A Week In Myanmar

Hello, folks. It's been a long time since I have taken the time to sit down and write this blog. I always want to cut out a chunk of my time during the weekends to relax with a cup of joe and stare at the screen in front of me, but I usually manage to find an excuse (working end up binge watching a certain embarrassing show on Netflix created for pre-teens) every chance I get. Today however, I have found myself at my favorite juice spot in HCMC, wishing that I was still in Myanmar. 

(If you don't want to read this entire post, scroll down to the very bottom for the good stuff).  

I am going to be completely honest; before I moved to Southeast Asia, the only reason that I knew Myanmar existed was because of the clip below. Thanks, Seinfeld for providing me with more exposure to global issues than any of my classes K-16. 

(It will always be Burma to me) 

        Elizabeth, Chase, and I waited eagerly in the Saigon airport on Saturday morning for our flight to Yangon to take off. If you are familiar with Vietjet Air, you know that we were ultimately delayed for the better part of a half an hour (Don't worry folks, that left me 30 extra minutes to run stairs at the airport to get my Fitbit steps for the day/sweat out Oktoberfest.  If you ever want to get some judgmental glares at an Asian airport, this is one sure way #momstatus). We touched down in Yangon in the early afternoon. The first thing that I noticed upon landing was how green the landscape was. I am always ecstatic and surprised to see the color green in large, SE Asian cities. There is a major lack of my favorite color in Saigon, and so I am more than welcoming every time I see it. 

        It took about a half an hour to get through customs and exchange our dollars for kyat. If you plan on travelling to Myanmar, make sure that you bring crisp USD to exchange for kyat. These bills also have to be produced after 2006 in order to be accepted. Below is a helpful video that shows you the basics.

When we were finished exchanging our moola, we were desperate to find a good spot to eat (theme of the trip). We eagerly hopped into a random taxi that boasted some old school Hello Kitty seat covers and asked the cabbie to take us to Lucky Seven Tea House (highly recommended) for a bite.  He assured us that before we ate, we needed to secure a bus ticket to Bagan if we were planning to leave that night.  This friendly driver told us that he could set up our ticket which ultimately meant that he drove us to five different run down bus companies before finding us a $20 VIP bus ticket to Bagan. I was thankful, hungry and a bit weary of the taxi dude, but one of the things that I have learned traveling in Asia is that it almost always serves you to be trusting of others.  For every shady taxi driver, there are 100 that are sincerely trying to help you out. This saint ended up staying loyal to the end. He drove us to find a bus ticket, sat down while we ate for an hour, took us to China town and waited while we wandered aimlessly for street dumplings (to no avail), took us to Shwedagon Pagoda for an hour, and then finally led us to our bus stop. He spent at least six hours with us and charged a grand total of $29. You gotta love those SE Asian prices. Always remember, if you find a solid taxi driver, they will give you the world. 

Shwedagon Pagoda at dusk

One solid piece of advice for traveling in Myanmar is that it is essential to get the VIP bus if you are not flying (There are a lot of moral implications involved in government sanctioned travel in Myanmar, so we felt like the buses were the best way to go. Also, they are cheap AF. Travelling on an 11 hour night bus means no hostel fees).  We boarded the VIP bus to Bagan and were thoroughly impressed with the comfort level. There was a bathroom on the bus, free tooth brushes, AND some sweet Burmese slow jams! Score! We stocked up on Myanmar beer and the ride ended up being super bearable. 

We were awoken from our bus slumber at around 4 AM on Monday morning to the driver yelling, "Bagan, Bagan." The pleasantries normally associated with waking people up do not exist in Asia. We stumbled off of the bus and into the early morning darkness of Bagan. We had been told to visit the Sunrise temple, so we quickly hopped in a taxi. Now, unfortunately this taxi driver was not so cool. He capitalized on our half awake states and charged us way too much for the ride to the temple. We climbed the stairs and awaited a sunrise that would never come. We watched as the sky around us lightened and the clouds started to take a distinct form.   Despite the lack of sun, it was lovely to see Bagan rise out of the morning fog. 

My favorite Pagoda buddy, Elizabeth, and I still half asleep.

Sadly, we never did see a sunrise or sunset while we were in Bagan. It was raining the entire time we were there. The upside to rainy season? We planned almost nothing and found a hostel with ease.  We stayed at a little place called May Kha Lar, which I would recommend to anyone traveling in Bagan. The breakfast included coffee, pancakes, fruit, AND an egg sandwich. This plentiful breakfast was assuredly made to compensate for the lack of Wi-fi. Myanmar has almost NO Wi-Fi which ended up being a HUGE perk. We were actually forced to have conversations with strangers and each other. EW, human interaction is wack, am I right? 

  I was proud of us; despite the horrendous weather conditions we managed to explore more of Bagan than I would usually be inclined to in the rain. We threw on some cheap, malfunctioning ponchos and hopped on our Ebikes to explore the plethora of pagodas that Bagan has to offer. I would have loved to stay in Bagan for longer. It was gorgeous, peaceful, and basically untouched by the Western world. If you are headed to Bagan, the best time to go is in November and December because that's when the hot air balloons are flying high and you are most likely to get your best future profile picture. I would recommend renting Ebikes instead of bicycles because a lot of the pagodas are located in places where regular bikes WILL get stuck. You don't look cool falling off of your bike at age 27, trust me.

We ran into a goat herder. Chase and Elizabeth moved on while I stayed to make friends. 

This lovely lady who rented us our Ebikes applied some thanaka on to our faces. This paste made from tree bark is worn by most women and some men. It has been worn for over 2,000 years and keeps the skin young, provides sun protection, and smells really damn good.  

This curry was da bomb. 

Places to eat in Bagan: 

-Weather Spoon's (not the UK chain, but the food is delicious and pubby) Try the vegetable curries and the ginger lime juice

-Be Kind to Animals, The Moon: Not only does this restaurant boast the best name of any restaurant I've eaten at, it also offers stellar vegetarian meals. I don't know about you, but I like my restaurants best when they are giving commands. 

Aroma: Wonderful Indian food. Try the ginger masala tea. 

HTI- Great cocktails and 90's jams 

After spending two rainy days in Bagan, it was time to head to Inle Lake. This time around, we were not so fortunate with the bus situation.  We traveled on a ten hour bus with crushed legs and no bathroom. Luckily we had some help from our old friend, Myanmar beer to help us sleep. I fell asleep for the entirety of the trip and woke up very early in the AM in Inle Lake. We found an excellent little place to stay called Remember Inn in the Nyaung Shwe area of Inle. It was cheap and the people were very friendly. We fell into our beds almost immediately upon entering our hotel at 2 AM and woke up in time for a delicious breakfast on the roof. This day in Inle Lake was undoubtedly my favorite in Myanmar. We rented bicycles and rode out to the hot springs. On our way, we stopped to get some tea and coffee at a cute little fair trade shop with delicious juice. The ride to the hot springs was about 20 minutes and offered up some gorgeous views of the country side. 

After visiting the hot springs, we thought it would be nice to ride up to the winery. Now, let me just say, there is a reason Myanmar isn't known for their wine. However, the view at the vineyard and the dessert made up for the taste of the vino. We sipped the sun away and chatted with some new friends.  The bicycle ride back down the hill was a wine fueled adventure. It was nearly pitch black but we managed to use Elizabeth's head lamp to keep us alive. We ended the evening at a cute little Western bar called One Owl Grill. It ended like so many of my nights traveling do, forcing people to play never have I ever. Is there really a better way to get to know people? Yep, probably. 

The next day we went on a long boat to explore actual Inle Lake for the day. A boat and a guide cost us a grand total of $18 for the entire day, split between five people. BIG SPENDERS. We stopped at several craft shops on our long lake journey. Unfortunately, after a while it started to seem like a gimmick to get cash, so we asked if we could see more lake and less shops. We stopped at another pagoda (shocker) and an average, over priced restaurant. Lucky for us, we were on the lake during the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival which meant that we had to wait an extra four hours on the lake to see a parade of boats for about 20 minutes. Villagers from all over Inle crowded the lake to see the fishermen paddle with their feet and dance viciously on their respective long boats. The main event was when a pagoda placed on a long boat was paraded down the lake. After the festival, the sky poured on us and we ended our hour and a half long boat ride looking like wet mutts. 

That night, we hit the mean streets to find some quality market food. If you are someone who is afraid of street food, I suggest you ditch said fears for the Inle night market Shan noodles. I once had Typhoid fever and was strapped to an IV in a Cambodian hospital and I continue to stuff street food in my face like it's my last day on earth. You can do it and if you get Typhoid, I'll name one of my lowly wagon travelers in Oregon Trail after you. 

Our last day in Inle was nice and relaxing. Our plans of hiking were once again thwarted by the rain. Instead of hiking, I went for a slow jog (thanks again, tendinitis) around the country side. The locals were amused to see a tall blonde chick, sweating her ass off, running through the countryside. Many stopped to say hello, point and laugh, or just stare aimlessly at me as a passed by. Normal. After my run, I went for a $7 Burmese massage in a hut. I was instructed to lie down on a mat on a hard wood floor while a robust woman walked on my back and stretched my limbs out for an hour. It was surprisingly pleasant. 

Let's play, spot the white people

           At five o'clock we boarded our last night bus back to Yangon. It's amazing how much you get to know people when you don't have the internet at your fingertips. We asked each other some of the 36 questions of love while on the bus ride, but ZZZquil soon took over and I slumped into a deep sleep. This 11 hour, bumpy ass bus ride sponsored by ZZZquil every single time. Too bad Myanmar has almost no Western advertising (she said, sarcastically). 

           We ended the trip like any amazing trip should end. We went on a street food crawl of Yangon. We managed to find a seemingly endless strip of vendors serving up street naan, samosas, dim sum, biyani, and  masala tea in a bag. Every block of heaven must look like this. 

ANYWAY, CLIFF NOTES: 

-GO TO MYANMAR while you still can. To me, so much of the beauty of this country lies in the fact that it has yet to be overly tainted by Western influence. The only two advertisements that I saw were for Coca-cola (no one can escape its fructosy, fizzy clutches) and Dove. There are no Starbucks or McDonald's and Wi-Fi is scarce. It won't be this way for long as the tourism industry is starting to develop more and more each year. I am so fortunate to have seen this gorgeous country in its current state and you can be too! 

-While it might be difficult, it is important to attempt to travel responsibly while in Myanmar. With the elections coming up, Myanmar's government could potentially become more democratic, but several of the travel destinations are still regulated by a corrupt government. Be aware! Here's a website to help you travel smart: 

http://www.dosanddontsfortourists.com/

Anywho, that's all I have for you today. Thanks for reading. If you made it this far, thank you for riding the ramble express. Tune in next week for some life updates. 

Hen gap lai, ya'll! 

P.S. In case you feel like crying today 

                       

Easter Confessions

Happy Chocolate Bunny Day ya'll!

I have a confession to make and as a former Catholic, I think it's important to hold on to some semblance of tradition (Although, if I remember correctly, I'm supposed to be confessing at a much higher frequency). Instead of leaving this proverbial Easter egg behind the couch to gather dust, I thought I should find it and bring it to the table for you.  Here it is: Living abroad isn't always sunsets and coconuts. Sometimes it's motorbike drivers on speed and rats chasing you down the alley. Despite what my Instagram may be telling you, living in a different country is challenging and frankly, can suck the life right out from under your bones. Please don't be alarmed, this is not a cry for help. I am simply attempting to come clean and spill my guts about the non-Facebook worthy occurrences in life. Social media can be a scary place if we are constantly comparing ourselves to others. For example, over the past two years, I could have posted statuses such as these:

The problem with statuses like these is that almost no one wants to hear them. They are super whiny. Whenever I scroll past statuses such as these, I mutter, "suck it up," to myself.   However, I think it's essential that we understand the implications of omitting these morose posts. Our lives become a sunset, coconut filled dream world on display for our friends, family, and random people we met once at an underground, Rasta warehouse party in Barcelona. 

The sunset-coconut effect even applies when I talk to my friends and family from home on the phone. Most of the time, the conversations had are nestled between bed time and work meetings. There is a 12 hour time difference separating me from some of the people that I love the most. When I talk to these super humans, I want to hear about their lives. Usually, there isn't enough time to discuss the negative aspects of each other's lives, and maybe that's OK. Phone conversations, along with social media posts, start to build a false sense of prosperity. 

Living in Saigon has changed my life and most of the time I am beyond grateful to live here, but it's not always easy. When people from home talk to me about my life over here, they say things like, "Do you even have a job? You are always at the beach" or, "You are so lucky. Everything seems so amazing over there." While there is some truth to those statements, it is important to understand that it can be physically and mentally taxing.  I just wanted to put it out there. I am a real person who isn't on an eternal spring break. I simply choose to leave out the nasty bits from my public profile. I think we all do this to a certain degree, it's robot nature.


P.S. I want to leave this blog on a positive note so I will say this: I have the most amazing friends in the world here in Saigon. My birthday is coming up and I had a party on Friday. These stinkers surprised me with a cake, a ukulele, and most importantly a card signed by everyone who chipped in on the uke. I have been wanting a ukulele since last year, and I was very slow to make this dream a reality. It was the best present that I have ever received and I couldn't be luckier to call these guys my friends. Much love to everyone involved.

More pix:  

        Sam painted me this beautiful cicada picture using real wings. That's why she is bracket winner material .

Bill, who likes to make fun of the way I throw around the term "best friend," put me to the test here 

with this friendship bracket. 

Happy Sunday dudes.

It has been over a month since I posted a blog; obviously my New Year's resolution has been swept up under the 2015 carpet to chill with all of the other dusty promises.

One of the reasons that I love living in Asia is that we get two New Year holidays. That means double the chances to screw up on a resolution. We get regular old January 1st New Year's and then we have Lunar New Year. In Vietnam this is known as Tet. Instead of boring you with all of the details, you can click on the link below to read up if you are interested.

http://www.vietnamonline.com/tet.html

For the Tet break, I traveled to Northern Thailand and Laos. Thailand is brilliant. If it were up to me, every single country would be required to have a mini Thailand (I suppose that may be one of the reasons why they still haven't put me in charge of the planet). I have been to Thailand twice before, but I have always stayed in the south. We took an express trip to Chiang Mai; it was just a matter of easiest possible transit to Laos. Allison, Yohnk and I arrived in Chiang Mai later in the evening and made it to our hotel by about 10:30. We dropped our bags on the hotel floor and headed off into the night. We didn't know where the hell we were going and just ended up at the first bar that advertised two for one mojitos. The only thing that really matters about this night is that we found a solid street noodle stand. We were loyal to this stand and hit it up the second night in Chiang Mai as well. Street cart loyalty is key on these mean streets.

I fulfilled several of my animal related life goals on this trip.  Our second and final day in CM was devoted to the Tiger Kingdom. Now, the legitimacy of the Tiger Kingdom has been questioned for years. The claim on their restaurant menu was that they do not drug the animals. They say that the tigers are usually more active at night and they are simply exhausted during the day. The tigres are also trained and monitored very closely. There are so many tiger tamers that I almost felt safe touching giant, carnivorous cats. It was overwhelmingly confusing at first to be in a tiger cage. For so many years I have been told: don't play with matches, look both ways when you cross the street, DO NOT jump into a tiger cage (#brookfieldzooproblems). I am not going to say that I wasn't scared. I was scared shitless when we were in the first tiger cages. We paid for a package which included interactions with "big, small, and smallest" tigers. The small tigers were the craziest. If these tigers were on drugs, all of the other tigers missed out big time. These guys were rambunctious as hell and we were discouraged from petting them. We watched as they splashed in the water and as they eventually started biting each other. That's when I decided that it was time to hang with the more chill tigers, bro. The bigger tigers were amazing, gorgeous animals and it was unreal to see them up close. I cuddled with a tiger and despite the fact that he didn't seem "too into it," it was another life goal achieved. Later, I instinctively treated the baby tigers like the house cats their sizes implies. Note to self: baby tigers do not like scratches behind the ears.

After three hours of playing with tigers, we hopped in our tuk tuk and bumped down the road to our hotel. Tuk tuks are an excellent mode of transportation and I want to bring them back to Chicago. You can sit back, relax, and enjoy the open air while a friendly Thai man updates you on his day/serenades you/attempts to overcharge you, but in a loving way. They are Jeep's more exciting, younger cousin. Anywho, we got back to the hotel and eagerly anticipated the arrival of Mr. Tim Parrington. We spent had a nice Valentine's evening full of market walks and live 90's cover bands.


The next day we were off to Laos. I had done minimal research before my trip and didn't know what to expect. We jumped on a bus for three hours and then another bus for two in order to reach the Laos border. Once we got to the city of Huay Xai, we searched for a hostel and had some dinner to celebrate our arrival. The only major attraction in Huay Xai was the Gibbon Experience. The streets were full of expats who were obviously only there in transit. It was a very local area; it only took about 10 minutes into my morning run to be covered in countryside. At 8:30 the next morning we all sat in a room to watch a film debriefing us about the mission of the Gibbon Experience. Needless to say, my excitement sparked major ADD and I missed the entire safety portion of the video.

This was the trip of a lifetime. If I had the money, I would pay for every single one of my friends to do the Gibbon Experience (It's a three day trip in the Laotian jungle where you zipline over the treetops and sleep in some of the world's highest tree houses. All of the proceeds go to the preservation of the jungle and protection of the wildlife. The guides are former poachers who are educated on the cause (Check it: http://www.gibbonexperience.org/). We rode in the back of a rickety truck for about three hours until we reached a small Laotian village called Bokeo. From there, we were greeted by our guides and put into groups. Tim, Allison, Yohnk and I were grouped with a lovely Australian couple and a friendly American (I know, weird right?) from San Diego. These were going to be our tree house mates for the next three days. We trekked up for about three hours until we reached a waterfall. We were all super sticky, sweaty and eager to get into the water. Despite our sweaty states, this water was snow cold. We all ziplined into the water. I am a firm believer that ziplining into something inherently makes it easier to handle. Walk into fire? No. Zipline into a fire? OK.

Nothing that I can write will do this trip any justice. Our three days were full of unsupervised ziplining, trekking through the jungle, and avoidance of the treetop toilet. This trip would never fly in the western world because it would be excessively commercialized.  Everyone would be forced to wear helmets and be under constant supervision. The company would be required to worry about all of the potential lawsuits that come with running a hotel in the trees. No one wants to zipline on eggshells. Our guides taught us how to use our harnesses once and then zipped off into the abyss, leaving us alone to figure out our own shit. It was terrifying not to have constant reinforcement before leaping to my potential doom, but I was grateful for that feeling. One thing that will always stick with me is how loud the jungle was at night.  All of the animals and insects were making some sweet tunes together and it was one of the coolest things that I have ever heard. I know that I could easily go on YouTube and listen to jungle noises for three hours, but actually being there was something else. The jungle band was top notch and the stars weren't too shabby either. The beauty of this experience rests in the stark contrast between the jungle and Ho Chi Minh. I'll take insect legs rubbing together over motorbike horns any day. Showering in a tree house was pretty stellar, too.

So did we experience any gibbons on this trip? We saw some black monkeys and heard the gibbons screaming in the morning, so for all extensive purposes the answer is yes.

After the Gibbon Experience, our little group was all tuckered out. We boarded a slow boat to Luang Prabang the next day. This thing was a longer, thinner version of a Titanic lifeboat. Tim and Allison found true happiness on this boat. I found lots of melatonin. The boat stopped at a little port town after eight hours so we could rest our weary heads. We grabbed a hotel, were given free shots of banana whiskey, and were back on the Mekong early the next morning. When we arrived in Luang Prabang, we were SOL. Apparently during Lunar New Year, every single person from China vacates to Luang Prabang.  After walking for hours with our vacation lives in our backpacks, we finally found a Chinese hotel that was overpriced and very from the city; we were ecstatic about its availability. Supply and demand, ya'll.



Luang Prabang was a wonderful little town. It reminded me of Hoi An in Vietnam. For me, its charms were rooted in the classic French influence (sticks pinky up). While in Luang Prabang, I accomplished yet another one of my animal related goals; I played with elephants. Elephants are unreal. Their skin felt like asphalt on an 105 degree day. The Elephant Village made me feel giddy, yet conflicted.It is an elephant sanctuary that rescues elephants from cruel working environments, such as the logging industry. However, I can't imagine these elephants are too stoked about having humans riding on their backs all day. I guess it becomes a question of the lesser evil. I chose to be happy for these rescued elephants and had a blast feeding them bananas. The elephant that I was riding started running at one point and that was scary as hell. Elephants are much scarier than tigers but they are superb animals. Did you know elephants cry when they are sad? They also have hearts that can weigh up to 28 kg. They are the only mammal that cannot jump. Elephants and I have that in common. Stay gold elefantes.

After Luang Prabang we headed to Vang Vieng which is a notorious party town. It used to be a lot crazier before they shut down a lot of the bars along the river on account of too many drunk/high tourists dying from tubing accidents. Luckily, I got food poisoning day one in VV, so I narrowly avoided death. I finally got to spend some much needed time with my main man, Ron Swanson (Yohnk and Tim also got sick during this trip. Watch out for Laos in terms of food safety, friends).

Overall, I can confidently say that every single one of you should visit Laos. It's a place that would never have been on my radar had I not moved to Vietnam. It is a beautiful country and I would love to go back. If you would like more intimate details about Laos or my trip, let me know. I would be happy to answer any questions.

Other things that happened when I was too lazy to blog:

-I went to Danang to play in a Gaelic football game against the Hanoi team. We won the game, had a great night out, and went to the beautiful beach the next day (I coerced a bass player into letting me sing with a bar band, so naturally I had fun). Danang is great and they have a dragon bridge, what's not to love?

-I was sent my flights home! June 16th-August 1st. Watch out pizza, whole foods, and beards.

-One of my best friends left Saigon to go back to the land of koalas. Katrina, you will be missed and I can't wait to see you in Oz. xoxo

-My lovely co-teacher and wonder friend posted a fake engagement photo of my fake finger on Fakebook. Chaos ensued. I could have easily deleted it, but I wanted to turn it into a social experiment. For those of you who thought I was actually engaged, I'm sorry to let you down. To be fair, if you really thought that I was engaged, you have no idea what's going on in my life.  I am single as fu** and it is OK...I'm still alive, breathing even. One picture on Facebook can change everyone's mind and THAT'S CRAZY. We live in a very strange world.

(^single as fu**) 

The power of social media my friends (Denounces social media, posts a blog).



I think that's all I have for you humans today. I am on spring break this week! Come hither amigos.

                                               
                              I'm staying in Ho Chi Ho this week. I can't afford anymore fancy vacations.









Songs you should listen to:

Why Everyone Needs a Good Morning Pho

Well, I officially failed at posting this blog on Sunday. Day drinking, you may have won the battle this time, but never again (Says my tombstone).  I lugged my tiny computer around with me all day with every intention of a. cozying up in a tiny coffee shop to type my little hands off or b. busting my Chromebook out at a cricket game. A cricket game with real live humans and beer. I am wonderful at setting unrealistic expectations for myself.

I would like to start off by discussing a topic that we all know and love: food. Food can make or break us. It can cheer us up or make us sweat in extreme regret. Food has always been my loyal friend and I am happy to say that we are closer than ever here in the HCM. My love affair with Vietnamese grub began long before I came here. While working at a BBQ joint before I ventured here, I would secretly slip out and order pho* from a place across the street. I felt like a foodie version of Benedict Arnold. It was a delicious secret that I shared only with the employees of Saigon Pho in Forest Park. I fondly remember talking to a lovely employee about my impending move to Saigon as I quickly slurped noodles before my shift. She shared a lot of helpful information with me, but what I remember most is her saying, "It's really hot and very crowded. There is a lot of honking." Touche.

Pho (FUH) is a game changer. (It's also pho-nomenal if you're into puns). If you are having an awful morning or if you had a tiresome evening, pho can turn that around. It is an incomparable dining experience that should not be rushed. You must sit down, soak in the sounds, and survey the sights to really enjoy the entirety of its brothy goodness. Think of it as culinary meditation. Smell the pho. Taste the pho. Be the pho. There are several components that one needs to create the perfect bowl. Thai basil leaves, bean spouts, chilis, hoison sauce, and lettuce must all dive in together to constitute a perfect bowl. This is a public service announcement: All of you need to go out and get pho-ed up. There are plenty of places to grab a bowl wherever you may be reading this (As I always suggest, you should come here to eat it. Pho isn't the same without the incessant honking of motorbikes and inevitable street entertainment).

Don't worry folks, pho isn't the only food that has taken me under its delicious wing . My heart has been encapsulated by several other Vietnamese dishes. Shout out to morning glory, banh mi, and spring rolls! One day I shall write love letters to all of them as well. They all deserve it as we have been in a relationship for over a year and a half.

I wanted to elaborate on my love of pho because on last Monday morning I had an eye opening experience involving my noodley friend. I am going to make a confession that I am not proud of. Often times, I get too wrapped up in the Western side of life here in Sagion.  I don't drive a motorbike. I can only speak a few words of Vietnamese. I eat at expensive restaurants. There are days that I fail to appreciate the little things that make Vietnam so unique. Last Monday, I woke up with the familiar feeling that I had too indulgent of a weekend. I was angry about not doing the things that I had promised myself that I would: take my motorbike out for a ride, take pictures all around Saigon, eat street food, fight for world peace, and yada yada yada. While I was laying in bed trying to debate which road to take, bed or  productivity, I had a plan. I was hungry and determined to test out the pho stand that I had so unconsciously passed twice a day for the past six months. I jumped out of bed and trotted my tired butt down to food stall. As I sat down, I was joined by a young teenage boy who was having breakfast before school. He opted for a sweet cake. We sat in silence as I waited for my bowl of magic. The beauty of food stalls is that there is often only one specialty. You sit down and there is no need to look at an extensive menu; the simply bring you the one item they have perfected. This is perfect for indecisive people like me. I began talking to the woman who runs the food stand. I learned that her name is Van and that she is from Hanoi. The type of pho that she serves reflects the Northern cuisine. This means the addition of garlic sauce and a slightly spicier broth. As I was slurping she said, "I see you every morning. You should come here all the time." Not only was the food delicious and cheap ($1.50 a bowl), but it was also a reminder that I need to support the friendly locals that I take for granted on a daily basis.

I could go on phoever, but instead I will run through my week very briefly.

• My MRI results showed that I have tendinitis. It's nothing too major, it just means that at 26 years old it hurts to walk up the stairs. 

On my walk home from the doctor, I decided to stop at a local park. The wonderful thing about Vietnamese parks is that they have free, old school workout machines. The instructions for these workout machines are obviously in Vietnamese, so any time I attempt to use one I create my own rules. I jumped up on a machine meant for the triceps dip and started to do pushups. Almost immediately, I had an audience. Two Vietnamese security guards came up and started laughing at my misuse of the machine. Then, they decided to jump on to show me the correct way to use the machine. I tried to tell them that I am worthless, weak and unable to execute the proper exercise, but to no avail. They both took over the machine to have a dip competition. Then they started showing me their muscles. I chuckled, handed one of them my Starbucks coffee as a reward, and was on my way. When I'm strong enough, I'm totally going back to show those dudes up. 

• Friday was full of adventure at my school. We had a Tet fair at our Nha Be Campus. Tet is a celebration of the Lunar New Year. That's the best thing about living in Asia; I get two chances to start over.  The Tet fest included musical performances, magic shows, and plenty of traditional Vietnamese games and snacks. It was awesome to see all of the kids dressed in traditional Vietnamese gear. I even got to wear an Ao Dai, a traditional Vietnamese dress. I spent the day chatting with friends, eating Vietnamese snacks, and tossing a disc in an open field. The guards even grilled some fish (that had been used in a children's game hours before) for me. It was a pretty nice afternoon at school. 

Speaking of Tet, I'm going on vacation tomorrow! I am flying Air Asia on Friday the 13th so this may very well be my last post (Anna, don't freak out). We get two weeks of for Tet and I am headed to Chiang Mai and Laos to celebrate the occasion. I am super stoked. I will be playing with tigers, living in the treetops of the jungle, and bathing with elephants in the river. I will be sure to post a lot of pictures!

I will leave you with a Valentine that one of my students made for me. Everyone should really start writing each other more letters. These brightened, and continue to brighten, my days. Written word>texting. 

                                        You are all invited to my first kiss wedding. 

Here are a few more random photos from the week. Chuc Mun Nam Moi friends!

My new ride 

*I have tried over and over to use the correct accent marks for the Vietnamese words in my blog, but to no avail. There are accents, but they are not used for formatting purposes.

You Are Probably Watching the Super(Puppy) Bowl

Good evening, morning, and afternoon beautiful people. I am currently posted up at one of  my favorite coffee shops in Saigon, reluctantly drinking crappy wine that is one grade higher than Welch's and sipping my coffee with much more exuberance. My black market Beats are resting in my ears and I am listening to some quality tunes. This place is the perfect blog writing haven, minus the musica. They are playing top 40's hits in here, which I can only appreciate while sweating on the treadmill or sweating at a night club. I am in my own little world, a cloud floating above the land of chaos that hovers below me.  

So, first I would like to talk about an article. I am letting you know in advance because this has absolutely nothing to do with Saigon. Feel free to skip this paragraph if you are only in it to expand your cultural horizons. A few weeks ago, I read the article that popped up approximately 36 times in everyone's Facebook newsfeed. This is the article in case you are hiding from your Facebook demons: 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/fashion/modern-love-to-fall-in-love-with-anyone-do-this.html?_r=0

This article references a study conducted by Arthur Aron over 20 years ago in which two strangers were placed in a lab to see if they would fall in love.  No candles, no Marvin Gaye, no Cabernet, just a boring, white space. Aron provided these two lab rats with a series of  36 questions to ask each other over the course of 90 minutes. At the end of 90 minutes, the only task left at hand was to stare into each others eyes for four excruciating minutes.  Four minutes is a long damned time to stare at another pair of eyes. 

The author of this article, Mandy Catron, stepped up her game a bit and decided to add some magic (alcohol) to the mix. She was also with a dude that she was immediately attracted to after creeping on his Instagram. We all know that Instagram is the window to the soul. Who isn't attracted to a guy on a climbing wall? If you were too lazy to read the entire article, Mandy ended up falling in love after answering the 36 questions and gazing into Spider man's eyes on a bridge. I think it's also scientifically proven (/I saw it on The Little Rascals) that if you stare at any other human on a bridge, you will instantly fall in love with them.  

The reason that I bring this article up is because I have become slightly obsessed with this concept. You can formulate love in a lab? This article makes love seem so simple, and maybe it is. Recently I (because I consider myself and every other person to be a pseudo psychologist) have started asking my friends these questions in social scenarios. I figured that I am already so in love with all of my friends here that these questions would just strengthen our bond. Friday night my friends and I did this for about an hour over drinks and it was phenomenal. These questions slowly pry into the intimate details of your life and force you to self reflect. Rarely do we share these thoughts with our friends over beers. Usually we talk about sports, work, or the events of the past week. I did this on Saturday night as well and the results were the same. I realized one thing and was reminded of another. People have a lot to share, you just have to ask. I was reminded that my friends are the most wonderful human beings on earth.  

Here is the list of the 36 questions :

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/fashion/no-37-big-wedding-or-small.html

I encourage you to conduct this experiment yourself to any degree that you see fit.  You don't have to walk up to a stranger on a bridge and stare into their eyes; that could get you shot in Chicago. All I am saying is that you should ask anyone these questions. Ask your mom, dad, brother, cousin's boyfriend, boss, best friend, or even your husband or wife. I guarantee that there is at least one question that will inspire a riveting conversation. My personal plan is to gradually ask everyone in my life these questions so by the time that I'm old and senile, I will be surrounded by people who are in love with me. That way, I'll have a better chance of remembering at least one of them.  

Ok, so for the folks who skipped that ramble, here are the cliff notes of what happened during my week. 

Monday- I was pretty exhausted from the weekend, so I just succumbed to my animalistic urges and binge watched Parks and Rec and ordered Baba's.  Baba's is the food of the gods. 

Tuesday- For those of you who haven't talked to me for two minutes, I have been having really bad knee problems. This has significantly increased my stress levels as running is my only legal form of stress relief. Running is my crack. I finally got an MRI on Tuesday and upon leaving, the MRI technician looked up at me and said, "Well at least it's not a tumor." You could say that about anything, dummy. Apparently my knee bones aren't connected to my thigh bones...or something like that. I will get more definitive results on Tuesday. Major knee bone kill. After my MRI, I went to meet my friends for dinner at my favorite tiny chair joint. I very eloquently call it, "The Fish Place." Two "sound"(an Irish term that I take to mean cool/amazing/wonderful) Irish friends were leaving the next day and we wanted to send them off correctly; with cheap beer and copious amounts of Vietnamese grub. Before everyone got there, I was invited to sit with a group of older Vietnamese gentlemen who were very enthusiastic about me slamming some Saigon Greens with them (This happens to me quite often. Blonde hair is rare in Saigon. I could be Golem with a blonde wig and I would get invited to sit with old Vietnamese men. Once, at 8 AM, a group of Vietnamese men in my old alley coerced me into drinking two beers in five minutes. They are big on chugging). One of the guys had a guitar and wanted me to sing for them. He played his own interpretation of "Let it Be" and I tried to remember the lyrics as I sang. I was terrible, but I might as well have been Paul McCartney. I mot hai ba yo'ed them adeiu and took a seat at the other table with my friends. We ordered a meal fit for The Last Supper. 

Wednesday-My co-teacher, super friend, and Facebook password gate keeper Alex wore this outfit:

That's all you need to know about Wednesday. 

Thursday- Thursday was nice because I went to my first AIS soccer game. Have I ever mentioned how amazing all of my students are? They are perfect little adults and I am so lucky to be teaching them. They are also great little athletes. My wonderful, gracious boss (Hey Jeff) took us out for sangria afterwards and I got to hang out with a superb little baby, Isaac. He is adorable and lucky because both of his parents are super heroes. Miss Alayna has stolen all of the world's talents for herself. She hides them well and then surprises the masses at the last second. I found out on Thursday that she can salsa dance like a pro. I also discovered that I cannot. We went to the highest towers of the tapas restaurant and watched a dedicated, yet unseasoned salsa instructor dance his little butt off. It was entertaining to say the least. 

(PS. I actually just Googled should sangria/salsa dancing be capitalized. I have no shame. The verdict was no and yes. I went with no. Feel free to correct me but, werds are wordz). 

The freakin' weekend- I went to an all Danish dinner with my beautiful friend Silke on Friday night. They quickly discovered that I was an imposter, simply there for the cheap BBQ.  I enjoyed imagining what their conversations were about. We moved on and after becoming one step closer to making my friends fall in love with me, we went and saw another badass friend play some music. Anja played at a new place called Saigon Ranger. Despite the drinks being [Saigon] expensive, the atmosphere was perfect for a Friday night show.  (Although, at this point, I would watch live music in a haunted slaughterhouse). Saturday was spent doing what I do best; Rockin' a hungover gym and pool session. My sole superpower is the ability to wake up early after a night out. I could be run over by a tequila truck and still make it out of bed to hang out with my serious boyfriend, Gym. Most of the time, I am an awful girlfriend and put no effort into the relationship. As long as I'm present, I think he'll stick with me. Later on,  I celebrated the end of a dear friend's month long sobriety the only proper way:  with booze. I posed more of the 36 questions and hung out at my favorite black hole, ER. 

I popped out of bed at 8AM this morning and made my roommate  the obligatory, "I'm sorry I ate your panini last night" breakfast. The rest of the day was spent consuming smoothies at the pool with three hot babes ;) Al, there's your shout out. 

Here are a few more pictures from the week: 

Well, that's all folks. Thanks for reading and remember: you are 36 questions and a four minute gaze away from love. 

I will leave you with my answer to one of these questions. Ask it to someone today! 

If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?

Teleportation. I would wake up 6 AM, step into my space pod, and have a 5 PM deep dish pizza with my favorite Pilsen roomates. That's just at the top of my list. 

What quality would you wake up with? Ask a stranger today! 

Cheers, from my happy place. 

PS. I forgot that the Super Bowl was today. Ra Ra, GO BEARS!? 

                                                                   Sunday jamz.