Day 7

around Midnight-
Couldnt sleep so randomly walked around.
got to Nguyen Hue, decided to see whats on the other side of the Palace behind the Ho Chi Minh statue.
after that, made a right onto Pasteur and kept on walking. I remember that street name because it stood out because its not in Vietnamese.
after a while, decided to go back to the hotel.

one interesting thing I saw on my walk back was a homeless 3 generation family camped out on cardboard in front of a closed store.
grandma, mom, children.
what I found interesting was that they had a motor bike.
i assume it was theirs since there was no one else around and the kids were sitting on the bike.

they didn't ask me for $ as i walked by nor did i see a sign/bowl for $.


8am:
Found out Ho Tram casino just outside of Saigon has a free shuttle from district1. it's a 2.5hr ride.
but after being on hold for 30min to get a reservation, I walked over there.
the next 2 buses (10am, 12pm) were full. the 3rd bus (4pm) had room but the bus back is at 10pm and is the last bus. nah.. not going to risk that being full and being stuck at Ho Tram.
not upset since I knew the risk of going there w/o a reservation.

I asked for reservation for tomorrow morning but the hostess said that can only be done via the reservation hotline.
sigh.. will call when I get back to the hotel.

then enjoyed myself wondering around randomly for a couple of hrs before going back to the hotel.

on my way back, I saw a street seller selling handmade Grasshoppers made from sugar cane stalk.
it looked amazing. I wanted one then thought would it be allowed thru customs because it's a plant (sugar cane)?
going to google it, and hopefully I remember where the merchant is. and that he doesn't move location tomorrow.


4pm:
went to ben thanh market for souvenirs.
saw the price of a shirt (55k) and magnet (40k) I want at one of the outside (fixed price) govt booths.

went to the inside booths to haggle.
lady 1st offered 100k for the same shirt and 80k for a similar magnet.
I left w/o haggling. even at 1/2 price, I save 5k on the shirt and nothing on the magnet.
not going to waste my time since I don't like to haggle that much.

bought 2 magnets and a few t-shirts at the fix priced booth.
she was very helpful in finding the shirts in the color and sizes I need.

I guess for higher priced items, haggling will save a lot more $ than the fixed price sellers?