Kind of the same, actually...
(To pre-empt the inevitable family-tradition question of "how does it feel to be X years old?")
Pusia, the issue is whether or not I go to Hanoi at all. Should have been clearer on that. Because of the travel time involved, I would only be spending four, possibly five days in Hanoi. Of course, the travelling could be interesting (...it could also be hell), and the limited time frame might force me to get off my arse and make sure I see the things there I want to see. I've been fairly lazy so far about seeing things here in Saigon, preferring to think that "acclimatising" is a legitimate passtime.
Last night I had a birthday beer with a 31-year-old Nigerian electrical engineer that I met in an internet cafe. He was sitting next to me, I dropped something beneath his chair, picked it up, apologised, introduced myself etc. I must have looked awful - this was right after my crying fit - but apparently not awful enough as he kept telling me later how "cute" I was. Anyway, I explained that it was my birthday, he suggested a beer, (bia in Vietnamese... tricky, I know), and I wiped my nose and went along, thinking "what the hell... it's my birthday."
Well, it turns out that the beer was a good idea, but Henry the electrical engineer was not. It's not that he was sleazy - I can cope with sleaze - but that he was boring. Isn't that just my luck? All he wanted to talk about was sports, and himself, and how good he was at sports, and what a nice guy he was. "I'm not praising myself, but..." he'd begin, and then my eyes would glaze over, and then he'd tell me that I looked cute. When he told me he'd moved specifically to the computor next to me because he thought I was pretty, I'd had enough. Goodnight, Henry. I went back to my shoebox, lay down on the bed, and somehow managed to sleep through the night. (This despite the cacophony from the room next door. I thought someone was getting killed until I realised it was just a Vietnamese soap opera turned up loud, loud, loud.)
On the upside, I learned that there is a big African ex-pat community in Saigon. A lot of wealthy Africans study in Singapore, come over to Vietnam for a holiday, get jobs here, and stay. There are heaps of tall, bald West African guys roaming the streets, making a picturesque juxtaposition to the locals lazing by the roadside and the Western tourists running around in sunburn and army surplus shorts.
I'm planning on trying out tonight a tourist trap cafe that Helen recommended in the hopes of meeting someone who does not continually crack on to me even after it has been made patently clear that I am not interested. At some point in the day I am going to have to make my mind up about Hanoi, as well, as hard-sleepers book out a few days ahead. (No luck getting a soft-sleeper berth - they sell out a few weeks in advance). The cheaper alternative is to take a tour on a bus, which would stop off at points of interest where the tour guide would get a kickback from the cafes, and break up the journey with a few nights in cheap hotels. I might only get a three-day weekend in Hanoi, though, before turning around and doing it again...
Argh! I am not good at decisions at the best of times. That is why I would like people to make them for me. Hands up who knows what I should do?...
Pusia, the issue is whether or not I go to Hanoi at all. Should have been clearer on that. Because of the travel time involved, I would only be spending four, possibly five days in Hanoi. Of course, the travelling could be interesting (...it could also be hell), and the limited time frame might force me to get off my arse and make sure I see the things there I want to see. I've been fairly lazy so far about seeing things here in Saigon, preferring to think that "acclimatising" is a legitimate passtime.
Last night I had a birthday beer with a 31-year-old Nigerian electrical engineer that I met in an internet cafe. He was sitting next to me, I dropped something beneath his chair, picked it up, apologised, introduced myself etc. I must have looked awful - this was right after my crying fit - but apparently not awful enough as he kept telling me later how "cute" I was. Anyway, I explained that it was my birthday, he suggested a beer, (bia in Vietnamese... tricky, I know), and I wiped my nose and went along, thinking "what the hell... it's my birthday."
Well, it turns out that the beer was a good idea, but Henry the electrical engineer was not. It's not that he was sleazy - I can cope with sleaze - but that he was boring. Isn't that just my luck? All he wanted to talk about was sports, and himself, and how good he was at sports, and what a nice guy he was. "I'm not praising myself, but..." he'd begin, and then my eyes would glaze over, and then he'd tell me that I looked cute. When he told me he'd moved specifically to the computor next to me because he thought I was pretty, I'd had enough. Goodnight, Henry. I went back to my shoebox, lay down on the bed, and somehow managed to sleep through the night. (This despite the cacophony from the room next door. I thought someone was getting killed until I realised it was just a Vietnamese soap opera turned up loud, loud, loud.)
On the upside, I learned that there is a big African ex-pat community in Saigon. A lot of wealthy Africans study in Singapore, come over to Vietnam for a holiday, get jobs here, and stay. There are heaps of tall, bald West African guys roaming the streets, making a picturesque juxtaposition to the locals lazing by the roadside and the Western tourists running around in sunburn and army surplus shorts.
I'm planning on trying out tonight a tourist trap cafe that Helen recommended in the hopes of meeting someone who does not continually crack on to me even after it has been made patently clear that I am not interested. At some point in the day I am going to have to make my mind up about Hanoi, as well, as hard-sleepers book out a few days ahead. (No luck getting a soft-sleeper berth - they sell out a few weeks in advance). The cheaper alternative is to take a tour on a bus, which would stop off at points of interest where the tour guide would get a kickback from the cafes, and break up the journey with a few nights in cheap hotels. I might only get a three-day weekend in Hanoi, though, before turning around and doing it again...
Argh! I am not good at decisions at the best of times. That is why I would like people to make them for me. Hands up who knows what I should do?...
posted by Jess at 8:26 PM
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