Take Me to the River…
I’m not quite sure where the past week went (I’ve been waiting to use that line for years). Most of it was either spent in my room, on the Internet, or at the bar where the lovely Miss Phuong toils. I probably got around Saigon more during my previous 3-day stay than I did this time round…and I’m OK with that. The first trip was for sight-seeing…this one was for ‘normal living.’ The only problem was that I woke each day with a frightful hangover…the predictable implication of chasing a girl who works in a bar. Serves me right…will I ever learn?
I’m going to make this post short, because I’m planning to enter a writing competition and the deadline is just a few days off. I don’t think I have a 10-page blog entry plus a separate short story in me – so I’ll make the first one short and focus more on the ‘competitive offering.’ And this entry will be all over the place – as I mentioned, I didn’t have a busy, chronologically-obvious week, so most of my musings will be random and scattered. You’re used to that by now…
Have been reveling in the brilliant success of the Boston sports teams. The Red Sox are going well into the playoffs…the Patriots are undefeated…and the Celtics have stocked up on talent and we’re keeping our fingers crossed. I’ve been spending lots of time on the Internet following the boys – and catching the occasional game live on ESPN or MLB.TV on my laptop. Let’s see where this all goes…it’s still hard for me to believe that it all won’t end in tears. I was born in Boston, you know.
I’ve been working through my mail stash, which was primarily loads of magazines. One edition of Outside listed ‘out there’ places to visit, one of which was the Hua Phan province of Laos – which I visited a few weeks ago. They mentioned the caves of Vieng Xai, where the Pathet Lao leadership hid from US bombers during the war. You may recall that I checked out these caves en route to the Vietnam border. Interested to get the magazine’s take on the place.
Took a walk on the Saigon River, which is a languid, brown thing. Not quite as romantic as depicted in the 2002 remake of The Quiet American. But there are some nice hotels fronting the river, including the Majestic. And the entire strip reminded me a little bit of the Shanghai Bund. The buildings don’t soar nearly as high, and the promenade isn’t bustling, but there’s some similarity.
Friend Bob had recommended La Fourchette, a French restaurant near the river. I ducked in there for lunch after seeing the river…felt like having a large Sunday lunch, then taking a snooze. The food, and crowd, were superb. Lots of French families in there, having a grand Sunday feast, with wine and cheese. I had my usual 3 courses: salad, steak, and cheese plate. I could get used to this…I have very few routines in my life, but this could make it, methinks.
Went back to my room and took a 3-hour nap. Tried to go for a run that night – felt as heavy as a tire. Made it two laps around the park, then took stock, started walking, and did that for another 30 minutes. Admitting defeat early is important when you age – just ask the French.
Phuong gave me a ring – she was feeling sick and wouldn’t be at the bar that night. That was actually OK with me – I needed a night without drinking, and anyway felt like reading some of my assorted magazines. Taking a night off should probably be another routine to adopt…
On Monday I took care of some biz. First, traded a bunch of currencies in my HKG bank account back to HKG$ – felt like time to realize some of the gains (or, more accurately, realize the non-losses). Then spent some reading about Boston sports teams. Finally, got a flight ticket to Bangkok, my next destination. Fairly typical day…
Gave some thought to being a foreigner in Asia. Some pros, obvious and otherwise:
-you stand out from the crowd (except in certain ‘tourist ghettos’), and as long as you don’t mind being the object of stares, it’s fun to feel different
-you’re immediately considered the expert and credible on anything international/complex
-the cultures, cuisines, and sights are striking
-opposites attract – the females are exotic and appealing
-the economics work – if you earned $ in developed economies, the prices here are (still) shockingly low
And a few cons:
-it’s often hard to be taken seriously – if you’re not living right here, you’re a transient and won’t get great traction with females, business opps, etc.
-you often feel like you’re ‘missing something’
-there’s occasional hostility (rarely physical) emanating from the local guys, who may be jealous of your wealth, that you’re dating a local, etc.
Will add to this list if anything else occurs to me. And readers are certainly welcome to chime in…
Read the latest edition of Wired magazine. Article in there about David Allen, a ‘get stuff done’ guru with a new best-selling book. His theory is that the key to mental well-being and happiness is an empty email inbox. And he proposes complex systems to help simplify complex life events and requirements. I’m not sold on his approach – he proposes literally mapping out all your tasks and breaking them down into specific, concrete, action-verb ‘to-dos.’ I don’t take issue with that, and I do like the concept of being thoughtful about your tasks and how to tackle them – for instance, do you want to schedule this meeting via phone, email, …? Sometimes that can matter. My issue is that taking the time to break everything down can be daunting, and there’s a tipping point at which you can be overly organized and methodical. If you turn yourself into a robot to ‘free yourself,’ I personally perceive some paradox there. But I haven’t read his book, so I may be missing something…
Took Phuong and two friends of hers out to dinner…at 4:30 p.m., as they all had to work at 6 p.m. Ugh. I hate eating early, and I was hoping to get time alone with Phuong. But this is a very Asian deal…you almost always have to take the sister or friend along early on. It’s a kind of saving face for the Asian female…if their Western guy is happy to pay for food/drink for everyone, then they’re generous of spirit and worth being with. So, as with many aspects of relationships all round the world, this is an investment and you have to do the cost-benefit. Which is not a particularly difficult equation to solve…
Spent the better part of a day trying to fix my new Microsoft Office 2007 problem. In a nutshell, when I got my new laptop I activated the free 60-day trial of Office – the version that was included was ‘Small Business.’ I wasn’t able to activate into the full version via the Internet, so I bought the CD-ROM and waited for the trial to expire. I then uninstalled that version, loaded the CD-ROM , and thought I was in the clear.
But I ran into a ‘version compatibility’ issue, as my CD-ROM was the ‘Home and Student’ version of Office 2007. That’s much less $, and all I really need. I sent out some emails to IT buddies…and tried to get to a Microsoft support line/voice to help me. Finally was able to post to a couple Microsoft/associated question boards. I was not able to get anywhere near a live voice…and in fact had to join something called ‘Microsoft Live’ even to be able to post a question. Not fun. One fellow (not from Microsoft) finally got back to me, suggested uninstalling my CD version, clearing out anything still lingering that was Office-related, and re-installing. That worked…turned out there were a few old Office programs hanging out, and one of those must have been gumming things up.
Which doesn’t endear me to Microsoft. Why doesn’t the uninstall process address this? Why doesn’t the error message point me in a helpful direction? Microsoft seems a hell of a lot better at helping you install their programs than uninstall them…predictable enough, I suppose, but it annoys me. I can’t say I hate Microsoft – it’s more that the company disappoints me. They really seem to just be making it all up as they go along. Every time there’s an operating system upgrade, all hell breaks loose and Microsoft’s ‘solutions’ aren’t up to the task. And their other businesses are also bullshit. The Zune music player? Please. The Xbox – jury’s still out. Microsoft seems to feel it needs to be in every business…but it can’t even handle its core operating system/office suite business capably. Really makes buying a new computer, or upgrading your current one, a nightmare.
That’s my rant for the week. Hope you enjoyed it, and feel free to piggyback.
Had fun my last night in Saigon. Went out with Phuong after she left work early…went dancing at Apocalypse Now (real bar), then for some excellent Chinese food, and finally went back to the hotel. Bada bing!
Saigon is a world apart from Hanoi – there’s an actual nightlife, and the city itself seems far more open and globally-minded than does Hanoi. I like both cities, and Hanoi has its charms, but Saigon really seems more my speed.
I should post one photo, at least, so here it is – a fun nightspot in Saigon’s Pham Ngu Lao tourist area:
Went to Ton Son Nhut Airport the next morning, to fly to Bangkok. This airport used to be the world’s busiest during the war. Now there’s a new international terminal, which is quite modern and nice…you can’t really get a sense of the wartime ops anywhere that I could see. Perhaps there are lots of old facilities, and I wonder if any tours are given.
Back to Bangkok. Madhouse. Long lines at Immigration. Scores of cars waiting outside. Massive traffic into the city. Not many scooters/motos – instead, lots of cars. Saigon might look like this in 20 years. Ugh. Checked into Starry Place apartments, went for a run, then met up with Bob, Kate and her sister. Walked over to Water Bar and drank ourselves silly. I do love this part of town – Soi Rang Nam has Water Bar, a Tesco market, a few ATMs, great street food, and a 7-11 all within a few blocks. And the foreign presence is less oppressive than over on Sukhumvit.
Am now cooling my heels in Bangkok for the next week, waiting for my India visa. When I get that, I’ll have time for one more spin in SE Asia. Am considering a quick trip to Burma to get a temp check…or a few days in Laos/Vientiane, or diving in southern Thailand. I have a few days to ponder, while I take care of business in Bangkok and do some local sight-seeing. Should be a fairly mellow week, followed by a final bit of craziness before I head to India on the 26th.
Go Red Sox, Patriots, and Celtics. And, of course, Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, and Bill Richardson. And maybe Al Gore and Michael Bloomberg. As the joke goes, I used to think I was indecisive, but now I’m not so sure.
Over and out.
Tags: Travel
mbsloney
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