Korean BBQ and more rain!
If you ever watch the movie Forest Gump, there is a scene when he is a solder in Vietnam and he states "One day it started raining, and it didn't quit for four months. We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin' rain... and big ol' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night".
This is exactly how the last week has been. Welcome to Viet Fuckin Nam!!!
When they say rain here, expect every type, all day, and all night. Vertical rain, horizontal rain, big droplets, small droplets, heavy rain, light rain, and mist. This place delivers it all.
It rained all day today and it's forecast to continuing raining through the week. But the locals are very resilient to it and all seem to have a secret poncho hidden somewhere on their person. They also are very adapt at taking a break when it rains. They will simply stop work, and sit around under an awning or a tree in a crouch position, all talking and smoking in a huddle. Then as soon as rain stops they are all up and busy at work again.
Noticeable are motorbikes. Going past they are suddenly all wearing ponchos, and then as soon as the rain stops, they are all going past with no ponchos. You can see how the sudden switch-a-roo would have driven the US Marines in the war nuts! It's a seamlessly transition between ponchos on or off with no disruption to the flow of traffic at all. I'm not even sure how they do it, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are changing while ridding along.
Most of my day was spent on the tablet, which I like, but I am now regretting big time not having my computer here. The main issue is posting these diary entries, which is very slow and I have had to break them into parts because the tablet just doesn't have the horsepower to process bigger pages.
As mentioned when on the beach, having a travel partner for some activities would be nice, so I loaded a few pics on Tinder. It wasn't long before Jo responded saying she would be happy to have some company but wasn't into hookups. I have already met Anne an older winging Aussie woman who couldn't seem to get past the cost of an Australian passport. Just to make sure I got the message load and clear, she told me about 10 times "It's the most expensive passport in the world you know!"
Another person I have met is Kaz, who is also staying in the apartment. He is from Lithiwania and has strong views on Ukraine and the corrupt Putin. He thinks Russian people are drunk on propaganda. He hasn't worked out it's actually the west that is drunk on lies and bullshit. Thus, we didn't get along politically, but he is a nice guy who loves to sit outside, smoke, and chat.
A couple of nights ago I had noodles and chicken which cost $VND40,000 ($AUD2) and was 7/10 but I wasn't feeling the love for another broth. Vietnamese food is very "Pho" like and it's just not grabbing me. Deciding I can't just eat hamburgers all the time, I stayed close to the apartment and hiked it to a Korean BBQ
Following my earlier indecision of how I should approach restaurants, I have completely become one of these arrogant pricks who walks in with "See Chow" and starts waving his hands around like a looney. I learnt this behaviour from a Japanese guy. Here I was, sitting there wondering are these people going to serve me or what, when a Japanese fella walked in like he owned the joint, sat down and started waving and pointing. Needless to say he was served and left before me!
Making this MY style, I strode into the Korean BBQ dripping with water from the rain, sat down and started pointing at the table. A commotion happened and quickly all sorts of little dishes were put on the table along with a menu. There were about 15 separate items. Being a guru with chopsticks, I hoed into the dishes and went to open the menu. It was at this moment I realised half of whatever I was eating was now on my chest.. even on the floor!
Ok, well this is embarrassing I thought. I flicked through the menu but they only seemed to have plates of meat. I waved the waiter over and asked "Do you have combos?"He responded with "aaaaahhh". Ok so is that yes or no? He repeated himself "aaaaahhhh".
Language is tiresome. At first it is a novelty and exciting, but English is sometimes hard. I resorted to Google translator. A different guy was then assigned to look after me. He had limited English, but at least we could communicate. "I want a combo, you know different meats". "Don't have" he said. He showed me the meats they had, but they were expensive and in large portions. I asked "can I have half this one and half this one?" "These for two" he said. Asking where are the portions for one, I discovered they only have meals for 2 or more people.
Given half the food on the table was already on the floor and I didn't want to stand up revealing my mess, I ordered both the pork and the beef. This was designed as food for four, but it was the only way I could get a mix of meats. He bought the dishes out and I thought to myself "how the hell am I going to eat all this!"
He asked me how I want, and I said "medium", Then he stood at the table and cooked it for me. Unusual because every Korean BBQ I've been too, including Seoul, you cook it yourself.
Meanwhile, as he stood beside me I tried my best to exhibit professional chopstick skills. While he cooked the meat he kept saying "you review? you review? which you review?" I had no idea what this guy was talking about. Maybe he wants me to do a Google review. Then I realised he was asking me what dish or item I wanted to "refuel". I ate absolutely everything, it was nice to have that full feeling. Recommend the pork 10/10
However, when I went to pay I was missing $VND860,000 ($AUD46) and didn't have enough to pay the $VND475000 ($AUD25) bill. This threw me into a total tail spin. How can this be? No really, how can this be?
Thankfully they accepted the Wise card, which along with Holify has been a great travel decision.
