Couchsurfers and Karaoke

Day six in Saigon. My days here have been fairly idle the last week but my nights, not so much. I've gone out with my Couchsurfing host, Natasha, and her friends to different bars, restaurants and other events. My third night here we went to Ben Thanh Market for a Couchsurfing meet-up dinner. About thirty or so people showed up, some were travelers from different parts of the world, some were expats that were active in the Couchsurfing community, and there were also a couple Vietnamese who took advantage of the opportunity to practise their English. The food was good and the atmosphere lively.
Afterwards, half of us went out to karaoke[my first]. I grabbed a ride with Steve, a Canadian, and the road we had to take was barricaded so Steve had to drive on the sidewalk dodging trees, and walls through spaces that I wouldn't even have walked through without shifting my shoulders. While there we were given a large room to ourselves, a case of Tigers and ice[the beer is too warm without it] and a remote to a big screen tv. I had the honor of butchering Video Killed the Radio Star, and a U2 song[I hate U2]. While the songs played the lyrics ran on the bottom of the screen, sometimes at the wrong speed[which ruined Sultans of Swing], and the video footage shown during all the songs were montage scenic views of rural VietNam.
When it was time to leave, a handful of us went up to Apocalypse Now, a brilliantly named but gaudy two-story night club. The first floor plays house dance music while the second, where we headed, had a bit more variety and taste. But the place was very crowded, half tourists and half prostitutes.
I also went to an 'International Beerfest' at the Windsor Plaza Hotel. An overpriced affair, that had lots of mediocre food[only the baked foods were worth a damn] and while certainly having a better beer variety than a typical bar in VietNam, it didn't even compare to what you'd expect at even the most average bar in America. If I end up staying here more than a year it'll be to open a real bar with real beers.
In other news, I move into my own place this afternoon, a two bedroom apartment that I will share with a Vietnamese-American named Anh from Seattle. He seems pretty cool and his Vietnamese will definitely be a helpful resource.
My bike broke already. I was so mad about it, thinking that it would cost as much to fix it as the bike cost to buy. But I had it towed and repairs only cost $10. This included the replacement of two parts as well as extra stuff the mechanic did like tidy up the wiring, which was in a sorry state. I'm happy to now have a bike that starts without the kick start[which is uncomfortable to do in flipflops] and whose gears actually change.
There's definitely more to write about, but as a general rule I'm gonna try to keep posts that don't have pictures shorter in length. I should have some pics of my new place up soon.