Summer Blues

It’s good to be frustrated in every way today. With the disappointment of being passed for promotion looming over me, I’m determined to:

a. Clean 62.3 square meters of accumulated dust (since April)

b. Make a viral music video that will rival the Circle of Beautiful Friends

c. Lose 10 pounds (I easily gained, easy to slip back to my starting weight last September). I’m honestly getting worried about my ankles — they easily hurt now after walking to Parksquare 1 to SM. WTH. It’s suffering from the heavy load. 

I tried to change my fate by changing the arrangement of my bed, closet, bookshelf, and desk. I spent an hour moving things around, even wounding the wood (sorry dad). I ended up wasting time since the elements didn’t fit–my bed frame is simply too big for any feng shui to take effect. 

So it’s really frustrating to be me right now. I don’t feel like being anything at all. Wish I could disappear for a while and when I resurface, I already know which direction to take. 

Meanwhile, I’m scouting for a Vietnamese cookbook, trying to get back on the 4-Hour Body (with obsessive compulsive monitoring of weight), and looking for a Mandarin language school. 

I’m excited for Friday because I’ll have a guest in the condo. Till then I will be a semi-happy cleaner. Already finished my bedroom (have fresh sheets which I love smelling and rolling in) my bathroom and my brother’s *sigh* hopeless and ungodly bathroom. Men and common hygiene just don’t mix. Next is the living room and the small kitchen. Slowly but surely.

 

No time for day 3 posting

Too tired plus no photos. We just frolicked in the sand–there’s must’ve been thousands taken today followed by a panicky lunch (uh oh no more VND). Then a rush bus ride going back to HCMC. 5 hrs. Quick ravenous dinner at Wrap and Roll. City tour on our own. Just *yawn* tired. What a day.

An Open Letter to Flower

Dear Hoa (of a Viet travel agency),

This day has both had a peak and valley. Well mostly valleys. It started out ok, Hongvy 2 had its very yummy breakfast (2 of which we’ve already missed) and the tour.coordinator was on time to pick us up. Singh Cafe, incidentally, I’ve read about it online and had.good.reviews except for the ff failed.expectations:

1. The tour conductor did not give us the liberty to choose our seats so…

2. Towards the last 1.5 hours of the.trip to the beach, the aircon at the back of the bus started to act up. It became unbearably hot, making me unable to sleep.

3. The bus driver was not well-versed in the hotels where the backpackers are going to. He missed our hotel thereby affecting the 2nd tour schedule. Which is why I called you to complain.

4. My friends and I were so sure we’ll drag you by the hair because we were deeply disappointed by the mock-manila bay fishing village with battleship fishing boats to boot.

5. But you were saved by the sand dunes and the ATV. It was wonderful.

6. The adventure did not end yet because our friends, the ones left sliding on the sand dunes, almost.got into a fight with the Viet kids because we did not want to give them a tip.

7. We were late for the tour bus, got a snarky comment from a know-it-all Brit with a Filipina mail-order-bride. We were led to a boring yellow sandstone park with tourists and more gold dunes. Took photos. Went down for ice cream. The crowning glory of it all? Seeing vendor collapse and get an epileptic shock.

8. Ready to accept that we paid usd45 for a 2-star lackluster hotel…I am normally not picky with board and lodging as long as it’s humane and clean, I’m fine. I’ve been to uglier places but dining with cokroaches with a waitress who does not speak in english is the last straw for today.

So…I hope Flower, I can speak to your boss so we can correct the wrongs.

You’re partially forgiven for the dunes but dinner with cockroaches is not necessarily our thing.

Tags: Natalie's, sand dunes, Singh Cafe, Travel, Vietnam

Livin’ la vida loca

Ricky Martin was ahead of his time. This trip was another one of my impulses, practically unplanned. But I’m happy with how it turned.out.

We were ready to throw in the towel…judged Vietnam too early, thinking Ho Chih Minh is a Manila-like city with no secrets to be found. I’m dead wrong. This city is so budget friendly. And the food is so fresh and flavorful (the taste is not as confusing as Thai food, it has the comfort of Chinese cuisine to the palate). The people are friendly always have a smile available for strangers.

Oh I finally got my groove back. I had my Eat, Pray, Love moment! Biking along a narrow road in a small village. Favorite moment of today. Too bad no photograph.

That’s Mekong for you. A little something from me.

Tags: budget travel, Mekong tour, Travel, travel musings, travelogue, Vietnam

Hello from Vietnam

I hope it’s not blurry. We arrived at 12am and after making an itinerary we decided to have a late.midnight snack at Dinky’s. I love love it. The food is good and cheap. All hotels have wi-fi! Blogging via my super smart phone. Oh need to have this re-charged. We’re heading to the Mekong river in 3 hours. Talk about gruelling. But all in the spirit of f-u-n! Till tomorrow!

Tags: Backpacking not really, craziness, Group trip, Vietnam

The Best Things in Life Aren’t Things

Counting down the days till The Trip. Many years back, I vowed to myself to always have a soul-resetting trip for myself. So far so good.

The next agenda is Vietnam and I can hardly sleep just thinking about it. One of my travel paraphernalia is missing. Trying not to be upset about it. Hmm.

Excited

Tags: Happiness, Travel

Surf and Sand

We went on a 7-hour freezing bus ride with lots of twists and turns on the road. I couldn’t sleep because the driver was so adventurous–not braking when there are blind curves. I transferred to the back (might as well be Antartica).

When we got there, we saw this. And surfer’s waves. I’m not big on surfing because of the weight thing. But I just wanted to keep a friend company. It was fun save for the annoying local surf instructors.

Surfing is a friendly reminder of why I must enroll on that Cohen program. To be more. 

I hate self-pity!