Ho Chi Minh City and the Cu Chi Tunnels ~ My trip to Vietnam

So I walked into work one Monday and Andreas asked me if I wanted to go to Vietnam that weekend.  Huh?  Who does that?  Slightly intrigued, I asked for more details.  Turns out he and another guy, Aaron, decided the night before that they were going to Ho Chi Minh City that weekend.  Random, right?  Well, I didn't have any plans and they both came down to my desk with the print outs of the details and about 10 minutes later, I had a flight, hotel, and my visa was being processed.

My brother (i.e. yeah, I have one) had been to Vietnam a few years ago, so I already knew what I wanted to do.  I wanted to hit the War Remnants Museum, the Cu Chi Tunnels, and see whatever was there to see.  The guys wanted to take a scooter tour of the city and seeing that I'd never ridden a scooter, I had my reservations but I wasn't about to become the whiner in the group.

On the plane I met a guy from France who was talking about going to the Taj Mahal.  I want to go to the Taj Mahal!!!  Anyway, we'll see if that pans out.

When we all arrived in HCMC, we took a cab to the hotel and then went out for drinks.  The next morning the scooter tour people picked us up and we were off to see the Opera House, the Rex Hotel, the Reunification Palace, a Pagoda, and some markets for shopping.  Couldn't help but notice that Justin Bieber's song, "Baby" was playing loudly from a store.

After the tour we went to the War Remnants Museum.  I'd post pictures but it's a little too heavy.

After the museum, we decided to explore some more and ended up doing some eating and shopping.  Pure comedy ensued in the market when the guys were pursued by some aggressive saleswomen who wanted to sell them pants and shirts.  I picked up a souvenir Buddha and a jewelry box.

Plenty of drinks, a massage, a street massage, and more drinks was the plan for the night...  It was a fun time.

The next day we hopped on the bus and went to the Cu Chi Tunnels.  There I buried myself in a hole in the ground, learned about the traps that were set up, shot an AK-47, and did about 30m of the 100m tunnel tour.  Very interesting stuff.

Vietnam was cool and I'm glad I made the trip.  I screwed up though and only did a single-entry visa so now I need to wait before I go back.  I want to see Halong Bay...



The exchange rate is approximately 20,000 Vietnamese Dong for 1 USD.  Yes, I was rich in Vietnam...

 

THE WIRK

NBA All-Star Friday: Picked up Nike tickets, Missed Celebrity game, Caught Rookie Challenge

I flew to Los Angeles on Friday on my first Virgin America flight. **** If you haven’t flown Virgin America, do it. The airline is HOT. Virgin America is like a W Hotel in the sky. The airline is sexy. Wifi, individual TV’s, power outlet to charge electronic devices, and the ability to order food whenever you like through your TV screen.

Upon arrival at LAX I had to hustle to the W Hollywood to pick up tickets to the Nike party. **** The tickets were courtesy of my friend the Insideplaya and Q-Tip. Thank you, guys! As I raced to Hollywood, I realized that since my flight was delayed 2 hours, I was going to miss the NBA All-Star Celebrity game. So much for seeing Magic Johnson and my Bieber-fever… **** At NBA Jam Session, one of the ESPN radio guys described Justin Bieber as the Ricky Rubio of the Celebrity game. Great line! Yes, I missed the game. That’s just the way it goes sometimes.

I needed to pick up the tickets at the hotel, for the party later that night and LA traffic wasn’t cooperating. With 10 minutes to spare, I picked up the tickets. Good thing I checked my ticket envelope! Originally they forgot my +1, but the problem was solved easily once I pointed out the problem and showed my email history. Thank you, Nike!

As I was leaving the hotel, people started to arrive. I’m not a car person, but I do know a Rolls Royce when I see it. Nice!

With tickets in hand I raced back downtown to check-in to my hotel. After checking in, I hopped in a cab to make it to the Rookie Challenge. I wanted to watch the NBA All-Star Rookie v Sophomore game. **** Zydrunas won MVP of the game many years ago. Did you know that the trophy is actually 2 pieces? Pay attention, next time. The player who raises the prize holds onto both the base and the top part.

I made it to the Staples Center for the Rookie v Sophomore game and decided rather than watch the rest of the 1st half, I needed to get in line for food. I WAS STARVING. I hadn’t eaten since 8AM EST and it was probably 7PM PST. With each Rookie Challenge ticket, came a $15 food voucher. I had 2 tickets, and bought $15 of food and $15 of candy. I like candy.  **** I bought Red Vines for the first time. Are they supposed to be less sweet, compared to Twizzlers? I prefer to Twizzlers. Preference for Red Vines must be a West coast thing.

For the Rookie challenge I decided to climb to the top of the Staples Center. I did it in 4-inch heeled boots. This was a HUGE mistake. My feet still haven’t forgiven me, but I wanted to get a picture of the entire court.

Seeing as that the All-Star festivities were held in Los Angeles and Blake Griffin has garnered so much positive attention, the crowd at the Staples Center yelled, "We want Blake," towards the end of the game.  He stood up to tease them, but didn't re-enter down the stretch.

The Rookies won the game, and DeMarcus Cousins led the squad with 33 points. John Wall had 12, points and 22 assists in 29 minutes of action. The Washington Wizards’ own was the MVP of the Rookie v Sophomore game!

THE WIRK

NBA All-Star Celebrity Game

I'm getting excited for NBA All-Star weekend even though the events are still weeks away.  The NBA All-Star Celebrity game will be held on Friday, February 18 at 7PM ET.

The game will be held at the NBA Jam Session, Center Court, at the LA Convention Center.

Jimmy Kimmel  and Bill Simmons will serve as general managers for the teams.

A partial listing of this year's celebrity participants include:

• Magic Johnson
• Justin Bieber
• Scottie Pippen
• Bill Walton
• AC Green
• B.J. Armstrong
• Chris Mullin
• Jalen Rose
• Ty Burrell ("Modern Family")
• Rob Kardashian ("Keeping Up with the Kardashians")
• Zach Levi ("Chuck")
• Jason Alexander ("Curb Your Enthusiasm")
• Common (Just Wright)

It should be a good time! 

Where else are you going to see Justin Bieber and Magic Johnson on the same night on a basketball court?!?!




THE WIRK

Follow your favorite athletes on Twitter

If you're not following your favorite athletes on Twitter, you're a fool. 

In this day and age, celebrities and athletes use Twitter to connect with their fans.  As opposed to having thousands of "friends" in their business, it's easier for them to put out their own messages in tweets.  Everything from ticket give-aways, autographed pictures, jerseys, etc. is up for grabs for the lucky trivia winners or quick responders. 

Larry Fitzgerald has contests for his fans to win autographed items.  Chad Ochocinco will tell you when and where he's having lunch.  Serena Williams has tweeted that it may not have been the smartest move on her part to go through an airport carrying a tennis racquet, if she wanted to go unnoticed. 

Earlier today (i.e. and 25 minutes ago) I saw the following tweet from THE_REAL_SHAQ, "send me links 2 ur fav dance videos n I will give @celtics home opener tix & jersey to my fav 1. must include #shaqvs".

You can add Shaquille O'Neal at the following URL: http://twitter.com/THE_REAL_SHAQ
You can add Larry Fitzgerald at the following URL: http://twitter.com/Lfitzgerald11
You can add Serena Williams at the following URL: http://twitter.com/serenawilliams
You can add Chad Ochocinco at the following URL: http://twitter.com/OGOchoCinco

I've seen Shaq at Disney World before and he is just one of the many fun-loving and humorous people (i.e. athletes, entertainers, writers, friends) who I follow.  His tweets make me laugh.  Get in on the action, create your own network, and tweet people.  What are you waiting for?!?!

To get you started, here's a URL for a site that provides a directory of Twitter users:  http://twitter-athletes.com/index.cfm.  From what I can tell they verify the accounts, but of course use your common sense. 

As a bonus (i.e. since Justin Bieber is on Shaq Vs tonight, here's a picture for you of LIL WIRK, when she was a wee-little girl.  Notice the "Bieber" haircut, before the Bieber fever even existed! 

Yes, indeed, a woman ahead of her time :-P


THE WIRK