We entered through a line of lovely young women in local dress and mingled around trying to get rid of the Vietnamese wine which had been passed. It was pretty poor. The canapés were beautifully arranged but equal to the wine in caliber. Then came the performance. Wow!!! There are no words to properly describe it. We have considered, “unbelievable, mind boggling, hysterical or unique,” but none of these are accurate.
The performance began with a Master of Ceremonies introduction. He thought he was Joel Grey. On top of that, his English was heavily accented and hard to follow, so if there were punch lines to his anecdotes, I missed them. 
But, all went well after his first introduction, as the curtain opened to show six people seated at Vietnamese instruments, wearing lovely traditional costumes. They played several pieces (unfortunately interspersed with commentary from Mr. M.C.) and then one came forward for the equivalent of a solo. Talk about ear piercing sound….Heavy Metal could not have been as loud. Then a young woman played her instrument with Vietnamese music and it was quite pleasant. As a kicker, M.C. proudly said she would now play the same instrument with Western music. It was a clearly recognizable version of GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY. OK…. So far, not too bad.
Then came the pièce de résistance …….
With much fanfare a new performer was announced. He could play anything as an instrument. He was a star. He wore a western style suit and was about 5’ tall. And then he began to play…… At first I thought he was playing some kind of flute or piccolo and was concentrating on identifying the instrument. When he added a second one, I finally noticed he was playing them through his NOSE! William was cracking up and from there on it was pretty down hill. The MC was particularly proud as he showed us a coiled, plastic garden hose and said this would be used to make music. Dear Reader, you have not heard anything until you have heard that old Vietnamese traditional favorite CHERRY PINK AND APPLE BLOSSOM WHITE played on a garden hose. For an encore, he did THE ISLE OF CAPRI using a tray filled with ceramic noodle bowls. At one point William said, “This must be the torture they used on John McCain. If they did that to me, I’d crack and tell them everything!!!!” I couldn’t stop giggling after that.
We went into town the next day on our own and I felt safe with William walking with me. 
The main market was just what you might expect. Huge, crowded, filled with everything from suitcases to toothpaste. It was dangerous to look too long at anything because someone immediately had you in their sights and wanted to bargain. William kept telling me, “don’t make eye contact” but it was also clear that you shouldn’t make eye contact with an item either. One lady saw me looking at something and then followed us for several minutes telling me she had everything cheaper and I needed to follow her to her stall. My only purchase of the day was a fan from a mother with a baby who was selling them on the street. It was three dollars and William kept saying we can get it cheaper. He was correct of course, but I was helping the baby.
William had a very interesting experience getting money from an ATM. The Vietnamese dollar is over 20,000 to the US dollar. When he got his receipt it showed that he was a billionaire!
Tomorrow is Hong Kong and we have a tour scheduled to see the Highlights. William is getting suits made, and I am also getting a suit made (jacket and skirt). They show you all the materials and styles here on the ship and then the garments are brought to the ship for a fitting. William’s will be mailed home to him and I will get mine in Bangkok. This should be interesting. Stay posted.Love and kisses
ME
Suits in Hong Kong and picked up in Bangkok? Nice! You can also get them made VERY well and cheap in Bangkok, I know a guy, that has a friend - the alley is not too dark. Follow me...
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