A walk down a touristy block in Nha Trang

Yeah. Labels I would never wear. Nice.


When in Vietnam...eat Italian? A restaurant I would NEVER set foot in. That sign says "Good chef with over 10 years experience serving tourists". LAME.


I mean, just DIFFERENT...and strange. PERIOD.


Where are your papers??? Maybe you need them to get into this bar?


OH SCORE! The waitresses were dressed in mini denim skirts, checkered sleeveless tops and cowboy hats. The place was FULL of Americans and Europeans in there. Figures.


(Although I am a little curious what "Texas" BBQ would taste like in Vietnam.)

Like something out of the Bachelor???

We're staying at this crazy huge hotel in Nha Trang overlooking the sea. I swam in the pool ALONE today.

I couldn't help thinking it looked like the type of setting you would see on one of those things like The Bachelor or whatever lame reality shows there are with screechy white girls.

I mean it's totally tailor made for chicks to descend down those stairs in ugly form fitting silk charmeuse gowns waiting for their roses, no?

HEAVEN is...

Being able to read VANITY FAIR cover to cover...


at the BEACH...then I took a LONG ASS nap.

Seaside town of Nha Trang

BEAUTIFUL!


BOATS!

On the rocks

Nha Trang is a BEAUTIFUL seaside town in Southern Vietnam. My mom lived here for a few years when she was really young. She told me she remembers the beach. My dad told me it was where they officially met -- when he visited her family when she was about 6 years old.

I climbed these rocks. Click on the pic to see how HUGE they are!


Being the adventurous one in the group, naturally I climbed them and reached near the top and snapped a photo of myself looking triumphant...and got something that is total myspace profile photo fodder!

Street kid in Nha Trang

His mom was selling postcards for $2 a pack and followed our group from the marketplace to the restaurant we had dinner at. He was selling gum and got really excited when I started taking pictures of him.

Bright beautiful fabrics

Uh, a room with a view...THE view

We hotel hop constantly as we travel through this country. This one was by far my favorite. The view from my balcony at a hotel in the small city of Qui Nhon.



Unfortunately I only got to stay here one night. But got a fabulous 50 minute foot massage before headin down to the beach!

NY has nothing on Vietnam's street food!

Street noodles for less than $1!


Yeah. I scarfed it down...Quick.


After that, I decided to get a roast pork sandwich. It costed less than $1. Banh Mi's are like Vietnamese Subway sandwiches, but with french bread and a million times yummier...and fattier!


All across the country, these street vendors have these kiddie tables and stools for you to sit and eat -- at all hours of the day! I would make a killing if I opened one of these on Cedar Springs right there next to the hot dog stand by TMC!

My aunts eagerly waiting for their noodle bowls.

Sister Act!

When it comes to tourist picture taking, everyone in my family including MOI is a bona fide PRO. No pretty vegetation/florals or ancient temple or fabulous marble statue is left unturned without us taking pictures in front of it.

My beautiful mom and aunts descend on the statues in front of our hotel in Danang...

Awww honey, that's SO romantic!

Chanteuse in action

So in front of our hotel in Danang the other day...I thought this lady was just some random tourist posing for some cheesy photos.

I was wrong. She was filming a music video! Those are the PAs on left. They had some Vietnamese song playing and she was lip synching to it and doing the craziest hand gestures. On the right is the camera dude filming her.

Of course we couldn't help but stand there and gawkkkkk.

I finally got to ride in one of these!

Fruit stand in Danang

Exotic fruits


My mom (right) and 2 of my aunts checkin it out!

Navigating the outdoor markets of Danang

Performer in Hoi An waiting to go on stage

Hoi An: The city of arts & crafts

We visited the city of HOI AN yesterday -- full of vendors, craftsman, artisans. Lots of things made by hand. We all stocked up like crazy. The city had an old world feel to it. It's also where they held part of the Miss Universe pageant this year. I bought a silk embroidered robe for $8. Colorful silk cloth lanterns for less than $2. Everything was ridiculously beautiful...and cheap.

How silk is made...

Peeing kid statue

We stopped at a huge open air market that had these enormous limestone statues.

This one is a fountain of a kid peeing. Holding a soccer ball...

What?!

My aunts are fabulous!

What I am shuffling to

Here's how to have a cathartic experience. If you travel, the best piece of advice I can give is to travel with MUSIC.

We spend endless hours on the bus riding through the countryside and here are my top tunes that I keep coming back to over and over on this trip.



* Adele "Daydreamer"
* The Aluminum Group "Chocolates"
* Animal Collective "My Girls"
* Chromatics "Running Up that Hill"
* Coldplay "Viva La Vida"
* The Cure "Plainsong"
* Cut Copy "Feel the Love"
* Damn Yankees "High Enough" (I know, right???)
* Depeche Mode "Never Let Me Down Again"
* Fleet Foxes "White Winter Hymnal"
* Ivy "Digging Your Scene"
* Jesus & Mary Chain "Just Like Honey"
* John Legend "Green Light"
* Keane "Everybody's Changing"
* Lily Allen "He Wasn't There"
* Malcolm McClaren - his entire "Paris" album
* Mazzy Star "Fade Into You" (Awww Guillermo I think of you whenever this plays)
* MGMT "Time to Pretend"
* Morrissey "Suedehead"
* O.M.D. "Souvenir"
* Panda Bear "Comfy in Nautica"
* Rogue Wave "Eyes"
* Scorpians "Winds of Change" (A classic, but goodie!)
* The Sundays "Here's Where the Story Ends"

This emporer tomb is OTT!

We trekked out to the TOMB OF KHAI DINH -- one of Vietnam's last emporers who passed away in the 1940s. After he died, his son took over but abdicated the throne when the Commies took over and fled to France, which is where a lot of the former royals now live in luxury.



KHAI DINH is buried here, but made sure he removed the tombs of Chinese nobles that were already buried here and had this elaborate tomb built for himself before he died. And I read somewhere when he died they stuffed his mouth with diamonds before burial.



FUN FACT: The tour guide told us he was probably a big MO. That's right...he had female and male concubine lovers. Oooooh...SCANDALOUS!

Imperial City

So for all of you who wonder why so many Vietnamese have NGUYEN as a last name...there was actually a Nguyen Dynasty that lasted for more than a century (my mom's maiden name is Nguyen btw).

The emporers lived here.


This was one of the emporer's "reading rooms". WOW. I wish I could have a pad like this to just READ. Throw in some cable TV so I can watch my bad reality shows and I would never leave this beautiful building.

Crazy crowded market space in Hue

I got too claustrophobic to go through all this...


Amidst all the shoes and fake designer purses and watches, I spied this...a BRAD PITT fashion belt? WTF is that???

I HEART mini monks!

We boated down the PERFUME RIVER to visit the THIEN MU PAGODA in Hue in Central Vietnam, built in 1601. I was like, "Great. Another pagoda." But then when we reached the temple I noticed the little mini monks-in-training scurrying around. Totally cute!



They were making sure the annoying tourists weren't stepping into the temple and snapping away. Uh huh.



I couldn't resist. They shave their heads but leave long strands of hair in front. Very 80s punk/new wave cool. When some European tourists started to grab at this poor little kid after I took a pic with him, the other little ones rushed back into the bldg.