Da Nang

Much needed non-Hong Kong or non-Singapore weekend away. The year has felt both long and short at the same time. It's already deep into October and there's that feeling that the year will be over within the blink of an eye. First time traveling to Da Nang as a couple and we ended up at Premier Village, a nice resort, although we ended up with a four bedroom villa (they closed off the three other rooms). Unfortunately, it rained most of the weekend, although we were lucky to benefit from some patches of no rain. The trip was a classic Vietnam trip, grabs to restaurants, walks to massages, grabs back to the hotel, naps and just a whole lot of eating and relaxing. Despite being to Da Nang so many times, I've never tried the local dish of Mi Quang. Aside from that we fell back to the favourites, Bun Bo Hue, Bun Cha, Banh Xeo and even 4Ps pizza.

The holiday formerly known as the wedding

It comes as no surprise that a significant portion of my travel is dictated by weddings. It's a lovely excuse to travel and meet up with friends and family at sometimes new and exciting destinations. The Easter Long weekend was to be the celebration of a friend tying the knot to his partner of eight years. Alas, this was not to be the case. Months before the wedding, the bride called it off leaving the groom with a wedding reservation and a whole lot of questions and what ifs.

Overcoming the initial disappointment, he rallied those who had booked flights and accommodation and hosted a reunion party gathering friends from London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney. Dragon Air recently introduced a direct flight to Da Nang from Hong Kong, the upside was that there would be no brutal layover in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh, the downside was that it departed at 7:50 Hong Kong time. It would only be fitting that a red eye flight be taken in order to see London friends. The Visa process in Da Nang was something that could only be described as chaos. No system, no procedure, but 45 USD later we each had a Vietnam Visa and were soon speeding off to the Intercontinental to see the groom.

The groom was in high spirits, the honeymoon suite was (as you expect) exquisite and he had ordered a huge spread of food for our arrival. We would make three trips to Hoi An, each time feasting on the delicious Banh Mi and sampling the delicious local food. New and old faces and an epic night on the evening that was supposed to be...

Vietnam

Sometime, throughout the course of the year my then, (ex) Employer changed the the Annual Leave policy. The new rules stated that come December 31st the maximum number of days that could be rolled over into the new year could not exceed 5 days. All days in excess of this number would be forfeit, without any compensation. This new mandate saw the Q4 period become a pseudo holiday period with employees scheduling leave for the sake of reducing their total leave. This new policy was of course two-fold. To prevent employee burnout but more importantly, reduce the overhead of employee payouts should employment termination ever come into the fray.

I had pencilled in leave immediately after the work Christmas Party and had planned to join some friends in Vietnam for a few days. In hindsight, I wish I had booked a longer trip...

I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City early Saturday night. Hong Kong had only this week dropped below the 20 degrees Celsius mark and the warm South-East Asian Saigon climate was unexpected. My friends were asleep, it was 6 pm. They had experienced their first night in Ho Chi Minh, namely Apocalypse Now, a local haunt that catered to expats and local revellers until the early hours. The recount of Rooftop bars, Magnums of Belvedere and foreigner-filled bars corresponded with zeal of their greetings, or lack thereof. That night we indulged in a steaming bowl of Pho (30,000 VND ~1.50 AUD) and headed to Lush, a cigarette fumed club. So it began, the following four days we literally ate and snoozed our way around Vietnam.

A short flight to Da Nang, and we arrived at base camp, the Hyatt Regency (we squeezed them for a free upgrade). Here we stole naps by the pool, in the car, in the hotel, anywhere we could really. We lazed by the pool, participated in daily yoga, sat in the sauna and made the occasional day trip to Hoi An and Hue. We consumed cakes, donuts, all-you-can-eat breakfasts, Hoi An Chicken Rice, Pho, Bun Bo Hue, Cafe Su Da, until our pours oozed fish sauce and mint.

Excellent trip - four days of not having to worry about being an unemployed 30 year old. I wonder if I can work in Vietnam?

Currently reading: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer