Weekend in Town

Last weekend we stuck around Ho Chi Minh City, taking a break from our hectic travel schedule. Of course, the days were still packed with plenty of local adventures. The social activities kicked off with a much deserved happy hour on Friday at Nikki's work, with entertainment provided by a Wii Just Dance contest. But dancing alone wasn't enough, so the following night we gathered for our buddy Chris' karaoke-driven rooftop going away party, which ended at 3:00 AM when each remaining guest was systematically tossed in the hottub (instigated by Nikki). The theme of the party was to dress "very Vietnamese," so Nikki and I were cheesy local tourists. After a big night out, we took it easy on Sunday with a trip on the Saigon River. Chris happened to have a friend with a super-nice boat (I'm talking T-Pain style), so we cruised around sipping champagne, snapping photos, and enjoying delicious food – we were sure to bring our global elite cards!

Of course, there was some sports action as well. Nikki and I are training for some upcoming races, so we were sure to run a few miles on the treadmill (it's tough to run in the busy, exhaust-choked streets here). On Saturday, I did a 50 mile ride towards the Mekong Delta with a few buddies of mine, stopping in the tiny towns along the way to eat a steaming bowl of organ-meat soup, fix a flat tire, and have a few local beers. You had to love the local sites – huge factory in the middle of nowhere, ducks and piglets hanging off scooters, rickety wooden bridges over canals between rice fields, etc. I'm getting better at riding in traffic here (it's similar to how I imagine fish swimming in a school must feel) and navigated the streets once more on Sunday to play soccer in the blazing hot sun with my friend Dat's team (picture of me, the field, and my friend Tuoi above).

Fun and (relatively) low-key weekend; definitely nice to hang around town a bit and enjoy all of our friends here.