Dear Friends,
It's close to noon here in Asia 10pm your time. For those of you that don't know, I am going to Asia for 6 weeks for my last pharmacy school rotation. I will be spending the majority of my time in Vietnam, but Taiwan and Cambodia is also on the docket. My main objectives professionally are to help implement therapeutic drug monitoring for certain antibiotics in hospitals as well as explore the differences in pharmacy education systems and healthcare.
My journey is only beginning but boy do I have stories for ya'll. I've been too exhausted to blog even though there is so many stories to tell because it is 97 degrees today...and for the rest of the week. So this blog is gonna be pretty detailed but it's because I know there is at least a few people that really wanna read all about it! I mean like 24 hours in this country, and my purse has already been snatched! Read on for juicy details!
So after a full day of rotations, I picked up my "delivery" :) of guitar songs by Chris and he took me to the airport.
As soon as I flew to SJC to meet up with my parents (did I mention are coming with me!?! :D) I had to pick up a boba. Naturally. JPham style.
So my mom bought me this luggage for carry-on. Turns out, my grandma is literally 100 years old. The last time I was in the country was right after high school graduation when I was 16. Its been 8 years! This is gonna be a great graduation picture.
No judging ya'll! I look like a pumpkin in my passport picture! There was a time I was a little big bigger. It's all good, here's another picture of me at SFO ready to go!
Goodbyes to Daniel and Uncle Henry for taking us to the airport. Enjoy your Misfitshine Daniel! Happy early birthday and graduation!
During the 15 hours of flight, dad and I both watched Frozen and 12 years a slave. My mom managed to play through Frozen 3 times. She feel asleep at "Do you wanna build a snowman" all 3 times. Never made it past it. Dad was like, hahaha, Anna met Kris. Just like your Chris.
We made it to the Taipei Taoyuan Int'l airport in Taiwan. So, we did yoga in the lounge as a stretch break to prevent DVT. Dad did his pushups. It was kinda awesome. My parents both know Chaturanga Dandasana now. Look at my momma's eagle pose! Now you know where I get my flexibility from. Namaste. :)
So 3 hours of flight later, I land in Ho Chi Minh City Tan Son Nhat Airport and it's freaking hot. I mean even with the A/C in the airport. So I was greeted at the first stop which is the passport check. Took me like an hour. No big deal, met some Brits that know of London Grammar so all is kosher. Came out to the sweltering weather to a whole bunch of Phamily picking us up!
Went straight home to see grandma, I opted for hopping onto my cousin's moped. Too fun! The city is a bit cleaner, streets paved better, and less trash than what I remember from 8 years ago.
We surprised grandma! She did not see this coming at all! Not surprisingly she didn't recognize me immediately but this 100 year old woman is completely lucid! She's sassy too! Not only is she sassy but she is progressive in her thinking. She immediately asked if I had a boyfriend, when responded "maybe but he doesn't speak Vietnamese", she says, "I don't care, as long as you're okay with him." That is hard to find! Even in the "progressive" states!
So after all the relatives left and things died down, we went over to the condo which is roughly 45 minutes away via moped that's far! Gorgeous cute little thing but it is no where near live-in ready. It's still dusty from certain upgrades we were doing so physical labor ensued in 97 degree jetlagged heat. Not okay, but worth it! We walked along the Saigon river that the condo overlooks. Thank goodness for some breeze there.
Okay, so theres not going to be a lot of pictures and videos form here on out for a very strong reason. Pursesnatched remember? On the way home (45 minute ride) I had a totebag between me and my dad and this random dude zoomed by and snatched it! Welcome to Saigon sucker. So lesson learned. From the second I stepped foot into the city, I've been begging dad to let me ride my own moped to school etc. I rescind my request wholeheartedly! Oh the best part of the story, the tote bag had nothing in it but other totebags! Karma!!! :) :) :) Best win ever!
Sidebar: Uncles tell me that in certain cases after purse snatches or thefts, if what was stolen was invaluable, they'll come back, find you, and harass you (yelling, slapping) etc. What the heck? Culture Shock!
End of Day 1. Came home and passed the heck out, suffered terribly because I was fighting jetlag. The end.
Too tired to blog about day 2 good night friends! :) Let me know if you're curious about anything here!
motorcycles > mopeds
ReplyDeletedon't you forget!