Why Are There So Many Asians Out There???

On Sunday the 19th of November, the two Canadian boys decided to head up to Saigon to celebrate our friend Suzie’s 23rd birthday. It was to be a joyous and raucous occasion, like any other time we head to Saigon. Not surprisingly, we were once again successful. The first item to take care of was a card and a gift. The gift was easy, a bottle of whiskey for a good Scottish girl. The card should have been easy, but all we could find were cards that said ‘Only You’. However, we were able to turn on our creativity, and create a beautiful poem about things that only our friend Suzie (and her counterpart Megan) could do. And they have given us enough fuel to make quite the beautiful poem.
Once gifts were given and plans were made, we made our way to a dim sum restaurant for some good food. On the way we were informed that our dear friend George W. Bush was in town, and that Saigon was trying to put on a good face, and would therefore be shutting the bars down at midnight. Such an activity was not welcomed by our crew, but we knew we could overcome it. Saigon can’t actually shut down at midnight, it’s just impossible.
The dinner was one of the most exciting and ridiculous occasions I have experienced. Things were tame for the first while, but then we got into a rousing game of ‘I have never’. The four of us are usually quite ridiculous, and this game gave us a great launching pad into chaos. Comments of the most ridiculous nature were spewed, culminating in the comment which has been the title of this blog. It was meant to be a random topic changer, but it spiraled into a laugh fest, to be repeated time and again, only to spur a full on laugh fest any time it is spoken.
As we got bored of I have Never, we somehow managed to sing several songs from the musical Grease at the top of our lungs, much to the amusement of our waitress, and the many other employees of this restaurant. We had many a smile cast in our direction, and I’m sure we will be remembered.
It was approaching 11 pm when we finished dinner, so we only had an hour on the town. The first bar we went to, ‘Pub’, actually obeyed said curfew, and kicked us out at midnight. We had other locations in mind. Go 2 Bar being the main one. As we show up, we notice that the gates are closed. They are however, open just slightly. All you had to do to break curfew was make it look like your bar was closed. So the three of us, (minus Adam who made a detour earlier) mounted the stairs to the infamous Go 2 Bar. After trying to phone Adam a couple times, and sending him some messages without reply, our dear Megan was frazzled as to what happened to her boyfriend. She was becoming worried. I tried to comfort her, knowing that he was on detour, but she couldn’t grasp it. He, of course, was okay, and joined us after a break at Bread and Butter, a bar owned by one of the ILA elite.
I must admit that Bush did a swell job at scaring people into meeting the curfew. Although it was not a midnight curfew, Go 2 Bar died out pretty quickly, and we decided to leave at around 2 am. However it was not home we were looking for, it was just a busier place. So we returned to Bread and Butter, where the ILA staff had no regard for the curfew, and we jammed to a guitar, singing anthems from our youth.
We eventually called it a night and headed home. I was more tired than the others, and was the only one not to see the sun rise, but despite my early bed time, I managed to sleep until 1:30, finally seeing my friends at 2.
This day was to be the day I buy a motorbike, while Adam went out to find a guitar. The mission to find the biek was intense. Hopping on a Xe Moto (motorbike taxi driver), I gave him the address, but as to him actually knowing where it was, was not happening. I was on the back of that moto for a good 30 minutes, not to mention that it was raining, so I was huddled under the back half of his poncho, while he tried to find the house. I swear we must have talked to 15 people before he actually found the place, but he found it. I had thought that Huong (the lady who has been helping us out with our problems, and the sister of the owner of the bike) would be there to help with the transaction. Nope. And her brother was not even there when I showed up. So I was sitting in the living room of a strange house, with strange Vietnamese people, and a limited ability to communicate. The highlight was when the daughter (about 5) came running out all excited about the rain, and then saw me, stopped dead, and turned around and started laughing and running to her mother. Good times.
The little I know about bikes gave me the impression that this bike was alright. And for the price I was paying (2 million at first, but then talked down to 1.8 million, or approx. $112 usd) I was okay with a few problems. I did not however, want to try driving a clutch bike for the first time, while in Saigon. So we decided that Adam would come with me Tuesday and drive me our of the city, where I would take over.
Adam and I met for lunch, and he showed me his new guitar, which is quite spectacular for the price paid (a balmy $50 usd). The rest of that day, for me at least, consisted of lying around and sleeping. Adam and Megan made a solid night of it by going back down to Pham Ngu Lau (the strip we frequent) and apparently saw the sun rise again. So no doubt they weren’t to happy when I woke them at 10 am so that we could hit the road. However Adam did quite well, and agreed that the bike should be bought, and tripped me to the edge of town, where he Xe Moto’d back to the boat, and I drove on the nasty nasty highway all the way to Vung Tau.
The highway is interesting. You could say it is normal. It is 6 lanes, 3 per side. However, it’s different because one of those lanes is dedicated to bicycles and carts pulled by oxen. And seeing oxen on the side of the highway is not uncommon. Neither is dust being blown in your face, or thick black smoke emitting from massive trucks. It is quite the experience. In fact it is probably the worst experience I have had in Vietnam. It was hot, it was dirty, it was busy. However it was a nice way to get used to riding a bike, and using a clutch.
The final note is how Tuesday went. Adam was worried on his boat ride, that he would beat me to the house, and not be able to get into the house. Why would he not be able to get in?????????? well… because he locked his keys in his room. On Sunday, just before class at 2:30, I got a call from Adam, who needed me to pick him up because his keys were locked in his room. And there was no time to fish them out between class end and catching the boat. So they stayed there all weekend. I did arrive before him, and he was able to skip work in order to fish out his keys. It took him a while by the sound of it, but he managed to do it.
So after an interesting weekend, things have returned to normal, whatever normal is. Now it’s all prepping for the cyclo race in Saigon on December 11th. This is when teams of two get a cyclo driver (a bike with a two person seat on the front of it) to take them on a scavenger hunt. It should prove to be another exciting time in Saigon.
Until next time, keep fit, and have fun.