Flying around the world to drink Luganer with Uwe (SGN-SIN-FRA.....)

8:30 in Saigon........ eating a banh mi....

10:00
I better fill and charge my e-cigarette !  I will need it later today ;-(

10:30
I SHOULD go out there and walk around in the sun, shouldn't I?   But why am I sitting in my comfy room watching Netflix? 
Departure Catatonia ! 

But as soon as I realize what is going on..... I force myself to overcome it ...

Yes, you're looking at the buildings of BOTH sides of the 'street'

for the next time I'm here

the end is near ....

the end is here !

12:30
Huyen has been bugging me for FOOD all morning, but as I predicted, she has to stay close to the phone at her work when it comes to eat....... 









So I'm eating Bun Cha by myself but will take one to her in The Bowl I procured from the hotel kitchen 




















OH YES,  the first bite of the intricate concoction hits the spot again, like hitting the pipe again after a long time......  

Is Bun Cha really legal?  It's HIGHLY ADDICTIVE !

And after today I won't get any for MONTHS..... withdrawal is imminent !

12:45
It actually takes 15 minutes for every table to be occupied.....  and from now until until about 20:30 Mr Bun Cha will be smiling and serving 100s if not 1000s of guests.

13:00
Huyen doesn't eat the food I brought.....I'm starting to understand why she is single....... Personally, I am full and crawl up to my room again.  Need to pack!

I feel like a nap.  Do I have time?

NO, first Huyen calls from the lobby and wants to feed me Smoothie (This is when I learn, OMG, that Phuong has married an American and is moving to Minnesota !) and then I realize that I can't find my Viet cell phone......

A hunch, and a smile, and a Cam On Nhieu later, I have it back.. I left it at the Bun Cha place...

15:30
SHIT
NOW I really have to hurry and go ;-(

16:00
I'm putting on SOCKS and SHOES !

It is becoming REAL.
I'm ACTUALLY LEAVING paradise!

Toi khong vui!

As if to justify my unwillingness to leave, this happens:
I'm trying to take a picture of a traffic jam (2 pics down), when a kid jumps up, waves his hand in front of my camera lens, and shouts "Xin Chao! Xin Chao!"
I grin back and ..... in one swift motion turn my camera from the traffic to his face and push the button.... he is still grinning.

This level of humanity is UNIMAGINABLE in the West ...... ;-(

17:30 NO line-up at the Singapore Airlines counter?  Nice..... even immigration and security are quick at this hour.

That gives me time for some food and a beer before I go to my gate....

By now I know that ONLY Big Bowl serves edible food at Tan Son Nhat airport, so I get a chicken leg pho..... and it's GOOD ;-)

18:30
Boarding time is 19:00 but the plane isn't even here yet .... maybe I will miss my connection in Singapore and won't have to fly to Frankfurt tonight? LOL.

Oh, THERE is the plane, rolling up to the gate at 18:40.... one last smoke....

It's a bit of a rush at Changi to get to the next plane...... people are running..... IDIOTS....... Always remember: they have to UNLOAD the luggage, SORT it, and LOAD it on the next plane.....NO NEED to rush.   I'm old and wise enough to be rushed .... and have enough time for 3 cigarettes.

A very lovely smoking lounge...... it's HOT in Singapore !

Walking along the plane tube, I take a double take:  WHAT is THAT?

My first time flying in an Airbus 380

 My excitement about being in an A380 quickly evaporates (freezes?) when I realize that even being wrapped tightly in TWO blankets does not generate enough warmth to sleep for a long time.....

They like my name here ;-)

Looking behind me when the lights go on two hours before landing I get a STRANGE feeling ....   is the force with me?

I have stumbled into an Obi-Wan-Kenobi convention !

12 hours in the Freezer

Frankfurt....Finally.....  On my way to the Supermarket, I see the homeless inside the terminal building seeking warmth.....

 It's COLD outside..... 
fortunately the bus with an African bus driver arrives right away and the bus driver let's me sit in the warm bus while he takes his turn-around-point smoke break....

The fare collecting machine seems to be out of order......

 It's DARK at 8 am and even when light brightens, everything is GREY !

I'm not sure whether the fare collecting machine works again and the nice bus driver just didn't tell me ..... I leave my fare as a Trinkgeld for him..... another BIG smile ;-)

9:45
I've spent almost one hour answering e-mails, uploading the pictures into this post, and mentally re-adjusting to the new continent (the Old continent they call it). 


The bread & Chorizo & Rioja Rose that I bought at the airport are YUMMY..... 9 Euros well spent ;-)

The Rioja bottle is emptying and I'm waiting for the time when it will knock me out so that I can get some sleep before tonight's dinner

















10:00
Another failed attempt to phone my pseudo-relatives .... only days later will I realize that they are in Portugal.....

11:00
The fact that the hotel gave me a room RIGHT NEXT to the wing being renovated is NOT conducive to good solid sleep ;-(

11:30 but now I'm wide AWAKE
sink laundry is different in this country..... instead of hanging it outside in the sun at 28 Celsius, it goes on the room's heating element which is on full blast because it is 11 Celsius outside ;-(

12:30
The receptionist mistakenly only issued my key for last night, so I have to go down again to have her extend it...... and there is an older German-speaking woman who can't get any cigarettes out of the vending machine because she doesn't have a German credit card.... I know the problem well.....
At first I feel slightly guilty when she gives me 6.50 Euros for one of my Vietnam-bought packs of Marlboro (silly really, I have to buy them at exactly those prices once mine are gone) but then she also wants a light and accompanies that request with the words "...or does that cost EXTRA?"   
OMG!
NOW I really FEEL like I'm BACK in the Fatherland..... six weeks of only smiles and extremely helpful people and here is that Cutting NASTINESS again...... HOW can people LIVE here ?
The answer is simple:
Living here is not the problem.   BEING HAPPY here is the problem!
All these lonely people, where do they all come from?

My hotel wants 11.90 Euros for breakfast buffet.   Yeah, it might be good, but I don't do BIG breakfast.   And there is a REWE just around the corner ...  so instead of buying breakfast, I pay 20 Euros and get my breakfast stuff, a bottle of Nivea lotion (MUST preserve my tan!), and TWO bottles of Rioja Rose ;-)

14:00
I better get some sleep before dinner time ...

15:00
What is it with those 1-hour naps?
During a smoke-break I run into Marlboro woman.  As a conversation starter I ask 'So do they taste like German Marlboro?'.    She eyes the cigarette she is smoking, her mouth and whole face disfigure in distaste and she shakes her head....... 

OMG, I should have known BETTER.   I'm back in the country of Les Miserables!.... and MOTHER tomorrow .....so far I have stored enough positive energy to shake it off.....but one month here and I would be just as miserable as this miserable bunch..... 
NEED to leave !

18:00
I HATE alarm clocks !  This is the time I could have slept for a long time......

19:00
Time to head to the restaurant...... it's pitch dark outside already.... and even COLDER than this morning....

19:15
Uwe is already there.....
I've known this man for about 35 years now..... and we're still good friends....  three hours pass too quickly with eating, drinking, talking, joking, laughing.

We agree that the time quickly approaches when we will have these irregular get-togethers equipped with walking canes and Ear Trumpets.

10:00