You won’t believe this, but last night I went out with Mark and some of his students to a Karaoke bar and had a really good time! I thought it would be gross... and it was... too much beer, noise and hilarity. I haven’t had such a good time for many a moon. Everyone took their turn singing. Mr Michael (from Louisiana) may not have been the best singer in the room, but he was the star turn and a barrel of laughs. Mark belted out Queen’s; ‘We will rock you’ followed closely be ‘We are the Champions’ and I enjoyed jazzing up ‘Pennies from Heaven’.
I have never sung Karaoke before, except in the seclusion of my own bathroom! At home I am ready for bed by 10pm and would hesitate to ‘go out on the town’ preferring a quiet night in, but here my inhibitions are down... it must be the heat! In spite of waking early and retiring late, I rarely feel tired although I did fall asleep at the Cinema during The Dark Knight, may be because there was too much noise and violence and I just clocked out.
That's Mark and Judy with Mr Michael after we'd been shopping in the 'Big C' Shopping Mall, drinking chilled Coconut Milk... soooo delicious!
Today is a National Holiday in honour of Vietnam’s Independence as well as the anniversary of Uncle Ho Chi Minh’s death. How strange that during that infamous war he was the villain, but here of course, he’s their great hero. It all depends on one’s point of view.
It dawned bright and sunny and we were invited by Mr Marcus and Miss Mai, along with Mr Thom and Ms Khan to have lunch at the Riverside Restaurant, some 3 kilometres away. It turned out to be a very attractive place with a Hotel style swimming pool, mainly for children I think and Ms Khan’s young son Peter spent much of his time in the water. I’d taken my swimsuit and was longing for a dip but as no-one else were inclined I didn’t either. We were seated in a sort of pavilion overlooking the dirty brown river where I certainly wouldn’t like to swim. An occasional boat passed by, but otherwise the river, about as wide as the Thames in London, seemed to be unused. We enjoyed a good meal before Mr Marcus produced a game called ‘Are you smarter than a 10 year old.’ I proved that I am, winning the jackpot. Phew! That’s a relief!
As we finished the game a strong wind blew up across the river, scattering anything not weighed down. We could see storm clouds approaching and decided to make a run for it. I had my waterproof jacket but Mark had nothing but the clothes he was wearing and the rain started as we got to his bike. To say it rained is an understatement; it was more like a huge high pressure ‘needle’ shower and yes; we were both soaked by the time we got back. Actually it was rather refreshing and didn’t feel cold at all. As soon as I got back ‘home’ to my hotel I just stripped, showered and waited for the AC to cool me down. I’m so glad I brought a cotton beach sarong, which is the ideal wear for keeping cool in my room.
So tonight I’m having a quiet night in, answering emails, writing my experiences and watching TV. There is a huge choice of channels; certainly more than at home. The one I watch most often is the BBC World News, which I can’t get in North Wales and is far more comprehensive than feeble old Auntie Beeb at home. (Why is it that our News channels are not keeping us fully informed about world affairs? Maybe they’re put on late after I’m asleep.) Then there are American and Australian channels showing familiar and unfamiliar programmes. So I’m not short of anything to watch.
Maybe I’ll fall asleep while watching TV tonight... I wouldn’t be surprised!
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