Visitors!

Yay! Our first visitors have arrived!  Mum and dad hit the ground running on Tuesday night and have had a fantastic 24hrs so far in Saigon.  The poor things had been up for 22 hrs by the time they got to bed here so were pretty tired (understatement). The flights went fine, particularly as they were a bit nervous about the transit in Singapore.  Despite having to change terminals via train they did not get lost and arrived in HCMC at 6.40pm.  The kids went NUTS when they saw them.  Big kisses and cuddles then the hunt through their bags for presents.  Both Nick and I were working yesterday morning so they had a qiet morning at home.  They were brave enough to venture out for a Gloria Jeans coffee on their own.  It is about a block away. They then had a little wander and headed back to their little piece of Aus in Saigon.  I think the heat and humidity is knocking them around a bit and the traffic is a constant source of amusement.  They are no where near as shocked as I thought they would be though.  In the afternoon we picked the kids up from school and the kids showed them around.  There was a visiting Poet/Magician from England who put on a performance (will blog about that another time) and it was great.  I then took them to the Majestic Hotel rooftop for some sunset cocktails overlooking the river followed by a beautiful turkish feast at a restaurant called Warda.  It is down a dodgy looking alleyway so they were probably wondering where the hell I was taking them!  Mum can't go a day without a purchase so we swung through a small market on the way home.  She has a really narrow foot and has trouble getting some shoes to fit at home.  Well, not the case here with those skinny little asian feet.  She bought some lovely little high heeled sandals and nearly fell over when I told her she had paid $7 for them.  She thought I was being mean to the poor lady by bartering and nearly foiled my plans of the fake walk way by saying "no, don't leave, I really want them"  Perhaps todays first lesson should be in the fine art of haggling?  So all in all, a great day.  They were pretty tired last night but hopefully slept well. I am really pleased that they seem so relaxed and have come here with an open mind.  They appear to love the place!  Nick is off today so will be taking them around until I can meet them for lunch.  Stay tuned!!!

Their little sanctuary amongst the chaos.

A great moment!!!

......and another one.

Waiting for the loot.

Mum buying her first street food.  This lady carries her little shop around with her including her hot coals and waffle irons.  A little bag of doughnuts for 10,000VND (60 cents)

Mum and dad go back to school.

Sundowners at the Majestic Hotel.

Happy Saigon for me and mum and dads had lemon sorbet in it....YUM!

Damn it, the gig is up.  They now know that we are far from doing it tough.