I came here for the pigs

My first post in Vietnam and this is what I came up with!? I couldn't contain my excitement when my aunt took me to her backyard. I have to say, pigs don't really "oink" and I wonder where the origin of that sound came from. They snort. Below are images from my visit to the countryside. Captions included.

The entire time, I thought of babe and the three little pigs. But look at these 3. Poor pink one.

She is so big, almost the size of a donkey! She's the mother to these cute little ones below.

Hi! They make me smile. 

Packing and Flying

My dad looking as cool as a cucumber packing the gifts aka joint medicine for his brothers and sisters

I can't read any of this. 

Ziploc bags aren't just for sandwiches and hot cheetos. All my clothes.

Accomplished.

My friends.

I fear flying. I wish buckling my seatbelt meant I'll be transported to the final destination. Click it and I am there. Really, someone please invent that. The first step is to land safely. After that, I can worry about the other unprepared unplanned events I have waiting for me.

In 14 hours I will be in Taiwan. In 14 hours I will be in Hue.

If anything happens, know that I love all of you! I am freaking myself out. Please please let there be a second post after this!

Merry Pi Day

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It keeps going

Baccali's Cafe & Rotisserie

Before I venture off, I had to test my brother's camera because I'll be using it due to the film option, which I don't have with mine. It works alright with some post production!

245 W Valley Blvd Alhambra, CA 91801 between Garfield and Atlantic. There is a private parking lot, but it gets crowded during dinner time. The security guard there likes to stand around and play with his phone.

I dislike options, or too many options. The menu ranged from Chinese dishes to Malaysian to American. If your friends can't decide what to eat, and don't want to spend too much money, Baccali's is a good option.

I think this is House Chow Mein. I don't know my noodles. I am so used to Panda Express chow mein so I compare everything to that. Delicious either way. 

No one actually eats the entire dish right? We share!

Thanks to Peter (who never reads this blog) for introducing me to this dish: Indonesia Fried Rice. You get the fried rice with a fried egg, Asian crackers, and beef and chicken kebabs with sauce on the side. $8.99!

Free refills on most drinks, like thai iced tea for $2.75

Not Asian looking at all, except the people.

Walt Whitman on what we should do

Taken in Whitman's first floor sitting room in his Camden home / Alderman Library, University of Virginia

“This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.” 

Passport, Visa, Debit Card

I am half way there with my packing. As in the first half are the essential time sensitive items I had to have to even start my short travel. And I got that done pretty early! A week prior! Yes! The second half will be done before I leave the airport, I swear.  

Passport Good to go! I have a few more years until it's expired.

Visa That pink slip is a loose leaf visa. In other words, I didn't want to mail in my passport and risk losing it, so I opted for this visa, which sadly will be taken away when I leave Vietnam. Since I didn't live near the embassy, I went through a travel agent. Since mine is a three month multiple visa, it was $160. I saved $10 because I was born in Vietnam. Who decided this?

My other option was to get a visa on arrival. You apply online at any reputable visa website, pay the fees, get a pre approval letter, and when you land at either Ho Chi Minh or Hanoi, you will get a stamp. However, the process can take 15 minutes to hours. I couldn't risk that either because I had a connecting flight. The visa on arrival is about $30 dollars cheaper.

Debit Card I can't imagine carrying around thousands of dollars especially in humid weather. After researching, it was unanimous from expats and travelers loved the Charles Schwab platinum debit card.  There are no fees! This means I can use any ATM machine, and if it charges me, Charles Schwab will reimburse the fees within 24 hours. It works domestically and internationally. It's $5 or more every time you withdraw money, and that will obviously add up. I can get five bowls of pho instead!

Signing up for it wasn't as easy as other banks, which is good because it deters people from actually completing the process. Like most banks, you can apply online. During the application, they will also have you open a brokerage account. Do not be alarmed, there is no minimum requirement and you can just leave this empty. However, you won't receive your card until you deposit money into your checking account.

Because it's your first time, you can't simply transfer money from your other bank account. You have to mail in a form! I don't think many people even know how that is done. Luckily for me, I had a Charles Schwab bank near by so I went in there and had them do it for me. A few days later, you'll receive a lot of mail, like 5, from Charles Schwab and none of it will be your card! Just pamphlets and important information about your new account. Finally, in less than a week, you will receive a white envelope with no mentioning of Charles Schwab anywhere but you can already feel the card! I was overjoyed when it arrived, just in time for my trip.

Detour

I became one with the bushes

Two people

Under the tunnel over the barricade into the woods

My favorite. It's a scene from a movie that hasn't been made

Self 

The opposite of smiling

The fountain head

Explorer

Dog sitting a dog

Camel

Got Art, Toys R Us

Group Photo

Location: Topanga Canyon and Malibu