second day at ho chin minh city

15 NOV 2008- second day;

today morning we had breakfast in the hotel lobby. after breakfast, we went to visit a local school, Nguyen Cong Tru High School, in ho chin minh city. When we reached the school, the students had already been waiting for our arrival. They were all too friendly and warm that made us all feel shocked as we did not expect for this. they gave each of us a stalk of rose, a badget and their school magazine with one exercise book which was very nice of them. (pity though, as the words school magazine was all written in vietnamese and we could not understand it.)
they had prepared presentations to tell us about their school, vietnam and ho chin minh city. there were also three performances by the students where they dance and sing on the stage. then, it was time us to interact with the students. the girl whom i spoke to, is called 'Lan Anh' and althought the girl whom i speak to can speak quite fluent english, bt due to their vietnam accent, i still find it hard to communicate with them. Lan Anh also gave me a small gift which i think was very sweet of her.
we took photos and exchange our e-mail address so that in future we can still stay in contact. we played a short game then went walking around the school. then lastly, before leaving the school, we took a group photo with them and went off to our next destination.
We had a seafood lunch that was not-so-good and changed into tshirt and three-quarter pants before moving on to the Cu Chi tunnel.
we spend about 2 hours exploring around the Cu Chi tunnels, understanding how the people used the Cu Chi tunnels during war time and how smart they are by setting the traps in there. we got a chance to crawl into the widest part of the Cu Chi tunnel and it was very low, narrow and dark inside. i find it difficult to travel around inside. i was very impressed that the vietnamese soldiers actually manage to do so during war times and they spent years hiding inside the tunnel. they wer really smart at that time as they were able to think of such way to hide and attack the American soldiers during war time.
After that we had dinner at a restuarant which also serve vietnamese food. and to me, i think vietnamese food is not nice as compared to the food we usually eat.
After dinner, we went to the Ben Thanh Night Market for some shopping. the clothes, bags were very cheap in there and for the first time, i try bargaining. it was a very fun experience.
At last, my friends and i bought many things and spent less than S$50 which is very worth it.
Finally, we went back to the hotel and wash up after a long, sticky, sweaty and dirty day.
then, we had to complete the reflection for the second day.