A portrait of my uncle, the oldest of 10 children.

"Get on the motorbike!"
"Are you sure?"
"I take my wife to the market every morning on this!"
I put my helmet, give him my bag, and get on.
"Isn't this great!? I'm 82, but I'm still having fun! Make sure you're always having fun!" he shouts over his shoulder as we drive through a dry dirt road to his house. 

I came here for the pigs

My first post in Vietnam and this is what I came up with!? I couldn't contain my excitement when my aunt took me to her backyard. I have to say, pigs don't really "oink" and I wonder where the origin of that sound came from. They snort. Below are images from my visit to the countryside. Captions included.

The entire time, I thought of babe and the three little pigs. But look at these 3. Poor pink one.

She is so big, almost the size of a donkey! She's the mother to these cute little ones below.

Hi! They make me smile. 

Passport, Visa, Debit Card

I am half way there with my packing. As in the first half are the essential time sensitive items I had to have to even start my short travel. And I got that done pretty early! A week prior! Yes! The second half will be done before I leave the airport, I swear.  

Passport Good to go! I have a few more years until it's expired.

Visa That pink slip is a loose leaf visa. In other words, I didn't want to mail in my passport and risk losing it, so I opted for this visa, which sadly will be taken away when I leave Vietnam. Since I didn't live near the embassy, I went through a travel agent. Since mine is a three month multiple visa, it was $160. I saved $10 because I was born in Vietnam. Who decided this?

My other option was to get a visa on arrival. You apply online at any reputable visa website, pay the fees, get a pre approval letter, and when you land at either Ho Chi Minh or Hanoi, you will get a stamp. However, the process can take 15 minutes to hours. I couldn't risk that either because I had a connecting flight. The visa on arrival is about $30 dollars cheaper.

Debit Card I can't imagine carrying around thousands of dollars especially in humid weather. After researching, it was unanimous from expats and travelers loved the Charles Schwab platinum debit card.  There are no fees! This means I can use any ATM machine, and if it charges me, Charles Schwab will reimburse the fees within 24 hours. It works domestically and internationally. It's $5 or more every time you withdraw money, and that will obviously add up. I can get five bowls of pho instead!

Signing up for it wasn't as easy as other banks, which is good because it deters people from actually completing the process. Like most banks, you can apply online. During the application, they will also have you open a brokerage account. Do not be alarmed, there is no minimum requirement and you can just leave this empty. However, you won't receive your card until you deposit money into your checking account.

Because it's your first time, you can't simply transfer money from your other bank account. You have to mail in a form! I don't think many people even know how that is done. Luckily for me, I had a Charles Schwab bank near by so I went in there and had them do it for me. A few days later, you'll receive a lot of mail, like 5, from Charles Schwab and none of it will be your card! Just pamphlets and important information about your new account. Finally, in less than a week, you will receive a white envelope with no mentioning of Charles Schwab anywhere but you can already feel the card! I was overjoyed when it arrived, just in time for my trip.

I am a travel agent

8 hours and a few minutes later, my credit card bill quadrupled.

The purchase was impulsive (contemplated for 2 weeks, confirmed in 3, and purchased the next morning, after 8 intensive hours of research).

The results surprised me. At first, I was looking for the cheapest price. I also had to fly into Hue. So, I used Kayak, and within in minutes, found a great deal. However, I realized that it was powered through  vayama, and I have never used the website before. I researched it, and it got mixed reviews. Before confirmation, they had some change policy and that worried me. I could have booked it and finished everything in 10 minutes, but I was not happy with it.

So, I decided to hunt on my own mimicking the itinerary given to me by Kayak. I then researched which way was better for purchasing tickets: direct airline or third party. I don't know why I even looked it up, because it really all depends and it's best to look into both.

I proceeded to Korean Air and searched the same times. The price was about 100 dollars more than Kayak's. But with this, I had to also look into getting a flight to Hue.

I checked Kayak for flights to Hue either at Hanoi or HCMC. Both were around $200 one way. That's so expensive! I went to Jetstar with no luck.

The only way to get to Hue was through Vietnam Airlines.

I then went to VA, and to my surprise, the tickets are significantly cheaper when you click on "Vietnam/English" as the country. They had 4 schedule flights daily to Hue, and prices ranged from $80-$40! However, the days were limited. So I used this to determine what day I should depart.

Since I had an estimated departure and return date, I searched through my favorite websites including STA, Student Universe, Orbitz, Expedia, Bing. That was time consuming. But it gave me a great picture of what I should expect in terms of arrival time and layovers.

United had really cheap flights, less than $1000! However, they all arrive to HCMC around 1AM. And there was no way I would stay at the airport overnight and wait for the next flight. I had to remember that a relative was picking me up, and I would not want her to go at such an inconvenient time. I eliminated United.

Korean Air had decent prices, with a 10+ layover at ICN. Of course, I was excited about this! After a long trip, I can take the subway to Seoul, jim chil bang, nap, relax, and meet up with a friend for AYCEBBQ, how great is that!?

Another option was an 8 hour layover in Taipei. Again, I got excited. Yeah, I would venture out just for some boba and food. But I researched China Airlines, and though it is fine now, it had a bad reputation a few years back. I didn't want to read into it, but a plane did crash and killed all the passengers... But that was a rare case. And they say flying is safer than driving, yet I'm always attentive during emergency procedures, even if it's the same every time.

And at this point (about 5 hours later), I panicked and thought "No, I can't do this. I will die. The plane will crash. OH MY GOODNESS, AMERICA is nice. I like my bed! I like my smart phone. I like wearing boots and clothes!"

It was 3am. I heard my mom wake up to use the restroom and I turned off the lights and pretended to go to sleep. I woke up at 11am.

I decided to book a flight with a layover in Taipei. I've never been, and spending 3 hours in the city is enough for me. Also, a pal of mine is currently there so I can meet up with her also.

I went directly to China Airlines because they had more options for departure times. Also, they and a lot of the Asian airlines only had it in military time, so this website was a lifesaver. The second step required that I put in a contact number from someone in Vietnam. My dad wasn't home, so that meant I had to wait until later to book it.

No.

I decided to book through SU or STA, because they had better results, and I've booked an international flight with them before. Upon more searching, Japan Airlines popped up. 14 hour layover! And the time was great, morning until night. I started imagining myself in Tokyo for the whole day. How great would that be!? But... the arrival time in HCMC did not work out. It was too late.

Back to the Taipei/Chinese Airlines plan.

I went back to STA. The flight I wanted was gone. The remaining flights had a layover in Taipei, but it was overnight. WHY? WHY!

Finally, after altering my return date (arrival date I had to keep because VA only had specific days), I booked my tickets. One layover in Taipei for 8 hours in the morning to afternoon. On my return flight, another 8 hour layover, from the afternoon to late evening. 3 hours wait time in HCMC (perfect to get my Visa on arrival), and a convenient time for my relative to pick me up. Perfect.

A short of list of things I shoulda coulda woulda packed

1) My passport Obviously, right? But then again I wasn't planning on telling my parents that I was leaving. Asking my dad to hand me over the passport is suspicious. Where are you going, he'll ask me. And so, I realized that since I'll be traveling within the U.S., a passport is unnecessary. And I am dumb to have left it there because having my brother FedEx it to me costed thirty dollars. That to me is practically my week's worth of food! Always bring your passport because you'll need it when you have a job. Hello.
2) Running shoes I know I fake it. I don't exercise but I do own a pair of Nike's running shoes. I sometimes dress up, ready for the gym, and I end up watching Glee on Hulu and constantly trying to keep a straight posture. But I should have brought them here, where the scenery is amazing! And I have no excuses. Back home I lived three blocks from the park. Here, I live less than two blocks from THE park (Central Park if you haven't figured that out already). And running always makes me feel good. I never regret it.
3) Books If you know me, I love to buy used books. I love to read especially when I get the chance. I never had a chance in LA. I do now! My subway ride to work is approximately 30 minutes, and in those thirty minutes, I watch others on the subway read. I saw one very pretty young blond girl reading Lord of the Rings! It's the best opportunity read my favorite book, in front of all the strangers.
4) Headphones Nevermind. I'd rather listen to the hustle and bustle of the city.