Day 10 without power....Road Trip !!! from Home to Tuy Hoa ....

 6:00

I wake up for the umpteenth time.... but now it's bright outside !

I've gotten over the 6 trieu.... but not over the loss of trust in the Vietnamese of Phu Yen.... ah well.

Today will be a strange day.... I will travel to Tuy Hoa without meeting Phap.... on the other hand... I used to travel to different cities all the time without meeting anyone... just a different city was enough ... and I'll get to eat Fish & Chips again (or Pizza?)

7:00

H&H are back..... they will work every day.... and again I explain to Hien to LOOK for dirt.... they have 4 or 5 days to get this place ship shape.  And if they can't manage that I'll get a tiny bit upset....

9:45

it's raining..... oi gioi oi.... riding 70 km over atrocious roads in the rain ????

10:30

A few sunny streaks, but not generally traveling weather....I'm going to get wet today !..... might as well around noonish.... and taking a shower can wait until Tuy Hoa... the hotel will have HOT WATER, lOl.

11:30

let's screw it.... time to get wet ?

a quick visit to Choi's.... he's watching children's cartoons on his phone during lunch and insists on feeding me too.... but I refuse the meat ....

Just behind Ganh Do: 

HOLY SHIT !!! 

 The Bamboo Bridge is GONE !!!

I'm riding like the wind .... 40 km tail wind .... a quick stop at minimart But Vinmart+ is CLOSING OUT and DOWN ..... 

and at 13:15 I'm in my room ... 206 this time .... first thing to do is set the A/C to HEAT ....maybe it works ?

13:30

start up the computer.... OMFG.... XUI XEO .... I have translating work !!

14:00

I've managed (at least I think so) to negotiate with the receptionist in Vietnamese that I keep my room tomorrow until 14:00 and that the scooter will stay here

15:00

I'm juggling blog writing with listening to music with writing to lovers and clients .... and with drinking wine... and I can feel that it'll be time for a nap soon !

nap

16:45

Phap wrote an hour ago ... 

The first WARM shower in 10 days

Phap shows up at 17:45 .... cuddles...

18:00

eat 

19:00

I thought he had to work at 7 .... but no.... he comes up to the room ... holding hands leads to more ... someone was horny and comes faster and faster... or maybe I'm just learning how to push his buttons (literally).... 

19:30

Just WHY is he asking for 500k when he leaves... he says to buy clothes... 

20:15

I have a craving for bread with ham .... wasn't the pizza enough?.... I don my raincoat and head to Coopmart..... I'm one of the very few people wearing a mask and there is no temperature check !

20:45

How about doing some translating work and writing some e-mails .... OK, so I watch some Netflix as well ;-)

22:30

I write a "good night!" email to Phap... and one minute later get an email back ...with hearts ;-)

You're just like a dream !

23:30

Road Trip !!! Home to Quy Nhon to Home .... an encounter with Lee & Eva & Dong, Phap emails ..... and Choi & Han save the day ;-)

 6:00

Huh ? lot's of sleep !

H&H

I have to tell him for the umpteenth time to clean inside first so as not to drag the outside dirt inside....

8:00

nap

9:15

reflection from my tiles on my ceiling ....

10:30

I'm done with the calisthenics and feel like napping more ;-( NO, I just read for a bit

11:00

I try to skype Denise & Hans.... Skype says they're not online.... oh, BS, Denise is always online at this hour ! then she keeps texting back and forth..... 

11:30

More electrical wiring.... I'm sick of charging batteries for the stair lights....

... I bang my head on the stairs HARD .... why do I have grass on my head?..... I DO have a big bump on my head.... and I realize that the grass was hair and that I semi-scalped myself .... 

Oh, what a day, LOL....

12:15

should I go or not?.....

Shave, shower, skip the swimming today....

13:15

Oh, I might as well go....

appalling how many new hotels appeared along this previously pristine coast ;-(

14:15

Life's a Beach.... only 1 waitress....and she's overworked.... but she answers my call for a 'strong G&T' with a concoction that might just knock me off my chair, LOL.

14:40

Where is my food ? ....

It takes 1/2 an hour and the fries are lukewarm ..... I don't take it out on the waitress because she is utterly overworked.... especially now that a young people photo-shoot crowd arrives

15:15

All of a sudden all the staff is there.... but they have their communal meal.... time to leave...

15:40

Dung doesn't recognize me at first.... but then is all excited and  shows me his garden ...

16:30

17:30

Coop.mart

18:30

Lee calls..... I don't really want to eat....

19:00

another lesson..... fear of losing money (or fear of life and an uncertain future ?!?) turns my mind aggressive against people..... 

they are only 2 minutes late ;-)

Lee surprises me.... he picks up the dinner tab...

and hands over 2 trieu that he can live without now....

21:00

back at the hotel.... Dong is watching TV.... chuc ngu ngon

21:30

more lovey dovey mails with Phap..... oi gioi oi .....

21:45

An email from Joanna in Paris....

. she is saying that she is almost sure that she had the virus....sick for a week.... but that it was impossible to be tested...

.. WTF?!?..... the first of my friends to have had it !

More Phap emails..... and OH NO....

....he's a sad-movie crier... as if I hadn't known all along....

... I do MISS him SO MUCH....

22:30

Wide awake.... and I am very glad I went on today's trip.... took my mind off things at home.....

23:00 still awake ...and in LOVE...

23:30

6:30

ooh.... I slept a lot....

an email and a picture from Jessica.....

OMG....this picture hammers home just HOW LONG I've been gone ....

My motel used to be here :-(

8:25

I've decided NOT to go to Big C....   too lazy.... too sluggish.... that cold still has my body in its grip...

9:30

Time to go.... Dong takes selfies of us..... and he doesn't accept any money for the room .....oi gioi oi ....

10:15

At Life's a Beach..... I realize that Dong texted the pictures to my OLD PHONE NUMBER ;-(  So sad....that was actually a good picture of me ......

10:30

OMG.... VinaPhone sent the pictures to my email account ;-)

The pharmacy has 4 Viagra and 2 Cialis left, LOL.... 

the Com Chien voi Dau Hu is actually edible...

... and not expensive at 49k.... 

11:45

back home..... thank god... I have enough of that bouncing around on the bad roads....

12:30

dying lobsters going for whatever the crying owner can get for them...

I hope Choi's and Chau's lobsters are OK .... 

14:30

15:30

time to throw out Thanh's STINKING rotting monster starfish.... I think maggots are already feasting on it.....

Oops.... I did it again.... it is Sunday.... I emailed Phap... if he was working 5 times in a row while I was in Tuy Hoa and he won't be answering (i.e. not working) today and tonight.... I'm going to get REALLY CRANKY and depressed ...

16:45

I'm about to settle into depression, when Choi & Han show up..... Han just SO MUCH looks like a GORGEOUS Coastal Salish guy, LOL....

Choi brings me a bag of GORGEOUS blue lobster shells !!!

Choi had his belly razor-bladed to deal with a stomach ache.... now he has TWO aches instead of one... but at least his lobsters are OK.... only the lobsters in Song Cau Bay died 

Choi takes one of my sprouting coconuts and reveals just HOW MUCH FOOD there is inside them....

Hang still is not well..... but he is SO GEORGEOUS.... the doctor in Quy Nhon said it's his liver and he should go to Saigon..... but he needs 3 trieu....

He asks me to go hiking up the mountain with him..... LOL.... even Choi agrees.... too dangerous... sending two fruits up the mountain....   just looking at his face and expressions makes Phap look average.... WHAT is WRONG with me.....  5 months ago I was a widower and 6 year virgin ... and now I'm getting picky.... ?!???....  But there is a certain je ne sais quoi about the way Hang sucks that Champagne cork .....  oi gioi oi

  

Oh why the hell not.... tomorrow at 9 Han will fix my plumbing issues... NO, NO, I mean the REAL bathroom plumbing issues !!!....  With any luck he will do it right.... I will be happy..... and he will have 3 trieu.... he will be happy .... isn't that what it's all about ????

18:00

They leave.... and Phap's email arrives one minute after that.... coincidence ?!?.....  Believe in Karma !

18:30

Time to work on those MANY GIANT lobsters that Choi brought .....

19:45

NEED to SLEEP...

21:15

the phone rings..... Nguoi Linh

Chez Kraut (I-II ) Bye Bye BOBBY, limping, being productive,

5:30
I get out of bed VERY CAREFULLY.... no crippling monster jolt of pain shoots through my back...let's keep it that way today....

7:00
Hien shows up alone...without food...wtf?...I tell him to sweep and leave... and of course he doesn't sweep behind the boat....

7:45
time for a nap.....

9:00
Wow....that nap was good for my back....it feels almost fine.... for now....

Trying to use a bamboo stick to free the water flow from my tank upstairs does not yield any positive results ;-(

From the roof, I see Lisa having coffee and laughing with Cat.... NO, I don't really want to listen to their meaningless banter .... but I'm still envious/jealous.

Breakfast:

10:00
the fishing boat now cruises without a list...

... but I see the cork and it bugs me... I can do better ;-)

11:00

11:45
Johan walks BY to talk to Cat.... Ah well, some people have strange tastes....

11:55
The boat now is level by means of a HIDDEN cork ;-)

12:30
I join Johan & Cat..... Bobby comes over......

Bye Bye Bobby Back !!!

it's time to say Good Bye

15:00

16:15

17:30
I walk to the blue-umbrella store.... I carry the milk and TP.... and the husband drops the two cases of wine off in my living room.....NICE !

17:45
Where are Johan and Chau's scooter ???  I'm already getting paranoid......

18:00
There is Johan....
Chatting with him and Cat at Lisa's..... eating a Com Ga Ka Ri.... NOT Yummy ;-(


19:45
my back wants to rest again....

20:00
doc sach va ngu !

20:30
No... get up again....


21:00
let's try that again....
doc sach va ngu

22:15
Wide awake..... I guess I've had lots of naps today...

00:00

5:30

6:30
The Grandma call goes well.....apparently she locked out the Sunday caretaker ;-)

8:00
It's not Anthony, but Johan who is sitting at Lisa's.... I'm joining him & Lisa & Cat for an hour... almost like the old days....

9:45
The ripped out cork under the boat has been replaced.... but I think I need a few more under there before I trust my wine glasses to be loaded.


10:45
I've overcome my soldering phobia  and one of the 10W COBs is working ;-) 

11:00
The first day the discarded and re-rooted Hoa Bay Gio flowers in my compost bed ;- 

11:45
A proof of concept with the 10W COB is illuminating the guest room...... SHIT, that is BRIGHT....but unfortunately the light is fluctuating slightly in brightness....that's OK, I still have 3 of the other 15W ones... but maybe the problem is with the motion-sensor switch?  I'll find out eventually ;-)

12:00
maybe it's time for another nap?

12:30

13:00
I've soldered another COB, one of the 15W ones ;-)

Alas, it flickers too... must be the motion-sensor switch ;-(

14:00
maybe it's time for a swim and shower?

I start watering the plants when Eve shows up

16:30
The water pump sucked in air again so I have to prime it again..... but at least the garden hose all of a sudden has full pressure again..... 1 out of 3 problems is gone....

17:00

better late than never....

shower
17:30

Tomorrow is a full moon !!! 

I join Cat & Anthony over at Lisa's....and eat a BORING chicken curry again....but then Anthony is more boring...

18:15
need to be home.....

18:30
Dung and buddies cat-call/wave me over.....who am I to refuse? ... I LOVE their company and I need to practice my Vietnamese !



19:15
Enough, my back needs a rest and Choi is strangely absent tonight....

19:30
Chau shows up....with a wedding invitation for the 7th.....

1)  WHO wrote the English?
2) Does the WHOLE village know about "the friend"?

 OK

 ...uong ruou

20:15
JUST AFTER Chau leaves, Dung shows up at the door, looking for another Wishing Lantern for one of his friends.... but HE got the last one for his kids.... he's not coming inside the house....too bad... big grin ;-)

WTF?.... I am SOCIAL CENTRAL !

20:30
doc sach va ngu !

21:30
awake again....