I woke up before 5am so I decided to give myself a haircut. I went outside looking for the broom and dustpan so I could sweep up the cut hair from the bathroom floor. I must say I did a good job and only needed Kevin to clean up the bottom stray neck hair. I headed of then for a walk out Red Bridge Cam Thanh way. I took the second road back around though the rice fields, cemetery and houses. We had an early light breakfast of pancakes as we are meeting our friend Mr Vinh this morning for a coffee. The pancake is very sweet and so I know now why Kevin orders it every day. Kevin went off on his bike and I followed on the scooter. Vinh was already there with his wife Len, 4yo son Dream. They had left the 5month old Supper at home with Vinh’s mother. Vinh had already ordered coffee and breakfast. Oh no, we had already eaten but we now had an egg and tomato roll to eat. I suppose someone has to do it. We won't be having lunch today for sure. We chatted for an hour or so and Vinh wants to invite us to his house for lunch one day. He has learned to cook working on Cinnamon Cruise and sometimes takes the cooking class on the boat. We said we would love to do this and he will arrange for next week. I noticed his little boys teeth were all rotted and black and asked him about them. Vinh says it is a calcium deficiency and that the dentist says to wait until he is 10yo and then pull them all out. I said to Vinh that if there is a cost to fix his teeth we will pay. We said our goodbyes. Kevin rode to the beach along Cua Dai Road and Vinh showed him where his house was which is near Hidden Beach. I went back to the Homestay to get my gear. When we got to the beach the couple from dinner last night were there. They had ridden the bikes from the hotel and were going back soon to do a tour arranged by the hotel. While at the beach Mum and Dad rang to get me to lodge an caravan insurance claim for the refrigerator. I wasn't sure how I was going to do this so I sent an email to insurer. Kevin stayed for lunch while I went back. I had decided to give lunch a miss as we were going out for dinner with Monika, Jean-Ann, Lisa and Robin to Seasell Restaurant at AnBang. I went across to Betel to finish downloading some books onto my kindle. Kevin went into town to buy some supplies of peanut brittle and such. I went in a little later to change some money. Rate poor today – only VND $16,600. I ran into Ms An who we have met previous years. She has a small souvenir shop that used to be in the cloth market. She took me to her new shop which is located with all the shoe shops on the left. Kevin agreed to go on the scooter to dinner. When we got there Monika and Jean-Ann were just finishing some pate and a round of drinks. We ordered a beer and waited for Lisa and Robin. The setting was a lovely French theme. Unfortunately there was a wedding just a few doors down that was very loud and noisy. When Lisa and Robin arrived they told us they had been at the wedding and had eaten a lot there. In Vietnam a wedding goes for several days and you are invited to attend at a particular time and normally only stay a couple of hours and new guests come after you. You are expected to give money as a gift and this is used by the family to pay for all the food and drink. Well why can I say. The meal was amazing. We each had half a roast chook with potatoes, and other roasted vegetables. Kimmie also provided a ratatouille to share. We sat in candle light in the garden while we ate. Kevin and Lisa ordered dessert – mango crepe which was devine. It was a pleasant evening with conversation about land / property ownership in Vietnam. Robin is going to proceed with trying to put his new house in his name from July 1st when new laws come into effect. Monika and Jean-Ann have been considering buying as well and so are watching how the law unfolds for Westerners. The meal tonight cost VND $550k or A$34. Once we got home we commented that we could have eaten at Pho Xua Restaurant for a week on what we had spent. We have no regrets as it was a very lovely experience with new friends.
