Dramatis Personae
As befitting a grand affair, Mercedes-Benzes and assorted sedans lined up the driveway by the appointed time, 6:30 PM. The guests, however, decided to dress themselves appropriately for the purpose of having a really good timẹ They all turned up in casual outfits: printed cotton blouses, polo shirts and chinos. Viva Gap, Ralph Lauren, and J. Crew!
The revelers numbered 19: Thanh & Thảo (host & hostess), Quí & Âu (the guests of honour), Tố-Anh & Hiển, Chung & Hùynh, Diệp & Trúc, Hưng & TừHìên, Lập & Cầm, Tọai & Nga (aka Tara Vantoai), Nguyễn Văn Tam (the poor soul was not accompanied by his significant other), and two love birds (Qui 's son, Quang, and his girlfriend).
The State Dining Room
Our gracious host and hostess had a picture-perfect, color-coordinated set-up awaiting the revelers in the dining room: a turquoise marble dinning table (seating 12) accented by a multicolored floral centerpiece and scarlet place mats and napkins, flanked by four smaller tables (each seating 2) all dressed up in a cream-ivory motif. The dining room itself features green flowing window drapes, European tapestries, and original watercolors by Chóe. (Full disclosure 1: This reporter plans to go into the interior decoration business upon his retirement from the financial-services industrỵ)
No sooner than Thanh invited the guests to be seated when Hiển and Lập decided to rearrange the seats. In the process, they shifted the chairs from the corner tables to the main dining table, squeezed the seats elbow to elbow, and managed to get all the guests to one table (except for the two lovebirds, who seemed perfectly happy sitting all by themselves at a smaller table). In the process, they also messed up Thảós picture-perfect setup, and seated this gracious hostess a few inches lower than the other guests. (Hiển and Lập fervently hope that this grievous faux pas has not resulted in the removal of their names from Thanh & Thảo 's guest list for future state dinners at The White House South.)
The guests helped themselves to the apéritifs at the two counters in the anteroom. As the staff of The White House West was on vacation at this time of the year, the guests also helped the hostess expertly serve and clear the table after each coursẹ
A Moveable Feast
And what a bountiful feast it was! There were as many kinds of stemware as there were types of drink: mugs, flutes, balloons, shot glasses, sherry glasses, Coca-Cola, beer, assorted scotch and brandy, vouvray, dolcetto, etc. And the food was varied and sumptuous with each course served in the right type of color-coordinated china: nearly all-white bì cuốn served with a sweet peanut sauce (apparently, this used to be the favorite snack of nữ sinh Trưng Vương and Gia Long, and was consumed with obvious relish by the ladies, except Từ Hìên, who is a long-standing vegetarian), multi-colored salad, lobster bisque in a rich creamy pink broth, and grilled cod filets and giant shrimps served with wild ricẹ
Desserts followed: choux à la crème, ice-cold domestic apricots and peaches, juicy Mexican mangos (courtesy Tố Anh), and exotic red lychees (courtesy Từ Hìên). Most guests selected Chinese tea for after meal drinks. Some adventurous souls, probably not the designated drivers of the households, decided to try the sweet but potent Muscatel. (Full disclosure 2: This reporter plans to switch to the hospitality business if his first post-retirement career—interior decoration--does not work out.)
Chewing the Fat
All the diners at the table took part in the conversation, which flowed effortlessly, fueled in part by the liberal doses of alcoholic beveragẹ The two most animated talkers of all (and who simply commanded the attention of everyone else when they spoke), however, were Tố Anh and Tọai. Supporting actors in the table talk were Chung and our very own guest of honour, Qui, who were really very good as verbal sparring partners for Tọai.
This chewing of the fat at the table dwelled on an ancient era--the Mít Chổng Era—and revolved around the Mít Chổng cast of characters, what they did and said in that erạ In the process, secrets were revealed and explanations given to attitude/word/action displayed some thirty or more years agọ Now we know who used to hate whose guts and why, who used to try to woo whom but failed miserably and why, who was the messiest/untidiest/smelliest Mít Chổng, who was a male chauvinistic pig, who could have won many a female heart had he tried to, etc. The tone of the conversation was goođnatured. No spite, no anger, only good hearty laughs all around. After all, we were talking about our selves in a distant past, when we were very young (and probably pretty foolish).
Hưng then showed us the photos of his recent trip to Australia and New Zealand. We had a good if perplexing time trying to identify the people in the photos. Some (PQ Tuấn and VTNghĩa, for example) were easily identifiable because they have not changed much in their appearance. A few others were showing signs of a very good life (Gentlemen! This simply means a double chin and something resembling a spare tire around your waist.)
Memories Are Made of This
We then moved to the entrance hall for some picture taking. Some squeezing was necessary to get everyone into the picture with wives sitting in front and husbands standing in the back. Thanks to Quang and his girlfriend, a lot of pictures were taken by a lot of cameras with everyone featured in. You may have already seen elsewhere some of the pictures taken by Hiển on his digital camera.
More picture taking followed as we moved down to the basement. This is NOT a basement. It is a hangar. You can easily park your Learjet or 10 cars in here and still have room for your bar, dance floor and wine cellar (which this basement has). The revelers then drifted into small groups of 3s and 4s. We talked standing or sitting on sills and easy chairs. We also strolled along the walls of the basement, looking at poster-sized photos (and the printed stories underneath) detailing past (distant and recent) activities of Thanh and Thảo, in Vietnam, New Zealand, Rome, Venice, Istanbul and other equally exotic places.
We felt so much at ease at The White House South and so happy in the company of each other that we kept talking and almost failed to notice that it was near midnight. Then upstairs we went. And at the request of a few guests, Diệp again volunteered to be the unofficial tour guidẹ He took them to The White House South's living quarters on the upper floor for yet another tour, during which they had the opportunity to see, among others, the (Vietnamese) Lincoln bedroom and the built-for-giants Jacuzzi in the cavernous bathroom.
A Legend Is Born
We left The White House South well after midnight following some prolonged leave-taking and oft-repeated promises to stay in touch. We left most appreciative--each of us in his/her own fashion--of the hospitality and friendship displayed by Thanh and Thảo, our host and hostess. We shall remain thankful to them, long after the pleasant memory of this Grand State Dinner has begun to take on the character of a legend.
And, when we tell this story to our grandchildren, we will all exclaim "Wow! Awesome! Một Cuộc Truy Hoan Vô Tiền Khóang Hậu!"
Nguyễn Quốc Lập
July 23, 2000
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