I'm showered and the sink laundry has had enough time to soak. It's strange & exciting being back here....
Phuong is very talkative today.....she asks about Grandma (she remembered!), states that I will get my kettle again, AND tells me that I will get my room for CHEAP even in March. That's the way I like it, LOL.
Huyen is her usual self ...... but I'm too tired to talk to her much and head for my Bun Cha place....
All the tables inside are full, so I sit on one of the waiting chairs outside and tell an early 30s guy arriving after me that the wait is worth it. Note to Self: Seems I successfully left behind the shying away from people in that Ugly City I left 20 hours ago.
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| NOT my picture; I've been here so often, I don't even take pictures here anymore, LOL |
17:00
I DID sleep a lot on the plane, BUT it is 3:00 am in Vancouver right now, so now wonder I feel sleepy....
5:30. Light is returning to SaiGon..
By 7:00 I'm showered and shaved and step into the lobby. OMG, is that Chuong sitting on that couch just like the old days? He is sweet as always but I'm on a mission here. I'm trying to find a BOOK.
First stop: Bookworm's Coffee just around the corner.
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| Yes, the walls are lined by BOOKS ! |
The breakfast is bearable and so is the book selection in the shelves. All the books had at least two owners (remember the leave-one-to-take-one book exchange in every hostel over here?) Neither the breakfast nor the books are cheap, but one book changes hands anyway.
Is it the jet-lag, the heat, the booze or lack thereof, I'm not sure. All I'm sure of is that the owner of the cafe has to run after me because I lefty my cell phone (used it as a WiFi router) on the table. Ts Ts Ts!
I don't quite feel like going back to the hotel, so I detour to Coopmart.
It's not even 9:00 when I'm back in my room. Maybe I should read a bit and have another nap?
OK, time to eat. How about some Bun Cha again?
WTF? I can hear SIRENS before I even clear the corner.
Bun Cha it is !
First time eating in a restaurant while firetrucks are still blocking the street
17:15
OMG, where did the time go? And what is that noise? RAIN !
Time to go check my phone balance. Phuong helped me and put 500,000 VND (US$ 22) on my pay-before SIM at the beginning of July and I used that balance all of July and early August to call Canada. I was actually shocked to see that my phone was still roaming when I got back to Vietnam yesterday and that it allowed me to call Grandma this morning. Phuong punches in some magic number combinatino and: 10,000 VND are left of that balance. NOTHING !
She's not doing it herself today but directs me to the little store across the street. I know it well, that's where the wine & the cigarettes come from ;-). And the woman and the child are back! No change in owners, which would be a rare thing in Vietnam anyway.I guess there are no 500,000 VND vouchers (but didn't Phuong get one last time?). The store lady scratches the cards to get the code and enters the code into the phone of four 100k cards and 2 50k cards. She even has to send her dad to another store to get the 250k that she didn't have in the drawer of her till. But she does it and I have cheap and reliable phone service again ! I can't believe that as recently as March I used my Canadian phone to call Canada and would pay 100s of dollars in inflated roaming charges ...... live and learn ;-)
19:00
It doesn't look like I'm going out again tonight. The constant staccato on the tin roof of the terrace suggests it's pouring in Saigon. That's OK. I have wine, and food, and smokes, and I have that book I bought this morning. A Russian crime thriller by the author who wrote Gorky Park.....
3:00
There is news from my Ferry & Typhoon Consultant. Something called Super-Typhoon Mangkhut is bearing down on the Philippines and later on Hong Kong and possibly on Vietnam !
5:00
But WTF? Hang ON! I watched THIS a while back? The WHOLE thing? Seems dull & boring to me now, so I stop .....
7:00
I walked by a fabulous Banh Mi stand yesterday and the image of that bread has tortured me since yesterday. Let's go to the market. Chuong is in the lobby, I can hear his cough all the way up the stairs. I don't know how he does it. He sleeps on the hotel couch at night, possibly acting as the night receptionist, cat-washes in a toilet, and then goes to study English & Tourism at school (which he has to pay for) all day! But not a single word of complaint, which would be Un-Vietnamese. I shudder when I realize that he is one of the lucky ones...
When I get to the cho (market), yesterday's sandwich stand is not there. OK take the second choice.
Another stop at the 24-hour MiniMart that now carries white wine (it did NOT two months ago ;-) for a bottle.
As expected , Chuong happily accepts the extra nutrition and tells me how to pronounce cho. He, who is learning English, wants to know WHY I am learning Vietnamese, LOL.
9:45
OMG. I wake up even more tired than when fell asleep.
I reserve my room for the 2 nights before my flight to Europe and leave my Chucks & my Hoodie here. Cold-weather clothes & shoes are useless here and would just weigh down my backpack.
11:45
I did the online check-in for tomorrow's flight and printed out the boarding pass in the lobby. Xuan is in a chatty mood today. She wants to know where I am going tomorrow. Nha Trang? she asks. I feel a bit sorry about dissing that Russian tourist mecca after I learn that she is from Nha Trang.
11:55
I walk over to the new hotel, GGH, only to be told that the room is not ready yet. So it looks like they sold out last night after all. After repeated questions I am finally told that my room will be ready in one hour (I doubt it ;-). I leave the big backpack there....what now?.....I don't think it's too early for Bun Cha ;-)
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| my picture, my garlic, my bun cha |
12:30
I paid 100k for the book I bought in the cafe yesterday, so I feel justified leaving a donation to the kitchen in the same amount.
The receptionist in HaNoi made a total of $220 per month and I don't think it's much higher down here, so the money is going where it's needed.
13:00
The room is ready. I can't REALLY complain for the US$ 20 I'm paying per night. The room is big, bright, and clean. There is a balcony, although it is only 8 inches deep, LOL.
The fact that this is called a 'balcony' allows me to SMOKE out the window ;-)
The price is NOT bad for Central SaiGon, but this room is NOT where I want to stay next March, so I waddle over to my regular hotel to have Phuong book me 2 nights in March at the 'Special Guest Rate' of US$ 28 instead of $36. She is not there, but Huyen is. And she is in her "Don't give things back, physically fight for them, if necessary fight dirty and pinch nipples" mood. I saw it in her eyes that I hit a sensitive nerve when I called her a 'phu nu dien' earlier..... The fight is over my wine bottle!
I guess the fact that in the middle of the altercation, I start shouting "Oh Ya, harder! harder! hit me harder !" doesn't really help to defuse the situation, if anything it gets her going, LOL.
Yes, it all is more than a bit ODD, but I MUCH prefer it to hanging out with people with my age who think that the pinnacle of life is having more diamonds on their Rolex ;-)
Soon I'll be 60 years old, will I think the world is cold,
or will I have a lot of children who can warm me?
17:15
I've bought another bottle of wine in the family-run store, pulled the cork at My Old Hotel, and deposited it into the lobby fridge of my new hotel. TOO complicated! I should have just stayed in my old hotel, which really has become HOME ! Live and Learn !
17:30
If the food is only half as visually appealing and tasty as the pictures in the menu, I'll be in for a treat. And the name: ROYAL Saigon Restaurant. How come I never tried to eat here before?
After a few bites, I realize that Karma tried to keep me away from this place.
Or maybe I just ordered the wrong dish?
Braised fish sounds good, but it is served in PURE OIL.
Imagine the combo of rice, cooked fish, and OIL. YUK !
20:00:
I Should get that bottle of wine from the fridge downstairs but I'm SO TIRED ....
5:00
That's enough sleep!
And I have to take a bus in 4 hours anyway. Oh right, and the hotel still has that bottle of wine chilling in the fridge for me ;-)
6:40
This hotel is different from pretty much all other hotels in Vietnam that I've encountered. No, the metal gates are locked and the front door is closed. BUT, there is NO ONE sleeping in the lobby. Which means that I can't get out and late stragglers can't get in. Ah well, I find my bottle in the fridge in the 'kitchen' and climb back up to my third floor room....8:00
Breakfast in included in the already cheap room, so I don't expect too much. But the two slices of toast with scrambled eggs AND sweet chili sauce actually taste really GOOD !
There are two kids at the table next to me (At my age I can call anyone kid; they're about 24) A couple from Northern Germany who just finished their FIRST trip to Vietnam; a SEVEN week trip! Needless to say, they LOVED it, LOL.
8:50
Time to check out and hit the bus stop !
The receptionist looks worried when I answer his question about my take-off time with 11:00. But I'm sick of waiting at airports for ever and by now I can time it closer without being late (I hope)
But I'm STILL left with too much time at the airport. I catch the 152 bus at 9:05 across from the Pullman hotel and I've cleared security, had a smoke in the smoking lounge, and am typing this at 9:59. 45 minutes left until boarding! Now THAT was FAST !
Since I'm flying VietJet again, my gate is the same as in early July. Let's just hope that this time the plane is on time and I don't get rucksack-imprints on my face from napping on these benches again !
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