On the 11th of April we left for Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It was so hot! It was 98 degrees! It was night time and we got dropped off at our Airbnb in a 20 story building. They had a pool that we went in every day. We stayed there for 3 nights.

One day we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels, which are tunnels that the Viet Cong used secretly during the Vietnam war.  The Viet Cong were the communists. They used the tunnels to sneak up on the US and the other Vietnamese. The US didn’t know that the Viet Cong had their tunnels right under them. In the middle of the night, the Viet Cong would come out of their secret entrances and attack the US camps and steal their supplies. The US didn’t know how they were doing it.

We went on a tour of the tunnels and we got to look at all of the booby traps they made. We also got to try their secret entrances, which were tiny square holes with a cover on them that were covered with leaves. It was a very tight fit. We also got to go in a tunnel for 100 meters. Most of us anyway! (Mom!) It was a really tight tunnel already but the guide said they had made them wider because only tourists come to see them and they are a lot fatter than the Vietnamese. It was a long tour and super super super hot.

In Vietnam there aren’t many road rules. Really the only cars they have are the taxis. The rest are mostly mopeds. Mopeds are like smaller motorcycles and meant for just the pavement. The mopeds are everywhere. They are even on the sidewalks. Sometimes you can see 4 people on a moped at once. We call them them “four heads”. There are millions of mopeds. It’s really hard to cross the street because there aren’t any crosswalks and so you just have to go through all the mopeds and they never stop for you. It’s kind of like Crossy Road. If a taxi is on one side of the street and he wants to get to the other side he can just flip a U turn in front of everybody.

Julia: What do you miss most about home?

Decker:My friends, Legos… Nerf guns… and a lot of other things.

Julia: What do you miss least?

Decker: Chores, laundry, folding clothes…

Julia: Where are you most excited to go?

Decker: Egypt.

Julia: Who are you most tired of on this trip?

Decker: You!

Julia: Wow, thanks!

Julia: What are you most excited to do in Egypt?

Decker: Visit The Pyramids.

Julia: Have you lost anything yet? What do you think you are going to lose next?

Decker: Yes, I have lost stuff. And I think I’m going to lose…part of my transformer.

Julia: What are you most glad that you brought on this trip?

Decker: Toys, unlike somebody. (rolls eyes at Julia)

Julia: Is there anything else you want to tell me about this trip?

Decker: NO!

On an amazing April 5, I got out of school! It was amazingly amazing! Then, on April 8, we left for Tokyo. We left Sapporo for good. I was sad but also very excited that we were going somewhere new.

We stayed there for two days and did some awesome things. We saw the statue of Hachiko, which, if you don’t know about, you should read his story: Hachiko: The True Story of a Loyal Dog. We also saw the busiest intersection in the world at Shibuya Station, which was pretty cool.

We walked around town and went in toy stores, looked in shops, and just hung out. One day we went to the Nature and Science Museum, and ate snails for dinner. (They were disgusting!)

One of the funnest things we did was when we went to this park where there was thin metal bump that was twelve feet high and very slick. you climb up the back and then you can slide down it. It was big enough across to have 9 people race at the same time. Tokyo was so much fun!

At our apartment in Tokyo there was this Demon, get it, D-man, and this samari sword. Decker is posing for a picture.

On the subway ride my dad tied my shoes together. I know it looks like I know, but I had no idea until it was too late…