Chuc Mung Nam Moi

In other words: HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I've been in Hanoi for the past week and have given up on any pretense of being a tourist. This is due to a couple of things. The first and foremost reason is that I'm simply sick of buses, trains, temples and museums. Second, I discovered a great local pub, which I think I mentioned in the last post (I haven't been able to connect directly to my blog for some reason, so I have no idea what I've written about), the R&R Tavern. And finally, I got pick-pocketed on New Year's Eve and lost my camera.

Those of you who know my proclivity for local dive bars will understand my liking of the R&R. It's an expat haven run by a Dead-head named Jay, and full of interesting characters. I met a fascinating guy, Stan, the other day who is spending a year in Vietnam doing volunteer work at various schools. Now this may not seem to be such a big deal with the exception that Stan's first trip abroad was, as he put it with a dry chuckle, "Single-handedly beating the Japanese (he was part of the Pacific Island hopping campaign during WW II)." Stan is somewhere in his mid-eighties and had just finished a two year stint with the Peace Corps in Africa before arriving in Vietnam. He's sharp as a tack, and has a great sense of humor.

I spent New Year's Eve at the R&R. It was a great time. Lots of music and beer. On my way back to my hotel, say around 1:30, I was accosted by a street-walker who promptly relieved me of my camera. I have to give this girl props for her skill given the fact that I didn't even realise my camera was gone until about mid-way through the next day. Now I'd be more upset by this turn of events but for the fact that just that day, I had switched out the memory card in my camera for a new one, and thus still have most, if not all of the photos I've taken on my trip so far. It also provides a great opportunity to buy a better camera!

Now one of the cool things about not even pretending to be a tourist anymore is that there is lots of aimless meandering through the streets of Hanoi. This leads to any number of interesting things. Yesterday, for example, I was taking a stroll around the lake near my hotel (famous lake, can't remember the name), and was hailed by a young guy named Oung who was sitting with some of his friends. Oung works for one of the local tourist agencies taking people around the country on package tours. He had just finished a trip to HCMC and had a couple of days off. He asked me if I wanted to go drink beer with him and seeing that it was about 1:00 pm and my schedule was not full, I said yes (as y'all know it's very difficult to get me to go drink beer). Oung and I left his friends and headed down the street to a bia hoi joint. Bia Hoi is a local, daily-brewed beer which sells for 1,500 dang (about $.10). It's quite a refreshing beer and perfect for the beginning of an afternoon of...well...drinking. Another cool thing about these bia hoi places is that most of them are simple plastic tables and stools on the sidewalk and surprisingly rarely visited by westerners.

After three or four beers, another of Oung's friends showed up and off we went to a local's pool hall for more beer and some 8-ball. Now, I doubt I would've gone into this place myself (or even been able to find had I wanted to), but going in with Oung and his buds, I was welcomed quite warmly. The Vietnamese play an interesting money game involving pool and playing cards, which I had only begun to partially understand by the time I left (I stuck to playing straight 8-ball). After playing on tables throughout Vietnam that were like shooting pool on a putting green, this place was a pleasure. The tables and cues were straight and well-maintained, the service (you paid by the game for the tables and never had to even rack the balls yourself) was great. I begged off having dinner with Oung and the boys because a) I desperately needed a shower and b) I was already half in the bag, and these boys were gearing up for a party. It was a good call on my part given that I was sound asleep by 10pm. However, I ran into Oung at a coffee shop this morning, and he invited me to dinner and some more beer. This time I'm going to be ready (I'm heading back to the hotel for a nap, hee hee).

Well, this will probably be the last report until after I get back to Korea. My flight leaves Friday night just after midnight, and I'll be back in Daejeon sometime Saturday morning.

Y'all have fun now, y'here! (I seem to be having a Hee-Haw moment: "Hey Grampa! What's fer supper?")