I can now put a shoe and sock on my sore foot so it was off walking this morning. I headed out Cam Thanh, Red Bridge way, along the river and then back through the rice fields to the Market, Bale Well to get some limes for my G&T. After breakfast Kevin headed to the beach while I took Dram, the owners daughter for a grammar lesson. Oh boy was I ever any good at grammar. I don't think so. After this I rushed to Betel to load some photos for Monika and Jean-Ann onto a USB stick and then back for my massage appointment at 10.15. Van Anh was waiting for me and so we quickly got to work. It's the best VND $150k is A$9 ever spent. I think she has a thing for Andrew because she asked about him and talked about him. I updated some photos onto Facebook. I also gave myself a haircut before a quick lunch and then headed to the beach. Kevin had ordered his lunch and was enjoying the cooler weather. I went walking up the beach and was talking to the ladies that run 3 sisters lounge chairs. One of them is 14 yo Hein’s mum (from café /school). We headed back mid afternoon and freshened up. Kevin went into town to get a replacement light for his bike and other supplies. We then headed to cocktails at Monika and Jean-Ann's apartment. They have offered to sub let it to us next year when they return to Canada for the summer months. Their room has a living area, bed, study area and kitchen area. They are on the second floor and look out over a monastery / graveyard and have French doors opening to a small balcony. We then went upstairs to the roof which is exclusively their area. It is about 20 sq m. And overlooks the surrounding roof tops. It is a fantastic area as it catches the afternoon breezes. This was the clincher for us. We told them immediately we would take it. I had downloaded the photos from our bicycle rides onto a USB and so we loaded these to Monika’s computer. We also put some music on there for them as well. We went uostairs and sat having our drinks and nibbles that Monika had prepared. Kevin had bought some Southern Comfort and he and Jean-Ann were enjoying this while Monika was on the Larue and I was sampling some Red wine from Chile. We chatted til it was time to go for dinner. We were meeting Jan and Hayley at Que Viet Restaurant which is on the River near the petrol station. We followed the ladies in the taxi but they soon lost us at traffic lights. Kevin felt a little odd being the only male but after a few Larue he was fine. The others all had seafood and Hayley rang her Vietnamese husband to order it for them and we ordered a beef dish and a noodle with vegetable dish. Appears the others eat here quite often and they are known by the staff. The staff do not speak any English as it is a local Restaurant. We got chopsticks of course and Kevin and I have still not mastered them. Unfortunately the beef had chilli on it and I couldn't eat it. The noodles with vegetables was ok. Both Hayley and Jan are very boisterous and they entertained us with various stories. They had recently had a break in one night and the guy was caught by the locals and beaten with sticks before the police came. It also came up that Hayley used to live opposite Betel and we found out that we had met her daughter Bella two years previously when she used to wonder over to Betel and share our breakfast. At about 9pm a drunk local came over to the table and was very loud and amorous toward Jan. he then proceed to buy a round of Larue and hugged everyone. It was time to leave. We were able to sneak away and left Monika and Jean-Ann calling a taxi and Hayley and Jan were staying to drink more Larue. An interesting night. Cost VND $220k.
