Turning 30 and Vietnam

I recently turned 30 this month and to celebrate Ryan and I spent a week in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.  It was my first time in Asia (Europe AND Asia before 30!  It's nice to surpass a goal) and I chose Vietnam because it came highly recommended and also would be a budget friendly holiday.
We stayed at the Movenpick, which is one of the hotels that Emirates uses for their crew.  It was a pretty nice hotel with a pool and a good selection of restaurants.  Each restaurant or bar had some sort of food or drink special each night, which was nice for times we just wanted to relax at the hotel and not venture out into the 95+ degree, 100% humidity weather.  (Maybe next time I'll do more weather research before booking a trip?)
A full week was probably more time than necessary to spend in one city, but it was super awesome to be there long enough that we didn't feel rushed and could spend time just relaxing at the hotel.
Here's some highlights from the trip:
-A day trip via speed boats to the Cu Chi Tunnels.  I can't believe how extensive the tunnel systems were.  They were also so tiny!  They made them larger for the tourists and I still had a mini panic attack trying to get through them.  The best part was when Ryan got stuck.  We used the Saigon River Express company and they were great.  Our tour guide was super friendly and knowledgeable.  Plus, they picked us up and dropped us off at our hotel.

Boat ride to the tunnels.

Ryan's stuck in the tunnel.

-The spa.  We were a little nervous about finding a good spa in the city.  We'd heard that services are extremely inexpensive and can be high quality.  We just wanted to find a place that was both clean and legit... if you know what I mean.  But we found a super fantastic place called My Spa.  Both Ryan and I had a 90 minute massage and pedicures.  I will warn you, though.  Those ladies are strong!  I had a few bruises the next day, but they did a great job.
-War Remnants Museum.  The museum is pretty much dedicated to the Vietnam War.  I found it somewhat awkward as an American because there was an obvious Anti-American sentiment in the air. There were also a lot of really gruesome photos and stories.  It was interesting, and I think important, to see how we were, and to some extent are, viewed by "the other side" of a war.
-Ben Thanh Market.  Most of the items for sale were massed produced junk, but we walked away with some decent stuff.  We each got pretty nice back packs for traveling and a t-shirt or two.  It was mostly just fun to walk around and see what everyone was selling and, of course, to haggle with the retailers.

Ben Thanh Market

-FOOD!  The banh mi was probably my favorite and definitely Ryan's.  The pho was delicious and we had some super amazing sushi.  Almost every meal was really great there, and as a bonus it was super cheap.

First meal.  Ryan ate a pepper that made him cry.

Banh Mi 

-And probably my number one highlight is the heavy metal cover band we saw at the Seventeen Saloon.  The bar itself was a total rip-off, as they put things on our bill that we didn't order or consume and then refused to take them off, but the band was fabulous.  They played a ton of really amazing songs and were just super talented.  It was the most fun at night we had in Vietnam by far.

Best cover band I've ever seen.

A dog on the back of a motorbike, just for good measure.

I actually turned 30 while on the Emirates flight home.  The crew was super nice and gave me a "Happy Birthday" plate of desserts.  All-in-all, not a bad way to leave my 20's.

Terrible photo, super fun flight.