HABEMUS DOMUM!

Well, sometimes a fondness for watching Premier League football leads to unexpected dividends. While idly watching Liverpool destroy Fulham on Lao National Television (thanks to their recent agreement with the licensing authorities), I was also keeping an eye on Chelsea’s progress via the Guardian’s Matchday coverage when a little icon told me there had been a posting on the Vientiane Buy and Sell page on Facebook. And there it was (I shall reproduce it in its original form):

 (Alfred: Oh no, you won't! Cortney is a proud respector of the Buy & Sell in Vientiane Facebook page guidelines and deleted the ad once she had secured a tenant! Old Ruairí is slowing down. Must be the heat. Not his age, of course, 53 isn't OLD!)

 Anyway, Cortney posted that she was moving and her small 2-bed Laotian house was available to sublet and I got in first and we went to see it the next morning and we are going to take it on a temporary basis, month-to-month, to see if it will work for us. The pros are:

• We both like it
• It is in a good area (though a little nearer the centre would have been better (Alfred: Come on, you both knew you were being a little unrealistic on that score)
• It is all wood and tiles!
• Easy to maintain
• Comes with two kittens free of charge
• Costs the incredible price of $300 per month
• Is being sublet to us by a charming Texan teacher who is being incredibly helpful with every aspect of the business (Alfred: Her time spent with the Mongolian nomadic tribe means Vientiane is probably relatively straightforward)

Cons:

• No separate garden
• No balcony
• Very hemmed in with neighbours
• Limited privacy
• Suicidal staircase (Alfred: Don’t exaggerate! You just need to be … careful, especially coming down).

 Since the above was written we have been back again and are liking it more and more, with ideas for screens and plants, moving the furniture around, painting a bit and so on. Cortney has been an angel - she has left us a huge amount of crockery, bedclothes, a really good bicycle, and - most important of all - knows all the key-but-hard-to-find-out stuff, like how do you pay electricity, what do you do about garbage, where are the best shops and so on. We move in tomorrow afternoon!! (Alfred: It being Tuesday breakfast as he types this hoping to finish before the internet connection gives out, the only issue we have had with the Vientiane Garden Hotel.)

 

 

(Alfred: The first two photos speak for themselves but the third .... is Ruairí lactating? I know acquiring two kittens can inspire a maternal instinct in even the manliest of bosoms (to coin a phrase) but this would be taking it a bit far. Ruairí maintains it is just sweat and one might be tempted to accept that explanation - especially on a day where the temperatures were around 33 degrees and the two of them were walking a lot - if it were not for the unusual location. Why no sweatrings around the armpits? Around the somewhat diminished but still significantly observable middle section? So, something to keep an eye on, eh?)

SENGDARA FITNESS CENTER/CENTRE

Our house is just behind the expat Mecca otherwise known as the Sengdara Fitness Centre. Almost every single real estate ad gave a location in terms of distance either from here or VIS (Vientiane International School). It is actually not bad at all - annual membership 2m kip (200 euro) with everything a gym offers - pool, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, machines, cafe and so on. Cycling may turn out to be all the exercise I need but I do like a routine so I might give it a go. They do sell a range of 'healthy products' as well - maybe I will give the 'salmon ovary protein preparation' a go next time.

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FOOD

(Alfred: Those of you who know Ruairí even casually may have wondered at the relatively small amount of space allocated so far to the topic of food. Anyone who followed his January trip on Facebook was bombarded with photos of pretty much every single meal he ate! So this time, I had a word in his shell-like and he eased off and said he would leave it to me to handle this aspect of things.

So, initially it was a frantic sampling of all the favourite – and some new – Lao dishes, mostly in ordinary streetside restaurants: grilled fish, fiery hot papaya salads, larb, noodle soups and so on. Then, two nights ago, a truly exotic experience – a Belgian restaurant where they feasted on pork fillet au poivre and … a hamburger!! Last night was Ray’s Grill where Martine for the first ever sampled (via a piece stolen sampled from Ruairí’s plate) a Philadelphia Cheesesteak. So impressed – and I mean IMPRESSED – was she with this culinary ambrosia that they promptly went back there again tonight so she could have her very own Philly Cheesesteak. The owner, Daniel, is from Seattle and imports his beef from Australia and, I have to say (if I can believe Ruairí) that both the burgers and the Cheesesteak were amazing!

Ruairí’s main concern at the moment is sourcing what he needs to let flow his culinary arts in the shape of gas rings, woks and whatnot. Very much a work in progress, watch this space.)