Our friend Mary Katherine O’Brien came to visit and spend St. Patrick’s Day with us earlier this month. She figured Hanoi could use a real Irishman in town for the holiday and brought shamrocks to paint the town green.
We went to the one and only Irish bar in Hanoi and celebrated by drinking stout. The place was mobbed. It was crowded by every ex-pat living within a 40km radius. Bina and MK really got into the spirit and danced Irish jigs in the bar and were regaled with compliments on their authenticity. Little did anyone know it was the stout that knew the dance better than the girls. But when asked what part of Ireland they were from, they either made up a name or just said “Boston!” Which didn’t get all that much credit. But still, people from Ireland will drink with you on St. Patrick’s Day regardless of where you’re from.
The next day was my Birthday so we started celebrating that too. After we got home Bina and MK performed an impromptu lip-sync rendition of Guns and Roses “Paradise City”. Bina makes a great Axel and MK improvised Slash by wearing a bicycle helmet and calling herself “Crash”. ... It was the early 90’s all over again!
The next day Bina brought home several balloons that made the apartment feel serene and a bit surreal. Like Warhol’s Factory in a hangover haze. It’s always been strange having a Birthday the day after St. Pats. (Drunk at midnight, hangover during the day.) You’d think I’ve had enough negative connotations with it to never want to do anything on my B-Day. And mostly that’s true, but it also means I'm always very relaxed and completely unambitious on my B-Day and that makes getting older a little easier.
We also spent a couple of days on Cat Ba while MK was in town. It was good to “Rock the Cat Ba” as Julianne would say.
Here’s a picture of explorers Louise and Clarketta capturing the scenery.
MK on a motorbike:
Mary Katherine is originally from Maine but is currently living in Texas (Well, Austin, which is technically Texas, but not as scary.) so we figured it was appropriate to take her to the 17 Saloon, a bar in Hanoi that imitates an old western saloon. The Vietnamese who work there are all dressed up in cowboy outfits and the band plays country western music for most of their set. Of course every now and then they have a couple of guest singers join them on stage for karaoke-like versions of popular MTV hits. 17 Saloon is one of the strangest places in Hanoi. It’s bright, loud, and completely obsessed with the American west. There’s even a sheriff strutting around inside that actually looks like he could kick some ass in a bar fight. But I guess you shouldn’t dress like a sheriff unless you could!
2 comments:
Ah Cat Ba--we used to go there on field trips back when there was literally nothing there, haha. I've heard a lot about the 17 place but have never been myself; sounds fun!
hi Andy,
you should keep updating your blog... even though your out of vietnam... the vietnam is still in you!
anyway, you can report on other things, like if lou reed is still cool or if jason gave you enough drugs to forget what you were talking about.
Post a Comment