just a train of thought (actually an email) describing my present state of mind

 

OMG......everything is going SO frigging swimmingly right now......

tomorrow I am going to Monkey Town.....I am TOO frigging HUNGRY here in my village....

 

and last time I was in Phnom Penh, I tipped the hotel reception desk people a few US$ because they actually got me the best room in the hotel.....

I booked that hotel room again for February 15......  and wrote:

If possible, I would LOVE to have room 1003 again ;-) Arkoun !!! .. (Teşekkürler in Khmer ;-)

and this is the reply I got ....

Hi yes, we've placed a strong request over your previous room, you'll be sure to get it when you come by!

I replied:

អរគុណច្រើន .... I wish you a happy day ;-)

Over here....on this planet......if you treat people nicely; and with proper respect; if you are KIND to people.........they WILL make the sun rise for you..and brighten your day....which unfortunately no longer works in the West........needless to say........

 

 I am HAPPY HERE....

La Vie en Rose .... Ha Noi Day 3: Ha Long Bay

Early December 2020....In the middle of COVID.....a new LOVE, by now 2 years in the running.....HIS first time in a plane....when checking in at the airport, I insisted on a window seat for 'the kid'......he is 28 at this time but I get so much happiness from watching his eyes go SO WIDE when the plane leaves the ground.

N.B. FINALLY finishing this post 4 years after the fact......I'm thinking about the lyrics of Hozier's cover of Van Morrison's SWEET THING ..."I will never be so OLD again....I will never be so COLD again"....  I have changed ;-) THANK GOD.....the friendliness of the Vietnamese allowed me to change (that is the secondary title of this blog:  sự thân thiện của nguoi Viet Nam cho phép tôi thay đổi  ;-)

The 25 year old RETARDS working for Blogger have their algorithms WRONG....Upload pictures and they show up in the opposite order.....SO...... you will have to read THIS post starting at the VERY BOTTOM....and then scroll upward ;-)

 /start reading at the VERY BOTTOM and proceed UPWARD/

23:00

sleep

 

21:00

We're back in Hanoi......Walking around the Old Quarter because he's hungry....  we finally find a place....chicken legs .....beautifully marinated and grilled..... he's constantly texting..... GREAT JOY ;-(NOT).... (our very first tiny tiff)....    ah well....4 years later I can only smile about it...

 

19:00 He orders the bus in Ha Long.....he is Good at that but I don't want to drink beer on the bus because I don't want have to PEE during the bus ride... but once we reach Ha Noi.....I RACE towards the LOO at the Ha Noi Hilton Hotel ;-)

Yours' are the kindest eyes I've ever seen

I thought that was the day before ...?!

stalactites ;-)

His idea to paddle through here.....is this MAGICAL or what ???!!!

There is a boat where you get rowed around.....NO...we take the Kayak....Phap's very first time in a Kayak

Here we go....Ha Long ..... My third time....but HIS first time ;-)

The single reason I came to travel to Viet Nam for the first time in 2015. Still MAGICAL ;-)

GORGEOUS (both him and the background ;-)

COVID times....out of 300 tourist boats...only 2 or 3 are running ....

after 3 hours delayed departure (not enough tourists)....finally on a boat

OMG...I looked so much OLDER 4 years ago than I do today !!!

waiting for a boat....

 we made it to Ha Long City by 10 am

a long bus ride through unfriendly territory ...... Phap arranged it well ;-)

It is COLD in Hanoi....(13 degrees C?)

The Beach-Bitch likes Verdi

PLAY THIS WHILE READING:

 

It was cold this morning.....my feet were cold.....23 degrees Celsius.

.....I can no longer live in the WEST.

13:00 hours....I'm finally fully awake..... sitting on my terrace....blasting Pavarotti singing 'La Donna e mobile' at full power  (how many women sing along with this song without understanding what the lyrics actually mean?)

The Beach-Bitch (inside joke: Vietnamese can not pronounce BEACH...they always say BITCH).....(We are talking about a female dog) shows up and lies down in front of me.

Usually the dog shows up to see whether there is food from me for her. And usually she leaves quickly after realizing that there is no food.

But this time she stays.......Pavarotti is singing.....I am singing along......she is closing her eyes and sleeps.....the dog seems to LOVE IT (how many Vietnamese dogs have ever heard Verdi ???)

One of those moments that make life SPECIAL....

Lest we forget ....it is IN THE EYES

 Most people will be forgotten QUICKLY....even during their lifetimes......because there is NOTHING memorable about them..... (another life wasted :-(

...but SOME people will live in our memories forever....the SPECIAL people....those who CARE about others....and who care about their own people......

Long dead, they are still LOVED and CHERISHED by their peoples...... Honest and hard-working people.....

What else do they all have in common????

Che

Uncle Ho ....Ho Chi Minh

Atatürk Kemal Pascha

Gandhi

Fidel Castro

Bhumibol of Thailand

Anwar el Sadat of Egypt

 you can SEE it in their EYES

 And as Peter Gabriel beautifully sang in this song 

I'd rather trust a countryman than a townman
You can judge by his eyes, take a look if you can
He'll smile through his guard, survival trains hard
I'd rather trust a man who works with his hands
He looks at you once, you know he understands
Don't need any shield, when you're out in the field

 

Stay away from the Zombies with the phony eyes and phony smiles !!!!

It is TIME..... time to revive this blog

February 10, 2013........Chinese New Year .....The start of the Year of the Snake....that was the first post on this blog

.... Thank you, Yiman, for telling me about this....because I am a Snake.....

Place mat in a Chinese restaurant in Gibsons

A snake postage stamp on my Grouse Inn door in 2013

.. ..I wore something RED EVERY day for a whole fucking year....to remind me every day that I am not allowed to be lazy or to procrastinate........ONE WHOLE YEAR of living life to the FULLEST !

Chinese New Year's Parade in Vancouver in 2013

..and it was the best year of my life.....and at the end of the year, I thought.....WHY should I STOP?.....because this was SO MUCH fun ..... and then I just refused to stop .....otherwise I would NOT have ended up where I am now.

In addition, 12 years ago, I followed the example of Alan, my foremost Ferry Consultant, to write a BLOG about a SPECIAL year in my life.....

You can do the math.......every 12 years........it is time again for yet ANOTHER Year of the Snake.....

The coming Year of the Snake will start on January 29th, 2025..... but my gut feeling tells me that it already started EARLY ;-)

However......instead of turning 48 years old during that previous Year of the Snake, I will be turning 60 years old....and  that is a BIG difference, which I can feel in my aching body every morning.....

I don't want to think about the one after that, because I can't imagine myself at 72 years of age.....

 But I am prepared for this one......the same watch ends I was wearing 12 years ago ...

...and some new SNAKE underwear from Amazon

that Eda was very KIND to mail from Canada to Viet Nam.  

 

I AM READY......  bring it ON <GRIN>

Chúc mừng Ngày Quốc Khánh Việt Nam

 

 I feel privileged and honored to be allowed to live in this country with these amazing people !!!

And YES, there is a personal connection here  ;-)

..... and I cry when thinking about the high price Millions of Vietnamese had to pay for that freedom......

FUCK 'You know Who'  (U.K.W. ?  U.O.H?......U.W.A.?.....oh no, I just remembered.......  ;-)

Lest we forget......

 

On this day (August 6) in 1945 the US dropped an atomic bomb on a city of 300,000 CIVILIANS (Hiroshima)......

and in the last 79 years nothing really has changed......

SHAME....