What Stuff and Squid Costs

Thanks so much to everyone for insightful comments about cross-cultural weight issues. Wow, is it ever confusing.

While I understand it can be "positive" in many cultures, here in Vietnam being heavy is not positive.

(It's positive when Sweet Seamstress gives me the skinny waist hands, though, which she did the other day...)

I did think it was culturally interesting that so many of my friends emailed me to tell me how great I looked in the summer, and how not fat I am. It's so ingrained in us, isn't it?

Anyway, back to this post...this past summer I told a lot of people that it's possible to rent a bungalow on the beach for really cheap...here is a breakdown of what it could cost you (although you can definitely get really, really upscale bungalows for a variety of prices) based on what ten of us did this past weekend in Mui Ne, which is about a five-hour drive from Ho Chi Minh City

The bungalow pictured above, right on the beach = $10 per bed, per person, per night.

A hired driver with a van, shared by 10 people (three Brits, two Austrians and Five Americans (four of those Seattleites!) = $17 each

(A bus ticket to Mui Ne (with recliner sleeping seats), on the other hand, would cost about $8.)

Seared sea bass on top of a bed of mashed cauliflower and potatoes with olive tapenade, sun dried tomato relish and orange reduction sauce with a glass of really nice New Zealand white wine at the Sailing Club (you walk down a torchlit path to a beautiful dining area next to the pool and beach) = $14 (delicious)

Squid with garlic (at the bungalow hotel restaurant) = $3

Squid with cashew nuts = $3

Squid with lemongrass = $3

Grilled squid with spicy = $3

Deep Fried Squids = $3

I ate a lot of squid.

I even ate a lot of deep fried squid because I am so not fat.