies as Quaker oatmeal, Bisquick Pancake mix, Campbell's Soup, Nature Valley Granola Bars and to my insuppressible delight, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. After making our purchases, we consulted our map and charted our walk from where we were to the Jade Pagoda further north in District One. As we walked along, we found ourselves walking along a street lined with cute little restaurants and shops. As we walked along, I recognized one of the restaurants as one we had had dinner at the night Paula, another AIS teacher, found her apartment. One block later, we found ourselves passing the entrance to Paula's neighborhood. A few blocks later, we came out on the street where I had made my visit to the US Consulate and looking further down, we could see Diamond Plaza where we had watched, "Kung Fu Hustle" back in June 2005. It was neat to see how everything fit together and to put together a more detailed map of the city in our heads.
When we came upon the street where I had marked the Jade Pagoda on the map, we didn't see anything that looked much like a temple. Coming to the end of the street, I lamented not bringing our copy of the Lonely Planet with the exact address of the temple. We stood for a minute, looking out on to the adjoining street, Dien Bien Phu, a wide six lane highway with a concrete barrier separating the north and south bound lanes. As we stood there, I noticed a frail old man standing next to a food stand on the corner about 8 feet to our right. He pointed across Dien Bien Phu to the continuation of the road we were on, on the other side. He made an "A" (as in YMCA) with his hands and pointed up the road and back down, indicating that we would have to walk up to get to a spot where we could cross the barrier and come back down on the other side and we would get to the temple. I pointed across the street and he nodded. I smiled and thanked him in Vietnamese and we made our way across the street.
The temple was an old Taoist Chinese temple obviously still in use given the smoking sticks of incense and the numerous worshipers standing before each alter. We walked around the temple marveling at the exquisite detail of the carvings and trying to catch snippets of the tour given by a guide paid for by other visitors to the temple.
After our visit to the temple, we wandered back through District 1 and caught bus 54 back to our apartment. We had another early evening ahead of us because we planned to get up at 5:00 a.m. to be up and out for a 6:45 a.m. Fun Run through District 1 that we had heard about earlier in the week.
On Sunday, we woke up to our alarm at 5:00 a.m. and got up and dressed for the run. We caught bus 56 to the northern border of District 1 and walked over to the zoo where the race was to begin.
The entrance to the zoo, opened up into a huge green space with towering trees and well maintained landscaping. The entrance from the street opened onto a wide, paved path, leading to a stage set up at the far end. The path was line with booths of a few different charities and a majority of restaurant sponsors, including Highlands Coffee, a local Indian Restaurant and a frozen banana stand. Steven and I walked down to the stage where we ran into some other teachers from AIS and watched the dance/exercise shows being performed on the stage.
Ten minutes before the race, we made our way up to the front of the crowd, not wanting to get trapped behind any walkers. The group was primarily Vietnamese - Steven estimated about 5000 runners - but you could see a minority of western heads towering above the crowd. Without any other warning, we heard a loud sound and all of a sudden everyone was running. We took off and dodged our way out into the open.
We started out at a fast pace, but I soon settled into an easier pace and let Steven disappear into the crowd ahead. I have always loved the road races in Atlanta, where they block off the streets and allow you the freedom to run through streets normally clogged with traffic. Saigon was no different and it was neat to run by buildings and parks that have become familiar.
I finished the race a minute and a half or so after Steven and we met up and headed down the path to find some water. Once we had our water, we wandered further into the zoo and saw some African antelope-type animals and some small cats in smelly cages. Distress by the smell both for the animals and for ourselves we walked back out and joined the line for Indian food, where we were joined by Paula, who had also run the race.
After our breakfast of curried vegetables, rice and a mini-samosa we, went on to have some delicious frozen banana in coconut ice cream and some iced coffee from Highlands Coffee.
We went home after the race and took a nap before heading out again for some massages at a salon near our friends' home in District 1. Steven and I both got great full body 60 minute massages for a little over $2. I was in shock. While Steve was getting his massage, I splurged on a wash, condition, blow-dry and cucumber facial for about $2.80.
After our massages we went back home and dressed for dinner. We took bus 54 back to the street by the zoo and had a nice sushi dinner at The Sushi Bar for less than $25.
After dinner, we walked through Dong Khoi, walking by the People's Committee Building, which is quite a sight all lit up at night.
Finally we made it back to our apartment, exhausted, but happy; full of sushi and good memories of Steven's birthday weekend.
Seven and I with our race numbers.
Waiting for some curry and rice.
The frozen banana guy.
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