Vietnam: The Final Day in Saigon

Both Tania and Becca had different trips today.  Nic and I decided we’d sleep in and then go out in the city and go shopping since I hadn’t really explored it yet.  I got up around 0930, after being woken up by the crew doing a safety drill that consisted of the loudest alarm EVER an hour earlier. I showered and got ready for 1030.  We got breakfast sandwiches and smoothies up on the 7th deck before we left.  We walked to the ATM, only to be bombarded by Vietnamese men trying to give us rides anywhere: the other Vietnamese cabs.  It’s actually really obnoxious and annoying, they don’t leave you alone.As we were walking back to wait for the shuttle, Tania appeared back from her trip.  It was only for half the day and she was back a little early.  The 3 of us headed downtown.  We walked in and out of a ton of silk dress shops.  I bought 2 silk dresses and a silk shirt for about a fifth of the price back home.  They’re all absolutely gorgeous.  A bunch of people had suits and dresses made for them here, but I never had the time since I was in Nha Trang for most of our stay in Vietnam.  I was so excited to find dresses that I really wanted, they were exactly the style I was looking for.  We walked into a few other random stores.  The only ones that had air-conditioning were stores like Aldo and designer stores.We were dying of heat and very dehydrated so we stopped at a little outdoor café for smoothies and water and Tania got some fries.  This really hit the spot and was much needed.  We aren’t supposed to drink the water or eat the ice here or eat really localized food.  I did this the whole trip and was fine, minus drinking water directly.  It’s almost impossible to do that.  You miss out on most of the experiences if you follow the strict guidelines.  In India, I will for sure be following strict guidelines though.  I fear India as though it will beat me with any wrong move I make.Anyways, after our break we wandered some more and found Mango, Tania’s favorite store from Barcelona.  I bought a cute turquoise shirt.  This pretty much concluded our desire to shop.  That is, until we ran into Emily.  She told us she’d bought a ton of bootleg DVD’s and collections of shows at a mall that we were standing next to.  I had really wanted to find DVD’s, so we had to check it out.I bought 12 DVD’s for $10 USD.  Avatar, Sherlock Holmes, Transformers 2, Sorority Row, Nine, Brothers, All About Steve, The Hannah Montana Movie, Australia, The Book of Eli, Watchmen, and The Stepfather.  Tania and Nic also got a ton and they were mostly different, so we’ll have a bunch to watch over the next few weeks.After this we were hungry again and decided to go to the Rex Hotel, where the shuttle runs from.  We figured we’d get some food up on the roof and chill for awhile before we took the shuttle back.  On ship time was 2000, we figured we’d aim for 1830 to head back.The restaurant on the top of the Rex was really nice and had a good breeze in the heat.  We all ordered giant waters, the waiter seemed appalled by this and that we weren’t sharing one.  Hey, you need to stay hydrated in this heat.  We split some garlic bread and I got a grilled chicken and vegetable wrap and ate some of Nic’s margherita/vegetable pizza.  We hung out up for awhile and saw other SAS people trickle in for some last meals before heading back.  We saw Dean White and Crabtree with their families and some LLL’s and other students.  Becca texted us to tell us her trip was over and she was getting dropped off at the Rex soon.  So we waited for her.  She told us all about her trip to the Mekong Delta and ordered some food.  We decided to keep her company and ordered some dessert.I get the most random cravings on this voyage for cheesecake, plain cheesecake.  I don’t even eat that at home.  But I got a delicious piece for dessert.After our late lunch was over Becca wanted to get some DVD’s and food from the market and t-shirts.  So we wandered down one street and then back the other way.  We picked up a bunch of t-shirts at $2 USD a piece.  We went back to the mall to get DVD’s with her.  We all ended up getting more.  I bought the entire 10 season collection of Friends for $36 USD!  WHHHHHAAAT.  And I bought the 2 seasons of True Blood.  I’m so excited to watch them all.Becca needed to get some real Pho from the market.  Then we were done and ready to head back.  I bought some stamps from the Rex Hotel as we waited for the shuttle.  Everyone seemed to be going back at this point and we crowded onto the bus.  This time it didn’t take as long to get back on the ship.We were back with plenty of time to write postcards and hand in our passports and landing cards.  The rest of the night was typical stuff: I worked out, showered, and watched some episodes in Friends and went to bed early.