Chào bạn from Nha Trang

Hello sweeties. It’s been a while since I wrote here.

We left Kathmandu earlier on Vietnam Airlines (1742) to Nha Trang at 1:50pm. I managed to persuade */read as "tricked"/ the guys to change our itinerary and offset 2 weeks of our scheduled trip to Kuching and Surabaya.


Nha Trang, as you already know, is the venue for this year’s Miss Universe.

This is the newest city-showcase of the beautiful and unstoppably-progressing Vietnam. Nha Trang is spotless! Clean, crisp and fabulous. Reminds me of my hometown Pattaya, but Nha Trang is in the “wholesome” genre. LOL!

We were “socializing” earlier at a famous chill-out strip. You know, the tourists-meet-tourists kinda places, sweetie. Not my cuppa tea, but it was…uhmm…interesting.

I noticed lotsa Americans this time. Maybe because of the pageant. Lotsa Filipinos (they’re everywhere!), Indians (them too!), a couple of Spanish-speaking gorgeous guys carrying make-up kits */wink wink/. Interesting.

I should also mention that of our 6 delegates here…Singapore is the one making waves. Everybody knows her by name – Shenise. Other girls are referred to by country. But this girl is known by her first name. Really interesting.

Since this is actually what we came here for, ok, “I” came here for…I’ll hop around and do some investigating, ok sweetie? I might change my previous “prediction”. LOL.

As they say here in Nha Trang, sweeties…
Hoan nghênh. Welcome!

--Sofia in Nha Trang

PRELUDE TO A VIETNAM ESCAPADE

I’m going to Vietnam next week. This blog is getting only a few hits from there -- if they don’t wanna come to my blog, I’ll bring my blog to them – and hopefully, some more.

I’ve been to Vietnam many times. But usually just for a couple of days musing myself on how busy they are. Sitting down on one of their sidewalk coffee bar a la Parisienne would take hours off my time.

Speaking of coffee…did you know that Vietnam is the 2nd largest coffee exporter in the world? I bet you didn’t know that. It is said that Vietnamese babies are fed coffee instead of milk that's why they have dark teeth! I’m sure dentists and whitening toothpastes make a killing there, don’t they?

You've got to try the legendary Cà phê sữa đá –a Vietnamese style coffee preparation. It is made by simply mixing black coffee (brewed on the table by yourself) with equal amount of condensed milk and then poured over ice. You’ve never been to Vietnam if you did not try this! Simply awesome! Ca phe sua nong is the hot version. It’s simply done without the ice. Oh, very clever. *eyeballs rolled twice*

Now, what do I expect on my 10-day visit there?—I expect to meet a lot of people – strangers, more preferably. And if possible -- hot Eurasian babes and dudes! Woopie!...I’m getting tired of seeing the same acquaintances every year. Ha! Just kidding. But this time, I’ll go out on my own, be friendlier to the locals, go to spots where ordinary people go and simply be one of them. (OMG! Do I smell a Nobel Prize for me next year? LOL) Yeah, I’ll be like one of them for 10-days! That’s a great way to know what Vietnam is realy about, don't you think?

See you on Tuesday, Saigon! Ohhh, I can’t wait! I’ll fly with SE Asia's Best Airline Make-Over winner this time. Let’s see how they fare with the service.

Happy weekend everyone!

--Pisanu