Valentine's Day

On Saturday the 14th we invited our friends to go on a dinner cruise.  We wanted to do something special for them since they help us out so much.  We got to the river in District 1, which remember is the tourist district and it was more crowded than usual.  We did not realize that they celebrate Valentine's day here though we had seen many people selling flowers on the streets.  We arrived around 7 PM and had our choice of three different boats.  I felt like we were on that game show Let's Make A Deal.  My parents were actually on that show and won a washer and dryer.   We decided to try boat #1 since we were there and there was no line.  We should have realized that there was a reason for no line.  We were politely told that they were sold out, they still had unfilled seats but I guess those people were still coming.  Boat # 2 was the same and so we approached boat # 3, I liked it because it had a fish face. It was also a huge boat that  seated 1,000 people.  They still had space so we went up to the top deck and found a table for four.  I love how casual they do things here like coming to our door to collect for the utilities ect. and if we are not home they come the next month and no service charges.   We asked, when do we pay and they said after dinner.  We thought how trusting they are.  Sure enough as they came around collecting from each table for dinner the couple that sat behind us had disappeared without paying.  We were expecting to pay around $100.00 for the evening but when the bill came it was only $50.00 for the four of us.  Where can you get dinner and a cruise for that.   Boat #3 also had a  trio of musicians from the tribal area and they were good.  They also had a girl that had a hula hoop with fire on it and then a stick of fire that she put in her mouth, all done to music.  All the men were up front trying to get a better view and blocking ours when I realized that this girl had on a bikini. Unusual for Vietnam.  Fire and a bikini, hum, how smart is that?  After dinner the cruise took us down the river and around the port.  It lasted a bit long 1 1/2 hours.  My mosquito repellent worked for which I am thankful since my bites turn into welts and last for well over a week, not to mention the itching.  All in all it was a nice Valentine's day.  Our friend's have been dating for several years and have never been able to go out on Valentine's day due to work obligations.  He asked Mark if he usually bought me flowers, Mark's answer was yes,of course, sometimes !!