...... Tuy Hoa ..... Phap DRAMA & love .....Sala luxury

 0:05 ....Awake.... just after midnight ....

it's ugly outside.....and it looks like there is a lake in front of my house ....

An email..... my 6:50 am flight on Saturday the 22nd was changed to 16:50 ....that will not do.....

0:30

I've called GotoGate (of course they have to be in Canada) and requested a cancellation and refund for that changed flight...

4:00

A knock on the door ...... 9 1/2 is back

No kissing this time...even though I brushed my teeth

he comes huge loads !

I doze off while he watches the same routine: music, soccer, kickboxing, bonsai ....

5:00

He's off, asking for money for breakfast, 90 is not enough apparently, I give him 500 (that's only CAD25) and say "ve di, qua dat tien "......but then he has to justify his homo experiences as earning income....

Whatever... I need to get some more sleep before today's trip to Tuy Hoa

nap

6:20

smile on my face ;-)

high tide means dirty beach

7:15

Talk to Eda for a long time..... her life is so much more complicated than mine....

8:00

Talk to Andrea for a long time...

deer in her garden

.. she agrees..... as we get older, priorities have to change ..... she even approves of the fisherman ;-)

9:00

What now ? .....

putter putter putter

nap again

10:45

It is still UGLY outside.....

I try to call My .... but no answer

11:00

My calls back.....  I'll take the taxi at 14:00.... no point in torturing myself by riding through the rain for 2 hours on a scooter....

12:00

I've booked my ticket to Phnom Penh with IwoFly..... seems to work.....

12:30

No wine at the Blue Umbrella Store....but I buy 500k in phone minutes.....

12:45

Candy drops by for cheese and ham ;-)

12:50

A Zalo message from Thanh VH... "Helo"..... 

I make a drinking date with him for October 25.

hihihi.....I'm going to have a Harem ;-)

13:45

Time to get my act together and get going !

15:45

Tuy Hoa: Poor My had to drive for almost 2 hours to get us here because the road is so bad......he refuses extra pay.... but he gets a free lunch..... unfortunately the Bun Cha place was closed again.....so it has to be Pizza Bob....

16:15

I'm set up in my room while I'm typing this.....

16:45

I want to go to the store.....but I am SO TIRED..... even though I slept in the car......

nap

18:15

more Phap messages.....he will be here tomorrow afternoon....

18:30

Store.....grapes, spoons, yogurt.....

Watch Sissi on Netflix

20:30

SO TIRED .....

but I keep drinking and watching Sissi ;-)

22:00

Time to hit the bed....

5:00

still TIRED..and it's cold in the room....and I have to wait maybe all day ?.... dark thoughts are coming back .....

6:00

The new Viet visa is still processing.....slow this time....

6:30

I better have another nap before I get too drunk .... my phone bings...... pictures of the mail from Eda....I forgot about her.....

doze

8:00

I finally feel well rested....

5 year GIC rates are at 4.70% .....holy shit....

Shave, shower.....and I'm starting to get ANGRY again 

9:50

I call Eda......WHY should I NOT dump him?

She's trying to talk me down.....

10:00

A Zalo message to Phap...... Afternoon is WHAT TIME?

Bun Cha  ;-)

12:15

I call Eda again.....because I am FURIOUS......

13:15

The only reason he doesn't get a nasty mail is because he hasn't used Zalo since yesterday..... probably left his phone in Sai Gon......

nap

14:30

I walk to the beach......

I DO send another message:  Phap sap tat Han (Phap is about to lose Han) ....and yes, I am a Drama Queen

15:00

I'm sweating from the sun

15:45

And I go crazy.....I book the panorama suite at Sala for 2 nights..... I'm going to leave here..... let Phap be freaked for a change.....

16:00

Drunk and checking out and moving to Sala Grand .....

the Welcome Tea

the view from the balcony of the corner suite

I haven't even unpacked my laptop yet.....when the phone rings.... it's a WORRIED looking Phap in front of the Hong Hai wood paneling..... "WHERE ARE YOU NOW?"

One look at that puppy face and I tell him where I am.... he walks over (15 mins)....and everything is fine again....

Room service brings a complimentary bottle of wine? 

 really?

we talk on the balcony....he says "I sorry"....I'm just HAPPY to see him.... his parents didn't give him a motorbike....it took him an hour to take the bus from his village to here.....barely 25km away....

18:30

Pizza Bob with Phap..... I'm sad I didn't bring my phone... the fountains are executing the most beautifully choreographed dances while there is classical music playing .....and the people are enjoying their city..... what a contrast to Canada ...

6:00  techtelmechtel.....as usual he doesn't get off .... morning is not his time

7:45

OMG, I slept a lot... and OMG, does he look SEXY sleeping 

emails from EDA.....OMFG she cleaned Grandma's bathroom and the bedroom and organized the rooms ....

WHAT TF is it with people who want TWO sinks.....can't brush your teeth over ONE sink ???

10:00

We sit on the balcony looking at the ocean, when the maid sticks her head onto the balcony ... I exclaim "khong don dep !"... and she leaves

I figure out how to turn on the red light outside the front door.....it's a switch above the thermostat....I set the light to do not disturb....

10:00

Bun Cha with Phap

holding hands, nuzzling, pecking..... with another session (he likes that one ;-) (and while we cuddle in post-climactic bliss, the phone rings...it's the maid again wanting to clean the room)...

But after a while it gets boring.... he doesn't want to do anything.... he's happy just holding hands and watching TV..... maybe I'm too high-strung for that ?

15:00

He leaves....not without asking for 5 trieu to pay off some remaining debt.... disappointment....  but hey... that's what I paid for my luxury room

15:30

A taxi trip to Coop.mart..... Maybe the driver REALLY doesn't know where coop.mart is but when I get out my cell phone, keep looking left, and say "Nguoi Tay biet coop.mart o dau" he quickly says Xin Loi and starts driving in the right direction.... and at coop.mart he charges less than the meter says and waits for free.....they do that here....because they wait all day ... it doesn't occur to them that they could charge for that....

16:30

I can't decide on my room in Phnom Penh.... Ohana for US$ 117 or Luxury for $236 ?  My world has shifted.....those $236 are for 3 nights..... In Vancouver I wouldn't get a room for one night for that money.

I finally have time to take pictures.....

17:00

OK....I'm taking the Penthouse .... (in retrospect: St00pid ;-)

18:30

Vietjet online check in says "this reservation code does not exist or has not been paid yet"..... OH FUCK....I find the confirmation email that I paid .....

18:45

I head down to the lobby....  Despite the advertising on the room key card, there is NO shuttle bus to the airport..... IDIOTS....

19:10

I head out for walk, with my phone, in the hope of catching the fountain magic I witnessed yesterday.... but it's not happening tonight..

.. maybe because it is a school night ?

21:30    I can't sleep .... too many things happening..... OMFG.... I am truly LIVING my life ....

Weekend Getaway .... Imperial Space Prison.... 69 Pub... getting wet .... Monkey food ....

 3:00

might as well get up.... and have coffee.... Duolingo.....

4:30

tipsy and try to nap.....

doze

5:30

A message to Phap "Ngu Ngon, tinh yeu toi"

6:45

Andrea calls..... I am stupid enough to call her back to save her money.....why do I always have to do this....that just cost me $5....  

I get to hear about her inheritance affair.... and I know that she owns 2 houses..... I have to stop doing this....

Eda texts...... I'm tired and hopefully not too grumpy when I talk to her

NAP

huuh....hopefully I'll be less grumpy now....

8:30

Starving.... a small Papaya Pancake..... some pain in my right chest

9:30

A G&T and I'm starting to pack....of course, I pack too much, but I'm only taking ONE backpack today ;-)

10:30

OMFG....WHAT is THAT....the clear water is filled MYRIADS of what looks like TINY underwater bees..... they don't seem to sting.... but what ARE they?

Shower....some wine.....

11:15

I want to GO NOW ....

Getting more and more drunk...

12:00

I'm at the Monkey's house...... their other dog barks madly at me, but my former dog comes running out and nuzzles...... LOVE !

Off we go...... gasoline....the weather is nice, so only one smoke stop along the detour bay....I drive the whole way...... Haven...... Pina Coladas and Calamari, Chicken Wings (not that great today), and Fries....

FLC Sea Tower calls..... in Vietnamese only....

Monkey first tells him we'll be there at 16:00.... I tell him... "Call him back, we'll be there at 14:30. I'm NOT willing to wait".

The apartment is weird.....maybe just because the view from the Can HO is so depressing....

...but no, also because the owners of the Condo put no taste or effort into it..... Monkey parked the scooter and I go down to get the wine....and take some pictures of the interior of this place.....

I am in an Imperial Space Prison !   

Darth Vader can't be far !

A look at the ocean......these Condos are sold as "ocean view".....see those empty building lots down below...

. not for long..... same BS SCAM as in Vancouver ....

nap

17:00 nothing from Quy.... I'm starting to be in a lousy mood... I text him..... he texts back 18:30 at Ba Beo.... I have to kickstart the Monkey to get there on time...

... we miss it and drive past it.....because it's closed..... Quy suggests a Pho place down the street ... I get even crankier because the food is mediocre and there is no beer......  we follow Quy to a grocery store....I buy 5 packs of Marlboro ... then coopmart while he gets his phone charger ...   NO Vang Dalat ! ..... getting crankier and crankier..... we follow him and I still don't know whether we are driving to the BAR or the PARK...... the beach avenue....towards our hotel..... he turns into our hotel street...and again towards the entrance.... but overshoots by 50 meters...... 

69 Pub?  The pothead hangout?

Right next to our hotel ? 

With amazing live music ?

a

The rest of the evening is a bliss..... I really have to work on not getting my foul moods get to me...

22:45 I stumble home

23:00

sleep

5:00

Monkey's alarm clock goes off AGAIN..... "Turn that FUCKING thing OFF".....of course he only mutes it..... 

I have my wine breakfast..... it's still ringing at 6:00....so I set my alarm and let it ring.... 

doesn't help ....he only mutes it again....

And I wonder where my foul moods come from...

8:45

Monkey calls the room rental guy.....we can just leave the key in the room and leave.....

OK....start packing.....

9:30

Leave for Big C....now called GO! it is Sunday and it is absolute Madness..... MUA DI, MUA DI is what the relentless music blaring from the speakers seems to suggest..... and entire families with babies seem to do exactly that..... they can't imagine a life without their boring and stressful work, so they can't even imagine the thought that saving money today would save them from having to go back to work tomorrow.... so they SPEND .... Capitalist Consumerism in Socialist Vietnam.... it's disgusting....

We get our shopping done and apparently both of us just want to get OUT OF THERE, we forget our backpacks on the 3rd floor ;-)

Ride to Haven for 'breakfast'...

.. the food isn't that great today.... and from the terrace we can see DARK clouds in the direction where we have to travel..... 

The Monkey pushes me over the tricky tight edge between Life's a Beach and Haven ..... Then some weird yellow tanker/sewage truck blocks the tight village road for 4 minutes.... FINALLY, there is space and I gun it up to the highway....the scooter is fast today...... Looking left along the highway to assess traffic, I notice something ... a lack of something.... The Monkey is NOT behind me .... my first thought is that he fell off when I accelerated past the tanker truck ....OH NO ....I put the kickstand down and start walking around the bend and look down the hill ....there....way in the distance I see him.... and he is NOT limping !!!

The Drizzle starts before the gas station at the top of the hill..... we make it to the end of the village at the bottom and we can SEE the RAIN ahead..... I turn off the road at the scooter dealership....

We end up in the scooter parkade of the local market.....

a

a

We could sit here for hours waiting for the rain to stop......but the forecast called for worse and worse weather today..... so I put on the $ 0.50 rain coat......

I'm not so worried about me, but about the computer in my backpack.....

I tell the Monkey to leave the beautiful baguettes with the old poor woman.  Soggy baguette is no culinary fun.  He splits the two bags between her and the old guy that was lying in his hammock while we were there.

We drive out of the sheltering bike parkade towards the highway..... 

The Monkey says LEFT..... to the village by the bridge to buy more rain jackets...... I INSIST we go right to the village we're still in.   And after 300 meters we find a store with NICE raincoats.....they are making a KILLING right now...... I buy three nice raincoats for a total of 110k (120k with a volume discount), leave the cheap one (the owner's one-armed husband right away picks it up), and fashion a protective bag for my backpack out of one of them.

And head out into the rain....much better now with the new rain gear ...... 

the rain subsides after the village before the little bridge .....it is dry after that .....

12:00

Home..... we're sitting outside.... and WHAT is THAT?..... it's Mathias (I'd spotted him earlier at his new hotel ) stomping along the beach.... I haven't seen him in a long while..... and now I can see his BREASTS from 40 meters away !

Welcome back, I call out.... I don't think he gets the sarcasm....

15:00

I've returned from driving The Monkey home.....

16:45

Is that Binh JOGGING?.... OMG it is.....

17:00

The Monkey and his Mother and the little twerp.....  Bringing me enough fried veggie rice and spring rolls for 4.    And I've JUST had a Papaya Pancake....   I eat one portion and freeze 3.

17:30

SO tired.....still didn't get to my nap.....

18:00

Monkey comes over again

I need to nap

he wakes me at 18:45

19:15

Phap video calls again....  for almost 10 mins?..... When I hang up, the Monkey is walking away..... let's hope he's not pouting again....but then he did have to go home for dinner....

19:45

What now?

I send the Bar video and the raincoat picture to Phap..... 

he hearts the raincoat picture ;-()

20:30

running out of steam....

no sleep yet...need to blow off some steam....

21:30

No reply from The Monkey?......he better not be pouting again ....

1.5 bottles since I returned home..... I better get to sleep soon....