Today I decided to not eat pho because I booked a last minute day tour to go see the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Mekong Delta. Because of that, I didn’t want to consume broth where it will make my bladder go crazy and I don’t want that on a long van ride.

Instead, I asked for two scrambled eggs with little fish sauce. Then I added gio to my scrambled eggs. It was yummy! I even went back to get more gio. I just love gio.

Then I tried their baked macaroni because I just couldn’t resist. I love Mac n cheese and I figured why not try to see if they can cook basic American food. It wasn’t that good. At least I only got a few bites!

I also got some fried noodles with soy sauce, char siu pork and greens. Then I added more gio to it! Haha. It was good but slightly on the saltier side.

At 8am, we got picked up for our day tour. We were first taken to the Quang Minh Lacquerware (handicap handicrafts since 1979), where we saw handicap people making artwork with broken duck egg shells. It was pretty impressive but everything was so expensive. My mom gave a small donation instead.

Then we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels, where we learned all the ways that the Northern Vietnam soldiers beat the US and South. They weren’t big and didn’t have fancy machine guns so they had to make up for it in their clever tricks.

For lunch we ate at a restaurant right outside of the tunnels called Ben Dinh Restaurant.

We were served white rice, chicken with cashews, pork, vegetables, pork and vegetable soup, egg roll, and scrambled egg. Community style. I quickly grabbed a little of everything for my mom and me before everyone else started so that we didn’t get anyone’s germs since there were no community utensils.

The food was mediocre and I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I started to eat. But honestly, the light iced tea tasted the best because of how thirsty I was.

Afterwards, we took a 2hr ride to My Tho to ride the sampan ride along the Mekong River. Anh Beo says the water may look brown and dirty but it’s not, it’s from something else I forgot.

On the first island we were taken to a coconut candy factory to learn how they make the candy from the coconuts. It was a pretty cool process and also impressive that it tastes sweet but no added sugar. My mom bought some for my dad as souvenirs.

Then we took the boat ride to Unicorn island where we watched some Vietnamese women sing Vietnamese songs while eating fruits: jackfruit, mango, pineapple, guava and one more I don’t know the name of. We also had hot tea.

My mom also got a cup of water coconut pulp with fresh water coconut juice for 20k along the way. The jellies were like the size of two quarters and oval. Slipper and smooth and chewy. The coconut water is naturally sweet and refreshing.

We got back to the hotel at around 630pm. Then we walked literally across the street from our hotel to a congee restaurant called Ngoc Bich Ha Noi. They serve congee made from the North.

Chao thap cam (mixed congee). It’s a congee of chicken heart, liver, kidney, intestine. Oh I have to admit I gave my mom all the greens. There were some dill and little greens left and it was good, but originally would have been too much greens for me. I wouldn’t have enjoyed it. The congee was good! It tasted clean.

Quay (dough stick). We also got a side of dough stick to put into our congee! My favorite!!! We used the scissors to cut them into bite size pieces. This is a lot more crispy and crunchy than the Southern version. It adds a savory and salty chewy bread component to each bite.

Stir-fried eel. My mom ordered a side dish because she likes eel. It was served with dill, rau ram, fried shallots and ginger. My mom really liked it. I was impartial because I don’t like eel haha.

Tonight is my last night at Orchids Hotel.. I’m sad!!!!