Sitting in Vinh’s old room at his mother’s house. VIETNAM IS AMAZING!!! So different from America. Motorcycles everywhere – going places is a treat in itself…so many things to see, so many shops, so many people, Vietnamese food EVERYWHERE! =] everywhere I go I get stares – it’s obvious I’m Viet Kieu…hehe. Dunno if that’s a good thing of bad thing yet…raining really hard right now…apparently I came during the rainy season. Hot as fuck in the morning, then showers in the afternoon cool it off…first Viet food in VN was bun bo hue at this place called “Bun Vietnam”. It was actually really good, fresh, not too salty. I was mad hungry. We went to try n get my cell phone unlocked before bun today but I already told Vinh mine was unlocked. Went to get sinh to sa rieng after – pretty good, not sweet enough, but I had fun sipping that as we zoomed through the city. Got held up by some funeral procession for a dai tuong. Am at quan phu nhuan, while we take an afternoon break. Got in at around 1130 last night…taxi guy took me through the city, saw dinh thong nhat/doc lap, and nha tho duc ba…but it wasn’t too impressive at night…still badass though. Taxi went to Kim Long hotel but Vinh decided it was a waste of money to spend 28 bux for a few hrs, so we ended up going to his place. Real nice, wooden floors, marble countertops, internet, cable, all in all very nice by Viet standards. I was pleasantly surprised, thought I wouldn’t mind spending the entire month here. Vinh proposed that I do actually, which is quite good news. Vinh is an awesome guy, congenial, funny, very helpful when it comes to all things Saigon. Hes actually quitting his job soon so he said hes gonna take me wherever I wanna go for the month…which is fucking spectacular. I got lucky…hahah…though I haven’t actually told any1 why im here…ill tell vinh at some pt though I wonder how hell take it…riding through town on his moto is wow…I recorded some video…nothing like it in America…Signs with socialist slogans everywhere, ho chi minhs mug everywhere -- Vinh tells me he hates it, that the govt is a bunch of liars, but that its much better now than it was 10 yrs ago. Fascinating stuff... Vietnam reminds me of mexico actually…poor but lively, people everywhere, some shops run down, some shops decent, it really depends where u go…some places have rather modern things so juxtaposed with the surroundings, its sometimes kinda jarring… computers and cell phones are prevalent, everyone has a phone and easy access to the internet, and vinh has several computers and a laptop, two houses with several motos – his family is actually very well off it seems. Hes 26, a production manager at a Ho Chi Minh City chemical company and his dad lives in the states. Mother is verrrry nice, had lunch at her place (bun bo hue was breakfast!), had some kinda meat that I still cant figure out and their descriptions didn’t help (nho^ng), lives in sand apparently, can only be found in the summer, will figure it out when I get home, anyway made rolls, cham nuoc mam, good stuff. Had coconut juice jello in its shell for dessert – really good. Trying to keep healthy, trying to find a gym but so far so good, hopefully I wont put on weight, but something tells me with my wanting to eat anything and everything I see, that might be a problem. Hah. So happy to be here…its an absolutely breathtaking experience.

Will post pix n video when i load them onto my comp!

wiLLay [ 2:51 AM ]

2 Comments:

• i finally got one of these things

  By  alan lau, at 9/29/2007 10:11 AM  

• update yo fricking blog yo

  By  Leang, at 12/03/2007 1:20 PM  

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