16 May 2005 Monday

I am counting my last days in this beautiful country. Everything feels slower now, maybe it's a conscious effort to slow things down.

I am in Saigon now. Just had a really solid bowl of Beef Noodles (Pho Bo). Best i have tried in Vietnam so far. Was leaning back in the sticky plastic chair (no need to loosen button on my pants now...i have lost weight since i began on this trip and my FITTED-JUST-NICELY_AROUND-MY-WAIST pants are now just hanging loose. chill.

One of the most fascinating street icon in vietnam then approached me while i sat there heaving satisfied sighs.

Street Vendors peddling all sorts of wares (usually strapped around them or pinned to giant cardboards that are hanging from their neck) are a constant sight in this country. Chopped up pineapples and other tropical fruits, beads and other accesories, whispered breathes selling ganja, women promising erotic sexual pleasures..the list goes on and on.

But the most fascinating ones, to me, has to be the ones selling sunglasses and wallets. Just who are these people that are buying sunglasses and wallets while walking down the street? Do you go on a walk and realise you desperately need a pair of sunglass cos you have no idea it would be this hot? Where do they come from? The Dark and Shady Suburb of the CIty?

"Sunglasses! Perfect! I have always wanted a pair that is strapped onto a giant cardboard sales panel and roaming the streets....how much? that's reasonable...OH..and look at my wallet...think i will get that work-looking brown wallet over there as well. Yah, that one..right next to the fake Rayban."

Or maybe it's just me. Low budget travellers will just have to squint their eyes when the blazing sun washes down.

Cheap Bravado. Rated SPF 100.

It is true.

Doing NOTHING all day can be really tiring!

That is what i have been doing, or not doing, for the past few days. Just taking it real easy. Past few days have been filled with beach-hopping down the coastal towns of Vietnam.

The most strenuous activity I have subjected my body to for the past few days is to shift the little shelter or beach chair 2 inches to the right cos the bloody sun moved. It was rough work.

Just typing this blog is gonna give me muscle ache tomorrow morning....

oh man....

09 May 2005 Monday

Scrap my rave about the Street of Shoes in Hanoi.

Hoi An takes the podium when it comes to dollar-stretching shopping! It is as far a shoppers paradise as anywhere, i would reckon.

Hands up anybody who has had shoes tailored for his or her feet, in a design you can picked from any fashion magazine, duplicated in exact details and for less than 15 USD.

Now expand that footy realm to jackets, shirts, pants, jeans, skirts, dresses and you will have a rough idea of what it feels like when shopping in this beautiful city.

I had a jacket, a whole suit, 3 long sleeves shirt, 2 short sleeves shirts, a pair of pants, a pair or jeans and 2 pairs of shoes all made to measure for less than 200 USD. And a free tie thrown into the whole sweet deal. Worksmanship is exquisite.

Sorry i can't lend anything to any of you, cos it fits just me and me alone!

Beautiful beaches, old preserved streets, Unesco conservation town are just icing on the whole big bloody sweet block of cake!

Bangkok? what bangkok?

07 May 2005 Saturday

I didn't realise riding on the back of a Vespa is so terrifying. I spent all morning with my fingers in a death-grip on whichever scooter accesory i can find as a local artist zoomed me around town. I thought it will be interesting to follow him around on one of his typical inspired art-making day in Hue.

I solemnly promise i will ride slower whenever i give someone a ride on my little scooter now. Cross my Heart.

Rented another motorbike today. It seemed impossible; but i managed to get a bike in worse condition than the one i rode to the beach yesterday, and i noticed 2 great cracks in the helmet i was wearing. I dun even want to ask.

Visited a couple of ancient tombs in ancient Hue in an ancient bike in an ancient helmet for the rest of the afternoon.

The tombs are well...they are more like small palaces surrounding by incredible landscape that hint of the splendour of this once-upon-a-time famed capital of Vietnam.

Kings build the tomb-cities so that their legacies will be rememebered for generations to come. Much like the pyramid-tombs of the Pharoahs, these greatly vary in sizes and grandeur according to the power of the reigning king. Some of these actually serve as residences for the Royal Families while they were still alive. They are all different in styles and architectural expressions, but they are all beautiful and mesmerizing.

Sitting in a little pavilion by a little lake in the tomb-palace of the King MinhMang, I tried to resurrect the palaces. Conjuring images of royal servants, eunachs, ministers going about their daily duties; mentally cleaning the walls of century-old algae and imagining the king sitting in the chamber at the centre of the complex ruling over this beautiful land.

It was really nice. Until i remembered that this was a tomb afterall and the people i am imagining are probably buried all around me.

So i got out of there in a haste, lest i managed to tempt "anyone" into joining my little fantasy.

Long ride back into Hue. Was raining. Eating a popsicle with one hand, typing with the other and trying to not drip all over the keyboard at the same time.

Multitasking...maybe i am finally getting the hang of this.

"ok..i can do it."

I am not a newbie motorcyclist by any standards. I have blazed thru forests and mountains in thailand on two wheels, roared across muddy hills for hours and had my share of burns and tumbles. BUT VIETNAM SCARES ME SHITLESS.

Yet after a day in Hue, i felt curiously brave.

Got my hands on a crappy looking motorbike and an even crappier looking helmet. It was all glorious nevertheless; first grip on the throttle, feeling the engine purr. My grin came to an abrupt end when the guy tried to execute a Vietnam Choke Move as he was trying to tighten the badly tattered helmet strap across my neck. (Quote Seinfeld :" ...now the helmet is wearing you for protection")

No maps and only a scribble by my hotel receptionist. I arrived at Tuang An Beach after a very tedious journey that included getting lost 3 times and knocking into someone else's bike once. (broke some plastiky part of her bike off...but it's really not my fault..i swear..bloody girl was aiming for my bike a mile away)

Original Plan : Visit Tuang An Beach for an hour, loop back to the city and ride to some ruins and royal tombs on the other side of town.

What actually happened : I stoned on the beach for 7 hours.

Citadels and Tombs will still be there tomorrow right? I mean..they stood in solid definace for centuries..i scientifically and rationally deduced they are not likely to crumble right today. Guilt Free Pass at the beach!

I was standing right in front of this great expanse of water that is the South China Sea and the water was just sweet! I "checked" into this little shelter. It's actually a blue fabric pulled across by four bamboo posts with a beach chair under.

I chilled for a couple of hours, read my book, dozed off and woke up. The water was too inviting to resist any longer. I stripped down to my jockeys and plunged into South China Sea. Rolled around like a 5 years old and finally had to get up cos sand was getting underneath my only apparel and it wasn't all that comfy.

ok..tombs and citadels tomorrow. i promise. but right now, i am off to hunt for some moisturiser for my lobster-hued skin.