Katy’s Weblog
8/18 Monday – 8/21 Thursday
At the baggage claim area at the Saigon airport, I saw a worker very enthusiastically helping travelers with their luggage. He climbed onto the baggage carousel to take luggage off for people. What good service, I thought. Is the airport providing this service? Then I realized he’s an independent contractor working for tips. Very entrepreneurial and I guess the airport allows him to do this. We got our own bags though.
8/22 Friday
Our friend T is arriving in Saigon today, so we thought we’d save one tourist sight to go with him. Unfortunately, it was the most disappointing place of our whole trip, and we didn’t even meet up with T.
The Reunification Palace is NOT recommended. Now, I usually love museums and historical places…
8/22 Friday evening – 8/24 Sunday
The main reason for coming to Vietnam is to experience what life is like for E and to meet his friends and coworkers. It was perfect that his company planned a retreat this weekend at Mui Ne so that we can both see a new place and get to know his coworkers.
8/25 Monday in Vietnam
E said people say District 7 of Saigon is like Southern California, so I wanted to get a taste of home, not that I was missing it.
Similarities to SoCal – streets are wide with little traffic, minimum honking, tree-lined streets, individual houses with dogs barking when we walked past, Pizza Hut, Carl’s Jr., Dominoes, Subway (no Starbucks or McDonald’s in Vietnam.)
I’ve gained new respect for travel bloggers.
It seems like fun to blog while you travel to keep the memories alive while sharing with others, but it’s much harder than it looks.
I was planning on blogging during my trip, and it didn’t happen. So here I will try to recreate some of my thoughts, starting with the most recent and working my way backwards and see how much I can remember.
All the pictures and vids you see of the traffic in Saigon are all true. I am experiencing it for myself this week, and I love it.
Cars, vans, motorbikes, scooters, bicycles, pedestrians, vendors balancing 2 heavy baskets on a bamboo stick, hand-pedaled carts driven by old ladies (I don’t know how else to describe…
I’m not an adventurous traveler.
I grew up with a mother who told us to never eat street food when we were growing up in Hong Kong. She hated crowds, taught me that you can contract horrible diseases from public bathrooms, held her breath when she walked passed beggars on the street, and always wore closed-toed shoes so as not to get contaminated by dirt.
I couldn’t put down this book. A Place Called Blessing by John Trent is both heartwarming and inspirational. The story is engaging from beginning to end.
The story follows a boy growing up in the foster care system, starting life with two strikes against him. Then an accident occurred that scarred him, until he meets a family who blessed him more than he imagined.
Read this on Family Life today. We pray for revival, and it starts with us, each cleaning up our own house.
A Christian leader told me about boarding a small commuter plane for a short flight out of Nashville. Moments after he settled in, a flight attendant’s voice came on the loudspeaker and said, “When…
Traveling across the world used to be a big thing. Well, it still is, if you think about the amazing airplane that not only defy gravity, but holds 200+ people and tons of luggage with it.
But most people nowadays take for granted our ability to travel thousands of miles in a relatively short time.
