So yesterday I thought I'd go have a walk around the block. Good idea, right? Got my GoPro set up, coated myself in several layers of SPF50, and hit the street. First order of business was to get a coffee. The property manager had told me that there was a supermarket on the 3rd floor, so that was the first stop. Now either supermarket means something different in Vietnam or Tuan is a liar, but either way the little store had almost everything I might need.
I took a left down the main road and, selfie stick in hand, proceeded to entertain every local that I passed by. I don't know if they didn't know what it was I was holding or whether they just thought I looked silly holding a stick in front of me talking to myself, but I kind of got a kick out of their reactions.
One of the first things that struck me was how closely you'll find abject poverty right next to wealth. For example there was a nice Audi in front of my building. One block away there are people sleeping on the concrete, sifting through trash, or just whittling away the day under a tree. One building will be nice and clean and the next will have a strong odor of garbage and look pretty decrepit.
After a time I decided to take a chance and cut down one of the side streets. This is definitely NOT the tourist area as I didn't see one other non-Vietnamese person on these streets. Again though, most of them thought me and my stick were pretty interesting. I passed by numerous small stands, food stalls, and shops, though I wasn't confident enough in myself or in their ability to accurately give me correct change (ahem) to stop and have a bite, at least not yet.
And then... I met my two new best friends. According to them, anyway. I was halfway down the next block when an older guy hailed me from his seat at a sidewalk bar/food stall, trying very hard to get my attention. I did my best to wave and keep walking but he walked across the street and, in his broken english, offered me "happy hour bia!" Now I know two things; bia is vietnamese for beer, and I was awfully thirsty in the heat, so I said why the hell not.
I shouldn't have. The guys were very nice, bought me two beers and let me eat some of their food (more on that in a minute), but one of them was fairly pushy and well... as far as I can tell he wanted me to go get a "happy ending" with him. I wasn't recording during most of the interaction because it's too difficult to record with the GoPro and drink beer at the same time, but believe you me that I was incredibly uncomfortable.
I managed to convince him I wasn't interested in going and finding "boom boom" with him, but then he switched targets and decided he should give me a ride to Ben Thanh market once it got dark. And honestly, I might have gone with him as I'd like to see the market, but it was 3 hours until dark and the communication barrier meant that the conversations got stale fairly quickly. After much debate he finally conceded, but only once I promised "tomorrow" and gave him a phone # to call me at. Not answering that call.
Back to the food. One of the things I had heard of before coming was fermented duck eggs. Basically a duck egg is fermented underground for many years, then brought out and eaten. Well, my new friends had one and offered me a taste, and while I had previously told myself that I would never try such a thing, I figured it would be rude to say no. And it was actually pretty good! They also had some tiny onions that were tasty and went well with the beer.
After I left my two new friends and thanked them for the beer, I went back in the direction of my apartment, then explored the blocks to the other side of it. Along the way I might have accidentally wandered into a temple courtyard because it was a dead end and I got some looks from these guys who looked like monks.
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