4:00
At first slightly depressed/worried....but no panic attack today.... seeing his face last night prevented that....
4:30
After a coffee and a glass of wine...... let's get stuff done....
5:00
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already tipsy again.....
nap
6:30
8:00
I waddle over to Lisa's......her Hanoi cousins and Quang are there.....awkward...
A lovey message to Phap.... seeing your face is like watching the sunrise in VH..... no lam toi hanh phuc.
9:45
nap
10:30
Of course Tuan doesn't show up for Papaya Pancakes...... bla bla bla.....
11:00
buy 8 bottles of wine....I assure her that she can buy more....if I have to leave I will buy it and store it in the house....
I start cooking chua ngot....
Monkey calls and says his brother will be here at noon.....
12:20
Of course NOT.....
13:15
Monkey AND Brother......
Bobby texts...: Are you going to send Monkey to the bank today?
HELL NO
I make a Papaya Pancake for Toan and he doesn't appreciate it...
15:30
Monkey & Brother leave....I'm not too sad to see Toan leave .... he funny when he is drunk but he's not growing up....
17:30... a lovey message from Phap....OMFG.....
an early night
sleep
2:30
AWAKE....might as well have coffee.....I can hear and smell Nhat making his fish cakes....
and then it hits....
it's SEPTEMBER !....with all the issues that it will bring.... and I so CRAVE to hug him....
"Who am I if not seen through your eyes"
5:00
nap naked after having a whole bottle for breakfast....
6:00
start cleaning the house
8:00
Chat with Lisa and Tina......Hoa's daughter is cleaning for them now....
8:45
The Monkey calls......"Do you have enough food for 2 days?".....He's going to be gone for 2 days to Binh Dinh... and he will bring me another ripe DuDu .....I remember to take his helmet from my scooter....
9:15
DRUNK.....need another nap....
10:15
JUST woke up when the Monkey shows up.....OMFG.....Tuan was right.....we ARE so alike and get along SO well....
11:05
Monkey leaves...
12:00
my water pump doesn't work....I whine at Lisa's ....when we see Thanh on my property....
Together we fix the pump (mostly him, of course...).....then he points out the dolphin in the bay..... I call Lisa; she changes into her bikini and we go swimming with the dolphin.....but it's not normal...probably sick....just keeps pacing back and forth.....closer and closer to the shore....
Thanh searches the internet...... 2 days ago there was a dead dolphin in Tuy Hoa....Yesterday a dead dolphin in Bai Xep..... I'm afraid we'll have one tomorrow.....
The Vietnamese don't eat dolphins and whales.... the Buddhist monks give them a burial on the beach with all the music and flags they can muster...... NEVER stop learning !
naps
19:15
Phap was on Zalo 15 minutes ago....but hasn't sent any reply to my LOVING message of last night....all his messages have disappeared.... FUCK YOU !
19:30
The Monkey calls from WAY NORTH of Quy Nhon.... almost in Sa Huyn....it took him 5 hours to take the bus there..... and he has intestinal pain on the right side.....better not be the appendix..... talking to him reminds me what Phap should be like..... getting ready to dump him (again ;-).
20:15
I'm sick of it..... Unless he comes up with something SPECIAL, he will be history....he might not even get a dumping notice...I might just ignore him..... I am ANGRY again....
21:00
4 bottles of wine today.....time to sleep....and time to change my life....
21:30
pass out
22:30
a message ....sleep well Han......GRRRR
sleep
4:00
putter putter putter
An email..... I can register to get my Booster Shot in Canada....
6:00
Thanh walks to the beach and checks whether I'm there..... go swimming he motions.....OK ;-)
Shit, what a hot little body.... we pick up plastic bags from the ocean floor...
6:45
Chat with Lisa.....
7:15.....
buy some more wine....only one bottle....I tell them to buy MORE.... now I actually have to go to Song Cau to get wine and Marlboro there.....
12:00
back at home.......3 hairdressers are CLOSED today.....stupid holiday
Just when I'm starting to feel down .....the Monkey calls and cheers me up...... he'll be back tomorrow afternoon....
nap
14:34
Lisa calls......let's go......
16:00
The CUTIE with his future wife shows up and keeps looking into my eyes...OH NO.....Another one stepped into the honey trap and he will marry the brown-haired girl with the bad lipstick next month........and he doesn't stop looking in my eyes and smiling......SHIT....SO SAD.....people are so stupid and I have to be OUT OUT OUT to show them the alternative.....
back at home
a beer with Tu
nap
The Monkey calls.....I tell him about the cutie and the pregnant wife....and Monkey says...he is saying Help Help Help......how can a 17 year old be so smart?......Maybe I helped a little....but then he says "you only have two hands"...... I am LUCKY to have Monkey in my life....
21:00
Nothing from Phap.....he's going to be blocked soon......
drunk pass out
4:00
coffee and get drunk
nap
6:15
get up.....
hai tre trau come to ask for cigarettes.... mua di.....khong co tien....ok..... mot buoi sang tot lanh.... WTF...everything in Vietnamese.....?!?!
7:00
breakfast with Lisa & family
7:15
Eda does not answer.....
I can hear Denise but she can't hear me .....
she sends an email that Hans is in pain....maybe talk tomorrow, she says
10:00
The Monkey calls.....can you pick me up at the Big Mango Tree?......I ride out...and pick him up....
haircut....but neither of us has enough money..... doesn't matter
hang out at my house
13:00
Anh Chin calls.....Co Tam is at his restaurant.....
and there is 7 and 8 and 9..... I drink beer with them and the Monkey.....Co 7 looks fiendishly smart.....like Binh....and she is the one who asks whether I have met my lover again recently .....OH SHIT they ALL know..... and they don't care a bit.....as long as my lover produces a baby.....
I drive to the haircut place.....it's not Phuong or 7Huong but Thuong..... and drop the Monkey off at home and pet my very pregnant dog.....
17:00
back at home....with an appointment to drink more beer with husband of Co Bay at 19:00....Lisa is supposed to be back from Song Cau at 19:00 too...she wants to meet Tam.
nap
18:30
wake up, brush teeth, and stumble over there
7 is still asleep.....but I drink 3 bottles of beer, have dinner with (my?) family.....and hopefully make a good impression on all the aunts and uncles.....
20:45
they want me to drink more but I say "SAY va se VE" and thank them for their hospitality and the food....and I stumble home....
sleep
4:00
Call Hans, call Eda
ANGRY at Phap....he will never learn....
Call Eda again....I'm about to dump him.....
Monkey comes and goes and comes again
sept 6
We hear drums.... lion dance....I walk barefoot without a shirt to find the drummers.....walk by Binh and say "Chao buoi toi" in a sarcastic voice.....I ask the villagers ....bum bum bum o dau....I find them when they are just leaving.....Like the Pied Piper of Hamelin....I am followed home by an entourage of children dressed in Monkey and Pig costumes...... and then there is another Lion Dance.....
<pics>
20:00
I text him....if you want to meet me, tell me soon, otherwise I will di choi o Sai Gon.
an almost instant reply..... I will come on Thursday, do you have time?"
"I always have time for Phap"
"Will you stay at Hong Hai Hotel?"
Why don't you want to come to VH?"
"don't have a scooter".....
I video call him......
We will meet on Thursday 2 pm in room 406....
sleep
Rain in the morning.....
drunk...talking to Lisa.....
I confirmed the hotel in Saigon from Friday to Monday
Booked the flight from Tuy Hoa for Friday.... maybe meet Phuong but mostly I am hungry and I don't want to live close to Phap if he doesn't have time for me.....
11;45
drunk.....crying with a sad song..."love is a crazy game".... need to sleep.....
nap
13:15
<TIME WARP>
and as of August 2026 (4 years later), I don't remember what else happened on that day 4 long years ago ....the kid is almost 4 years old now; the wife is long gone; and Phap will come visit me tonight....... A lesson learned....don't fret too much about current problems; Everything is always changing....
