Day with Uyen

I picked up Uyen, a girl I'd met the night before at the Couchsurfing event, at noon from her house and then we drove to a tiny bún thịt nướng stall, followed by this road-side dessert cart. I had banana in coconut milk which was more like yoghurt (for 14p).

We sat in Phúc Long, the famous coffee shop, for a couple of hours while another storm hit. She told me all about her dreams of travelling the world and her mother's disapproval. It's been very clear from my time in Saigon that there's been a big change in the young generation; they really want to experience other cultures.

We went to another cafe, this time in a colonial French building, complete with an old lift (elevator) that doesn't exactly look safe. I was extremely dehydrated so just had as much free water as they'd give me while Uyen had bánh flan (crème caramel). I drove her home, she complimented my "professional driving" during the crazy rush-hour traffic (which she said most foreigners never even attempt) and I drove back to my hotel.

In the evening I had a craving for some American food and decided to finally go to a place called Quán Ụt Ụt, an American BBQ restaurant which is ranked highly with both locals (on foody.vn) and foreigners too (on Foursquare and Tripadvisor). It was obviously expensive but absolutely worth every penny. I had half a rack of juicy delicious ribs, fries and slaw. They also have an impressive selection of beers.

As you may have noticed, I'm staying in Saigon for a while, partly to experience living here and also so I can do some work. As a result, my daily updates will mostly be about going for food and coffee. I apologise!