Monday 4th march

Monday 4^th March

Another beautiful but busy weekend…

Saturday I spent several hours on a self-imposed MasterChef challenge… I had offered to make blinis for the wedding we were attending at 3.30.  I started at 11 and told Pete I would have the task done and dusted by 2.00.  And at 1.19 there I was, rushing around the kitchen bench like a mad thing; I could hear George Columbaris counting down…so I stepped back and there they were, 150 cheese/salmon/caper blinis, all arranged on white trays ready to GO.

And the wedding itself?  Beautiful.. A very happy beautiful bride, Alisha, and a proud and handsome groom, Nic.  And – bonus for me – my very own Michael, here very fleetingly and all togged up as Best Man.  There were in fact two Best men – both Michael and Brett Clewes shared this role.  Brett, Nic and Alisha and many of the wedding guests were in the police force.  Very impressive they were too, our boys and girls in blue.

Pete and I had a lovely time.  Lots and LOTS of food - five separate and glorious desserts – so difficult to choose just one…and lots of new people to meet and chat to.  And for me, the great delight of spending so many hours with my very happy Michael, so very much looking forward to May when he is  going to… Kandahar…

Cat Ba Island/ Binh Bao Bay - 2008

Cat Ba Island was just beautiful.  We had a quick look at the main little town, full of lurid little stalls selling nothing anyone would ever want.  We only stopped in the main drag for a few minutes, and then went three kilometres across a hill to Binh Bao Bay, where we were to meet Ben’s friend, Vinh.  Vinh is an eccentric and enthusiastic young bloke.  He has his own junk, and was taking a film crew out to a remote island, Co To, famed for its beauty.  The plan was for us to go with them, on a second junk, and to return with him because some of his passengers wouldn’t be staying the full five days.  He told us cheerily that we weren’t actually allowed to go on to Co To but that he knew “a way around” this problem.  Hmmm…  He had found lodging for the four of us in a very pleasant guesthouse overlooking the beautiful bay, so we downed our bags, and hailed some motorbikes to go back to Cat Ba - I needed sunglasses and a hat.  (I lost many pairs of sunglasses on this trip...)  We found a small shop which sold fake Ray-Bans, and a stall with straw hats, so my needs were met.  I just loved riding on the back of the motorbike.  It only cost about 80 cents to go across from Cat Ba to Binh Bao or back, and it was an exhilarating little trip.  Helmets are compulsory in Vietnam, but the ones I had to wear never fitted, or didn’t do up properly, so I had to hold my hand on top of my head to keep from being strangled.  Very safe…but never mind!