Hahn Thong Tay, the Night Market

Holding up the tarp in the rain (above)

Trinh Trinh, our favorite restaurant,
after the rainy expedition:

The Coach bag


Hahn Thong Tay, the Night Market June 30, 2010 NIGHT
Nguyen Thi Minh Thu is Nguyen’s cousin’s complete name. The first two names together sound like Win Dee. I’ve started calling her Windy, and I sang her that song, “Everyone knows it’s Windy.” (Remember that one? 1950’s or early 60’s, I think?
Tonight, she came to get us at 6:30. I expected a knock on my door, so we were waiting patiently in the room. At 6:39, she called from the hotel desk; she had been waiting downstairs! Ha ha, another thing for me to learn!!  Anyway, we started walking to the market, stopping at a bakery that sells Bong Bau, a kind of Chinese stuffed meat bun. 50 cents each, and a whole meal. And it began to thunder. Lightening flashed across the sky, across the whole city. The thunder roared directly above us. And then it started to POUR.
And so, our adventure began.
It was about a 20 minute walk to the market, in the rain, in the dark, with the traffic swarming and screaming past us. Yes, we crossed streets. We crossed a street that I had sworn, just last week, that we would never, ever cross—in the daylight! Tonight, we crossed it in the dark. In the rain. It was very exciting.
I wouldn’t have traded the adventure for anything. The market was GREAT! Shoes everywhere. Jewelry at every turn. Bags, bags, bags. And more. Anthony bought some necklaces. I bought a pair of shoes for about $3.50. I bought a coach carry-on for around $10. What a score!!! And the rain came down in sheets around us, and the lightening flashed, and the thunder roared, and I wondered every once in a while how we would get home. Nguyen did all of our bargaining for us. It was great. I’m sure that the prices would have been higher without her there. She should be proud of her skills!!!

Anthony was finally ready for dinner after that, so we went back to Trinh Trinh for him to eat. Nguyen Thi and I had Heinekens. It was fair. Then, home and shower and bed!!! What a great adventure!!