Vung Tau Part 2 - Feed the Pilgrims

I know I said I'd be back the next day but then I got tired and lazy and haven't felt like turning on the lappy. Then I got myself a little (actually, not so little) cut on my thumb and that has made doing regular things really tiresome and I've been just coming home and getting into bed with my audiobook. 

But here I am, and here are more pics!

The Vung Tau Parish Church is the oldest Catholic Church in Vung Tau. When we visited they were renovating the interior of the church so we couldn't look around inside.

Since the weather was holding up, and since we were already "modestly" dressed from our morning climb on sacred ground, I suggested we do all the church visitations that day so that we wouldn't have to worry about our outfits the following morning. We took a car to the Our Lady of Bai Dau Shrine on Big Mountain (farther north). (The Jesus Christ statue is on Small Mountain in the south).

Statue of Our Lady: Features a towering 32-meter (104 ft) white statue of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus, completed and inaugurated on December 31, 1994. 

(Walking Paths: Features the 14 Stations of the Cross, a Rosary Way with 20 mystery sculptures, and steep stairs leading up the mountain slopes with panoramic views of the sea - we did NOT attempt this walk.)

The Sailing-Ship Church: The main shrine church, shaped like a sailing ship measuring 46 by 26 meters with a capacity of 1,000 faithful, was completed in July 1995. I did walk up the steps to get to the church to drop our donations into the box but there was Mass going on so I didn't dawdle.

After visiting the Bai Dau Shrine we headed for lunch at Luca Pizza & Italian Restaurant . It was recommended as a "as good as 4Ps if not better" pizza place. But I think we both agree that 4Ps is still our preferred pizza restaurant in Vietnam.

We had a chacuterie board and a 4 cheese pizza. It wasn't bad at all, to be fair.

After lunch we went back to the hotel to get clean again. Then we decided to escape the heat by wandering inside The Robert Taylor Museum Of Worldwide Arms. BIKSS enjoyed this stop quite a fair bit, while I was in awe of the sheer volume of stuff this Robert dude managed to amass.

We went straight to dinner at  Gành Hào Seafood Restaurant which was supposed to be the place to go for breathtaking sunset views. Alas the pissing rain and cloudy skies prevented us from seeing anything.

The food was pretty good tho. We had crab soup, crab spring rolls, and baby lobsters done two ways!

After dinner we walked along the pier and enjoyed the cool - almost COLD - sea breeze. I was glad to have a shawl with me. I wouldn't have guessed it could get that cold.

Since dinner was done and dusted by 730 we decided to spend the rest of the evening getting snacks and food souvenirs from the supermarket. I always love spending time at the local supermart. Vung Tau did not disappoint. There were dried / fried / preserved fish and baby crabs and squid, chips, soup bases, snacky rice cracker things and a whole lot of other interesting things like salmon floss and salted egg yolk chilli paste!

And that was the end of day 2. But now I've hit my thumb on the keyboard and it's hurting. I'm going to stop for now and come back with more when I have the energy!

Vung Tau Part 1 - Stingray Hotpot, Sunrise, and Statue Climb

ARE YOU READY FOR THE PHOTO DUMP?

Flying into HCMC. The flight wasn't full so the window seat in our row was vacant. I scooted over to take photos of our descent. Usually we're on the aisle and centre and there's someone in the window, so I don't get a chance to take photos as we land / take off.

We were picked up by our limo-van, and began a long 4 hour ride to Vung Tau. Thankfully there were vibrating massage seats in the van. It was raining, and we were travelling during peak hour. Still, it was pretty comfy and it didn't feel that long. We stopped once along the way for drinks and loo break.

After checking in, we left the staff to bring our luggage up to the room while we went around the corner for dinner - at 10pm! Stingray hot pot is a specialty of Vung Tau. It wasn't objectionable, but I don't think I'll go looking for it again. BIKSS is with me on this.

After we had dinner we headed to this bakery to pick up a local dessert - highly recommended by the powers that be... aka the internet people. It's called - bông lan trứng muối and this version comes in a sharing portion; we had the one with 4 different toppings and salted egg yolk crumbs sprinkled over the top. It was interesting. There's some pork floss between the cake and toppings. It comes in various flavours.

Honestly, it was unusual, but not something I was dying to have again.

On the way back to the hotel we spotted the lighthouse beams... and BIKSS explained to me how each lighthouse has it's own pattern. I never knew that. 

And finally we got back to the hotel room - lovely and spacious. We got twin beds cos it was $60 cheaper than the king room. That's $180 extra right there. He pushed the beds together and we were quite satisfied. In fact, I prefer this arrangement cos we didn't have to fight over the blanket throughout the night. I might consider this option from now on. I daresay it afforded us (ok, me, at least) a better night's sleep.

A smoking balcony with sea view. We sat here quite a fair bit over the 3 days. It was peaceful and quiet (there was very little traffic despite being next to the main road) and we found ourselves chatting for long stretches, or else just being together while being busy with our phones. (Work stuff, games, posting photos on FB / IG...)

The night view from the balcony

The fridge has a glass panel in the front, and when you open it a cool blue light appears. I was thrilled.

The next morning we woke up at 4 to go see the sunrise. This is the sky at 5am (I was surprised by how bright it was!) as we waited in front of our hotel for our ride.

We were both very surprised that there were so many people, some already swimming, at this hour of the morning. We, on the other hand, were in dire need of some coffee.

The weather forecast said it was going to be rainy and there was a flash flood warning on both the days we were planning to do our outdoor sightseeing. But thankfully the rains were short, and the winds were strong and the clouds were quickly blown away. I do believe this was our very first sunrise together.

After that we headed off to look for breakfast, and had a chance to try their famous squid noodle soup. It was warm and rich and fragrant and perfect for an early morning fuel-up before our climb up Small Mountain to get to the Christ the King statue!

The "bandstand" in front of the Holy Bean cafe, and the first steps on our 1000+ step journey.

45 mins later we reached the top. I ended up being the buffet spread for a bunch of mosquitoes, and BIKSS and I were dripping sweat non stop by the time we were halfway up. But aside from his knee acting up, neither of us felt particularly winded or exhausted. The air was crisp and even tho' it had definitely begun to heat up, we were lucky to have gotten there first thing at 7am when they opened so that we didn't have to deal with the sun beating down on us full force.  (Yup, that's me on the stairs.)

At the base of the statue they give you a key for a locker and you dump everything in there. Including your shoes. We climbed the inside of the statue in stockinged feet. Yup, that's how narrow the staircase is.

Those ventilation holes let in strong gusts of seabreeze and we took the time to stop at each one to cool off a bit before continuing. 

That's the view of the last 300 steps or so from the top of the statue.

And my photo log of every 100 steps.

Ta-da! The highlight of my day. I stood on the shoulders of Christ. It was pretty emotional.

And with that I shall take my leave to grab some dinner. I'll be back with more tomorrow.

I'm FREE!

I have officially begun my between-job RnR and will be leaving for Vung Tau in a couple of hours. 

We're going to climb the mountain and the statue - isn't it beautiful?

And then there will be other sights, like the lighthouse, museum etc, but also, since it's going to be a thanksgiving pilgrimage of sorts for me, I'm also going to squeeze in a visit to the church grounds of the Our Lady Shrine, though I won't be attempting the climb up this mountain. One is enough, methinks. 

Of course there will be tons of seafood cos it's a coastal town... so I'll be eating and photo-logging it. Will share pics when we're back! 

Cheerio!

I HAVE NEWS - and The Sage in Me

I applied for a position at a non-profit and after 3 rounds of interviewing I got the job. 

I've tendered my resignation and have given them half a month's notice (instead of 'with immediate effect') so that I don't have to pay them a month's salary in lieu of notice, no matter how much it would have delighted me to just WALK OUT OF THERE. A girl's gotta think of her bank account balance after all. 

My last day is on the 22nd of Sept, and then I'm planning a short getaway with BIKSS for a bit of proper R n R before starting my new position on the 1st of October. 

The benefits are pretty standard for the most part, although they do give 4 extra days of statutory annual leave / personal days (compared to the 14 days that most companies offer) - so I get 18 days a year straight off the bat, which is quite substantial for new hires in my part of the world. 

According to our 'official' Employment Act, the statutory minimum annual leave starts at 7 days for the first year of service and increases by 1 day each subsequent year, capping at 14 days by the 8th year. However most mid to higher level professionals start at 14 days and may or may not see their allotment increased year on year. Some companies practise a 1-extra-day-per-2-years-of-employment system. 

So yes, 18 days for a new hire is equivalent to winning the paid leave lottery! 

The other standard (commonly offered but not mandated by law) benefits they offer include not only an additional month's salary at the end of the year (ie. a 13th paycheck) but also bonuses and salary increments annually. There's also medical and hospitalization insurance coverage. So while I won't be making as much (proportionally) as I am now, I think all the perks more than make up for it. 

To celebrate BIKSS took me out to a nice restaurant for dinner tonight. I wore this outfit, and he had a bunch of compliments for me. So, curious, I went ahead and checked what type of feminine archetype it belongs to.... thinking that perhaps he might have a natural gravitation towards that particular one. And maybe I could get some outfit inspo from whichever archetype it ended up matching. I've done a few tests and it turns out I'm The Sage. (Click on the link to read about my archetype!)

Anyway, I plugged that outfit into a google search, and lo and behold, the answer that it threw back at me was, you guessed it, Sage! So I guess without knowing it explicitly, my inner Sage has been making herself known all this while. Sometimes the outward projection of ourselves really does match who we are on the inside! Who woulda guessed. In a way I got a great deal of satisfaction when I realised that the me I am on the inside matches the me I dress as on the outside. Does that make any sense to you? 

So Sages tend to favour clean, minimalist, monochromatic dressing, steering clear of pieces with logos or prints; we are often found in neutral (& earth) tones - greys, blues, blacks, browns (and beiges) and greens; and we definitely cannot handle anything too bright and flashy. We lean towards comfort and simplicity, often preferring a draped flowy outfit over a tight-fitting one. 

Um, yeah. That pretty much sums up my wardrobe. 

I'm also a secondary Queen archetype, altho' it feels like that was more my style when I was younger. Both in spirit and in fashion. Perhaps in my old age I've mellowed into my Sage. 

(If you're interested in STYLE archetypes check the chart below. My wardrobe is largely Elegant Chic, which intersects with my inner Sage style.)

And now its midnight and I should sleep. I'll come back when I have more updates. (And a vacation plan for the end of this month!)

Leave a comment if you took the archetype quiz to let me know what you are! 

The Verdict - and Be Careful How You Step

I'm still up at 3am cos this is week 2 of being homebound. I've been watching movies. And even tho I've been having to wake up at 6am on weekdays for the last 9.5 years to go to work, I'm still a night owl when left to my own devices. 

I have an interview with a school tomorrow, and another on Saturday. I have never wanted a job so badly. I don't know if it's because this is the first time that I've had to change jobs since my parents have been gone, and therefore I feel as though I've lost some kind of emotional safety net (altho to be honest I doubt they've been 'present' for a while even when they were still alive...), or whether it's because it's been a while since I've wanted to leave a job becuase it was causing me real anxiety/depression. 

There's a thing called anxiety-induced shakes - 

An anxiety-induced shake is an involuntary trembling or quivering of the muscles. It happens when stress triggers a rush of adrenaline and cortisol through your body. This "fight-or-flight" response primes your muscles for quick physical action, which can show up as shaking hands or internal vibrations.

Why It Happens-

Adrenaline Surge: Stress hormones flood your system to give you fast energy.
Muscle Tension: Muscles tighten up to get ready to run or fight, leading to tremors.
Nervous System Overload: Your sympathetic nervous system stays on high alert.

And that's how I know if I don't get out fast I'm going to be headed for my 4th episode - and I definitely do NOT want that. 

I've talked to my boss. He's no help. 

The good thing is that I've been to see my physiotherapist who was shocked that I was expected back at work this coming Monday. He was very adamant about NOT commuting on the bus because he's convinced it's going to aggravate the tear and then I'd be in even worse shape than I'm in now. 

So he sent me off with a note. I've told the boss that I'm not coming in NEXT week as well. 

He asked if I have enough medical leave to cover so many days off work. (Which I am not pleased about because my gawd I took ZERO sick days the last 2 years and can't he just make an exception? FFS, if anyone can tell Human Resources to overlook the ONE extra day I'll need, HE can!)

Anyway, I told him I'll just take that last day as unpaid leave. But that really does tell me after all this time, no matter how he's always said he needs me around (he's teased me multiple times - "don't leeeeave me!") when push comes to shove, I'm just a number on their corporate spreadsheet. 

But this also means whatever trace amount of guilt I felt at having to take a third week off work is now completely obliterated. 

He texted me to update me about the replacement staff who would be coming in to cover my shifts, she's been there last week and this week, and he asked if I'd already informed her about next week. I said no, but since he would be seeing her at work today, he can just tell her. So his update to me this evening was that she'd be ok to cover next week's shifts, but "she looked disappointed that she had to work another week". 

What did he expect me to say to that? Whatever it was, it wasn't happening. I sent him back a "K". 

1) She could have said no. 
2) If they need to find someone else that's their problem not mine. They'll just have to arrange for someone from the main branch to come over. 
3) I'm not coming back to work against medical advice just because she's not keen on taking on another week of adjunct work. 

And I'm not going to feel bad about any of this because it's not on me. 

Oh, and the verdict - 

It definitely IS a tear in the gastrocnemius muscle - likely a 50-60% (grade 2) tear in the belly of the medial head, unlikely to be the myotendinous junction, thank goodness, and the Achilles tendon itself is unaffected. There was some greenish / yellowish bruising along the medial tibial region, and medial malleolus -aka inner ankle bone. It wasn't there in the beginning and really only started showing up 2 days ago. This dependent ecchymosis seems to be a good thing, as the colour indicates that it's in the healing phase. 

Here's the explanation according to google's AI assistant : 

The Greenish Colour: This is a great sign that your body is actively healing. When blood pools under the skin, it starts out dark red or purple. After a few days, your body's immune cells break down the dead red blood cells (specifically the hemoglobin). This chemical breakdown changes the color to biliverdin (which looks green) and hemosiderin (which looks yellow or brown).

How It Works (The Gravity Effect): When you experience a significant internal injury—such as your 50-60% medial gastrocnemius tear—a substantial amount of bleeding occurs deep inside the muscle. Instead of rising straight up to the skin at the calf, the liquid blood follows the path of least resistance. Driven by gravity, it seeps downward through the spaces between muscles and connective tissues (fascial planes). It only becomes visible as a bruise once it settles close to the skin surface in a lower, "dependent" area—in your case, along the inner side of your shin bone and eventually down toward your ankle.

 

And so I have bought myself (or my torn calf muscle has) some time to get down to the business of finding a job. As soon as I get a positive response from one of the places I've applied to, I'm gonna get on the phone with HR and tell them I'm not coming back to work and "due to medical reasons" will be submitting my resignation with immediate notice. I'm likely going to have to pay them some money in lieu of the notice period, but with the leg the way it is, and my physio banning me from using any steps / ladders / stools and/or tiptoeing for the next 2 months, how am I supposed to be any use at work when that's an integral part of my day to day anyway? 

Bah, I just want this whole thing to be settled one way or the other. I really dislike having things up in the air. 

It is likely I tore my muscle climbing up because my heel was OFF the stool. So all the weight was on the ball of my foot, the ankle had space to flex, and the knee was straightened as I reached up and lifted the other leg off the floor. Those of you who climb the stairs with only the balls of your feet making contact... PLEASE take note of your knee position - keep 'em bent if you have to. Cos I know not all steps are made deep enough for us big-footed persons!