Das Beer...

Herro,
        Weekends...they're a spectacular thing aren't they? Many of you out there doing the whole 9 to 5 thing cherish those blessed 55 hours we often refer to as F Sa Su. It's usually the days when the real neety greety goes down. I'm gonna for-go a recap of the end of last week and fast forward to the good stuff. Halong Bay....here we go. We booked a 2 day 1 night tour of the bay on a junk boat (google image search...theyre pretty rad). Took a bus for about 3 hours to Halong City. About ten minutes in I heard an audible thud over the noise of my ipod and our car slowly pulled to the side of the road. Turns out some major piece of the engine had fallen off (not so smooth) and we had to wait a bit and transfer to another van for the remainder of the ride. We got to the bay and took a leetle boat out to get to our beeg boat. Halong bay is kind of like Pandora (yes I'm making an Avatar reference)... these huge rock islets covered in foilage shoot up out of turquoise waters all around you. Theres a ridiculous number of them, somewhere around 2000. It was named a UNESCO world heritage sight a few years ago and I highly recommend you visit it if you're ever in Nam. We went to "The amazing cave", swam and kayaked to an island inhabited by theses little monkey nuggets. If I were a monkey I'd for sure set up digs in Halong, monkey paradise. The meals we were served were just stunning, tons of fresh seafood and 8 courses. We went to bed early and woke up for the sunrise, which to our dismay was not visible behind the early am haze. The second day we went on to tour the local floating village and layed out on the deck before shoving off. The villages are literally floating, houses in the middle of the water, tied together all in a row. I can't imagine growing up like that can you? They have batteries as a source of power at night which they use for 3 hours to watch the news or light the house. Nothing like I've ever seen... and speaking of never seen....i caught more than a few of the villagers rowing with their feet? Revoluntionary technique I must say. The bus ride back wasn't completely mundane...we did see two pigs being transported on a motor bike (the first was tied down, alive, and draped over the seat on its back and ....the second was well...dead, skinned, and all tied down and out in the open) Laughed at the first,whimpered at the second.
       Here's where it goes a little off the wall. We heard about an event they were having at the Daewoo hotel down the street from our roommate.....Oktoberfest....in Hanoi....

      Well....of course...we couldn't quite pass it up. Quite a large affair put on by the German Business Association in Vietnam. Our tickets included a traditional beer mug with Oktoberfest Hanoi printed on it (a real original...I think it may have been the best souvenier I've ever recieved) and an all you can eat and drink spread. I didn't really know what to expect in the food department besides sausage but they laid out the works. Outside by the pool they had set up at least a hundred tables and in the middle was a stage where a live Hofbrauhaus band (from Germany) played all night. For the most part the attendees were Vietnamese business people with your occassional Western looking older business men thrown in. Safe to say we were one of the few attendees joining the party sans business tie. WERE HERE FOR THE party? It proved to be a lot of fun though. We met a very nice Ausie who'd lived in Hanoi for several years and chatted politics, economy, and traveling (its really been a hot topic of conversation everywhere we go). We also made friends with the men throwing the soiree, clad in lederhosen and a guy from Chicago. I think we may have been somewhat of a novelty at the place....people were pretty friendly.We ended up going with the guy from Chicago to a place called the Temple Bar. Before I go on.....Chicago was.....a nimrod. The guy was a nightmare as we soon found out in the cab ride. Opinionated, innapropriate, ignorant, a sloppy drunk, and hard to ditch. A real winner.... (He should be sequestered so he's unable to further any commonly held negative american stereotypes)
       Temple Bar. Straight out of a movie.... dark, flashing strobe lights, dancing people, Benny Benassi. At random intervals the dj (a man in his 30's with a shaved head, sporting wire rimmed glasses, a blue kimono, and a cigarette which hung ever so slightly from his lips while he bobbed his head and spun the tracks) shot out huge clouds of glitter covering the dance floor and everyone on it. I woke up the next morning with it stuck to my body, in my hair, and on my bed. I must return! Sunday we flipped a 180 and hightailed it to Joma for brunch followed by a much needed spa retreat and a lovely dinner. Were planning an activity for Thursday with our kids....make some masks out of paper plates and pass out candy in an attempt to teach them a bit about Haloween. Any serious costume plans? I really do love seeing what people come up with every year.....please fill me in with the deets since I can't be there myself..... have fun. Ravage the neighborhoods for some confectionairy treats but beware ghosts, ghouls and  the old razor in the candy bit.

Boo!
King