sunday morning aka Dad's birthday

today is dad's 62 birthday. seems very happy and pleased with everything. had a nice swim this morning followed by a fruit smoothie and puttering around including emails. i'm wearing khaki skirt and brown sleeveless top. dad is about to get his massage and i will attempt packing my bags in anticipation of a 415 monday morning departure. makes me a bit sad knowing i'll be leaving so soon.

saturday night wore a black square neck longish dress. went to dinner at my favorite place, le bordeaux. had the rack of lamb which was wonderful and we shared a choco mint souffle. absolutely lovely evening.

saturday i attempted to find some cuff links for dad's birthday present. i guess they really dont specialize in them (not much need for french cuff shirts here). they had few options mostly with tie clips. and they were not interesting at all. ended up with a decent pair of mother of pearl set in white gold/silver just a triangle shape. he seems to like them okay.

got a little massage then went to mekong merchant for a light lunch at 3pm. ms. han came in the morning to fix breakfast and tidy up. then left around 11. sad to say farewell to me ... she likes having someone around to fuss over and chat with i think. she's a real keeper.

we arranged earlier for some special flowers for the center hall table. they came and assembled the most amazing arrangement .... rivals the hyatt's display! dad was so pleased with the results and that's a nice feeling.

our sunday will probably consist of going to city and checking out some speakers for the tv, then a light lunch and tonight we'll have our "last supper" at the hyatt. early morning wake up and ride o airport. doubt dad will go along for the ride. basically i just jump out of car and go to ticket counter and not real chatty at 430. its the same thing when i take him to raleigh at 4am ... he sleeps while i drive so no chat then either!

probably last post since i'll shut down the laptop later and check that off my departure to do list. leave keys, leave cell phone, leave id card, etc. i hope my trips will be longer and more often and would love to bring each of you along.

saturday morning

friday night had potential for a good night but ....
got my watch fixed, a couple tee shirts, walked around looking for a birthday present for dad (wanted to get him some martini glasses) but no luck. then he mentioned a bowl for the center hall table but nothing thhere either. walked my feet off and had to stop twice even with my map in hand. then had lunch with ms. han of pho ga (chicken noodle soup). afternoon was puttering around, walking compound, checking out remodeling of some houses that were open. they seem o have a lot of little rooms with doors and walls --- much prefr the open light floorplan of this place.

friday night wore new grey silk dress and it was nice. went to legend hotel to meet the supplier couple. well they took us to the hotel buffet. first omen. too much food, too many options, up and down, never know what actually has been eaten. and the nice lady gave me my own crab ... not exactly a dainty thing to eat and pull apart. and then there was the wine. bottle of red, bottle of white. and many many cheers. i had a small crepe with bananas and orange sauce for dessert which was the best part o the meal. dinner was at 630 so we were finished early so we went to hyatt martini bar for nightcap and people watching ... lots of girls hoping to get lucky. mostly vn last night with few tourists but a couple regulars that i recognized. this photo does not do it justice, but the bartender/maitre d' did a stack of stemmed glasses then poured a puddle of alcohol in the base of one glass then lit it up. quite impressive. he obviously has lots of skills in that department judging from the way he flights glasses and bottles around.

ride home proved interesting ...

today is saturday. dad swam. i stayed at the house. wearing white skirt and blue sleeveless linen top. dinner otnight is le bordeaux, my favorite restaurant. french obviously. maybe just two of us maybe with jess and nee.

the house is filled with flowers right now. seems every department at work sent a floral arrangement to dad and they all came home on friday. looks sort of like a funeral parlor! photos will be posted.

somehow my email mailing list was again violated and another viagra email went out while i was at dinner. i noticed i get a lot of spam here on this laptop so maybe that's the source this time.

so tomorrow is dad's 62 birthday. whoopie. if you intend to contact him, let me know so i can make sure he's around the computer and try to do it in the morning (but not between 10-11 am as he's getting a massage at the house). might be strange knowing a massage is going on upstairs and hoping it's all on the up and up (bad choice of words?)!

i guess i'll do some pre-packing and deciding what goes and what stays. next trip will be after october market. pretty easy since i leave a set of toiletries and cosmetics here, take my jewelry, leave shoes and handbags, and a good assortment of clothing. rained last night while we were at dinner and on way to hyatt. today is just cloudy and humid.

friday morning already

hard to believe how quickly this week has gone. yesterday's trip to the factory was nice but dad was distracted or busy and a bit bothered. anyhow saw all those i had not seen lately and got to have lunch with them and then saw te new october samples going to market. back at the house by 315. sofa delivered and swapped out. elegant sofa. walked compound about 5pm since i finished my 3rd vince flynn book. one more book (not vf) left on kindle.

went to hyatt for dinner. one cocktail, one wine. dinner was a shared duck sausage that was fantastic with some sauted leelee flower. moods all improved. wore black and white capri and black silk top.

dinner tonight with supplier and his wife .... need to get my watch fixed. the pin came out of the band.

mosquitoes are biting but thhey don't last long. one day and they're gone. not like at home where the lump and swelling lasts days. no rain lately at least for two or three days.

the other thing i forgot to mention was there's a lot of nit picking going on around here. well not here here but around. at first i thought it was some hair braiding but its not. maybe its just someting to kill time in the booths and shops but they take turns going thru each others hair a lot. i was under the impression that nits dont adhere to thick coarse hair which is mostly the case. but that theory isnt exactly proven.
dad went for a bike ride around an phu neighborood outside the compound. that's always a worry but he has his phone and should be okay at 6am. no plans for his birthday other than it being my last night so i think we'll keep it low key and intimate!! 62 is not a real milestone these days.

thursday mornng

quick update i'm going with dad to factory this moring after his meeting. yeah! he reluctantly agreed as is his way.

last night dinner was a beautiful whole fish ms han prepared with broccoli and carrot. amazing. dad said it wasnt hot/spicy enough but she didnt want to burn my mouth.

wore khaki walking shorts all day.

today wearing black skirt with multi dots and pink v neck.

wednesday morning

dad went swimming, i stayed home and checked emails and election results (after getting laptop back online). breakfast for dad was a new adventure - bahn mi which is a small baguette with a thin layer of meat, pate, some chili, and veg served warm. ms. han picked it up on her way in for 50 cents (10,000 dong). he has his fruit so that balanced it out. i delayed fruit for later but did have half a croissant. wearing khaki walking shorts and white linen blouse.

tuesday night we went to dinner with the same guy from sunday night who is leaving for gso today. took him to hyatt. cocktail at the bar then dinner (not in front of fish tank this time). dad ordered for the table .. wok cooked grouper, appetizer platter for 3 (minced shrimp on sugarcane, softshell crab, spring rolls all in miniature). wore my black talbot dress with pearls after many other were rejected. skirt too long, shirt to baggy, not in the mood for that, etc etc. so went with basic black dress but wore the pink slides to mix it up.

tuesday afternoon went to the pool for two hours. alone except for one guy doing laps. odd since school hasnt started yet and no kids around. i think school starts on monday. read a lot of the last vince flynn book on my kindle. at the pool they put in a new trampoline for kids. they have a nice playground set up with riding toys and rocking things for all ages.

anxiously awaiting michigan results.

Tuesday morning

obviously monday was not a day worth writing about. dad went for walk or bike ride, dont really remember but i stayed home. breakfast was the usual fruit, coffee, toast. dad went to office, i read and wanted to go for a walk but rained early so hung out at the house. ms han did a lot of work. ...mostly laundry like 12 shirts and floors and baths. she works very hard. there isnt much email coming along since its a weekend. had a nice lunch with ms. han. then she made dinner for us of pumpkin soup and a pancake filled with a little meat and sprouts ... it ends up sort of like a taco but the green leaf (lettuce or mustard leaf) is on the outside and filled with the pancake stuffing. the pancake is sort of a flour mixture but not puffy. crisp and thin. yummy. watched an hbo movie then a dvd. nice evening.

today is half price day at anthony george salon so i will definitely go and get the nails done. the last color was a bit drab. would be tempted to get more done but i've done a lot of pampering and it might be overkill!

hopeful for good election day in michigan primary.

wore a jcrew melon colored skirt and white linen blouse on monday. today blue skirt and orange sleeveless tee! tonight we'll go out for dinner. maybe italian but that's always subject to change. right now don't feel like italian.

around town

this is a unisex facility at mekong mechant restaurant

Park Hyatt powder room - nicest one in town

i've been to a lot of toilets around town and decided they were all pretty unique. here's a sample of a few ... this was a lovely piece of porcelin(?) but unfortunately the urinal wasnt matching.

this one had nice tilework on the walls at the massage/nail/facial salon.

obviously i was unable to figure out how to post them with message so this is how it finished.

sunday afternoon

basically another sunday afternoon. dad wanted a massage.

having already had a few manicures, pedicures, body massages, hot rock massage, foot massage, i decided today was a good day for a facial. expensive asit turns out ... 40! about one hr ten minutes of working on my face and chin and shoulders. first it was cleaning and scrubbing, then some vibrating thing, then some suction thing around the nose and chin (guess i had needed some pore cleaning). dad got his two hrs. i got a gel type face mask applied and thats when i realized clostophobia was a definite possibility. i had a couple sneezes that shook the mask loose. when all was done, my face felt so nice and clean. needed to reapply makeup and do something to the hair! met jess and nee at intercontinntal lookig at apartment again. 3br. still low ceiling, didnt check water, small balcony ... pros and cons list still the house is a better deal - it would be over $200 a day to live there plus utilities and parking and thats not cheap but the view is pretty nice from up there .

walked to store, checked out bose speakers, new dvds, dad's linen shirt, and finally my silk dress. it was ready, finished. bagged it up and we went home. however when i got home the placket doesnt lay flat so it will need to go back. placket is the thing covering the buttons ... probably needs a good press or maybe a snap. lunch at mekong merchant. skys opened of course. had kiddie siz fish and chips. and a glass of wine. wearing black capri and white linen with ruffle. walked home in rain....kind of nice and refreshing altho dodging puddles was a challenge. in the end it was just as easy to walk thru the puddles. now watching quiet america dvd ... dad missing most of it since its nap time!

tonight dinner with designer ... no details known.