Exploring

Part of the fun of moving to a new place is learning where everything is.  You can walk to a lot of places in Saigon, but it's friggin hot.  And humid.  So a bike is the way to go.  We bought bikes from a little shop here in D2 whose owner is a CC graduate.  Very nice guy.

Go faster, Daddy!

Now that we have bikes, we have been getting out a whole lot more.  We have seats for the boys, so they aren't getting nearly as tired (read: whiney).  It's been a lot more enjoyable.  

We have been able to get out a bit farther from the temporary apartment to try different places to eat.  So far, our absolute favorite place has been Snap Cafe. The food is good though not classic Vietnamese, but the atmosphere is incredible for children!  It's a full sized play park where the kids can run around safely while mom and dad have a bia (beer).  It's seriously the best kid-friendly restaurant I have ever been to.  The only downside is that your kids will be COVERED in sand.  But I'm cool with that.

Panoramic view of Snap Cafe

Balance beam

So messy!

Both boys had a blast, but Oliver was by far the dirtiest.  We had to hose them both down as soon as we got home.  Owen had a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich, and Oliver had pasta with fresh pesto.  I had a mushroom risotto, and Derek ordered vegetarian sausages!  He was so excited to find them, but he did say that they tasted a bit different than veggies sausages back home.  After dinner, we ordered ice cream to celebrate Owen's half birthday. I had passionfruit sorbet which was amazing.  Owen had mango sorbet, also very good, and Derek got vanilla.  This is definitely a place we will be frequenting.

 We have tried a lot of restaurants and cafes, but we haven't worked up the courage to try the street vendors yet.  The sacks of yellow fluid that people are drinking still creep me out a bit, and it's hard to know what you are getting from a vendor.  We want to stay a vegetarian as possible, but it's turning out to be quite difficult.  All of the local cuisine has pork, beef, or chicken in it.  We actually get looked a pretty oddly when we order an entire meal with no meat.