JFC & Kiki Ball

Today is Saturday, which means JFC day! 👨‍🍳✨ We need to run a couple of errands before 1pm, but breakfast first! I ask Lio to pick a place far away so I can drive the motorcycle for longer hehe 🏍️😄.

I get a salted coffee ☕🧂 and Lio gets a Phở, the typical Vietnamese noodle bowl with broth 🍜, which apparently is a breakfast dish here and not lunch or dinner like Europe does.

Before heading to the venue where JFC takes place today, we stop to buy a gas canister for the portable kitchen 🔥 and to pick up my fixed new bag, as the zipper exploded when I overloaded it yesterday and we had to get it repaired 🎒🧵.

We set up for JFC and the kids start to arrive. Today they are preparing quesadillas 🌮. Lio handles the parents, directs the kids, mingles with the waiters, oversees the cooking… He is so in control and I can see he truly loves this, even if it gets a bit tense sometimes 🥹💛.
The kids love him and love their quesadillas. It’s great to see kids this age be so proud of their creations, and it’s great that JFC gives them opportunities they may not have at home 👧👦✨.

Once the class finishes, we clean up and have a well-deserved beer 🍺.
We have a Ball at 5:30, which I’m not entirely sure what it is, but we need to dress up for the occasion 👠💅. We go home, nap for 15 minutes 😴, and get ready. On our way to the metro I get the chance to meet Ewa, Lio’s artist friend 🎨.

We arrive early at the Ball and, because of some problems with the venue, people are not allowed in until 7:30, which delays the whole event ⏳.
Once it starts, we begin to understand how it works: there are categories, and contestants pose, do runways, play with their hands, show their face features, show their outfits, etc… all according to the category ✨💃🕺. Contestants have one chance to present themselves, and then they must battle another contestant so the three judges can decide the winner of each category 👑⚔️. Quite entertaining, to be honest!

By 10pm, and with an early day tomorrow, we head back to Thảo Điền, stopping at Ibiero so Lio can have some dinner (hungry, of course 😅) and I can have one last beer in this city — a city I’ve completely fallen in love with 🩵🏙️.Read more