December 5,

We awoke and took in our views from the 13th floor balcony. We definitely have a sea view. The beach is like – 2500 feet away(?). The building we are in is the tallest building to the sea, so nothing obscures our view. Well, nothing but the weather. It is very overcast and drizzly rainy. We know there is sun because it is light, but we have not really seen the sun shining for some time now. 🙁 Our balcony is 'L' shaped and there is also a plaza-park like structure to the other side. It would be nice to walk along this area, when weather allows.

Anyway, we went back in and had our Javas and breakfast of Muesli, yogurt, and two small country sausages Jeff had found. Then we went back out on the balcony to see if it was raining or not. It was not, so we went to explore. First we checked out our place. This complex is somhow tied in with Wyndam(?). We went to the roof – 28th floor. The pool and gym are here. There are actually closed now. Opening hours posted are 0600-1100 (it's 1115, so just missed it) and again at 1500-2000. That's a new schedule – for us anyway. We did see the pool is an infinity pool. But it is very windy – so much so the wind is creating “waves” in it! It does not seem that it would be pleasant out there. There is also a sky bar up here, but it is closed off and we can't see inside it. We left and took the elevator to the fifth floor – the restaurant. It is advertising a Romantic Dinner option – we may check out for supper tonight.

Now we head out – and of course it was raining! We used our umbrella and went to the close by mall. This is where the ATM is that Jeff went to last night. We went in and check out a couple of clothes places for replacement shirts for me. No luck. We went to the grocery store and found a couple of cheap mugs and a spatula – we paid a dollar and sixty cents for the lot. We left the mall and checked out a “gourmet” shopping store, but it was more a souvenir shop. So we went back to the grocery in the mall and bought some bread, laughing cow cheese, and garlic sausage slices. Now we went back to our place without rain this time. But the sky looks the same, so it's hard to tell when it be raining without actually being out in it.

Lunch was light an apple with some of the stuff we just bought. Afternoon was just hanging out in the apartment as evening rolled in.

At six we went down to the restaurant to check on the Romantic Dinner. It was available. Yeah!! We saw the menu, a four course meal, and chose it. Since the foods were so varied we went with individual drinks. Jeff had a Pina Colada and I had a Long Island Tea. Our first course, Appetizer, was a Caesar Salad with an over easy egg and three roasted shrimp. Great start, as the shrimp were just crispy – tasty with the egg yolk to give creaminess. Next course, Soup, was a Seafood Cream Soup. Very good – so creamy and smooth, like a chowder soup with bits of seafood, potatoes, and maybe tomatoes. Next course, the Main, was Pan-fried Australian Beef with a Black Pepper Sauce and sides of mashed potato & veggies. This was super fine. The Beef was shaped as a tenderloin cut and wrapped in bacon. It was a bit tougher than a tenderloin, but it was medium rare and excellent with the sauce. The mashed potato was shaped like a small potato- at first we thought it was a bread roll – and it was very earthy tasting. The veggies – carrot, broccoli, tomato, and corn cob wedge – were sauteed al dente and had a nondescript sauce. Then the last course, Dessert, was a chocolate, heart-shaped, decorated mousse with 'love' spelled out in sauce. It was presented well and good tasting too. This definitely made it another “date night”. Overall, we enjoyed our meal very much! The ambience was great & quiet as we almost had the whole restaurant to ourselves – another customer came as we were having our dessert. The total meal was 1,165,000 Dong – that is including a service charge(haven't seen that in a while) and VAT. Anyway, Jeff gave 1.2 million Dong which is $47.29. After dinner, we went back to our room to retire for the evening. The date meal was a good end to the day.