Slept in the upstairs room last night but alas the a/c was blowing warm air. Had to move downstairs at 2am as a headache had set in due to the heat. Kevin got up and at 5.45am took his new bamboo bike for a ride. He was gone for ages and Vang came around at 8am as arranged to show me how to cook Pho Beef. Kevin finally got back at 8.30am absolutely knacked. He rode past Marble Mountain 47km round trip. Nothing like punishing himself I say. What a silly bugga. Kevin decided he was having a pancake so Vang showed me how to make the soup while Kevin showered. She then supervised Kevin making a banana pancake. Asked Vang to organise with house owner Thu to get a/c fixed and also the front windows that won't close and lock. She said someone would come at 3pm. Vang took Kevin to buy a helmet for the scooter, paid VND 300k. We packed at 10am for the beach and rode the scooter as Kevin could barely walk. His arse is so sore, he says he wants to get a padded seat. We met up with Susie Biber, from the Gold Coast and shared a hut with her. Susie has been coming to Vietnam for 6 years and we did meet her in 2013. She now lives on the Gold Coast. Monika turned up and joined us and then Barney (Ian) Southam a friend of Monika’s also joined us. Barney is also from Adelaide and has lived in HoiAn for 14 months and runs HoiAn Food Safari. I spoke at length with him and Sussie about getting VN licence, health insurance and other expat related matters. Had lunch at AnBang and then headed back for meeting with a/c man. Just needs a re gas, so all good to go now. Decide to try the local gin I had bought so poured myself a G&T or two. At 4pm I met Barney on my bush bike and he took me to show me where the local notary / translators office was. As Monday is a holiday I will come back here on Tuesday to get my drivers licence translated to English. On the way back we stopped at Hoa Hien (the sister restaurant of Pho Xau (which we call No. 35) our favourite local restaurant in the city), for a beer. Turned out to be happy 2 hour so we paid for one got one free. Chatted with Barney about his situation, dating a local Vietnamese girl. Kevin had meanwhile walked into town to check out the bike shops as he wanted a softer seat. Unfortunately he didn't find anything. Kevin was very disappointed in the Port Power result and was glad he hadn't watched it. We decided to go back to Hoa Hien for dinner and so walked there as it is close to our house. Had Mi Quang which was nice. I even ate it all using chopsticks. I am determined to learn the art this trip. Had a Saigon Green each and then the hostess gave us a fried banana for free. In addition they took 10% off the bill. Cost A$9 total. Will definitely be coming here again as it was lovely sitting looking out over the river.
