Iced Coffee, Phu My Hung, and Snowball

We woke up to another outstanding breakfast of assorted Vietnamese foods. After we ate our breakfast, we went to UEF where we had a lecture on Ho Chi Minh City’s urban development over the past 10-15 years. This was more of a preparation for our company visit to Phu My Hung later. Once the lecture was over we had a quick break where we went to a local coffee shop and we all ordered iced coffees. (I can’t spell the Vietnamese name for it.) I don’t like coffee, but this stuff tasted like chocolate with a slight amount of coffee flavor and it was very tasty. Once we finished our coffees, we had Vietnamese language class where we once again made a fool out of ourselves while trying to speak Vietnamese.

Here is a picture of the iced coffee we drank

We went to the cantina after class where we had lunch with an exorbitant amount of Vietnamese food. It’s amazing how much they expect us to eat here. I’m not complaining.

This is Pete "Snowball" Eyre enjoying 

his Vietnamese cuisine. We love 

Snowball.

After lunch, we went to Phu My Hung, an urban development company for Ho Chi Minh City. They have created what seems like a utopian city. My group’s project was on Phu My Hung so we later presented the vice president with gifts, as is the custom here.

This is the Phu My Hung briefing room.

It looks like a Tomorrowland Showcase with 3D

models and a curved screen.

This is a picture of the Phu My Hung development

taken from a Phu My Hung building.

After the Phu My Hung visit, we went to a traditional pho restaurant with our Vietnamese classmates. (Pho is a noodle-based dish with various meats and vegetables.)

Ask me if I'm a master with chopsticks. 

I dare you.

We then took motorbikes to the Notre Dame Cathedral and then ate street food. (They’re trying to fatten us up for later no doubt.) That was super interesting and is apparently what the teenagers here do to hang out. 

I am on a motorbike with one 

of the Vietnamese students.

We are eating street food. Wait for it...

On the street.

At that point I was stuffed but I had to try all the new things. We walked the streets of Ho Chi Minh City with our Vietnamese classmates after that and got to see all new parts of the city. A street vendor seeking American tourists eventually found us and we managed to spend probably around 200,000 dong on these toys that you launch up into the air and watch them spin down. Can you say easy targets? I guess we kept that guy in business. He’s welcome.

Aster, Rachel, and I took an inconspicuous selfie.

#TouristMuch?

We finally walked back to the hotel with Kate, our Vietnamese guardian angel. She’s 20 and she’s probably the best thing that has ever happened to us. She is one of the students at UEF and has been our tour guide/babysitter. Thank God for Kate.