The Road to 40 Day 267/365: Playdates and Reunions

Today was a packed one for Vino as I scheduled to meet his friends this day.

Che arrived a bit late the night before, so we had a slow start to the morning. We planned on meeting old friends before heading off to see Vino’s friends.

Keirsa is a high school batchmate of Che who lived in Saigon when we were here. They were originally based in Hanoi, but luckily, they moved I think maybe a year before we did.

At least we had some Filipino friends, and they actually introduced us to their community.

The kids were very excited to have visitors, and we were happy to catch up with the adults.

When Vino was studying in BIS, there were about 3 Filipino kids. This year, there was enough kids for them to have a dance performance.

We had to eat and run, though, as Vino’s friends were already at our meeting place.

We met up with Robin and Kyros, and I got them to race in go-karts. They had a kid session for the first one, and it was pretty slow.

It was Vino’s first time to drive by himself, so there was a bit of an adjustment for him. He learned quickly, but the session was 8 minutes long.

They asked to race again with faster cars, and thankfully, his friend’s mom obliged despite them heading to another appointment.

After Robin left, we went down to McDonald’s with Kyros to have lunch. While we were there, Eddie and his brother Bertie came with their mom.

We took them to a lava game, while the mom and I talked. When they were done, it was Kyros’ time to go.

Vino, Eddie, and Bertie went to play in the park, then we went to their house. From there, they asked if we wanted to join them un Snap Cafe.

It’s a cafe near Vino’s old school, and we’ve had a few playdates there. Eddie’s dad is a teacher in BIS, and I didn’t realize that Snap was actually their weekend hangout spot with a couple of other teachers.

One of the teachers is one of Vino’s favorites, Mr. Rhys, who was their music teacher. I told him I blame him for most of Vino’s musical tastes, and the synth that he taught them in music club is still something Vino uses for his current projects.

I stayed for a beer, but ended with three big ones. Vino played and had a snack. Later, the kids sat to watch the guy playing acoustic guitar and they kept requesting songs.

When it was time to part ways, I thanked them for the unexpectedly long, but really fun playdate.

Vino and I then went to Che’s event in district 1. We joined her team for dinner and drinks.

A bit later into the night, Vino asked to go home to rest already, and I asked Che if I could stay and drink with her friends.

We walked around Japan Town like it was a field trip and proceeded to another bar. When one of her friends said she was heading back to the hotel, I said I would join her because Che might not like the fact that I still didn’t go home when I had the chance.

Plus the fact that I’ve been drinking since 4pm, and now I had beer and wine in my system.

It was a pretty good night, at least I was able to have a bit of the nightlife experience in this short trip.