The Beach III: Going native and opening a bank account. Or maybe NOT? Or maybe YES?

4:30
I actually have another nap and only go for my swim at 5:15.  I'm LATE, LOL.

This looks like a good spot for a swim !

I smoke my last cigarette after calling Grandma at 6:15.  

What now?  There is a gate at the front of the property and the pad lock is closed.  Oh, but the gate consists of 4 segments, so I can open the gate anyway.  Houdini at his best, LOL.

The village road is busy and many heads turn at the sight of the foreigner.  
OF COURSE, the stores are open at 6:30 am. The owner might have her breakfast at her house across the street but that is no problem.  I buy my cigarettes (22,000 VND) and the store woman's husband also interrupts his breakfast to come out and ask "Where are you from?  What is your Name?" I doubt that Tang's English goes much further than that but his pronunciation is excellent ;-)

Binh wanted to accompany me to the bank at 7 am today but when I see her I can tell she is clearly under the weather.  She postpones our departure to the afternoon.  

I feel under the weather as well.

Michelin Hand !

I'm not sure whether it was the prawn shells I ate yesterday, the 4 bottles of wine I consumed within 3 days, maybe the sunburn on my thighs I earned on the scooter yesterday, or maybe that insect bite on my left hand, which has caused my left hand to SWELL UP.   
A well, no reason to worry YET, there IS a hospital only 13 kms from where I am staying.











I have a very light breakfast at 8 am and lay down for a nap.  

Until 11 !

12:00
It is afternoon now. Banking time?  Now where is Binh?  
Ah well, time for a garbage-collecting walk and swim.

I finally find some matching shoes, but they're both the LEFT shoe  ;-(

The games you can play with dead lobster heads ......

Just imagine a stop-motion Godzilla-type movie !

This one still has the good edible parts attached !

A gorgeous creature: Nature imitating art or is art imitating nature?

13:30
Still no Binh.  I must have got up on the wrong side of the bed because I hop onto the scooter to ride to Quy Nhon.  Huffy Puffy scooter rider.

This is when I notice that my scooter doesn't have a rear-view mirror. It had one yesterday!   Oh, is that why my helmet hung differently?  Because someone ran over my rental scooter?  I turn around and head to my host's house.  
Binh instantly takes the edge of my anger "Oh Chris. Yes, we go now, just finish feeding baby". 

A couple of more stops and we're in a bank in Song Cau.  Less than 1.5 hours later I have a Vietnamese bank account.  Cam on nhieu, Binh, for your help.

Binh in Paradise !

Binh tells me to ride home alone because she has to buy stuff in a hardware store.  "I can wait", I say.  

You know about women shopping?  

I wait, I buy some Banh Mi Cha Lua (YUMMY), I wait, I buy some cigarettes, I wait, I buy a dress shirt, I wait, I buy a bottle of wine, I wait, I give some change to a young woman panhandler (highly unusual), I wait, I Wait, I WAIT.













I know that Binh helped me in the bank and I should wait until she is done, but then she asks me again whether I want to leave because she'll be busy for one more hour.











Out comes my inner Schweinehund and I jump at the offer of freedom, LOL.

The open road home had been luring me !

18:15
Why do people always knock on my door when I'm in the shower????
All good, dinner is ready early.

Dinner conversation is a HOOT.

My potential partner in the Business transaction is also there.  
As a joke, Binh is saying something flirtatious to me.
M tells her that this is just wasted effort because I'm playing on the wrong team.
As a joke, I ask her whether she does have a Brother.
She points at the potential business partner and says "THAT is my brother".
Don't mix pleasure and business !
Of course, Binh being Binh, she translates every word for Wang.
Blush.  (Yes, Wang is HOT, but his wife is sitting right next to him, LOL)

T & M