This is our tour guide from yesterday who goes by the name Zoom. He has owned his own business four four years and has worked in the travel business for over 20 years.
We visited a Chinese Temple. We were fortunate that it was early and not very crowded. Anne Marie and Zoom with dear friends Bob and Glo. There is a very large Chinese population in Ho Chi Minh City and the largest Chinatown we have every visited outside of China.
Before dinner, we dined last night we sat at the Crystal Cove for about an hour. We spoke with some fellow guests and then spoke with Jaque Brown, Crystal Society Hostess, and also with Colin Salter shortly before he played the piano for all of us.
Afterwards, we dined at Tastes with dear friends Bob and Glo. Tastes is the casual dining venue that since the makeover in dry dock serves a wide range of tastings, family style, that represent recipes from around the world.
Each couple ordered their own items but when some of the items came out greater quantities were served so there were some items that we ordered that Bob and Glo could try and there were other items that Bob and Glo ordered that we tried as well. We enjoyed a wide range of items. We had the sliders which was the second time we had them which is a smaller version of a hamburger and we had the Lamb Dumplings, Caesar Salad Fondue, Alsatian Tarte, and a few other items. We did share a few desserts. We had a fun time. Surprisingly, there were far less people dining than we anticipated.
After dinner, the four of us walked on the Promenade Deck for a little while which was very nice.
All in all it was an absolutely wonderful day.
We slept very well and Keith was up early again and did an abbreviated workout in the fitness center and as he always does he stopped by the Lido Cafe for coffee and brought some back for Anne Marie. While at the Lido Cafe, he spoke with someone known by many as the Colonial as he served in the United States military for many years starting towards the end of WWII, through the Korea War and into the Vietnam War. We have known him for many years. He was up early as the Golf Pro organized a golf game today for those who wanted to participate. It will be very hot, so Keith reminded the Colonial to drink plenty of fluids.
We asked Rao to bring breakfast earlier than usual so that we had time to get ready to go into Ho Chi Minh City on our own today.
We wanted to note that many times this city is still referred to as Saigon but often spelled Sai Gon.
We took the shuttle into town. Although it was a Monday traffic was not as bad as it has been in the past. There is a relatively new tunnel that was placed in service shortly after we were last there in 2012. The shuttle dropped us off outside a shopping centre that is located across the street from the Famous Rex Hotel. The Rex Hotel is considered a Five Star Hotel. The area around the Rex is nicer than it was two years ago as well. The challenge was getting across the street to walk towards the area we wanted to go and to also cross a few other streets without lights.
The key is to walk slowly and not too run if you see a lot of motor bikes coming at you. They will avoid you but if you run the might swerve trying to avoid running into you and end up running into your path. We are very happy to report that we did well.
We walked about a half mile to the place we went to yesterday which is the Ben Thanh Market which has literally hundred and hundreds of booths selling a wide range of items including food, silk items, bowls, copy watches, leather bags and other leather goods, clothing and the list goes on and on. Some people had clothing made there as they did a couple of years ago. The prices are very inexpensive for that and much less than Hong Kong which is no longer a bargain for custom clothing. The advantage of Hong Kong is that you can get some very unique fabrics that you won't find in places such as the United States.
We purchased a few items that are unique to Vietnam for gifts. On the way back we stopped off at several places and purchased some cards that are very unique when you open them. We then went inside the shopping centre and Keith ended up getting a couple of wallets for himself.
When we returned to the ship we had lunch and as usual we had a Salad Entree.
Keith then played Paddle Tennis for two hours. The operative word was hot well let us say hot, hot, hot.
Anne Marie walked part of the time outside but it got too hot for her so she finished the walk inside.
Keith met up with dear friend Bob later in the afternoon and Anne Marie worked on her knitting projects. She is making nice progress and enjoying it.
This evening we will dine in the Crystal Dining Room and later in the evening there will be a Carnival held on the open deck which is held once a year on the World Cruise. We will post all about this tomorrow.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY…….
"We love to return to places that we have been to before to see how they develop over the years and because we find that with familiarity we know precisely what we want to do each time we return." - Keith & Anne Marie
Keith & Anne Marie
Keith - We used Zoom on our 2011 Regent cruise. Really a nice guy. He'll probably send you photos for the next year or so! Did you sit at Bill Clinton's table at Pho 2000? Maybe every table there has become Bill Clinton's table! We do remember that the Pho was really good and very cheap. We had much the same tour as you did although we did go the war museum which was very anti-American. We enjoyed our day with Zoom very much.
ReplyDeleteKaren & Wayne