A day in the life of Owee

Carl and his steed

Here is a short post before heading back to my home country. Many people get the feeling that there is no place like home, and feel happy to be going.  Not me!! I love my family and miss many of my friends, but I have had a sinking feeling about returning. Why could this be? Part of it I am sure is that I am not looking forward to feeling like I am being ripped off every time I make a purchase. Perhaps all of the regulations and rules may have something to do with it, or maybe it is just because the business is in a critical stage here and this is a very bad time to be leaving. Whatever the reason, I will survive… Mai is a bit different. She is excited to be going back. She truly loves the snow and the structure. She does not like dealing with the incompetence and money driven people here. I suppose I understand, but I see that as part of the adventure.

So let me tell you about my day…..

Carl has returned from a trip to Saigon and we met at a local store that makes smoothies. Damn they are good. I had a blend of

Cashews still on the tree

 mango, passion fruit, pineapple and yogurt. Amazing!! I wish you could try it. Anyway….. Carl asked what I was doing for the afternoon….. Uh… nothing I replied. I said I was going to do a bike ride and he was also game, so where to go?? I have been many places and thought it might be nice to just head out of the city and do a hour or so ride to a café where there are hammocks a person can rest in. (The very same that I spent some time with my British friends) It took an hour or so to get near the Diamond Bay Resort where this café was located. They remembered me from the previous visit. Sadly…. All the hammocks seemed to be full, but wait!!  Room was made for us so we could relax together. Swinging lazily and drinking cold water we discussed some random issues and had some laughs. It was a very relaxing time and eventually it was time to move on. On the return trip to NhaTrang, we detoured a bit to go into an area I like very much that I call the slums. It is an area of tiny streets and high population. I go there a lot because I am probably one of the few westerners they have seen and they take immense

Crossed it on the bikes

enjoyment in trying to interact with me. By the grin on his face, Carl seemed to enjoy the area as much as I. I would not be surprised that in my absence, he sets off for that area on his own. I stopped at a local hardware store and picked up a funnel for the hotel. Carl offered to carry it on his carrier and I agreed. What I did not see as he was behind me it that the funnel was clamed in such a way that the small end looked like it was attached to his rear end. A fellow on a motorcycle pulled up beside me and said something to the effect of why he needed something stuck in his bum… I was a bit confused and fell back to see…. It looked priceless… I should have got a photo!! I yelled at the guy that it was there because he farts a lot. He laughed and carried on his way. We were now back in NhaTrang and covered with sweat. Not the kind that you build up in a gym, but a leaking wet sweat that dripped off the body that created a pool of water about you… Oh yea… did I forget to mention it was a pleasant 36 to 38 degrees? We hit our brakes to a squealing stop as we passed a Bia Hoi place on the way back. A couple of cool drinks were in order and enjoying the surprised looks, we entered and ordered beers. Refreshed, we finally made our way back to the tourist area of NhaTrang and Carl headed home. I thought my day was over and I worked up a big sweat with a hard ride home….I arrived to find

A random shot

 we had a dinner invitation. A quick shower and we were off to a very good seafood restaurant near by. Mai and I spent a couple of hours dining on giant shrimp, grilled squid, and a fish hot pot…. Delicious!! Stuffed and a bit tired, I returned home. No time for relaxing though, because I have a meeting with a person/friend I will be doing business with. Linh is a nice fellow and I will be introducing him more in the future I think. He has an office in a very unique part of town and I spent a couple of hours sitting and enjoying some beautiful people going to Karaoke bars. At last the day had to end and I returned to the hotel to find a friend sitting, having a beer and waiting for me. The remainder of the evening was spent sitting in front of the hotel watching life and beauty passing before our eyes. Patrick commented over and over…… “ how could life be any better than this?” He is 70 years old and I think he got it right…..

How can it be?… So this was my day…. How was yours??

Tomorrow I leave for Canada…. Sorry…. blogs will become sporadic.

Oh look!!!! It was not a short post after all…. Talk to all of you soon

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5 thoughts on “A day in the life of Owee

  1. Thunder showers last three days heralding the beginning of the ‘wet season’. It’s been mercifully cooler when overcast but the humidity, my gosh. Yesterday as I left the house at around 10 am the power went out. I pedaled out to check O and M’s hotel. Their place is north of city center (over the bridge) and near a number of good seafood restaurants one at which I enjoyed lunch of BBQ’ed fish (of some species, hopefully not endangered..heh heh). I’d worked up a ‘good sweat’ coming home so stopped to have my usual pinapple, passion fruit, and yogurt smoothie which never fails to refresh core body temperature. Came on home with thoughts of a cold shower and an A/C’ed nappie-poo only to be bitterly disappointed having noticed, on the way, no lights on in the numerous shops lining Tran Phu St. Yep, damn it, power still off. Such is life in Vietnam. It was like an oven in here but did get showered then laid down to sauna. Power finally restored at 7:30 pm! Half the city was blacked out.

  2. Mark if you can’t find the right seafood place just follow your nose after say 6:00pm there are tons of places up and down that beach that sell good seafood…..and beer. Don’t miss the bia hoi down the street after you make the turn at the corner. 70cents a pitcher……

  3. Back in 3 weeks…….. Mark…. my staff will look after you.. I promise! Muoi Do is the restaurant just head south from the hotyel and it is a very big place just after the underpass… There are 2 of them, so make sure it is the one south of the underpass, not north. There ia an Aussie named Baz staying here…. he is a nice guy and will be happy to help out

  4. well, don’t say you didn’t ask…the absolute highlight of my day was a trip to Costco ;( (SO sad)

    hope you’ve arrived safely and are enjoying your return. how long will you be away?

  5. Hi Owen,Please leave details for me as to renting a bike,sounds like fun! Also leave name of seafood restuarant that you mention,perhaps also suggested bike rides? Can you answer my query mate?If Australians come from Australi-a,do Canadians come from Canadi-a?Cheers Owen

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