Exploring Vietnam: Day 1: The Long Haul

I just returned from an epic adventure- I'll be recapping it by day since we did so much. And then, it'll be back to our regularly scheduled food and fitness programming. I've missed you all. :)

We rose with the sun a few Sundays back, locked up our tiny Brooklyn abode and hopped on the subway with two frame-packs, a messenger bag, a napsack and a camera bag! 

Getting from Brooklyn to the Newark airport via public transportation while carrying your body weight counts as your workout for the day!

Good bye, NY... The Jersey Transit makes travel to Newark Airport cheap and easy- giving NYers an alternative to JFK and Laguardia when comparing flight prices.

Our first flight was our longest- 14 hours from Newark International to Narita International. I watched My Week with Marilyn and Albert Nobbs, read lots of Flannery O'Connor and journaled, a lot. Konnichiwa, Japan!

First stop- COFFEE!

Caffeine makes my world go round! We paid over $10 for two iced coffees... Oy. Vey. You know your prices are silly when a New Yorker thinks they're expensive...

In case you need to throw away some trush...

I spotted these sweet kicks in a Harajuku Girl boutique!

Mommy gloss, anyone?

Joe makes friends, wherever he goes!

This one's for you, Katie!

ENERGY.

 Don't even bother bringing your pet daisy- lest you want it subjected to PLANT QUARANTINE!

USD are widely accepted at the airport, though change is given in Yen! Souvenirs!

My sister's name is Kieren, so I had to buy some Kirin milk tea! 

We also slurped down a bottle of "Green Tea with Vegetables", which tasted... exactly what you'd imagine it to taste like. 

Stretching and waiting...

Ho Chi Minh City, here we come!

ANA serves some pretty decent in-flight meals!

Though our second flight was only six hours, it felt longggggggg. I was tired. But finally...

Upon arrival in Vietnam, we went through visa validation (Americans need a visa for ANY length of stay in Vietnam), passport verification, baggage claim and customs. 

All told, it took us about an hour to get out of the airport. We exchanged our cash at the stand immediately outside the baggage claim (which also happened to be the best rate we saw the entire trip) and then headed out into the steamy throngs to find our cab driver (we had arranged with our hotel to have someone pick us up).

Walking out of the airport in Vietnam is like walking the red carpet- there's a roped-off area for those exiting to leave the doors and behind the ropes are the HUNDREDS of cabbies, friends and family members waiting to greet them. Holy moly. Welcome to Ho Chi Minh City!

Our first hotel was the Bich Duyen on Pham Ngu Lao in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City's backpacker district. We arrived quite late, but our hosts were still awake- waiting to let us in. The room was quite nice- spacious, with A/C and a fan, plenty of storage room and quite clean!

A little worse for the wear, but still standing over 24 hours of traveling later...

We were starving, so we unloaded our things and headed out- our host told us to ring the bell when we returned (they don't have a 24 hour desk person, so they lock up at night). 

First stop- convenience store! Circle K's got a decent selection for a mini-mart, with relatively reasonable prices. We hadn't packed many toiletries to keep our packs light, so we picked up shampoo, conditioner, body wash and a giant bottle of water (tap water in most parts of Vietnam- not recommended).

 We hadn't really had much of a chance to acclimate and were too tired to explore (it was LATE), so we strolled to the end of our alley and stumbled across the Dune Cafe (which also happens to have rooms for rent- multitasking)!

If you haven't eaten a meal in the dark on the sidewalk in a pool of your own sweat, then you haven't eaten in Saigon...

I'm pretty sure this beer cost Joe less than $1 USD...

 Soaking in the steamy scene...

My first meal in Vietnam? Pho, natch! 

Complete with condiments!

What's better on a hotter-than-body-temperature-night than some hotter-than-body-temperature-soup?

Joe rocked some stewed white fish- pretty tasty!

We paid the bill (probably $5 USD? maybe less?), snagged some ice cream from the bodega (or whatever the Vietnamese equivalent of a bodega is) and headed back to the hotel.

Tips from Day 1:

-PACK SNACKS. I always have something in my bag but was a little last-minute in my prep for this trip. Airport food is always over-priced and usually not terribly healthy- bring some nutritious snacks to keep you full and spend your $ on necessities you can't pack (like iced coffee)!

-CHANGE YOUR $$ AT THE AIRPORT. This is at least true of Vietnam- the airport had the best exchange rate we saw the entire trip. Almost all of our transactions were in cash (very few places we patronized took credit cards, and most companies charge a pretty crazy fee for international use). Change enough money to last you until you get to your next major city (exchange rates outside of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City aren't great). 

-KEEP IT LIGHT. When backpacking anywhere, a light pack is the ideal. We purposely packed light on everything, and the only toiletries we packed were specialty products (face, cosmetics), medicines and sunscreen/ bugspray (available here in small quantities only). You can buy almost anything you'd need in Vietnam at a comparable (or in most cases, significantly cheaper) rate compared to what you'd pay at home.  And exception to this rule is western-style feminine hygiene products. You've been warned. 

Come see my show!

aka... the thing that's keeping me from blogging AT ALL. Trust me. It's worth it. And I'll be back in two weeks with an "OH CRAP, I HAVEN'T BEEN TRAINING FOR MY TOUGH MUDDER AND ITS HAPPENING IN A MONTH" series. 

The ALTRUISTS by Nicky Silver

Directed by Josh Penzell

March 22-25

New Workshop Theatre- Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts

(2 or 5 trains to Flatbush Ave/ Brooklyn College, Q train to Avenue H)

Thursday-Saturday 7:30p

Saturday & Sunday 2p

$6 Students

$12 Seniors

$15 General Admission

CAST

Jeremiah Maestas

Keelie A. Sheridan

Dennis O'Leary

Ana Bell

Django Palty

CREW

Stage Manager- Gretchen Van Lente

Assistant Stage Manager- Walter Petryk

Set Designer- Nikki Cammack

Costume Designer- Paihsin Shih

Music/ Sound Designer- Tommy Cormier

Lighting Design- Jacob Vogelman

Dramaturg- Molly Marinik

Assistant Set/ Props- Leigh Ann Ryklin

Assistant Set- Hyun Jung Kim

Assistant Costume- Sojin Han

Assistant Costume- Christopher Cancel

Assistant Lighting- Isaac Winston

Assistant Lighting- Jordan Acosta

Tickets Available At: http://www.tickets.com/browseother.cgi?minpid=7147943

The Altruists focuses on a passionate (if sometimes eccentric and misguided) group of young radicals, who protest and march for anything and everything that can be protested or marched for. Their morality is put to the test when the group leader's prescription-pill-popping-soap-opera-star girlfriend, Sydney's actions thrust them into dire circumstances. 

I'm playing said prescription-pill-popping-soap-opera-star, Sydney. She's probably my favorite role to date. It's a massive part with some intimidatingly long monologues, but I'm really, really enjoying exploring her. 

I don't want to say too much and ruin the surprise, but I'm dying to share some of the fun we've been having... Want a sneak peak?

Meet Gretchen- the coolest Stage Manager on earth.

And her trusty sidekick, Walter- the coolest Assistant Stage Manager that ever did live. 

Director Josh Penzell (far right) working his magic in the rehearsal room with the cast (from L to R) Ana Bell as Cybil, Django Palty as Ethan, me as Sydney (with no pants) and Jeremiah Maestas as Ronald.

My show-boyfriend and I wearing each other's pants on break. Just a typical day at the office....

So. Much. Love. Right. Here. One of the coolest casts I've ever worked with, ever.

We catch naps whenever we can...

If you're in the NYC area and looking to see some exciting and affordable theatre, check us out! Let me know if/ when you're coming and we can catch up after the show!

Where to begin?

It has been almost three weeks since I last posted. HOLY. GRAD SCHOOL. SMACKDOWN.

In short, on top of my usually crazy class/ homework/ scene rehearsal-load, I'm also in a show that opens in three weeks! I've been pulling a lot of 13 hour days at school, plus my 2 hour-round trip commute, plus any attempts at working out, and HOMEWORK. 

I miss you all terribly. 

Please accept this photo recap of the past three weeks- I have so much more to fill you in on!

Our days are long, and our breaks are few and far between. They usually involve shoveling snacks into our faces while running to the bathroom and simultaneously filling up a water bottle. You'd be impressed at what I can get done on a 5.

A quick bite to eat before seeing a pretty terrific production of Look Back In Anger at the Roundabout! LOVE me some free tickets, thanks to a professor!

School cafeteria food when I forget (or run out of time) to pack a lunch!

Packed dinner while running lines- eating any other food out of a Talenti jar is just... disappointing. 

This orange peel is in ONE PIECE- my cast-mate Django taught me that. Impressive, eh?

You know things are getting crazy when I bust out the sumo-turd-hair-pile.

My scene partner, Patrick, and I, working hard at a rehearsal for Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke. We're Grad students. Take. Us. Seriously.

In the audience at the college's play reading series!

 Tofu and blackbean scramble.

 Egg-less and flour-less pancakes with peanutbutter, bananas and honey!

 Alma Winemiller (me!) and John Buchanan (Patrick) getting ready to present our scene from Summer and Smoke. 

 The weather here in Brooklyn has been ALL OVER, but cold or warm, my hood is gorg.

 I live in Little Russia- this is how I blend...

 Ducks, pigeons, gulls and swans living in harmony.

 Completely un-retouched. How crazy does that water look??

 Tea at my nabe's coziest little Turkish cafe- Masal.

 If Joe's really good, I usually let him eat a sugar cube or two.

OH HAI BAKLAVA. YES, I'LL EAT ALL THREE OF YOU. I thought you'd never ask.

Green tea and line-learning- I've got a monologue that spans about six pages in the beginning of this show- holy moly!

 I 'splurged' on a $12 pedi and did my homework while sitting in the chair. My technician kindly offered me a People magazine, but homegirl's gotta multitask!

I picked up a super cute bikini at Target while running errands for school! On sale! Wahoo!

Rocking my scarf babushka-style on my way to assist at this AM's auditions.

Despite the past three week's craziness, my workouts haven't been terrible... I haven't been logging them or keeping track in any quantitative way, but I've had some great incline runs (Tough Mudder doesn't care if you're busy) and some killer strength workouts.

I'm proud I've been squeezing in some fitness- it keeps me sane. This may or may not have something to do with the fact that my pants come off 1/2 way during my show and don't come back on. More on that later.

Back to the Grind and a New Training Plan!

Sunday afternoon I hopped on a train and headed back down the Hudson. 

There are some landscapes that are ingrained into your fibers and very much a part of you. 

I feel that way about the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers. Just thinking about them makes me feel at home!

It's back to the grind, nutritionally, for this girl. As you saw in my vacation recaps, we at DECADENTLY! I don't take any of it back, but man, it threw me for a loop!

Protein oats with PB fit the bill nicely. 

Before Christmas, I picked up this bag of Pumpkin Spice Fall In Love Coffee- it caught my eye because I noticed that they donate a portion of the proceeds to improving the lives of their farmers. Fair trade and practices that benefit coffee growers are VERY, VERY important to me. I'm happy to report that buying this coffee satisfies both your conscience AND your taste buds! :)

In other news, I received some RoC Retinol samples as a Klout perk- I started using it last night- I'll let you know my thoughts once I've worked my way through the two tubes they sent me!

TOUGH MUDDER TRAINING LOG

I eased my way back into training with a 3 mile run yesterday, with the incline on 3. I'll be doing A LOT of incline work, as Tough Mudder VT is on... a mountain... Tonight will be a 4 mile run with 3 incline and some upper body work. 

I have a strange aversion to swimming for fitness. It's REALLY bizzare. I'm a fish- you cannot keep me out of the water, but something about doing laps back and forth sounds so horrifically boring to me. There's some swimming in the TM, though, so I'm assigning myself AT LEAST one swim this week. 

And now- off to school! Today is my "day off", but I'll be on campus from 11-9. The agenda looks something like this: 

-Individual meeting with program head

-Lunch meeting with classmate

-Graduate Theatre Organization Meeting

-Meeting with the director of my upcoming show

-Rehearsal with scene partner

-Rehearsal for a directing student's scene that I'm working in

-Gym

Does anyone else's "days OFF" look like this? Jeez Louise.