Lunch
We walked out on to the heated pavement of Nguyen Hue street in front of our building. Sunwah Tower’s gleaming glass windows shine above. We jumped over mysterious puddle of water that have yet to evaporate. David wondered “did it rain? where did this water come from?”
We walked through streams of taxis and mortorbike all struggling for a little space. All the while, the only question in mind: where to have lunch. This is Vietnam, that seems to be a silly question, but in this part of town, you risk going to an overpriced place that serves tastesless food, or worst: “fusion” food (e.g. avoid Vietnam House). We walked by noisy generators spewing out black smoke in front of every shop: the power grid for this block’s gone out. So lunch in this block is out of the question unless we’d want to come back completely soaked in sweat. Oh there’s the “Juice Bar” that sells American-styled sandwiches…but pastrami and thawed turkey breasts don’t appeal to Pho. We walked over crates of trash, freshly delivered Heineken. We jumped on and off the streets depending on how much blockade there is on the sidewalk. In Vietnam it’s best not to insisit walking in a straightline.
We walked under men trimming trees to fix the electric wiring, under sparkling 220-Voltage lines that are being restrung across the street. Jon smelled something. He pointed to a “Com Binh Dan” place that sells $.50 rice, fried mackerels, pork stewed in coconut juice, and MSG-laced stir fried cabbage. The glass cabinet full of food looked like it was last cleaned when Bill Clinton was in town. The man, cashier-food server-and-cook, was barking orders to his crew and customers alike. I, too, was craving some V-comfort food having been overfed turkey and pumpkin the day before. So we helped ourselves to some electric green plastic chairs and sat outside, under the men who were trimming trees and strining sparkling electric wires.
Lunch was good and dangerous. David got his shoes shined while chomping of a chunk of tender pork stew. I got my comfort food fix. And Jon, well, he liked the MSG-infused cabbage so much that he went for second.
A product that will not sell well in the US
Went to a nice bar/lounge called Xu last night. Learned how to drink Black Label “properly”. It’s on Hai Ba Trung, Q1. Before that, I hung out with a few expats and some people from the firm at a place called Texas BBQ – Thanksgiving buffet ($20 also gets you all the draft Tiger you can handle) with turkey and all the trimmings, apple and pumpkin pie. This was about the only time anyone could get me to spend $20 for a buffer in Saigon. Happy Thanksgiving, friends.
Birthday at the office
My colleagues at IDG Ventures Vietnam made me feel like a king today, with Hai acting like the one dethroned after my arrival. From Left: Hai, Lan Anh, Ngoc, My, and Binh. Missing Hiep who made the sacrifice of taking the picture. Great bunch to work with. I am starting to like them a lot, and I am not just saying that because I am about to send them this link 
Bush to Putin: this never happened!
