This is Phương (that's my scarf and we're just playing around. She doesn't normaly wear that). We became friends very recently as she is a cousin of my friend Oanh. Our languages are both very poor and we've spent most of our friendship in silence. One day I thought she was coming to pick me up, so I waited for her, helmet in hand. She came and parker her motorbike and we walked up to my apartment. And we just hung out. I have no idea where the miscommunication occurred.
One day last week, she invited me to go to a pagoda with her family. I had no idea that it was going to be an all day affair. We ended up driving on the motorbike for four or five hours that day. I always thought being on a motorbike that long would be awesome. But my butt disagrees.
Anyway, we met up with her family and then we all covered from head to toe in jackets, masks, gloves, you name it. Her little sister here (Who was ADORABLE and was handed to me often) is wearing a net, and she sat in her mothers' lap and was covered by another hat, a helmet, and shaded by another jacket.
Her family was so generous with me. And so sweet, though we hardly talked at all. Phương's mother. When we got to the Pagoda, everyone parked and walked through a alleyway crowded with vendors. I felt like we were making a pilgrimage to Mecca. When we arrived, people were everywhere. Apparently, many many people make this trip at the first of the Lunar New Year to pray for happiness, wealth, luck, prosperity. The celing was low and the lighting was only what came in from the open walls around the outside. They asked me to go around and pray with them, and when I politely declined, they kind of looked at me like, "Then why did you come?" and then told me to wait. Incense was burning everywhere. It was seriously hard to breathe in there. People were crying, and I couldn't tell if it was because they were sad or because their eyes were burning.
I didn't take any pictures at the Pagoda because I didn't know if that was ok. People moving about everywhere. The smoke everywhere with different beams of light shining through. Some kind of ornamentation everywhere. Vendors exploiting-- er, I mean selling all types of religious paraphernalia. It really was a sight I'll never forget. Though I won't mind if I never go again.
Here is a cemetary that we passed on the way home.
There was a pile of trash being burned and the smoke seemed to never end. I took a picture when we first passed the fire (it was blurry), and someone came running up yelling in Vietnamese and we pulled over the motorbike. I thought I was in TROUBLE! But it turned out just to be friends of Phương's andthey were just pointing to me because I was an American.
So, we took pictures.
A motorbike carrying bread leaned over a little too far. My mother adjusted well to Vietnamese culture and watched it play out, taking this picture.
We went to the zoo in HCMC. It's just like other zooz I guess. Maybe smaller cages though because I got to see the tigers, lions, and bears in a zoo for the first time.
These girls wanted their picture taken with the birds. And then with me. I was ready to run after them stealing my camera, because why would they want a picture with me, with MY camera?? One girl took out a phone and got a picture too though. And they didn't steal my camera...
One day, we took the over-night sleeper bus to Nha Trang, a beach about eight hours north. It was really beautiful.
We rented bikes and rode around.
Then Mom's chain fell off and we stopped to get it fixed. He fized the chain, but it was too old, so he went to buy a new one. We were there for about an hour, and the boy charged me a little over $3.50. 
Then we went to eat. Please notice, "Fishes that threw off it's skin." We didn't eat it though. Maybe we should have...
We took one of the world's longest cable cars over the ocean to VinPearl Water Park. 
We ate hotpot a couple of nights in a row. That is where they put the electric cooker on the table and bring out the raw meat and vegetable for you to cook in the broth at your own pace. I looked up for one picture and snap-crackle pop out of my finger. So, here, I'm just holding the noodles.
Took another bus to Dà Lạt, a city in the mountains. We didn't have much time here, but we took a car to a place to rent a jeep and driver, and he took us to the top.
I've already complained enough about how much we got ripped off on that trip, so I won't say any more about it. But here I am forking out more money.
But it really was beautiful at the top.
We came back to HCMC just in time for the New Years Eve Celebrations. We got to eat the traditional Tết meal with one of my friends and then another friend brought gifts over for me and my mom. Later, we went to the roof for the fireworks. One of my friends, Trinh, was up there and we took a lot of pictures, but this one has both of us, AND sort of a firework, so the only successful picture...
I wish I had planned better for you. I wish I was better at being a tourist and not as good at being a big whiny baby.
I was so pleased that you got to experience some of my district and friends here. THAT is Vietnam to me. 
I really did forget what is was like to see Vietnam for the first time. I completely forgot how long it took to adjust, and add that on to my unsympathetic personality: I was such a jerk. I hope that seeing the smiles in the pictures will make you forget about my 10 day tantrum..
I will never forget that you both came to visit me in Vietnam.
Tính, Dăng, me, Mary, Tuan, Linh, Erica, and Tú is taking the picture
The cake was really light (like the one we had in Taiwan, Laura) and at some point, someone dared someone to eat one of the bears on the cake made out of icing.
It's a bear. Do you see it? The brown on the head are the ears, not eyes. I don't know what kind of bear they were going for...
The boys took us home and we kept the rest of the huge cake, though we managed to give a piece to almost every security guard on duty.