Bai Bien Cua Toi (I & II) ..... Getting back into the rhythm of stepping out of my comfort zone

Given standard incubation periods, I must have caught a bit of a flu in the last few days in Vancouver.  I wake up repeatedly through the night in sweat-drenched clothes and sheets.....

Calling Grandma at 4:00 is a bit disheartening too.  She has days when her perception of reality does not match the perception of the majority of people ;-(

5:30
I drink the first coffee made with my new electric Moka pot.   The coffee tastes like what I imagine heated Canadian Tar sand to taste like, but it's not the machine's fault, I blame the coffee powder I bought.

Life is good again ;-)

6:15
No time to be lazy, there are certain traditions to be upheld here.  I hop on the scooter to head to the market.   Toi mua mot trai dua va hai banh mi trung.  The pineapple costs me 15,000 VND and the two egg baguettes are actually CHEAPER than when I was here last. 14,000 VND for both, competition at the market must be heating up !

7:30
A bit of beach clean up under dark skies and I think I might be ready for a nap.

8:30
Over breakfast the hotel manager informs me that She loves me and Jesus loves me and for that reason she will order no more wine for me to pay and consume.      
The logic somehow evades me.... and I'm sure that doesn't classify as good guest relations !
Time for a morning walk.... that should take my mind off this nonsense.

11:30

14:30
WOW, another 3 hours of sleep !

This fly will live.  I scoop it out with a spoon.

15:30
I FINALLY bite the bullet ;-)

The water feels COLD as it's reaching towards my upper body...

...but after a minute of being fully submerged it's PERFECT.   And there isn't even any sun !

Too much business talk on the hotel patio, so I head over to Sweden.
Bobby is back and sells me smokes and a G&T.

Bobby has a Scotch himself and I get to hear the latest gossip about life at My Beach.
Bobby, who apparently owns the enterprise, sent both Johann & Busse back to Sweden because they were just enjoying the beach life but not doing any actual work, LOL.

And I hear another unbelievable thing:  There are digital video cameras overlooking the bar.  Their feed can be accessed via the internet.   Busse actually gave the password to access that feed to his wife in Sweden, so she could live monitor what he was up to here at the beach in Vietnam.  And then he would take booze to his room and drink it there so that his wife in Sweden wouldn't see that he was boozing.   The man is 58 years old, for God sake and he has to hide his drink ?

6:00

7:00
I'm turning on my Canadian cell phone to check for messages.   The Freedom Mobile phone roamed in Vietnam 2 months ago.   Now there is NO roaming SERVICE.   Good thing I have my Vietnamese phone with excellent reception and much lower rates ;-)

8:00
I'm hungry, time to go to market !
I'm walking away with my booty of a bunch of yellow flowers and a pineapple (TOTAL cost $1), when I see yet another thing I have NEVER EVER seen before (Vietnam is good for that ;-)

Who needs a store to sell goldfish? 

 He nods vigorously when I ask him whether I can take a picture and keeps smiling.....

an improvement

10:00
While I'm munching on some pineapple in the kitchen area, B re-confirms that she won't order any more wine. 





WTF?  If she is serious, then that she is really taking that Jesus thing too far! But somehow I suspect that a cash flow problem is at the heart of the matter.





10:45
Time to go for a swim.

What is going on? 
I'm trying to get back to the beach, my arms are feeling weak already, but I don't seem to get any closer to dry land.   
All this time,  big waves crash over me from behind, taking away breath I don't really have anymore.
I'm already considering making the International HELP ME OUT OF THE WATER Sign when I finally feel sand under my feet.


Wow.  I'm getting old!  Got to be more careful; I could've been a goner there ;-(

13:30 ?  
Another TWO hour nap?
Really?

I'm low on cigarettes, wine, and I have NO yogurt.  That can mean only one thing. It's time to ride to Song Cau.....

After filling up at the gas station, I try to squeeze my head into the 3/4 face helmet. OUCH, my ears !  
Oh, NOOOO..... this will NOT do.   I am NOT going to ride a motorbike with pressure on my ears and my whole head feeling like it has been mummified with multiple layers of duct tape. I'm sure that would be very safe if I actually crash but the pain and discomfort would just distract me from what is happening on the road and increase my chances of crashing.  KHONG ! Not going to happen!

Return to base and try again tomorrow, LOL.

But I still need cigarettes.....and I don't need a helmet to go there but I need the scooter because the roads are still under water.

4 packs of smokes and a box of chocolate/coffee cookies.   102,000 VND.  (Yes, that is US$ 4.39 for FOUR packs of cigarettes AND a box of cookies).  I'm sorry that I can only pay with a 200k VND note and the owner gets out his plastic bucket with change (not the first time I have seen that).

I count my change back in my hotel room and I blush and grin at the same time.   Instead of 98k VND, he gave me back 99K because he could find a 1000 VND note.   I am not the least surprised but just a little embarrassed  ;-)

17:00
NO, I'm not going to eat dinner here at the hotel again.  Yesterday's Thit Heo was yummy but it caused Sam Set in my stomach..... plus I don't want to be the beggar who hopes to get some scraps for free from Tam but I also refuse to pay 100k for a meal that is way too big.

So I hop on the scooter and hop out to find a noodle stall.

On the road, I see a child with a helmet on his head running toward me and waving frantically.  Only when I get closer, do I recognize Thu\ng's big grin under the helmet ;-)

I reach the noodle shack that Quang took me to in the summer.... but it's CLOSED.  

I slowly ride back and stop at another place in the front room of a dwelling.   The woman lifts a plastic bag with a questioning look and I raise my index finger and nod.  
Easy ;-)
Then the husband surprises me: "Where are you from?" he says in English, LOL.
I nod again when the wife asks "Pho Bo?" and then have time to take a picture of the neighbours' kids playing while she prepares my soup in the bag.

30,000 VND (USD$ 1.29) seems a tad high for this village but I'm sure it's a lot better for my stomach than the alternatives at the hotel.

Back at the hotel, the new young manager, who already was surprised earlier that I speak a few words of tieng viet, now does a double take when I show up with a bagged dinner.   NO, normal Westerners don't do that, LOL.