Odds n' Ends

From the Sublime to the Ridiculous ... or vice-versa, Depending on your POV

I beached it the last two days. There are three beaches here, Cua Dai, An Bang and the Hidden Beach, although they are on the same long stretch of ocean running up to Da Nang. 

Cua Dai is for tourists who stay at hotels and villas that front the water. The crowd seems to be more mature, wealthy and happy to lie on the wooden loungers. a lot of German and French spoken. The hotels have large patio roofed restaurants, all advertising fresh seafood and set up rather formally. 

An Bang draws a younger family-oriented crew. It is very crowded. There are cottages and two story condo units and the top of the beach is lined with tiki bars. 

Hidden beach has only abandoned and partially constructed holiday units (and an unfinished Temple) and no restaurants near the beach. It is not at all crowded. Dave from Niagara Falls and his wife choose to winter here instead of Florida as they did until 4 years ago. He maintains that it is much less expensive, a lot safer and has healthier food. When he swam, he left his wallet and watch on his lounger. I must have looked surprised as he said, "No one will take them, and in the very unlikely event someone would try, and it would never be a local, our hostess would take them down." They always come to Hidden Beach as it is so quiet. 

But here's the thing. There is a lady who rents wooden loungers (about 12) with pads under large umbrellas, sells cold drinks from a styrofoam cooler and takes food orders. I napped on the lounger, walked the beach and swam a couple of times. When I ordered a shrimp salad and a beer, the lady cracked a cold Saigon, walked 100 metres away from the beach and across the street to the hotel where she works, made the lovely fresh green salad with carrots, cuke, onion and tomatoes topped with shrimp and carried it back to me. It took about 20 minutes. The shrimp was tender and marinated in a lovely sauce.  I love the vinaigrettes they concoct here. The total cost of my 5 hour stay, rental of the lounge (whenever I started to move it as the shade moved, she jumped up and helped), use of the ocean and beach, salad and beer was $6.53 Canadian. 

Today I scooted about 15 km to Hoiana Golf Course. It's the #1 links in the area. I wanted to get Dennis a thank you for getting my mail and starting my car every week. He is an avid golfer. This place is fancy-schmansy! The gateman showed me where to park my scooter, then motioned me over. I thought maybe a parking fee. But no! Here's me in my blue denim cut offs and a Thai shirt. He had called for a driver and cart to pick me up and take me the 700 metres to the clubhouse. A smartly uniformed lady was my chauffeur. She was beautiful in her tailored suit and perfectly coifed hair, as were all the staff and I only saw female staff while there. Two uniformed greeters met me at the front door. 

The place is like out of a Great Gatsby movie. The clubhouse is huge. The non course grounds are all putting green quality. It reminded me of the lobby of The Swarovski Sparkling Hill Resort and Spa near Vernon BC. 

I was surprised with this showcase painting showing bygone British golfers in their knickers, not Vietnamese. 

Apparently the course was designed by the legendary British-American Robert Trent Jones Sr who designed courses in 35 countries of the world. That might be him teeing off. 

While I was browsing in the pro shop, a lovely uniformed lady told me I had left my phone in Vinnie's phone holder and it was being brought to the clubhouse. When I returned upstairs yet another lady showed me my phone and asked me to punch in the code. I did and she let me keep it. Wow!

The course itself reminded me of Predator Ridge near Jo. Pete and Pam, you'll see the resemblance. The ocean is just visible in the last three pics below. 

When I left, a chauffeured golf cart was again offered. I declined as I wanted to get some exercise. 

Property manager Cherry dropped by today so I could pay next month's rent and the wifi, electric and water portion of my first month's stay. The first month's rent plus those three extras came to $487.38 Cdn. 👍👍👍 She said the electric and water portions were considerably less than normal, even though Vinnie required two 8-hour charging sessions. I haven't had to turn the AC on yet. 

I'm getting used to this sublime treatment, the beach lady and the golf course, my cleaning lady, rental a third of JP back home and the wait staffs in restaurants. So when I get home I might kind of expect more of the same. Like the sales pitch here-It will make both me and you very happy. 😁 Ok I hear you saying RIDICULOUS!!!!

I probably will be silent for a day or two. Thursday I fly to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), formerly Saigon to meet Jesse's friends Carl and Iman. We are touring the Cu Chi Viet Cong tunnel system that is a primary reason the Yanks lost the war.  Thanks Jesse for looking after Iman's chinchilla while he's away. 

And after all my crowing about the weather here, and your snowmageddon, Karma does bite the butt sometimes:

And the temps in HCMC will be at least 34. 😓