Egg Sandwich

Around the corner from the hotel was a small tin booth where a very tiny husband and wife made submarines. Not only were they cute and adorable people, but they worked hard from sunrise, and after a noontime nap, until 10 pm or so. I admire and like them. These two were more than just likable though……. They had a talent for making the best eggs and toasted bread I have ever encountered. How could that be you ask? They kept the bread warm with a piece of hot charcoal in an enclosed space under the cart. He or she would light a small counter top butane hotplate and in a small tin frying pan, they would cook 2 eggs to perfection. Just as the rawness of the egg was gone, and before they had a chance to get hard out would come the eggs to be stuffed into the warm and slightly crisp bread. Some Pork sausage would be added and then a shot of Soya sauce, a bit of salt and pepper, and finally a bead of chili sauce along the cut. Ooooooooo….. Ambrosia!!!  Man was it good. I hade one every morning for breakfast for months until I started

My sandwich under construction

 watching my weight again. I would take customers from the hotel to him and all would go back many times after that. I even promised Maz that I would buy her one of these special egg sandwiches when I met her. Well…… here is where the story is about to get sad.

A few nights ago as Mai and I were headed out, we passed a commotion at the side of the road. There was a food stand in the road and people all around. There was also a person holding his head, but I did not recognize who it was. I assumed that it was some sort of motorcycle accident where a drunk may have collided with the cart, or something to that effect. The next morning, my favorite egg sandwich place was nowhere to be seen. Oh nooooo… People in the area know me and know them, so this is how the story unfolds…. There

His tiny wife hard at work

may be more details to the story that I do not know about, but here is what I know. 

My little friend had decided that the bakery he was dealing with was no longer a place he wanted to do business with. He decided to use another bakery and the move must have caused some kind of FACE issue. The baker hired, or convinced some gang members to rough him up because of the dispute. My poor friend was beaten pretty bad and hospitalized. The submarine shop is now nowhere to be seen. There was never any boys in blue that showed up to my knowledge. That has set off another issue with me. 

The next day as I learned about the fate of my little buddies, I asked if anybody helped. No answer…… Huh? I asked again… If this is happening, did anybody call the police… No!!…….. Well why the HELL not?? There is a big defeatist attitude here that there is no point in calling the police because they are only out to make money. I happen to know that is not entirely true. The dealings we have had with the police have been pretty good. The problem here is that the Vietnamese believe that they live in a lawless society, and perhaps they do. If nobody will get involved, or even make an effort to call somebody, it truly is lawless. How could the police respond to an event it knows nothing about? I guess the people were afraid to get involved because the gang members might cause them trouble. Maybe… but if you do not know them, what are the odds of them knowing you. Tomorrow I will try to make the attempt to see my friend and maybe slip him a few bucks to help him get back on his feet. Something like this would never happen to a person like me. Vietnamese people go out of their way to be helpful and protective of a foreigner. The only thing that ever happens is the attempt to get at our money by almost any means. Sometimes it is by thievery, sometimes by honest work, and sometimes by sex and other devious means. 

On the lighter side…… I have mentioned before that I have become quite a hard ass when I need to be…. Well…. Today it backfired on me. One of the fish ladies, and a tiny one at thet, threw what looked to be garbage in the median in front of the hotel. I was already pissed of at other events, so I went charging out and grabbed the offensive garbage and threw it into the middle of the road. It turns out that she threw a pair of gloves in the median to dry, and I was totally mistaken. I crossed the street and apologized and got a big punch in the arm by the tiny woman. OK.. everything is mended. And sorry….. 1 wife is enough.. I have a friend named Dave though…….

Lich our night man in uniform

Sadly I have had my first bad internet review on the hotel. I have learned a bit of a lesson from it. The City was full because of a Vietnamese holiday and I had a last minute cancellation, so I offered a room to a nice young couple from the US working in Hanoi. I told them I was out of the backpacker area and that it was not convenient for late night bars and the like. They stayed the one night and checked out the next morning. Surprisingly they complained about the street noise (the beach road?? Of course there is street noise) and how dirty the beach is. (During a Vietnamese national holiday??? Of course it was, but it has since been cleaned up). But what really hurts a bit is that the cleanliness and staff were only given an OK. I guess once a person finds fault, it can wear at them and more faults can be found. This couple

Odd Job

 obviously belonged in the backpacker area and not in ours. I will not make an offer to help people from that area again. Some people fit better in the backpack areas than over here.

 I knew that eventually a bad review would happen, but it surprises me that it came from those two. Everyday at lunch time a get a light hearted moment.

Taxi's

My night guy Lich is a university student and he is at the point where he has to receive his mandatory military training. My own little soldier returning home every day.

 Some of the oddest jobs you will ever see are in Vietnam. The Vietnamese are an incredibly imaginative and resourceful people. Whey will work hard to do whatever they can to help support their families. The result can be some of the oddest jobs being done by the unlikeliest of people. There are of course the typical jobs that every society has such as fishermen, Taxi drivers and

A parking attendent

 even sidewalk sales. Vietnam takes sidewalk vendors to a new level. Age does not matter. A person can be 8 or 80 and have some kind of business to try to make a buck. There are a few of them right out my front door, and an odd one. There is a man that pushes what looks like a weight and height scale from some unknown location onto the sidewalk right across the street from the hotel every day. The scale pumps out an electronic theme from Titanic. I have never seen anybody using it for anything, so your guess is as good as mine if he makes any profit. A single tire sits on a sidewalk seemingly lost by some poor person driving by but wait!! If you look sitting a little off the sidewalk you will se a person with a small box of wrenches, and a tire pump. This is a local service station that can be relocated at any moment. There are many

A traffic circle sign

others the same. Small gas suppliers, street foods such as BBQ corn or yams, booths with a wok that offer the only dim-sum items I have seen in Vietnam. Some of my favorite street jobs only happen after dark. A person can be enjoying a great seafood meal in a local restaurant when up on a bicycle will ride a young man or woman with a large speaker box and karaoke machine strapped to the back. They will stop in front of the unsuspecting audience and belt out a tune sometimes good, and sometimes bad. They will accept any tips you give and then head off for another captive audience. Another favorite is a 10 year old who will perform a fire show and finish with swallowing a live snake. I had to give that kid a tip. I will try to remember to get photos of some of these odd jobs and post them to the net.