Ange's 21st + Downpour + Water Puppets = Crazy night!

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Well, Ange's 21st celebrations involved a rather crazy night!
Having taken the afternoon off clinic due to sleep deprivation, and subsequently failing to see Ho Chi Mihn's museum because we arrived 10 minutes after close, we gave in and decided to go to see the Water Puppet show. But we arrived to find that there were no tickets left for the 5.30pm show, so things were going pretty well!
So we booked in for the 8pm show, and headed back to the hotel to get money etc for dinner. Easy distracted, we found ourselves at a bar called...the Pub! And it had $15 cocktail jugs so we couldnt pass by! A jug of Pina Colada and another random jug later, Ange and I went back to the hotel whilst Ali Cath and Claire went to the beer Hanoi corner for 20c beers. As all of this was happening, a massive thunderstorm was rolling towards Hanoi - whilst Ange and I had thrown ponchos in our bags, Claire Ali and Cath were in for a drenching!
The rain started coming down when we met the girls at beer corner. First it was a light sprinkle - but it didnt take long for the heavens to open up! Too late for Claire and the girls to stay dry, we all ran to Little Hanoi, a bar/restaurant not far from the lake where we planned to have Anges birthday dinner. It didnt take Claire Ali and Cath long to decide that they would be better off getting a taxi back to the hotel for a quick change and grab of the rain coats before sitting down for dinner and the puppet show...so whilst I shouted Ange another cocktail, the others departed for dry clothes.
The next half an hour was where the crazy part starts - whilst I wasnt there to witness the following events - the telling of the story afterwards was pretty entertaining! Leaving the hotel with all the staff laughing at them, Claire and the girls re-entered the downpour and wandered down the street in search of a taxi - chasing their thongs as they fell off and started floating down the street in the flooding water! Finally getting a taxi, Claire insisted that the driver follow her directions to the restaurant, which meant taking a route through possibly the most flooded street in Hanoi! Eventually the water rose so high that the taxi could not drive any further, and the girls got out into water that was above knee height - and consequently the taxi filled with water!
Making a hasty departure, the girls waded down the street, with the water reaching up to Claires hips at one point! People were hanging out their 2nd floor windows with cameras pointing and laughing at the girls as they practically swam down the street!
And so when they finally arrived at the restaurant, they were top dry, bottom wet - a slight improvement on when they first left!
With an hour to order and eat dinner before the puppet show, we quickly ordered off the menu, including a nice bottle of champange for Anges birthday - we had the whole restaurant singing Happy Birthday, much to Anges embarrassment!
The rain not easing, we ponchoed up and headed for the water puppet theatre - a slightly random but funny experience - it was a pity we were all a bit drowsy due to the alcoholic lead up!
On the way home we spotted a chocolate sponge cake in a bakery and just couldnt resist - the cutting of the cake and decoration of our hotel room with Anges birthday decorations capped off a rather crazy but memorable 21st!

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Photos

Ange and her cocktail jugs!
At $15 for a jug of 5 cocktails worth, who could resist?

Ali and Claire with the Beer lady!
On Beer Corner were the beers cost 2000d!

The birthday box!
Inside was Anges chocolate sponge cake!

Happy 21st Ange
With thanks to Anges mum Pipa for the birthday decorations, and to the bakery down the road for Anges cake, we celebrated in style!