April 11th, 2010 Last Day in Nha Trang

7:30AM I mentioned that the couple were going to move downstairs. Richard denies it and asks me to move out. At this point, I did not care anymore. Obviously he wanted me out because I was not taking his course.

Same drill: I am off to the last three dives. I kept a shell at 10 meters, which is the deepest I dove during the first dive. I had some quarrel with the other German instructor, who now wants a tip for the contact lenses he gave me. I refused to give into this scoundrel. Thanh helped me get another pair from him. Thanh is actually his master. Afterward, I asked Thanh if we were going to go down to 18 meters, which is the limit for the open water course. He sensed that I wanted that and down we went. After 6 meters it really was not that difficult to adjust by equalization. What made it harder was how cold it was at 15 meters, about 20 degrees Celsius.



10AM I think I ultimately went down to 17.5 meters and not all the way down to 18 meters. But I knew I could have done it. After that, we did one more dive and went back. I did meet a group of 4, which includes a couple, from 廣西. They spoke Vietnamese and said they do not have accents. One guy had a Nikon and took a few photos for me. He was not very good though, blowing out quite a few on the way.

12PM I finished my last dive, down to 10 meters. I skipped lunch and got my 20,000 VNDs toward dinner. I got into another quarrel with the European instructor, Thomas. He asked me to buy him a beer and I refused. He said I could imagine what he wants to say about me save the ladies in presence. I said likewise and he made some gesturing about my parents working for the Chinese government, which I vehemently denied right away.

1PM I got back to Richard's place and he asked me to move. There was no discussion and I moved right away. It took me about 25 minutes to find a place for 120,000 VNDs but I negotiated a bargain at 105,000 VNDs for an AC room on the sixth floor (which is 301 but really it is the 6th floor). I also met a fellow from Shanghai, who was conversing with a couple also from there, at the Sinh Cafe. He was looking for a place I guided him to the same place I was staying. They charged him 120,000 VNDs and I shut up. I argued to move down to the 201 since I brought them another customer and they finally agreed. I liked this place. It was by far the cleanest hotel room in Vietnam I have been to and it was a steal at just over $5.

3PM I met a girl back at Richard's place. Her name is Pan Xiaomin from Zhejiang. She is staying at Richard's place for free as a CSer and she is taking his course. Well, by then it was obvious to me that Richard kicked me out because I was not taking his class. She had the entire room to herself. O well, it was just one night and it was much more comfortable.

5PM I went back to the hotel. 劉陽 and I walked on the beach until we got to Sheraton. He thought I was good company and we had a hearty meal from 6:30PM until 9:30PM. We shared our respective stories with girls and that was a good bonding time.

A View of the Flag at the Beach
Sheraton


Yang and I

10PM We got back and I asked Pan Xiaomin to join us for a drink. She was not into drinking and also warned us that she did not bring her wallet. She had a juice and we shared a bucket. 劉陽 treated us (85,000 VNDs).