Vung Tau: Part One

At Gavin's request, we took a little holiday to the beach for his 26th birthday.  We decided on Vung Tau, a small, oil-rich seaside town an hour and a half away from Saigon by hydrofoil.  Although we had heard many negative things about the quality of the beaches and cleanliness of the water we decided to check it out for ourselves.

 After a pleasant trip on the slim boat, we arrived at our destination.  Subsequently, we hired a bike for the duration of our stay ( newer model of our Saigon steed), checked into our bare-bones hotel, and headed out for the first of many epic seafood meals. 

 We split a fired tofu dish for an appetizer and feasted on a whole crab and a massive pile of shrimp for our main course.  Fun with crustaceans ensued...

 And, of course, we had a few celebratory Saigons!

 After lunch, we decided it was high time to take a dip.  With the South China Sea a stone's throw from the restaurant, we tumbled down the forgiving hillside and dove straight in. Although the sea water is normally thick with garbage and the beaches littered with trash, the winds were to our favor and some of the locals told us the water was looking much better than normal.

Once we had dried off and sobered up, we took a drive around the town and beach front.  There sure was a lot to see!  Some of the highlights included a massive stone Jesus Christ that is perched atop the "Small Mountain".  (The Vietnamese are akin to the Turks in that their naming of geographical features is extremely literal.) God's son is 32 meters high, 6 meters taller than the giant J.C. that looms over Rio.  He sees all.

I also liked the massive Mary.

And the Buddhist temple was rad as well.  I loved all the birds.  The man watching over the temple told me with a series of hand gestures that they later release the birds.  Not really sure when or why, but it seemed pretty neat.

All the fishing boats were also amazing to have a look at.

 My ever-patient driver waiting for me after hopping off the bike a million times to take pictures!

Since it was Gavin's special day and all, we decided to treat ourselves to a spa treatment at one of the local resorts.  We opted for a steam room and sauna excursion followed by hour-long massages.  It felt so nice to be pampered!  We finished up just in time to catch the sunset.

We finally headed to a sidewalk seafood stall recommended to us for dinner.

 We had our pick of several different types of fresh seafood, plucked from the depths just hours before.

 After choosing a healthy octopus and a plump mackerel, the chef prepared our feast on her makeshift barbecue.

The grilled octopus was braised with a spicy, chili sauce and was tender perfection epitomized.  On the other salty hand, we weren't so keen on the fish, mostly because they neglect to gut it before they cook or serve it, leaving the customer to pick his way through dark flesh and mushy bowels.

We also munched on quantities of unpictured quail eggs, steamed peanuts, and shrimp spring rolls bought from the local street vendors.  Gavin's birthday celebration continued after dinner, as we bar hopped, shot billiards, and rubbed elbows with the locals. (Vietnamese and local ex-pats as well as a few travelers with their working girl partners.)  Our night ended around midnight where it began at the beach side restaurant for a late night dip in the warm seas and some dried squid.  Gavin drunkenly claimed it was his best birthday ever right around this time.

The Bazaar

 Over the past week I had noticed a growing amount of makeshift structures being built in our local park.  I wasn’t sure what was occurring, but it looked as though Le Thi Rieng was slowly transforming from a dingy, urban green space into a grimy refugee camp (or the American euphemism – a tent city).  As the shanty town grew, hordes of people began to mill about and boxes sprang open littering the surrounding area with knock-off apparel. I then realized that only one thing could be happening: a street fair.  Sure enough, the sign went up Friday announcing a week of festivities going on in the park.  On Saturday night, after work, Gavin and I headed over to scope the merchandise and take part in the revelry.  The park was crowded with people of all ages both selling and buying various incarnations of crap.  We arrived with unrefined, naïve expectations: maybe some local artists’ would be displaying their oil paintings or handmade pottery.  Albeit, this was not the place to find anything original.   

We wandered in a daze from booth to booth, examining useless plastics while suffering from sensory overload.   

For sustenance, we turned to faux-shrimp skewers and potato dumplings. Vietnamese fair food is analogous to its American counterpart in composition and flavor - greasy and generally tasteless.  We bought some items here and there. 

Gavin found toothbrush holders shaped like animal heads that are currently attached to our bathroom mirror.  I bought some wooden 3D puzzles (crocodile and human cadaver) and a stuffed animal pencil case named Metoo.  We also found some cute baby booties for friends back home.  

There were whole booths piled high with kitchen utensils , where I got a ladle and a strainer. 

Gavin bought a bag of dried, spicy squid to complement his beer intake.   

There was an overwhelming amount of underwear being sold, yet we passed on the local custom of frantic pile digging.   

 Imitation watches and sunglasses choked the aisles between the tents and on the way out, we even stopped to admire large-scale psychedelic holograms of typical awe-inspiring images: random infants, kittens, gloomy Madonna holding emaciated child, etc.   

To top off this slovenly affair, we stopped at the local KFC franchise before heading home.  I dragged Gavin in and threw him unwillingly into a booth – his stream of muttered invectives finally dammed off by a vanilla cone moonlighting as a pacifier.   

 No wonder students always tell me that KFC is their favorite food group.  There is no finer pairing than Popcorn Chicken and soft-serve ice cream.