I'm still sitting at Tan Son Nhat in Saigon, hoping that my VietJet flight will be on time this time....
I should have known and gone to Big Bowl again ;-)
 |
| the usual frenzied jumping out of seats as soon as the plane stops luggage falling onto people's heads and elbows connecting with innocent temples Don't these people realize that the doors won't open for another 5 minutes? |
This time I walk to Coopmart BEFORE checking into the hotel.
Wine, corkscrew (they have the good & cheap one here), coffee, cheese, soup, a knife, bread, and QUYT ! FINALLY I have found those fresh mandarins on the branch with leaves again. Without them, Vietnam is simply not the same ;-)
When I enter my hotel, the old man is not there !?
Instead a young German couple does its utmost trying to use a cell phone translator to tell the hotel's cleaning lady that they need a taxi NOW!I clarify a few terms by using the few Viet words I know and for some reason also stumble into German with the couple (they must have spoken German to each other to explain this) and the guy looks at me wide-eyed "You speak Vietnamese and German and English ? How long have you lived here?".
I wish !
Then Hotel Man's wife shows up....... we seem to get the taxi for the Germans sorted out.... and SHE gives me the keys..... that's a first!
Where is hotel man? I'm getting worried ! I check with the cleaning woman later and she says he is "away at work". Relief!
 |
| I've left my mark: my empty wine bottles |
Another Big Change from back where I come from: it's DARK outside at 18:15. The sun setting at 18:00 might be scary in September but it will be a godsend in December ;-)
18:30
Might as well go buy my trip provisions at Coopmart NOW !
 |
| Colonel Sanders with Christmas lights in September ? |
 |
| Ga Ran Kentucky ! |
20:00
OMG, I just had a scary thought, LOL.
With Mr. Hotel Man absent and no-one else in the lobby, I start feeling like Harold Crick again!
This is a story about a man named Harold Crick, and his wristwatch. Harold Crick was a man of infinite numbers, endless calculations, and remarkably few words, and his wristwatch said even less. Every weekday for twelve years, Harold would brush each of his 32 teeth, 76 times. 38 times back and forth, 38 times up and down. Every weekday for 12 years, Harold would tie his tie in a single Windsor knot, instead of the double, thereby saving up to 43 seconds. His wristwatch thought the single Windsor made his neck look fat, but said nothing. Every weekday for 12 years, Harold would run at a rate of nearly 57 steps per block for 6 blocks, barely catching the 8:17 Kronecker bus. His wristwatch would delight in feeling the crisp wind rushing over its face.
And every weekday for 12 years, Harold would review 7.134 tax files as a senior auditor for the Internal Revenue Service... only taking a 45.7 minute lunch break, and a 4.3 minute coffee break, timed precisely by his wristwatch. Beyond that, Harold lived a life of solitude. Harold would walk home alone. He would eat alone. And at precisely 11:13 every night, Harold would go to bed alone, placing his wristwatch to rest on the night stand beside him.
I remember the days when I traveled the world, stayed in hotels, all by myself, and I would talk to NO ONE ! And that wasn't all that long ago, LOL.
If you've never watched STRANGER THAN FICTION, do yourself a favour and watch it as soon as possible ;-)
3:00
Time to call Grandma. I should have picked a different day because TODAY is the day where she tells me all those things that are supposed to make me feel guilty. It's raining and she tells me that she will mow the lawn soon (her grandson didn't mow it before he left). Her Philippina caretaker is cleaning her priceless antique furniture with a wet sponge (Guess who is responsible for ordering the caretakers in the first place). Of course it's completely batty, but it still hurts, calling her to bring a moment of joy into her life and only hearing the complaints relating to what I did or didn't do.
PLEASE Karma, don't let ME turn out that way when I get old !
Harold Crick was a man of infinite
numbers...
... endless calculations
and remarkably few words.
And his wristwatch said even less.
Every weekday, for 12 years...
... Harold would brush
each of his 32 teeth 76 times.
Thirty-eight times back and forth.
Thirty-eight times up and down.
Every weekday, for 12 years...
... Harold would tie his tie in a single
Windsor knot instead of the double...
... thereby saving up to 43 seconds.
His wristwatch thought the single
Windsor made his neck look fat...
... but said nothing.
Every weekday, for 12 years...
... Harold would run at a rate of nearly
... barely catching
the 8: 17 Kronecker bus.
His wristwatch would delight...
... in the feeling of the crisp wind
rushing over its face.
And every weekday, for 12 years...
... Harold would review 7. 134
tax files...
... as a senior agent
for the Internal Revenue Service.
Regs section 1.469-2 (B) (i), Diane.
Thanks.
Good morning. IRS.
Harold, 89 times 1417?
That adds up.
Only taking a 45. 7-minute
lunch break...
... and a 4.3- Minute coffee break...
... timed precisely by his wristwatch.
Oh, great.
Yeah, we'll go to Mullen's or we'll... .
Beyond that,
Harold lived a life of solitude.
He would walk home alone.
He would eat alone.
And at precisely 11: 13 every night...
... Harold would go to bed alone...
... placing his wristwatch to rest
on the nightstand beside him.
Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=stranger-than-fiction
 |
| Central Vietnam is safe ... |
 |
| The laptop on the low coffee table is poison for my back. laptop on chair on bed does the trick kind of LOL |
WHAT is that noise coming over the roofs from the fire station/army cadet barracks?
6:00
beach walk...
 |
| The moved the main road inland, making room for a GIANT beach promenade ! |
 |
| I've never seen so many ships anchored here..... Typhoon fears? |
 |
| The first time I came here, the baby blue building was the tallest in town |
NOT back in the USSR .... but back in the East Sea ;-)
 |
| after the morning swim |
 |
| bored lifeguardess |
 |
| three generation of house styles |
 |
| this was only a construction site when I came here first ... |
I'm getting worried about Mr Hotel Man because by now even I have figured out that the music constantly droning through the neighbourhood is MOURNING a death.
So I'm REALLY relieved when I see him walking across the street ! And yes, someone died. A man very involved with the new General Hospital pictured above who died at the good age of 87.
Dong (I THINK that is the name of Hotel Man; he never actually answers questions about his name but I have his e-mail address) also already has a scooter for me. A Suzuki, which I ride to the gas station to fill up.
When I want to pay for my room, Dong surprises me again. I had COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN that I paid a $80 bill last time with a $100 note and told him to keep the change as a deposit for the next time around. And all the STUPID tourists always go on and on about how Vietnamese rip them off, LOL. So instead of me handing over money for the room, Dong gives me money !
By 9:50 I'm sitting at Life's a Beach, sipping on yogurt & wine. I hear Bao's voice from behind me "Hello Chris! Are you well?" Ruou trang & sua chua are a perfect second breakfast.
I'm anxious to get back on the road to get 'home'.
There is another scooter with a big square box on its back about 100 meters in front of me and there are big trucks to its left.
All of a sudden things go wrong. The scooter gets scared of the big trucks, rides too far to the right, and the big box HITS the concrete poles protecting cars from the ditch.
 |
| NOT my chicken cage lady. Imagine the top cage only without the lower side cages and you get the picture |
The woman scooter rider looks in shock. I step into the ditch with her to lift the cage back up to the street level. Then I hear THAT SOUND: The chicken are MOANING and GROANING in PAIN. I offer to help more but I'm secretly relieved that the woman waves me away.....
 |
| still hearing the sound of groaning chickens ! |
Only 10 minutes later. An SUV is parked perpendicular across the front of a big truck right in the junction of two major highways. The two vehicles are touching, the driver side of the SUV is a crumple zone and all the airbags are deployed. I notice with great relief that not a single person is left in either of the vehicles. When I have stopped, the truck driver climbs back into the cabin.
 |
| I'm not the only one thinking HOLY SHIT ! |
I'm relieved to be 'home' 20 minutes later. I'm barreling down the highways at 80 km/h on this fabulous Suzuki with ample power and good suspension (such a difference to the Honda with the shot front suspension of 2 months ago) and having seen two accidents withing the last half hour just does not bode well for traveling today ....
Binh, Tam & Muoi are delighted to see me. T just wants his CHEESE PLEASE !
When I wake up at 16:00, I notice two things: 1) the weather has changed ... and 2) I got a very light sunburn on my arms and legs riding in the sun today.
In the news:
A hydrogen-powered fuel-cell train is now running on a regular schedule between Bremerhaven & Buxtehude. Seems I have to visit that part of the world again. The name Buxtehude always had a attraction, same as Lake Titicaca or the Brahmaputra River.
17:00
What is that clinking noise? What is Tam dragging to my door just before the rain starts?
Dinner:
This is a story about a man
named Harold Crick.
And his wristwatch.
Harold Crick was a man of infinite
numbers...
... endless calculations
and remarkably few words.
And his wristwatch said even less.
Every weekday, for 12 years...
... Harold would brush
each of his 32 teeth 76 times.
Thirty-eight times back and forth.
Thirty-eight times up and down.
Every weekday, for 12 years...
... Harold would tie his tie in a single
Windsor knot instead of the double...
... thereby saving up to 43 seconds.
His wristwatch thought the single
Windsor made his neck look fat...
... but said nothing.
Every weekday, for 12 years...
... Harold would run at a rate of nearly
... barely catching
the 8: 17 Kronecker bus.
His wristwatch would delight...
... in the feeling of the crisp wind
rushing over its face.
And every weekday, for 12 years...
... Harold would review 7. 134
tax files...
... as a senior agent
for the Internal Revenue Service.
Regs section 1.469-2 (B) (i), Diane.
Thanks.
Good morning. IRS.
Harold, 89 times 1417?
That adds up.
Only taking a 45. 7-minute
lunch break...
... and a 4.3- Minute coffee break...
... timed precisely by his wristwatch.
Oh, great.
Yeah, we'll go to Mullen's or we'll... .
Beyond that,
Harold lived a life of solitude.
He would walk home alone.
He would eat alone.
And at precisely 11: 13 every night...
... Harold would go to bed alone...
... placing his wristwatch to rest
on the nightstand beside him.
Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=stranger-than-fiction
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