For those who give a hoot...
Hey goose,
So we're flying out to San Francisco tomorrow (I'm excited!!) and the state of internet looks promising over there but no guarantees so I'm writing this one now. Just in case ;D
I just got back from a club that I would describe as being one of the seediest I've ever encountered (albeit, I was there with my family). It was Brandon's first time inside such a place though he was too sleepy to appreciate the magnitude of his under-age defiance, haha!! My aunt showed us the place and I forget what it's called - all I know is that the music wasn't too bad, drinks were relatively cheap and I taxed two coasters from the place. Okay, so onto why the place was so seedy - man, I've never seen so many young hookers/old men gathered in one room!! It was quite easy to tell which ones were hookers... they had seedy old (often white) men hanging off of them and whispering things in their ears EWWWW... but at least they were discreet.
Anyway, so for the last week I was on a tour around the lesser known provinces of China. Whilst it was quite educational, it was also really painfully boring, not to mention COLD (it reached below 0C on some days). I think it's one of those tours designed for people who are old enough to be on pension but not quite old enough to be terminal... It's actually quite funny, half the tour group were people in my family or of family acquaintance and the other half, we eventually managed to connect into the Sydney asia circle somehow. For example, one of the mothers is a dentist in cabramatta...
So we visited a lot of temples and you know, once you've seen one, you've seen them all! No joke bro. The only thing worth mentioning is that maybe, perhaps because we visited all those damned temples, I might have felt a little bit more spiritual than I've felt for a fair while now... I blame it on the smell of incense, haha. I remember lighting a lot of incense to stick in the hearths but not really knowing how to prayer or whatever. I dunno, that sort of thing makes me uncomfortable but mum shoved a bunch into my hands, who was I to say no to burning things? :P Also, I prayed to some nature goddess... not something new, but certainly interesting because that particular statue was all golden and shiny haha.
In the last 2 weeks, I've learnt the art of haggling. Though, to be honest I think I'm much more comfortable haggling with people who can't speak my language. Like, my mummy could haggle (and win the negotiation, mind you) without saying a word to the salesperson!! All she needed was a calculator and the good old "pretend to walk away and not want to buy the thing" hahaha. Haggling in VN, now that's a whole other story!! Man, I'm so scared of that - I just leave it to mum or dad to do. I can't hack arguing with someone in viet or having them go off at me/tell me off for haggling.
There's heaps of stray dogs running around China, though they're quite tame and they let me pat them. I also saw a lot of turtles... poor things :( Have I told you? The only pet I ever want is a turtle, though I feel bad for keeping it in captivity, but STILL! I'd like one. Anyway, I saw heaps in China. Some in restaurants (majorsadface) and some in temples (not as sad, because they sell turtles so tourists can "set them free" into the ponds). I even saw these really really tiny turtles that fit on the tip of your finger haha :P I also saw a lot of koi fish and now, I want some to fill a pond. As you can tell, I got so bored of looking at things, I was immensely fascinated whenever we came across live animals!!
For the life of me, I can't think of what else we did that's worth mentioning, so I'll just send you some photos...
I walked around Saigon today looking for a post office to send you that postcard and check out some book stores. We did find a post office eventually and just as I handed the postcard to be sent, I remembered that it was your birthday in a week!! Curse my feeble brain for not remembering when I was writing the postcard, the timing would have been perfect! But I figure that I'll pick up another to send you in a week anyways because there's not really anybody else I'm corresponding with at the moment. It's always fun to have keep one friend up to date on all the latest happenings of a trip...
Anyway, the point of this little tangent is that on our way back to the hotel, I saw the most despairing thing I've seen in a long time and it made me think how lucky I am to be young and healthy and Australian. Of course, in Saigon, you see your fair share of beggars with disabilities: deformed feet, missing leg, arm etc... but today, when Brandon told me to look to my left, I saw a beggar man who I think was hit by napalm or agent orange. Either way, I was overcome with actual shock and horror (it doesn't happen very often) when I saw his face, my heart stopped and I even jumped back a bit; from memory (which is quite hazy because my brain has since blocked it out) half of it was stripped away, he had no lips or nose and his teeth and eyes were jutting out. He basically looked like a skeleton with a thin layer of skin stretched across his face - the kind you imagine you'd see more in horror films than in real life. I felt so bad for reacting like I did and I felt even worse when I realised I had money in my pocket that I could have donated to the poor man... sigh. Just needed to air that out to someone. I'd go back and find the guy if I could.
Okay so I realise this is a very long email. You don't have to respond :P I just hope I haven't bored you to death, sorry!! Now I should dash and get some sleep or do some packing. San Francisco, here I come!! :) Talk to you soon
Laters sweetpea,
Amanda
Next on the menu:
- San Francisco
- Minnesota
- Las Vegas
- Los Angeles (Disneyland!!)
I'm sthuper exthited!! :D Back February 6th, 'kay?
I miss Australia...
So we're flying out to San Francisco tomorrow (I'm excited!!) and the state of internet looks promising over there but no guarantees so I'm writing this one now. Just in case ;D
I just got back from a club that I would describe as being one of the seediest I've ever encountered (albeit, I was there with my family). It was Brandon's first time inside such a place though he was too sleepy to appreciate the magnitude of his under-age defiance, haha!! My aunt showed us the place and I forget what it's called - all I know is that the music wasn't too bad, drinks were relatively cheap and I taxed two coasters from the place. Okay, so onto why the place was so seedy - man, I've never seen so many young hookers/old men gathered in one room!! It was quite easy to tell which ones were hookers... they had seedy old (often white) men hanging off of them and whispering things in their ears EWWWW... but at least they were discreet.
Anyway, so for the last week I was on a tour around the lesser known provinces of China. Whilst it was quite educational, it was also really painfully boring, not to mention COLD (it reached below 0C on some days). I think it's one of those tours designed for people who are old enough to be on pension but not quite old enough to be terminal... It's actually quite funny, half the tour group were people in my family or of family acquaintance and the other half, we eventually managed to connect into the Sydney asia circle somehow. For example, one of the mothers is a dentist in cabramatta...
So we visited a lot of temples and you know, once you've seen one, you've seen them all! No joke bro. The only thing worth mentioning is that maybe, perhaps because we visited all those damned temples, I might have felt a little bit more spiritual than I've felt for a fair while now... I blame it on the smell of incense, haha. I remember lighting a lot of incense to stick in the hearths but not really knowing how to prayer or whatever. I dunno, that sort of thing makes me uncomfortable but mum shoved a bunch into my hands, who was I to say no to burning things? :P Also, I prayed to some nature goddess... not something new, but certainly interesting because that particular statue was all golden and shiny haha.
In the last 2 weeks, I've learnt the art of haggling. Though, to be honest I think I'm much more comfortable haggling with people who can't speak my language. Like, my mummy could haggle (and win the negotiation, mind you) without saying a word to the salesperson!! All she needed was a calculator and the good old "pretend to walk away and not want to buy the thing" hahaha. Haggling in VN, now that's a whole other story!! Man, I'm so scared of that - I just leave it to mum or dad to do. I can't hack arguing with someone in viet or having them go off at me/tell me off for haggling.
There's heaps of stray dogs running around China, though they're quite tame and they let me pat them. I also saw a lot of turtles... poor things :( Have I told you? The only pet I ever want is a turtle, though I feel bad for keeping it in captivity, but STILL! I'd like one. Anyway, I saw heaps in China. Some in restaurants (majorsadface) and some in temples (not as sad, because they sell turtles so tourists can "set them free" into the ponds). I even saw these really really tiny turtles that fit on the tip of your finger haha :P I also saw a lot of koi fish and now, I want some to fill a pond. As you can tell, I got so bored of looking at things, I was immensely fascinated whenever we came across live animals!!
For the life of me, I can't think of what else we did that's worth mentioning, so I'll just send you some photos...
I walked around Saigon today looking for a post office to send you that postcard and check out some book stores. We did find a post office eventually and just as I handed the postcard to be sent, I remembered that it was your birthday in a week!! Curse my feeble brain for not remembering when I was writing the postcard, the timing would have been perfect! But I figure that I'll pick up another to send you in a week anyways because there's not really anybody else I'm corresponding with at the moment. It's always fun to have keep one friend up to date on all the latest happenings of a trip...
Anyway, the point of this little tangent is that on our way back to the hotel, I saw the most despairing thing I've seen in a long time and it made me think how lucky I am to be young and healthy and Australian. Of course, in Saigon, you see your fair share of beggars with disabilities: deformed feet, missing leg, arm etc... but today, when Brandon told me to look to my left, I saw a beggar man who I think was hit by napalm or agent orange. Either way, I was overcome with actual shock and horror (it doesn't happen very often) when I saw his face, my heart stopped and I even jumped back a bit; from memory (which is quite hazy because my brain has since blocked it out) half of it was stripped away, he had no lips or nose and his teeth and eyes were jutting out. He basically looked like a skeleton with a thin layer of skin stretched across his face - the kind you imagine you'd see more in horror films than in real life. I felt so bad for reacting like I did and I felt even worse when I realised I had money in my pocket that I could have donated to the poor man... sigh. Just needed to air that out to someone. I'd go back and find the guy if I could.
Okay so I realise this is a very long email. You don't have to respond :P I just hope I haven't bored you to death, sorry!! Now I should dash and get some sleep or do some packing. San Francisco, here I come!! :) Talk to you soon
Laters sweetpea,
Amanda
Next on the menu:
- San Francisco
- Minnesota
- Las Vegas
- Los Angeles (Disneyland!!)
I'm sthuper exthited!! :D Back February 6th, 'kay?
I miss Australia...