noodle quest 2006

So i wasn’t able to sleep at all that night. i guess my post traumatic stress kicked in as did the hunger i was feeling since we missed out on having dinner as we were too exhausteed to leave the hotel. i was up all night thinking about the rest of our trip and things we wanted to do, random things like old memories and favorite books. i guess my life flashed before my eyes a few hours late. good thing it wasn’t too late. so the next morning we got up and boarded a van with three british girls which took us to a bus which took 4 hours to bring us to ha long bay. we ate some lunch and were put at a table with two weird germans, two chatty australians, 2 rich vietnamese guys and us. lunch was not so good, and does not warrant any details. then onto the boat. we got onto the boat and it was so hot we could have overflowed ha long bay with our sweat. hopefully i will have endless metaphors for intense heat as i don’t think it will let up for the next 5 months. [read on]

If you are reading this, friends, you will know that we are alive and okay so everything is cool, okay? OKAY?!?! last night after passing out for a while we searched out dinner at a cool little cafe called crossroads cafe which had a bunch of cute boys playing guitar and we ate friend rice and drank nasty beer called “bia hanoi.’ yuck it gave me permanent chills and grew some hairs on my chest. we fell in love with 2 cute shy boys that worked there and we flirted wordlessly with plenty of exagerated winks until we were scared that the police would violently enforce a curfew that appeared to be in effect as the roar of the moto horns and engines had died down a curious amount. we went home and passed out. last night was really hot. it was very hot. it was the kind of heat that makes you feel straneg and question things you always took for granted such as, can the human body actually maintain it’s form (skin, bones, organs) in inhumane temperatures. in the morning we ate bread and coffee and arranged a moto tour with Jue (soft j, oo, ay) who we knew from the hotel and his buddy Alfie. First we went to the Ngoc temple at Huan Kiem lake which was super cool. it is dedicated to a warrior who returned this magical sword to it’s rightful wner who is the super large turtel from the lake which has a really fat juicy neck. we used our walkie talkies giving one to Jue and keeping one. if it wasn’t easy enough to make friends around here the wlkie talkies would have sealed our fate- vietnamese people want to start a religious movement around these two way radios, thanks elyse and dave! [read on]

after breakfast jess and i took a WILD WILD WILD stroll around town. this place is like no other. every couple of streets is like a little town that specializes in something, we strolled from noodle town (although ... [Continue reading this entry]

this morning we woke up and it appeared as though all of vietnam was listening to the same radio station as there was this women's newscaster-esque voice booming over the street. we both slept like dead people and this ... [Continue reading this entry]

unbelievable. we are finally here. the flight was so long it is excruciating to even revisit as a memory although only japanese flight attendents could somehow be kind and gracious enough to make the cramped steerage section bearable. ... [Continue reading this entry]

i am actually all packed. my bag is only a bit larger than katie's when she was studying for the mcats. i am taking a shockingly small amount of stuff, mostly tampons shoved into every crevice of my ... [Continue reading this entry]

today is my last day in new york! for all of the planning i have suposedly been doing it is unbelievable how much i have to do today including pack, figure out how the hell i am going to access ... [Continue reading this entry]

things to think about: 1. kyle told me that i am an orientalist because of the name of my blog... discuss. 2. ouch everyday i get more shots! 3. eli and aunt k and unk m are coming to visit today! 4. VIEW ALL ... [Continue reading this entry]

So i just got back from DC and had a supremely fantastic time with my wonderful hosts katie, kylie and chopin, even though chopin scratched me deep enough to slice my life line open and leave ... [Continue reading this entry]

so it turns out that even though i gave my two weeks notice, the cruel and terrible french gnome that was my boss decided not to put me on the schedule for this week, which is fine because i would ... [Continue reading this entry]