Weekends At the Edge of Adulthood

We had a busy week!  Between bake-sale preparation at our home.....

.... and Teachers' Day celebrations...

Nice suit Gav! 

... it was time to get away for a weekend.

We were lucky enough to get a free night stay at a splendid coastal resort in windswept Ho Tram (about 45 km up the coast from Vung Tau) and took full advantage of our time there.  Talk about a room with a view!

Many a beach walk was taken.

Always right behind my trusty leader...

Found something!

Trash grazing... we found enough wayward flip-flops to keep Vietnam's children flopping for generations to come.

And counted at least half a dozen different tropical fruits.  Offerings at the beach to ancestors of times past.

Tidepools in the early morning.

Then pool side in the afternoon.

Endless smiles for endless summers.

We shall return to the edge of the East Sea as soon as possible.

This Weekend: District 2 is Not Completely Underwater (Yet) and Why Will Whitehouse is the Best Painter You Haven't Heard Of (Yet)

Lunch at our favorite Thai spot @ 28 Nguyen Huu Cau.

There are wolves in the throne room...

Order a sinh tố (fruit smoothie) from next door when you've finished your feed.  I went for a Dưa Gang Sinh Tố (Winter Melon), the mild flavored melon is rich and sumptuous and the mounds of sugar added give it a crystalline kick. 

After lunch, our posse made our way out to District 2 to VinSpace Gallery to see our talented friend Will Whitehouse's latest works.  He had three paintings on display in the gallery, a culmination of about a years' work.

His oversized collages are made from notebooks upon notebooks of anatomy drawings he has completed over the last few years.  He hand-dyed each sketch, then ripped or cut it to the proper size, and assembled these awe-inspiring collages.  The first is a self portrait of the artist with an eye condition:

A close-up of the paintings reveals a world unto itself: a myriad of anatomical sketches and detailed notes.

We loved this smaller black and white one.  The drawings are so detailed.

Does this guy look familiar?  This collage is based off an Instagram photo of Gavin taken just minutes after after he broke his nose in an epic flop earlier this year. 

After extolling the virtues and talents of Mr. Whitehouse, we made our way to The Deck.  A perfect setting to watch the sun recede and enjoy a few happy-hour cocktails with friends... we caught the yuppy flu and it felt good.

We must of ordered about half of their extensive cocktail menu by the time the five of us were done.

Mmmmm... Green-lipped mussels raised in Nha Trang and consumed in Ho Chi Minh City.

Pretty soon it was time to head back into town.  Team Russia was throwing a party at DeciBel, so we stopped by for a while, then headed to Geisha for a performance by The Freckled Gypsys. 

This duo makes a lot of lovely noise!