Video produced/edited by Dylan & Xavier

Hello to my fellows,

The sun rises over thousands of buildings in Ho Chi Minh City; the sunlight reflects through many, many windows by windows to shine on my face.  And it woke me and Niven up very early in the morning.  We couldn’t return to sleep, so we decided to catch up on our tasks and organize some stuff actively.  

Our morning began with a gift from our tour guide.  She gave us the Khan Ran Scarf, which we learned about yesterday.  The scarf has multiple ways to wear and originally symbolized the unity of women who worked for the military. 

We went to “Ben Tre,” a small district in the Mekong River with many small, local factories such as bricks and coconut.   First, we rode in the long boat that provided us with some delicious, fresh, and unique coconut drinks with a great view of nature through the Mekong River.  After a while in the boat, we somehow discovered a silly activity: taking scrap from coconut and playing with it like disc golf.  After that, we arrived at our first destination: the brick factory, which shows the brick-making process.  First, you’ll have to get clay from deep water in the Mekong River, then put it in the machine that cuts clay to the brick-shaped.  Then, put it in a big, hot “oven” and make it solid by using firewood and rice shells to make the process quicker.  Lastly, some burnt rice shells, with rich nutrition, are used to plant new plants.  Everyone was fascinated with Vietnam’s process of creating bricks.  

Anyway, we returned to a long boat to go to another small factory: coconut candies.  It tastes very sweet and surprisingly delicious.  Also, we were served with different kinds of fruits that grew in their garden and teas.  It was very good!  After visiting the factories, we went to a local restaurant by riding the kayak through a beautiful forest that covered the sky.  We tasted many different foods that I can’t remember their names.  Those foods were probably the best food we had ever tasted in Vietnam.  And.. our journey in the Mekong River is done.  It was quite a good memory for us to remember.

We returned to Ho Chi Minh City to visit Ben Thanh Market, which has hundreds of local sellers you can negotiate to buy some stuff.  Once we entered the market, many sellers were trying to get our attention to buy their stuff.  I was convinced to buy a homemade magnet from Ho Chi Minh City. - Many stubborn sellers were trying so hard enough to chase me after I rejected their offer.  There were many sick items hanging in their shop: Vietnamese chess, hats, and many silly combinations of well-known brands of Vietnamese style.  Then, we stopped by a small shop that was awarded the best food in 2018: the food they sell - Bahn Mi.  It’s just simply fresh, oddly looking meats with some unique vegetables in a short baguette.  Once the first bite of Bahn Mi, my first thought was that they easily deserved to earn another award for the best food.  And that’s all for the day! 

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD NIGHT FOLKS see ya tmw ;)

Alen 

 P.S.  Also, as I was writing this blog, a person stopped by the sidewalk where I was typing this essay.  The person told me through his phone “My sister is deaf-mute and she’s a Southern Vietnamese Sign Language interpreter for Obama sharing his voice in Vietnam.”He said he would bring her to me, only two blocks from his home.  I was excited, waiting to meet her, but they never came.  Bruh!