The Road to 40 Day 265/365: The Old Stomping Grounds

We’re off for a trip for the weekend, which coincidentally marks 100 days before my 40th.

There’s a work event Che needs to go to in Vietnam, and we figured Vino and I could come along for the weekend. I first had to take Vino to school.

On my way back, I saw that the bus was going to take a while again, so I passed by the nearby hawker center to get breakfast. I tried the laksa in this couple’s stall, but they also sold fishball noodles, which I wanted to try.

As usual, they had a bit of a queue, so I got my iced Milo first.

For five dollars, this was pretty packed. Fishball noodles are common in hawker centers, and I think the difference lies in the pricing and what’s in them. They’re all reasonably priced though.

There was one that was awarded a Bib Gourmand before that was a bit more expensive, but I found it really good. I got to know the owner while I was working in Iskina Cebu. I told him that his fishball noodles were the only fishball noodles that I ate.

His stall was called Fishball Story, but he eventually sold off the franchise. Sometime a couple of years back, he opened a chain in Indonesia that features different hawker food. I’ll probably have to travel there to eat his original fishball noodles again.

Back home, I did some cleaning and last-minute preps before leaving. I was going to pick up Vino, stop over to pick up Che, and we were headed straight to the airport.

Our flight was delayed, but the pilot made up for lost time while in the air. When we arrived, the immigration queue was surprisingly not as busy as we remembered it. Usually, it takes a while for us to clear it because of the lines, so we availed of the express service, but it looked like we didn’t have to.

We got a ride to our hotel, and while on the way, we ordered our favorite meal, Com Tam Ba Ghien. When we got our room, though, we learned that we didn’t have a smart TV.

Both Che and I had the same idea of buying an HDMI cable so that we could at least have Netflix.

Meanwhile, I went out to buy beer and juice for us. Com Tam Ba Ghien was always nice to drink with some Bia Saigon Special.

It was a long walk, as I underestimated the distance, but it felt familiar, as it was what I always enjoyed here in Vietnam.

When I came back, both Che and Vino already ate and were ready to sleep. I got a nightcap while watching a movie, while thy slept.

We’ll have a full day tomorrow, I’ll figure out what Vino and I could do while Che goes to work.

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