Wow.

WOW. I have a lot of 'WOW's' this time around.

Currently I am sitting in an internet Cafe in middle of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC - aka Saigon). We arrived this evening on a flight we took from Danang. Jonny, Julie and I are all still travelling together and just finished a good meal of SUSHI.

I looooooved the town of Hoi An. It was beautiful and had everything we needed. We all got our fair share of clothing tailored for us. Its a dream come true - you walk into a shop and pick exactly what you want and then you pick the material you want, how long you want it - ANYTHING.... if you're really creative you can even draw it for them and they'll whip it up. My Tailor's name was nee and she liked to slap my bum. Other that that awkwardness - she was great. They take your measurements and less than 24 hours later you go back to try it on and request alterations if you want.

A whole new world opened up to me and Julie when we discovered we can get SHOES made...WOW. Same idea as getting clothes made (any style, any colour, any special request) and they just trace your foot and WHABBAM - new shoes for 15 dollars. Its great. WOW.

So in Hoi An we spent a lot of time going from shop to shop picking out clothes. But in our time away from that we did a lot of biking around the town. We made a few trip out to the ocean - its soo quiet during the day and at night it gets packed with Vietnamese people having dinner and swimming (they don't like the sun). We had dinner on a mat in the sand with lantern... I have no idea where they cooked the food - but it was cooked, and none of us got sick - WOW.

I have also found that travelling during the World Cup is a TON of fun. It brings the whole world together.. much like the Olympics.... travelling with an Aussie - we were obliged to sit down and watch AUS versus Japan the other night. It was my first time watching a whole entire 'football' match... and it was soo much fun (if you saw the game... you will know what I mean - a great finish - Jonny was a very happy man). So now that I'm an official football fan, and Canada is nowhere to be seen - I'll deem myself an Aussie fan. I hope they win the whole thing. I might have to get a jersey for their next game against Brazil on the 18th.....

So here's the big WOW: On our way to the airport we all hopped in a cab that our hotel arranged for us. Within the first 5 minutes our cabbie was asking us where we were from. When Jonny said 'Australia' the cabbie got soo excited over this fact (and the whole world cup victory over Japan) that we hit a 75 year old man who was sweeping the side of the street. Yes, that right, you read correctly, WE HIT A 75 YEAR OLD MAN WITH OUR CAB ON THE WAY TO THE AIRPORT. Now I don't mean like a head on, he went over the winshield sorta deal... but there was a definite connection between car and flesh... we kinda clipped him. I was in shock. We actually hit a guy. WOW. So the cab driver stops (I didn't think he would) gets out to check on him, and the old man is OK. AMAZING. I hope he's not sore when he wakes up tomorrow.

Oh yeah.. in the airport.. we ran into Mark.... from Ireland (see previous blog entries).. he used to live here for 3 years.. so he knows ALL the 'ins' and 'outs' of HCMC. Its great having him around... he gets all the local prices, speaks the language, and knows exactly where to go. Tomorrow he promises a GOOD lunch - I'm pretty excited.

Well, that's is all for now. I don't think we will phone those pilots. I guess we will see. I will take into consideration that I have been advised by 2 parents not to. TL.