Day 8

Today was a very long day, but it was really nice. In the morning we walked to Hard Rock Cafe and got to talk to the commercial director of Viet Thai International, Dan Thai. Viet Thai is a company that works with businesses in Ho Chi Minh City. They are running Hard Rock Cafe, Highlands coffee, Armani, Nike, and other companies like them. It was really neat to hear his own personal story, and how his brother left the US to go to Vietnam with only 700 dollars. With the realization that the coffee industry needed work in Vietnam, and the personal motivation he turned the $700 into millions of dollars as Highland's Coffee was founded along with Viet Thai. I thought his story was really inspirational. Just a regular man, with the motivation and passion of doing something good for his country, and look at all he accomplished.

Jimi Hendrix's Scarf 

Then we ate lunch in the VIP section of The Hard Rock cafe. I had the duck wrap and fries. It was pretty good, but for some reason the fries and ketchup really hit the spot. Everyone working there was so nice to us! After lunch we went to Highland's Coffee training center where the Director of Highland's Coffee, Andrew Nathan, met with us and gave us a ton of coffee drinks to try. It was the best coffee I have ever had. It was extremely rich and creamy. I bought like 2 packs of the ground coffee beans. Im so excited for people back home to try it. Mr. Nathan told us that Highland's is planning on going international, and should be in the States soon.

When the meeting was over Kim, Maia, and I decided to do some shopping so we walked around the mall for a while.  I ended up buying a shirt, and I can't wait to wear it tonight when we all go out on the town! Around 6 we went to karaoke with some of the Highland's coffee people. It was really fun! The Vietnamese sang their songs in Vietnamese and all of us sang oldies music in English. I sat next to Tom and we were dancing and singing along. We sang Hey Jude, Build Me Up Buttercup, and I assisted Matt with singing Brown Eyed Girl. There were other good classics like Bon Jovi Livin on a Prayer, and even Ghostbusters. It was a good time.

This picture describes karaoke.

Break it down Matt

Well time to get ready to explore the wonders of Ho Chi Minh City! PS I'm writing this blog while wearing my cone hat.