Thursday 10th September 2015
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| Pete and Ben |
Last night we
found Ben and Rose, busy as ever, still living in the heart of Ho Chi Minh
City, still working very VERY hard. Ben
runs 16 restaurants, in the Al Fresco group; Rose no longer works in hotels but
now is a corporate real estate person.
four months pregnant, and very happy and well. We last saw them in 2010, and spent a bit of
time with them in Vietnam in 2009. Ben
(Winspear) is an old family friend of Pete’s.
Since they last met Ben has grown a bit; Pete has shrunk a bit, and Rose
is glowingly four months pregnant.
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| Ben and Rose |
I bought a
magazine from a very keen street stall vendor right outside Ben’s District One
restaurant, Jasper’s. It only cost $1.50
for a brand new Woman’s Day. No I didn’t
really want it but the vendor looked SO thrilled at the thought of making a
sale I couldn’t resist. And he very
carefully selected Woman’s Day especially for me…I wondered how he could afford
to sell it at this price; recommended retail is $4.20. So when I got back to the hotel I peeled off
a big white sticker and found…
Fair enough…the
Vietnamese are very enterprising!
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| Many beautiful things to see in Ho Chin Minh City, amongst the mess and the bustle |
This morning we walked
into the centre of the city via a nearby park.
It was heaving with activity – a big festival is happening there
tonight. There will be many speeches, and
maybe a band or two. And LOTS of food!! We went back at
lunch time.
No we did not eat the
scorpions.
I was very happy
with fresh spring rolls, my favourite Vietnamese lunch.
Pete ate some of the
shellfish…I tried one but it truly was not yummy and it had a very horrible
texture. Partly chewy, partly slimy…
I was very attracted to these beautiful mushroom thingies; maybe tonight!
I was very attracted to these beautiful mushroom thingies; maybe tonight!
But I don’t think I
will be eating these octopus, delicious though they probably would be.
In one of the side
streets we followed a woman towing a little wooden platform; I think she is one
of the mobile washing-up ladies. People
eat their meals on the street and leave their dirty dishes on the
footpath. And along comes a nice little old
lady with a bowl of soapy water on a little wheeled platform – all very efficient!
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