Seriously, I’m an idiot.

Went back to Bana Waterfall yesterday for a hot Sunday afternoon cooldown and it was awesome. At the base of the falls, it was like a whirlpool and the water was so fresh and clean (B4 everyone left their trash everywhere) and man, I need to go back for pics. It was smthg like Lynn Canyon for you Vancouverites but with warmer water.

It’s only 40km away and a great retreat from the Danang routine. I’m also on a safety kick these days and so I had on my rusty motorbike helmut and sturdy shoes and was promptly rear-ended on my friend’s bike. But I was ok And that confirmed for me that safety is not to be overlooked!

So I’m definitely preparing for my bro’s trip to VN by being adventurous and getting out of the city on motorbike. I have to be a guy’s tourguide so yes road trips, beer and sports and no to shopping and massage. I can do it!

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Howdy ppl!

I feel like I definitely live here now. Today after work, which I love already, I walked around and just felt like I knew what I was doing. My VNese is finally remarkable better and I have a job and friends and my bikes so all is quite good.

On Friday, I went on a site visit to learn more about some of East Meets West’s current projects. I went to the handover ceremony of a water tower and the opening of a new school out in the provinces which was fun and really different. Met some kids, spoke tons of VNese and chilled with new colleagues. Today work got a bit busier–have 6 reports and 1 proposal–but I think I’ll adjust well. And I get to go to Saigon for work too Yipee!

So looks like I’ll have a busy next couple of months cuz my bro’s visiting, a couple good friends are heading over and I have a real job again! Then I get to go home to my blueberry picking and sunny Vancouver!

Lately, I’ve become active again. Since I traded my basket bike for a road bike and bought a spiderman helmut, my life has been much healthier. Doesn’t hurt that I happened to meet a crazy active Korean who does all the sports that I used to do (rollerblading, skiing, cycling) but at a competitive level. So we bike together and he has lights for his bike so we can go at night and now I’m waking up at 6 and biking and swimming with his roommate and boss at 6am! This is def smthg I should’ve been doing for a long time b/c even though it’s early and I work at 730, once you hit the water, it’s so worth it! And I’m going to bring my rollerblades to DN and then it’s going to be even better. Yeah for health! This way I can be slim again b4 I get back to Van.

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Man, I just had the best meal!!!! Pork chops! Seriously, I’ll save you the “glories” of the VN meat market and I’m talking about beef and pork not hot ladies and guys ok? It’s not something I want to take pics of but basically meat is on sale in the streets, in the markets and chopped right in front of you…no fridges and lots of meat juice flying. It’s not smthg that Westerners are really accustomed to.

Anyway, I found CHILLED pork chops wrapped in plastic and not leaking juice in a small grocery store and was sooooooooooooooooooooo thrilled. I tell you, I have not seen a chicken breast w/o head or feathers for a long time and same goes for pork. Usually it’s in big chunks so this was a huge find and I took advantage.

I’m actually turning into a good cook b/c some of the best meals we eat are the ones we prepare ourselves. It’s hard to find Western food like salsa and ribs and mashed potatoes and well, sometimes, you just gotta have it. The other days we toasted taco shells in my awesome TOASTER OVEN and it was just a perfect meal. Homemade tortillas, salsa and guacamole with imported taco seasoning = mmmmmmmmmmm!

I love the fruit here — rambutan and delicious mangoes (so cheap) but I want blueberries and cherries and peaches and I want to eat pie!!!!

The seafood is definitely a huge perk in DN — yesterday, 6 ppl ate shrimp, squid, clams and fish for just $40, with beer!

I want dumplings!!! Once my roomie and I made gyozas but I want Chinese steamed dim sum with red vinegar! But I’ll prob head to HK or China soon so I’ll get my fill.

All this does not mean VN food isn’t good: I just miss variety and Greek salad and spinach dip and Burger King…Actually I think I should take pics of the food I eat here to give you a better idea. Tomorrow my friend’s making VNese cuisine and maybe that’s a photo op. Then I want to make lassagna!!! OH yeah!

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G’day mates!

Today is quite a sad day b/c I have to finally end my waiting period and start working again. Boo but yeah since I’m excited bout the the job.

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been relaxing, teaching one hour a day, going on bike trips, hanging with friends, and really, enjoying myself quite a bit. In the last week, I went on a tailor-shopping extravaganza, choosing way too many fabrics and having many clothes made for pretty cheap prices. Seriously, I must have 20 items in the works! I also just bought or rather, traded in my one-speed basket bicycle for a 21-speed road bike. Honestly, I didn’t know what a difference gears would make but this is a real bike! It’s fast and now I feel like I can bike Monkey Mountain and to Hoi An no sweat! I’m so happy to have a quality bike as well! It’s grrrrrrrrrrrreat!

But this life couldn’t last forever. I couldn’t just spend money, hang out and drink bubble tea (oh yeah, I just found a shop and have been obsessed for about a week). B/c sooner or later, I would need a job. And now I have one again. I start tomorrow and it’ll be quite interesting I’m sure b/c I’ll be working for a non-governmental org called East Meets West, which does development work in Vietnam, especially in the central region. I know ppl who work there already and they actually helped build the new building at the uni where the International Office is located so we’re old friends actually.

Today was my last day of fun, free time, and long lunches. Tomorrow I start at 7:30am!

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HERE’S WHAT WE CAME FOR:

Basically, Bana is a mountain resort about 40kms from Danang. My friends and I wanted to drive out there and check out the waterfall, cable car and accompanying sites. The day we chose was cloudy and we didn’t know if it would rain but as we took off, it cleared up. Once we got there, we walked up to the waterfall and the surrounding swimming area. Unfortunately, we didn’t bring our bathing suits so we’ll head back, I’m sure. Then we decided to head up the mountain to the resort and it was about 4pm by this time and it gets dark about 6 so we were taking a small risk but we went for it anyway. The ride up is steep so it’s not for all motorbikes. I left my beloved at the bottom and opted for a xe om which basically means motorbike w/driver. Mark and Sharon went on Mark’s new Yamaha so we were in good shape….until his tire popped midway up the mountain! It’s a mountain 16kms up and pretty curvy challenging road so when this happened, well, there’s no one around and definitely no repair guys on the side of the road! Luckily, my xe om driver knew the number of a repairman so this guy had to drive up the mountain to fix the bike….all for a pretty penny of course!

So there we were hanging out with ants and trees rustling. Sharon was lying on the ground and I was consoling Mark. My driver was chilling and muttering about how we had incredibly bad luck. Afterwards, we decided to head up anyway but it got dark and COLD quick! So then it was 7 and we didn’t know if we should risk the ride back down in the pitch black or not….we took the risk since we couldn’t see much at the resort (we’re definitely going back though…looks like a cool spot). On the way down, it was misting, raining so we were in rain jackets (me in hat and gloves for warmth) and Sharon got a branch in the face, but we made it down the mountain with our incredibly nice driver/guide.

HERE’S MOSTLY WHAT WE GOT:

But it wasn’t over b/c we still had to drive back to Danang in the dark of course! The road there was a bit bumpy and as we approached the turnoff for DN, which we couldn’t really find b/c of the darkness, Mark’s tire popped again! It was just not his day! We ended up finding a repair place, knocking on the door and fortunately the guy was nice enough to open up and help us. By the time we got home, it was 10pm and we were exhausted….sooooooooooo dirty and ready for bed. We agreed that next time, we’re staying overnight and only driving in the daytime

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Did I ever make life in VN sound difficult?

These pics will demonstrate that life is good to me here. Perhaps work can be stressful or one can be at odds with living in a foreign place BUT it’s easy to take a couple days, go on a mini vacation and recuperate

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I went to Vung Tau b/c I had heard good things. However, for s/o living in Danang, the beach is grimy; I guess I am pretty spoiled in that respect. It’s really pretty and touristy and the seafood is fresh. There’s about a billion temples and several churches so on a first glimpse, I’d have to say the ppl there are religious. We took a speedboat there which was cool on the way there but on the way back, all I can remember is the rocking waves….it was bad! Overall, it’s a good day trip out from Saigon, but I wouldn’t call it a must-see for the average tourist.

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So after my schedule cleared up, I had time to explore areas around Danang. I couldn’t get far out of the city b/c I had started helping in an English convo class at the uni, but my afternoons and some days were spent motorbike cruising.

1. Well, I biked up to Monkey Mountain which is in Danang but kinda far especially when you’re pedalling a one-speed! But I made it up the mountain and the best part is that when I reached the end, there were several beach side huts selling seafood and drinks. Silly enough, I didn’t bring my camera so I’ll have to enliven this entry with pics later…

2. Another photo-less adventure: My Son, which is an ancient site containing relics and temple ruins from the Cham (an ethnic minority group spread throughout Central Vietnam). The site itself is not spectacularly well-kept but the ride there was incredible. We rode past green pastures, bamboo bridges, small towns and on the way there, we had to cross a river on the most rickety boat and ride the motorbike through a bit of water and sand. I have to go back to capture the sights b/c it was truly an awesome afternoon. tbc…

3. After the My Son trip, my friend Mark and I decided that we should hit the Cham Museum in Danang. After living here for more than 5 months, we were beginning to feel ashamed that we never set foot inside. B/c we were clueless at My Son, we bought a guide book which explained the significance of the statues we were looking at and I have to say, this museum is quite impressive! I feel bad because I also didn’t recommend it to ppl who have visited me in the past but it’s great. Again, photo-less! Yeah, I’m starting to feel like an idiot!

4. Hai Van Pass: on the road to Hue, you have to drive through a set of mountains and at the top, you reach an old dividing line for North and South Vietnam. This is the Hai Van Gate where you can see old French and American “forts” (for lack of a better word) and a smattering of bulletholes in the lookout points. This is a great drive into the sky and it can be misty and cold. I did get a few pics on this trip but unfortunately, they’re on my friend’s camera so again….photo-less! I can’t expect anyone to imagine what these places look like so give me a couple weeks and I’ll retrace my steps and grab some pics ok?

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OK so I’ve actually returned to my old ways which basically means computer avoidance! Who am I kidding, I was never a slave to this machine and even though I’ve moved to a more exciting place, I’m still the same girl who doesn’t like to spend much time online. Perhaps, this is partly due to my old laptop but still….. All this means is less updates but I’ll aim for once a week.

Anyway, I’ll have to move backwards to catch up.
My internship semi-ended quite informally in mid-March. I went on a quick trip to the Mekong Delta outside of Saigon afterwards to officially mark the end and also to see another part of Vietnam.

The minute we landed in Saigon, it was like stepping into a new world of options! We ate at a vegetarian restaurant that we just found on the street. It just emphasized the fact that what may be a struggle in Danang (cool places to eat, meeting ppl) is gloriously available in Saigon. (This seems to be the lesson of my life as I try to live in and like Danang.)

Back to the trip: the pics explain it best but the Mekong Delta region is known as Vietnam’s rice basket and you do see lots of rice in various stages: with husks, toasted, in kernels, ground into flour etc. We visited a few huts where ppl were making coconut candies, rice paper, rice krispie squares and nibbles on the various offerings. I did NOT go for the snake liquor but many did. In the Mekong Delta region, field rat is a specialty but somehow, I just didn’t feel like it. My colleage had some and it looked a bit like quail. Some travellers will go for the snake, rat, frog, dog, buffalo, or horse dishes but I’ll stick to tofu, chicken, burgers and pork thanks.

The floating markets and the ppl’s use of boats and the river as their main area of living and transportation was quite interesting to see. I’d love to come back here and do a motorbike trip through the region….but I’d need some brave travel partners to accompany me….maybe a thought for the future?

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