The Saigon vortex

I have a pair of linen trousers that I’ve worn so much that they developed a hole in the bum. I sewed it up with the only thread I have. It lasted about 5 minutes. I got a tailor in Sri Lanka to sew it properly. That lasted about a week before I found two new holes. This morning I went to a tailor, chose some linen and left the trousers for the tailor to make me a simplified version. I’ll pick them up on Monday.

There’s only one foreigner I knew when I lived in Saigon who still lives here. Pat arrived by accident in 1997, found a business opportunity and is still here. This afternoon I got a motorbike taxi out to District 2 where his shop is. My first two days in Saigon were sunny; the monsoon rain arrived halfway there. This is Pat’s shop. When I lived here Pat taught me and two other friends how to ride a motorbike and I rode one of his scooters, a 1964 Lambretta, around the city for about 6 months. At that point he didn’t have a shop and kept all his scooters in his living room and kitchen!


After I’d been there about 45 minutes another friend of Pat’s, who is visiting Saigon on a short work trip, arrived with one of his colleagues. Pat offered us all beers and that was it for the day, straight into the Saigon drinking vortex. After a drink in the shop, we went to a bar around the corner where it was happy hour(s), then briefly to Pat’s house before getting a taxi to District 1 and going to another bar. A bit after midnight they were moving on to another bar and I decided not to go. I couldn’t keep up all those years ago and I definitely can’t keep up now!