I killed it...

...well not really. But it's my fault it is dead. I pointed to the turtle that I wanted for dinner. The restaurant staff took it from the aquarium and cooked it for me.With the lizard I just asked for a lizard. The restaurant staff then grabbed one and grilled it up. I didn't eat them all by myself. They were shared with Tam, the guy who brought me to the restaurant.


Was actually going out for rat tonight. The restaurant was selected by Tam because he knew it served rat. They didn't have any though :-(. Second time I've gone to a restaurant for rat and not been able to get it.

Split in half lizard. Yup that's both halves of the head at the bottom of the plate.

Unidentified turtle organs. I ate them!

I know what part of turtle this was and I ate it!

Anyway my friend Tam says next time we'll go to his friend's restaurant where horse is served. I'm sure it will look like an ordinary piece of meat on the plate not like a turtle or a lizard or a rat or a pigeon, yes I've eaten pigeon, or anything recognizeable.

A side note, I've seen very few pigeons in Ho Chi Minh.

I'm going to have the horse and will still try and get rat. Also going to see if I can find cat and dog.

I don't think they'll be any different than the turtle, lizard or pigeon. They won't taste special. I'm begining to think that would be true of anything beside domestic animals. Domestic animals have been raised for years to be eaten. So they have been being selected for taste for many years. I'm beginning to find it hard to believe an animal not raised for slaughter would taste better than one bred for it.

Suite Life of Zack & Cody anyone?

Well, no complaints about MAI Hotel.

Decent breakfast buffet, close to major Saigon points of interest (easy walking distance), close to a lot of shopping, good service and inexpensive too.

It got even better a few days ago. I extended my trip from middle of September to October 3rd. The room rate went down to $30/day retroactive, they forgave existing laundry charges and gave me free laundry service. I wonder if I told them "I want to live here" what they'd do!

Nose cleaning and ear picking

This is the strangest thing I ever remember paying for. The ear picking part felt really good. Plus for only $5US for both, ear picking alone is even less, I would do it routinely.

Ho Chi Minh at night in the rain

Just a few pictures from a walk near my hotel one recent rainy evening. It hadn't rained at all here in three days. They're the only days it didn't rain since I arrived.

Traffic keeps moving and the motorbikes keep riding even in the rain. A long exposure time was needed to get the pictures. The white and red streaks you see are the motorbikes.

Hanging with the locals

Right outside my hotel there's a local bar. They have one brew sold by the liter and others in bottles that are the same as bought from the store. The sold by the liter brew is served in plastic jugs that are filled when you order then capped with a screw cap. $9,000 VND or about 43¢ /liter! Even at 43¢/liter they still serve free bar snacks, grapes and boiled peanuts.

The place opens around 10:00AM and I'm not sure closing time. I've only seen it closed once at night. I was going into the hotel at 1:00AM and the bar was closed.

Heading out of the hotel for lunch one day I decided to go stop there for a beer instead. It's a real local hangout. All Vietnamese faces, no menus, a white board with hand written prices on it and low plastic furniture everywhere. I ordered a bottled beer. Before I finished a fellow approached me and began asking the a usual questions, e.g., where you from, how long you here, what's your name, etc.?

after beer sitting in a real restaurant

We had a few beers together (he bought his own and I didn't buy the bottled on the spot local brew), some of the boiled peanuts the house served and he had the house grapes too.

Turned out he is an unpublished author with hopes of selling a book around the world about maintaining good health and virility. He carries his manuscript around with him in his backpack. He is 79 and, based on his assertion that he drinks 10 - 12 beers a day at lunch, he does look much younger than I would expect.

Plus I met him after liquid lunch time and he was still talking clearly and able to walk a straight line. Drinking is not one of the methods he endorsed to maintain health and virility, Vietnamese yoga is. Being able to dring while maintaining one's health is just a side benefit. 


He'd appreciate hearing from anyone. If you want to send him a note address a message to thaithanh999 at yahoo dut com.

How to make a killing at the bank!

How's 14% interest on a savings account sound?! Yeah, I thought so too. Then I saw it is only for accounts in Dong. Inflation is about 20% here in Vietnam I'm told. So I guess it isn't really a killing. More like a losing proposition.

But wait a minute! Perhaps it is still possible to make a killing? Bring in US$, exchange for Dong, put in 14% savings account, remove after some time, convert back to US$.

I'm exchanging $1US = $20,800VN and the rate to convert back is only slightly less, $20,850VN = $1US. 14% interest in the Dong savings account would certainly cover the reconversion loss. I'm sure there's something I'm not seeing otherwise this would be selling as a get rich quick scheme!

The accident

My cô giaò took me on a day trip to Vũng Tàu. The last king of Vietnam, Bảo Đại, had a summer vacation retreat there. We took a hydrofoil from Saigon to Vũng Tàu. A little over an hour trip. Any boat I've ever been on before has always felt a bit rough, even large ferrys, from the hull slapping the water. That's true on even smooth water. The hydrofoil was glass smooth all the way from Saigon to Vũng Tàu . Vũng Tàu is nearly on the sea and the water was much choppier there than in Saigon but still the smooth ride. Really impressed by the difference a hydrofoil makes.

Anyway, the accident. We took a taxi from the dock to the kings palace. The streets of Vũng Tàu are more open than in Saigon and much less crowded. Even so our taxi driver managed to bang into a motorbike at an intersection. The motorbike didn't go down and both motorbike and cab were stopped for a moment in the intersection with both drivers looking at one another. Finally the motorbike rider continued on past our taxi and pulled over to the curb.

As the motorbike was pulling away the cabbie began shouting and gesticulating toward the rider. I have no idea what he was saying of course. From my perspective the bang up was the cabbie's fault. It seemed the motorbike was clearly in front of us, crossing our path, but the cabbie kept driving forward until he bumped the motorbike.

cabbie walking toward motorbike, picture from back seat of cab!

We hit the motorbike in the middle of the intersection. In what seems typical Vietnamese fashion traffic from all four directions kept moving with the cab stopped in the intersection. We hadn't moved when the motorbike pulled over to the curb. As soon as that happened the cabbie got out, leaving us and the cab in the middle of the intersection with traffic flowing all around us, to go have a word with the motorbike rider.

Once he finished with the motorbike rider our cabbie came back to the car and prepared to continue the journey. At that moment a police van with four police inside pulled in front of the cab blocking our path. Now a police vehicle and the cab were both stopped in the middle of the intersection and traffic from all four directions continued to flow by. The cabbie got out and spoke loudly with many gestures to the cop in the front passenger seat. He then returned to the cab, the police van pulled away and we proceeded on our way.

After cô giaò spoke with the cabbie I learned the motorbike rider apparently apologized to the cabbie for blocking his way. Didn't learn what the cabbie and cop spoke about. Apparently that's all there is to a no damage traffic accident in Vietnam.