sunday morning

cant seem to say or do anthing right. breakfast was bland (eggs were fresh so dont know why). toast was cut too thick, should have had ham instead of bacon, blah blah blah. somedays i just can't win.

saturday night was nice. dinner at hyatt. i had a couple appetizer dishes (crab cake, tomato/cheese). went to martini bar and that was really nice as well. didnt over indulge! wore a long black dress with low back scoop ... not evident in the photo.

who know what today will bring! update later. tonight is dinner with designer probably at the deck following cocktail at the house. rained a lot early last night as we were leaving for dinner but stopped during dinner. really humid this morning.

saturday afternoon

well where do i start ... guess with last night. met dad at airport which was not exactly exciting. but it got me out of the house. he was not hungry and not interesting in going out (i was wearing a nice skirt and black cowl collar top). back to house and he showered ad unpacked from his trip. had a conference call and then just chilled ... ate some toast and anchovies, i had left over fried rice.

saturday morning he was tired but managed to go swimming. breakfast was fruit, coffee, toast, yogurt (him). i wore navy bermudas and white ann taylor tee. jess came and they went to work togther.

i taxied to district 3 market ... mainly household stuff,not a tourist in sight, aisles and aisle of fabric. when walking in the wet market (meats, fish, produce) side a little girl about 3 pulled her undies down and squatted right there on the dirt floor .. peepee. okay. then headed to a shoe shop since i feel my shoes are a little outdated. got some heels.

back to district 1, center city. went to tailor to get the silk dress that should have been ready wednesday. well this time, they made the button holes and had it dry cleaned(pressed) but no buttons! OMG this is about the 3rd trip. frustrating for sure.

had a latte at gloria jeans, went to gourmet shop looking for fig jam ... out of stock. then to banthan market. taxi back to an phu district 2, stopped at mekong merchant for lunch about 130, power went out but i had gotten my salad. took a long time for generator to kick in. bored yet?? not exactly a page turner blog! went to supermarket for some bacon and ice cream for dad. walked home and about #7 lily the rain started ... booked it to #23 lily and then the rain really opened up. very overcast all day.

tonight we have dinner with the new GM or whatever he's called of TA ... actually worked with harveylong ago at maitland smith. as well as jess and nee. i'll wear black dress and new shoes. lets hope all goes well!

friday morning

woke about 545, showered
wearing black/white emroidered skirt and white sleeveless talbot tee
just a quick update by 10am on friday. went to clinic at 730 for fasting blood test. in and out quickly and had a coffee waiting in the car.
fried the hair dryer the other night as i was halfway done doing my hair. fortunately a quick call to Ms. Han and she had a small spare in the laundry room. it was actually the first dryer she bought and dad thought it was too small so she got the bigger one for me. then earlier that same day had a guy out to fix the microwave ... it wasnt rotating. that was $34us to replace the rotator thing.
no plans for today ... i think ms. han is making fried rice for lunch. dad is coming back tonight and i will meet him for dinner. he prefers hyatt so that will be fine with me. they do fuss over him and the meal is always good. but we might be going there tomorrow with some employees so i'll have to check that out. rain continues most late afternoons. then its steamy and humid.

today page 3 headline: hospitals swamped with fever victims. 100 children daily, 60% from the provinces, each bed has to accomodate 3 or 4 patients in the dengue fever ward.

thursday afternoon

khaki skirt, white tee again

so i decided to get a little medical check up since using the insurance in nc usually requires paying up front then getting reimbursed. thought it would be simpler to just do it while i was here with time. so 1230 today i had my first vn medical experience. dr. nicole from new zealand, nice person. pap, breast, heart, bp - mammogram not recommended here, should go to a place of more advanced medical techniques (i.e. singapore, bangkok, hong kong, etc.). and as it is, my pap smear was sent out of vn for processing. bp was elevated....no surprise there! ekg normal. fasting blood test still to do (maybe friday morning). but i didnt even get weighed! that's probably whhy the bp was elevated....i was freaking out about getting on the scale. ha ha all in all, $14us deductible so not.

went to pick up my silk dress that was to have been ready yesterday. it wasn't. they made it look like a sleeveless coat ... not a dress with buttons. so maybe tomorrow.

evr hear of the movie "someone like you" hugh jackman, marisa tomei ashley judd ellen barkin? it just started so being a huge jackman fan, i guess i'll watch it. i had left over soup when i got back ... yummy.

another headline, etc

poachers feed taste for jumping chicken.....gearing up for a hunt is like preparing for a covert militarymission. moonless night, camo, powerful torch to stun the target and a knife for a quick silent kill. ah they're talking about frog hunting.

thursday was another day hanging around mostly. read a lot, walked a lot, went to river, started going to pool for a swim, got half way and the clouds came ad rain started. had a massage in the morning ... she's a very curious person. how long have you been here, how long are you staying, when are you leaving, when are you coming back. not really comfortable sharing all that info. she's good as the massage but gets really close to the hoo ha and practically does a breast exam. went to sally cox's house in the afternoon for a cup of tea. she has a massage girl that she'll give me her name too. i wore a white cotton skirt and linen blouse in the morniig. also had the ta IT guy out to help with skype microphone. so now i have audio out but no webcam connected. lunch was pumpkin soup. evening plans were dinner at mekong merchant (salmon) with andy the young guy. he's pretty quiet and lost at times. wore khaki skirt and white tee.

right now i'm watching bull durham. i'd forgotten how good this was. its' great. had croissant for breakfast with coffee and a little side of fruit. woke up to rain this morning and now its overcast. so many references in this movie that i never got before. guess i'll finish watching this and then go for a walk.

recent headlines

hand-foot-mouth cases on rise 30 children in hcmc were treated last week

city dumps 80% of sewage into rivers ... deptof natrual resources and this and that. 200-240 meters of sewagebeing dumped into rivers and canals.

and i thought greensboro news wasnt good!

happy birthday wiley and elizabeth

happy birthday to two of my favorite july birthday people (emily of course is the other favorite). dad has gone to shanghai and hong kong today, returning on friday in time for dinner. so i'm left to do my own thing. thought about beach or mountain trip but i think that would be better knowing it won't rain and that's a tough call. so i'll see what i can get into.

i've stopped working light switches around the house because it gets me in trouble if the switches have been dimmed. only lights i switch on have a knob or foot switch. i don't play the stereo either because if i mess up the sound or leave a cd in it, that's another reason for trouble. ugh.

mosquitos ... have i mentioned them? omg they are everywhere and so annoying. i think i've only killed one and they have gotten me back. dragonflies too. those litle things flit all over.

i went to town today after dad went to airport and had lunch at hyatt alone pretty much on principal. i'll pay for it later when i get on the scale! one cheeseburger altho i left about 1/3 of it. wearing black skirt with multi colored dots and blue sleeveless knit top

looks like the rain might be back this afternoon which was to be my pool session. oh well. i did get two tops made ... linen. will be nice i hope. my dress isn't finished yet ... silk. its actually a "remake" of a shirtwaist dress that i probably wore to emilys gds graduation.

hope the wilsons have a wonderful birthday. look forward to lots of pictures. xoxo

stuff

finished my second vince flynn book of this trip. i think i have one more vince flynn and some others available on kindle.

the lizards are fast little things that scurry around the fountain. and they appear a bit chunky.

last night we noticed a fish in the fountain but it might have been intentionally put in to clean it up. must ask the gardener in charge of that stuff. and about a million tadpoles.

the international herald tribune arrived the other day with a story about hilary clintons visit to vn and hannoi only there was a good portion of the text blacked out.

today there's a story in the paper about the department of this and that banning addictive computer games for the sake of the children and they will lead to junenile crime and truancy. guess that's why scrabble on facebook won't work!

wishing wiley wilson a happy fourth birthday. i almost made it when he was born but got there a little after the fact.

i was just out for a walk and saw a golden retriever with a bandaged around her middle. she had an "operation" according to the woman walking her and it reminded me of sophie and healing from her operation. i hope she's okay.

i probably should bring over one of the dvd sets of pride and prejudice. that would be good viewing ... havent seen it on their shelves.

sunday meanderings

sunday is always an interesting day. no work so we had a nice breakfast (well decent with no complaints). sat around then went with dad for a noon haircut. he has a new young guy working for him and he's coming for dinner tonight and i'm cooking. will be interesting. i left dad getting his haircut and went to market then meet him about 115 for lunch. i had fried rice, he had sardines. i had to beg him to hang out with me this afternoon and get the groceries for dinner. he wasnt happy. we went to a gallery, looked at some art. then went and got the steaks and veggies for dinner. its always interesting being out of your element in anothers kitchen.

some obvservations: they play a sort of mahjong on the streets, men sitting around litle tables with tiles. well i thought it was a nice little game but then i realized seeing more and more that theres some wagering involved. also there are lots of little shoe shine, shoe repair guys sitting around the sidewalk.

second full day of rain. all thru the night and all day today.

wearing black and white check shirt and black tee. nothing fancy.

wish me luck on this meal tongiht. at least i can't screw up dessert....vanilla ice cream!

updating

havent felt much like blogging. had a disasterous date night on friday. i looked nice wearing a black lace skirt and white ruffled blouse. friday ms. han had the day off so i was the maid. i did a good job. i made a nice breakfast of poached egg on english muffin and coffee. rain in the afternoon is pretty common. actually storms with thunder and lightening and buckets of water. well i dont really remember what i did but probably went to the city and wandered. then dad and i went to the hyatt for dinner. two cosmos later dad asked for a bite of my steak. i cut him off a little piece and proceded to transfer it to his plate when it slipped off my fork and knife and landed in his lap. image his reaction! overreaction! etc. you would have thought i did it on purpose. no more sharing my food. then we went to the martini bar and it was downhill from there.

so then saturday came and ms. has was back. she did her thing and i went to the city and sat by the pool til the rain came again. i wore khaki bermudas and brown top. dad worked and then we went to look at the new toyota fortunner (aka 4runner) that he wants to trade in the land cruiser which is too big and too expensive to operate. grey. we also went to look at apartments in the intercontinental hotel that he might want to move to. not sure why he'd want to give up the garden and beautiful home ... apt has combination living room, kitchen and i know how he doesnt like smells in the house; balcony but very shallow, nice view of river and city; room serice, housekeeping, no garden, low ceilings. intercontinentla pool and health center. water pressure bad for showering. closet has combination washer/dryer machine. guess he'll decide. but it was nice that i got to see it.

sunday: dad swam in the rain, wearing black and white skirt and black tee. i cooked breakfast on english muffin with tomatoes and coffee. we're still trying to work out what we're doing. dad said he might get massage but i can't go along??? dinner tonight with his new employee and either i cook or we go out. hmmmm.

friday 545am

rather pleased i made it thru most of the night altho i did watch hbo movie before bed bloody valentine? what was i thinking.

dad has gone for a bike ride helmet and all. ms. han is off today so i'm the maid. have to do my own cooking and cleaning!

dinner was at a japanese place LaPhong ... had mushroom soup, tempura, suchi. nice meal but the next table were obviously two loud men who smoked so usually a pleasant environment got a little smelly.

i wore white blouse and melon colored capris. i was looking at the closet of clothing i have accumulated and realize i will never get to wear most of it this trip. maybe next time! hilary clinton was in hanoi yesterday and i think all the us consulate folks in the compound must have gone up for the day.

think i'll go for a little walk and see if i can catch the sunrise. probably late should have gone earlier.

4pm thursday

an early start this morning thanks to my on going insomnia. about 610 walked to pool and watchd dad swim and took a video for wiley to see pop swim (his idea). breakfast of fruit and coffee. decided to knock off a lot of errands today. long list started by walking to supermarket and finding a little pencil sharpener (eyebrows); then went to remodeled gourmet shop and found a couple things but no english muffins; went to atm and got some dong; brought home eggs, jams, chorizo. then took taxi to city post office looking for a couple satin zipper wallets that they apparently no longer carry in the gift shop. on the way there, i noticed an eyeglass center that carried david yurman frames so i checked that out. the frames were not exactly stylish plus they were over $300US. next went over to diamond dept store and found they don't carry toasters (dad requested a new one). somehow i got muddled up and lost my bearings and was walking the wrong direction for dong koi street. which then amounted to my first motorbike ride for a grand total of 20dong which is just over a dollar. i pretty much kept my eyes closed and hung on tight to the bar on the back of the seat. the helmet did nothing for my hair! went to Tax Store looking for a new cd Audiophile II or III. beautiful voices. no luck. however on the way out i noticed an electric applicance section selling toasters. somewhat of a fiasco but i got one for 700,ooodong. then popped into jewelry store to get the appraisal info for insurance....that took a few minutes. then i figured i should have a foot massage with #19. absolutely wonderful. walked to other gourmet shop looking for thomas english muffins, nothing. then went to veggy's another gourmet shop and found them, some cheese, sundried tomatoes. now my bag is getting very heavy ... toaster, groceries, etc. left there an went to linen shop because dad wanted more placemats and napkins...okay put them in the bag too. hailed a taxi and headed back. however got driver to stop at two plant places because dad wanted some more color in the garden ... he wants variations of green around the fountain....but we must have all the ground covers they make. got some purple plants. lunch was leftover pizza. decided to watch a dvd Leap Year ... not a masterpiece but entertaining. and then the rains came again. its buckets again. wearing black capris and white linen again. tonight hope to go for sashimi. tomorrow i want to go to mekong merchant for date night; then saturday to hyatt. ms han has day off on friday and saturday so i'll be the maid! that's why we're eatig out!

234am

pretty much done sleeping for the night. i could tell dad wasnt in mood to take me out so agreed to order take out for dinner after the guy left. i got salmon, he got salad. my outfit yesterday consisted ofwhite ruffled linen blouse and navy capris. my outfit now is a white cotton nightgown! pretty wide open for the rest of the day here. nothing that i have to do so that means i'll go to city and wander the streets, maybe go to a museum depending on the weather. and if nothing else, i can always get a foot massage! i have to figure out how to pay the amex bill. i don't know if these lines are secure to do it online (last time sarah paid it over the phone using the landline that is associated with that account). got a couple days to work it out. i would like to do 3 months here next time to see how it goes. perhaps including christmas and tet -- dad definitely should be able to find time to do a little get away somewhere! maybe australia even. then next year you should all plan on making the trip for christmas which actually isnt a holiday. good enough for now so i'll go read my kindle book.

wednesday dinner hour

recap a bit early today! wore black talbot golf shirt dress. it rained amazing amounts today. we invited jess' daughters for pizza and swim ... as the pizza was being delivered the rain drops started and then all the heavens broke loose. havent seen that much rain here ever. finally cleared enough for a walk around compound with them to at least show them the pool they could have used today. of course jess has visions of one day moving into this house in hopes that harvey will go elsewhere. sort of unnerving really. anyhow they left about 230-300. in the meantime the blue shirt army arrived. guys taking the TA cocktail back because it wobbled. guys cleaning the overhead ceiling fans and the a/c units. and the electricians who were working on restoring power to the first floor. everyone finally left and ms. han had clean up duty. lots of debris on the patio and wet footprints. she got it done. took a 5pm shower because it was one of those muggy days. now wearing white linen sleeveless ruffle top and jan. table returned after 5pm. i bet they stopped everything and that table became a priority. they are so rattled by harvey. now i'm tired and its 745pm. dad had 5pm "meeting" in the city and nwo has a guy in the dining room which is why i can blog at 745. he sure does love to work. dinner will be late. that's it for today.

2:37 am

2am blogging is not always the best and sharpest ... but i'll give it another try. tuesday was a little busy. new cocktail table delivered. square instead of rectangle. wooden top instead of marble. both very heavy, case of wine delivered. nice lunch of fried rice and shrimp. mr. paul is at his house packing up to move back to thailand so theres no swimming there for me now...i have to go to compound pool. got my manicure and waxing so that was a good accomplishment. went into city and wandered. broought a linen top here with me that i want to get made in another color (ITS A MERONA BRAND). went to a couple tailors but didnt order yet. got a belt since i left mine home. it was raining so i was very worried that i'd leave the umbrela in a shop. walked around, found a shop selling fancy lotions etc and someone told dad he should use shower gel so i wanted to get him some. found a nice one bamboo scent ... not floral. then went togourmet shop and picked up some sour dough bread since i know dad likes that and i really want to try to make him enjoy my visit too. then back to house probably around 430. napped a little but dad was home around 5 and we were leaving at 615. he showered after work and didnt like the shower gel scent. could have just said thanks first before dissing the stuff. we drove to jewelry store and picked up my new diamond ring. photo will be taken and posted. very nice and i'm a lucky lady. then to hyatt for jess' daughters 15 birthday dinner. his daughters live in denmark with their mother and he gets them for summer holidays. jess invited me to join them at a beach weekend but i said only if he could get harvey to go too. i certainly don't want to go off without dad ... but he sayys he has to be at the factory since no one else is around. hope we find something fun to do. this took 13 minutes to update so now i'll head to bed and see if i can zone out for a couple hours more. forgot to mention i wore white capris and blak and white striped sleeveless top black belt. but for dinner i wore a long jones of ny black crepe dress, diamond bracelet, diamond ring and diamond earrings. pulled out all the stops but why not!

Purple Plants Part Two

do you remember the purple plants from last visit? i was anxious to see how they adapted to their new environment around the fountain. and i fully expected them to have grown big and lush and filled in as a ground cover since they did so well in the pots on the back patio.

not so much....seems the snails have made gourmets of themselves on the poor little things. they look dreadful. i fear they will be completely gone before too long. might have to go back to being pot plants which means we have empty garden around the fountain again and that's not a good thing.

2AM

having a hard time staying asleep. doing a lot of reading. monday i hired a driver for 800,000dong which is $40ish, went to 4 nurseries for some garden plants, went to metro (costco) and had ID photo card made; went to city looking for birthday gift for jess' daughter. we're attending a dinner at hyatt on tues night for her. i think shes 13-15 and i wanted a juicy tee shirt but no real juicy shop here just knock offs at market. came back to house, had driver all day but no where else to go. worse navy bermudas and white sleeveless tee. had the guy out to work on laptop so i can get on facebook. dinner home was pho go (chicken noodle soup). i ennded up at esprit shop for the tee with bling. what do i know. dad suggested a nice pashmina so i know a little more than him. tuesday i think i'll get manicure for sure. i get my new jewelry tomorrow .. a ring had to be resized. maybe i'll take a photo for one of the next blogs. i really deserve it.

sunday

dad swam, i watched. breakfast of fruit, coffee, croissant. watched tv then went for massage .. dad got 2 hr, i got 1 hr with toenail polish change while waitig. went to lunch at hyatt ... chopped cobb, steak tartar bottle of wine. rain while eating but stoped so we went shopping. looked at fabric for linen sportcoat and dad got 3 shirts ordered. also stopped in jewelry store and found a nice birthday present! wore black skirt with multi polka dots and blue top. back to house, went for a walk, got a case of wine, watched tv, made some supper (left overs for me). watched british open and DateNight video with dad. tried to sleepbut not working. its 315am.

saturday Pm

nothing exciting. we went to anthony and sally cox's house for cocktail at 5pm since it was their 15th wedding anniversary. we had a drink or two (i had sprite) and then went tomekong merchant for dinner. i wore black skirt and black and white silk top. ate carbonnara. like i said, nothing exciting. dad bought me flowers on the walk home. then we both sort of fell asleep on the sofa watching golf. i'm sure that isn't his normal saturday night altho he says he stays home!

back to VN

woke up on thursday at 610 with very little to do. dog was already gone; bags were packed, just had to shut down, lock up, tidy up, shower and wait for my ride to airport. sallie came at 845, i was thru security at the airport by 905. uneventful trips to chicago, then went to red carpet lounge for a nice diet coke and waiting for the next leg of the trip. 14 hr flight to hong kong went well, slept, watched Date Night with Tina Fey that was quite entertaining; did not watch miley cyrus or how to train a dragon; had a dinner of chicken and rice, skipped the noodle soup, rested. no one was in middle seat so it was spacious. arrived hong kong on time with lots of time for the red carpet lounge. had a cheese sanndwich, carrot soup and some diet coke. boarded early but waited because of typhoon in the area had departures backup at airport. harvey met met after i quickly went thru baggage claim and immigration.

saturday .. dad went swimming then to work. didnt sleep well but thats normal. might need a nap. reading vince flynn book so that keeps me entertained. no facebook yet unless i figure out how to bypass block.