I had completed this giddy post on Thursday while in Hanoi but lo and behold, it disappeared into Internet-wasteland….
Oh here I am on Saturday. It’s 4:50pm and well it’s been a great day
THANKFUL for recent activities:
–trip to Hanoi, successful meeting and stayed in great Nha Tho Hotel and went shopping!!!
–buffet lunch at the Sheraton and a lil nap (yummy Caesar salad!)
–visiting the Sunset Bar at the Intercontinental
–watching Jobros on TV (new episode too!)
–email and easy communication with intl friends
–coming home to a really clean room (looks better when I don’t live there!)
–fun activities in the city (dance recital tonite!)
–friendly encounters with ppl
–clean and cooling rain (in HN and Sgn)
–cleaning out fridge and making bread pudding
–picking out outfits to wear!
My mom is so cute cuz she calls just to chat. So I often start my days with that….Freelancing has been way too good to me!
Ok lots of tasks to complete so gotta go but miss ua nd ttys!
cn
Not really, though I am super excited to be headed to Huntington Beach and Oakland/SF this summer
When I was working in an office, I used to take blog reading breaks but now that I’m freelancing, I hardly check out my fave blogs anymore. But I did today and seriously, I really admire peeps who can menu plan and stick with it for the whole week. My brain doesn’t work that way but I do salivate over their plans.
Today I saw: French dip in a slow cooker and ham scalloped potatoes and man, was I motivated!
ODE TO the SLOW COOKER
I have been dreaming of this for years and I let an opp to buy one here in VN slip through my fingers…or was that in Canada now….? SO even though I will not be living in Canada for that long (8 months), I will be buying a slow cooker within my first week of having an apartment.
LATELY
–Habitat for Humanity build (I was translating for an intl team of Poles, French, and Americans)
–riding elephants in Dak Lak Province…coffee plantations, cacao jungle, a bumpy tractor ride….oh yeah
–published photo journal of VN and actually sold a few
–started the taxation process for my exit from this country (going well!)
–celebrating baby births (Mickael/Sandra, Kat/Karl et Jacob/Hye Jung)
–bake off with em Han! (I have 4 choco/zuch loaves to give away!)
UPCOMING
–India trip for Worldwide Community Schools
–return to Danang or rather Hoi An and motobiking in the mountains!
–trip planning for Celly and papa Enfin Ankor Wat here I come
–picking up my outlandish Parisian-designed navy and brown outfit complete with crazy checkered silk leggings
–tidying house: amen for my cleaning lady, she is amazing!
–packing for Canada and visiting amazing ppl all over the continent
–digital Japanese perm!
–weddings ALI and MK all in one year? YIPPEE!!!!!
–oh yeah, grad school in Ottawa hehehehehh
THANKFUL FOR
–recent WB contract (paid for my shopping spree!)
–my life, quite exciting of late and I am not taking it for granted
–friends in the city and on the TELEPHONE
–cheap phone plan: after all the stress, Mobiphone u r good to me!
–my printer/publishing team and Photoshop designer who helped me come up with a beautiful product
–Sunday church refreshment with great messages, good friends, and awesome music
–affordable cost of living in HCMC (moto, cheap veggies, amazing gym for low, low price etc….)
–believe it or not, the hot and humid heat! = dresses and cute shoes all day every day
–hilarious, trusting parents who just laugh at whatever I say
–perfect “coincidences” nah, it’s the perfect timing of life in harmonious tune with the truth…I’m going to a Hanson concert in September = what a blessing!
This has been one of my fave hobbies for the past six months. Usually it’s oldie songs but once in awhile, it’s a hip Shania ditty….in any case, I kinda love it and it’s the only time I can wear boots in Saigon!
This is a song we dance to that has a shimmy, shimmy moment…I wouldn’t even call this country line dancing cuz we also do mambos, salsa etc….all I know is that tis da BOMB!
That’s what we all should be: a bundle of joy Pourquoi? Parce que la vie est belle, n’est-ce pas?
I think life is more than beautiful: it’s a gift to be cherished at all times. It’s April 2010 now….things go by so quickly that without a half an hour here and there during which I can sit and reflect (or rather swing in my hammock like today!), my brain and life would be a blur. I also want to take time to remember what I’m doing at each moment: so as of now, I’m watching backtracks on Channel V which is ultimately better than MTV Asia so I’m not so sad that they switched the channels sometime last year. Goodbye “The Hills” and hello music videos! In the past few minutes, I’ve seen “Yellow” by Coldplay, old Lighthouse and now it’s Switchfoot….good stuff so far
I just ate dinner and let me tell you, homemade yogurt can’t be beat! I think I’ll be making it for the rest of my life and seriously, I love it savory in dips like my delish salad dressing of tonight. I also made beef stroganoff, VN style…they said nutmeg and something else, I used cinnamon and oregano…it all works And yogurt was used instead of sour cream.
This weekend was jam-packed and gorgeous: rockclimbing, a Saigon boat cruise dinner with my neighbours, cruising on the best motorbike out there (Airblade, I love u!), donuts (I haven’t eaten any for THREE years!), a LUSH shower and intro’ing a friend to my fave product….twas just great as most days are in this life.
my neighbours: so cute couple!
Lately, I’ve been living out my dreams I think: I was finally able to cruise to Cam Ranh Bay from Nha Trang along the coastal, mountainous road and I’ve been wanting to do this for a couple years (this is all near my gram’s house) but I never had anyone to go with…until now! I’m also working on a couple writing/editing projects for two local non-profit orgs in town and I feel really confident doing this work. I guess after living here for almost four years, I finally know what I’m doing…sorta! It’s nice to be working and feeling like it’s exactly what I should be doing. Oh yea! As I’m going to be leaving in the summer, I realize that VN has been quite good to me and that I’m gonna miss a lot of things after this VN voyage is over.
I do love writing and I think blogging is a-ok (not mega committed) but I am totally into KEEPING IN TOUCH and knowing the latest about you.
OK now, some of you might be thinking, “Dude, you like ignored me for six months/a year…” and while I cannot deny that this past year, 2009, has been one where I have been quite MIA (I like to call it a period of recovery, rest, and discover…), I hope the more active, slightly obsessive, chipper Cathy is back for good (cue Take That)!
FB has competed and has often won in the battle for online time for me and the blog has suffered as a result but I am trying to be more consistent here, and in everything else!
OK so since time is not a luxury, here’s some quick jots:
1. I love my new VN class so much! Yes, it forces me out of bed at 7ish and out the door by 745 (by neccessity not by choice!) but my prof, Thay Pho, is just da BOMB so it’s worth it! And I am a mega linguist, so uber dorky and in love with dictionaries, that I can see why my sister never enjoyed taking a class with me. I would love a pocket protector if only I knew where to get one!
2. Current healthy obsession: I usually have a playlist of ONE SONG. And here it is for today. I especially love this version b/c it’s by the Byrds and near the end of the clip, you can hear a girl squawking like a bird! Super awesome!
3. Planning to make a photojournal and perhaps other print products…Investigating how to do this is kinda rough, or let’s say challenging with all the haggling and quality checks, in Saigon but the opp to practise my Vnese is priceless!
4. Juggling: editing contracts, friends, working out, sleeping, cooking healthy and cheap foods, housework (laundry and dishes keep piling up!) and the million ideas that run through my head As the song says, there’s a season and time for all under heaven
5. Perhaps traveling again sooner than later. I don’t need to get away from the city but I definitely want to go to Danang and Nha Trang (gramma!) b4 I leave this country and then there’s the trip with papa and bros which I’m totally praying will happen in June and then back to Van and then to east coast/central Canada and then to a cherry/blueberry field and pumpkin patch in my near future I hope!
6. Oops, grad school! I’m just sooooooooooooo excited and thankful to be accepted at the University of Ottawa. It’s not certain that I’m headed there just yet but I love the fact that they admitted me, at my rusty age (for academics anyway!) having been out of school for ages and especially since I’m almost ESL in writing skills since I do live in VN where my native English language (and my beloved French) have deteriorated….but whatever, I’m moving back to Canada! Let’s hope that the Admissions office does not see this post!
7. Prioritizing is not my forte. Thank God for grace (unmerited favor towards all men that we do not deserve but yet still receive from God)
8. Exercise in minimal amounts unfortunately I try to go to the gym twice and line dance once a week but my schedule or perhaps my will to exercise is not as strong as I would like.
9. POM POM, a ex-boyfriend shared this concept with me: peace of mind. I have it for the most part, through reading, prayer, and intense journal writing, I think my head is screwed on rightly or tightly for the most part.
10. I am a chicken: twas born in the year of the rooster; am fearful of horror movies, darkness, giant bugs; when life gets crazy, I do run around like my head was cut off (trying to stop this!); and my talk is more like a squawk or a “bawk, bawk, bawk” than an elegant tone; and my walk is definitely awkward and ungraceful. Cockle doodle doo
OK gotta go meet with international ladies for coffee and chitchat….kinda reminds me of the Korean talkshow “Chitchat of the Beautful Ladies” except that I don’t have to be gorgeous to attend. And that is a great thing b/c this lil chicken has too many bruises from her moto.
ciao for now! mucho smoochos! thx for reading! xoxoxooxoxoxox!
Man, it’s 6:21 am in Ho Chi Minh City and though at least hmmm 60 million locals are probably up and about, this is rare for me….the last time I was up at this hour was….oops, it was Lunar New Year for the past few weeks… so let me rephrase that, the last time I was up at 6am in my NORMAL life in Vietnam was so long ago that I can’t even remember! I’m saying it was at least a year ago…I have to say that I don’t miss those 6am flights to Danang or Phu Quoc at all
So why am I up anyway? I’m not an early riser. Well, truth be told, I’ve been up since 3:30 and I went to bed at 1am. What’s the deal, crazy lady? That’s what I said at about 3 after tossing and turning for awhile.
Again, this rarely happens to me. I usually snooze like a log and delay my alarm for an hour each morning. I can sleep to 11 without feeling guilty but when I sleep til 3PM, I’ve got issues! But once I’m in this state, I gotta get up cuz there’s no more use in pretending that I’ll be sleeping anymore.
(EXCUSE ME FOR NOT POSTING PICS: I AM CAMERA-LESS CIRCA JANUARY 2009.)
So what to do? Well, I’ve been listening to Alicia Keys, just this one song, for about 3.5 hours. Can you see that I can obsess easily about things?
So tonight, I’m gonna find a way to make it…
–without sleeping
–without complaining (failed already! Oops!)
–without bothering too many friends on Skype and text and intl phone calls (I think I’ve contacted almost 10 ppl in the past 3hrs.)
The only reason I can think of for being awake at this hour for me is: EXCITEMENT!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
March seems to be the month for me for all my life in Vietnam.
2007: Ended internship at the University of Danang and got hired by EMW
2008: Started documentary film project for East Meets West Foundation (life-changing and breath-taking experience)
2009: Completed my full-time contact at EMW and entered the world of work instability and freelance (and sleeping to noon )
2010: Have new development projects looming (school and house construction!) and suddenly the mind is on fire!
It’s so interesting but in my life, when it rains, it definitely pours! So it seems like it’s goodbye chill time and hello multi-tasking. I just have to make an effort to not be a workaholic this time So on this sleepless night, I have thought about and actually started three new projects! And have reconnected with numerous ppl who I kinda neglected during my grad school application process.
Since I’m back in VN, tis time to slowly make progress on the blog so here goes
the best shop for all day fabric dreams and seamstresses
sizzling mussels and yummy dummy bread
Food was a highlight: crunchy peaches, ripe figs, al dente squid ink pasta, fois gras, chez Paul, daily baguettes, kir (white wine and cassis/black current syrup)….yum yum yum yum yum!
Being in Europe means learning about this type of lifestyle….I pity North Americans who have only a few weeks of vacation and who therefore have to rush round all day long seeing world-class sights and not having the time to really appreciate them.
But I digress….I’m in BCN avec ma famille :0) Well, the older members actually as the younger members are at home in Canada.
Reunion occurred at the train station as I was greeted by my dad’s everlasting smile and bien sur, no hug from older bro but we’re just not like that. Mom was in the apartment chilling out and cooking and it was better that way since I had a heavy, heavy bag and a massive hand-sized bruise to match…not so many elevators in France and I knew it would prob be the same at my bro’s place.
[/caption]
After a couple hours, it felt like home and like we don’t live on different continents…family is good that way Parents repeating themselves over and over and all of us bossing each other around.
note my plate vs my bro´s!
OK so the Cathy take on travel is not to see everything anymore b/c chances are that I’ll be back in these places one of these days….not so sure about BCN but at the same time, I have an espagnol-obsessed sister so it could happen and also, the architecture here is to die for so it should happen.
But the key is quality and being lazy, not rushing round half the world anymore.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Antonio Gaudi and his fantastical creations…the key to joy-inducing, colourful palaces and rooftops is apparently wealthy patrons but hey it works and contributes to the world’s riches.
- Spanish tapas even though I have only had one night’s worth! Eating like a North American buffet master sometimes hinders appreciation but alas tis me And yes I spilled my peach gelato into my hands and onto my mom….I am not the elegant daughter she wished for
- THE BEACH! Man me and the rents were apprehensive bout the nudity but alas I will say it right here: I PREFER THIS FREEDOM AND THE PACKED, HOT BEACH MENTALITY HERE TO VIETNAM ANY DAY. You would never see a VNese elderly couple tanning and holding hands in the water like we saw today. There were grampas teaching their grandkids to swim and rub water on themselves…a topless pregnant mother…golden tans and happy, healthy people.
- Reading Gary Barlow’s autobiography and loving every minute of it! I know this is not a city-specific joy but of course it was the best way to beat the heat and man is it hot here…no A/C inside and though there’s def a breeze, it is not enuf during the hot noon hours. I love TAKE THAT and I love GB soooooooooooooooooo much and of course the book only confirms this> One disappointment is that he now lives in London but I don’t really know how to stalk him and I missed my chance earlier in July!
Gary Barlow´s book: I wish I could´ve been his editor!
Off to Roma tomorrow for the second time! Yeah to revisiting the Vatican and eating pasta and pizza….I am looking forward to going home to exercise though….the Euro diet for me is much too much!
Xoxoxoxoxox love u Cathy
PS all the squares really should be either or You know which ones I use more ))))))))
Enfin Ankor Wat here I come 
I try to go to the gym twice and line dance once a week but my schedule or perhaps my will to exercise is not as strong as I would like.
