Well, in the past couple of months, I’ve been blessed with time to relax and do things that I ordinary don’t do when I’m taking care of editing deadlines.

Numero 1: COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE!!!!!
If you know me, you’d know that I don’t need this stuff to be wired. BUT the Vietnamese love it and man, it can be GOOD here!

Here’s my ode to TRUNG NGUYEN…it’s so much more delicious than Highlands so please go there and check it out! I’m beyond grateful to my pal, Ilya, for this heads up….afterall, TN has a second floor that’s smoke-free and that’s pretty much UNHEARD of in VN….love it!

Math permutation time: If Cathy and Julianne have coffee at Trung Nguyen while preparing for the GREs, and there are five types of coffee blends to choose from and each can be ordered without milk, with condensed milk, or with fresh milk, how many days can they do without ordering the same type of coffee? Since I’m now done with the test, I’m NOT going to go through the steps to find the answer! So there GREs! (Maybe s/o is just a teeny bit bitter!)

BTW I’ve been going there for a couple months and I’ve not yet tried all the combos of beans and milk! IT’s AMAZING!

Numero 2: Walking? I’ve tried to walk from my house to the downtown area…it’s 1km or so but the sidewalk can be pretty treacherous…however, there are payoffs. I was able to find a German restaurant that I had heard of for a loooooong time b/c I was actually walking slowing and observing what was on the streets instead of whizzing by on the motobike. I got some more exercise and my calves actually hurt which is a good thing

Numero 3: Actually SEEING scenic, VNese sites

I was able to see ppl on a boat piled high with bananas heading to docks where local merchants bought them to sell in the markets. I assume these bananas came up the river from the Mekong region. It was cool to see as I was walking over the bridge near my place. My mind is drawing a blank on other sites rite now, prob cuz I’ve been blogging for awhile, so I’ll stop and resume later…this year I promise!

merci et a la prochaine!
Cathy

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Honestly, the math permutations and percentages are no longer floating in my head. But what about the graduate-level (ahem bombastic) vocabulary that I have acquired?

I learned over 400 new words yet I still don’t know what nugatory and pontificate mean!

Here are some favourites: Oh please note that these definitions have to be a bit off since I have not reviewed my flashcards for awhile and so they may fuzzy, wrong but I think they’re accurate!

alacrity: willingness and eagerness (my fave fave of the bunch as I think everyone should live life with alacrity!)

magnanimous: having kindness and goodwill like a knight, chivalrous

perspicacious: keenly observant, having ability to discern obscure things

noisome: having bad odour, irritating

filagree: a type of ornate design

BTW did you know that discrete is not related to discretion? You are thinking of discreet my friends! See what my mind has been filled with for the past three months? Fun stuff non?

OH yeah: courtesy of dictionary.com….it’s good to know!

nu⋅ga⋅to⋅ry
  /ˈnugəˌtɔri, -ˌtoʊri, ˈnyu-/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [noo-guh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee, nyoo-] Show IPA
–adjective
1. of no real value; trifling; worthless.
2. of no force or effect; ineffective; futile; vain.
3. not valid.

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Say it like “New York….New Yoooooooooooork!!!!”

I love alliteration but all I keep thinking of is “Delicious Dalat” and that’s not so appropriate though lots of different fruits and veggies are grown in Dalat like artichokes, avocados, strawberries, funky lettuce…yum yum!

Oh sorry, FYI, Dalat is a Vietnamese city located in the central highlands (mountains) and has a temperate and deliciously cool climate that is mild and pleasant to all in VN who are seeking a break from the heat

PICS TO COME…technical difficulties!

I have always wanted to go…and I’ve always heard great things but I never got around to it…man, I feel silly but at least I made it now almost three years after moving here!

It’s the honeymoon capital for Vietnamese peeps though since it is cool, I’d take a hot beachy vacay for that trip but Dalat is a place where you can go to be refreshed and active/sporty and chill and colonial.

I loved all the nods to the French (who’s a francophile here?) like the Eiffel Tower radio tower, Moulin Rouge restaurant, colonial architecture and Sofitel Hotel.

I played the part of the “expat wife” that I am most certainly not but twas fun pretending….I had the amazing opportunity to stay at a really nice resort in the rolling hills with a pillow menu (I chose water, buckwheat, and scented) and a personal butler!

I wanted to get active and rockclimb and jump into the waterfalls but alas, twas not the time….there’s so much to see like ethnic minority villages and elephants (far off but worth it I hear) and of course I want to paddle on the lake one of these days….

It’s a quick jot on a overnite bus or a flight from SGN, about 500km and only 150km or so from Nha Trang….so go and love it cuz it’s brilled!!!

Freshness, scarves, clean air, cable cars, hydrangeas….j’ai tout adore!!!!

Go friends go…and take me with you

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Why do these kind of things always have to happen to me?

So I’ve been out of town for a couple weeks and when I come back, at night, I see a giant spider (let’s say about 10cm across including leg span with a thick body of about 2.5cm cubed) on my bamboo mat. It’s brown and not too furry like the others…I wonder, how did you get in here??? It’s gotta be the bathroom vent…I have always wanted to put netting over it but of course, I have no idea where to buy such netting in this city!

I hate killing bugs and rarely do. It’s odorless bug spray or a cry for a housemate or elderly landlady (she’s much stronger than me!) for me usually but this time, I had to take it out by myself. Long story short: he scurried out onto the balcony after being sprayed and silently died while I shut the door and pretended that a giant spider had not been crawling all over my room. At least they’re not dirty!

When spiders die, they fold their legs toward their bodies in defeat…it’s quite sad so I decided not to take a pic. (And ahem, tis not the first time, I’ve seen them die….) After he dried out, I put him in the trash. Even folded up, he was pretty big. Poor animals that just should not get in human space…I feel bad but of course, he had to go. I would’ve preferred to catch him in my bucket but he was way too fast. Ugh….c’est triste, tres triste! (=sadness….unfortunately I have forgotten how to write in french w/accents….rusty tis me!)

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Oh my goodness, it’s my first post of 2009 and it’s already the second half of the year!!! Oopsies, talk about neglect! But I’m back or I’ll try to write more regularly so that the few peeps interested in the journey (which since it’s been almost three years in VN, sometimes doesn’t seem so exciting anymore) will have something to read though there are totally better things to read than this

PIC TO COME
That’s me having fun in beautiful DALAT in the central highlands

As I’ve been away for so long, I’m having technical difficulties but they will soon be solved by my awesome blogmaster

Ciao!!!!

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