US Thanksgiving

Nov. 23rd was the American Thanksgiving and one of the staff is American and hoped we would join her for a traditional feast.  It took place at the Intercontinental Hotel - real swanky place - live music in the foyer and a buffet that bordered on obscene.  So much food and choices.  Of course there was real turkey and you could choose the meat you desired along with 3 different gravies.  The price reflected the location and so we took our time eating so that we could sample as many dishes as possible - from oysters on the shell to steamed fish to just about anything you could think of.  And whenever your wine glass was nearing finish a server came and refilled - again and again.

Our group of 8.  

And yes, I am talking about food again.  But Vietnam is a culture about food.  Wherever you go, any time of day, locals are cooking or eating.  Folks have their plastic chairs out on the sidewalks and alleyways with their Hibachi type of BBQing.  We once were taking an early flight out and as we drove through the dark city at 4:30am, people were already, or still, out cooking and eating and gathering. 

 We heard about a 'cool' spot The Old Compass Cafe.  They have regular guest speakers of note as well as musical performances.  It is a small space but very comfortable with great music.  

After finding the alleyway to this spot we had 3 floors to go up.

Frank looking for the entrance - the red sign is our spot.

through the alley from the street

 View from the stairwell window.  Typical housing.

Our table by the window.  

The room

In the washroom there were some of the posters of previous speakers and musicians.  We will be making plans to attend some of the sessions.  Due to the small, cozy space, and the popularity of the sessions, reserving a spot is recommended. Now it is time to book our get away for next weekend - Mui Ne by the sea:)

  

Back in Vung Tau

Nov. 10-11
Decided to get out of Saigon for a night.  We left on the 9am ferry for Vung Tau.  I booked a hotel that I have been curious about.  There were not many available rooms.  We ended up in a huge apartment. The place had a weird feeing about it.  Frank thinks it is a condo that is not going well and so they are renting out apartments.  It was very clean but musty smelling and there were no windows - only two small glass sliding doors.  Oh well.
The pool on the roof was nice but again abandoned.  The view was great.  Sunday morning we could watch and listen to the church service right below.  The churches here seem to be always full and so people stand/sit outside as well.

We met up with another couple from the school and had a nice dinner out.  I chose the barracuda with lemon sauce - excellent.  The next morning we went to the beach.  Lots of big waves and we found ourselves struggling to get back to shore - the undertow was stronger than we thought - stupid of us.

Our ride home

For the first 30 minutes we are on open sea before joining the rivers.  The waves were big and here is what we saw outside our window.  It was a rocky ride for a while.  Another storm is forecasted to hit Vietnam again and the sky was showing this possibility.

Much quieter on the river.

Enjoying the ride