Afternoon ice cream at Kem Bach Dang

I slept in again this morning, and Jessica woke me up sharply at 8.30. Like yesterday, it was raining heavily when my alarm went off at 6.30 and the storm outside relaxed me beautifully as I drifted back to sleep... We ate breakfast together, although I was having fried eggs with Vietnamese bread and Nescafe, whereas Jessica chose seaweed, rice and red bean paste tea. She lectured me on the importance of having a regular routine and not staying up all night talking to my boyfriend on Skype. I am having to get used to living in a much more disciplined household than I am used to. After breakfast I went for a run around the area, following a route Jessica showed me last night when we were cycling. It was possible to do this at 9.30 am only because it has been raining a lot in the past few days which has cooled the temperature down. Jessica advised me to appreciate this season as much as possible because come April, she says, I will be begging for rain.

Jessica had left for work by the time I went on my run. Although she has been formally retired since July, she still does work for her former company on a case-to-case basis. I met her in the city on her lunchbreak for a meal at Al Fresco's, a small chain started in Hanoi in 1996 by an Australian man. Over lunch Jessica complained about people trying making small-talk with her in the office and distracting her from her work; as she does not go in often these days, everyone is keen to speak to her, although she is evidently less interested in speaking to them.

I met Annie, who had just finished a motorbike-riding lesson, and, as promised, she took me to Kem Bach Dang, Saigon's oldest ice cream parlour. In fact there are now two Kem Bach Dangs, one on each side of Le Loi street at the junction with Duong Pasteur. We entered the right-hand cafe, painted orange, because it is the original ice cream shop, Annie told me. It is a small establishment where pairs of people were sat drinking the free iced tea provided, and eating ice cream served in tall glasses or coconuts. I was expecting to be able to photograph the tubs of ice cream on display, but was surprised to find there were no ice creams at the front of the shop, and instead it was necessary to order a sundae-style ice cream combination from the menu. This surprised me as I was expecting something more traditional, but nonetheless the ice cream was very tasty and refreshing. I opted for strawberry in the end. Originally I had chosen durian ice cream as something unique to try, but when Annie ordered and the waitress realised the durian was for me, not her, she insisted I try a spoonful first, so as not to 'waste' the ice cream when I inevitably didn't like it. Durian is a yellow fruit found in a prickly shell about the size of a melon, with a famously vile, sweaty smell, but a delicious flavour. Or maybe I'm wrong about the delicious flavour...

Annie with her 'eskimo' ice cream

...and my yummy strawberry ice cream

Tucking in to our ice creams, I asked Annie about Exeter, where she studied at university and somewhere I have never been to. This led to her telling me an amusing story about the type of character we see a lot of in Leeds around university term time. Annie was in catered halls for her first year, and her canteen was shared between three different halls of residence. One day, having dinner, a young man from a very expensive set of halls asked to join Annie's friends at their table. Immediately after sitting down he turned to Annie and demanded, "You're the only Asian in here, where are you from?". Taken aback, she told him she was originally from Vietnam. He went on, "I literally don't know anything about that country, do you have electricity there?", to which Annie replied "Yes, we do. We even have the Internet, that's how I found out about the University of Exeter!". Recounting this story to Jessica later, she was confused at how such an ignorant person could get a place at a British university, but I was not in the least surprised.

I said goodbye to Annie as she got me into a taxi headed to Sinh Tourist on De Tham street, in the heart of the backpacker district. Better known by its former name of Sinh Cafe, this travel agency is recommended by everyone as the place to go for tours from, and around, Ho Chi Minh City. I booked my ticket for tomorrow's trip to the Cu Chi tunnels and Cao Dai temples, at a cost of 195,000d (just short of £6). Tomorrow I will have an early start in time for an 8.15 departure from Sinh Cafe, and a full day spent at these two sights.

Tran Hung Dao statue, Me Linh Square

I had thought about going to a museum for a few hours after this, but I was starting to feel very tired with a headache and decided to take the bus home and have a nap. I got into a taxi waiting outside the travel agency, but in hindsight suspect it was probably an unlicensed taxi with a fake 'Mai Linh' logo as the fare was about three times what it should have been. I was then further annoyed to have marginally missed the bus, having spent too long down at the waterfront reading when I had half an hour to spare (although I managed to take a photo of the Tran Hung Dao statue in daylight). So, irritatingly, I had to spend an hour in a coffee shop until I could meet Jessica to take a taxi home.

I had told Jessica that I wasn't feeling well, and she recommended some traditional Vietnamese medicine as a cure, as administered by Thuy. I wasn't sure, now only interested in taking some painkillers and going to bed, but thought I should try it as an experience. Back home, Thuy infused lemongrass, ginger and orange peel in a large pot of boiling water. I thought this would make a lovely tea, but that was not the intention. The heavy pot was taken to the upstairs bathroom where it sat steaming on the floor with a tiny blue stool beside it. After convincing Jessica not to make me take all my clothes off, I was sat on the stool with my head bent over the pot, my hair tucked into a shower cap and a towel over my head. It was a sauna experience for my face, and after getting sufficiently sweaty and having a hot shower and tea, I did feel much better.