Bai Bien Cua Toi (IX & X): Frustration, Sandy Cheeks, Bottle Markers, and floating seafood again

I wake up but keep my eyes closed.....and assess the level of sleepiness.... I could get up..... let's hope it's not 2 am.... I am relieved to see my cell phone displaying 5:00.  I had the running-after-George dream again....

6:30

a light and healthy breakfast

 7:00
toi di cho !
Where are those little banana-leaf-wrapped rice-with-beans packages?  I circle the narrow market passages twice..... but the vendor woman is not here today.... I almost give up and almost buy a banh mi, when I see a woman with something similar to what I want .... I point & say o dau?   She points back into the maze and I find the stall.....

And they say Sushi is edible art .....  these one have pork inside the rice and they are SO YUMMY...  good thing that I have P&M to share them with ;-)

7:45
THIS MAN,

Abdul Aziz, attacked the New Zealand Mosque attacker (who was carrying a rifle) with a CREDIT CARD machine, and scared the racist piece of shit coward so much that he drove away in his car ....


9:15

9:45
Frustration hears its ugly head again..... I asked for a print out of my groundplan and land layout by e-mail this morning at 6:00 and for a tape measure yesterday...... no responses yet..... Lisa has been here for 3 weeks and STILL has no Vietnamese SIM card ..... 
Germans, who are supposed to be planning experts, turn out to create logistics nightmares!

But talking to Marion calms me down again ..... ;-)

11:30

I walk towards the kitchen and I hear someone shout "Quischian!".   Who else pronounces my name this way but Tam?  I am so happy to see her but I don't hug her because I'm not wearing a shirt..... bloody cultural issues.... I think she would have been happy to overlook them this time ....

There are some people in this country whom I have formed such a strong bond within my brief times here.... friggin amazing ;-)

12:30
I've finally showered....  since no-responses from everywhere limit my ability to do something actually useful, I might as well use the time to ride to Song Cau to stock up on cigarettes & wine ....

13:30
Not only do I buy wine & cigarettes, but I also acquire a 20m measuring tape for 45,000 VND ;-)

Some guy with kids with a kite in a field.... he walks over and talks to me.... he bought them in Sai Gon!

14:30
I'm back at the beach with 6 bottles of wine, a carton of cigarettes, yogurt, cookies, and The Measuring Tape !


I only was out there to take a picture of the reflecting sand.... but how could I NOT take a picture of those sandy cheeks? LOL

dit dep !

15:40 

I ask Tam how she travelled here.... by bus apparently ....  I offer her a lift to the bus stop..... I shouldn't have changed my shirt because when we get to the highway, Tam points at her bus disappearing up the pass ....

17:00 at Quang's place
Quang looks stressed....  Lisa the foreigner brings price increases.... so he's trying the third or fourth contractor but Lisa must not show her face this time ... He does it FOR US... and he's the one who's stressed!

P&M & Lisa come back to the Bun place...... a 'regular' tourist from Austria also shows up but ruins the mood by venting all her bigoted prejudices about Vietnam....

P is on a roll and insists on having an ice coffee again....
but even the coffee doesn't manage to wake me up properly....

I had too much going on today.... 

I'm wide awake at 1:30 (blame it on the stress of trying to build a house and having no control over the events) 

I am surprised to see light behind the curtains when I wake up again at 6:00. 

toi di cho

8:00

8:50
It's time to walk over to the future Chez Chris to measure and mark distances with wine bottles.....

Good thing I have enough of those and also a flotsam bag to carry them in.

Knecht Ruprecht (Thank you M for the picture !!)

Lisa & Quang are there to help me ....   NICE !

I talk to Sweet Cheeks & his girlfriend, e-mail them "The Picture"

and in exchange I get some valuable info about their Hotel in Sa Pa:

VTK Homestay Sapa

OMFG, I think I HAVE to go there ;-)

13:30

it must be EASTER soon ;-)

15:00
Time to swim again and get ready !

And then it's already time to ride to Son Phap again....

choices, choices choices ....

Happy Smiley People

Tom Hum again....

It's simply magical !

We make it home alive and finish the day with yet another G&T at Bobby's place ....

NO, NOT quite finish the day.  On P&M's terrace I end up talking to the British guy..... a revelation...  I'm not the only one who has that feeling of NOT belonging in certain places

22:00
As a closing note to this fabulous day:  Again I realize how much I love this country.... can you imagine Trump uttering words as those of the Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister? :

"One can be complimented on their wealth or beauty, but that's not as good as being complimented on one's education. And a compliment on one's education is not as good as a compliment on one's civility."