Saigon Heat.. game clips!

Bến Thành Market

Oh you need a thingamabob or a whatchamacallit... don't worry you can find it at Ben Thanh Market. They've got everything... that place seriously makes me want to sing the Little Mermaid song. ". I've gadgets and gizmos a-plenty. I've got whozits and whatsits galore..."

so many fabric stands and tailors!

Dried EVERYTHING you can think of

Every style coffee

Candyland!

Any fish they can catch they sell... these are the more recognizable ones. A few stands later there were eels and stingrays!

War Remnants Museum

I underestimated the power of photography. The War Remnants Museum is essentially a gallery of photos from the Vietnam War. Before we went in to the museum we were able to see army tanks, helicopters and other military machinery that was left behind after the war.

 The first room of the museum was dedicated to war propaganda, the second room to war crimes and the third room to agent orange effects on the Vietnamese. There were several rooms after the third but by the third I couldn't handle it. I left the museum after the third room. It was very difficult for me to see photos of the Vietnamese suffering at the hand of American soldiers.

2013 Lookin' Good!

Dior and I had a home cooked meal then went upstairs to ring in the new year with David and Christian over delicious cupcakes and champagne. The guys did the dancing and the girls did the laughing... We had a good time staying in. From their apartment we could see the street packed with motorbike traffic, so glad we weren't stuck in that mess downtown.

Bumped in to Dior's teammates on New Years!

The team also had a press conference right before the new year to promote the new season! I am so happy Dior got his USF jersey number 33!!

This is a very small world... Dior's head coach Jason Rabedeaux was actually the coach at UTEP that recruited John Tofi in college!! Remember our Tofi family from Belgium...

Head Coach Rab

 We had our first two games (Preaseaon) against the Schiuan Blue Whales from China and we WON BOTH TIMES! Pumped to get the season going on January 12th!

Also I have to add that in Gilroy, CA I always make a stop at the bobba tea place and now I'm so lucky to have a bobba aka bubble tea shop across the street from my apartment. They even DELIVER :) Tapioca bubble tea please!

This is not my usual tea place... This is at the Vincom mall downtown!

A Sunny Sunny Christmas!

The weather has been incredibly hot so the girls and I decided to find a nice hotel pool. We spent the day lounging at the Rex Hotel pool! Not a bad way to spend the day in DECEMBER!

Christian, Amanda and ME

On Christmas Eve we went out to dinner with Christian and David to Hard Rock Cafe. The food was delicious... just what we wanted a good ol' American meal! First Christmas away from family and home and I'll admit it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. 

Saigon President Palace

Dior and I visited the Reunification Palace in Ho Chi Minh City. Built by the French as a presidential palace (we call it the Saigon White House) its story that most impacted us was of a North Vietnam tank crashing through its gates on April 30, 1975. This moment symbolically marked the of the end of South Vietnam's government.

Dior in front of the Palace

Presidential sitting room with office behind it.. you can see the Presidents desk chair behind the real ivory tusks!

Presidents living area, with garden.

Looking out from the balcony where many Presidential photos were taken.

Elephant feet given as a gift to the President

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The tank that "ended" the war

Meet the Heat!

Water puppet show in Ho Chi Minh City

 Dior and I visited a water puppet  show that was like nothing I'd ever seen before. The puppet strings are under water so you cant see them. The fish puppets dive in an out of the water and little boat puppets roam the waters. It was a really sweet show that I'm glad we visited on one of our first sightseeing nights :)

Life size puppet

 After the water puppet show we went out to dinner. Each table has a small stove with boiling broth and you order the raw ingredients that you would like to put in to your broth. The soup cooks right at your table!

We went out for drinks and dancing with Dior's teammate David and his girlfriend Christian. Ended up meeting the manager of Blanches bar from Brasil! My new favorite night spot :)

Finally we were able to see the stadium and meet the entire team and staff at the Meet the Heat Fan Night! We had a great time and took plenty of pictures. So nice to see the true fans of the Saigon Heat.