Greetings and good day to you, kind sirs and gentle ladies.

Today was quite eventful. I did what I always do, wake up for breakfast, eat 4 egg whites and a tone of fruit, then make the thickest baguette known to man and walk out the front door with it. Apres ca I went to my sugar cane friends below as one of them had a bike for me.

I jump on the back of his moto and bounce to his house, he was like “you want an old bike, you can borrow this as long as you want, no charge. If you want to give me something, cool, if not whatever….” This bike (below) was a junker and I should have checked the sidewalls of the tires… The brakes didn’t work but I thought “whatever, let’s just do this”. He is funny he points to this mansion and is like “right here” then says ok, it’s this one, which is a very humble place. He lives with his wife, kid and his mother. He’s late twenties as well. It’s so weird being late twenties and having no wife, no kids, no commitments. So many people have their whole life determined to some extent but I’m still “on the drawing board”. I’m DEFINITELY not complaining btw.

I digress.

I bike without a care in the world towards the ocean. It’s only ~4-5KM and it’s a nice ride. I get there and this dude is blowing a whistle pointing me to the “bike parking lot”. I resist and talk him into letting me past saying “I just want photos”. No more than 25m past the check point, my #!@$ tire blows out. When I say blow out, I mean the whole sidewall exploded.

The beach is really nice and dare I say, unspoiled. There are just a few places with lounging chairs but the rest, untouched. Also not that many people, it’s truly paradise if you will. Supposedly there is another beach slightly further that is even better, interesting. The waves are very large, if it broke later rather than close to the beach, you could surf them. Probably boring for some pro but for a novice, would be great fun. I plan on renting a bike for the month, probably ~$10US and going almost everyday. At the very least it’s 10KM bike ride and the ocean is well, the ocean. It’s easy to take for granted, I will try not too.

I take photos while some local people get a kick out of my misfortune. In the past, I’d care, I didn’t care at all. I just started walking home… I get half way there in the mid day 37 degree heat and this dude who owns a moto shop signals me over. He fixed it, so ingenious. Patches the hole and takes an old inner tube, cuts it to reinforce the wall and I”m on my way. Only words were $2 and “ok”. I bike to buddies house and walk the rest of the way into town… Typically I’d be annoyed over stuff like this, now I just sum it up to “character building” and don’t fret. Small people have big problems or make everything into a big problem, big people have small problems or no problems, got it!?

Get there, tell them, they get a good laugh and say I got ripped off for the $2 I spent… I couldn’t be a$$sed and he did a good job. They said it should cost 15,000 not 40,000. Some guy at the beach said 40,000 but I guess he meant for a new tire! One of the guys knew I wanted to move out and said he knew someone renting a place…

Hop on his moto and he drives like a madman but not dangerous. He honks everywhere like “get out of the way, I’m rolling through, NOW”. I go to this street 3 streets from my hotel and look at apartments. This one is behind a retail shop so I guess they trust me as I’ll have to go through it to get to my room at night.

This place is MINT. It’s all granite or marble tops, tile floors, a small backyard (tiny) with a fish pond but no fish… I’ll fix that. The kitchen is huge and it has an ADSL hookup. It’s 180US a month + utils of ~20-40$ max if I use A/C and shower with hot water 24/7. Above it is another room which is just a room with a balcony and a massive bathroom with tub everything. It’s $120. I’m opting for the $180 because I want a fridge, I want my “own place” again type thing. I hope the TV reaches to the bedroom as I like to watch TV in the background while playing online, indeed.

After that I’m walking down the street and I see a lady who looks nice from behind, I walk close to her and say “hello” she says “hello”. We talk for 2 minutes, I ask if she is alone, she says “yes”. I said want to meet for dinner tonight, she says “yes” and we agree upon 7PM at a certain location. Done.

Go home and pass out for 2 hours.

Get there, go to dinner. Of all the places we choose, some people she knows from before show up for dinner, they were ok but older and kinda lame. I’m sure she agrees, actually, she does. She is vegetarian so we split 3 massive vegetarian plates and had 2 beers each for ~$2.50 each, insane, yes?

Apres ca, we stop by one of the local places that some expats I have met run. Get “filled in” on some more info and find out my place is a good deal. Furthermore they asked if I drive a motorbike, I quipped “of course”. Supposedly an Aussie company that runs tours is looking for a floater, someone they can call when they have massive groups to help out, sounds like an OK way to see some more of Vietnam. Also there is a gym that is akin to working out in a Vietnam prison (all home made stuff) for ~70,000vdn a month, me likes.

Go to this bar, run into some friends, have another drink and light conversation before going our own way. Didn’t trade contacts or anything, hopefully I’ll run into her again in this small quaint town, if not I thank her for a fun evening, beats watching dow futures.

Today was most interesting and I’m happy to be “moving out” tomorrow. I get a massive place for half the cost. I’m also tempted to go for the no kitchen as I have a feeling, I’ll never cook anything most likely… I have until tomorrow to decide.

Hoi An is quite nice, tomorrow I may go “shrimping” with one of the guys, you take a light and basically put it in the water until shrimp come, net em and cook em up with rice. Never done, why not!? I just can’t believe how nice the place is for that price. Remember people, you’ll never know, unless you go.

Tips hat,

P.S: That dog lives in front of new place.

P.P.S: Quit ice coffee (6 a day) old turkey 3 days ago, tomorrow I may dive back but just 2-3 a day as man, they are so tasty and not sure what is worse, that or sugar cane!?