Day 5 of being back home and I finally feel somewhat okay. Yesterday's bocce action clearly had a positive effect on me.
Friday, 8/18
We drove through flooded streets a lot of the way on the way to Halong Bay. We boarded the boat and headed out. Halong Bay is a stunning place. There are 2,000 islands all over the place. Most are uninhabitable rocks sticking out of the water. There are a few floating villages in the bay as well. Unfortunately, it was rainy and overcast all day. And I started to get sick. The unmistakable sore throat and fog soon enveloped me. As Jason and the rest of the Westeners aboard went swimming in the bay, I did my best to stay awake.
As the sun went down (at about 6:30, very hard for Jason and me to get used to) the crew of the boat pulled up to one of the floating house to buy fish for dinner. Watching the exchange was pretty interesting. Then a woman came rowing up to us to sell us Pringles and 60 cent cans of beer.
Our crewmates were okay. There was a nice Dutch couple, a funny Irish one, a skeevy German dude, a British college kid, and two obnoxious New Zealand girls in the midst of a seven month journey that both seemed ready to be over with.
The sun went down, we hunkered down in the boat, the shadows of the rock islands created some interesting effects, and we all tried to drown out the drunken howls of the Italians on the nearby boat.
Saturday
I was out of my mind sick. It rained. It was hot. We went to Cat Ba Island. We trekked to some dumb cave. I went to the ratty hotel they booked us into and passed out. Jason opened the door to our room with his STA student card with one quick swipe. The N.Z. girls said they hung out with a guy who had stayed at the hotel for 2 weeks and his room had been broken into 3 times. When we went to sleep, Jason put the coat rack in front of the door to buy himself some time to beat the living daylights out of an intruder in the middle of the night.
Cat Ba Island sucked. The power went out a number of times during our short stay there. It was pretty empty. Low season, you know. An aspiring resort town - lots of new hotels going up. Sort of had the feel of a Jersey Shore town that has seen better days, yet its glory days still have not arrived. There were many stray dogs - some of whom we witnessed saving their friend from getting raped by another dog.
On our way to dinner, a boom boom girl in a bright red dress handed us a card from a motorbike advertising her establishment that offered five dollar massages. The card read "Saigon Pleasure House Sauna- Steam Exhale"
Sunday
Still felt completely out of it. Our bus ride from Halong Bay to Hanoi was an interesting one though - we passed innumerable rice paddy fields. It was fascinating to pass so many families working or hanging out on a late Sunday afternoon by the fields and by the roadside. Just so damn different than what I'm used to seeing on a daily basis.
By the time, we got back to Hanoi I was ready for a nap. We changed hotels to a great one in a different part of the Old Quarter that was also a lot cheaper. It was on the 7th floor but walking up all those stairs was good for us. It was only 17 dollars a night and we figured out that if we deided to move to Hanoi and take up residence at this hotel, that it would only be about 250 bucks each a month, utilities and cable included. When we checked in, we met a real character from LA, but more on her later.
In the evening, we went to the Hanoi Circus. Everyone we told this to thought we were crazy. Unfortunately, it was a little disappointing. It wasn't quite crazy enough. Although the sparse crowd added to the surreal nature of it all. The circus definitely has seen better days. It was fun seeing monkeys on bicycles but it was also a pretty sad spectacle. None of the animals seemed all that pleased to be there - especially when getting hit for falling off a bike. I haven't been to a circus since I was a little kid so I have no frame of reference but this one seemed pretty sad sack.
The best part of the circus though was when the clown led the audience in a Ho Chi Minh singalong. Everyone immediately chimed in, kids and parents alike. The guy in fatigues next to Jason kept nudging Jason in the ribs singing and smiling. Jason responded with a smile and a thumbs up to the guy. The acrobats performing to "The Final Countdown" was pretty killer too.
After the circus, it was back to Franny's, the best ice cream place in the city, which means some of the best ice cream in the world. The people on our tour were meeting for bia hoi (keg beer on the street for a dime or so) at 9 but we had the circus to go to. As Jason said, "They all went drinking. We went to the circus and got ice cream!"
Monday
Snake Town Time! Only a few miles from Hanoi is a town that supplies snakes to the Hanoi restaurants. Jason and I decided to go check it out. On the way out, we ran into the LA girl we had met the day before who checked into our hotel at the same time we did. She is the kind of woman who is used to things going her way. She was travelling with her dog Olive. She asked us what we were doing. When we told her, she asked if she could come along. Of course.
It turns out that Maura had a lot to say. I'm not sure where to begin. Over the course of the day, we found out a lot about her. Let's see.
- Her mom is Vietnamese, married an ABC correspondent and got the hell out of Dodge.
- Maura was born in my hometown of Silver Spring but grew up in Jersey.
- This was her first time in N. Vietnam because her mom didn't want her to go until now.
- She still has family in S. Vietnam.
- She is a commercial actress with four current billboards in LA.
- She lived with Michelle Rodriguez for a year.
- She showed us a video on her camera taken by Rodriguez as Maura jumps into a lake from a tree.
- She couldn't get work because her teeth were a little crooked. She now has clear braces on her lower teeth. But this gives her a lisp. No worries, they'll be off in 6 months - just in time for pilot season, hooray!
- She has many goals for her life. They are:
1. To be a photographer for Nat'l Geographic one day.
2. To get her own sitcom
3. To flip a house or two
4. To have kids
5. To be a good wife, er a good partner she means.
6. And, oh yeah, to teach English for a couple of months in Vietnam because you know, if she teaches a few kids English, they can teach others, and it will help so many people get jobs in hotels and such, it will have a spiralling positive effect, you know.
- She likes to mix it up between jetsetting and roughing it. Last year, she was sailing the Mediterranean. This year, backpacking in Asia. She decided to keep it real because living in LA can be a bit living in LA.
- She says, "Oh sugar" instead of "Oh shit."
- Her two all-time favorite movies (she's seen them so MANY times) are The Matrix and Almost Famous.
- She showed us a movie she took of a young girl in Saigon peeing on the street.
- In her younger days, she was known to have boys buy her diamond watches which she returned for a profit. Silly boys.
- She was in Asia for some spirtual cleansing.
- She deliberately doesn't keep up with current events because she likes living in her little bubble.
- She planned on going to Sri Lanka in a few weeks until I told her that she might want to research if that was safe or not.
I got the impression that she has no idea that Iraq might not be the safest place to go right now.
Anyway, we wandered around the quiet streets for a bit. We found a flooded rundown snake inspired pagoda. Then a sweet, shy teenage girl implored us to sit down with her and talk. She was so excited to talk to us. She was selling some fruit in front of her house but she wasn't trying to sell us anything. She was just excited for visitors. As silly as Maura was at times, she was extremely nice to all of the kids we came across. She kept telling our new friend how pretty she was and repeatedly gave her nice hugs when we were leaving. The girl was definitely one of the most memorable people Jason and I encountered. She was so genuine. She insisted that we send her pictures and told us that a British guy had promised to send her pictures but never had. The whole time, her mom was standing a few paces away making sure that everything was okay.
Then we found the right place for us for snake. We didn't go for the cobra although maybe we should have. We ordered up two snakes. Olive the dog and the birds in the restaurant's courtyard knew there was bad stuff about to go down in the animal kingdom. They all went nuts during the slaughter.
First, the draining of the blood. Then the cutting out of the heart and the gall bladder? perhaps. Then the slicing off of the skin. The whole time, the hearts were still beating on the plate. It was crazy watching the whole thing. The snakes were moving throughout. It is hard to kill one of those things.
Maura and Jason wanted the hearts and since I still wasn't feeling all that hot, I let them down the beating hearts. Maura had the right idea by quickly swallowing it. Jason, for some odd reason, put it on his tongue, felt it beating, and then took a bite. Bad decision that he quickly made better by swallowing the whole thing. Then we all drank our snake blood mixed with rice wine which wasn't bad. And some gall bladder wine or something. We were brought many different courses, some better than the others, most of which you would have no idea that it was snake unless you were told.
After lunch, we walked back to the main road to catch a cab. It was fun watching many of the women check out Maura with a look that said, "Who the fuck are you?" As we drove back into town, many many men on motorbikes peered into the cab to get a load of Ms. Maura. At one point, before we bid adieu to her, she asked us, "Do you really think I'm going to have a TV show and be famous?" We assued her that, yes, of course she was going to be famous.
Jason and I were pretty beat and didn't do much on our last night. We walked around a lot and got ice cream again.
We began our trip dodging hookers in Saigon and ended it with banana splits in Hanoi.
Tuesday
We had a few hours to kill during the day. We wandered around for a bit looking for the Border Guard Museum. Yes, that is right - a musem dedicated to the brave men and women who guard Vietnam's borders. Its hours are only from 8-11 am and supposedly are regularly closed for no reason. However, we couldn't even find the fucking place. Instead, we enjoyed our time in the Vietnamese Revolution Museum.
Our cab ride to the airport featured sights such as cows feasting on trash, rice paddy fields underneath huge billboard ads, and a soccer game where the players were using tires as the goals. I've already detailed our long journey back but I didn't mention in my post from the Tokyo airport about the 16 year-old unassuming Japanese girl with the t-shirt emblazoned on the back with gigantic letters that read, "SUCK MY DICK!"
When we arrived back in NYC, a customs official took Jason into a separate room to ask him if he'd ever been to Yemen. When he said no, he was allowed to pass. We both then got the third degree by the next round of questioning.
Other Assorted Wrap Up Stuff
- We became obsessed with MTV Asia. Jason noticed that many of the videos had something to do with food. Jason describes:
1. There are two videos where singers eat bananas.
2. There is one video where 2 singers feed each other fruit.
3. There is a video where the band makes a berry pie for a girl. She eats 1 slice and giggles.
4. There is a video where a boy imagines he and a girl are feeding each other pasta.
5. And, of course, Ho! Summer where 2 boys drive around feeding each other apples and bananas before riding together through the water on a gigantic banana."
- Many of the places we stayed in also housed the workers. The lobby bathrooms or restaurant bathrooms were stocked with employee deodorants, toothbrushes, and towels. At our last hotel in Hanoi, they set up places to sleep for the workers right in the lobby.
- The most popular t-shirt style in Laos for teenage boys were Linkin Park shirts.
- On our trip, we heard "Hotel California" at least five times. We also inexplicably heard the Wham Christmas song twice. And I would have never thought that Extreme's "More than Words" would be so popular that we'd hear it 3 times.
- In Vietnam, there aren't many tuk-tuks. Motorbikes and cyclos are most prevalent. Cyclos are basically a seating space on the back of a bicycle. Jason and I were toying with the idea of giving a cyclo driver money to rent his cyclo and then give us each other rides and/or trying to get Westeners to hire us to give them rides. How long before a pack of angry cyclo drivers would have beaten us down if we had tried this stunt?
- Hanoi is an amazing city. But everything shuts down at 11. The streets are packed right up until that point though with friends and family gathering outside to eat and drink bia hoi on plastic stools. The night we went to the jazz club, the streets were super crowded. When we left the club, there was no one out. Very strange. It was only 11:15 or so. Also at the jazz club, Jason had the pleasure of being corrected by the bartender about the proper pronunciation of the word water. All these uppity new English speakers are going to ruin it for the rest of us.
- The lake near the Old Quarter in Hanoi is one of my favorite parts of the city. There are many trees dipping into the water in quite a majestic way. The lake is lined with benches. In the evenings, there are many people fishing by the trees (nicely lit creating a nice mix of colors from the trees and the water) and couples of all ages lounging on the benches and on motorbikes.
- When we originally arrived in Hanoi, we were almost the victims of a scam. We didn't even realize this until we talked to other Westeners a few days later. Our cab driver found out where we were going and then he called a friend at another hotel. When we got to the first hotel, his friend hopped in the cab and told us that the first hotel was booked already but that they owned two other hotels. He hopped in and took us to one of the others. We asked him if it was the same price and he replied, "Yes, of course. Same, same." The new hotel whisked us in to talk about rooms. When they found out that we had already paid for our hotel at the airport, they realized that they were screwed because they weren't getting money from us. They called us a cab and we went to our right hotel - the haunted one with the ghosts desperate to get out of the closets. I'm telling you - everytime I faced the damn closet in the middle of the night, it would rattle.
- One night in Laos, I tried to pay with a twenty dollar bill. It was returned as unusable because of a slight slight slight tear.
- Jason made quite an impression on many of the ladies of SE Asia. There were the women accompanying the Thai soccer team who all wanted to pose for pictures with him. There were the giggling teenagers taking pictures of him at the market in Laos. There was the teenager at the market who said, "Take me to NY to be your girlfriend." There was the girl who wrote him a note that stated, "I live you." She was quite embarrassed when Jason corrected her mistake. For the record, he was on his best behavior throughout.
- Hanoi and even Saigon are extremely clean cities for the most part. Both had constant cleaning crews at all hours of the day sweeping up and keeping the cityscape in tip-top shape.
- Hanoi's Old Quarter is pretty spectacular. Very touristy but also full of non-tourists. The streets are narrow with many back alleys and winding streets. The sidewalks are so crowded with motorbikes that pedestrians are forced to walk on the streets thus having to avoid all the traffic. Orignally, the neighborhood (1,000 years ago) had 36 main streets each with its own trade. Now there are 50 main streets. But many of them still house merchants selling the same wares.
- I'm not sure I fully explained how mellow Vientiane was. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it is a capital city that only has 200,000 people in it. The entire country only has 6 million people.
- I'll never get sick of the sight of a whole family on one motorbike especially if there is a small child being propped up a parent.
- I was very tempted to buy one of the many Ho Chi Minh paintings on sale in Hanoi and put it up in my classroom. How would my school react? Would they tell me to take it down? What would the parents say? I really should have bought one just to see, huh?
It is nice to be home. I start work tomorrow so Summer Dan will die a quiet, uneventful death.
I hope to start posting some pictures soon but I've barely made a dent sorting through them.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Saturday, August 26, 2006
I Love Copycats
Anyone else notice this brilliant bit of information buried deep in an article about all of the delayed and diverted planes of late?
That's it? I want an entire article on this. What did he say? I love this. The official basically seemed to be saying that the brat made some threats because he wasn't in the mood to fly. Is the kid going to be on a terrorist watch list for the rest of his life? I'm dying to know the whole story here.
A United Airlines flight out of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport was delayed because a small boy said something inappropriate, according to a government official speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information. "He didn't want to fly," the official said.
That's it? I want an entire article on this. What did he say? I love this. The official basically seemed to be saying that the brat made some threats because he wasn't in the mood to fly. Is the kid going to be on a terrorist watch list for the rest of his life? I'm dying to know the whole story here.
Friday, August 25, 2006
While I Gear Up to Sift Through Hundreds of Pictures
Enjoy these two links.
1. An article from New York magazine about everyone's favorite sixth grade rock band.
2. The video that Jason and I became obsessed with during our stay in Asia. MTV Asia is the best.
Tacky and Tsubasa - Ho! Summer
I defy you to find a catchier chorus in any song out this year. American pop doesn't hold a candle to this gem. So gay yet so innocent at the same time. Watch the whole thing. You won't be sorry.
1. An article from New York magazine about everyone's favorite sixth grade rock band.
2. The video that Jason and I became obsessed with during our stay in Asia. MTV Asia is the best.
Tacky and Tsubasa - Ho! Summer
I defy you to find a catchier chorus in any song out this year. American pop doesn't hold a candle to this gem. So gay yet so innocent at the same time. Watch the whole thing. You won't be sorry.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
With a DVR Like Mine, Jet Lag Ain't So Bad
New York
Thursday, 1:05 pm
I'm not ashamed to admit that in the last 13 hours, I've watched 4 episodes of Project Runway, 5 of Entourage, and one Weeds.
I need a nap.
Thursday, 1:05 pm
I'm not ashamed to admit that in the last 13 hours, I've watched 4 episodes of Project Runway, 5 of Entourage, and one Weeds.
I need a nap.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Bringing It All Back Home
Tokyo
Wednesday, 12:15 pm
Tired and groggy. I'll write about the rest of the trip upon arriving back in NYC. We left Hanoi last night at 7 to make our connecting flight to Saigon. We flew out of Saigon at midnight for the 6 hour flight to Tokyo arriving at 8 am. We don't fly out of Tokyo until 4:20 pm but the best part is that we arrive back in New York at 3:55 pm. Thus as we board the plane for the 12 and a half hour flight, we will already be home. Or something like that. I'm tired.
And yes, we did drink snake blood on Monday.
Wednesday, 12:15 pm
Tired and groggy. I'll write about the rest of the trip upon arriving back in NYC. We left Hanoi last night at 7 to make our connecting flight to Saigon. We flew out of Saigon at midnight for the 6 hour flight to Tokyo arriving at 8 am. We don't fly out of Tokyo until 4:20 pm but the best part is that we arrive back in New York at 3:55 pm. Thus as we board the plane for the 12 and a half hour flight, we will already be home. Or something like that. I'm tired.
And yes, we did drink snake blood on Monday.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Stuck In Vientiane With the Hanoi Blues Again
Hanoi
Thursday, 5:45 pm
Friday
We flew into Laos on a prop plane. Not a tiny one, mind you but still not my scene. Apparently, Air Laos has a pretty bad track record and refuses to share its safety reports. We flew into Pakse before heading to Vientiane. Jason read that the planes are flown by sight rather than radar and often it is too difficult to land in Pakse so the pilot has to circle around until he can see.
The flight was full of hot stale air and stinky Frenchies. Upon arriving in Laos, we had to buy our visa. Unfortunately, I didn't have a passport photo so I was told to go to the small photocopy room to have my passport copies. There was a Canadian girl with her friend also in the same boat. The airport worker photocopied my passport on the same page as the Canadian. When the worker told us that it would cost a dollar each, she started bitching. "One dollar? One US dollar? At home, it only costs ten cents. Why isn't it fifty cents each then?" Rather than being happy that she wasn't being shaken down for 20 bucks, she was being completely obnoxious. I tried to hand the airport worker a five to get change but she didn't have any. As the Canadian continued to make a big show, the worker smiled at me and waved me away, free of charge.
While in line to get the visa, the Canadians were behind me complaining about how inefficient the system was - it took about ten minutes or so. They wouldn't have known what to make of the Cambodian border that we had entered a few days before. After leaving the airport, two other Canadian girls asked if we'd share a tuk-tuk with them into town and then lowballed the driver on the price. Man, Canadians are cheap.
Vientiane is a nice, super mellow town. The place is littered with French cafes to kill lots of time in. Jason describes it as the SoCal of SE Asia. The people are incredibly nice and we weren't hassled much at all. Tuk-tuk drivers take a no and often will smile or laugh back. French seems to be much more en vogue here than in Cambodia and there are many French tourists here.
The crushing poverty of Cambodia is not evident in this area of Laos. People don't seem rich but there are many more cars around (some nice Mercedes too) and not many of those shacks we saw everywhere in Cambodia. People live in apartments or real houses from what we've seen. However, one problem in this town is that many of the main roads are not paved (including the one in front of the nicest hotels) and that there is an innumerable amount of open sewers in the sidewalk. It has been much more humid here than our five days in Cambodia. The architecture is an interesting mix of French colonial and Soviet uniformity.
In the evening, we went to On the Rock Pub. It is a fun rock club where we were welcomed with open arms. The house band all wore matching Pub On the Rock t-shirts did a nice mix of Western covers (Lionel Ritchie, anyone?) and the latest Thai pop hits. It was packed with locals and there was a sweet high school dance vibe to it.
Saturday
As much as we were digging the town, we were realizing that it definitely had a "Phish broke up so now what do we do?" kind of vibe amongst the Westerners. Plus, we realized that if we really did Laos right (at least five days or so) that we would short change Vietnam. So we decided to head to Vietnam sooner rather than later. It was going to be too difficult to leave this town for the next one in Laos and then have to come back to it to fly out. In the afternoon, we bought tickets to head to Hanoi on Sunday night which would give us a total of three days in Laos.
After buying our tickets, we had an amazing day. First up, the National Museum. Housed in the former French governor's mansion, it was built in 1925. It seemed like the last time any maintenance had been done was 1954 when the French originally left Laos. Painted in pinks and blues, the museum had a wide collection of artifacts. The most interesting stuff was the stuff about the past one hundred years. First off, the French torturers. Followed by the U.S imperialists and their puppets.
The pictures all had English desciptions printed out and taped directly onto the frames. It was definitely a low budget operation. The best parts were artifacts such as "Comrade So and So used this knapsack while planning his escape." The main exhibit ended in 1975, when Laos' current gov't was created. There was a brief display near the exit on the past 30 years. Basically, the current gov't continues to be great and to "lead the Lao people into the future."
After lunch, we went to the National Stadium right nearby. I'm not sure when it was built but it was pretty great. There must have been plenty of Soviet era propaganda stuff at this place back in the day. When we entered, there wasn't much going on. There were a few kids in the stands watching the neighboring tennis club action. There were three or four soccer players there too. Was there a game coming? The soccer players graciously invited us in. Within the next ten minutes, two full teams arrived. Soccer time in an empty stadium. We had no idea what sort of league this was but we quickly made friends with the visiting team from Thailand.
Many of the players and a few of their girlfriends (?) asked us to either pose for pictures with them or for Jason to take their pictures. They were very excited that we were there to see them play. Soon enough, the game was on and it was quite an interesting experience. It began to pour so everyone, including the bench players, headed for the stands and cover. The coaches stayed in the rain and simply covered their heads with protective plastic.
The sound of the rain and the thunder mixed quite well with the loud pops of the shooting range right next to the stadium. There was also a pool and a taekwondo club right nearby. Jason dubbed this town a "communist country club." There were also a number of kids scavenging for water bottles for the deposit money. The players had to hide their water until they were ready to cede the bottles over to the kids. Our Thai friends lost 2-1 to the home team.
For dinner, we went to a restaurant on the Mekong right across from the amazing Soviet era hotel. We decided not to get the menu item described as "money bag" but we did opt for frog legs (incredibly spicy, I have not felt the same since), and crickets which were surpisingly pretty good. As we ate our cricket and frogs, it was amusing to watch a few of both of those creatures cavort around the floor of the outdoor establishment.
After dinner, it was time for the Lao Bowling Centre. Everyone was having a great time there until a family of three generations of French trash came in like they owned the place. The owner was Korean and had Korean World Cup stuff ("Reds Go Together") on the walls. I bought a shirt and he was quite pleased to hear who I was married to. It isn't everyday you can go to a bowling alley and see a hammer and sickle flag. The price list differentiated between "Lao Student and Women" and "General People."
And the day kept getting better. We headed to the majestic Lao Cultural Center where we had seen advertisments for some huge pop spectacle. We got there a little before 11 and it was almost over. I talked us in for free and the ticket guy was super excited to let us in. The place was teeming with excited teenagers and their moms. There was some fancy dancing to recorded music and then... and then ... Dreams II (they were the headliners) came out for one more song! I wish we had seen more but what we saw was great. Three Thai women. Pop idols. The kids rushed the stage. And so did we. There were roses. There were pictures. There were quizzical looks directed our way from the crowd. It was perfect. More Thai pop is what I need! As we left, the ticket guy who shooed us in was quite pleased that we had such a good time.
Sunday
Our last day in Laos, or so we thought began with a trip to the market. Not the tourist market, but the real people market in the mud where one can find the hippest, latest t-shirt fashions. We spent the rest of the day lounging around and then headed to the airport ready for Vietnam.
Not quite.
Unbeknownst to us but Jason's visa was only a single entry to Vietnam, not a multiple entry. We were not allowed to leave Laos. Dejected, we headed back to town. Luckily, there was another soccer game we were able to see the end of. Not quite the same warm feeling was directed our way by either of these squads. But we did get to see penalty kick action to end the game. For dinner, we ate again on the Mekong but this time amongst the little stands that the locals set up all along the riverfront.
Then the rain came. A perfect capper on the annoying day. We tried a few clubs that we read about including a jazz club called Snow White and One Dwarf (the doorman is the dwarf) but it was shuttered. We also tried some bizarre cabaret club in some hotel but it seemed awfully sketchy and no one was there.
Monday
The day began on a promising note. There was kickboxing on the TV and a ceasefire in the Middle East.
We went to the Vietnamese embassy and Jason got his Visa problem cleared up. They told him to contact the DC embassy upon going back home to get his money back from their screwup. We walked around and to the side of the Nat'l Museum we found some barracks. This is remarkable only because we found a number of soldiers playing petanque - a French game very similar to bocce. I miss me some bocce. I asked if I could take some pictuers while they played. Not only that, but they let me play a frame. Later in the day, I saw two other petanque games being played outside. Nice.
After lunch, we took a tuk - tuk 25 km out of town to Buddha Park - basically Outsider Art heaven, Lao style. One man's vision in the late 50's. Buddhas everywhere. Hundreds of statues. Climbing allowed. It was truly a spectacle. You'll have to wait for pictures of this one.
On the way, we noticed an interesting about the dogs in Laos. They all know how to cross the street. They wait patiently by the side of the road until there is an opening and then they saunter across. None of this darting into the streets American dog bullshit. Another thing about dogs in Laos is that they all look normal unlike the skinnny, sickly Cambodian dogs. All further evidence that Laos might not be as impoverished as Cambodia. Also, no one honks as they drive - the complete opposite of Vietnam. Laos is one relaxed place.
Then we headed back to the bowling center to buy more shirts. The gracious Mr. Kim sold me two for the price of one because my wife is Korean. Thanks Youthlarge for saving me five bucks! After that, we gathered our stuff and made our way back to the airport to try to fly standby (we had a definite flight on Tuesday just in case. No dice. So we hopped into one of the many 70's Toyota cabs and went back to town.
And, of course, we had to make our way to the stadium again. No soccer on this day, just rec time. Kids playing, a track team practicing, dogs, families, it was nice. The stadium is so much fun and we noticed that people live there as well, in apartments furnished out of old offices perhaps? The parking lot was a hanging out area for a number of the families.
After dinner, we decided to head to the Futures club. Not our scene. Too much makeup, too much bad karaoke, too many minutes of a Stephen Seagal movie, too much bad DJ time, and too many (two is two many) asshole Westerners with their hookers showing off their herky jerky dance steps. Embarrassing. Since we weren't hitting on women, it was made clear by our waiter that we should leave when he brought us our check without us asking for it. No loss. We ended our evening with another night of On the Rock Pub. A gentler night for the house band - it was a Monday night after all.
Tuesday
Our last day in Laos. Jason went back to the market. He ended up there five times in four days. Everyday there were new great shirts. He plans on starting a business of coming to Laos to buy shirts and then mark them up to 30 bucks and selling them in Williamsburg.
Some of my favorites of the shirts he bought:
1. Frei Stil Surf (Free Style Surf)
2. Announcing the vibrant color and simple pleasures of Tm Cool." Surfing Gang. On the back - First and Folk
3. The most adventure wears made by 100 percentage cottonable smooth style for comfortable and successfull always
Jason says, "I see everyone in Laos wearing shirts like this. None of the phrases really make sense. They're my people now."
In Cambodia, the popular t-shirts were of wrestlers. In Laos, surfer and skaters.
While Jason was at the market, I got a massage. Strictly legitimate, mind you. I've never had one so I decided to try one since it was only six bucks. Pretty nice. But not worth what they charge in NYC. The gay laundry guy told me I should go out dancing with him that night and that he loved me as I waited in the lobby. Um ...
My favorite sight of the day was a sewing shop with a middle - aged woman working and singing into a microphone hooked up to speakers outside of her shop.
Then a flight beckoned.
Hanoi
The airport scene was much different than Saigon. Very mellow and not so third world. Cabs on the other hand ... We took a crazy cab ride to the city. Our cab driver spent the entire 45 minutes flashing his lights at other drivers to get them to move over. Then he took us to the wrong hotel - the Lucky Hotel, but the wrong Lucky Hotel, not to be confused with the Lucky 2 Hotel. The best sight on the way was a guy text messaging as he rode his motorbike. Our hotel is okay but both Jason and I think that it just might be haunted.
Wednesday and Thursday
It rained most of Wednesday. We spent most of the two days just wandering around. This is a great city. There is so much going on and it feels very safe. We are in the Old Quarter near the lake. The architecture is amazing. We both love this city.
Last night, we went to Minh's Jazz Club. It is good to be Minh. He rules the roost. Last night, he'd play a song with the band then go back to his friends to drink and smoke for a bit before coming back up to play another jam.
The most interesting thing about today was walking around with 3 million dong (less than 200 bucks) in my pocket for a spell.
Some odds and ends:
- Jason's description of the movie on the bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap.
"There was a village. The mother turned into a snake because of a witch's spell. The people in the village didn't know who the witch was though. They tried to find her to kill her. Her head would float around with stuff hanging out and it would just cackle at people. There might have been more than one witch. There were snakes coming out of the wife's stomach. The husband tried to kill the wife by stabbing her. Then he went crazy. Some old lady stabbed him in the head and it was like the whole Steve Martin with an arrow in his head thing."
- I still crack up everytime I think that the money in Laos is called kip.
- The sleazy guesthouse owner in Siem Reap also had this to say, "I can't go back to the U.S. because I'll probably end up getting arrested for touching some 15-year-old's ass in IHOP."
- On the way to the airport in Siem Reap, we must have passed at least half a dozen hotels with Asian tourists posing in front of the signs for their respective hotels.
- My favorite sign in Laos stated, "Love of cleanliess is shown in the manners of civilised people."
- In Laos, many kids love to call out "hello" to you from their houses.
- There are a lot of scary looking mannequins (think Chucky) in shops all over SE Asia.
More Youthlarge food writing -
Here,
here, and
here.
Thursday, 5:45 pm
Friday
We flew into Laos on a prop plane. Not a tiny one, mind you but still not my scene. Apparently, Air Laos has a pretty bad track record and refuses to share its safety reports. We flew into Pakse before heading to Vientiane. Jason read that the planes are flown by sight rather than radar and often it is too difficult to land in Pakse so the pilot has to circle around until he can see.
The flight was full of hot stale air and stinky Frenchies. Upon arriving in Laos, we had to buy our visa. Unfortunately, I didn't have a passport photo so I was told to go to the small photocopy room to have my passport copies. There was a Canadian girl with her friend also in the same boat. The airport worker photocopied my passport on the same page as the Canadian. When the worker told us that it would cost a dollar each, she started bitching. "One dollar? One US dollar? At home, it only costs ten cents. Why isn't it fifty cents each then?" Rather than being happy that she wasn't being shaken down for 20 bucks, she was being completely obnoxious. I tried to hand the airport worker a five to get change but she didn't have any. As the Canadian continued to make a big show, the worker smiled at me and waved me away, free of charge.
While in line to get the visa, the Canadians were behind me complaining about how inefficient the system was - it took about ten minutes or so. They wouldn't have known what to make of the Cambodian border that we had entered a few days before. After leaving the airport, two other Canadian girls asked if we'd share a tuk-tuk with them into town and then lowballed the driver on the price. Man, Canadians are cheap.
Vientiane is a nice, super mellow town. The place is littered with French cafes to kill lots of time in. Jason describes it as the SoCal of SE Asia. The people are incredibly nice and we weren't hassled much at all. Tuk-tuk drivers take a no and often will smile or laugh back. French seems to be much more en vogue here than in Cambodia and there are many French tourists here.
The crushing poverty of Cambodia is not evident in this area of Laos. People don't seem rich but there are many more cars around (some nice Mercedes too) and not many of those shacks we saw everywhere in Cambodia. People live in apartments or real houses from what we've seen. However, one problem in this town is that many of the main roads are not paved (including the one in front of the nicest hotels) and that there is an innumerable amount of open sewers in the sidewalk. It has been much more humid here than our five days in Cambodia. The architecture is an interesting mix of French colonial and Soviet uniformity.
In the evening, we went to On the Rock Pub. It is a fun rock club where we were welcomed with open arms. The house band all wore matching Pub On the Rock t-shirts did a nice mix of Western covers (Lionel Ritchie, anyone?) and the latest Thai pop hits. It was packed with locals and there was a sweet high school dance vibe to it.
Saturday
As much as we were digging the town, we were realizing that it definitely had a "Phish broke up so now what do we do?" kind of vibe amongst the Westerners. Plus, we realized that if we really did Laos right (at least five days or so) that we would short change Vietnam. So we decided to head to Vietnam sooner rather than later. It was going to be too difficult to leave this town for the next one in Laos and then have to come back to it to fly out. In the afternoon, we bought tickets to head to Hanoi on Sunday night which would give us a total of three days in Laos.
After buying our tickets, we had an amazing day. First up, the National Museum. Housed in the former French governor's mansion, it was built in 1925. It seemed like the last time any maintenance had been done was 1954 when the French originally left Laos. Painted in pinks and blues, the museum had a wide collection of artifacts. The most interesting stuff was the stuff about the past one hundred years. First off, the French torturers. Followed by the U.S imperialists and their puppets.
The pictures all had English desciptions printed out and taped directly onto the frames. It was definitely a low budget operation. The best parts were artifacts such as "Comrade So and So used this knapsack while planning his escape." The main exhibit ended in 1975, when Laos' current gov't was created. There was a brief display near the exit on the past 30 years. Basically, the current gov't continues to be great and to "lead the Lao people into the future."
After lunch, we went to the National Stadium right nearby. I'm not sure when it was built but it was pretty great. There must have been plenty of Soviet era propaganda stuff at this place back in the day. When we entered, there wasn't much going on. There were a few kids in the stands watching the neighboring tennis club action. There were three or four soccer players there too. Was there a game coming? The soccer players graciously invited us in. Within the next ten minutes, two full teams arrived. Soccer time in an empty stadium. We had no idea what sort of league this was but we quickly made friends with the visiting team from Thailand.
Many of the players and a few of their girlfriends (?) asked us to either pose for pictures with them or for Jason to take their pictures. They were very excited that we were there to see them play. Soon enough, the game was on and it was quite an interesting experience. It began to pour so everyone, including the bench players, headed for the stands and cover. The coaches stayed in the rain and simply covered their heads with protective plastic.
The sound of the rain and the thunder mixed quite well with the loud pops of the shooting range right next to the stadium. There was also a pool and a taekwondo club right nearby. Jason dubbed this town a "communist country club." There were also a number of kids scavenging for water bottles for the deposit money. The players had to hide their water until they were ready to cede the bottles over to the kids. Our Thai friends lost 2-1 to the home team.
For dinner, we went to a restaurant on the Mekong right across from the amazing Soviet era hotel. We decided not to get the menu item described as "money bag" but we did opt for frog legs (incredibly spicy, I have not felt the same since), and crickets which were surpisingly pretty good. As we ate our cricket and frogs, it was amusing to watch a few of both of those creatures cavort around the floor of the outdoor establishment.
After dinner, it was time for the Lao Bowling Centre. Everyone was having a great time there until a family of three generations of French trash came in like they owned the place. The owner was Korean and had Korean World Cup stuff ("Reds Go Together") on the walls. I bought a shirt and he was quite pleased to hear who I was married to. It isn't everyday you can go to a bowling alley and see a hammer and sickle flag. The price list differentiated between "Lao Student and Women" and "General People."
And the day kept getting better. We headed to the majestic Lao Cultural Center where we had seen advertisments for some huge pop spectacle. We got there a little before 11 and it was almost over. I talked us in for free and the ticket guy was super excited to let us in. The place was teeming with excited teenagers and their moms. There was some fancy dancing to recorded music and then... and then ... Dreams II (they were the headliners) came out for one more song! I wish we had seen more but what we saw was great. Three Thai women. Pop idols. The kids rushed the stage. And so did we. There were roses. There were pictures. There were quizzical looks directed our way from the crowd. It was perfect. More Thai pop is what I need! As we left, the ticket guy who shooed us in was quite pleased that we had such a good time.
Sunday
Our last day in Laos, or so we thought began with a trip to the market. Not the tourist market, but the real people market in the mud where one can find the hippest, latest t-shirt fashions. We spent the rest of the day lounging around and then headed to the airport ready for Vietnam.
Not quite.
Unbeknownst to us but Jason's visa was only a single entry to Vietnam, not a multiple entry. We were not allowed to leave Laos. Dejected, we headed back to town. Luckily, there was another soccer game we were able to see the end of. Not quite the same warm feeling was directed our way by either of these squads. But we did get to see penalty kick action to end the game. For dinner, we ate again on the Mekong but this time amongst the little stands that the locals set up all along the riverfront.
Then the rain came. A perfect capper on the annoying day. We tried a few clubs that we read about including a jazz club called Snow White and One Dwarf (the doorman is the dwarf) but it was shuttered. We also tried some bizarre cabaret club in some hotel but it seemed awfully sketchy and no one was there.
Monday
The day began on a promising note. There was kickboxing on the TV and a ceasefire in the Middle East.
We went to the Vietnamese embassy and Jason got his Visa problem cleared up. They told him to contact the DC embassy upon going back home to get his money back from their screwup. We walked around and to the side of the Nat'l Museum we found some barracks. This is remarkable only because we found a number of soldiers playing petanque - a French game very similar to bocce. I miss me some bocce. I asked if I could take some pictuers while they played. Not only that, but they let me play a frame. Later in the day, I saw two other petanque games being played outside. Nice.
After lunch, we took a tuk - tuk 25 km out of town to Buddha Park - basically Outsider Art heaven, Lao style. One man's vision in the late 50's. Buddhas everywhere. Hundreds of statues. Climbing allowed. It was truly a spectacle. You'll have to wait for pictures of this one.
On the way, we noticed an interesting about the dogs in Laos. They all know how to cross the street. They wait patiently by the side of the road until there is an opening and then they saunter across. None of this darting into the streets American dog bullshit. Another thing about dogs in Laos is that they all look normal unlike the skinnny, sickly Cambodian dogs. All further evidence that Laos might not be as impoverished as Cambodia. Also, no one honks as they drive - the complete opposite of Vietnam. Laos is one relaxed place.
Then we headed back to the bowling center to buy more shirts. The gracious Mr. Kim sold me two for the price of one because my wife is Korean. Thanks Youthlarge for saving me five bucks! After that, we gathered our stuff and made our way back to the airport to try to fly standby (we had a definite flight on Tuesday just in case. No dice. So we hopped into one of the many 70's Toyota cabs and went back to town.
And, of course, we had to make our way to the stadium again. No soccer on this day, just rec time. Kids playing, a track team practicing, dogs, families, it was nice. The stadium is so much fun and we noticed that people live there as well, in apartments furnished out of old offices perhaps? The parking lot was a hanging out area for a number of the families.
After dinner, we decided to head to the Futures club. Not our scene. Too much makeup, too much bad karaoke, too many minutes of a Stephen Seagal movie, too much bad DJ time, and too many (two is two many) asshole Westerners with their hookers showing off their herky jerky dance steps. Embarrassing. Since we weren't hitting on women, it was made clear by our waiter that we should leave when he brought us our check without us asking for it. No loss. We ended our evening with another night of On the Rock Pub. A gentler night for the house band - it was a Monday night after all.
Tuesday
Our last day in Laos. Jason went back to the market. He ended up there five times in four days. Everyday there were new great shirts. He plans on starting a business of coming to Laos to buy shirts and then mark them up to 30 bucks and selling them in Williamsburg.
Some of my favorites of the shirts he bought:
1. Frei Stil Surf (Free Style Surf)
2. Announcing the vibrant color and simple pleasures of Tm Cool." Surfing Gang. On the back - First and Folk
3. The most adventure wears made by 100 percentage cottonable smooth style for comfortable and successfull always
Jason says, "I see everyone in Laos wearing shirts like this. None of the phrases really make sense. They're my people now."
In Cambodia, the popular t-shirts were of wrestlers. In Laos, surfer and skaters.
While Jason was at the market, I got a massage. Strictly legitimate, mind you. I've never had one so I decided to try one since it was only six bucks. Pretty nice. But not worth what they charge in NYC. The gay laundry guy told me I should go out dancing with him that night and that he loved me as I waited in the lobby. Um ...
My favorite sight of the day was a sewing shop with a middle - aged woman working and singing into a microphone hooked up to speakers outside of her shop.
Then a flight beckoned.
Hanoi
The airport scene was much different than Saigon. Very mellow and not so third world. Cabs on the other hand ... We took a crazy cab ride to the city. Our cab driver spent the entire 45 minutes flashing his lights at other drivers to get them to move over. Then he took us to the wrong hotel - the Lucky Hotel, but the wrong Lucky Hotel, not to be confused with the Lucky 2 Hotel. The best sight on the way was a guy text messaging as he rode his motorbike. Our hotel is okay but both Jason and I think that it just might be haunted.
Wednesday and Thursday
It rained most of Wednesday. We spent most of the two days just wandering around. This is a great city. There is so much going on and it feels very safe. We are in the Old Quarter near the lake. The architecture is amazing. We both love this city.
Last night, we went to Minh's Jazz Club. It is good to be Minh. He rules the roost. Last night, he'd play a song with the band then go back to his friends to drink and smoke for a bit before coming back up to play another jam.
The most interesting thing about today was walking around with 3 million dong (less than 200 bucks) in my pocket for a spell.
Some odds and ends:
- Jason's description of the movie on the bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap.
"There was a village. The mother turned into a snake because of a witch's spell. The people in the village didn't know who the witch was though. They tried to find her to kill her. Her head would float around with stuff hanging out and it would just cackle at people. There might have been more than one witch. There were snakes coming out of the wife's stomach. The husband tried to kill the wife by stabbing her. Then he went crazy. Some old lady stabbed him in the head and it was like the whole Steve Martin with an arrow in his head thing."
- I still crack up everytime I think that the money in Laos is called kip.
- The sleazy guesthouse owner in Siem Reap also had this to say, "I can't go back to the U.S. because I'll probably end up getting arrested for touching some 15-year-old's ass in IHOP."
- On the way to the airport in Siem Reap, we must have passed at least half a dozen hotels with Asian tourists posing in front of the signs for their respective hotels.
- My favorite sign in Laos stated, "Love of cleanliess is shown in the manners of civilised people."
- In Laos, many kids love to call out "hello" to you from their houses.
- There are a lot of scary looking mannequins (think Chucky) in shops all over SE Asia.
More Youthlarge food writing -
Here,
here, and
here.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Foot Stomping Rock
Vientiane, Laos
Sunday, 2:15 pm
Thursday
The day began like any other day. The sun rose. We ate breakfast. But we had no idea what brilliance the next 13 hours held for us. Theara picked us up at around 10. We decided to go to the Floating Village outside of town. The ride was pretty damn bumpy and probably not the best idea to take a tuk-tuk on such rough terrain. The floating village is basically people who live on the river - all rent free because they are so poor. They use the river as their livelihood.
Every house on the river either is an old boat or has a small boat tethered to it. Some people had alligators in boxes floating on the river. Some even had some floating cages with pigs. The gov't makes tons of money on tourists paying to see the poverty. It would be like a bunch of foreign tourists paying the US gov't money to take tours of East St. Louis. Very strange. But completely fascinating to watch the people go about their daily business. Even more interesting was there there was a community newspaper housed on one of the boats.
We were taken out by two young villagers in an old boat with a Toyota steering wheel. We passed fisherman, kids playing, people sleeping in hammocks, women rowing small boats weighted down with boxes full of goods, a kid riding in a bucket trying to get a dollar from tourists who want to take his picture, and many other fascinating sights. The river ended at the humongous Tonle Sap (The Great Lake) that you can take all the way to Phnom Penh. Our guides cut the motor and we just relaxed for a few minutes. At the mouth of the lake was an old boat converted into a guesthouse. The deck of the boat was covered in plants and was used as a restaurant. Next time, next time.
Our guides asked Jason if he wanted to drive the boat for a few minutes. They didn't ask me. I guess that those soldiers in Phnom Penh had called ahead and told these guys what a big baby I was.
After the village, Theara took us to a great restaurant that tourists don't usually frequent. It was built on stilts above swampy water. We sat on the floor, which was okay for me because I had space to spread out. The place had dozens of hammocks to lie around in after eating. Theara ordered us a roasted chicken and a huge bowl of fresh shrimp. We gorged on the food and hung out on hammocks for at least two hours. It was exactly what we were looking for after the tiring day exploring temples the day before.
Theara filed us in on his life. When he was five, his parents almost moved to the U.S. but his grandmother got sick so they stayed. Recently, his old friends who did make the move came back to visit and couldn't believe how fit and American they were. He became increasingly sad at what could have been. He desperately wants to come to the U.S. but has no idea how to do it.
Back in '97, his parents forced him to get married to a daughter of family friends. Many of his friends had recently died of AIDS and they wanted him to settle down. He only knew her for an hour before getting married. He had to break up with his girlfriend, his one true love. Actually, he continued to date her for awhile after getting married but his wife found out and told him to stop. He has a three-year-old son who he adores. He says that his wife is a good woman, but he does not love her.
He works all the time, 7 days a week except when he goes to English class. Most of the people in his class are rich and don't associate with him because he is just a poor tuk-tuk driver. It costs $2.50 a day to rent the tuk-tuk. In a good week, he will get tourists to take around for a whole day or two. He hates French tourists with a passion. And Germans too. But the French he saves his true venom for. They don't tip, they are too demanding, and they don't like that he doesn't speak French. His response, "We have been independent of you since 1954, I don't have to speak your language."
He likes the American and English restaurant and guesthouse owners because they make friends with Cambodians. But the French just stick with themselves and are rude to Cambodians. He also isn't a big fan of the Vietnamese and insists that all of the prostitutes in Cambodia are from Vietnam.
We had to tear ourselves from the hammocks and head back to town. We hung out at the guesthouse for a little bit before heading to dinner. The dinner was good and there were shadow puppets! Then, the main event - kickboxing. I had been to kickboxing when I was in Thailand in 2000 but that was pretty lame. This was the real deal.
Theara navigated us through the crowd to get there. It was not just kick-boxing at this place. There were balloon games, some sort of gravitron with lights all around and a 2 sided screen showing a movie. The place was packed. It was pretty damn dark though because there weren't too many overhead lights anywhere. Theara had to do some sweet talking to get us into the kickboxing, housed behind a perimeter of green tarp. The price - five bucks for us, three for him. We paid for him and went in. It was kind of a rough crowd. Theara was visibly nervous and repeatedly told us to be careful of pickpockets. Upon entry, you grab your own red plastic chair and find a place to sit.
We were the only Westerners in sight and we got some very wary looks. There were some women and children but there were also some gangster types there too. Jason's camera drew a lot of attention. We were all packed together and Theara kept sizing up the people who got close to us. After awhile, people warmed up to us and Jason's camera was a hit. The guy behind him and the kid in front (who also took the time to mock me by making the universal four-eyes hand gesture to me) kept leaning over to look at the pictures Jason took when he was going through them to delete the bad ones between rounds.
The ring was lit by hanging fluorescent lights dangling above. The announcer and the music was played through a big bullhorn. In between rounds, great 60's Cambodian rock by Sinn Sisamouth (killed by the Khmer Rouge) played. During the bouts, some crazy intense traditional kickboxing music playing on the bai? blared through the bullhorn.
The fighting was incredibly violent. Many times, fighters fell out of the ring. All night, the bouts pitted Cambodian boxers vs. Thai boxers. There was also a bout with two female boxers. The crowd hooted and hollered whenever the ref would stop action to pull their hair out of their faces. Some thought the ref was sweet on them.
One bout featured a guy who kept tauting his opponent. One bout featured a Cambodian who had lost his last two matches to the Thai fighter he was fighting. When the Cambodian won, he walked around and appreciative people handed him cash. After 5 rounds, if there wasn't a knockout, the ringside judges handed in their cards to the ref who declared a winner. After the last match of five or six, Jason rushed up to the ringside and took an amazing shot of the victorious boxer as he posed for the camera while the defeated boxer was attended to while lying on his back, still in the ring where he had been knocked out.
As we climbed back into the tuk-tuk, a glue-sniffing kid came up to me and mumbled for money. He was hiding something in his shirt as he grabbed me with his free hand. Theara warned him to back off and he did. Jason and Theara both think that he had a knife hidden in his shirt and might have cut my arm in an attempt to scare me to get my money. Wonderful.
After the fighting, Jason and I decided to have a beer at the guesthouse outdoor bar. There was nobody there except the giggly bartender. She told us she worked there six days a week from 6 am - midnight. She also lived there and slept whenever she could. The American guesthouse owner came out and drank with us for a spell.
The first thing we noticed when we arrived at the place on Tuesday were the pictures of him and his Cambodian wife? on the front desk. One featured the two of them in traditional Cambodian dress and in the other, they were dressed in Western clothes. However, we never saw his wife while we were there.
This dude had a lot to say.
1. He's from Berkeley, man. Things were happening in the 60's man before Bill Graham commercialized that shit.
2. He retired from his lucrative "business" right over the Mexican border in '95.
3. He spent five years travelling the world, dude.
4. He loves the nudist clubs in Germany, man. 50 euros, you can stay all day. Eat and drink all you want. Rooms available too. But the pussy ain't free.
5. Man, he left his 8 acre pad on a lake in Austin to travel the world.
6. His favorite band is Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. When he was bored in the States, he and his oldest son travelled all around the country seeing them play. Tom Petty is "foot stomping rock."
7. He loves the Georgia Satellites. What ever happened to them, man?
8. He has an ex-wife in the States and five grown kids. (Not sure if they all have the same mom.)
9. He owned a very successful hotel/restaurant in Phnom Penh. He partied there until 5 am every single night. He had open mic night every Wed and Sat. It was wildly successful. You'd never guess how many wandering musicians there are around the world, man, who just want to get on stage and show their stuff. There was one guy from Finland who, listen to this, sounded just like John Cougar Mellencamp. No shit.
10. His favorite place in Phnom Penh is some French bar where the waitresses wear mini-skirts and no panties.
11. Mexico ain't what it used to be.
12. He moved to Siem Reap about a year ago after selling his hotel in Phnom Penh.
The entire time he was rambling on, the bartender was making faces about how lame he was. He had a super gravelly voice and smoked at least five cigarettes in the few moments we spent with him. He must have been in his late 50's, had a paunch, glasses, and a bad haircut. Jason described him as "basically a sex tourist who put down roots."
A few parting thoughts about Siem Reap.
-Favorite dumb bar name in Siem Reap: Angkor What?
-Favorite store name that had nothing to do with sex: Boom Boom Room
-Favorite t-shirt that I saw a Cambodian wearing that we couldn't find in the market: "Officials are now honest. You no longer need to bribe."
-Cambodia easily has the most difficult water bottles to open. Basically, you have to smash the top to then twist it off.
-All the people peddling stuff ask us where we are from. Theara told us to tell them that we are from Cambodia. They usually smile back at us and then insist that we are really from Canada.
Friday morning, we flew into Laos.
For more Youthlarge food writing, check here and here.
Sunday, 2:15 pm
Thursday
The day began like any other day. The sun rose. We ate breakfast. But we had no idea what brilliance the next 13 hours held for us. Theara picked us up at around 10. We decided to go to the Floating Village outside of town. The ride was pretty damn bumpy and probably not the best idea to take a tuk-tuk on such rough terrain. The floating village is basically people who live on the river - all rent free because they are so poor. They use the river as their livelihood.
Every house on the river either is an old boat or has a small boat tethered to it. Some people had alligators in boxes floating on the river. Some even had some floating cages with pigs. The gov't makes tons of money on tourists paying to see the poverty. It would be like a bunch of foreign tourists paying the US gov't money to take tours of East St. Louis. Very strange. But completely fascinating to watch the people go about their daily business. Even more interesting was there there was a community newspaper housed on one of the boats.
We were taken out by two young villagers in an old boat with a Toyota steering wheel. We passed fisherman, kids playing, people sleeping in hammocks, women rowing small boats weighted down with boxes full of goods, a kid riding in a bucket trying to get a dollar from tourists who want to take his picture, and many other fascinating sights. The river ended at the humongous Tonle Sap (The Great Lake) that you can take all the way to Phnom Penh. Our guides cut the motor and we just relaxed for a few minutes. At the mouth of the lake was an old boat converted into a guesthouse. The deck of the boat was covered in plants and was used as a restaurant. Next time, next time.
Our guides asked Jason if he wanted to drive the boat for a few minutes. They didn't ask me. I guess that those soldiers in Phnom Penh had called ahead and told these guys what a big baby I was.
After the village, Theara took us to a great restaurant that tourists don't usually frequent. It was built on stilts above swampy water. We sat on the floor, which was okay for me because I had space to spread out. The place had dozens of hammocks to lie around in after eating. Theara ordered us a roasted chicken and a huge bowl of fresh shrimp. We gorged on the food and hung out on hammocks for at least two hours. It was exactly what we were looking for after the tiring day exploring temples the day before.
Theara filed us in on his life. When he was five, his parents almost moved to the U.S. but his grandmother got sick so they stayed. Recently, his old friends who did make the move came back to visit and couldn't believe how fit and American they were. He became increasingly sad at what could have been. He desperately wants to come to the U.S. but has no idea how to do it.
Back in '97, his parents forced him to get married to a daughter of family friends. Many of his friends had recently died of AIDS and they wanted him to settle down. He only knew her for an hour before getting married. He had to break up with his girlfriend, his one true love. Actually, he continued to date her for awhile after getting married but his wife found out and told him to stop. He has a three-year-old son who he adores. He says that his wife is a good woman, but he does not love her.
He works all the time, 7 days a week except when he goes to English class. Most of the people in his class are rich and don't associate with him because he is just a poor tuk-tuk driver. It costs $2.50 a day to rent the tuk-tuk. In a good week, he will get tourists to take around for a whole day or two. He hates French tourists with a passion. And Germans too. But the French he saves his true venom for. They don't tip, they are too demanding, and they don't like that he doesn't speak French. His response, "We have been independent of you since 1954, I don't have to speak your language."
He likes the American and English restaurant and guesthouse owners because they make friends with Cambodians. But the French just stick with themselves and are rude to Cambodians. He also isn't a big fan of the Vietnamese and insists that all of the prostitutes in Cambodia are from Vietnam.
We had to tear ourselves from the hammocks and head back to town. We hung out at the guesthouse for a little bit before heading to dinner. The dinner was good and there were shadow puppets! Then, the main event - kickboxing. I had been to kickboxing when I was in Thailand in 2000 but that was pretty lame. This was the real deal.
Theara navigated us through the crowd to get there. It was not just kick-boxing at this place. There were balloon games, some sort of gravitron with lights all around and a 2 sided screen showing a movie. The place was packed. It was pretty damn dark though because there weren't too many overhead lights anywhere. Theara had to do some sweet talking to get us into the kickboxing, housed behind a perimeter of green tarp. The price - five bucks for us, three for him. We paid for him and went in. It was kind of a rough crowd. Theara was visibly nervous and repeatedly told us to be careful of pickpockets. Upon entry, you grab your own red plastic chair and find a place to sit.
We were the only Westerners in sight and we got some very wary looks. There were some women and children but there were also some gangster types there too. Jason's camera drew a lot of attention. We were all packed together and Theara kept sizing up the people who got close to us. After awhile, people warmed up to us and Jason's camera was a hit. The guy behind him and the kid in front (who also took the time to mock me by making the universal four-eyes hand gesture to me) kept leaning over to look at the pictures Jason took when he was going through them to delete the bad ones between rounds.
The ring was lit by hanging fluorescent lights dangling above. The announcer and the music was played through a big bullhorn. In between rounds, great 60's Cambodian rock by Sinn Sisamouth (killed by the Khmer Rouge) played. During the bouts, some crazy intense traditional kickboxing music playing on the bai? blared through the bullhorn.
The fighting was incredibly violent. Many times, fighters fell out of the ring. All night, the bouts pitted Cambodian boxers vs. Thai boxers. There was also a bout with two female boxers. The crowd hooted and hollered whenever the ref would stop action to pull their hair out of their faces. Some thought the ref was sweet on them.
One bout featured a guy who kept tauting his opponent. One bout featured a Cambodian who had lost his last two matches to the Thai fighter he was fighting. When the Cambodian won, he walked around and appreciative people handed him cash. After 5 rounds, if there wasn't a knockout, the ringside judges handed in their cards to the ref who declared a winner. After the last match of five or six, Jason rushed up to the ringside and took an amazing shot of the victorious boxer as he posed for the camera while the defeated boxer was attended to while lying on his back, still in the ring where he had been knocked out.
As we climbed back into the tuk-tuk, a glue-sniffing kid came up to me and mumbled for money. He was hiding something in his shirt as he grabbed me with his free hand. Theara warned him to back off and he did. Jason and Theara both think that he had a knife hidden in his shirt and might have cut my arm in an attempt to scare me to get my money. Wonderful.
After the fighting, Jason and I decided to have a beer at the guesthouse outdoor bar. There was nobody there except the giggly bartender. She told us she worked there six days a week from 6 am - midnight. She also lived there and slept whenever she could. The American guesthouse owner came out and drank with us for a spell.
The first thing we noticed when we arrived at the place on Tuesday were the pictures of him and his Cambodian wife? on the front desk. One featured the two of them in traditional Cambodian dress and in the other, they were dressed in Western clothes. However, we never saw his wife while we were there.
This dude had a lot to say.
1. He's from Berkeley, man. Things were happening in the 60's man before Bill Graham commercialized that shit.
2. He retired from his lucrative "business" right over the Mexican border in '95.
3. He spent five years travelling the world, dude.
4. He loves the nudist clubs in Germany, man. 50 euros, you can stay all day. Eat and drink all you want. Rooms available too. But the pussy ain't free.
5. Man, he left his 8 acre pad on a lake in Austin to travel the world.
6. His favorite band is Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. When he was bored in the States, he and his oldest son travelled all around the country seeing them play. Tom Petty is "foot stomping rock."
7. He loves the Georgia Satellites. What ever happened to them, man?
8. He has an ex-wife in the States and five grown kids. (Not sure if they all have the same mom.)
9. He owned a very successful hotel/restaurant in Phnom Penh. He partied there until 5 am every single night. He had open mic night every Wed and Sat. It was wildly successful. You'd never guess how many wandering musicians there are around the world, man, who just want to get on stage and show their stuff. There was one guy from Finland who, listen to this, sounded just like John Cougar Mellencamp. No shit.
10. His favorite place in Phnom Penh is some French bar where the waitresses wear mini-skirts and no panties.
11. Mexico ain't what it used to be.
12. He moved to Siem Reap about a year ago after selling his hotel in Phnom Penh.
The entire time he was rambling on, the bartender was making faces about how lame he was. He had a super gravelly voice and smoked at least five cigarettes in the few moments we spent with him. He must have been in his late 50's, had a paunch, glasses, and a bad haircut. Jason described him as "basically a sex tourist who put down roots."
A few parting thoughts about Siem Reap.
-Favorite dumb bar name in Siem Reap: Angkor What?
-Favorite store name that had nothing to do with sex: Boom Boom Room
-Favorite t-shirt that I saw a Cambodian wearing that we couldn't find in the market: "Officials are now honest. You no longer need to bribe."
-Cambodia easily has the most difficult water bottles to open. Basically, you have to smash the top to then twist it off.
-All the people peddling stuff ask us where we are from. Theara told us to tell them that we are from Cambodia. They usually smile back at us and then insist that we are really from Canada.
Friday morning, we flew into Laos.
For more Youthlarge food writing, check here and here.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Would You Like Some Boom Boom With That?
Vientiane, Laos
Friday, 6 pm
Tuesday
Took a not so fun trip from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. After the fun-filled trip from Saigon to Phnom Penh, this one was a little disappointing.
We were dropped off at the bus station in Siem Reap. It was quite a scene. Very aggressive tuk-tuk drivers all crowded around us, pulling, pushing, yelling. I couldn't find my bag at first and was afraid that it had been stolen. Eventually I found it and pushed past all of the drivers yelling, "I saw you first" to a polite looking driver who had stepped back from the fray. He was holding up a red sign that read, "I will not hassle you. I offer friendly service." That was all I needed to see. We got on. We told him our price range and took us to a great guesthouse.
After a few minutes of relaxing, we decided to check out the town. Nice gardens, nice royal palace, very pleasant place. However, I've never been to a place with such opulence sharing the same space with shantytowns. Some of the five star hotels have amazing views of the dilipidated houses. Siem Reap is a tourist town. There are thousands of tourists in town everyday to see Angkor Wat. I suppose if you fly in and fly out of Siem Reap and take a tour everywhere, you can ignore the crushing poverty all around. I expect that touristy places in India must have the same feel.
As we walked, I got a few great lines from eager tuk-tuk drivers thrown my way.
Driver: Hi! I saw you before. Remember?
Me: Oh yeah? I don't remember. Where?
Driver: At the airport in Thailand.
Me: When was that?
Driver: (Smiles, knows he's busted) Um, last week ...
Me: Interesting, I wasn't there last week.
Driver: (Smiles) You want a ride?
I also got a lot of drivers telling me that I had promised them that I would take a ride from them yesterday. They didn't know what to say when I told them that I had just arrived. Many also called out, "I take you to boom boom girls."
The day before in Phnom Penh, I walked past about ten drivers kiling some time playing soccer behind a fence across from our hotel. They were completely into their game and I thought that I could scamper by hassle-free. However, that was not the case. The first two or three who saw me broke off from the game, mid-action to yell over to me, "Tuk-tuk? Tuk-tuk?"
We walked around for a bit, got dinner with 50 cent drafts, and then tried to find out way back to the guesthouse. We overshot our destination and ended up in a neighborhood on the river. Almost all of the houses were wide open and it was easy to see in. These were small houses built on stilts on the riverside. Four, five, six, seven people crammed into one room. Most people were watching TV using old car batteries for power. There was music drifting out of a few houses. We were a little afraid, it was pitch dark, and we weren't sure how safe it was. Still, no one bothered us and the adrenaline rush made it even better. We crossed a bridge and started heading back on the other side of the river. We weren't sure how far away we were. When a tuk-tuk pulled up, we gladly hopped in.
Wednesday
We woke up, had some breakfast at the guesthouse and tried to call our "no hassles" tuk-tuk driver to take us to Angkor Wat. Unfortunately, we couldn't connect with him. However, after a few minutes, another tuk-tuk driver came to our table. He was a friend of the first guy and told us that he had been asked by him to take us around because the first guy couldn't make it. Whether this was true or not, we couldn't get in touch with the first guy so we decided to go with the new guy. And I'm glad we did. His name is Theara. I hope someone googles "guide in Siem Reap" and gets to this post. If so, leave a comment in this space and I'll get you his information. He is a great guide.
We told him that we probably only wanted to do one day at the temples. He told us where he would take us, we agreed, and we were off. Angkor Wat is pretty damn expensive compared to everything else - 20 dollars for a one day pass, 40 for three days, and 60 for a week. I'm not going to try to describe the temples. They, of course, were pretty amazing. I can see why people would spend a week exploring them. We only went to about five or so and they were truly mind-boggling. Basically, they are a series of temples spread out over a wide area. We went to the one with the trees growing in and out of it, the one with the chiseled faces everywhere, an unfinished one with very steep steps that we climbed, and a few others.
We ended with Angkor Wat - which was beyond belief in the size and scale of it, but somewhat disappointing compared to some of the others we had seen earlier in the day. I can't believe how dangerous some of the temples are. Very steep stone steps must lead to many tourist injuries. There were tourists of all shapes, sizes, and ages there. Kind of crazy. And you can walk around unobstucted in most of them. At Angkor Wat, we left the crowded area at one point and found ourselves completely alone behind it. Then our reverie was broken by some dumbass German? dude making his girlfriend take pictures of him as he did shirtless handstands at the top of the steps to the temple.
Theara came into the temples that he was allowed to and explained some things to us and told Jason where the best spots to take pictures were. Some of the bigger ones, he was not allowed in because he is not an official guide. He said you had to pay the gov't 800 dollars to be an official guide. He barely scrapes out a living making 8 or so bucks a day (if lucky) taking tourist to Angkor Wat.
At lunch, I helped him with some of his English homework. He takes classes four nights a week and was struggling with some fill in the blanks silliness titled, "Use Your Loaf." What?
On this day, I was wearing a shirt of the famous neon Glico sign that I had bought while I was in Osaka. I also was wearing my Hanshin Tigers shirt - also from Osaka. I commented to Jason that if we ran into any Japanese tourists, they would laugh at me. Most of the day, no one noticed. But by the time we arrived at Angkor Wat (very crowded whereas some of the temples were refreshingly very quiet including one with a super bored policeman who seemed like he was was some laidback surfer dude from CA who said that he got sick of looking at the temple every single day) I was being noticed. Many did double takes, then pointed me out to their friends. The hipster teenager chuckled. The middle-aged woman talked to me about my attire. I was looking a little too Osaka-centric I think. After Angkor Wat, a Cambodian teenage girl tried to sell me some books. When I declined, she said, "If I see you tomorrow, will you buy a book?" I said that I would. She smiled and said, "But you won't be back tomorrow, will you?" When I smiled back, she said, "Nice hat, Hanshin Tigers." At least the Cambodians liked it.
We were pretty damn beat after a day of exploring temples (and we didn't even make it to the Lara Craft temple in the jungle!) so we decided to take it easy the evening. We went to the Westerner street blocked off from the riff-raff. I'll never get used to walking past beggars - young children, old women, people with missing limbs. I tried to always have some Cambodian money to give them. It felt good to give them something but do I just do it to assuage my guilt? Part of me feels awful that the police block them off from certain areas but I've been in enough situations between this trip and the one six years ago where it becomes impossible to eat because of being constantly bombarded by beggars. Sigh. After dinner, we ended up at a second story bar where we almost decided to get the Tomb Raider Cocktail (the entire crew stayed at the guesthouse during filming) but we decided against it. There were many crazed tuk-tuk drivers in this area. My favorite line, "All the massage places on this block are real massage. Come with me around the corner for some massage with boom-boom."
Thursday
The best day of our journey thus far. Will write about it soon.
Friday, 6 pm
Tuesday
Took a not so fun trip from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. After the fun-filled trip from Saigon to Phnom Penh, this one was a little disappointing.
We were dropped off at the bus station in Siem Reap. It was quite a scene. Very aggressive tuk-tuk drivers all crowded around us, pulling, pushing, yelling. I couldn't find my bag at first and was afraid that it had been stolen. Eventually I found it and pushed past all of the drivers yelling, "I saw you first" to a polite looking driver who had stepped back from the fray. He was holding up a red sign that read, "I will not hassle you. I offer friendly service." That was all I needed to see. We got on. We told him our price range and took us to a great guesthouse.
After a few minutes of relaxing, we decided to check out the town. Nice gardens, nice royal palace, very pleasant place. However, I've never been to a place with such opulence sharing the same space with shantytowns. Some of the five star hotels have amazing views of the dilipidated houses. Siem Reap is a tourist town. There are thousands of tourists in town everyday to see Angkor Wat. I suppose if you fly in and fly out of Siem Reap and take a tour everywhere, you can ignore the crushing poverty all around. I expect that touristy places in India must have the same feel.
As we walked, I got a few great lines from eager tuk-tuk drivers thrown my way.
Driver: Hi! I saw you before. Remember?
Me: Oh yeah? I don't remember. Where?
Driver: At the airport in Thailand.
Me: When was that?
Driver: (Smiles, knows he's busted) Um, last week ...
Me: Interesting, I wasn't there last week.
Driver: (Smiles) You want a ride?
I also got a lot of drivers telling me that I had promised them that I would take a ride from them yesterday. They didn't know what to say when I told them that I had just arrived. Many also called out, "I take you to boom boom girls."
The day before in Phnom Penh, I walked past about ten drivers kiling some time playing soccer behind a fence across from our hotel. They were completely into their game and I thought that I could scamper by hassle-free. However, that was not the case. The first two or three who saw me broke off from the game, mid-action to yell over to me, "Tuk-tuk? Tuk-tuk?"
We walked around for a bit, got dinner with 50 cent drafts, and then tried to find out way back to the guesthouse. We overshot our destination and ended up in a neighborhood on the river. Almost all of the houses were wide open and it was easy to see in. These were small houses built on stilts on the riverside. Four, five, six, seven people crammed into one room. Most people were watching TV using old car batteries for power. There was music drifting out of a few houses. We were a little afraid, it was pitch dark, and we weren't sure how safe it was. Still, no one bothered us and the adrenaline rush made it even better. We crossed a bridge and started heading back on the other side of the river. We weren't sure how far away we were. When a tuk-tuk pulled up, we gladly hopped in.
Wednesday
We woke up, had some breakfast at the guesthouse and tried to call our "no hassles" tuk-tuk driver to take us to Angkor Wat. Unfortunately, we couldn't connect with him. However, after a few minutes, another tuk-tuk driver came to our table. He was a friend of the first guy and told us that he had been asked by him to take us around because the first guy couldn't make it. Whether this was true or not, we couldn't get in touch with the first guy so we decided to go with the new guy. And I'm glad we did. His name is Theara. I hope someone googles "guide in Siem Reap" and gets to this post. If so, leave a comment in this space and I'll get you his information. He is a great guide.
We told him that we probably only wanted to do one day at the temples. He told us where he would take us, we agreed, and we were off. Angkor Wat is pretty damn expensive compared to everything else - 20 dollars for a one day pass, 40 for three days, and 60 for a week. I'm not going to try to describe the temples. They, of course, were pretty amazing. I can see why people would spend a week exploring them. We only went to about five or so and they were truly mind-boggling. Basically, they are a series of temples spread out over a wide area. We went to the one with the trees growing in and out of it, the one with the chiseled faces everywhere, an unfinished one with very steep steps that we climbed, and a few others.
We ended with Angkor Wat - which was beyond belief in the size and scale of it, but somewhat disappointing compared to some of the others we had seen earlier in the day. I can't believe how dangerous some of the temples are. Very steep stone steps must lead to many tourist injuries. There were tourists of all shapes, sizes, and ages there. Kind of crazy. And you can walk around unobstucted in most of them. At Angkor Wat, we left the crowded area at one point and found ourselves completely alone behind it. Then our reverie was broken by some dumbass German? dude making his girlfriend take pictures of him as he did shirtless handstands at the top of the steps to the temple.
Theara came into the temples that he was allowed to and explained some things to us and told Jason where the best spots to take pictures were. Some of the bigger ones, he was not allowed in because he is not an official guide. He said you had to pay the gov't 800 dollars to be an official guide. He barely scrapes out a living making 8 or so bucks a day (if lucky) taking tourist to Angkor Wat.
At lunch, I helped him with some of his English homework. He takes classes four nights a week and was struggling with some fill in the blanks silliness titled, "Use Your Loaf." What?
On this day, I was wearing a shirt of the famous neon Glico sign that I had bought while I was in Osaka. I also was wearing my Hanshin Tigers shirt - also from Osaka. I commented to Jason that if we ran into any Japanese tourists, they would laugh at me. Most of the day, no one noticed. But by the time we arrived at Angkor Wat (very crowded whereas some of the temples were refreshingly very quiet including one with a super bored policeman who seemed like he was was some laidback surfer dude from CA who said that he got sick of looking at the temple every single day) I was being noticed. Many did double takes, then pointed me out to their friends. The hipster teenager chuckled. The middle-aged woman talked to me about my attire. I was looking a little too Osaka-centric I think. After Angkor Wat, a Cambodian teenage girl tried to sell me some books. When I declined, she said, "If I see you tomorrow, will you buy a book?" I said that I would. She smiled and said, "But you won't be back tomorrow, will you?" When I smiled back, she said, "Nice hat, Hanshin Tigers." At least the Cambodians liked it.
We were pretty damn beat after a day of exploring temples (and we didn't even make it to the Lara Craft temple in the jungle!) so we decided to take it easy the evening. We went to the Westerner street blocked off from the riff-raff. I'll never get used to walking past beggars - young children, old women, people with missing limbs. I tried to always have some Cambodian money to give them. It felt good to give them something but do I just do it to assuage my guilt? Part of me feels awful that the police block them off from certain areas but I've been in enough situations between this trip and the one six years ago where it becomes impossible to eat because of being constantly bombarded by beggars. Sigh. After dinner, we ended up at a second story bar where we almost decided to get the Tomb Raider Cocktail (the entire crew stayed at the guesthouse during filming) but we decided against it. There were many crazed tuk-tuk drivers in this area. My favorite line, "All the massage places on this block are real massage. Come with me around the corner for some massage with boom-boom."
Thursday
The best day of our journey thus far. Will write about it soon.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Holiday in Cambodia
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Monday, 7:30 pm
Saigon is insane. Is it really that different than six years ago? I had a blast last time. This time, I couldn't wait to get out.
Jason and I did have fun but it was a little too much this time. Maybe I'm old and boring now?
Saturday
Jason and I did have a good time walking around during the day. The buildings are amazing. There was so much constuction going on that it was often hard to tell if the buildings were being constructed or falling apart. The traffic is as crazy as I remembered it but I did see a few traffic lights this time. To cross, you just wander out into the streets and the oncoming motorbikes go around you. Later at night, like on our cab ride to our hotel, the drivers honk at every intersection to let others that they are coming. It was nice to see that in the KFC era in Saigon that four people can still fit on one motorbike.
Even when we weren't walking late at night, the people peddling stuff were relentless. Cyclo? Postcards? Books? They wouldn't take no for an answer and would follow us for part of a block. Many of the cyclo drivers had a list in English of places that they could to take us to. They all pointed first at the American War Atrocities Museum. Since I've already been there, I wasn't in the mood to go. Jason was happy enough taking pictures of bizarre things like the open air concrete compound for the Tourist Police.
At one point while I was writing part of the last blog entry, Jason was hanging out at a park. His favorite moment was when a guy came up to him with a sign that he held up that simply stated, "Blowjob." We're still not sure if the guy was offering one himself or that he could get Jason a girl. A few minutes later, he was hit on by a guy in the park so maybe it was the former.
For dinner, we walked around for a bit. We stumbled onto a park where I bought an amazing sugarcane drink six years ago. This time, I was hounded by a 12 year-old selling postcards that offered to drive us to the tunnels where the Vietcong hid during the war. "I'll drive you tomorrow. Sunday is when all of the Americans go." When we said no to that and to postcards, he called me a bad man.
We tried to get noodles at an outdoor local place. We were told that we would not be served. Eventually, we found a place that would serve us and we got dinner. On the walk back to the hotel at about 10, we finally found a vendor selling sugarcane drinks. Even that wasn't as good as I remembered last time.
Goodbye Saigon, I hope to never see you again.
Sunday
We decided not to go to the Mekong Delta. Instead, we took a 7 hour bus ride to Cambodia. And it was amazing. It was like a 7 hour moving museum for us. As we cruised in our air-conditioned splendor, the driver put on a crazy assortment of DVD's. First were a bunch of disco videos. Then we had some Benny Hill (still not funny), The Transporter, and then some MOR stuff: Celine Dion, the Carpenters, and the Eagles - Hell Freezes Over, baby!
The road in Vietnam was a four lane road with ample space for everyone. Not many crazy bumps either. It was completely different than the two lane national "highway" that I took north last time.
The border scene was quite interesting. Burned out druggies shared space with hippie Israeli families, a single British middle-aged guy surely on a sex adventure, Korean tourists, obnoxious Dutch guys, and bored Cambodian officials. It took about an hour for the passports to get checked. We had to get on and off the bus twice within one tiny stetch of land. But we got through and weren't even shaken down for extra cash.
Right next to us on the bus were 4 annoying British early twentysomething women. They had their pink Yankees hats with them and all were reading romance novels. As Jason and I marveled at the scenery, they spent the whole ride engrossed in their books. At one point, we reached a ferry crossing. We had to wait for about fifteen minutes for it. At that point, they started excitedly shooting pictures of the starving children and desperate vendors. We were packed into the ferry with not an inch to spare.
At this point, the road became quite interesting. It was still paved but it was very similar to the road I remembered from Vietnam. Very very bumpy and very narrow with all sorts of traffic - pedestrians, cars, trucks, buses, animals, motorcyles. Almost the entire route was lined with houses and people hanging out, enjoying their Sundays. We passed volleyball games, soccer games, horses, roosters, tiny shacks, swanky houses, schools with big courtyards, Buddha statues, propaganda posters, soldier statues, temples, roadside barbershops, abandoned gas stations, and open empty gas stations with empty marts and one attendant sitting at a desk between the pumps.
Eventually we reached Phnom Penh. We immediately fell in love with it. The roads were wide, the buildings looked amazing (some of it reminded me of the French Quarter), and the pace just seemed more sane than Saigon. There is seemingly a solid middle class here especially when compared to Saigon. There are a lot of Toyotas. The gas stations remind me of Western ones with mini-marts. Don't get me wrong, the place is still pretty different than any developed city but having come from Saigon, this seemed like a good place to be. We took a tuk-tuk (a motorbike pulling a cushioned cart for four) ride to find a hotel. Other than the Yankee hat he was wearing, Jason and I both liked him a lot. He gave us his card to call him the next day.
We ended up at a hotel on the river, an amazing strip of shops, hotels, and parks. The tourists haven't ruined it for the locals. It was swarmed with families enjoying their Sunday night. We found a park across from an immacualate gov't building. There were hundreds of people playing in the park and sitting on nice rugs eating dinner. No one hassled us. The kids were happy to see us and posed for pictures for Jason unprompted. Many kids just wanted to come up to us and say hello.
We ended up drinking on the rooftop bar of the Foreign Correspondents Club. For the record, Angkor Beer is not nearly as good as Tiger Beer. We overlooked a four story building. The first story was a restaurant. The second story was a bar with a pool table that was empty at first except for four scantily clad bored looking Cambodian women. The third floor had a number of rooms that connected to the second floor by an outside staircase. The entrance to the rooms were from the outside patio. The curtains were drawn on all of the rooms. The fourth floor looked like it was one family's apartment.
Eventually, two middle-aged white guys found their way to the bar where they chatted with the women. We watched amused wondering how long it would take for the men to go upstairs. However, we ended up ordering some food and by the time we noticed, the white guys were gone - but so were the two women. A-ha! We were disappointed that didn't get to see them enter the rooms together.
On the walk back to the hotel, we were barely hassled. It seemed odd because it seems like with the extreme poverty, there would be many beggars. At the FCC, I postulated that the police keep them away from the tourists. Sure enough, on the walk back, we did see one beggar told to leave the area by a police officer.
There are a lot of naked toddlers wandering around. There are also plenty of minivans driving around with ten people on the roof. I also saw a car that had three people sitting in the trunk. Two were on each side with their feet dangling out and one was sitting in the trunk facing forward. The two sitting on the sides kept trying to keep the trunk from pounding their poor friend in the head.
Today we called our tuk-tuk driver from yesterday and hired him for the day. We went to the Killing Fields and to S-21, the school that the Khmer Rouge turned into a prison. Both were pretty damn harrowing. The Killing Fields had thousands of skulls displayed and S-21 looked pretty much like when they found it. Like any good fascist regime, the Khmer Rouge did an excellent job of taking pictures and keeping records of their atrocities.
After the Killing Fields, our driver asked us if we wanted to shoot guns. Um, okay. Down many a dusty road, we arrived. Former soldiers were hanging out eating lunch. They showed us a menu. 12 bucks for a handgun. 30 for an AK-47. 200 for a grenade launcher! The guns were at least 30 or so years old. There was a nice display of machine guns on the wall. I've never shot a gun and didn't feel like I needed to. Jason has experience at shooting ranges. He took the 13 dollar option. A handgun with 6 or 7 shots. We went into an old brick building with a target at the end. Jason shot. There was a lot of kickback. He got better as he went. One forehead shot on the target. This used to be a legal thing in the 90's that the gov't set up to make some cash from the surplus of bullets that they had stockpiled. Now, I'm not quite sure how legal it is. Living on the edge.
After that, we went to a market, then to a guesthouse for lunch where we saw the romance novel British girls. The Nat'l Museum was next - a pretty amazing building with a great courtyard. Apparently, the bats that used to live in the rafters have since moved on. Then some time at the Royal Pagoda, a sprawling complex of Buddha inspired beauty.
On the ride back, we were handed a flier by a tuk-tuk full of 4 girls about a pool competition at some club. Our driver says that the place is full of boom - boom girls, whatever that means. While I went back into the hotel to get money, Jason found out that our driver has an AK-47 and during the Pol Pot era, he slept with it in his bed.
So far, we are loving Cambodia. Everyone has been so nice. The tuk - tuk drivers take a polite no for an answer and were always happy today when we told them that we had already hired another driver. Phnom Penh has some amazing places to visit. Jason keeps talking about how he wants to buy a Vespa or something and ship it back to the States.
Tomorrow, we head to Siem Reap by bus to see Angkor Wat on Wednesday.
Monday, 7:30 pm
Saigon is insane. Is it really that different than six years ago? I had a blast last time. This time, I couldn't wait to get out.
Jason and I did have fun but it was a little too much this time. Maybe I'm old and boring now?
Saturday
Jason and I did have a good time walking around during the day. The buildings are amazing. There was so much constuction going on that it was often hard to tell if the buildings were being constructed or falling apart. The traffic is as crazy as I remembered it but I did see a few traffic lights this time. To cross, you just wander out into the streets and the oncoming motorbikes go around you. Later at night, like on our cab ride to our hotel, the drivers honk at every intersection to let others that they are coming. It was nice to see that in the KFC era in Saigon that four people can still fit on one motorbike.
Even when we weren't walking late at night, the people peddling stuff were relentless. Cyclo? Postcards? Books? They wouldn't take no for an answer and would follow us for part of a block. Many of the cyclo drivers had a list in English of places that they could to take us to. They all pointed first at the American War Atrocities Museum. Since I've already been there, I wasn't in the mood to go. Jason was happy enough taking pictures of bizarre things like the open air concrete compound for the Tourist Police.
At one point while I was writing part of the last blog entry, Jason was hanging out at a park. His favorite moment was when a guy came up to him with a sign that he held up that simply stated, "Blowjob." We're still not sure if the guy was offering one himself or that he could get Jason a girl. A few minutes later, he was hit on by a guy in the park so maybe it was the former.
For dinner, we walked around for a bit. We stumbled onto a park where I bought an amazing sugarcane drink six years ago. This time, I was hounded by a 12 year-old selling postcards that offered to drive us to the tunnels where the Vietcong hid during the war. "I'll drive you tomorrow. Sunday is when all of the Americans go." When we said no to that and to postcards, he called me a bad man.
We tried to get noodles at an outdoor local place. We were told that we would not be served. Eventually, we found a place that would serve us and we got dinner. On the walk back to the hotel at about 10, we finally found a vendor selling sugarcane drinks. Even that wasn't as good as I remembered last time.
Goodbye Saigon, I hope to never see you again.
Sunday
We decided not to go to the Mekong Delta. Instead, we took a 7 hour bus ride to Cambodia. And it was amazing. It was like a 7 hour moving museum for us. As we cruised in our air-conditioned splendor, the driver put on a crazy assortment of DVD's. First were a bunch of disco videos. Then we had some Benny Hill (still not funny), The Transporter, and then some MOR stuff: Celine Dion, the Carpenters, and the Eagles - Hell Freezes Over, baby!
The road in Vietnam was a four lane road with ample space for everyone. Not many crazy bumps either. It was completely different than the two lane national "highway" that I took north last time.
The border scene was quite interesting. Burned out druggies shared space with hippie Israeli families, a single British middle-aged guy surely on a sex adventure, Korean tourists, obnoxious Dutch guys, and bored Cambodian officials. It took about an hour for the passports to get checked. We had to get on and off the bus twice within one tiny stetch of land. But we got through and weren't even shaken down for extra cash.
Right next to us on the bus were 4 annoying British early twentysomething women. They had their pink Yankees hats with them and all were reading romance novels. As Jason and I marveled at the scenery, they spent the whole ride engrossed in their books. At one point, we reached a ferry crossing. We had to wait for about fifteen minutes for it. At that point, they started excitedly shooting pictures of the starving children and desperate vendors. We were packed into the ferry with not an inch to spare.
At this point, the road became quite interesting. It was still paved but it was very similar to the road I remembered from Vietnam. Very very bumpy and very narrow with all sorts of traffic - pedestrians, cars, trucks, buses, animals, motorcyles. Almost the entire route was lined with houses and people hanging out, enjoying their Sundays. We passed volleyball games, soccer games, horses, roosters, tiny shacks, swanky houses, schools with big courtyards, Buddha statues, propaganda posters, soldier statues, temples, roadside barbershops, abandoned gas stations, and open empty gas stations with empty marts and one attendant sitting at a desk between the pumps.
Eventually we reached Phnom Penh. We immediately fell in love with it. The roads were wide, the buildings looked amazing (some of it reminded me of the French Quarter), and the pace just seemed more sane than Saigon. There is seemingly a solid middle class here especially when compared to Saigon. There are a lot of Toyotas. The gas stations remind me of Western ones with mini-marts. Don't get me wrong, the place is still pretty different than any developed city but having come from Saigon, this seemed like a good place to be. We took a tuk-tuk (a motorbike pulling a cushioned cart for four) ride to find a hotel. Other than the Yankee hat he was wearing, Jason and I both liked him a lot. He gave us his card to call him the next day.
We ended up at a hotel on the river, an amazing strip of shops, hotels, and parks. The tourists haven't ruined it for the locals. It was swarmed with families enjoying their Sunday night. We found a park across from an immacualate gov't building. There were hundreds of people playing in the park and sitting on nice rugs eating dinner. No one hassled us. The kids were happy to see us and posed for pictures for Jason unprompted. Many kids just wanted to come up to us and say hello.
We ended up drinking on the rooftop bar of the Foreign Correspondents Club. For the record, Angkor Beer is not nearly as good as Tiger Beer. We overlooked a four story building. The first story was a restaurant. The second story was a bar with a pool table that was empty at first except for four scantily clad bored looking Cambodian women. The third floor had a number of rooms that connected to the second floor by an outside staircase. The entrance to the rooms were from the outside patio. The curtains were drawn on all of the rooms. The fourth floor looked like it was one family's apartment.
Eventually, two middle-aged white guys found their way to the bar where they chatted with the women. We watched amused wondering how long it would take for the men to go upstairs. However, we ended up ordering some food and by the time we noticed, the white guys were gone - but so were the two women. A-ha! We were disappointed that didn't get to see them enter the rooms together.
On the walk back to the hotel, we were barely hassled. It seemed odd because it seems like with the extreme poverty, there would be many beggars. At the FCC, I postulated that the police keep them away from the tourists. Sure enough, on the walk back, we did see one beggar told to leave the area by a police officer.
There are a lot of naked toddlers wandering around. There are also plenty of minivans driving around with ten people on the roof. I also saw a car that had three people sitting in the trunk. Two were on each side with their feet dangling out and one was sitting in the trunk facing forward. The two sitting on the sides kept trying to keep the trunk from pounding their poor friend in the head.
Today we called our tuk-tuk driver from yesterday and hired him for the day. We went to the Killing Fields and to S-21, the school that the Khmer Rouge turned into a prison. Both were pretty damn harrowing. The Killing Fields had thousands of skulls displayed and S-21 looked pretty much like when they found it. Like any good fascist regime, the Khmer Rouge did an excellent job of taking pictures and keeping records of their atrocities.
After the Killing Fields, our driver asked us if we wanted to shoot guns. Um, okay. Down many a dusty road, we arrived. Former soldiers were hanging out eating lunch. They showed us a menu. 12 bucks for a handgun. 30 for an AK-47. 200 for a grenade launcher! The guns were at least 30 or so years old. There was a nice display of machine guns on the wall. I've never shot a gun and didn't feel like I needed to. Jason has experience at shooting ranges. He took the 13 dollar option. A handgun with 6 or 7 shots. We went into an old brick building with a target at the end. Jason shot. There was a lot of kickback. He got better as he went. One forehead shot on the target. This used to be a legal thing in the 90's that the gov't set up to make some cash from the surplus of bullets that they had stockpiled. Now, I'm not quite sure how legal it is. Living on the edge.
After that, we went to a market, then to a guesthouse for lunch where we saw the romance novel British girls. The Nat'l Museum was next - a pretty amazing building with a great courtyard. Apparently, the bats that used to live in the rafters have since moved on. Then some time at the Royal Pagoda, a sprawling complex of Buddha inspired beauty.
On the ride back, we were handed a flier by a tuk-tuk full of 4 girls about a pool competition at some club. Our driver says that the place is full of boom - boom girls, whatever that means. While I went back into the hotel to get money, Jason found out that our driver has an AK-47 and during the Pol Pot era, he slept with it in his bed.
So far, we are loving Cambodia. Everyone has been so nice. The tuk - tuk drivers take a polite no for an answer and were always happy today when we told them that we had already hired another driver. Phnom Penh has some amazing places to visit. Jason keeps talking about how he wants to buy a Vespa or something and ship it back to the States.
Tomorrow, we head to Siem Reap by bus to see Angkor Wat on Wednesday.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
I'm Sitting Next to Glass Dogs and Ducks and Birds and Underneath a Winding Staircase
Saigon
7:10 pm
Who needs that broadband shit? I might be on the slowest Internet connection I've ever been on.
But first let me wrap up Tokyo.
Tuesday
Met up with Yu at the restaurant in Kill Bill where all the killing takes place. The one with that schoolgirl killer. You know the one I'm talking about. I got a little too tipsy to even take notes on the pearls of wisdom that Yu dropped so effortlessly.
Wednesday
Ghibli Museum. Miyazaki's studio has a museum. It is exactly what you'd expect. Cute kids looking at and playing on cute stuff. Youthlarge was definitely in her element. The place looked like it was straight from one of his films. It was amazing. The 40 dollar t-shirts didn't impress me though. We also got to see a 20 minute short about a waterspider and his crush that outclasses anything Disney has done in years. The movie admission ticket featured three frames of a movie. I got Spirited Away on mine.
Then it was off to Shibuya so Youthlarge could shop. Apparently, this is the hub of cosplay or used to be. But no dice on this day.
Then it was Chiba Lotte Marines time. Oh sweet Bobby Valentine.
Thursday
Knowing that the craziness of my next few days was about to begin, I decided to take it easy for the first half of the day. While Youthlarge cavorted around shopping, I hung out in our amazing hotel room.
When I finally ventured out in the late afternoon, we headed to the area where Yu works. YL decided to sample the Sapporo museum and beer tasting while I decided to go to the Tokyo Photography Museum. It was easily the quietest museum experience I've ever had.
I met up with YL and she was already drunk. I didn't help matters by suggesting that we wait for Yu to get off of work while drinking at the German beer garden. Yu arrived, she brought us gifts! I never knew that I needed the cutest toothbrush holders in the world before this night but now I know that I can't live without them.
She took us to a great establishment with no seats but plenty of sake, beer, and great little dishes. I stood transfixed with some of the other men watching the Yomuiri Giants - Hanshin Tigers game. Then it was off to a bar called BYG which was decorated in American rock posters and played great stuff like Neil Young all night. It was pretty small and quiet but apparently other nights they have shows in the basement. YL commented that the initials of the place stood for Bring Your Gaijin. There were salarymen, hipsters, and senior citizens in this place.
Yu was on a roll. She couldn't stop telling me how amazing my life was. "You are living a dream life. So many countries, long vacation, sleeping in a hotel king size bed ... What else is there? You've been to Philadelphia. You've been to San Francisco. You've eaten at Katz's. You've sat in the trunk of a car. Have you ever been packed in a suitcase?" There was also a lot of talk about a certain special someone. We also made plans to have a Freaks and Geeks marathon ("Like paradise" - Yu) the next time she is in the States, perhaps arriving by suitcase.
Friday:
It was so sad watching YL depart for the US. I won't see her until 8/23. I'm an awful husband.
A few other thoughts about Japan:
- I can't believe how efficient people are getting on and off the subways. They patiently line up in their designated spots to board. However, the stations are a bit too crowded for me even by NYC standards.
- I read that is one vending machine per 20 people in Tokyo which sounds awfully conservative to me.
- I was continually impressed with the stylish dark suits that many of the men were wearing. They were all tailored perfectly and all looked like they were in Kill Bill.
After killing an hour or so at Narita, I met up with Jason. He was just a wee bit bleary - eyed after enduring a 13 hour flight from NY with another six hour flight looming.
The flight was quite relaxing though. There was barely anyone on it so we were able to stretch out in our own rows. I was also quite a big fan of the view we had of the plane taking off. The plane monitors had the pilot's view of takeoff. It was amazing to see it from that perspective. I usually get quite nervous during takeoff but being able to see takeoff like this eased my mind. I was a little sad that we didn't get the same view upon landing.
The Saigon airport is a little different than I remembered. There are ads for American business and a couple of high end stores. But any dismay I felt that the country had perhaps softened was immediately forgotten. The immigration official immediately gave Jason some shit upon seeing his American passport. "Do you like Muslims?" When Jason replied in the affirmative, he was asked if he liked Muhammed Ali. Jason said, "Yes, he's a good boxer." The official said that he did not like Ali at all.
The airport was a mob scene just like 6 years ago. There were dozens of Vietnamese lined up in front to greet their loved ones. Then there were plenty of cab drivers ready to make a buck. It was close to midnight. The first guy we found wanted to charge us twenty dollars. The next guy, 18. We insisted that we weren't leaving unless the meter was turned on. There were 8 cabbies in front of our chosen cab talking quite animatedly about how to screw us. We got in and headed to the hotel that Jason had reserved.
I was immediately struck by a few things. There was a lot of building construction going on. A lot. Did I mention that it was midnight? There were a number of chains that weren't here last visit including a few KFC's. And there were a lot of men peeing against walls along the drive.
Our cab driver couldn't find the hotel at first and had to ask some people. Jason got out and asked a contruction worker and got directions. The block was extremely dark. Oh well. The cab cost about four bucks. We checked in but were hungry and wired so we went out for some food. Not the best idea. We were only a few blocks from the upscale hotels but couldn't quite find the area. The hotel manager warned us to be careful.
We couldn't walk more than a few feet without being asked for 10,000 dong (65 cents or so which we didn't have in that denomination) for gum by children, or being offered drugs, or most predominantly, prostitutes. The pimps were everywhere. Some of them wanted us to go somewhere else - "I'll get you pretty girl." Others had the girls with them. I guess two white guys walking around at 1 am set off alarms. There were bats swarming all over the place and a number of rats - noticably thinner than NYC rats. A couple of the guys put their hands on us which we didn't like. We finally found an open place to get some noodles and beer. We took a cab back. The hotel manager gave us a knowing wink when we came back. Dude, all we did was have some noodles!
The hotel lobby had a very Mystery Train feel to it with the older manager and the young clerk. When we got back at 3, the younger clerk was taking a nap on a couch in the lobby.
This morning I watched some sport on TV that I had never seen before. International hockey? It was like a cross between soccer, ice hockey, and lacrosse with a very hard ball. Anyone else seen this sport?
More on Saigon later. Tomorrow, we head to the Mekong Delta and eventually into Cambodia.
7:10 pm
Who needs that broadband shit? I might be on the slowest Internet connection I've ever been on.
But first let me wrap up Tokyo.
Tuesday
Met up with Yu at the restaurant in Kill Bill where all the killing takes place. The one with that schoolgirl killer. You know the one I'm talking about. I got a little too tipsy to even take notes on the pearls of wisdom that Yu dropped so effortlessly.
Wednesday
Ghibli Museum. Miyazaki's studio has a museum. It is exactly what you'd expect. Cute kids looking at and playing on cute stuff. Youthlarge was definitely in her element. The place looked like it was straight from one of his films. It was amazing. The 40 dollar t-shirts didn't impress me though. We also got to see a 20 minute short about a waterspider and his crush that outclasses anything Disney has done in years. The movie admission ticket featured three frames of a movie. I got Spirited Away on mine.
Then it was off to Shibuya so Youthlarge could shop. Apparently, this is the hub of cosplay or used to be. But no dice on this day.
Then it was Chiba Lotte Marines time. Oh sweet Bobby Valentine.
Thursday
Knowing that the craziness of my next few days was about to begin, I decided to take it easy for the first half of the day. While Youthlarge cavorted around shopping, I hung out in our amazing hotel room.
When I finally ventured out in the late afternoon, we headed to the area where Yu works. YL decided to sample the Sapporo museum and beer tasting while I decided to go to the Tokyo Photography Museum. It was easily the quietest museum experience I've ever had.
I met up with YL and she was already drunk. I didn't help matters by suggesting that we wait for Yu to get off of work while drinking at the German beer garden. Yu arrived, she brought us gifts! I never knew that I needed the cutest toothbrush holders in the world before this night but now I know that I can't live without them.
She took us to a great establishment with no seats but plenty of sake, beer, and great little dishes. I stood transfixed with some of the other men watching the Yomuiri Giants - Hanshin Tigers game. Then it was off to a bar called BYG which was decorated in American rock posters and played great stuff like Neil Young all night. It was pretty small and quiet but apparently other nights they have shows in the basement. YL commented that the initials of the place stood for Bring Your Gaijin. There were salarymen, hipsters, and senior citizens in this place.
Yu was on a roll. She couldn't stop telling me how amazing my life was. "You are living a dream life. So many countries, long vacation, sleeping in a hotel king size bed ... What else is there? You've been to Philadelphia. You've been to San Francisco. You've eaten at Katz's. You've sat in the trunk of a car. Have you ever been packed in a suitcase?" There was also a lot of talk about a certain special someone. We also made plans to have a Freaks and Geeks marathon ("Like paradise" - Yu) the next time she is in the States, perhaps arriving by suitcase.
Friday:
It was so sad watching YL depart for the US. I won't see her until 8/23. I'm an awful husband.
A few other thoughts about Japan:
- I can't believe how efficient people are getting on and off the subways. They patiently line up in their designated spots to board. However, the stations are a bit too crowded for me even by NYC standards.
- I read that is one vending machine per 20 people in Tokyo which sounds awfully conservative to me.
- I was continually impressed with the stylish dark suits that many of the men were wearing. They were all tailored perfectly and all looked like they were in Kill Bill.
After killing an hour or so at Narita, I met up with Jason. He was just a wee bit bleary - eyed after enduring a 13 hour flight from NY with another six hour flight looming.
The flight was quite relaxing though. There was barely anyone on it so we were able to stretch out in our own rows. I was also quite a big fan of the view we had of the plane taking off. The plane monitors had the pilot's view of takeoff. It was amazing to see it from that perspective. I usually get quite nervous during takeoff but being able to see takeoff like this eased my mind. I was a little sad that we didn't get the same view upon landing.
The Saigon airport is a little different than I remembered. There are ads for American business and a couple of high end stores. But any dismay I felt that the country had perhaps softened was immediately forgotten. The immigration official immediately gave Jason some shit upon seeing his American passport. "Do you like Muslims?" When Jason replied in the affirmative, he was asked if he liked Muhammed Ali. Jason said, "Yes, he's a good boxer." The official said that he did not like Ali at all.
The airport was a mob scene just like 6 years ago. There were dozens of Vietnamese lined up in front to greet their loved ones. Then there were plenty of cab drivers ready to make a buck. It was close to midnight. The first guy we found wanted to charge us twenty dollars. The next guy, 18. We insisted that we weren't leaving unless the meter was turned on. There were 8 cabbies in front of our chosen cab talking quite animatedly about how to screw us. We got in and headed to the hotel that Jason had reserved.
I was immediately struck by a few things. There was a lot of building construction going on. A lot. Did I mention that it was midnight? There were a number of chains that weren't here last visit including a few KFC's. And there were a lot of men peeing against walls along the drive.
Our cab driver couldn't find the hotel at first and had to ask some people. Jason got out and asked a contruction worker and got directions. The block was extremely dark. Oh well. The cab cost about four bucks. We checked in but were hungry and wired so we went out for some food. Not the best idea. We were only a few blocks from the upscale hotels but couldn't quite find the area. The hotel manager warned us to be careful.
We couldn't walk more than a few feet without being asked for 10,000 dong (65 cents or so which we didn't have in that denomination) for gum by children, or being offered drugs, or most predominantly, prostitutes. The pimps were everywhere. Some of them wanted us to go somewhere else - "I'll get you pretty girl." Others had the girls with them. I guess two white guys walking around at 1 am set off alarms. There were bats swarming all over the place and a number of rats - noticably thinner than NYC rats. A couple of the guys put their hands on us which we didn't like. We finally found an open place to get some noodles and beer. We took a cab back. The hotel manager gave us a knowing wink when we came back. Dude, all we did was have some noodles!
The hotel lobby had a very Mystery Train feel to it with the older manager and the young clerk. When we got back at 3, the younger clerk was taking a nap on a couch in the lobby.
This morning I watched some sport on TV that I had never seen before. International hockey? It was like a cross between soccer, ice hockey, and lacrosse with a very hard ball. Anyone else seen this sport?
More on Saigon later. Tomorrow, we head to the Mekong Delta and eventually into Cambodia.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Couple Tees
Tokyo
Friday, 10:15 am
I've got some catching up to do but that will have to wait for Saigon.
Youthlarge and I are heading to the Domokun store right now. Then it is back to the hotel to get our stuff and head to the airport. She's heading home and I'm heading to Vietnam with Cousin Jason.
In the meantime, enjoy what could have been while we were in Korea. And I suppose still can be back in Brooklyn.
Friday, 10:15 am
I've got some catching up to do but that will have to wait for Saigon.
Youthlarge and I are heading to the Domokun store right now. Then it is back to the hotel to get our stuff and head to the airport. She's heading home and I'm heading to Vietnam with Cousin Jason.
In the meantime, enjoy what could have been while we were in Korea. And I suppose still can be back in Brooklyn.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
What, You've Never Seen a Whitey Before?
Tuesday, 6:30 pm
It has been a relaxing few days after the craziness of Korea.
Saturday
We had an interesting flight. We were bumped to
business class for some inexplicable reason. Maybe the Korean woman at the desk likes Americans? I was sad that the flight was only two hours. It was pretty damn nice flying like a rich person. Although the cloth cover laid out on my tray for lunch was a bit silly.
At the Seoul airport, there were two different instances of old Korean folks right on top of me or Youthlarge while waiting in line. We'd move up an inch to get some breathing room, they'd move up two. What the fuck? Once in Tokyo, the same thing happened with two Korean teenage girls. Is this a cultural thing? A strange and backward thing? Either way, it was pretty annoying.
We also saw a Rod Stewart lookalike in both airports and our flight. It was bizarre. He had the nose and the hair. But he was about 15 years younger and even uglier. I was convinced it was him for awhile but then I realized that there were no super models in his entourage so it couldn't have been him.
Upon arriving in Tokyo, we immediately got on a train to head to Osaka. Damn, those bullet trains go fast. I think that Japan might have even more driving ranges than Korea does. We also passed an amazing amount of baseball fields - almost all of which had Little League or high school games in action as we passed. I love Japan.
Saturday night, we ventured into the famous Dotonbori neighborhood. Completely nuts. Shopping, great food, amazing signs, and a Hanshin Tigers photobooth. There were also a lot of decked out Japanese youth. As Youthlarge commented, they all looked like they were heading to a Whitesnake concert in 1988. What is going on in Osaka?
Sunday
Watched some incredible high school baseball on TV. We did some shopping and then ended up at the Instant Ramen museum. Yup. Sunday night, it was Hanshin Tigers time. What a crazy experience. Sold out, non-stop chanting for close to 5 hours! Well, chanting whenever the Tigers were up. Did you know that Japanese baseball games can end in a tie? Only three extra innings can be played and after that, the game ends. As the bottom of the 12th neared completion, I wish that either Youthlarge or I had known this fact because the argument of whether or not we were going to stay for the 13th inning could have been avoided.
Monday
We went to Kyoto for a traditional Japanese guesthouse experience. I'll let Youthlarge explain all about it in her food blog. Basically, it was glorifed room service where we were served dinner and breakfast in our rooms. It was pretty great but I'm mad at myself for being too scared to eat a snail. We both were too chicken to partake in the bathhouse aspect as well.
Kyoto is full of shrines and the like. We walked around a little during the day and then relaxed in the room the rest of the day. I watched some more high school baseball on TV. It really is some of the most passionate ballplaying I've ever seen played - complete with lots and lots of tears both from the winning and losing (but mostly the losing team) squads.
Tuesday
We are in Tokyo now. Our hotel is pretty swanky. We have an amazing view of the city from our 25th floor room. Somehow, Youthlarge was able to get the room at a really discounted price. God bless the Internet. We hope to see Yu tonight.
A few other assorted thoughts:
- Japan feels more foreign to me than Korea. Perhaps Korea has tried harder to be more "Western" where Japan is content to do their own thing? Or maybe it was easier in Korea since Youthlarge speaks Korean? Maybe it is just the architecture in the Japanese neighborhoods complete with narrow streets and mazes of power lines makes things seem more foreign to me?
- I love that the cab drivers wear a suit or a tux with white gloves. I also like that they can open the back doors from a button in the front seat.
- The latest Camera Obscura record is my soundtrack for this trip. The best record of the year?
- Why do so many Asians give the peace sign when posing for a photo?
- I can't believe how many strange looks I've been getting - especially in Osaka. People were staring at me on the subway. Kids gawked at me all day. I freaked out the kid sitting in front of us at the Tigers game. Very odd. Yesterday at our guesthouse, a Japanese family got on the elevator at the same time as me. The boy asked his mom if I was a gaijin. She replied in the affirmative, "Hai gaijin."
- I tried to convince Youthlarge to buy a Hanshin Tigers hat because the interlocking TH so clearly stands for "The Hong."
- I'm watching Bobby V's team on TV right now!
- Japanese men look awesome with gray hair. Why are there so few Korean men with gray hair? Do they all dye it?
- More Youthlarge food writing.
- There are a lot of Japanese men and teenagers with super high-pitched voices. What's up with that?
- Youthlarge already went a little nuts shopping for cute stuff in Osaka. I'm afraid that Tokyo might blow her mind. And our bank account.
It has been a relaxing few days after the craziness of Korea.
Saturday
We had an interesting flight. We were bumped to
business class for some inexplicable reason. Maybe the Korean woman at the desk likes Americans? I was sad that the flight was only two hours. It was pretty damn nice flying like a rich person. Although the cloth cover laid out on my tray for lunch was a bit silly.
At the Seoul airport, there were two different instances of old Korean folks right on top of me or Youthlarge while waiting in line. We'd move up an inch to get some breathing room, they'd move up two. What the fuck? Once in Tokyo, the same thing happened with two Korean teenage girls. Is this a cultural thing? A strange and backward thing? Either way, it was pretty annoying.
We also saw a Rod Stewart lookalike in both airports and our flight. It was bizarre. He had the nose and the hair. But he was about 15 years younger and even uglier. I was convinced it was him for awhile but then I realized that there were no super models in his entourage so it couldn't have been him.
Upon arriving in Tokyo, we immediately got on a train to head to Osaka. Damn, those bullet trains go fast. I think that Japan might have even more driving ranges than Korea does. We also passed an amazing amount of baseball fields - almost all of which had Little League or high school games in action as we passed. I love Japan.
Saturday night, we ventured into the famous Dotonbori neighborhood. Completely nuts. Shopping, great food, amazing signs, and a Hanshin Tigers photobooth. There were also a lot of decked out Japanese youth. As Youthlarge commented, they all looked like they were heading to a Whitesnake concert in 1988. What is going on in Osaka?
Sunday
Watched some incredible high school baseball on TV. We did some shopping and then ended up at the Instant Ramen museum. Yup. Sunday night, it was Hanshin Tigers time. What a crazy experience. Sold out, non-stop chanting for close to 5 hours! Well, chanting whenever the Tigers were up. Did you know that Japanese baseball games can end in a tie? Only three extra innings can be played and after that, the game ends. As the bottom of the 12th neared completion, I wish that either Youthlarge or I had known this fact because the argument of whether or not we were going to stay for the 13th inning could have been avoided.
Monday
We went to Kyoto for a traditional Japanese guesthouse experience. I'll let Youthlarge explain all about it in her food blog. Basically, it was glorifed room service where we were served dinner and breakfast in our rooms. It was pretty great but I'm mad at myself for being too scared to eat a snail. We both were too chicken to partake in the bathhouse aspect as well.
Kyoto is full of shrines and the like. We walked around a little during the day and then relaxed in the room the rest of the day. I watched some more high school baseball on TV. It really is some of the most passionate ballplaying I've ever seen played - complete with lots and lots of tears both from the winning and losing (but mostly the losing team) squads.
Tuesday
We are in Tokyo now. Our hotel is pretty swanky. We have an amazing view of the city from our 25th floor room. Somehow, Youthlarge was able to get the room at a really discounted price. God bless the Internet. We hope to see Yu tonight.
A few other assorted thoughts:
- Japan feels more foreign to me than Korea. Perhaps Korea has tried harder to be more "Western" where Japan is content to do their own thing? Or maybe it was easier in Korea since Youthlarge speaks Korean? Maybe it is just the architecture in the Japanese neighborhoods complete with narrow streets and mazes of power lines makes things seem more foreign to me?
- I love that the cab drivers wear a suit or a tux with white gloves. I also like that they can open the back doors from a button in the front seat.
- The latest Camera Obscura record is my soundtrack for this trip. The best record of the year?
- Why do so many Asians give the peace sign when posing for a photo?
- I can't believe how many strange looks I've been getting - especially in Osaka. People were staring at me on the subway. Kids gawked at me all day. I freaked out the kid sitting in front of us at the Tigers game. Very odd. Yesterday at our guesthouse, a Japanese family got on the elevator at the same time as me. The boy asked his mom if I was a gaijin. She replied in the affirmative, "Hai gaijin."
- I tried to convince Youthlarge to buy a Hanshin Tigers hat because the interlocking TH so clearly stands for "The Hong."
- I'm watching Bobby V's team on TV right now!
- Japanese men look awesome with gray hair. Why are there so few Korean men with gray hair? Do they all dye it?
- More Youthlarge food writing.
- There are a lot of Japanese men and teenagers with super high-pitched voices. What's up with that?
- Youthlarge already went a little nuts shopping for cute stuff in Osaka. I'm afraid that Tokyo might blow her mind. And our bank account.
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