Ducks

Hey guys,
so instead of starting with My weekend again, i want to tell you a bit about the trip to and from Ha Noi. So we catch the bus, and if we catch the right bus, we go past these pond like things on the side of the road. One large pont has little shacks were youi can fish from and onother pond has ducks in it. The pond is quite large, and one area is feced off with ducklings and another is fenced off for ducks. Its kinda kool.

Anyway, so my weekend. Started on friday night with a triop into Thai Ngyen teaching - i know some weekend - but it was a good class, lots of fun. Then we got up early and headed into Ha Noi. When we arrived we had breakfast and then i got an invite to go the the military museum. THere was only 5 of us - Glenn, Craig, Emily, Sibyl and i but Craig had a student who wanted to show us around, so that was nice. There was alot of kool stuff like helicopters and planes and guns and knives and well you get the picture. There was also alot of tactical information which the VN are very proud of becuase well it helped them to be so successful! So i saved my pennys
and did something cultural for the first time since i have been in VN. Then we booked ourselfes into one of the coolest hostels and went for happy hour at 5. Dinner was at a local VN place around the corner and then we set off for a Bia Hoi. now in Vietnam there is cheap beer - Bia Ha Noi which costs around 15.000 Dong (.90 cents) for a large bottle - but Bia Hoi is special. Its keg beer that cost around 3.000 Dong which is almost uncountable! Its really light and like drinking crap, but it is effective if you have enough. Bia Hoi is also special because the place we went to had three Bia Hoi's in one intersection made up of 4 corners. There isnt much of a footpath, so you end up in the gutter, or as the night continues sitting in the middle of the road playing a drinking game with 10 Americans you managed to grop into the game even though they were just innocently walking through the intersection. Good times... Because the Bia Hoi is pretty basic, we had to keep going to this really really kool place called Red Mask to use the loo. We started to feel bad, becuase thats all we were using it for so we ended up having a cocktail and then heading back for more cheap beer. It was a great circle :P
Finally, we headed off for Dragon Fly. Another really cool bar - which i will take you to Theo cuase i think you would like it :P and then back and for the Dragon Fly and red Mask untill the police came and stopped us. The night life here stops at about 12:30 - 1am. Bars stay open, but if the police come in some have to leave. you can always get into places, but if the police come back, the owners get into trouble - naturally - so after the police had there say we headed back to the hostel.

Sunday morning, and it was the first full day that i was going to spend in Ha Noi and all i wanted to do was sleep. Instead i went with Claire to the Museum of oh crap i cant remember! anyway it was a museum and it was kool, but we were boith rather tired so we ended up just going through the motions untill we found the gift shop and headed back into town. Three kebabs later, a packet of shampoo and conditioner and we were on our way back to the hostel for a nap and shower. Man it was glorious! Free beer was up on the roof of the hostel at 3, but i was too busy talking to my mummy and brother so i didnt go :P anyway, after the night before it was too early to drink! But then the best bit was still to come. Ok you sitting down. Take a breath. Ok so we managed to find out that regurgitator were in Ha Noi and having a concert that night. Dad, Regurgitator is an Australian bad who your daughter doesn't mind. Ok so for 30.000 dong we got to see regurgitator LIVE. Because we were in Vietnam, i am about a head taller than everybody eles, so i had the best seats in the house and i just so managed to find my way into the middle of the mosh, right at the front and it wsa going off!!!! I didnt realise how many of their songs i new and really like, so i was jumping and screaming and singing my head off, and becuase of my height, i stuck out like a saw thumb and i was in sooo many pictures. Glenn, on of the gappers who is really nice and was actually holding my wallet and shoes... :P started the croud surfing and it was on! The band was having a ball, they looked honestly suprised that there was such a big crowd and that they were having so much fun. By the end though i swear the bass guy was singing at/with me. I was singing and he was singing and then we were laughing and it was AWSOME. never been so close and in a mosh really...
By the end my shoes were completly unfixable and i was hobbling around and no were near drunk enough to not care. actually i wasnt drinking so i cared alot! I still had to get back to the Hostel and then back home early in the morning to Song Cong, so its not like i could by them in the morning. Somehow, i ended up going to ha Nois night arket with Liana - another gapper who is in halong City - becuase she has never been to the night market. Eventually, i managed to find some shoes and all was good with the world.

So that was my weekend. It included alot of drinking, and some kick ass aussie live music. Oh some down sides, i got hit by a car and i burnt my foot on the exhaust of a motor bike. Lucky for me, i didnt bruise from the car - so no one beleives i got hit - and my reflexses are shit hot, so i didnt really burn on my foot. All i do know is that it hurt like hell when i did it, but after all the jumping from the band, it was hard to tell which foot hurt more - the burnt one or the non burnt one?! I would like to add - for my fathers peice of mind - that both of these above mentioned events happened while i was sober! go figure. One girl did sprain her ancle though, and she was so drunk that she continued to walk around on it and she is going to be in so much pain for the next couple of weeks that its not funny, but hey it wasnt me!

So that is quite an entry, but i had quite a weekend. It had alot of culture in it actually... helped me save some money. Anyway i should go and teach or something, so have fun guys and i'lll report back soon!

Eat out