The last moments in Vietnam

Here they are the photos I promised from the I would have written earlier post. The last night in Vn was a special occasion. I spent it with the person I knew most in Vietnam, Eric. We met up with some friends at O’brien’s and then went on to Sheridan’s (17/13 Le Thanh Ton St District 1). It is the best bar in HCMC I think as you are free from distractions you find in other places. The music is good and the owner, Michael, is a good host. We met Duc and Sabrina that night and we stayed there until after closing time. It was a great time and I am sure all had a great time. The next day I caught up with some friends that I will miss.

I went to Diamond Plaza, a Korean style department store which appears to sell everything. It was a good idea as it would prepare me for the commercialisation I faced when I arrived in Australia (it was weird to be so confronted with so much advertising).

After a long chat with my friend I headed to the airport. And of course I had problems at the airport. First it was too much luggage, so I had to split it and pay extra weight. Went through and waited for the Visa stuff then it was something you can’t take on the plane. Went down to the check-in and took it out of the suitcase. Next, I walked through the metal detector and then another trip to luggage check-in room, this time behind the scenes. Here I had too many DVDs and the customs guy wanted to check them all out before I jumped on the plane. I was pretty surprised as this what you would think they would do when you arrived to keep out socially evil ideas. Well I was polite and explained my purpose for being in Vietnam and he decided to let it go.

By the time I got to the gate it was time to board. On the flight I sat next to this idiot he knew everything about Vietnamese and wanted to show off to everyone. After that short 2 minute conversation and a promise to keep my mouth shut, I waited to feel the forces of the plane elevate into the air. As we got in the air I looked at the mess of lights outside the window and it finally hit me. This was it, I am leaving Vietnam for a while. The emotional toll and no audio (once again on Vietnam air), let me drift into a deep slumber. I awoke and was practically in Melbourne. As I got off the plane I started to realise that I was in a different place, with different customs, a familiar language, and I am not the unusual person any more. I had reverted back to the mean (average).

O’brien’s Factory

Eric and I eagerly followed Jeff to a restaurant that he said was close to the best in town. I had seen the front of this restaurant for a few times and had wondered what it was as I had not been able to decipher any name on the outside. I thought it might have been a liquor shop. When we were inside it looked liked an English pub. It was not too crowded and the atmosphere was welcoming.

We sat down got a few beers and looked at the menu. I was in heaven as there were two pages of choices which I wanted to try. After looking through the menu 4 or 5 times I had settled on a choice. I wanted something small as I had already eaten a pizza and kebab that day and most of the servings here looked decent size. The waitress came and Eric, Jeff, and I gave our orders and they both seemed puzzled by my order. I chased the waitress down to change my order and found that there was a whole back section to the restaurant waiting for us. We moved table into the games room and listened to the sound of pool balls ricocheting of each other.

When the food came it looked good. First, was Eric’s Philadelphia beefsteak. It smelt good and from all accounts it tasted good. Next was my Cajun chicken. It was more than what I had expected. It was a sandwich with salad. It smelt good and tasted wonderful. Last was a woodfired pizza. This place must be the only woodfired pizza shop in town or maybe even the country.
We were all stoked with what we ordered and were ready to move on to live music at Sheridan’s Irish bar to keep the British Isles theme alive. I suspect in the short time left I will be returning there sometime

Coming Home

I have made a number of trips to HCMC recently to secure an airline ticket home. My original plan was to go to Brisbane however that did not work out and I will fly to Melbourne and then go to Rosedale, Gippsland.

I will leave Vietnam on the 29th of June and arrive in Australia 30th of June. I feel lost as from there I do not know what I will do. I have applied for some jobs yet no luck has come about it (already 1 rejection). I hate applying for jobs as you feel that you have to really show up to people which I don’t like to much, although I have been known to do it. Will keep all of you in the loop as things develop. You can contact me at 75sparks@gmail.com.

Mon Ngon Ha Noi

For lunch the next day after going to skewers (Sunday 10th) I went to meet another friend who lives in HCMC for lunch. We were going to go for pizza however she was not up for the idea. After the previous nights dining disaster I was not in the mood for another bad eating experience. I asked her where she suggested and she said she knew a place.

We drove to 54 Dinh Tien Hoang St in district 1 to a restaurant called Quan Mon Ngon Ha Noi. They had some specials listed outside such as bun and cha (noodles and spring rolls). I was told the food was good and it was late on a Sunday and the place was still crowded. As I walked into the restaurant I felt that my fly was undone or something worse since the place went quiet as everyone stared at me. I guess not too many westerners come to this restaurant. As we sat down everyone returned into their own world of chatting and eating.

As I looked at the menu nothing really seemed familiar, except for a few names of meats and spring rolls. My friend asked me what I wanted and I said to her that I trusted her to make some good choices. She ordered one of the specials (something in fish sauce yet I really don’t know first pic), some chicken and noodle soup (second pic) and spring rolls (third pic).

One thing about eating this kind of food is that it uses all your senses. With this food you make it, you use the lettuce leaf or leaves to form the base of your roll. You proceed to put ingredients on to your liking. I prefer the sweetness of pineapple and mint with the meat and noodles. Here I had something I had not seen or done before spring rolls with the fruit and noodles. Well I wrapped it up and it got messy yet tasted fantastic. The spring roll really contrasted the freshness of the other ingredients. Tasting them all the dishes though I thought the noodle soup was best. If I was going to stay in Vietnam a bit longer I would definitely venture back and eat here again.

Jeff

Well luckily Eric keeps tabs on everybody’s moves so we know where to go and when. Last week we went to HCMC and met Jeff. I thought that last time I would see Jeff was in LX when I was cursing about no Gatorade. It seems the whole country has run out as I haven’t found any in HCMC either. Jeff is based in Long My with VIA and was on his way to Nha Trang, the long beautiful beach.

I got a message from Jeff to meet at the Eden restaurant. At this restaurant I met one of Jeff’s co-volunteers from Can Tho. Just as we were leaving the waitress came over and started to tell Jeff to cut his beard. I was quite amused to watch this yet I needed to be careful or it may happen to me. Sure enough Jeff betrayed me to the waitress however she said only he should cut his beard. I had a good laugh and decided it was time to go.

We met up a little later and proceeded to view the art show. Afterwards Jeff was starting to feel hungry and was convincing us to look for this really good restaurant. It was worth the search. We ordered our food and I can say I was impressed with what we got.

Next we headed out to Sheridan’s Irish bar. We sat there and drank Amberstout most of the night. I must admit I like this beer more than I like Guinness. We talked about nothing for a really long time, yet it was not boring. At 11 Jeff got a reminder to make our way to Go2 bar.

We jumped into the taxi and met up with his friends from earlier today. We found that Amberstout was cheaper here than at the Irish bar and decided to stay for a few more. It was not long that we had put down quite a few and I was starting to feel bloated. I couldn’t put anything more into me after a pizza, a kebab, a huge chicken sandwich, and a large amount of beer. It was time to go home and crash.

The Artshow

Eric, Jeff, and I finally got to see the art show that I talked about previously. The art show was a lot smaller than I thought it would be, yet it had a roomy feel to it. I found it easy to see Tinh’s work as he had showed me previously on his phone. I was amazed at how different it looks real compared to the pictures. You do miss some detail. I took quite a lot of pics yet I just put the pieces that I really liked here after a picture of the artists. Tinh's piece is the first one. It was a shame he was out of town as he could have explained his inspiration to us over a few drinks. Enjoy!

Skewers

Skewers is a restaurant in District 1’s expat area in HCMC (Thai Van Lung St). I had seen that they did Mediterranean food there and had wanted to visit since I found it about 2 years ago. I invited my friend to go with me and we headed out. After getting a little lost we arrived and were greeted by a nice bike attendant he quickly put the bike away. As we walked into the restaurant a feeling of dread came over me. It was the kind of place which is just to uncomfortable. Hard to put into words, yet I knew I was not meant to be there, a place were the rich and famous go to eat. I guess the way I felt about the atmosphere was dead, like a library rather than a restaurant, really stuffy.

Looking at the menu I was hoping to see something that I had been missing about for a long time. Hendrik had reminded me of this every time he went to Hanoi – the kebab. Looking through the menu the closest thing I could see was gyro- not quite the same. It appears that there were more choices from European Mediterranean dishes than Mediterranean dishes. There seemed to be quite a lot of good choices on the menu yet the prices of some things seemed a little out of my league. Then looking at the drinks menu all the prices were in US dollars and I knew that I had come to the wrong place (no locally brewed beer should cost US$2 in VN).

My friend went to order and it became apparent that the waiter had no idea about what the dishes contained. Given that they are not common dishes in VN you would still expect the chef to give a run down of all the dishes. I thought great we can go to another restaurant one with more atmosphere and wallet friendly prices. However my friend wanted to stay and then I convinced her to tell the waiter exactly what she wanted and make them get it for you.

At this restaurant I felt that this should hardly be a problem since they had all the ingredients for spaghetti and meat sauce anyway. I proceeded to order the spaghetti with chicken in cream and mushroom sauce.

The order didn’t take long to arrive given how much time it took to get the wait staffs attention to order. It looked like the bolognaise slapped together quickly without much care for presentation. I thought the cream sauce was a little bland and needed something. The chicken though was melt in your mouth lush. I never tasted the bolognaise yet I know it was not the Vietnamese way.

As we left I felt a little disappointed. The bike service boy had the bike ready and was the one of the best things so far for the night at that restaurant. Overall, I didn’t like this dining experience. I put it down to two things. First the wait staff not knowing the menu enough to make my friend uncomfortable and second the lack of an atmosphere. I think if you are in HCMC and want to eat try something Vietnamese or if you really need Mediterranean food go to Arab Kebab next door or O’brien’s factory (to be updated).

The last days of Tyler

Tyler is a volunteer from America working with VIA. He graced our presence about August 2005 and has left to see his family and friends in America yesterday for a short time. In August he will return to Vietnam to work in Hue at an orphanage. I feel that he is the first of our family to go over the next month or so. After a week full of parties (including with his faculty, pictured) he planned a big one up in Ho Chi Minh City to send him off. Saturday was the only day he was available so we made all ourselves available as well.

Upon arrival at the hotel Tyler chose we were greeted by his friend who seemed happy to see him. I was feeling tired and hungry and was just longing to solve these problems. Unfortunately once in the room Discovery channel had different plans, Mythbusters: the pirate special. I was amazed at the damage a canon could do. As Mythbusters tried to disprove common pirate myths I was more and more intrigued by what they would do next. Luckily Hendrik was not so into the Mythbusters and he prodded me to go and find food. We went across the road to Lotteria, a Korean burger chain. When we returned to the room we met Jeff, another VIA volunteer stationed in Long My, deep in the south. He liked the idea of food and proceeded to go and grab some burgers. As I opened my sustenance packages I was shredded by how small the triple beef burger was and after a short debate with myself joined Hendrik yelling at Jeff down the street to bring more food. Once that was all settled we decided just to kickback and wait for the evenings activities.

The restaurant chosen was Mogambos, a kind of American styled menu restaurant with an African theme. As I waited at the table I felt that I was deep in the jungle as Lilian, Tyler, Jeff, Eric and I debated what animals were what. Too bad Wikipedia or Discovery channel were not around now. I ate Cajun chicken for the first time in a long time and it was delicious. The cream coated my mouth in each mouthful while the softness of the chicken was complemented with the capsicums and olives. As I was eating I was wishing that I had not eaten the second burger at lunch, as I was rapidly becoming full. I managed to survive the task and try the Creole rice that was served wit the chicken, yet that was really disappointing as it was dry and hard.

After dinner we were eager to start the night’s entertainment off. We went to Sheridan’s Irish House just around the corner. When we arrived it was quiet because of the FA cup and also it was Ho Chi Minh’s birthday, and National Assembly elections Sunday. Michael, the owner later informed us that it was the feast day of Ivo of Kermartin (the patron Saint of Lawyers). Because of this he was in a singing and partying mood, and I felt his presence made the bar full. He offered a token of loyal attendance by giving us each a shot of feliz with a sparkler.

I was electrified by the atmosphere in the bar and didn’t notice that closing time was upon us until Michael asked us to finish our drinks because it was past closing time. We returned to the hotel and some of us decided to finish ourselves off while others went to sleep. All in all I felt it was a fantastic success.

The City

One of the things I wanted to do in Phu Quoc was eat western food. I realised that this would be a wish as I didn’t see many western food outlets. Maybe I didn’t look hard enough. Well the seafood was great and felt extremely satisfied with this part of the trip.

However I still needed my fix for western food and thought I would see some friends in The City. I made the arrangements necessary, hectic as they were, and was on my way with two missions: western food and some games.

These games have been something I wanted for a while. They are the Capcom Classics Collection Vol 1 and Vol 2. They have many of the games I fell in love with as a child and I want to reminisce the feeling of being young again.

After messing around to find a hotel (near the pictured intersection) I was informed that I should go to a birthday party. At arrival I was disappointed as there was no western food. We were at a Mekong Delta restaurant eating Mekong Delta food. It was nice, yet not what I yearned for.

However as everyone had departed a change of air was suggested. We went to a seafood restaurant not far away called Hong Hai. Here we had clams, sea snails, fish, and oysters. This was the first time I had sea snails and they taste much better than the land snails. They are not so chewy and have a better taste.

Also I had never tried oysters. In Australia oysters are a bit smaller than a business card. When I saw them my breath was taken away at how huge they were. We ate them with wasabi and lime juice. That was exquisite once the wasabi nose burn dissipated.

By the time we were finished there it was time to return to the hotel. Just before turning in I saw a bar across the street showing some football and decided to check out who was playing. It was the Manchester and Milan game. I saw the last 30 minutes of the game and felt some deja vu as I saw the score 3 – 0 in Milan’s favour. I felt overjoyed that Liverpool would play Milan again.

Friday was the day that I decided that I would conquer the goals of the mission. I spent the first few hours rummaging through piles of books, looking for the games. I walked up and down the street visiting 4 shops. The first shop I visited I had to wait as they went to another shop and get the game books. After flicking through all the books I could not find what I was looking for yet saw some other games that I might try. Since they are cheap (less than $2) I would buy them. I went to a shop a few doors down and it appeared to me that they had the same books as the previous shop. The next shop also had the same collection. At about this time I was desperate to find the games, yet time and patience were escaping me. I saw one more shop and decided it would be the last.

Now this shop was different from the others as it looked like an official dealer for Sony. It was much cleaner and brighter and filled with amazing looking electronics. I asked the girl if they sold games and they said yes and directed me to a chair and brought out those books. I was saddened that the books started to look like the others that I had seen previously. That was until towards the end of the book I saw volume 1. I was thrilled to have found the game, only hope that they have it. Then I saw a new type of book, and perused through it to find volume 2. When I asked to collect more order the girl was saying that volume 2 would cost more than volume 1 as it is official, that is from Thailand. So I cautiously asked how much and she said 30 000 (about $2.50) will within the range I was willing to pay for the game. I collected the games and paid the girl and left the shop with a feeling of satisfaction.

I walked back to the hotel and proceeded to wait for Eric to arrive from Hanoi. I met him and showed him to the hotel and then he ordered pizza. Pizza Inn is a Korean version of Pizza Hut – practically identical except for a few Korean quirks. I am amazed that Pizza Hut hasn’t done anything yet, especially now that they are in Vietnam (saw my first one later that night). I just enjoyed every mouthful, it had been so long and it was divine.

After that I watched discovery channel learning about tunnels under Kuala Lampur, fast production cars (Bugatti Veyron or the Wiki version here), and rockets. It was really educational, especially about the rockets. I felt like going to get some ingredients and make a rocket myself yet I thought I would probably kill myself with the explosion.

That evening we went to Sheridan’s Irish House. The owner is an expat Irish who looks like he came to retire and enjoy life in his pub. I feel that the cosiness of the place gives it a fantastic feel, and it often frequented by regulars. They have live musicians and tap beer (this is the only place I have seen this combo). We sat down and enjoyed a few brews mostly Fosters as it is cheap and more enjoyable than Larue beer.

The owner, Michael, came over and gave Eric some shots of tequila and kaluha to enjoy. We were both hesitant to drink them yet we did not want to insult. The mixture was a little sweet yet no tequila after taste, which relieved me. We continued to listen to the music and enjoy the atmosphere until closing time. We then moved closer to the hotel at a bar called Alleybooz. Here we met some people from Laos and stayed until it was time to go.

The next morning I didn’t feel so great yet the prospect of playing the Capcom classics made me get ready to go to the bus station. The journey was uneventful and my heart raced as we approached the Van Cong ferry. This is the place where I know I am home as it is a 5 minute trip to the bus station, and I feel 5 minutes is nothing compared to more than 4 hours in the bus. As a feeling of achievement overcame me from successfully completing the mission goals, I realised it was great to be home.