Halloween and Bien Hoa Sports Trip

Dressing up for Halloween is a pretty new idea here in Vietnam, but there are enough people doing it that I was able to find a costume store not too far away from our house. Given the recent Twilight fad, vampires seemed like a good idea, so I bought some capes, fake teeth, and a wig for Nikki. I also bought some sweet flashing skull sunglasses, but I'm pretty sure the Cullen family would not have approved. The consulate put on an event for the kids of both US and local employees, and we had great fun seeing all the cute costumes. A fairly elaborate (and frightening!) haunted house was constructed, much to the delight (and terror) of the kids.

Nikki was tired after a long week of work and spent Saturday getting a manicure, taking care of errands, and generally relaxing. Meanwhile, I headed northeast of town with the consulate tennis and soccer teams to play a couple of "friendship games" in the Bien Hoa province. There are some excellent tennis players at the consulate, and we spent the morning playing doubles while the weather constantly shifted from boiling hot to pouring rain. After a tasty lunch of snails, fish fritters, and noodle soup, we headed to the local soccer stadium for a pretty competitive match. Though we didn't win (ahem…we lost 1-4…), it was still fun and I had a good time hanging out with all my soccer/tennis buddies. We got to know the opposing team afterwards over drinks (Chivas shots – man they like the hard stuff here!) and hot pot (local fish called basa = catfish, in some kind of bean concoction).

Speaking of food, Nikki and I continue to find excellent restaurants here. On Friday we hit up "the elbow room," which had delicious California cuisine and live bluesy music. Saturday we tried out one of two Mexican joints in town – Mexico Lindo – and discovered decent margaritas and burritos (disclaimer - I am an extreme burrito snob). We continued the trend on Sunday, hitting up a dim sum place for lunch with a few of Nikki's work colleagues and friends. We are thinking a separate food blog may be in order… The rest of Sunday was occupied by taking care of a few things around town that we have been neglecting – buying a cabinet, picking up some picture frames, and miscellaneous shopping (my favorite!). One highlight was visiting "Metro," Vietnam's answer to Costco. It was remarkably similar to the US - except for the whole roasted pigs and waterfowl on display and a giant live/fresh fish section with crazy species I had never heard of.

On the work side – Nikki's job seems to be going well and sounds very interesting. She is getting to do quite a few side projects, including one that will take us to Hanoi next week. I'm keeping up with my MLPA Initiative stuff in California, just finished a project in the mid-Atlantic (http://marinemap.org/framework), and am just starting a new project regarding aquaculture planning here in Vietnam. We are also ramping up for some travel in the next couple months, with trips to Malaysia, Cambodia, and Indonesia in the hopper. Life is definitely full!