New World and Newport

We got to sleep in! I slept in enough to miss breakfast, so a Top'n Top (chocolate muffin thing) held me over until lunch. We hopped on the bus and arrived at a luxurious five-star hotel, the New World Saigon. This was quite a step-up from our Victory Hotel, but at two or three times the cost, I could see why. We sat in their main dining area and took a simple cooking class on how to make fresh and fried spring rolls. This was a lot of fun and was even better when we got to eat our "creations." We then enjoyed an incredible lunch from their buffet. Ngon qua! (So good!) We had fish, ham, sushi (this was actually my first), fruit, and a huge array of other food. There was also a huge desert selection with some hand made ice cream. Everything we've tried on this trip has been amazing, but this was a different kind of good. From there, we headed back to the hotel and changed for our last company visit to Saigon Newport Corporation (SNP). This was an interesting visit for myself specifically as it is a shipping company that is run by the Vietnamese People's Navy. I still don't understand the combination of commercial and military for this company, but I tried my best. Pham Thi Thuy Van, the Vice Director of the Marketing Department, talked to us about the company and how it functions as a port and offers shipping services to companies around Vietnam. The company has also recently allowed her to enter their navy (her rank was lost in translation, but after some quick research, I believe she's now an O-2). She still works for SNP, but is an officer in the Navy... like I said, I really don't know how it works. We went up to the control room for a great view of the dock, and then drove around to see thousands of shipping containers and several barges being loaded. This was a nice visit, and I'm glad we got a see the dock. We went back to the hotel and then quickly headed back out to the Ben Tanh Market where I finished up my shopping. After shops started closing, we went to the hotel and a group of us went for a swim. This was cut short by Dr. Berman telling us our suits were about to arrive from the tailor. We went down to the lobby, and after a few minutes, they were here. I tried mine on and it felt amazing! I'd never worn any kind of clothing that fit that perfectly. We went back down for the tailor to check the fit, and everyone was looking sharp. We changed out of the suits and a group of us went out for Dairy Queen; that really hit the spot on the hot night. This was another great day, though I'm realizing things are starting to come to a close. I'm going to make the most of my last couple days!