What day of the week is it today? Ahh... who cares, all that matters is that I'm in Sai Gon !

Shortly after midnight I'm awake ..... bloody jet-lag...

There is an e-mail from my Ferry Consultant.... an invite to attend his 50th in a Tokyo restaurant on June 23rd....... OMG, that is SO tempting..... but I have to check out what's going with Chez Chris first....


Jet lag par excellence: I'm awake at 1:00, try to doze, get up at 2:00, get up at 3:00....at 4:00 I finally GIVE UP and make coffee....

I'm still amazed at how THIS affects my morning mood ;-)

5:15
The phone call to Grandma is OK..... I can still feel her negativity across the almost 12,000 km that now separate us, but at least she is doing well!  

I'm also grinning at my phone's report.... 8 minutes for 50,000 Dong... that's 25 cents per minute ... if my Canadian cell phone were still roaming here (which OF COURSE it isn't), the bill would have been $4/minute or $32 in total, LOL. 

 Go FUCK YOURSELVES you GREEDY bastards!

7:30
Enough wine..... I need breakfast to soak it up!

I ask the new receptionist (she pronounces her name Jen) the following:   Lam on, viet ten cua ban! (please write your first name).... 
WHY ? 
Because her name is Trang !

Out of the alley.... turn right....I was just about to walk by this stand, but the SMELL emanating from its charcoal grill stops me in my tracks... and it's a Banh Mi stand.... there are small homemade meat (unknown animal!) patties simmering on that grill....

YES, I want those on my baguette !  And the veggies and a bit of ot !

8:00

I'm smoking on my balcony and I'm sweating like a PIG..... it's HOT out there ;-)

14:00

Wow... how can anyone sleep SO MUCH at the wrong time of day?

15:00
I'm in the process to give to charity when I notice that my credit card gets rejected....  OH NO, NOT AGAIN...... but YES, there was another fraudulent transaction..... someone charged Apple iTunes to my credit card......  


Good thing it's 1:30 am in Canada right now, so when I call the credit card company, there is NO wait time .....





Again I notice what they built on top of the hotel across the alley, on top of the usual top floor that is used to dry the hotel laundry...... 

.... the video doesn't quite capture the effect...... 

... the ripples of the golden cloth in the wind are pure CHRISTO !   

Happy Vesak and Peace on Earth !

16:00
It's time to plan tomorrow..... should I stay in Quy Nhon for the night or arrange an airport pick-up to get to My Beach one day earlier ?   
I know full well what my gut-feeling is telling me ;-)

Tin

So I call Tin to arrange everything.... it's good to hear that smile in his voice again 


.... but there also is a note of stress in his voice


..... he is too young to have that already!

Elke ... still with blue hair ;-)

AND.... there is an e-mail from Elke after an at least one-year-long radio silence..... 
Can this be coincidence?  



I'm delighted to hear that she found someone...... she deserves it !!!!




17:30
I realize that I still haven't showered today..... 

19:00
Good thing I set an alarm or I would still be sleeping ....

20:00

Ca l'uon ka ri (Curry eel)

OK, I'll eat again .... but first another bottle of wine and top up my phone ... the calls to Grandma and the credit card company ate up 100k VND ...

Today they're NOT out of eel.... I get my ca luon ka ri ;-)

Lots of bones in those tiny bits of fish.... but I understand why Grandpa JJ loved this stuff so much ;-)














You've never eaten eel or don't know what an eel is?

Behold the eels:

;~~~)

Quoc and the usual crowd are back eating & drinking in the alley..... he invites me to join....but I haven't sufficiently arrived in this time zone yet to be social ....