Thursday

I am still slightly drunk. The title for this Update is "How to lose weight, even while eating." Ho Chi Minh City was pretty hot today; and I spent the day walking around outside. By dinnertime, I was spent, sweaty, and wondering if the ever-present smell of Saigon was actually coming from me. I decided to eat at Green Chili, a Viet slash Japanese fusion place a few blocks down our street. Here is what I ordered: mixed vegetables soup (small), eel boiled in steamboat (for one person), and Japanese sake (hot). The sake was the sweet stuff they serve around here, but I'm getting used to it. The soup was wonderful, though redundant, ultimately. It was very hot in the restaurant, but I'd sat myself strategically under a wall-mounted oscillating fan. Here is what a steamboat is: a sombrero-sized stainless hotpot with a wide brim. The brim is where the kitchen balances lotus, basil, and other greens, while chunks of cloven eel float in the hat. The whole thing sits atop a paraffin burner. This was set on fire once the contraption was erected on the table before me. Ironically, the act of lighting a fire on one's table, on a warm night, makes it necessary to turn off the oscillating fan. Fabulous: the boiling eel steam just hovered over me while I gulped down spicy food. Prizefighters should try this: I could feel the pounds trickling down the my back, the backs of my knees, everywhere. I tried to order some ice cold something, anything, but my lack of language skills interfered and I got yet more boiling hot sake. I guess I'm adjusting to the weather here--since this didn't kill me outright--although being twice as drunk as I was expecting probably helped out.* [Cavin]