Sai Gon, October 24, 2001
Oi vey, what a birthday! About two and a half dozen friends gathered on the rooftop patio of the 14th floor of Diamond Plaza Building (Hey New Yorkers, that’s high for Vietnam), complete with bar, grille, swimming pool, and a great view of the city lights. Di 10, the talented hostess and entertainer, prepared marinated beef ribs, fresh shrimp for the grille, roasted chicken (ga roti) with our family recipe for ketchup-garlic-buttered rice, fried calamari, garlic bread, salade nicoise, garden rolls in rice paper, and rice noodles with shredded shrimp. Of course, we had ice cream cake to top off the delectable meal.

Although strictly instructed – no gifts – nobody listened and so I came home with six dozen roses, a basket of orchids, a potted orchid, a bouquet of orchids, a bouquet of extraordinary mixed flowers, a bouquet of carnations, a bottle of gin and a dozen gifts to accompany the flowers (and gin). The weather was perfect for our outdoor barbecue with a nice rooftop breeze – it rained days before my party and again today, and I’m told we were really lucky. We all really enjoyed ourselves - I'll send you pictures if you ask and maybe Souris will post them on her website.

After the party, a group of us went off to a nightclub (with Di 10, of course!) where it was noisy and smoky and at the closing midnight bell, there was actually a P.A. announcement of my birthday and Phu’s, whose birthday is the 24th, and we had a round of champagne. Off to another bar for a short while, and then over to a Pho eatery where the gang had some noodles before the night ended. We all got home around two in the morning, and by the time I went to sleep, it was after three. Needless to say, waking up for work today was not pleasant.