WHEN IN VIETNAM, EAT PATE.....

Okay, first and foremost, I'm really sorry to all those out there who thought we might have died.... It's been a bit of a mad couple of weeks, with work, Gwen and Andy's trip out here, and just life in general, and I really did not have time to stop and catch my breath before I once again ended up inundated with work, and then I just didn't have the motivation to write..... You know how the story goes. But I am back, so here are the much anticipated pictures of our adventures in Saigon and beyond. Despite the initial reservations, Pete completely fell in love with the place - and the food, and we were completely blown away at how damn cheap everything was (we're already planning a trip back, this time incorporating some time in the North too). It was fabulous. Beers at US 75 cents - Need I say more? It was slightly hectic though, but can't complain because we were so well looked after, thanks to the gang at Tuoi Tre (thanks Hieu, Quynh and Thuat!).. Super high point - the food... The absolutely best meal we had (I would have to say EVER) was at Song Trang (Means Moon River, and it SHOULD be your first stop if you ever head in the direction of Ho Chi Minh. The food was absolutely amazing, and the prices were ridiculous. Imagine this - we ordered every special on the menu, drank copius amounts of Beer Saigon, and the bill for SIX people came up to - wait for it - S$45. It was absolutely insane... and I dont think we've had a better meal anywhere (the fish salad is a MUST, and the pork belly thingy, and the sugarcane fish, and the escargot with lemongrass and.... sigh....). It was brilliant. Topped off the night at the hotel bar, which is right at the top of the hotel and affords a brilliant (albeit scary) view of the whole of HCM City.... They charged crazy Singaporean prices for booze though, so it was not long before the novelty of the joint wore out and we ended up looking for cheaper thrills. The next day we pretty much hung out, shopped, and then ended up on, erm, one of them dinner-karaoke cruises (don't ask). It was, well, interesting. There was even a half-naked "dancer" so the men were very happy, even if she was dancing to blaring Vietnamese music while we were circling the habour... Ended the night at this very fun bar called 17 Saloon, which had a pretty good Filipino band.... Quynh (see pic, now the very happily married wife of Thuat) experienced her very first "Waterfall", though I think she thought it was a table performance of sorts, and did not fully realised that she was meant to drink the thing. Needless to say, she was the life of the party from that moment on. Ooh, what else. Custom made an ao dai (designed, no less, by the man himself) and I cannot wait to wear it. Introduced Pete to Ben Thanh Market (Saigon's chatuchak of sorts), where he made the startling discovery that the Viets do pate on baguettes better than the French. We also hired a car and driver and took off for a couple of days to a seaside town about four hours outside HCM - Mui Ne - and despite the pissy weather, it was really quite idyllic and extremely quaint. Got a cheap thrill from the welcome board, which welcomed "Mr and Mrs Arti". Haha. Thought we found what seemed to be an interesting restaurant for dinner, came highly recommended by the hotel, until Pete accidentally wandered into the kitchen and saw a lot he didn't like. But since we had already ordered we ate there anyway (although we had NO CLUE what we were eating), and all three - Pete, driver and me - ended up getting food poisoning. Bleah. Ah well, at least we weren't having to get in the car for a four hour ride the next day... Spent the day chilling and we were much better by the evening. The hotel was kind of old and a little run down, but it was smack on the sea front, and the spa within it was brilliant, and massages were extremely affordable. The whole driver thing was dem funny, though. Look - yes, his real name - spoke absolutely no English, except for "OK OK OK", which was his stock response to everything (in a deep growling voice - ask Pete to do his impression, its spot on). His, erm, unusual name also meant that when we were driving around, and Pete wanted to bring my attention to something, he had to use a word other than "look" to draw my attention to it or risk the driver slamming on the brakes because he think Pete's trying to tell him something (which happened a couple of times before we finally caught on, tragically).... Spent one last night in Saigon before heading home, and ended up throwing a wee party in our hotel room (after sneaking the boys up because - get this - the security guard told them no visitors after 9pm). We were like, hallo, you think you my father isit, its a HOTEL!! Either way, we got our way, and they bought lots of preserved meats (called Nem and Cha I think), longans and, of course, Beer Saigon for supper. We so did not want to leave - so much so that I spent half the night on the phone with Singapore Airlines trying to get them to let us leave a day later, only to find out that the next available seat was two weeks later.... GRRR.... I think it was a conspiracy to get in the way of our fun... Ah well, at least we came back with brilliant memories. And a half dozen ways of saying "look" without saying "look"..... Next up, Gwendy's trip, Bali, birthdays and all that.... Promise I won't fall off the planet this time... Art