Slept in this morning and so I went for a quick walk at 6.30am before it got too hot. Just wondered down to the river and back through the local streets. Lots of local people out with their children. All happy to say hello and wave. Kevin decided not to go out this morning and totally veg. At breakie a young girl dressed in a fancy dress started talking with us. Her name was Bella and she lives straight across the road from the hotel with her English mother and Vietnamese father. It was her birthday and she is 5 yo today. She invited us to her birthday party. She was very smart and spoke both English and Vietnamese very well. She proceeded to sit with us and share our breakfast. Firstly she had some fruit and yoghurt and then the tops off the boiled eggs and then some bread. Don’t forget she had to have orange juice from Kevin. When we said she should go home she wanted to come with us to the beach. No way, my patience had worn out by now. Kevin said I would have made a good mother. Told him we would need to wait for the grandchildren or great nieces and nephews. Hint to all. We were early enough this morning to get a spot at Soul Kitchen. Susie from MacLean was there already and I talked for a while with her. She suggested The New York Hotel in Bui Vien in HCMC so we will check it out next week. Her homestay is 175 Ly Thoung Tiet amd we drove past it on the way back from the beach. Had lunch at the beach. Kevin said the fries were the best he had ever tasted and he wanted them every day now. I had fresh spring rolls which were yummy and very filling. The sauce though was too hot. I went to the tailor just after 3pm and was very disappointed as she hadn’t listened to me about the black and white dress as it was still cutting under the arm. She assures me it will be fixed. The other one was way too tight and I told her I just wanted to be able to pull over head and she told me to sit down and drink some water and she would fix. While I was there Ellen who is Anne’s sister (Anne and John live in Hon Kong) came in to collect all her buys. I had recommended Ms Phoung to her. I then headed to Le Loi St to the bottle shop to pick up some Johnny Walker Red to take to Hein’s house tonight. Cost $17.50. Not bad. On the way back to hotel I was looking for a toy shop to buy Bo (Hein’s daughter) a present. I got a toy rabbit thingy for $3. It was now 4.30pm and we were supposed to leave the hotel at 5pm to get to our meeting place with Hein. Kevin had just spent a lazy avo watching the footy. Left as soon as we were ready and I stopped at the local market to get some flowers for Hein’s mother. At Hein’s house we were introduced to her mother again and to her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. They were all there to help cook the meal. Well there was so much food. We had fried rice, BBQ pork, Beef and chilli, crumbed tofu, Pho with tofu, and fresh fish that Hein father-in-law had caught. Heins husband T… came home and settled in for a few drinks before eating. He like Gin and tonic so we sat with him toasting Cheers Mate and talked about his job as bar tender at Golden Sands a Bell Swiss 5 star Hotel. During happy hours the beers are $4.50 when we buy them from our mini bar for $0.50. When dinner was ready it was set up on the floor in the living area so we all got down and tried to sit cross legged (not happening for Kevin or I) and eat with chop sticks (again not happening). They all laughed at our efforts and I told them to change hands and said that was how I felt. I managed to pick up the larger pieces like tofu, pork and beef. Kevin didn’t even try in the end and got a spoon. The meal was really really nice and we truly enjoyed the experience. Hein said we were only the second people she had asked to her house for a meal. We were honored. Kevin moved from Gin and Tonic to Laure Beers. He must have had 5 or 6 for the night because he was a little chatty on the way home on the back of the bike.
