Same Same, but Different - Part 1

Pretty predictable title for this travel post, but next stop on the tour, Vietnam. I booked this ticket back in April thinking I was going with one set of friends, but ended up going with my consistent travel companion, Trinh. If you can tell by her name, she's Vietnamese by trade, and Lord knows, a native speaker helped. I'll take this one day-by-day, since it requires analysis on each day.

Day 1 (Saigon): this is really night one, as I landed around 10:00 on Friday. Customs made me realize that I wasn't in OZ anymore, Toto. Customs officials in Vietnam don't exactly put the lai around your neck and welcome with a smile. As they're checking my passport, I remember that only 40 years ago, we were ravaging their country, village by village. No hard feelings, ok? We cool? After finding Trinh through the maze of eyeballs at the airport, we headed into town as she and the driver yapped some crazy language. This ride was my first experience with the mass sooterness that is Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City. The place is organized chaos with these things...families pile on, people carry luggage, you name it. It's actually more nerveracking to be in a car somehow, you think you're going to hit a scooter at any minute. Anyway, we get to our hotel and make way into the alleys of Saigon. It's a bit strange and possibly scary for a westerner, but felt ok for some reason in these dark corners. Thanks to my Vietnamese homegirl, we were able to order some food and eat late night dinner while sitting on kiddie chairs. No napkins.















Day 2 (Saigon): I'm calling it Saigon because it's easier and maybe I want it to be 1968 all over again. Well, not really, because VC would be invading our hotel. Saturday was a bit toasty, one of those needing a shower right after you get out sorta days. Nevertheless, we trekked out and sweat our way through the city. Breakfast (which doesn't really exist in Vietnam the way we know it) was this omlet thing stuffed with shrimp and other junk. Good stuff. The great thing about a country like this is you can see sights such as wartime palaces, churches and the U.S. Embassy, but just taking in the culture is enough. For instance, we met up with Trinh's cousins for dinner, who ended up taking us around on their scooters. Dodging traffic, beeping horns, we were regular Siagon Hell's Angels.

Day 3 (Saigon to Na Trang): Our driver Phillip picked us up in the morn. We called him Phillip for no other reason that it was the most absurd name imaginable for a non-English people Vietnamese travel driver. Anyway, Phillip treated us to the road-tripping experience of Vietnam: dodging ANYTHING on the roads, barely escaping accident and constantly honking your horn to notify scooterists you're five inches away from them. And the entire time we hardly ever wore our seat belts. Maybe the Vietnamese know something about driving safely that we don't. After a stop in a beach town for lunch, where I consumed my first Coke milk (yep, that's right, and is it goood), we stayed the night in Na Trang, another beach town. We were a little late getting out to dinner, so we stumbled upon the only place open, Crazy Kim's. This joint was a mix between western bar/restaurant, rub and tug place and whorehouse. While the spring rolls were good, I didn't splurge for the "happy moment," whatever that is. On the walk home, a giant rat ran out of the garbage and grazed my ankle. Between Crazy Kim's and her happy moments and rodents in the streets, Na Trang gives me the willies.













I'm tired now and non-connection erased my earlier writings, so to be continued....

All Blacks, All Good

Many travels as 2008 winds down. First stop, a country even more isolated than Australia. New Zealand, complete with its wonderful iccents where my name is Kivin and you sleep in a bid. They also have really cool looking mountains and cities such as Wellington, where I ventured to. I dubbed Wellington as the "San Francisco of the South Pacific," mainly due to its hilly landscape, bohemiam/art scene and unpredictable weather. All the coffee houses give it a dash of Seattle, too.

NZ is the little bro to Australia, and it really takes on that vibe. Laid back and unpretentious, it's a country that doesn't take itself too seriously. How can you when you're most famous recent exports are two guys that sing about semi-attractive girls becoming pretty enough to be "part-time models?" Don't forget the wine and food, which NZ might not be known for, but we got our fair share. They have a great fesitval called Toast each November, which I also dubbed as the "Woodstock of Wine." People just chilling in vinyards, music everywhere, wine everywhere and the sun actually shined. Something tells me that even with rain, this would have been a good time.

Cross the Tasman, get a lame stamp on your passport and visit the (does NZ have a moniker?) country...it's worth a visit, bru.

Election Day, 2008

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

No Trick, No Treat

A group of us ventured up to Palm Beach on October 31, a place where I'm told they film the soap opera "Neighbours." Seems like a place for a soap opera. Another drama unfolded, you could say, as friends Anna and Paul got married in a park overlooking the scenic beach. Great time for sure, reception was on a great little island we all had to ourselves. Our Halloween costumes consisted of suits and ties for the guys, sun dresses for the girls. The candy was free booze throughout the day.

In the rest of the country, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone dressed as anything for the holiday. Yet another holiday that Aussies should be celebating, but haven't inherited from us. Although the actual act of Halloween seems to be a dying sport in the states, with parents worried about their kids roaming suburban streets, we've always embraced the costumes, pumpkins and cheesy decorations in the yard. Not so much down here. I'm still not sure if Australians need a reason to celebrate aything, but I feel like getting one of those "365 Excuses to Party" posters people had in college. Halloween definitely would be on there.

Next year, I need to organize for pumpkins in the office and Halloween party. It's a mission to bring the few American traditions they don't know about here. That includes Charlie Brown's Halloween special...

(Not So) Magic Bus

Today I think I officially realized that I miss the Jeep. The ability to jump in your own car at any given moment is defeintely underrated at times. People complain about sitting in traffic, but don't have a problem zoning out and driving to work.

What I do have a problem with is today's situation: just like every day, I walk out on Bondi Road to watch 3-4 buses roll by. When I get to the bus stop, it's another good five mins until another bus comes along. And that's a 381 - no use to me. Then a 333 comes....great, but it's completely full. Did I happen to mention it's not exactly spring weather outside and it's raining? Finally get on the bus and although I get a seat, it's right across from a mental girl who is ready to start grabbing me or kicking me at any moment.

Compared to most cities, the bus experience is fantastic. But there are days where I'd love to start up the Jeep, throw a CD in and watch those suckers on the bus frown their way to work.

Don't even get me atarted on people talking on the phone.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

In the last month, I've lost the following:

Spare keys

Key card #1 - retreived

Key card #2 - retreived

Necklace

Sweatshirt

Ipod - not retreived, but got another one for my bday

$50

I'm a little worried since things happen in threes and I'm only at seven. Does my mind count as another thing I've lost?

Deportiva

We're in the midst of fall sports madness, complete with baseball playoffs, BCS poll shifting and NFL drama. But I'd be remiss to not discuss the Aussie sports scene. Both Grand Finals (AFL and NRL) took place a few weeks back, which marks the end of footy season and the beginning of cricket and basketball. A good thing for summer to arrive, but difficult to get too excited for those two.

It's a strange one, sports Down Under. Not sure if there's just other stuff happening or not strong enough fan bases in the big cities, but seems like a pretty tame scene in comparison to the U.S. (and I lived in Southern California!). I don't mind the sports too much....NRL is sorta like our football, just a bunch of laterals and no pads. And no dancing when they score, a good thing! AFL, otherwise known as Aussie Rules, is a strange one. Think one part soccer, one part trying to score a field goal while running and another part kill the carrier. It's like other sports but unlike any others. Fans in Melbourne seem to like it, so maybe I just need to spend some more time there.

Basketball is basketball, just without the polish and illegitimate kids of the NBA. Cricket isn't exactly a high-octane sport, but seems like it could be a good drinking game.

The common thread with these sports is that while people seem invested in the big games and their teams, it feels like America truly treats sport as religion sometimes. At times it can be a bit scary, but other times, it can bring people together. My colleague was confused how I called home after the Giants went to the Super Bowl last year b/c her family doesn't have that same common thread. I do miss that a bit, but thanks to ESPN I can still get my fill....without the tailgating.

By the way, that is one tradition I will introduce to Australia before it's all said and done. I've already imported beer pong, tailgating is next!