Home sweet home....sort of. Back to the realities of life. It's good to be back home, but feeling a little blue....missing the freedom and appropriate irresponsibility of vacationing in a far off land. This will be my last blog....I've enjoyed it immensely and would like to continue, but unfortunately no one wants to read about our everyday normal activities.....because they have those too.
As I look back upon the last 5 weeks, a few things jump out at me. In our little corner of the world....we have space....cubic feet of it. Generally speaking, most of us have as many of those cubic feet as we want. In cities like Bangkok, Hanoi, or Tokyo there is not much space to go around. Tall buildings surround just about everything. While returning to the Bangkok airport from our hotel, we were driven through 5 or 6 central downtown-like areas....each the size of Seattle or bigger....and we were still in Bangkok. We headed in only one direction....it was the same story had we turned north, south, east of west. Space is our luxury. It's not something we think about much....the freedom to move around. That realization surprised me.
Next....most of us live a pretty good life. Many folks we passed on our trip eek out a living working long hours in conditions that are less than desirable. We are graced with much.
Lastly......the bidet arrives in three days. I am giddy with excitement.....
I hope this year brings everyone a little rest, maybe a little travel, and a big bowl of curry.
Love to you all.
Ed and Terry
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Bye, Bye Tokyo
This is our last day. A little sad leaving Tokyo today. We're leaving Japan and ending our fantastic adventure. It's been a very memorable trip filled with gracious people, exotic out-of-the-way places, great food, scooter rides, and.......rest. This trip raised our energy levels back up to a more normal range. For that, I am thankful.
Tidbits: Interacting with many different people was one of the fun things about the trip. Finding out about their lives was something I sort of do naturally by asking lots of questions. Several people in their mid to upper twenties moved to the big city with their spouses from small outlying villages. They came into the city to make a life for themselves but couldn't afford to bring their children, which were home being raised by the grandparents. One taxi driver told us he sees his son 3 times a year.....he works 7 days per week to make ends meet and send money back home. A lot of people work 7 days a week. Seems like an exhausting life.
Laos had the most laid back and spiritual feel about it. It was like everyone had a music implant playing Jack Johnson or James Taylor music all day. We happened upon a restaurant/bar above the river that was very quiet and low key. Utopia was the name. The place was frequented by young backpackers so we ambled in slowly, incognito, with our hats tipped low. Nobody noticed. The patron didn't talk much and when they did it was kind of low and hushed....the way you would chat in a library or maybe a church. We sat for awhile, among the youngsters and their backpacks, downed a refreshing drink, then headed out. Next to the door was a sign that pretty much described this place exactly..."Zen during the day, Groovy ay night."
Luang Prabang, Laos, had the highest number of Monks per square block of any city we visited. Monks dressed in orange robes. Calm and smiling. You never see a hyper monk....I don't think they exist. And many monks means many Buddhism temples or Wats is the proper name for them. There are 5000 Wats in Laos, which is not a very big country. They are generally ornate and beautiful, as you would think a temple would be, with gold the primary color. Buddhists believe in the existence and cause of suffering. They also believe in moving down the path that leads to the cessation of all suffering. Tourists, on the other hand believe in taking pictures....of the Wats, hundreds of them. Then move on to the next one and take a couple hundred more pictures. At home, counting up all the pictures with every angle possible of a serious looking Buddha and ornate everything.....they say to themselves...."Wat have I done", (now that's suffering!!!..lolol....sorry about that.)
The food in Laos was great and it was cheap. They had some killer restaurants that we enjoyed, but we also ate several times at the night market for 2 bucks a piece....at a buffet, no less. I wasn't sure what I was eating sometimes, but damn it was good. They also made these slush drinks....a little sugar, fresh fruit like pineapple, mango, strawberry, lychee, etc and ice. That all goes into a blender on high for 30 seconds.....Instant hydration. I had 5 of those a day.....
I liked the people in Laos. They just seemed real without a lot of pretense. Thais were very busy, Vietnamese were aggressive and mean sometimes, and the Japanese were high fashion and had a lets-get-ahead mentality...Tokyo seems a lot like New York.....that kind of energy. If I got to pick my neighbors out of the places we visited it would be the folks from Laos and would hope they invited me over for a BBQ.
I will write one more blog and that will be the end of my SW Asia blogging. I hope you enjoyed it.
Often, when Terry and I stopped to take a second or third look at a Tokyo map, a Japanese would stop and ask if we needed help finding something. They were always in their 50 or 60s, sometimes a man, sometimes a woman. Occasionally, they would walk out of their way to point out where we needed to go. It happened 4-5 times while we were wandering around Tokyo. It was a kind gesture. This didn't happen in any other country we visited except one. In Bangkok if someone asked you if you needed help....it was the first clue there was a scam coming in the next breath.
Tidbits: Interacting with many different people was one of the fun things about the trip. Finding out about their lives was something I sort of do naturally by asking lots of questions. Several people in their mid to upper twenties moved to the big city with their spouses from small outlying villages. They came into the city to make a life for themselves but couldn't afford to bring their children, which were home being raised by the grandparents. One taxi driver told us he sees his son 3 times a year.....he works 7 days per week to make ends meet and send money back home. A lot of people work 7 days a week. Seems like an exhausting life.
Laos had the most laid back and spiritual feel about it. It was like everyone had a music implant playing Jack Johnson or James Taylor music all day. We happened upon a restaurant/bar above the river that was very quiet and low key. Utopia was the name. The place was frequented by young backpackers so we ambled in slowly, incognito, with our hats tipped low. Nobody noticed. The patron didn't talk much and when they did it was kind of low and hushed....the way you would chat in a library or maybe a church. We sat for awhile, among the youngsters and their backpacks, downed a refreshing drink, then headed out. Next to the door was a sign that pretty much described this place exactly..."Zen during the day, Groovy ay night."
Luang Prabang, Laos, had the highest number of Monks per square block of any city we visited. Monks dressed in orange robes. Calm and smiling. You never see a hyper monk....I don't think they exist. And many monks means many Buddhism temples or Wats is the proper name for them. There are 5000 Wats in Laos, which is not a very big country. They are generally ornate and beautiful, as you would think a temple would be, with gold the primary color. Buddhists believe in the existence and cause of suffering. They also believe in moving down the path that leads to the cessation of all suffering. Tourists, on the other hand believe in taking pictures....of the Wats, hundreds of them. Then move on to the next one and take a couple hundred more pictures. At home, counting up all the pictures with every angle possible of a serious looking Buddha and ornate everything.....they say to themselves...."Wat have I done", (now that's suffering!!!..lolol....sorry about that.)
The food in Laos was great and it was cheap. They had some killer restaurants that we enjoyed, but we also ate several times at the night market for 2 bucks a piece....at a buffet, no less. I wasn't sure what I was eating sometimes, but damn it was good. They also made these slush drinks....a little sugar, fresh fruit like pineapple, mango, strawberry, lychee, etc and ice. That all goes into a blender on high for 30 seconds.....Instant hydration. I had 5 of those a day.....
I liked the people in Laos. They just seemed real without a lot of pretense. Thais were very busy, Vietnamese were aggressive and mean sometimes, and the Japanese were high fashion and had a lets-get-ahead mentality...Tokyo seems a lot like New York.....that kind of energy. If I got to pick my neighbors out of the places we visited it would be the folks from Laos and would hope they invited me over for a BBQ.
I will write one more blog and that will be the end of my SW Asia blogging. I hope you enjoyed it.
Friday, March 14, 2014
Tokyo....the City
We are nearing the end of our trip and are now sightseeing in the great metropolis of Tokyo, the most densely populated country in the world. Thirty Five million folks live in the greater Tokyo area. The transportation system here is one of the best anywhere, with wide use of subways, trains, and buses, (the primary choice of personal transport is the bicycle, a few electric but most are "manual"). It is also one of the most confusing systems to use and getting lost is pretty darn easy. Our hotel is near the Shinjuku Train Station, the busiest train or subway hub in the world, amazingly, serving 3,000,000 people per day. Rising to the street level or entering the station offers a whopping 200 differrent options of exits or entrants depending on whether you're coming or going. It's sometimes overwhelming to see so much humanity in one place so you might forget whether you're coming or going. I personally passed 500,000 people on the subway platform and tunnel trying to get back to the street level.......half those were men in black suits and ties.....the other half were women, many of them younger, wearing Hello Kitty socks, a Mickey Mouse something and looking a lot like an anime character. In general, it's very busy here.
Everybody bows. They bow for any reason. It's automatic. I guess they're being respectful. Being a respectful guy myself, I always bowed back, which causes them to bow again. Ornery as I can sometimes be, a couple times, I bowed a second and third time to see what would happen.....and my bow would always be followed by their bow. So....trying to be the last one to bow or attempting to out-bow your Japanese counterpart would take a serious commitment and some cervical stretches beforehand.
This is important. I would like to nominate the bidet as a UNESCO World Heritage product....or the Eight Wonder of the World, which ever one is most appropriate. There is a huge need for the bidet in the United States. The Japanese bidet is the best. It has 3 settings. One directs a warm slow stream of water at your bottom, (Oh my)...the other setting directs a more stern stream of liquid for those hard to reach issues....(giggle). There is another setting to regulate the pressure of each stream of water. Hygenic. No fuss. No muss. A little tissue at the end of the whole procedure and boom....you're done. I'm thinking about getting one of these little numbers for my own enjoyment....I mean my own use at home. The worst bidet was in Thailand, although a bad bidet is better than no bidet at all. The Thai bidet looked exactly like a hand held kitchen sink sprayer operated with the thumb. Unfortunately, the pressure was so high the first squirt made my eyes water. Ooops.
Lastly, a visit to the Tokyo Sky Tree was on tap yesterday. The Sky Tree was the tallest broadcasting tower in the world until someone from Dubai wanted to make sure their turban was bigger than anybody else's turban. At 2080 feet tall, it's nearly a half mile tall. To get perspective.....the Space Needle is 605 feet tall.....so if you were careful enough to stack three Space Needles on top of each other ....it'll still be shorter than the Sky Tree. The observation deck is at 1480 feet....I jumped out of an airplane when I was younger (lots of courage and no brains) at 1000 feet. So it's waaay up there.
Tokyo is the cleanest place in the world, at least by my estimation. It's pretty amazing how clean they can keep a place this big. There's little or no trash and the whole place seems like it's wiped down on a daily basis. It contrast, Bangkok was the filthiest place I've ever been and wondered why everybody wasn't horribly sick....with malaise, infection, and some ungodly life threatening disease being the norm with trash, litter, and pollution run rampant. But everybody looks as healthy as a water buffalo. I don't get it.
Tidbits: Like the Vietnamese males, Japanese men smoke. I didn't see one woman smoke, but the men smoke like chimneys all over the place. If you ever thought that, generally speaking, women are smarter than guys....there's the proof. Unfortunately, homelessness is alive in Tokyo. Hard to believe for some reason.....you'd think maybe they could get a job cleaning something......Also....we didn't see any homeless women, just men. Food.....the food here is so good it's unbelievable, (but it's been good everywhere, really.) A funny thing.....they have barkers outside on the sidewalk yelling to potential patrons about the benefits of the goods sold inside, e.g. makeup, suits, household good etc. This seems a little inconsistent with the prim and proper behavior they generally portray. Consider an attractive woman at the mall entrance to Nordstroms at southcenter yelling at the top of her lungs about the lace undergarment or the petite size clothing on the second floor, trying her best to coax you in the door, (over the commotion and loud voices you hear the guy at the piano playing Blue Danube in the background. It just doesn't make sense.
More later. But not much more. We're nearing the end of the trip.
Everybody bows. They bow for any reason. It's automatic. I guess they're being respectful. Being a respectful guy myself, I always bowed back, which causes them to bow again. Ornery as I can sometimes be, a couple times, I bowed a second and third time to see what would happen.....and my bow would always be followed by their bow. So....trying to be the last one to bow or attempting to out-bow your Japanese counterpart would take a serious commitment and some cervical stretches beforehand.
This is important. I would like to nominate the bidet as a UNESCO World Heritage product....or the Eight Wonder of the World, which ever one is most appropriate. There is a huge need for the bidet in the United States. The Japanese bidet is the best. It has 3 settings. One directs a warm slow stream of water at your bottom, (Oh my)...the other setting directs a more stern stream of liquid for those hard to reach issues....(giggle). There is another setting to regulate the pressure of each stream of water. Hygenic. No fuss. No muss. A little tissue at the end of the whole procedure and boom....you're done. I'm thinking about getting one of these little numbers for my own enjoyment....I mean my own use at home. The worst bidet was in Thailand, although a bad bidet is better than no bidet at all. The Thai bidet looked exactly like a hand held kitchen sink sprayer operated with the thumb. Unfortunately, the pressure was so high the first squirt made my eyes water. Ooops.
Lastly, a visit to the Tokyo Sky Tree was on tap yesterday. The Sky Tree was the tallest broadcasting tower in the world until someone from Dubai wanted to make sure their turban was bigger than anybody else's turban. At 2080 feet tall, it's nearly a half mile tall. To get perspective.....the Space Needle is 605 feet tall.....so if you were careful enough to stack three Space Needles on top of each other ....it'll still be shorter than the Sky Tree. The observation deck is at 1480 feet....I jumped out of an airplane when I was younger (lots of courage and no brains) at 1000 feet. So it's waaay up there.
Tokyo is the cleanest place in the world, at least by my estimation. It's pretty amazing how clean they can keep a place this big. There's little or no trash and the whole place seems like it's wiped down on a daily basis. It contrast, Bangkok was the filthiest place I've ever been and wondered why everybody wasn't horribly sick....with malaise, infection, and some ungodly life threatening disease being the norm with trash, litter, and pollution run rampant. But everybody looks as healthy as a water buffalo. I don't get it.
Tidbits: Like the Vietnamese males, Japanese men smoke. I didn't see one woman smoke, but the men smoke like chimneys all over the place. If you ever thought that, generally speaking, women are smarter than guys....there's the proof. Unfortunately, homelessness is alive in Tokyo. Hard to believe for some reason.....you'd think maybe they could get a job cleaning something......Also....we didn't see any homeless women, just men. Food.....the food here is so good it's unbelievable, (but it's been good everywhere, really.) A funny thing.....they have barkers outside on the sidewalk yelling to potential patrons about the benefits of the goods sold inside, e.g. makeup, suits, household good etc. This seems a little inconsistent with the prim and proper behavior they generally portray. Consider an attractive woman at the mall entrance to Nordstroms at southcenter yelling at the top of her lungs about the lace undergarment or the petite size clothing on the second floor, trying her best to coax you in the door, (over the commotion and loud voices you hear the guy at the piano playing Blue Danube in the background. It just doesn't make sense.
More later. But not much more. We're nearing the end of the trip.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
More of Hanoi
We had some great food at a place named Highway 4 in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. There was a license plate above the front door from Oklahoma, of all places. I didn't see any Oklahomans running around anywhere. Tough to figure.
That evening we attended a water puppets show accompanied by live singers and musicians. It was considerably better than the local folk music we heard in Hoi An....which sounded a lot like somebody strangling Glen Campbell while he's trying to sing "Wichita Lineman"...after he took a couple big hits of helium. Not my cup of tea, so to speak. During the puppet show there were live singers and musicians playing cool Asian instruments which you just don't see at Open Mic night at the local neighborhood coffee house. Very interesting when the play concluded and the puppeteers came out behind the curtain standing waist deep in water. They manipulate the puppets from underneath the water instead of from above. Great fun to watch and the Asian music was great.
Everything is very compact in SE Asia's big cities. Shop owners with a 100 sq foot business, (that's pretty big), normally make their residence in the back. Along with a wife or husband, a couple of kids and maybe Mom and Dad....makes for a cozy little family nest. Everybody works the store. Every one does there part for the household. On top of that shop is 4, 7, 8, maybe 10 floors or more. The buildings are not very wide but sometimes very talI. I have a couple of pictures.
A couple of observation here about the Vietnamese in Hanoi....many shop owners like to have a beer after their morning coffee. Beer and coffee just seems like it would upset my stomach. Call me crazy but that could make for a long day when beer is number one on your 9 a.m list. Secondly, somebody forgot to tell these guys that smoking is bad for you. All the men smoke, for cryin out loud. But hey, if you're going to have a beer in the a.m.....might as well light one up while you're at it.
As you can see by the picture, Hanoi is a busy place.....And your local Hanoi Telecom at work
We visited Hanoi Hilton where thee Vietnamese imprisoned the pilots they shot down in the war. Vietnamese propaganda in high gear showing the prisoners enjoying a Christmas party, a basketball game and some arts and crafts. I thought much of it was a bunch of bullshit until it donned on me...what the heck were we doing over there anyway? Everbody trying to put their own spin on it to save face. All the countries in SE Asia call the conflict "the American War". So when will we understand, as an American society, the wasteful cost of human lives in wars like Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq? And consider NOT doing that again...? I sure hope it's in my lifetime, otherwise, its just heartbreaking to think about.
We spent a couple days in the rain, than returned to Bangkok.
More later.
That evening we attended a water puppets show accompanied by live singers and musicians. It was considerably better than the local folk music we heard in Hoi An....which sounded a lot like somebody strangling Glen Campbell while he's trying to sing "Wichita Lineman"...after he took a couple big hits of helium. Not my cup of tea, so to speak. During the puppet show there were live singers and musicians playing cool Asian instruments which you just don't see at Open Mic night at the local neighborhood coffee house. Very interesting when the play concluded and the puppeteers came out behind the curtain standing waist deep in water. They manipulate the puppets from underneath the water instead of from above. Great fun to watch and the Asian music was great.
Everything is very compact in SE Asia's big cities. Shop owners with a 100 sq foot business, (that's pretty big), normally make their residence in the back. Along with a wife or husband, a couple of kids and maybe Mom and Dad....makes for a cozy little family nest. Everybody works the store. Every one does there part for the household. On top of that shop is 4, 7, 8, maybe 10 floors or more. The buildings are not very wide but sometimes very talI. I have a couple of pictures.
A couple of observation here about the Vietnamese in Hanoi....many shop owners like to have a beer after their morning coffee. Beer and coffee just seems like it would upset my stomach. Call me crazy but that could make for a long day when beer is number one on your 9 a.m list. Secondly, somebody forgot to tell these guys that smoking is bad for you. All the men smoke, for cryin out loud. But hey, if you're going to have a beer in the a.m.....might as well light one up while you're at it.
As you can see by the picture, Hanoi is a busy place.....And your local Hanoi Telecom at work
We visited Hanoi Hilton where thee Vietnamese imprisoned the pilots they shot down in the war. Vietnamese propaganda in high gear showing the prisoners enjoying a Christmas party, a basketball game and some arts and crafts. I thought much of it was a bunch of bullshit until it donned on me...what the heck were we doing over there anyway? Everbody trying to put their own spin on it to save face. All the countries in SE Asia call the conflict "the American War". So when will we understand, as an American society, the wasteful cost of human lives in wars like Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq? And consider NOT doing that again...? I sure hope it's in my lifetime, otherwise, its just heartbreaking to think about.
We spent a couple days in the rain, than returned to Bangkok.
Drizzling in Hanoi
We left Hoi An and landed in Hanoi Vietnam. Drizzling and much cooler than what has been the normal for the last month. There is a period in northern Vietnam ....about 3 weeks worth...where winter morphs into spring. Druing that period, it rains or drizzles and the temperature hits a rock bottom of 65-70 degrees, some of the coolest weather of the year. Moon and I happened to hit that period.
The ride into downtown Hanoi was both interesting and a little bit terrifying....seems like everywhere we go the driving and traffic gets crazier by a multiple of 10. The Vietnamese take the trophy for maniacal but skillful dare devilish driving, hands down. NASCAR drivers come here first to learn and practice their skill before driving on the circut. Tailgatting, cutting in front of other drivers, speeding, weaving in and out of traffic like you're on meth?...in the rain?...it's all ok. I'm going to start taking pictures of the different shades of my white knuckles......Getting used to holding on to whatever is available.
The general rule when loading a scooter is if you can move you're ok. Doesn't matter if you can see or not. Load up your scooter to the hilt. Chickens, 4 people on a scooter, barrels, food and produce were just a small variety of what we saw loaded on scooters. Pull a large water buffalo into town for a bath and a comb-out....easy.(below left). Can't see because you couldn't leave that one big sack of something at home?....it'll fit somewhere......if they have scooter hoarders I have a couple of pictures of that below.....
More later.
The ride into downtown Hanoi was both interesting and a little bit terrifying....seems like everywhere we go the driving and traffic gets crazier by a multiple of 10. The Vietnamese take the trophy for maniacal but skillful dare devilish driving, hands down. NASCAR drivers come here first to learn and practice their skill before driving on the circut. Tailgatting, cutting in front of other drivers, speeding, weaving in and out of traffic like you're on meth?...in the rain?...it's all ok. I'm going to start taking pictures of the different shades of my white knuckles......Getting used to holding on to whatever is available.
More later.
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Cham Islands Outside of Hoi An
Outside of Hoi An is a Pottery Village, supposedly famous, but we couldn't find it and nobody knew where it was when I asked for directions. Funny....Straying miles out of the way trying to find this place....the goal became finding our way back to town, forget about the pottery. The ride through the rice paddies and out-of-the-way hamlets was pretty interesting and beautiful...that was worth the trip in itself. We happened on the village and their famous pots while trying to find our way back to town.....it was right around the corner from the first person we asked. LOL. The pots are thrown on a wheel that sits off the ground about 6 inches and is operated manually by a second person who keeps the wheel turning by kicking it as it goes around. I have a picture. The Vietnamese people are an ingenious bunch....and they have electricity.....as I observed many times, they can gerry-rig just about anything....so I think the manual pottery wheel is for effect......for the tourists. It was fun to watch anyway.
Two days ago was the snorkeling day. A trip out to Cham islands, about 6 kilometers from Hoi An, (which is just south of Da Nang in the middle of Vietnam between Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Hanoi.) Our Vietnamese Junk boat was run by a Vietnamese captain and a bunch of French Guys....all of them were great with the divers. They actually looked like they enjoyed their jobs....it was refreshing. We accompanied a variety of fishing boats out of the harbor and into the bay. The trip out took about an hour. At 30 minutes Moon and I were handing out candied ginger to several of our cohorts who were starting to turn green with sea sickness We were a hit. The ginger worked.
(This fellow is rowing something that looks exactly like a wok or half a coconut. There are usually two of these on a boat and they are turned upside down so it looks like there are two little domes.)
We arrived at our destination, donned wet suites and jumped into water. What a shock....it was cold and I didn't expect it. 78 degrees. Moon is a warm water person but she stayed in for 30-45 minutes. I was amazed she made it that long. There was a second opportunity but most of the folks stayed on the boat....even though we all had wet suits....it was chilly. It happened to be the better location, clarity was better, more fish, and tons of coral. Then the boat took off for a beach where a local lunch was prepared for us....whole fried fish, prawns, several different salads, noodles....a great meal. It was a It's always enjoyable to be stretched out and relaxed on a boat. It was a good day.
(Our Captain and first mate playing a Vietnamese game....sort of a cross between checkers and chess. They play for money.....always. Card games and whatever this was are favorites. Vietnamese are big gamblers.)
Two days ago was the snorkeling day. A trip out to Cham islands, about 6 kilometers from Hoi An, (which is just south of Da Nang in the middle of Vietnam between Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Hanoi.) Our Vietnamese Junk boat was run by a Vietnamese captain and a bunch of French Guys....all of them were great with the divers. They actually looked like they enjoyed their jobs....it was refreshing. We accompanied a variety of fishing boats out of the harbor and into the bay. The trip out took about an hour. At 30 minutes Moon and I were handing out candied ginger to several of our cohorts who were starting to turn green with sea sickness We were a hit. The ginger worked.
We arrived at our destination, donned wet suites and jumped into water. What a shock....it was cold and I didn't expect it. 78 degrees. Moon is a warm water person but she stayed in for 30-45 minutes. I was amazed she made it that long. There was a second opportunity but most of the folks stayed on the boat....even though we all had wet suits....it was chilly. It happened to be the better location, clarity was better, more fish, and tons of coral. Then the boat took off for a beach where a local lunch was prepared for us....whole fried fish, prawns, several different salads, noodles....a great meal. It was a It's always enjoyable to be stretched out and relaxed on a boat. It was a good day.
The hustle and bustle of Hoi An, Vietnam
The operative word here is hustle. Hoi an is known for its tailoring and shoe making as well as the historic old town where locals sell trinkets, art, pottery, cloth and silk and, of course, t-shirts. The Vietnamese are hard-sell entrepreneurs. "What are you looking for", "Where are you from?", and "How long are you staying?" are the three questions one is asked while doing any kind of browsing in the markrets or on the street...it doesn't matter whats on the shopping list...squid, art, or clothes.
What you're looking for gives them an idea of the item you're seeking and everything in the entire universe that is even remotely related to that item, ("You want t-shirt?" We have many t-shirts. Good quality. How about bowl? Bowl go with shirt when you eat with friends. You buy chopsticks,go with bowl! How bout nice table runner...would go well with shirt..and bowl!"...you get the picture.) Where you're from gives them a chance to inform you they have a bother in Portland when you tell them Seattle is your hometown. Now you're friends because you have something in common....(geez). And "How long you staying?" ....that gives them an opportunity to assess whether they'll have time to custom make a dress, shirt, suit, or leather anything for you or exhaust themselves trying.
(This is the guy we bought a street painting from....he could speak english but his daughter did...the first thing she said to me was, "Good quality painting....Where you from?")
Getting your attention is prime to making a sale so they may block your way, following you down the street, rub your stomach, grab your arm, or scream, "you buy something"! It way funny at first....then it became obnoxious. The Vietnamese are a gracious bunch, but disgust is often shown if there is no sale. One guy tried to sell us a paper we already had and just would not leave us alone...he finally left but rode by several times giving us "stink eye".
The word I'm searching for a word that describes the way the Vietnamese drive...it's a cross between the behavior of an out-of-control kamikaze and a determined 6 year old who is way overdo for a nap. That word describes them perfectly. The bigger the city, the more dangerous and chaotic the traffic. I know that I've written about this before, but the way these people drive is.......just not believable. Thai drivers negotiate the streets like crazy people but still, they have a sense of self preservation. But the Thais pale in comparison to the Vietnamese.
From the looks of it, most everyone owns a scooter or bicycle, mostly scooters. I did my own survey late yesterday afternoon during rush hour while waiting for Moon to get her hair colored. Fifteen to 20 scooters to one bike. Of the bikes, 2 out of 5 are electric, so that makes them scooters. Cars or trucks were a distant 3rd. The reason there are few cars?....there's simply no where to park them. Not many buses or large trucks although they were there. The pecking order seems obvious...you give way to anything that's bigger, heavier, or that's coming right at you, head-on. But then, that's not always true.....and I could not figure out what the clues were to help make that decision. Some kind of internal high pitched bat radar thing going on here....who knows?
We had a great time at the market, which is the center of business and social happenings. Every city has one somewhere. Hoi An's was down near a waterway by the Old Town. I guess just about everybody has an Old Town too. I'll add some pictures. More later.
What you're looking for gives them an idea of the item you're seeking and everything in the entire universe that is even remotely related to that item, ("You want t-shirt?" We have many t-shirts. Good quality. How about bowl? Bowl go with shirt when you eat with friends. You buy chopsticks,go with bowl! How bout nice table runner...would go well with shirt..and bowl!"...you get the picture.) Where you're from gives them a chance to inform you they have a bother in Portland when you tell them Seattle is your hometown. Now you're friends because you have something in common....(geez). And "How long you staying?" ....that gives them an opportunity to assess whether they'll have time to custom make a dress, shirt, suit, or leather anything for you or exhaust themselves trying.
(This is the guy we bought a street painting from....he could speak english but his daughter did...the first thing she said to me was, "Good quality painting....Where you from?")Getting your attention is prime to making a sale so they may block your way, following you down the street, rub your stomach, grab your arm, or scream, "you buy something"! It way funny at first....then it became obnoxious. The Vietnamese are a gracious bunch, but disgust is often shown if there is no sale. One guy tried to sell us a paper we already had and just would not leave us alone...he finally left but rode by several times giving us "stink eye".
The word I'm searching for a word that describes the way the Vietnamese drive...it's a cross between the behavior of an out-of-control kamikaze and a determined 6 year old who is way overdo for a nap. That word describes them perfectly. The bigger the city, the more dangerous and chaotic the traffic. I know that I've written about this before, but the way these people drive is.......just not believable. Thai drivers negotiate the streets like crazy people but still, they have a sense of self preservation. But the Thais pale in comparison to the Vietnamese.
From the looks of it, most everyone owns a scooter or bicycle, mostly scooters. I did my own survey late yesterday afternoon during rush hour while waiting for Moon to get her hair colored. Fifteen to 20 scooters to one bike. Of the bikes, 2 out of 5 are electric, so that makes them scooters. Cars or trucks were a distant 3rd. The reason there are few cars?....there's simply no where to park them. Not many buses or large trucks although they were there. The pecking order seems obvious...you give way to anything that's bigger, heavier, or that's coming right at you, head-on. But then, that's not always true.....and I could not figure out what the clues were to help make that decision. Some kind of internal high pitched bat radar thing going on here....who knows?
We had a great time at the market, which is the center of business and social happenings. Every city has one somewhere. Hoi An's was down near a waterway by the Old Town. I guess just about everybody has an Old Town too. I'll add some pictures. More later.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Bugs, Bears, and Butterflies near Kuang Si Waterfalls
This is Brad the bug. We were eating lunch in a place called DyanSabai, and this little guy flew onto my hand. If you notice, Brad is a rather large beige colored bug and when something like this lands on your body it initiates some kind of sympathetic system protective response that causes you to flick it away. That happens in a blink of an eye without ever thinking about it. Automatic. But Brad stayed the course and held on during the flick like his life depended on it. I didn't know if this large insect was going to bite me or fly off with my thumb. He didn't move, just sat there very still. So I poked him to see what he'd do and to my surprise he turned around and looked at me. That began my affinity for the little bugger, (so to speak.) A minute later Brad walked off my hand and flew off...landing on the back of a guy sitting at the next table. He started crawling up towards the guy's neck. I know it's a little cruel, but I wanted to test my hypothesis about that automatic flick response thing so I didn't alert this fellow. When Brad made it up and over the shirt collar and onto this guy's neck.....he started flailing like he was having a seizure...both arms and hands like a 60 mile an hour windmill trying desperately to break this thing loose from his neck. His table mates looked at him like he was out of his mind....but then he pointed out the bug and we all had a good laugh.
Yesterday we rented a scooter and took off for the mountains and a place called Kuang Si. A beautiful waterfall about 30 kilometers out of town. We stopped first at a butterfly exhibit that a couple from Holland developed out of raw land, totally from scratch. It took them an entire year. They built small waterfalls, bathrooms, a tiny restaurant with a covered place to eat....and a huge netted area to keep the butterflies in...there ere hundreds of them. It looked much like a botanical garden. The owner told us that she and her beau spent every last penny they had and "now we're flat broke." I hope they make it, it's a nice stop.
The next stop was a bear rescue area. There was a commotion ahead so we took a look. The first thing we see were two bears mating...within 5 feet of the fence. The second?....eight Japanese guys pointing at the amorous bears, laughing so hard they're about to fall over...so giddy they can barely catch a breath to make a joke and start each other laughing all over again. We watched for a few then left....they were still howling. Too funny. The bears are rescued from from some sort of horrible captivity and suffer from some degree of abuse, starvation, or other inhuman treatment. The pens they were in, were huge...so from my vantage point their conditions have greatly improved.
We arrived at the falls. Apparently someone spilled the beans about this being THE place to go....there were people coming out of the woodwork from every direction. The walk up toward the fails with all of our friends was gorgeous with one pool spilling into another and another.....all the way down the hillside. The falls were spectacular.....they had to be several hundred feet above us.....the foliage finally cut off our view but there was sunlight through the mist....like you might see in some exotic travel movie. A good experience, albeit a little crowded.
I didn't major in english nor am I an author of any kind....but you could probably tell that by now. This thing is pretty rough grammatically, so my apologies for that. Hope you are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it. More later.
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