Uncle Bob comes to Saigon!! -- My FIRST visitor :)

My Uncle Bob was in Taipei for work recently and made the trip over to Saigon to see me.

It was GREAT to see this city through my uncle's eyes... it re-energized me, gave me renewed patience, and let me realize once more how cool it is that I'm living in Vietnam!

The upcoming posts will be of my time with my Uncle Bob - we really packed in the activities during his short trip!

I love that he was up for anything... he loved trying the local food as well as going to a great expat restaurant... he loved riding on the back of a xe om through crazy traffic... and even loved just simply walking around my neighborhood.

His last morning here, my Uncle Bob was friends enough with the local xe om driver that he set up a ride for both of us to breakfast. When I walked down the street later that morning to pick him up from the hotel, the xe om driver was flagging me down and we then played a game of charades:

Xe om driver: Pretends to be a tall man and stokes his imaginary beard...

                      Then he holds both hands out as if driving a motrbike...

                      And finally, he points to me, points to the spot on the ground where we're standing, and then points to the non-existent watch on his wrist and holds up 8 fingers.

I smile, laugh, and say, "Yes! We will be back at 8:00am for you to give us a ride to breakfast!

Haha... when I saw my Uncle Bob we laughed over the relayed message... but it was perfect! AND I love that he's made friends in my neighborhood!

I'm pretty sure we were the talk of my neighborhood... that the red-headed American girl had family in town!
  

Uncle Bob's first hour in Saigon... and he's already a local!

The Notre Dame Cathedral and the post office were two of the first places we went.

We also went by the Benh Thanh Market and the Opera House.

Then we went to Pho 24 for lunch... sat outside on the patio and ate big bowls of pho... perrrrfect.

While walking around District 1, we decided to stop in and try out a fish massage!

We also randomly decided to go by the Bitexco Tower to enjoy the 

360-degree view from the 39th floor.

Seriously??                              Seriously.

Uncle Bob surprised me with this beautiful orchid!! It now hangs in my garden area, just outside my living room / kitchen window. I love it.  :)  Cam on Uncle Bob!

We went into a shop selling crocodile purses. 

(And they had an entire crocodile pinned up on the wall.)

 

Uncle Bob's first night in Saigon, we went to Shri for dinner - a beautiful restaurant on the 23rd flood of a building in District 1. The food was great, the view was great... AND the quietness was great. Being so high up, even though we sat outside, it was comfortably cool and surprisingly quiet.