Happy Reunification Day, Viet Nam !!!

Today is a very special day....

.....proud and hard-fought-for memories for some:

....a black day in the history books for others:

Guess whose side I am on:

45 years ago today, the People's Army of Vietnam finally ended decades and decades and decades of foreign rule by various foreign powers (China, France, Japan, France, USA) by liberating Saigon....

Just last night I was talking to people about what this country would be like if The Other Side had won...... we all agreed that we would not want to be here if that were the case......

Cam on rat nhieu, Viet Nam !  (I am actually shedding 'patriotic tears' while writing this)

Has it been 7 months already since the last post ? Pictures.... 2.9.2019 - 9.9.2019

Good Morning, VIETNAM !

Construction site visit.... (hard to imagine now)

might as well ENJOY it !

Mr. Gorgeous at Muoi's birthday

show some leg !

SHIT..... yet another gorgeous sunrise !

burning construction rubbis

things to come ....  like windows....

WHAT happened to my BROWN eyes ????

no words necessary ....

Chez Kraut (VIII-IX) Wine on a lobster float, "Your Momma!", ich ky people & hope

4:00
I can't go back to sleep.... to many things running around my head ....

6:30

Choi shows up.... we're going to feed Lobsters?  No-one told me about that !

7:30
pictures, wine

10:15
Fabian comes over....

and it's PHI walking by... OMG, I'm so happy to see him...he works in DaLat now.... I tell him that I'll be back in the house by 15:00

11:00

12:00

14:00
Dit me may...... You' Momma


16:45

I'm JUST about to fall asleep when I hear "Han, what you name?"... It's Choi after the wedding... His neighbour shows up too ... and Tobias & Fabian... 2 more bottles.... Lap Soi shows up from the construction site with two buddies ... I invite them.... Choi's buddy un-invites them..... NO NO NO... must do better tomorrow at the construction site and must NOT allow some guests to rule my house.... and need to stand up to my neighbours who use part of my land but can't even lend me a few chairs and even worse demand some back in a snotty voice .....

"Where are our chairs?" Tina grunts !

19:00
Tam @ Bobby's .... we speak Vietnamese without the telephone... Thanh still wants to build my lamps ;-)   .... I am SO much happier speaking to the Vietnamese in general and to Tam's family in particular than speaking to ANY Germans..... 

I am doing the right thing by learning Vietnamese the fast way !  Westerners are FLAKES!

21:00
I need sleep!

6:00
The dark rings under my eyes have assumed scary dimensions.... and I haven't answered any e-mails from the West for two weeks.....  I will try to have a very quiet day today...

7:00
Vancouver is blanketed in snow..... and Zu looks like someone out of Doctor Zhivago !

I'm still PISSED OFF at my neighbours' selfishness and inconsiderate behaviour..... the chair issue....  I really should start adding plants on my land and maybe even on their way to their toilet.

8:15

I'm behind on my schedule.... the bank closes at 11:00 .... and I need more money....

9:30

the weather is turning grayer .....

..... I can wait until tomorrow with my bank run.... and Fabian can take his own bike..... time to not let myself be pulled over the table anymore.....

10:30

Lisa surprises me... without her wife and her wife's family she is still the reasonable and even sweet person of before..... good to know !

trying to nap.... Aila wakes me

11:00

More issues with Lisa's wife.... she is like a Vancouver battle dyke who famously don't get along with Vancouver Gays.... 

...but maybe it's only a matter of communication... I sincerely hopes she learns it fast ....

PayPal is not working to donate to the BlueDragonFoundation.... WTF?

12:00 

trying to nap ... Gerda wakes me

What is it with All the lonely people....?

14:30

Wow!  Sleepy.....

Fabian is leaving...... but he booked a return flight for April, LOL.

16:00

17:00

I walk over to Bobby's and then to the old hotel..... just to meet Tin again..... he is SO NICE.... After I mention "qua nhieu nguoi Duc" he says "Germans never talk to each other.... they always sit alone... if it was Vietnamese they would touch and drink and laugh".... NOW he understands why I prefer to hang out with Vietnamese people ;-)

Bobby's is brimming with boring Westerners... but Tin & Tam are coming to nha toi tonight....

19:30

They are still not here..... and I'm tired.... frustrating!.... I foster a plan to LEAVE here on Wednesday....

19:35
Tam arrives while Tin takes a lot longer and has to leave early because of work.  Tam is guzzling....

... issues at the old hotel.... and WHAT is she saying?.... Phap will come visit me for 2 days during Tet..... "to play"....Oh Oh .... 

21:30
I conclude the evening with Conny, the birthday woman.... 

23:00

Moving in the WRONG direction: UIH - SGN - TPE - YVR

2:30
That's it....I just can't sleep any more.... yes, I'm dead tired.... but too much going on in my head.... too many young gorgeous Vietnamese men are robbing me of my sleep..... I wish, LOL.

4:15
A call to Grandmother.... she sounds chipper

An e-mail from Alan.... he might be in Quy Nhon for a conference in July !


a 15 minute nap...

5:45
Martin & Theresa show up on my terrace...... I could sit and chat with them all day..... but I MUST leave...... ;-( 

The taxi is not there at 6:14.... the German in me awakes, I call and wake Lisa.... but the taxi shows up at 6:15....

I nap a bit during the drive....I wake up and have to pee..... Khong nhan lenh, nhung dung xe oto boi vi toi muon di o ngoai va sssshhhh

8:30
My flight is delayed.... boarding is delayed by 45 minutes??? I could have slept longer !

A thought enters my head....screw it all and just stay here ?......life would be so much simpler and more pleasant...... but Grandma would be sad..... and that German sense of duty still prevails.... this time at least....

I sleep through half the flight, even though the seat pitch of short-distance Vietnam Airlines flights is not really conducive to sleeping...

The 152 bus shows up just when I exit the building..... good luck.... but I make the mistake of sitting by the window, right under the A/C outlet.... must take the aisle seat next time..... because it's the 152, I get to walk the entirety of Bui Vien.... and I'm revolted.... I haven't seen that many stupid white people in 3 weeks (with the exception of the flaky lady at Lisa's place)..... 

One-eyed Tay is there... he understands my toi nay uong ruou only the second time I say it but he grins from ear to ear jumps towards me and shakes both my hands....

I have to ask Huyen for help when the new receptionist can't find my BAG..... 

I also wait for 40 mins for my room....when I come up, blonde cutie is still cleaning but I only leave my stuff.... and he even asks an com chua?

Oh, I forgot to pack most of my shirts...... SHITE..... must see whether Coopmart has any decent ones...

17:00

coopmart for wine & shirt and shorts

19:00
uong ruou voi Thay for a short while

but I finish more than a bottle with Quoc.....

Quoc at work ....

.... and he is nice.... to finish the evening he says "hom nay toi vui boi vi toi da uong voi ban"..... Thank you and chuc ngu ngon at 21:00!  I fucking love this country and its people but I'm leaving it tomorrow.....  WHY ????

21:45
I didn't take my shirts and I didn't take my book.... I never expected to travel TOO lightly one day!

6:00

putter putter putter....more sink laundry... let's hope it'll be dry by departure time!

9:00
OK, so I've just paid for four nights (now and in January) in my triple bed penthouse in the centre of Saigon.... sounds expensive?   Nope, the TOTAL came to US$ 100 

Time to buy my January flight back to the beach..... OH NO.... the IWOFLY site is just not up to par .... they don't ask for a billing address for the credit card.... I'm sure that's going to backfire.... payment declined AND credit card blocked.... I know the paranoid Canadian CC system by now...

Nope.... it actually worked.....

11:00
putter putter putter

12:00
shit, time flies....I buy some smokes for around here.... do I really still want to eat Bun Cha ? Or should I eat at the airport ?

I decide to eat Bun Cha... but 5 minutes before the place opens, the line-up is already SO HUGE that I go back to the hotel..... bloody FOODIES have taken over my regular restaurant ;-(

I check out Lisa's bungalow on TripAdvisor & Booking.com & Google.....1st of all:  she is SOLD OUT today......
and the 9 ratings she has received already are all 10/10 or 5/5 or whatever.....

Chapeau!

13:00
Echt jetzt????

14:00
OK, on y va.....


15:30
Pandemonium at the check-in counter.... WHAT exactly are Vietnamese expats taking to the US in those HUGE boxes..... the 4 people 2 spots in front would actually have forgotten to check in the luggage on their 4th cart if we hadn't reminded them....
I finally make it to the front of the line and I get an aisle seats for both flights ;-)

16:00
Still sitting outside in the balmy Saigon afternoon air....

eating a pain-au-chocolate with Larue beer, I get another e-mail:  James' friend made it to My Beach following my list of Vietnam Good Spots.... he is hanging out at Bobby's and apparently the Swedes have been gossiping about me already ;-)

17:10
the official boarding time..... but the plane is still being loaded..... it's amazing how much SHIT people take on a plane..... let's hope the plane isn't going to be exceedingly late again and that they leave my backpack in Taipei again...


23:00 Taiwan Time
TPE is going to the dogs.... first we have to circle for 15 minutes because of heavy traffic.... then I find that they closed the smoking lounge closest to my gate.... I finally find another one.... and find that the airport Wifi is almost non functional.... 
At least they managed to open many new Duty-Free stores and are still remodeling to open more....

The plane leaves on time..... and I manage to fall asleep

18:00
Easy immigration, Easy customs, Easy taxi ride (it's Sunday) and I have the driver put in a stop at the liquor store.... no point in being thirsty early tomorrow morning....

The Christmas shock is overwhelming.... Stupid snow-white LED lights on all the trees.... stores packed with useless Christmas-red-and-green CRAP.....people eating at Denny's with full red shopping bags and they're even wearing mini Santa Claus hats.... 

Denny's Food: it tastes about as yucky as it looks ;-(

21:00
Let's try to sleep...  thoughts of Pretty Boy (I almost wish Tam hadn't told me) almost prevent that...

22:15
Awake again.....  
I realize that I don't have any spoons in my room.... HOW am I going to eat my take-out left-overs.... Rainbow at Reception informs me "NOT AVAILABLE".... CHEAP BASTARDS....!   I get some take-out cutlery at Denny's.... Good thing I'm living just around the corner ;-)