Oh what a night
Friday, September 28th, 2007Erik my colleague invited me to join a wine tasting affair at one of the luxury resorts here in Hoian named The Nam Hai (http://www.thenamhai.com/).
A beautiful property and very new, about a year old.
It
was luxury resort which you can tell by just by look at it . Nice
clean lines, contrasting light usage and massive infinity pools that
seem to never end. Golf Carts for all the guest . You can see from the
pictures that it indeed exudes class.
The wine company presented some of the best wines made in New Zealand and pulled all stops for this event.
They
showcase their finest Pinot Noirs, Rieslings (one of the best whites I
have tasted from New Zealand) their sparkling wines and their reserve
collections was also presented.
It was an excellent showcase of wines from New Zealand.
The
winery was family owned and still processed the wines the old fashion
way by hand . Yet funny thing is that they have changed from using
corks to screw tops for their wines a trend that seemed to be happening
for the wine industry but something I would not expect from a family
run winery who markets themselves as a traditional winery.
Top-notch wine was complement by even more by top-notch food. They had
Foie gras
Fresh Tasmanian Oysters
Roasted Wagyu Beef
Duck Breast with Thyme Infused Honey and Balsamic Pan Sauce
New Zealand Lamb loin
Cheese -cheddar, gouda , ricotta, brie, bleu,
Fresh baked breads and assorted other salads
It was an epicurean delight, it was one of the best wine tasting affairs I had the pleasure of attending.
They
had a wonderful pianist/singer to complement the night. My colleagues
were on the bet that she was a Filipina. So after her rounds and
approached her and said “Kamusta ka?” She was surprised by my greeting
and she said she happy to see another Filipino.
During our talk, I was surprise that all of the bands playing in Danang and Hoian are Filipinos……Ok not that surprise .
She
has been playing for the resort for over 6 months and is being billeted
in one of the villas in Nam Hi Resort with a rack rate of $650 USD. Not
bad… plus she gets to order food from the F&B outlets.
She said that Filipinos in Vietnam are highly respected.
Hmmmm
maybe that is why my staff has been egging me to go Karaoke nights with
them. It seems that they have this impression that all Filipinos are
excellent singers. Too bad when God was giving singing talents to
Filipinos . I was sleeping under a rock or something.
I got to
meet the local GMs of the other resorts they were French , Malaysian
, Scottish Australian and then I got my 2nd surprise of the day I met
a Filipino GM.
He is the GM for the 1st 5 star resort in the
area. He has been there for almost 7 years in Vietnam. We even found
out that we had the same acquaintances in Saipan where he also used to
work like me. It is indeed a small world.
We got to talk in Filipino for a brief moment since he had to go back to his property . He invited me to visit him when I can.
The night was winding down after a full and satisfied tummy complemented by 8 glasses of very good wines.
We bid thanks to our host.
Erick then invited us to pass by another resort to have one more round .Hmmm the night has not ended.
So off we go ,Erik seemed to be a regular there since he was greeted by his 1st name .
We
went to the bar, order some drinks, and started listening to the
Filipino Band. After a while we started to play some pool , the band
then finished one of it’s sets and like any good band went to mingle
with the guest.
The male vocalist approached and started to greet us in English .
I then said “Kamusta kayo”
He then looked at me a said” Oh sir you know Filipino?”
I replied smiling “ Oo naman Filipino ako eh”
Then we started laughing and started talking
Again,
in the course of our talk I find out that his friend was one of the
General Manager in the Hotel that I opened in Manila after I left .
Wow, this world is really getting very small.
Anyways the GM who
was a Filipino then joined us. Again, we were talking shoptalk and
Vietnam in general. It seems he was the 1st to bring Filipino bands in
the area and then started to get some more Filipinos to his management
staff.
So, he then left after an hour of talk .
Erik , Tan and me continued by play darts.
Soon we called a night finally .
Now
a funny thing happened We were waiting at the lobby for a taxi when a
black Toyota Camry stop in front of us and asked us where were we
heading to?
I immediately recognized it to be the GM of the
hotel. Nevertheless, Erik ,who I think he had to many glasses (12
glasses of wine and a couple of Heineken ) started to barter with him.
I had to stop myself from laughing . He thought it was driver moonlight as a taxi.
It was a hoot, anyways he came back to his senses and recognized the GM.
We were all laughing on our way to hotel.
Oh what a night ….
PS
it seems the present IP I using is having problems gaining access to
Multiply so I am forced to mask my ip which makes it a bit slower. If
you try to trace me you will find out I am in Germany heheheh
