Fixed my Flipflops

As previously promised here are pictures of Natasha's school, before and after. Amazing for less than two weeks of work:
It's no Extreme Makover, but pretty damn impressive.
The opening last night went well. An interesting mix of upper class families with their kids and Couchsurfers who Natasha had invited. She had the event well catered, you couldn't blink after your last sip before someone is there with a fresh glass of wine for you. I munched on cheese and quiche while a Vietnamese guy from Hanoi, who was now the school's dance teacher, proceeded to blow me away with how well he spoke Russian[better than me, I have to admit. He even noted that my accent wasn't Ukranian but American].
After I left the party I went to have dinner with Daphne at this cool little restaurant called Bi Saigon. The menu was massive, I'd argue ambitiously so, considering how small the place and its kitchen were. There was a lot of international cuisine, all fairly cheap, and they had a good drink and dessert menu to match. Eating the seafood in this country, I don't think I'll ever be able to eat seafood that isn't fresh again. Ohio's best sushi spots don't come in the ballpark.
The meal did end up costing a bit more than advertised though, because when we went out to my bike we found my spare helmet was missing. Not that big of a deal, it was a 'fake' helmet I bought so that both my passenger and myself could be street legal. Only cost 60,000VND[3-4USD].
This morning, Daphne and I went to Ben Than Market for breakfast and a little shopping. If you ever look inside a tourist guide for HCMC, this market will be the first thing you find. It's pretty much a warehouse where you can get everything. I mean swords, teapots, clothes shoes, fake purses, watches, artisan masks, food, snake wine, everything. We had some seafood soup and fresh ground cane juice.

Then we proceeded to get molested by every merchant we walked past. And by we I really just mean me. Daphne, being Asian, was eclipsed by the big white dollar sign walking with her. Merchants don't just call to you, they touch your arms and poke you with their merchandise and menus. One woman even stood in our path weilding crap t-shirts and tanks. Anytime we stopped to look at something the person working the stall was in our face asking, 'what do you like? very good you buy" making it uncomfortable to even consider what they had.
I did stop to buy a couple ties. I would hold one and before I could think the lady selling them was on me, insisting I should buy it. I put it down to look at others but she was in my way looking for me and pulling ugly things out to show me. I had to grab her, look her in the eyes and say, 'let me do it.' She wanted 70,000 a tie, I got two for 60,000.
Also got some nice oolong tea from Dalat[where all the shitty Viet wine comes from], but it was pretty expensive at 10USD for 100grams.



Just outside the market, I got my flipflops fixed finally for just 10,000VND. Only took two minutes and they were back on my feet, tight as ever. On the way home I noticed my horn wasn't working, so I stopped on the way to get it fixed. But I wasn't able to, because as soon as I pushed the button to show the mechanic what was wrong it was working again. Can't complain I guess.
Definitely a positive weekend, despite all the crazy rain, but it will only make my feet drag harder tomorrow morning when its back to school.
Looking forward to the weekend already.