Day One In Da Nang

Boarded the plane in the afternoon and transited at Siem Reap. Had a USD3 can of 7-Up while waiting to re-board the plane, and was just daydreaming when suddenly I hear this woman shouting in my direction. "Hurry up, woman!" she shouts as I hurriedly grab my bags and rush to the gate. Lol.

Finally landed in Da Nang and the view while the plane was descending was just simply amazing. The sun was an orange-y golden glow, illuminating the mountains and the reflection was just lighting up the lake/river/body of water. I was mesmerized.

Got to the immigration counter and could see my cousins waiting for me. Waved to them as I took my place in the queue and when I was finally out there were lots of hugs around. The plan for the evening was simple- check me in to the hotel (the aircon in the spare room at my cousin's place wasn't working), dinner, a walk along the beach, drinks at a bar.

I think I know why the Vietnamese are such tiny people. We had a seafood dinner and ordered shrimps (ordered this wrongly and got tiny prawns that were cooked in salt. Lots and lots of salt.), prawns (we re-ordered the prawns that were the size we wanted and cooked the way we liked), fish, and a hotpot which had more prawns, crab, squid and a tonne of veg.

Seriously. The pile of mixed vegetables that came with the hot pot was HUGE. And when Thanh (my cousin's assistant, our very own guide to Da Nang) found out that I liked kang kong (dammit I forgot the Vietnamese name for it. Mui ree or something hahahaha), he ordered more and another huge pile of kang kong came.

Walked by the beach after dinner. Apparently the beach spans 30 something km, and dotted all over were little stalls that had tables and chairs laid out where people could sit down and have a drink or two. Very chill. The sand was powdery soft and the sea seemed to go on forever (unlike in Singapore where you can see the ships anchored. Yawn.). The moon was almost full and it shone so brightly in the night sky.

Very nice.

Finally made our way to this bar called the Seventeen Saloon. There was a fantastic Filipino band that was performing there- and I was so happy during their second set when they started playing Guns N' Roses and Queen. (Oh-oh-oh sweet child of mine!!! Yes yes, I know. Have to let my inner mina out once in a while. Lol.) Had a couple of drinks there and then made our way back when the bar closed for the evening.

The best part of the trip so far has to be our mode of transportation. Motorbike! It's really quite fun to sit on one, just don't let my dad find out that's what I've been doing. Lol.

Alright, time to go to sleep. The plan for tomorrow is to go to the Marble Mountain. Sweet!