Vietnamese people are accommodating and hospitable. We got a couple of dinner treats c/o Che's friend (and our new acquaintance), the gallant Dinh. This time it was at a seafood restaurant which served in a different manner seafood that is usually familiar to us Filipinos.
LeThuy was kind enough to also show up even though she wasn't feeling very well (probably due to the tiring trip to Dalat) and between her and Dinh, they chose carefully for us what dishes to order and eat.
What we heard when they called the waiter was something which sounded like "ahn-noi" to our unaccustomed ears. I thought it sounded similar to the English "annoy" although pronounced with a more nasal emphasis.
After a while, and wanting to be sure, Leila turned to LeThuy and asked what it meant.
"Thuy, so what does 'aahn-noi' mean?", queried Leila while trying to pronounce it the best way she could. She was leaning close to me as I was sandwiched between her and Thuy, and speaking over the sound of other diners talking over our heads.
Thuy, who was absorbed in her dish, turned around and answered, "Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam, in the northern..."
Before she could launch into a more detailed explanation, I had to interrupt as I was grinning madly by that time.
Good thing LeThuy and Leila weren't annoyed ...hehehe...
I can imagine it, I've been misunderstood a couple of times while in BKK trying to use a girls name that when spoken by me sounded more like the Thai word for "Ladyboy"
ReplyDeletelol
btw, I did try googling when I came back to the Philipines...trying out "waiter" and "excuse me" in trying to figure out what really do they use...
ReplyDeletethe nearest I can come up with was "xin lổi" which means "excuse me"...
hmm..maybe its really the intonation...and the difference between North and South Vietnam in how they pronounce such things..
ooh..*interested look*
ReplyDeletewhat was the name? hehehe
Her name was "Kateje" Ladyboy = Katoey.
ReplyDeletelol
LMAO....oh dear...better use the nickname ..maybe its not so near to the Ladyboy word *wink*
ReplyDeleteShe was one of those I met that did not have a nickname.
ReplyDeletemaybe ought to have tried to use the Ladyboy word..and it might have ended up near her name...hehehe
ReplyDeleteon the other hand, BKK women are so beautiful too..but I couldn't believe that some of them were men before...waaaahhh!
am moy!??!!!
ReplyDeleteah..this one naman ay version ni Che....
ReplyDeletebtw John.."amoy" in Tagalog means smell...and not really the perfume kind...hehehe
Ha ha ha.
ReplyDeleteI've never studied them to see what they have hidden from view. There were really lots of them on the island "Koh Semet" where Nantiya, Thomas and I relaxed during the Kings birthday weekend.
ReplyDeletewell, all I can say is that when I was in BKK visit..I was just amazed at their beauty...
ReplyDeleteand some of the men who were now women...were more beautiful than women...I said to my other companion - my golly they look more womenly and pretty than I am....LOL
True, some do look quite good except for their narrow hips and very obvious Adams Apple
ReplyDeleteThai, Vietnamese & i presume Burmese & Cambodians have a nasal intonation...the characters in their alphabets are also a challenge...still part of the adventure.
ReplyDeleteI heard that the name Nguyen is quite common there but the pronunciation doesn't sound like the way it is spelled.
ReplyDeletePinoys will say NGU-YEN because we have the NGU sound as in NGUnit. However, Vietnamese pronounce it as NU-WEN or even just WEN. I know this because I have Vietnamese friends both in UP and here in Vancouver. Even the former Las Vegas poker champion, Scotty Nguyen, pronouces his name as Scotty WEN.
ReplyDelete"Annoy" for Hanoi? Kabalen pala namin ni Meann ang mga Vietnamese. hahaha But seriously, it's true that the French say ANNOY for Hanoi because like the Kabalens and the Cockneys, the French don't have the "H" sound when they speak.
ReplyDeleteand here I thought before Chinese was the most difficult na language...huhuhu!
ReplyDeletethat always makes me think how I pass up on the chance to learn French..ayoko ng maraming letters tapos di naman ibibigkas :-)
ReplyDeleteI went to a French resto once and only survived by blowing like a wind when pronouncing the words by ignoring more than half the letters...hahaha
hehehe..so pwede pala mag joke in Vietnam ng = "Nguyen you wish upon a star..."
ReplyDeleteoooh....so si Uncle Ho sa Ho Chi Minh and Ho Chi Minh itself is pronounced without the H? di ko alam yan..thats an interesting tidbit to remember the next time mag visit ako don :-)
ReplyDeletetama ka dyan bert.ganyan nga pag pronounce.
ReplyDeleteso..nguyen again sa Vietnam? hahaha..(as if ang bilis)
ReplyDelete