Phan Thiet April

For the first holiday weekend in April Anna and I decided to go to Mui Ne and just lay around for a couple of days. The Sunday morning started with coffee with the Catholic boys. Anna and I met these three guys when we were shopping one day and Anna gave one of them her card. They are all teachers at a Catholic seminary in Phan Thiet, they work for free and par for the course want to practice their English. We've started having coffee with them on Sunday mornings after they get out of church!After coffee we cycled to the outskirts of Phan Thiet to watch them play football. A good start to the weekend. In the afternoon we cycled to Mui Ne and tried to check into our usual place, unfortunately we didn't have a reservation and the guest house was full, we had to go next door. This wasn't such a hardship, the rooms are nicer but it doesn't have a pool and is more expensive. There is a couple of Indian restaurants in Mui Ne and I've been meaning to go to one of them, well I finally got to go and the food was great. Anna and I stuffed ourselves stupid. Anna offered to share a naan bread with me, I declined. Not the smartest decision, my eyes were bigger than my belly as my mother would say. After dinner we met Jan and Justin at Joe's bar for a drink, it was nice to just sit and chat.
The next day Anna and I changed hotels, we had lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant and spent the afternoon by the pool. In fact we didn't venture very far at all from the hotel, we had dinner at an Italian restaurant across the street and drinks in the hotel bar. The Tuesday morning was very lazy, we had breakfast at the hotel and then lazed by the pool until check out time. On the way back towards PT we stopped at the Sailing Club and ordered their cheese plate, it was awesome. As was the three hours we spent there! I stayed in that night, but very happy to feel well rested. It was just the sort of weekend I needed. The next weekend was fairly standard, coffee with Vietnamese friends, karaoke, Bocano and a massage. I haven't had a massage since before Tet holiday, I don't know why I have left it so long. It felt great, just what I needed. The no drinking thing is going well, as is the no eating chocolate. I decided to give up chocolate as well half way through Lent, I don't know why. As if giving up alcohol wasn't enough! I must have a lot to atone for!!
Easter weekend finally arrived and it didn't come soon enough. I didn't do anything on Good Friday, the Vietnamese don't seem to celebrate it as such but I have noticed that there seems to have been a lot more church services throughout the week leading up to Easter. Easter Saturday started with coffee on Le Loi, I don't seem to have spent a lot of time here recently and when I am here I seem to retreat into my room and not come out. When Anna was staying at the Hoang Kim we would often sit out on the stoop and just watch the world go by. This, of course I don't do this as much any more, in part because Anna isn't there and in part because my lawn chair is still at the office. I haven't yet brought it back to the hotel after Tet holiday. After coffee Anna and I went to the market, I bought an awesome pair of shoes, they make me look six feet tall, I can't wait for Darren to see me in them!Then we had drinks on the beach with Vien but no Mr. Tan. Mr. Tan has gone and got himself engaged and the girlfriend keeps him on a tight leash.If the stories Vien has been telling us about him are true, she's a smart woman but I don't think she should count on him being faithful to her even when they are married. I spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool at Novotel, it was great. Again just what I needed. Although Anna was drinking beer and it was all I wanted to do as well. Saturday was a super tough day for me as regards the not drinking. Easter Sunday seemed so close but so far away.
Easter Sunday finally arrived and I was in church for 05.30, wearing my Ao Dai. After church Anna joined me and we had the first coffee of the morning at the motorcycle cafe. The second coffee of the day was at Samba, as that was where we thought we were meeting the Catholic boys, it was not. We cycled to another coffee house and met them. We had hoped to go to their school's church for the Easter service, but they told us at the last minute that we couldn't come. I think that their church is just for their school, I wish they had told us this earlier, we wouldn't have tried to go to a service there. After coffee Anna and I went got the bus to Saigon, we were going to pick up our passports from the Chinese Consulate and drop them off at the Russian Consulate. The bus ride was uneventful and quick, which is always a bonus. I think it was because we started the trip just before nap time. Most people eat lunch and nap between 11.00 and 14.00 every day and the roads really do get a whole lot quieter. I like cycling around at that time of day, it feels so much safer.
We checked into our usual hotel and then we walked in the direction of the restaurant we were going to have dinner at and tried to find a place for me to break my alcohol fast. I had asked that the first drink I had to break my fast be a Saigon green beer. Anna saw a noodle shop with the usual plastic chairs and we sat down to enjoy. I was a little disappointed, the beer tasted very bitter. However that didn't stop me from drinking two. Dinner was a steak with some good red wine, it was awesome and even before I had finished eating I was already planning my next visit. We finished off the evening with some more wine in the roof top terrace bar at the Rex hotel. Nice place. The trip to the Chinese Consulate went very smoothly and then onto the Russian Consulate. This didn't go so smoothly, firstly we had to wait for the guy to arrive and then he had a few questions for me and I don't think that ideally I had all the information that he wanted. He said it would be enough, but I am still worried. And then we had to pay up front for the visa, luckily Anna had enough dollars to pay for the both of us. We had an awesome lunch at a Japanese restaurant and headed back to PT.
The 28th April was Jan's birthday and a big group of his friends had dinner together at Song Bien. It was nice to have dinner with someone other than Anna and a westerner to boot. I spent a really relaxed evening chatting. Friday that week seemed to last forever. Anna and I went for beers after school and then I had an early night, I had a big weekend ahead of me, I hoped.