Bursting My Bubble

Earlier this week, I got reminded that my cousin was in town for a week-long vacation. I took her around town and to a couple of my shopping haunts Thursday. Everything went well except for my wallet weighing less from all the pasalubong I've shopped for.

Saturday afternoon, I met up with my cousin and her friend in front of the bus station across Ben Thanh Market. We waited patiently for the 01 bus as it is the one that will take us to Cho Lon (Chinatown). After less than 10 minutes, I spotted one and we got on it quickly. My cousin and her friend settled on the seats in front of me while I made myself comfortable in the aisle seat behind them.

Not long after, a lady in decent do bo (Vietnamese pajama set), a stack of paper-thin gold bangles and rice paddy field hat stood in front of me. Knowing I'll get off almost near the end of the bus route, I scoot over to the window seat and I was met with lively gestures for her to take the window seat.

The bus was cruising the extensive stretch of Tran Hung Dao and I was pre-occupied plotting our course on my map as I was quite unsure on which bus stop me and my companions would have to alight on when the lady next to me jerked my leg using her leg. I looked up a bit annoyed as she motioned that she will get off soon. In my head I was thinking I wanted to strangle her as she made me lose my bearing but knowing how irrational I was being I put it aside and just let her pass.

Soon she got off and I'm all alone. Not too long after, I found the temple and the three of us got off. We went past the temple a little bit and we had to walk back to the temple. When we arrived there, we found it to be closed so we just took pictures of the exterior then hopped on a cab to another temple in Hong Bang Street. I opened my bag and I was in for the shock of my life when I found my wallet non-existent inside.

I was freaking out but I didn't want to ruin my cousin's trip so I had them take pictures of the temple before taking another cab to retrace our steps. We went back to where we started but there wasn't any trace of my wallet being there. We searched the immediate vicinity where we went to but nothing still. I went in and looked for a caretaker to ask if anybody saw anything but it was just frustrating as the language barrier was so strong, the girl I asked translated every English word I wrote down on my Post It on her Ipod's dictionary.

Frustrated with nothing much to do, my cousin, her friend and I just walked back to the next stop and took the next bus back to District 1. The weather was just so awful -- heavy monsoon downpour, it just completely made me even more upset. It's the third time I've lost a valuable to a pickpocket but it never gets any easier. It's the first time that something like this has happened to me since I moved to Vietnam so I still can't get my head around it.

My only saving grace is that I didn't have a lot of cash in there as I have already spent it the last couple of days and the fact that I only carry around a photocopy of my work permit and residence card in my wallet. The thing I was really worried about would be my credit cards, my Lottemart membership card as I have already amassed massive points doing my grocery shopping there regularly, my patient card at a local hospital that I use as my In Case of Emergency identification card and my key card to my apartment building. It is going to be a bitch getting them replaced and having them sent to Vietnam.

I got home through my cousin donating enough money for me to catch the shuttle bus to my area. As soon as I got to my flat, I immediately called HSBC. Sure, they were able to replace it but for Php400 they can't send it to me to Vietnam. Worse, my card is set to expire January of next year and they can't just wait until then to send me a new card. I called Citibank and I'm thankful they have the ability to send it to me to Vietnam for no extra charge. The only thing that sucks? It takes 2 - 3 weeks for arrival. Still, I'd settle for having one card than none at all.

I went to my apartment complex's customer service center today and they said I won't be able to get a new card until the 22nd of this month. Great, I'll be playing patintero with the door on the ground floor and on the basement for the next two weeks on which one will be open when I come home.

I also had a sudden realization today -- my insurance bill is charged to my HSBC card and it's going to be due by next week. Now that the card is blocked, I'm going to have to dig through my emails for a contact person in Manila I can talk to about it. I'm also going to have to ask my sister to go find the billing statement and pay it for me.

I really hate losing things specially important documents. I know it's not the worse thing in the world considering I just lost my grandfather less than a month ago but it's just the sheer inconvenience of it all since I'm here and all my accounts are stuck in Manila.

Saigon Lunch Lady

I was watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations several months ago when they featured the Saigon Lunch Lady on his Vietnam episode. As he was starting to present her segment, he uttered a challenge to try Googling her and I was seriously piqued that I was able to find some information about her in a snap of a finger. Since I am, technically speaking, living in her turf, I decided to go on a quest to find her to find out for myself if her cooking is as good as they say.

Today, I finally got off my butt and acted on my not-quite-that-long-standing desire to get in on the action. I am about to run out of supplies so I thought it to be a good excuse to do my grocery shopping downtown. Besides, I have a free day today and I will definitely be indisposed by next week so there's no good a time as now to get this done.

From Dong Khoi Street, I hopped on a cab to Hoang Sa Street and soon I was on my merry way. I am so grateful that Gastronomer (www.gastronomyblog.com) had included a map in his blog and it made it easier for me to find her. I lost my bearing for a little while but after 5 minutes of backtracking my steps and letting my curiosity take over, I was able to spot the street corner where she's stationed herself. Turns out, you have to take a right turn from the main street before you can spot her.

I got there shortly after 11 am and the heat is just unbearable I was thankful there's not a lot of people yet that I was able to choose a very shady, comfortable place to sit in. I was a total spaz as soon I stood in front of her because I was so focused in finding my way that I didn't really think about what to do after. I pointed to an empty bowl and the pot of simmering stew right next to her to signal that I wanted one.

I can't speak the Vietnamese language apart from the little bits and pieces that I know like terms for food and survival cabbie dialect. I was so relieved when she asked me in English to take a seat to wait for my food. I guess I didn't have to talk because every inch of me was screaming T-O-U-R-I-S-T -- sunglasses, the non-verbal gestures and taking pictures of everything left and right ;p

I was seriously blown away because it's the first time I've ever tasted something like that. It's probably the tastiest bowl of Vietnamese noodles I've ever had. And for only VND15,000 (roughly around Php35), it was chock-full of the good stuff -- pork slices, a sliver of fish cake (kikiam), shrimp, squid, pineapples, okra and eggplant. I surprised myself because I don't normally eat okras and eggplants. The broth was so tasty, it kind of masked the natural flavor of the veggies (for me at least) that it allowed me to get over the paranoia in my head about those veggies not tasting good.

In the end, I am one happy customer. Although next time, I should maybe have a friend tag along with me to keep the transportation costs down because my meal was literally only a small fraction of how much I had to spend on cab fare to get to the Saigon Lunch Lady's bailiwick.

My meal -- Bun Mam. Locals usually like to add in freshly squeezed lime and chillis to make it extra spicy (plate on the left)

This is a close up shot of the plate on the right. This contains a mishmash of mixed greens that locals like to put in everything they eat.

Wonder what this place looks like if I had been here at the apex of the lunch hour?

A Bum No More

My name is Anna and I'm a bum no more. I'm a traveler at heart so there wasn't really any surprise to me nor to my family that my next job took me to an exciting albeit faraway place. For the past eight and a half months, I've been living in Ho Chi Minh City and life can't get any sweeter at this point.

I'm guessing that some might already be raising their eyebrows saying 'But hey, that's not far enough!" Oh well, it's a relative term. Anyways, it's the first time that I've been completely on my own so this is one major milestone.

I've decided to revive my blogging to help document what I've gone through and what I still will go through during my stay in this lovely country. Another reason why I'm also doing this is because I want to make it easier on myself in sharing my knowledge of the country that I've started to love and call as my home for the time being. Primarily, knowledge of all the good shopping spots as the shopaholic in me is going into overdrive. I've had friends asking me where I shop every time I show up for work with some serious deals, steals and booties.