Pearce's Birthday

Even though we celebrated Pearce's birthday in Hawaii, when it came to his actual birthday on June 9, we decided to throw a little family party for him. The festivities started at lunch at the Annam cafe and bakery in downtown Saigon. Pearce got to pick out four cup cakes because he was turning four. We figured this would take care of his birthday cake needs.

Double Chocolate, Red Velvet Creme, Lemon Merange, and Rasberry Vanilla.

Pearce dusting off his first cup cake, chocolate of course.

Later in the afternoon, one of Eric's friends (Duy) brought over an entire birthday cake. This was cake #2.

Blowing out his four candles.

Then, after dinner the staff at our apartment brought Pearce a birthday surprise. Cake #3.



The card they gave with the cake. I really like the line about him being taller. What, after three days since first meeting?

That night, we took Pearce bowling for his first time. He loved it.

They didn't have bowling shoes for kids, but they did have bowling balls.

His first roll!

Pearce cooling off in the air vent. This lasted 10 minutes, and came with all sorts of re-enactments of superhero wind-in-the-hair moments.


Bowling montage.

Bowling with my baby bump 20 weeks and 3 days.

Eric bringing the thunder.


Pearce scored a 38!

In sum, bowling was a blast here. No smoking. Clean. Fresh fruit smoothies. Only $5 for all of us to play two games each. Across the street. Best of all, we actually got to bowl. Whenever we've tried in Hawaii, it's either a four-hour wait, or there's a tournament going on. I think this may turn into a favorite family activity in Vietnam.

Breakfast of Champions

Every morning we go down to the Basilico Restaurant for our breakfast. Vietnam is big into fresh juices, from watermelon to mango. I have never been an orange juice drinker but I have been here. I drink a full glass every morning. Maybe because it's freshly squeezed. Or maybe because the baby loves it.

There are 5 choices of what to have, but 90% of the time, Eric chooses Phở (beef noodle soup), Vietnam's staple dish. He explained that he chooses pho so often here because he never gets to eat it in the States because of all the MSG U.S. restaurants use (he gets headaches about 30 seconds after his first sip of pho at home). Here, it's all fresh ingredients. No MSG. I love how big the bowl has to be.

Pearce often chooses eggs, but only because he likes to dip his toast in the yoke. Only until recently were we able to convince him that the rest of the egg also has value. We used the argument that boxers, and of course super heroes, eat tons of eggs because they build muscle so quickly. Predictably, after he eats his eggs now, he rolls his sleeve up and stares at his bicep for several minutes. Then he gets out of his chair and jumps a few times to make sure his vertical increased. He pretty much attributes all new feats of strength to the egg.

I am always preaching good communication to Pearce. I tell him the more exact in what you ask for, the better your chance of getting what you want. So he took it to heart and orders his breakfast everyday like this:

Pearce: "I would like milk in a glass with a straw, cereal with raisins in a bowl, honey for my cereal, milk for the cereal, toast with jam, strawberry yogurt in a bowl. And a spoon".

If we, including any of the servers, laugh during his very explicit instructions, he becomes hurtfully angry, and insists to us that "it's not funny. I'm being serious." Now we all have to try our hardest to keep a straight face.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh City, which is still called Saigon by everyone but the reddest of commies, will be our home for the next three months. Officially, 6 million people live here. Unofficially, it's closer to 10 million. Whatever the real number is, it doesn't change the fact that this place is huge and getting huger by the minute. There are 19 urban districts, but the population is booming so fast that officials have to add a district every year.

Saigon is located in Southern Vietnam just north of the Mekong Delta.. We've been lucky enough to see just about all of Vietnam over the years: Sapa, Hanoi, Halong Bay, Danang, Hoi An, Da Lat, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, the Central Highlands, and the Mekong Delta. Every part of Vietnam is so different and, so far, beautiful.

We'll be staying at the Intercontinental's Asiana Saigon service apartments in District 1. District 1 is the heart of Saigon and, really, the heart of the whole country. Especially when it comes to making money. There is a never ending supply of restaurants and shopping as well as several points of interest like the Opera House, Notre Dame Cathedral, History Muesums, Art Galleries, Antiquities, the Reunification Palace and several hotels and restaurants made famous during the Vietnam War here. This is not the Vietnam of Oliver Stone, where tiny pajama-clad peasants scamper around in rice paddies with their conical hats and buffalo. Try Prada-clad millionaires ordering their chauffeur to take them from the Hyatt Spa to Louis Vutton in their Porsche Cayenne. To sum up, the heat is on in Saigon and business is booming.

The outside of the Intercontinental Residences. The building in the left corner is the Intercontinental Hotel.

This is the whole complex with the Intercontinental Hotel building, the Residence building and the office building connected by a high end two story mall in the middle of the buildings.

Pictures of our Apartment.

The Kitchen.

The dining area.

The living room.

The view from the couch, and entertainment center equipped with surround sound.

The view from our balcony.

The hallway leading to the laundry room, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The whole apartment is covered in hardwood floors.

Down the hall first door on your right, Pearce's room.

Pearce's closet.

From the hallway on the left side is a washer/dryer. A very SLOW washer/dryer, but a washer/dryer nonetheless.

The second door on the left is a bathroom.


With a shower.

At the end of the hall, the master bedroom with a desk.

Wall to wall closets and a flat screen on the left wall.

Master bathroom.

The tub. One of the most comfortable tubs ever.

The toilet and shower.

Special features we love about this apartment.

Daily Maid service. They do everything from changing sheets to dishes. Bliss for a pregnant girl. But don't worry, they haven't totally kept me from being a clean freak. I don't know if they were just angling for a phat tip, but yesterday they told me we were their favorite residence to service because it's always so clean.

Touch lamps with three settings of light so you don't have to look for a switch. Pearce was the first to discover this feature. It took him about 5 seconds.

Toilets that close quietly and automatily by itself after use. Usually in the middle of the night Pearce uses the toilet with a bang bang of the toilet seat and lid waking us up, but not here.

The do not disturb button.

Warding off outsiders.

A shower that feels like a rainy day.

Another option for showering. This is great for Pearce. His showers usually last 30 minutes, most of which is spent pretending the shower head is a weapon.

A shower that gives you the exact temperature every time.

Laundry guy who picks it up and drops it off the next day neatly cleaned, ironed, and folded. This may be one of the best features.

This is a common service since using the washer/dryer takes 4hrs for a small load and costs twice as much in electricity.

The residences make life very very convenient. On the third floor, a fitness center, swimming pool and a play room for kids. On the second floor, a lounge/library and computer center. On the main floor, a very small grocery store and a restaurant. Attached is a high end mall that the hotel is also attached to with restaurants and a spa. In sum, it's so convenient that it's going to make Hawaii tough to adjust back to.

The fitness center.

One of two pools.

Pearce at the other pool.

Pearce checking out the playroom.

The bathroom in the playroom has this little frog toilet. I love this.

The restaurant "Basilico" serves Italian, Western and Vietnamese food. We eat breakfast here every morning.

Also, serving hot stone oven pizzas. Pearce's favorite.

A big thank you to the Embassy's travel coordinator, Quan, for once again finding us the best apartment in town. You've got great taste. Our taste.

Manila

En route to Vietnam, we stopped in Manila for an overnight layover, which helps with the jet lag and breaking up what could of been 14 hours straight on a plane verses 11 hours from Hawaii and 3 from Manila. Much better on a pregnant girl. We didn't do much but sleep, shower and eat. Oh and check out one of the many mega malls, which Manila is so known for. I think this was Gloria 5 or something like that. Anyway, it was conveniently located across form our hotel.

The Intercontinental Manila.

At the Manila airport waiting for our flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Pearce always finds ways to entertain himself.

Pearce plays with his belly.

Pearce pretending to be a character from one of Connors PlayStation games called Infamous who has lightning coming out of his hands. He was in this mode for about 30 minutes.

Pearce entertaining himself for several hours in the airport.

My baby bump is 5 months and 1 week.