Saturday Roller Disco

Yesterday Tarn convinced us that our Saigon experience would not be complete without visiting Saigon's roller disco on a Saturday afternoon.

I'm thinking it woud have been a fine experience without it.

But it was funky and classic (Katherine saw this photo op first - so vintage with the old skates and the fan). There was a flat surface in the middle and a pretty scary rolling hills section around the perimeter. The disco lights were flashing, but they played house music instead of disco, what a shame. I wonder how many roller disco skating rinks like this are left in the world?

Shannon (as you know if you have been following) loves loves loves to dress up. She had the beaver costume made by the seamstress, she has a ton of costumes at home, and a few weeks ago when she and Katherine were invited to a party with the theme "Dress up as what you miss from home" - Shannon dressed up as a Sink and Katherine was Tap Water.

So last weekend when Shannon, Tarn and Katherine were riding their bikes through Chinatown and Shannon found this mask, she was thrilled. She wore it while riding her bike, she wore it all over the carnival they found that day, and she brought it to roller disco yesterday.

She was a hit with all of the kids at the rink (no one over 12 there) and at one point went into the middle when the strobe lights were going and she danced on the little platform. A bunch of 12-year olds joined her.

Later, as we were walking down a random street, we saw this picture of Audrey, so I made Alice pose for all of you, since I was just talking about her yesterday.

A few random things:

Edge sent me a text yesterday and told me that he has "rented an island" - a private island on the chain of islands called Palawan. He and a bunch of his friends (I think the ones who are making the music video). I asked Alice, "Can Edge rent an island?" She looked at me and said, "Of course he can."

Here is the Lonely Planet's description of Palawan: "Palawan is one of the real treasures of the Philippines. Stretching from the Midoro Straight down to the tip of Borneo, it is a magnificent, coral-fringed range of jungle-clad mountainous islands jutting up dramatically from the Sulu Sea...it is a place of world-class diving, snorkeling and jungle trekking... we consider Palawan to be one of the most rewarding outdoor sports destinations in all of Southeast Asia."

And I never mentioned meeting The Evergreen School from Seattle. I got to stand outside to greet them, and it was pretty fun seeing these American kids walking up the steps, lots of them wearing REI clothes and shirts that said "Seattle." I didn't get to spend much time with them, but one of the teachers explained to me that all 34 kids spent the whole year studying Viet Nam... reading books about it and studying the history of this one country. I asked a few of them about the heat and they said they felt as though they were "wearing it" - which is a very good description. They seemed like a really good group of kids.

Tonight I am meeting a girl that Pam met while taking the slow boat in Laos- she is coming to see the castle (she also read about it on the blog) and to eat at our squid restaurant. Katherine had two separate friends "pass through" last week. Saigon - with its roller disco and modernizing skyline - part of the new major world highway.