Vung Tau paradise

The sea view is spectacular. It is the weekend so there are many Vietnamese tourists gathered in Vung Tau to relax and swim. I'm on the main drag since the ocean is there as well as the beach. People are swimming but only the children and foreigners wear swimsuits. Everyone else wears street clothes. Due to my horrible experience with sand fleas 8 years ago when visiting Phan Tiet, Vietnam (another beachside community) I do not go near the water rather admire it from afar. I find this notable since when I visited the fortune teller she told me that I like water but prefer to watch the sea rather than swim in it. When sand fleas are involved I'd have to agree with her. I didn't go anywhere near sand or water that day.

Son and his family came back for me that evening and we went to a place called 'Good Morning, Vietnam' for dinner. It's an Italian place and as guest it was my honor (burden, rather) to order the meal for the evening. Argh, I'm not used to that kind of thing! How do I know what this family likes or doesn't like? So I ordered a pizza at Un's behest and spaghetti because Son suggested maybe I wanted some - - so I figured he was the one that wanted it. One never knows. But what I really wanted was water. It didn't dawn on me to look for water in my mini refrigerator in the room so I went down to the little food stand at the hotel and asked for water. Blank stare. La Vie (a brand of water)? Blankness. Aquafina? Nothing. A pantomime of 'the act of drinking a bottle of water' meant nothing. "Gluck, gluck, gluck" sounds led him to point at liquor in the stand. Frustrated I walked away and decided to wait until dinner. So rather than ordering food or beer at the restaurant all I really wanted was a bottle of cold water. When it arrived I drank it down immediately and ordered another and did the same thing.

The proscuitto and parmesan pizza was very tasty. And it was fun to eat in the open air restaurant right on the main boulevard with the motorbikes whizzing by. There are far fewer people in Vung Tau with far less honking and chaos. In fact, by the end of the visit if I heard a horn honk I looked because I thought it was someone I knew! What a contrast from Saigon!

At dinner the conversation turned toward Un and the possibility that he would move to the United States and visit and/or live with me. 'Mommy 1 and Mommy 2' Son said about that. I can imagine how excited this family might be at the thought that their son could actually realize a dream and go to the States to study and live with someone they know and trust!

After dinner we drove to the top of the small mountain to the house Son owns overlooking the city. It is a former restaurant with a prime view but a horrible road leading to it. It's a beautiful location for a residence and refurbished could be beautiful. It was marred in a typhoon that hit just over one year ago where 80 people died in the surrounding area. A cousin and her husband live there now along with a bunch of dogs pregnant and just delivered. We had tea on the marble wall and I did the appropriate 'oohing and aahing' as a guest of honor needs to do when being impressed by the host. And it wasn't difficult because it truly was specatcular. It was right below a lighthouse that has been there since 1810 or some such date. It is sparkling white and beautiful!

From the terrace we could see the greyhound track apparently in full swing so we headed there. I had never been so it was really fun and exciting. It was late in the show so we were able to just walk in free and clear. We watched one match and headed home where I was dropped off for the evening. I will be picked up again at 6:00 a.m. supposedly by Son and Un who will ride their bicycles to me and we will all three go for exercise. OK, I'll go. I'm the guest of honor.