A Day at the Zoo.. and more

This morning, I met Sophia and her sister, Ricca, at their home as we were departing from there to go to the Saigon zoo. From there, we set off to Ly's home to get her. After we grabbed Ly, we picked up their friend, Nogc. I met my Vietnamese twin there and got a snapshot below. Yes, I have a sweater on as the mornings are chilly this time of year. We ate pho, and by 8:30am, we were jetting off on our bikes to Saigon. The second pic is of all of us who went on the trip: Ngoc, Tien, Ricca, Sophia, me, and Ly.

At the zoo, we, of course, saw lots of animals: elephants, tigers, lions, hippos, rhinos, snakes, otters, and many more. Below are some photos of the inhabitants, and be sure to read the rest of the trip's drama after the photos.

Elephants!

Bears!

A giraffe, a rhino, a hippo, and a monkey!

A kissable lizard!

And my personal favorite, ostriches next to their improperly designated sign:

The extravaganza at the zoo was delightful, and fun was had by all. Afterward, we grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant that I had actually eaten at last year when I went to Saigon on vacation. The food is very good there and lives up to the restaurant's name, "Delicious." Then after enjoying coffee at a local cafe, the frustration set in with the girls wanting to go shopping at Diamond Plaza. Tien and Ngoc left after we had coffee so they are off the hook in my book. Apparently Ricca wanted some shoes. I really wanted to go look at some pants, but I didn't get the opportunity as the girls completely forgot about me. They went off and did their own thing, but... no big deal because they only "window shopped" for half an hour. It was time to go home... except it wasn't. We went all the way across town to spend an hour and a half (mind you, I was told it would only be ten or fifteen minutes) for Ricca to find some shoes. It was just a big inconvenience to me, but I'm a big boy and will get over it after I sleep. We weren't done as we then jetted across the street to find a shirt for Braden, Ricca and Sophia's brother. They didn't find one, so Ly and Ricca drove back to Bien Hoa. Apparently, Sophia (with whom I was riding) was put in charge of running all over town to find this shirt. An hour after Ricca and Ly left and browsing about town for a shirt, we finally made our way to Bien Hoa. Traffic was insane, and it took us a multitude of time to get near our town.. and then... it happened. A flat tire! Luckily, we acquired the mishap in front of a tire repair shop. Fate? Or did the owner throw some nails in the road a kilometer from his shop? We'll never know. We got the tire fixed and drove home at last. I was so tired after this trip, physically and mentally. Note to self: DO NOT GO ON TRIPS WITH A GROUP OF GIRLS AGAIN! Sorry, Sophia, I know you read my blogs.. and I love you just like my little sister. You know that.. but it was just very inconvenient and frustrating at times. Like I said, I'll be fine after I sleep :) Below is a pic of me at the day's end. Not a happy camper! Good night!