On the way to Mordor ..... Sai Gon I

On my way to Canada (Horror) .... My first full day in Sai Gon:

 

6:00

I feel worn out....

coffee with warm shower water (no kettle in the room), wine on the balcony ....

..I get to watch Sai Gon wake up...

.. what a beautiful view....

More slight sadness when I take out the "water the plants" and "swim" items from my daily to-do list.... that life is over :-( ... hopefully not for TOO TOO long

8:15

I've done calisthenics (no weights though :-( ... and brushed my teeth.... the day is progressing well... even though I'm drunk.....

Given the absence of working computer speakers, I keep Bohemian Rhapsody playing on Netflix on the TV .....

9:00

bring the 2nd batch of laundry away...the woman is not there and yesterday's laundry is dry but is still in the dryer .....

10:15

back in the room...... still no luck with the laundry.....but I got some cheap computer speakers at The Gioi Di Dong..... of course they had all the fancy brands....but I just needed some cheap ones NOW....and of course they are crap....at 225k VND..

... but they work better than the fried speakers in my laptop ;-)

I call Chantal for 30 minutes..... I need a wall to bounce my thoughts against to see what comes back...

11:15

I finally meet the washer woman.... I tell her not to rush but I want to pick up both packs of dry laundry tonight....

bloody Xmas trees everywhere !

Sushi time

a

OMG, that is good ;-)

12:15

I have new tissue paper... instead of putting it in front of the door, they brought it into the room and installed it ... SIGH....

time for a nap soon ;-)

13:30

could nap more.... but no...drink more

14:45

The laundry STILL is not done yet... back to my usual store.... and YES, she actually has a case of Dalat in the back... and of course, I take it ;-)

15:15

A walk.... No, laundry is STILL not folded ....

I walk down Bui Vien..

I used to buy food for Huyen here...

.. OMG, this place has changed..

there are NO tourists.... the only white people you see live here permanently

.. it has become a desolate wasteland....

This is where I had the mackerels with Alan

where I had the HORRIBLE service with M&S & Kamran
Christmas decoration from last year?

NOT sad at all that most of these monster bars are CLOSED

I find the hardware store...and even recognize the old guy that I met in sandal distress one year ago.... but he's out of that fabulous superglue....

boarded up 

I hear him before I see him.... because he sings WELL...

I offer him 10k just to take a video of him but he INSISTS that for that price I get the candy he is selling......

.. there are still a lot of The Right People around here....

This is where the muscle-man was dancing last New Year's ;-)

CLOSED....sad savory-sweet memories :-(

17:00

I head up to the common room/kitchen..... oooh, they have wine glasses ;-)

17:15

time for a nap....

or maybe not.....

18:00

I knew that at this time my search for a Banh Mi would be fruitless..... I keep walking... one of the Monster bars has pizza ....but no Hawaiian.... I keep walking..... I end up eating Fish & Chips at Booklover's Cafe....maybe I'm the first guest in days?..... she mixes up the boxes of wine, realizes her mistake and then adds white to the red.....I get Rose......But the fish is good and the chips are edible... and the dog that at first barked at me, then slept next to me, is happy to eat my leftovers ;-)

18:45

back in the room.... I still have NO idea when Phap will show up..... tonight, tomorrow, never?  Frustrating is his unwillingness or more likely inability to communicate !  (But in retrospect:  Little did I know what extreme issues and pressures he was facing in his life at that time ;-)

19:00

maybe time for a nap....

22:00

yet ANOTHER meaningless Phap email...