Adventures as Miss Saigon

Who knew this would happen to me while I was in Vietnam…I never would have thought it was possible! He leaves me with butterflies in my tummy and I find myself counting down the time between our next encounter. I’m physically drained and emotionally exhausted from this whole experience.

Let me explain…my new man is my new xe om (motorbike taxi) driver, Cal. I started working on Monday with a new client who lives on the other side of town. I have a motorbike driver that takes me to and from J’s house every day, but he’s a friend of J’s family (or part of the extended family) and doesn’t speak any English, making our interactions challenging and brief. On Monday, after coming home from J’s, I went out to the street corner where several xe om guys hang out. Usually when I walk past these guys yelling out “madame, madame, motorbike”, my instinct is to always brush them off…today I came looking for one and there was no one there! Then from behind me, I heard his voice… “Motorbike?”

After showing him the address that I needed to go to, he nodded his head, and I hopped on the back of his bike. I had brought my own protection (I have my own helmet…stop your dirty minds!), and for 45 minutes, he took me for a ride. Down back alleys barely wide enough for two bikes, across bumpy bridges and through busy traffic. He took me places that I had never been and could never have imagined. When we arrived at my destination, there was an awkward exchange of phone numbers (Cal seems to know a bit of English, but is far from fluent) and with a few hand signals, we arranged for Cal to pick me back up at 5:30.

When I was done work, Cal was waiting by his bike. With a smile on his face, he jumped up and we were on our way back to my apartment. Today, as I passed by the area where Cal picked me up yesterday, he spotted me and yelled hi and waved. I texted him this afternoon to let him know “same same as yesterday”, and he was waiting for me when I came out to meet him. Hopefully, it will be “same same” for the time that I need to get out to District 2.

My only question now is, when it’s time for me to head back to Canada…how do you break up with your xe om guy?

I’m heading into my Sunday evening here, and I’ve had a fabulous weekend in HCMC. Friday night right after work I headed to a new hair salon to get my hair done. I’ve had some trouble finding a hair dresser here who knows how to colour Western hair. The two times that I’ve been to the salon, I’ve left with roots a different colour than the ends. Thankfully, I’ve found Jimmy Le! Wendy went to get her hair done by him earlier this week, and he did a really great job, so I decided to give him a go. Jimmy didn’t understand why I was so excited to have “same same” hair colour! His confused response was “it’s just brown”…haha…oh Jimmy Le! So after 2.5 hours at the salon, a cut, colour, blowdry, massage, and facial (all for under $40usd), I left a happy girl.

After a relaxing start to my weekend, I met up with Laura and Wendy for what seems to be our standard Friday night sushi dinner. Delicious food, great company and conversation. Coming home, I got started on a bottle of red wine and caught up with friends on Skype. (Sorry for the mid Friday morning drunk dials, friends!)

I spent part of my Saturday morning sitting in the sunshine by the pool, trying to ignore the sweat dripping from my nose (there didn’t seem to be a breeze in HCMC!) and my throbbing head. I did some cleaning and organizing at my apartment, and had an impromptu afternoon trip downtown with Wendy. Our initial plan was to get a beer, do some people watching and have dinner before heading home at a decent time. Well, as it seems to happen, one beer turns into two, delicious food was consumed (with another beer or two) and we began pub hopping. Before we knew it, it was 11pm and we were on our way to Apocalypse Now, one of the older and apparently “must-see” clubs here (Lonely Planet’s words, not mine). LP also says “the music is thumping and it’s apocalyptically rowdy”. Needless to say it was quite the experience! After paying our 150,000vnd cover (a whopping $7.50usd), and grabbing our “free” beer, we headed to the dance floor. Before long, I was dancing with a guy from India who was flying out the next day and “wanted to make the most of his last night in HCMC” (his words, not mine). Wendy and I made a quick trip to the bathroom and decided to bolt without saying goodbye to our dance partners. We wanted to end our night on a high note (and alone), and going back to the dance floor would have been messy. ‘Apo’ can now be checked off my HCMC to-do list.

This morning, I had a bit of a sleep in, and was woken by my phone ringing. My college friend, Jenn’s fiance’s aunt and uncle arrived in HCMC last night and we’re planning to meet for dinner downtown next week while they are in town. Dragging myself out of bed, I quickly showered and headed to a nearby cafe where I was joined by Wendy and Laura for a quick ca phe sua da, before they headed on their ways, and I stayed to do some blogging. It’s been a great, productive, relaxing, entertaining weekend, and I’m ready to start the work week! It’s gonna be a busy one!