Five Star

Yay, we got to sleep in today! And by that I mean I still woke up at 7 like usual. So after packing up some things I won't use for the next couple days, I made sure my roommates were awake for breakfast that ended at 9. After a quick meal, we left the hotel around 10 for our next stop, another hotel.

Only this one was 5 stars and the first one to exist in Vietnam. We took a quick tour of the amazing pool and terrace garden and then it was time for cooking class.  Which was more making the food since the sous chef had already done all of the prep work beforehand. We ended up making spring rolls and fried spring rolls which we proceeded to eat after making. When the class was complete it was officially lunch time.

Buffet style in a 5 star kitchen. There were desserts galore, sushi, fried chicken, salad, cheese, Vietnamese foods, and did I mention desserts? All of it tasted delicious (or all that I could eat at least). Plate after plate I finished the meal off with a cheese platter and a cup of tea and it was perfection. Sadly, reality came back quickly and it was back into the heat for our site visit. 

The Saigon Newport Corporation is a Navy run shipping/storage company. We were given a nice long briefing with a Q&A following, and then a tour of the navagation tower. From the tower, I could see every shipping container. Now this isn't a business that fascinates me, but even I had to admit that this was pretty cool. In the distance you could see the containers being picked up and placed in a different location. The thing that does amaze me about this is how does such a heavy container get transported so effortlessly? Yet it happens anyway, and we were going to get a grounds your but do to time and clearance, it fell through. 

When we reached the hotel, we changed quickly and all but ran to the Ben Thanh Market where we shopped inside before it shut down to move outside. Once it did so only a few of us stayed (we HAVE to find souvenirs) and it turned out to be a pretty productive time. Vy took us to a small place for a quick bite to eat where I had a delicious papya salad. After the refreshing meal, we head back to the market where we stayed until after 9 P.M. I was so tired when I got back to the hotel that I just wanted to call it a night, but a group was going to DQ and I couldn't miss out of that (these places are always better in other countries). Now after that trip, I did get back, clean up and fall asleep fairly early once again.