Today has taken unexpected twists and turns that I've loved. :)
Coming home from the gym, I passed by the woven basket / furniture shop that is near my school. This little place has fun chairs that hang like half-cocoons! I have been wanting an outdoor reading chair for my balcony and figured that this shop would probably get one soon - I've seen a certain style around the city and figured it'd be a matter of time until this place got it in (the entire city is filled with the same exact things in every shop). Today I had almost passed by when I noticed the chair sitting out front! Hooray!
I stopped and agreed on a price with the girl... then it was a matter of getting it home. I gave her my address and was hoping she would be able to have the chair delivered (which isn't unusual - you can have your groceries delivered).
Then ensued a hilarious conversation of English / Vietnamese and lots of I-don't-understand-you giggles and shoulder shrugs. Finally the girl put the seat's cushion on my bike and kept saying something in Vietnamese as she started walking down the street with the chair. I thought maybe she was going to get a ride from a xe om??
I was driving slowly and checking on her every now and then... she just kept walking with this big chair over one shoulder.
When she reached my school I stopped to try and figure out once more what the plan was on getting this chair to my place. She pointed ahead and kept talking in Vietnamese... smiling and dripping with sweat from her face.
About this time - I realized that (I think) she was going to WALK the entire way to my place with that chair on her back! It would take her the better part of a day to do so.
As I realized this, I think
she realized that I was going to slooooowly cruise next to her on my bike the entire way haha... so she hopped on the back of my bike! My little Yamaha Cuxi had the seat's cushion in front, me driving, and the shop's girl on the back... carrying this big, woven chair behind her with one hand and hanging onto me with the other.
It was quite the trip home. We giggled the entire ride and my arms were SO sore... not from my morning's workout but from clenching onto the bike so hard.
We (and the bike and the chair) made it safely! Mr. Nhan was quite entertained when he saw us pull up to the front of the building.
...That was the 1st unexpected adventure of the day.
After showering, I went to pick up a dress from a neighbor... she was going to hem it for me. I stopped by to drop the dress off last night before getting the lovely pineapple-carrot juice. When I arrived, she placed a little plastic stool for me to sit on and got to work on the dress. Without measuring, she started cutting, ironing, pinning, and then sewing. The hem she made is better than the original!
Sitting on the miniature plastic stool, I kept looking around... this is her shop, her house, and her garage:
She wouldn't let me pay her anything - she was trying to say "complimentary" and actually pushed the money that I tried to hand her back towards me. She wants me to stop by again and speak English with her daughter who is trying to learn the language. This was my 2nd little, unexpected adventure for today.
I then headed into District 1 to pick up some pictures I had printed. On my drive down Hai Ba Trung I found myself driving behind this guy...
I decided that I should get a picture of him. I pass stuff like this all day, ever day... but often can't get a picture since I'm driving. I went a bit out of my way to follow this guy until we both hit a red light and I asked him if it was ok if I took a picture - he loved it! (AND I love that this picture ended up being by the Notre Dame Cathedral as you can see in the background.) Lovely unexpected adventure #3 today.
NEXT I decided that before I went to pick up the pictures I had printed, I would go to the Bitexco Financial Tower... which is the huge tower with the helicopter pad... (remember the following picture from my night with the other librarians??)...
The sky actually had some blue to it today, so I figured it would be a great day to go up to the 49th floor of this tower... the Saigon Skydeck, to get a 360-degree view of Ho Chi Minh City!
(I'm going to make a separate post for this adventure --#4-- since there are A LOT of pictures.) :)
After the Saigon Skydeck I picked up my photos and was going to head to the spa for a manicure... AND... I drove by a cart with the bananas in tapioca that I've been searching for! Hooray!
This delicious 50-cent treat is deeeeelicious!! (Redundant? - Nah.) ...#5 !!
Even my time writing postcards at the Coffee Bean surprised me in a lovely way today. :) I'm now truly a regular! Two of the workers wanted to know my name, they like my hair, and they know what I like to order. :D Sweet as... we'll count that as unexpected adventure #6.
As I left Coffee Bean the parking guy (whom I'm totally friends with) pointed to the darkening sky and, just like Mr. Nhan, said, "Mua" (rain). He had even put my helmet under the ledge to keep it from getting wet. I put my raincoat on and decided to still go by the post office on my way home... my day had been way too productive to skip it.
I love the post office. :) It was raining steadily on my way out and to the parking garage. It felt pretty awesome to walk by the tourists standing at the entrance of the post office looking out into the rain... I walked past with my scooter poncho on, paid for parking, and drove away (I LIVE HERE!). :D #7.
I bought some tofu from the market on my way home and heated it up with some leftover rice and Japanese curry - mmmmm.
All of this... and I was at my apartment before 3:00pm. I LOVE today. :)
Now I'm heading out to meet Sarah for an early Indian dinner... and then Skyping with Mom tonight to start planning their trip here in December - YAY!
