Weekend with the family

After doing the compulsory tourist things on Tuesday, we sent everyone off to a cooking class on Wednesday. We decided that rather than giving them 'stuff' for Christmas, we would give them an experience instead. It didn't disappoint as they all raved about the class. Then on Thursday, we sent them on an overnight trip down the Mekong Delta. Here they got to go to the floating markets, visit some farms and check out a different side to Vietnam beside the bustling city. When they arrived back on Friday night, we went to one of our favourite rooftop bars, The View, for some sundowners and some pizza.

On Saturday, we decided that some shopping was in order! We told everyone not to bring too many clothes as they could buy a bunch here. Instead, we told them to bring us treats from SA and buy new things here. They definitely delivered on this front as we were thoroughly spoilt! We went to the Russian Market which has great winter clothes and lots of sporting clothes. It also has loads of great clothes stores. The Russian Market is much nicer to go to than some other markets as it is indoor and it has air-con! The shop owners also down hassle you too much and the bargaining isn't quite as intense as at the more touristy markets.

When our wallets were empty, we headed over the the popular tourist street, Bui Vien, for some delicious smoothies. The smoothie place is down a little ally and can very easily be missed if you don't know that it's there! You get to choose three different fruits and the smoothies only cost 30,000 dong (R15!). Our favourite is strawberry, pineapple and passion fruit.

We decided to show everyone where we used to hang out when we first arrived in Vietnam. We walked a street over, bought some delicious Banh Mi's (bread rolls with meat) and headed off to the park. We managed to find two benches next to each other and we watched the world go by for a little while. Thank goodness for small oases like this in the big city.

The smoothie shop

Lunch in the park

After a rest (and a swim for some), we headed out to do some more eating! We went to Viva Tapa's Bar and Grill for some sangria and paella. People are probably thinking, why would you eat Spanish food when you're in Vietnam?? The answer... because it's so good! One great thing about living in a big city like this is that we are absolutely spoilt for choice when it comes to good (and reasonable) places to eat. When our tummies were full, we went down the road to another Tapa's place, El Camino, for some night caps. They sell wine for a very reasonble price and this is somewhat of a rarity in this part of the world. Needless to say, whenever we want to go for a drink, El Camino is the first place on Mel's list as she knows she can get a good glass of red wine!

On Sunday we decided to take it very easy and just relax! In the late afternoon we went to Crescent mall for a coffee and a walk around the lake. We got there just in time to see the bridge lit up beautifully by lots of multi-coloured lights! From there, we made our way to The Tavern for some delicious pub grub!

Family time!

Disclaimer: We wrote this when our family had just arrived. With them being here, blogging took a back seat but we've decided to still share the post!

OUR FAMILY IS HERE!!!!!!!!!! Monday was THE LOOOOOOOONGEST day ever lived by anybody ever, as we were waiting for the arrival of both of our parents and Kelly! We FINALLY finished school and caught a taxi to the airport to pick them up. Once the bags had been dropped off and everybody had taken a deep breath of Vietnam air, we headed out to a nearby restaurant to get some dinner. The place where we took Cam and Lisa on their first night has recently been revamped, and we decided to go there for an authentic experience. It didn't disappoint, and it wasn't long before the waiting staff were laughing at how clueless we were, trying to eat the traditional dish put in front of us. (They didn't exactly jump to help us either!!)

Just some of our awesome treats from home!

On Tuesday we decided to do the compulsory touristy things around HCMC, and it was a good opportunity for us to try and acclimatise our visitors to the chaos that is Saigon. We took the day off work, and woke up early to begin the adventures. Just like with Cam and Lisa, it feels really refreshing to see daily life through new eyes. It's nice to get excited again, over the things which we don't even notice anymore because they have become expected/aren't novel anymore.

Waiting for our Banh Mi's.

At the Reunification palace.

A bride in Dunkin Donuts. Everyone takes their wedding photos
before their wedding so that they can display them for the family.
This bride was getting her make-up touched up and having a few pics
in Dunkin Donuts, as one does.

The names of the streets are often hard to remember so instead,
we make up our own names for them. We call this Kelly street
thanks to the Kelly hotel. 

An amazing sunset from our rooftop.

All-in-all, these birdies are doing flick-flacks with excitement, and are SUUUUPER happy to have our loved ones around for Christmas! We wish Granny, Craig and Lyndall could be here too, to make it the complete package.