Phan Thiet - Jan '11

Anna and I were so glad to get another week out of the way that we went for a beer as soon as we finished work. We stopped at a small cafe on Luong The Vinh St, I really like this neighbourhood. It's a good mixture of residential and commercial, I would like to live around here.Then we went to get our nails done and it took so long that I really needed the bathroom by the time my lady had finished with me. As soon as I could I rushed out of the salon and cycled to Huba coffee shop and dashed straight into their bathroom. Since we were there Anna and I decided to stop for a beer. Then because we sometimes can't make it very far without some kind of liquid refreshment we stopped at our favourite seafood restaurant on Nyugen Tat Than St, just around the corner from the coffee shop.We were joined by one of Anna's friends Tuan, he speaks good English and is generally a nice guy. He is the person Anna had gone to the wedding with the previous weekend. Then because neither of us had had enough, we went to Bocano, one of the local nightclubs and danced up a storm. We left the club when it closed and were cycling in the general direction of home when we saw some guys having a drinks party by the side of the street. I think you can guess what happened, they said hello, offered us beer and we stopped. They turned out to be the security crew from Co-Op mart. Cool. And after all this we finally went home.
Needless to say I was not up early the next morning, it was a late start for me. I started the day with brunch at the Binh Minh cafe and then Anna and I made it to the market. There were a couple of things I wanted to buy,including a new pair of shoes to go with my new dress. The afternoon was quiet, I spent it in my room resting and trying to rehydrate, we were going out again that night. There was a golf tournament at Sealinks, Anna had been invited to play but had declined so we wangled an invite to the dinner instead. We are so classy, we took the bus to the entrance of the resort and then walked up to the hotel entrance, where we changed out of our flip flops into our nice shoes. I hope no one I know saw me!The dinner was set up on the terrace of the hotel and we arrived just as the sun was setting. Sealinks is on top of the hill, overlooking the whole of Mui Ne bay. It's a really beautiful location. We sat on a table with Danni and a few of the Mui Ne locals. The food was great, I had this awesome beef and some good smoked salmon. Of course we didn't finish the night there and went with the gang to Sankara. Anna and I had talked about what we would do, because we didn't want a super late night and didn't want to spend a shed load of cash on the overpriced drinks there. Helen, the owner of Sankara got us our first round in and then when the others started talking about going to another bar, we headed home and were back by 12.30. Mission accomplished.
Sunday morning wasn't as late a start as the previous morning had been. I had coffee on Le loi and started the day in the fashion I hoped it would continue, relaxed. I didn't do anything in the morning, which is as it should be. At 1pm Anna and I went to the Binh Minh where we were supposed to meet her friend Vien and one of his friends, a girl called Van who is a reporter at the Binh Thuan newspaper. They were late, I was not surprised. Van was great, really pleasant and spoke good English. I like Vien but sometimes a conversation with him can be taxing. I was not up for taxing. I spent the rest of the afternoon back in my room doing nothing much. In the evening we had dinner with Grant and Mai, we wanted to talk to them about their wedding the following weekend. We would be part of the grooms procession to Mai's house. In Vietnam there is a series of parties, the first one being where the groom and his family and friends walk to the brides house bearing gifts. Then the groom will meet the bride and her family and hopefully be accepted as a suitable husband. Then we all sit down and eat. This is the family party, they have another party for friends later in the day. Grant told us that we had to be at his hotel for 7am the following Sunday. I didn't care, I was just so excited to be a part of the wedding, I wouldn't pretty much have done anything!Then I had an early night and so another week was looming.
Monday evening Anna, Jan and I went with Vien,Mr.Tan, Van the reporter and her sister to a dog restaurant. Anna gets super excited about eating anything weird. I think I lost that excitement in Japan and now pretty much say no to anything strange. I tried the dog, while one of the dishes was good, overall it was not a pleasant experience and one that I will not be repeating. I haven't told my mother, she would not be happy! The next couple of days were uneventful, just the way I like them. Since I came back from Japan I seem to be trying to squeeze as much as possible into my weekends and this has spilled over into my week nights. On Thursday Anna and I took our boss Mr. Hoan out to dinner, as well as a few of the office people. I was hoping that it would be an early night, not the case, we all went to karaoke afterwards. It seemed as if the weekend was starting early. Friday was an easy day at school as all lessons were cancelled so the students could rehearse for the end of semester ceremony the next day. I didn't complain, I could prepare my lessons for the following week. However it still felt good to get out of the office at 5pm.