Jade Emperor

Jet lag is officially over! Wee.

My mother realized today that we actually had breakfast included in the hotel, so we rushed downstairs to make up for the past couple of days. I thought I'd see what it's like to have the traditional pho soup for breakfast. It was good but way too spicy to finish. My mom was just watching me in amusement with her croissant.

First we went to see the temple of Le Van Duyet then the Jade Emperor Pagoda where I took this picture at one of the alters. This was a Taoist pagoda, third religion I've witnessed since I've come here. Apparently it's the philosophy of living in harmony with the Tao (path). I like it.

Went to the history museum after and then walked through town. We came across the american embassy. Apparently they rebuilt it after the war to not remind the Vietnamese of what had happened... Well I couldn't really tell what it looked like behind the 3 meter walls with spikes.

Went swimming then to the gym. Bad choice of order I'd say; I almost passed out on the cross trainer from the heat. I should probably learn to adjust my gym routine to the environment.

In the evening, we took a cab to my sister's residence then had dinner in a japanese restaurant. Was amused by my mom struggling with chop sticks as it was the first time they didn't offer any forks or knives. First time I had to take off my shoes to eat, I had no idea they had a hole underneath the table... sneaky.