Because my family is awesome, this year's Christmas party was Disney-themed. As you might recall, last year was KPop-themed. I don't remember what the theme was the Christmas before that, but you get the drift. We like themed parties, apparently.

Anyway, it took me forever trying to think of which character to go as. Everything seemed either too simple or too complicated. Simple meant being accused of not playing by the rules and therefore, as a consequence, your Christmas dinner would consist of only what your cousins pick for you, nothing else. Too complicated meant having to spend, and I didn't want to put money on something I won't ever get to wear again. I had almost given up when, by some stroke of luck, my costume idea fell into my hands perfectly and without much effort.

I was scrolling through Facebook early December when I came across a photo of my best friend rocking an awesome Evil Queen costume at a Halloween party. As simple as that, et voila! "Karen, can I borrow your costume for Christmas?"

All I had to do was buy a black dress (that I could readily wear again) and do my make-up and that's it. The cape and the head gear were free. HA.


My cousins and the rest of the clan came to the party in their best Disney costumes as well. We had a Fix-it Felix, a White Rabbit, a Violet, a Russell, even Lumiere and Fifi the Feather Duster were there! But as the Evil Queen, I bagged the Best Dressed prize for the night and took home a thousand bucks. Considering that my dress was around 800 and my fake eyelashes 200... I didn't make profit but at least I broke even. Haha.

Anyways, to use the most popular phrase this holiday season: "from my [awesome] family to yours, Merry Christmas!"

Basically, that translates to "thank you, Vietnam."

My sisters and I left for Vietnam at around midnight of Monday last week and returned at the crack of dawn last Saturday. Such is the problem of flying with Cebu Pacific's promo fares. Flights do tend to be scheduled at the craziest of hours.

Vietnam, for the most part, is a lot like the Philippines: hot and crowded. And much like our beloved country, Vietnam shows a distinct flavor of being influenced heavily by both the East (via China, Korea) and the West (via France).

One thing I noticed about Vietnam is the presence of Filipino exports in their everyday life. If one doesn't know these things are Filipino, it's so easy to overlook them. But it's glaringly obvious should one know what to look for, or if one were Filipino himself.

Everywhere you go, every grocery, convenience store, little food stall along tiny alleys, you'll be able to purchase a bottle of C2. Yes, C2. As in the bottle iced tea produced by Universal Robina. C2 is everywhere. So are Piattos, Cream-O, Dynamite candies, and Marian Rivera. Jollibee can be found here as well. There are 5 branches in Ho Chi Minh City alone.

Very obvious, as well, are their Korean imports. Much like the entire Philippines, Vietnam is also Hallyu-crazed. Beauty products, bakeries, Korean dramas, and even a cineplex and a fastfood chain: Hallyu is everywhere. Skin Food, Etude House, The Face Shop, Tour Les Jours, Paris Baguette, Lotteria, Lotte Cinema!

The biggest culture shock, I must say, is the very daunting task of trying to cross the road. Any road. For such a simple, mundane task, Vietnam has managed to complicate it tenfold. It's a good thing then that I read an article about it prior to flying out. But, of course, reading about it, and actually seeing it is insanely different. After reading the article entitled "How to cross the street in Vietnam," I rolled my eyes and thought to myself, "how bad can it be?"

Let me tell you, the amount of motorcycles on the roads is insane. Remember how we were taught to always look both ways before crossing the street? That doesn't apply to Vietnam. Forget all of your basic instincts because they don't matter anymore. The more you look, the more you won't be able to cross. Thus, you don't look. You just do it. You should also walk at a regular pace. And then, as if by magic, it's up to the motorists to avoid you. I'm not even exaggerating. The first time we did it, I was amazed by the accuracy of the instructions.

Now, honestly, Vietnam is not on the top of my favorite places to visit. And maybe this all boils down to the fact that we all left Vietnam having been sick at one point or another. Sari was vomiting and weak our entire 3rd day in the country and didn't even muster enough strength to leave the hotel room. Katia and Aia started their bouts of vomiting on our last day. We were already in the airport on our way back when I started feeling queasy. Perhaps the incubation period took longer with me because I didn't start vomiting until my first day back in Manila. And this is after making sure we did not take any street-food and stuck to bottled water for the entire trip.

Having said that, it sure was an adventure I won't forget any time soon. Here are some random photos from our trip last week.