I have always admired/had an interest in bonsai. My cousin Jack has been growing/ sculpting/ tending/ loving or whatever one does with bonsai for years.
Personally, I know little about them except I think they are amazing to behold as well as require tremendous efforts to care for.
I have seen many bonsai in Saigon - attached pics #24 and #25 are examples. They are NOT the much smaller, countertop versions one normally sees. The explanation for their larger "park versions" is that they are true bonsai but are grown larger for display in public areas <- larger to deter thieves from stealing them. I see "gardener care takers" tending to them daily.
More FAQs;
Did you get great exchange rate for the US$2 bills that you took with you?
Background - before leaving US I was told this would be the case - so I brough $600 in new $2 bills with me. Answer = I got a little better exchange rate - but only a little. So, I have saved them and give them as gifts to "fiends". I make. Those I've given them to have all been very appreciative because they are so rare here and considered to be very good luck.
Is smoking abundant?
I found that surprisingly it is not. Less than a third of the people I see on streets are smoking. There are restaurants and even coffee cafes that will not allow you to smoke inside (where there is AC) - smoking allowed only in their outdoor seating area (no AC - which represents a strong deterent to Western smokers in hot/sticky Saigon.
Given all the traffic - isn't pollution a major problem in HCMC?
Surprisingly not despite 4M+ motorbikes! I have concluded that this probably because of the daily albeit short-duration downpours. Air quality here is as good if not better than downtown DC.
Are the girls' marriage propositions you described serious or just flirtations?
Many, especially wait staff and female patrons I run into in cafes and on the streets, are, for the most part very flirtatious and open. Are they serious? The relatively few VN I am actually able to converse with say they are serious as a heart attack and state that all I have to do is follow-up, e.g., present a dinner or coffee/cafe invitation. At this point in time - I'm too cowardly and shy to "follw-up". BUT I certainly do not mind and recipricate flirtations!
Are you going to be able to leave for the next country since you're having such a wonderful experience in Vietnam? Would you marry Linh and stay in the country?
Afraid that I will move on - but will first ask Linh if she wants to go with me! <-- hummm - maybe not bc that might be interpreted as a marriage proposal. But - move on I will - first to other parts of Vietnam before going to another country. But I will return to Saigon before leaving for next country and will make it a point to say goodbye to my friends here before leaving. Doing so will be a sad experience. Great getting and we really enjoy your emails, stories, and pics! Must ask why you put such effort into your emails? To paraphrase something I said in an email to someone else - my emails/stories/pics enable me to document my travels at the expense of boring many! But I also have a desire to share with those that I care about - remember I am traveling alone which makes it kinda weird and even lonely at times. It's a cloudy and rainy day today. Good time for me to investigate/plan my egress from Saigon to other Vietnam locales.
#26 - I have become addicted to these sweet-waffle-crepe-like goodies that a few street vendors prepare - they are also favorites of many Vietnamese who have no specific name or term for them but EVERYONE knows what they are <-- according to Linh and others. They are similar to very fresh but much thinner, unwrapped/rolled waffle ice cream cones. I get some daily from the same street vendor in this pic - she and I have become buds and aggressively argue EVERYday over price! In pic - that is her small wood-fire + cooking iron to the right and fresh-cooked products in plastic bags to the left. Entire set-up (including lit fire and hot grilling iron) can be simultaneously uplifted onto her shoulder and moved in seconds <-- which she must do several times a day bc shop keepers don't like here in front of their stores. And, yes that's me in background attempting to grab her products undetected! I never succeed. 
#27 pic title says it all - it was in here that I had my 1st VN fried spring roles (that is in VN - I eat many in US!) and where my favorite food stall and "other girlfriend" are located!.jpg)
#28 I had to make a pilgrimage the previous crib of Thieu and Ky. For those that never knew or forgot, they were the last 2 Premiers of the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) <-- a country that ceased to exist when Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese Army in 1975. 
#29 This REALLY is what the Saigon power grid and commo infrastrure looks like! Really - throughout Ho Chi Minh City!
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