My friends and I decided a couple of weeks ago that every Sunday we are going to go somewhere as a team to do something a bit out of the ordinary just to mix things up a bit. Sure we all live at the beach or near it and our lives probably seem pretty exotic already but honestly, we are all a bit guilty of falling into a rut of sorts and just doing the same old stuff week in, and week out.
So Sunday has become our new thing where someone comes up with a location or at the minimum an interesting restaurant that we all travel to as a team. This week we went somewhere that is considerably more exotic than just a fancy restaurant and unbeknownst to me, this is something that is very popular with the locals as well.
We reserved a table for 12 at an over-water restaurant that specializes in seafood. We had to give them specific instructions about how much beer we need and how although all the locals do it, we are NOT ok with being given glasses of ice and room-temperature beer. This had to be specially arranged for us and they were happy to comply with such a large table. We were paying for it after all.
There are little bungalows with tables in them going all up and down the beach and before we came here I was under the impression that this was going to be a quaint environment that was silent and away from the crowds. When the parking attendants met us at the street with a sense of urgency I could already tell that this was not going to be the case even before we made it to our table.
I was a bit of a scary descent to the restaurant and this is not a place you would want to bring grandma. They do not really try to accommodate anyone with mobility problems in this country so you have to be a bit prepared to go up and down several hundred steps to get to your table.
I wish I could say that this was a great time but because there were so many people at this place, it wasn't the peaceful setting that I was hoping for. At first the banana boats and the jetskis were interesting but after about an hour it started to become a bit annoying. The noise level was just off the chain.
The worst part wasn't this though because you only had to listen to the engines for the first 4 seconds or so and then they would be too far away to even notice they were there. The worst part of this entire experience was something that is pretty omnipresent in Vietnam and the country seems to be split on whether or not they find it annoying.
There was a karaoke session going on somewhere nearby our scenic location and the people who were participating had that bad boy cranked up to the maximum volume. Between the intense reverb and echo on the microphone setting and the fact that nobody who was participating had any sort of vocal abilities at all kind of ruined the atmosphere. I find it almost impossible to enjoy myself when there is this level of noise pollution going on nearby and i don't understand how it is not only tolerated, but some people seem to think that this is an appropriate thing to have at an off-the-beaten-track beach location like this one. My ears hurt by the time we finally left.
So not every Sunday outing is going to be a roaring success I guess. This week was not only a lot more expensive than we would normally spend on a Sunday, but our ears hurt by the time we left and we had something crazy like 40 beers that weren't drank because everyone wanted to get out of there in order to escape the noise.
I'm still glad I went though and perhaps I would return if we go on a weekday but then again, there is always the chance that the karaoke is going to be happening then as well. God I hate karaoke. :)