Good Morning Vietnam (had to do it, sorry)

Vietnam rocked. When I got in line to check-in at the Jet Star counter for the flight to Ho Chi Minh City I was the only white person in line, it was awesome. When I landed I only had carry-on luggage so I was first past the baggage and immigration clearances and the first to walk out the doors of the secured area into the greeting area. Well, that was my last moment of any sense of solitude. When the glass doors opened I had around a thousand pairs of eyes on me as Vietnamese were there waiting to greet people arriving. I snaked my way through the barricades set up and through the throng of people. After a brief wait outside looking for a white face I heard “KRANSKY” being yelled from the back of a cab. Jeremy pulled up, I hopped in the cab, and he had a Tiger beer waiting for me. Instead of heading to his place we were off to a Christmas party he and his other expat friends were having that night.

My first day in HCMC… I picked up a Vietnamese breakfast sub for 6000 dong (~40 cents) and hit the streets. I just walked around for most of the morning in the heat, smog, humidity, and exhaust… getting used to crossing busy streets packed with motorcycles (scooters to us), cars, and buses. Supposedly there are 8 million people here, but they think the number is actually up around 10 million due to people from the countryside living ‘illegally’ in Saigon. I met Jeremy for lunch, then hired a motorcycle (with a driver) to take me to the sites. I paid 50,000 dong an hour, which was about double the going rate… live and learn. I made stops at the HCMC Museum, the Military Museum, the Vietnamese Museum, and the War Remnants Museum. This last stop is the big one where the Vietnamese shows the gruesome results of American bombing and military occupation and was definitely the highlight of the day. A couple more stops included a Reunification Palace, Chinese Pagoda, and Vietnamese Pagoda, and the biggest market I’ve ever seen. The Ben Tanh market was apparently set on the most valued piece of commercial real estate in the world according to Jeremy, so who knows if that’s true.

After that I went home to Jeremy’s house to wipe the fumes off my forehead. I know now why Asians wear those hospital type looking masks when walking/driving around outside. Next it was off to meet Jezza for a couple drinks and dinner. For the 5 days I stayed in HCMC this was typically the routine.

The next day I set off for the Cu Chi Tunnels. The area of Cu Chi is only 60-70 kms from HCMC and was where many villagers and VC soldiers hid from the American occupiers. It was a long 1.5 hours motorcycle ride and there was lots to look at along the way. After a brief orientation we went on a tour of the tunnels, crawling through sections that were enlarged for fat tourists like myself. The actual size of some of the trap doors is amazingly small, and it’s a wonder anyone could fit in them. It was an eye-opening experience, learning about people who lived down there for years and years. The Vietnamese are a determined, resourceful, and forgiving people.

Jeremy and I then took off to Hoi An, half way up the country and 30 minutes from Da Nang, for 5 days of relaxing… pshaw right! This part of my Vietnam trip was filled with great food, cool sites, partying with backpackers and other travelers, falling off motorcycles, shopping, getting clothes hand tailored, buying pirated DVDs, Christmas party at the Hoi An Hotel where we stayed, snacking in the market, beers, renting and driving our own motorcycles, the Marble Mountains, Pagodas, pool time, massages, and much much more.

It was whirlwind, and probably not very relaxing for Jeremy who was on his only 5 days off in a row since moving to Vietnam. But that’s what you get when you join me on my international pub crawl.

Back to Saigon for a rest after 5 days of Hoi An. This left me with 2 days to feel out the rest of the city… I spent some of that time in an International clinic licking my motorcycle wounds. Only a scratched and bruised elbow, but I didn’t want to risk infection in the jungle, you know how that goes, you’ve seen the movies…

Anyways, my flight is about to board, so I’m gonna jet.

Dirty security measures

How fed up with airport security am I? I’m in the boarding area for my Sydney to Vancouver flight, with a stop in Honolulu. Before I got to this point I had to go through customs… no worries, immigration… no worries, security… no worries, then before I could enter the boarding area I had to be patted down and have my carry-on searched by had, even after the x-ray at the original security. This is because we’re touching down in Hawaii, the US. And this happens only at gates that are going in/through the US. In Hawaii I have to get off the plane, go through security / immigration / customs again and then get back on the same plane for the leg to Vancouver. wtf? It’s not even a case of it being a necessary evil… The rest of the world hasn’t gone this far. Their metal detectors are less sensitive (I can wear my belt through it), one security point is enough, and “liquids” aren’t an issue. It’s almost like they’re asking for it… Even I, mild mannered Canadian, was thinking it’s almost like they’re trying to get you to try something… Like when your mom says “Don’t touch the burner on the stove, it’s not.” Chances are you never even contemplated it until she told you not to, and what do you do next? You touch the hot burner just to see why she had to say anything at all…

Anyways, enough of that. Let alone that a flight to Australia costs the average person making $60k a year 5-6% of their after-tax income, they have to be subjected to more stringent security measures than when they go to prison. Oops, enough of that I said.

Quick update

It's been a whirlwind tour the last couple of weeks... My 10 days in Vietnam visiting a friend went awesome. Ho Chi Minh City is insane to say the least but was a blast.

I'm Sydney now after an overnight stay near the airport, catching a plane back to Calgary (via Honalulu and Vancouver) and will arrive home on December 30th at 11:20am. Looking forward to seeing as many people as possible before I head off again.

On the work front, I'm heading to Houston on January 7th... The front runner for a project is one in Egypt. I have a friend from Calgary who I worked with in Fort McMurray who is on the project in Egypt right now and is having a good time, so it sounds alright. I think the London/Qatar job is still on the radar, but unless something happens with it soon I think I'm off to Egypt. We'll see though, keep you up to date as soon as I know.

Have to go cash in on a free breakfast before the flight, see you Calgary in 24 hours... argh.

This, I could do.

Friday was my first taste of canal-living in Australia. Nadya and Peter, friends from work, invited me to their house in Birkdale on Friday evening for a cruise in their boat, which is moored up in front/back of their house in a "canal community." They can see the open ocean (Moreton Bay at least) from their dock, so it was mere minutes before we on the open water... We went for a quick burn, then toured the canals to look at other boats and the houses. And then back to their place for an Aussie bbq on the patio, what else? After 3 bottles of champers, 2 of wine, and a few beers they put me on the train for the trip back to the city. Thanks to them for having me... In fact it was so good I think I'm going back on Sunday to go out in the bay for a 3 hour tour, yes, a 3 hour tour... Nads & Peet:
Me and "the boys" on the front deck:GPS sort of takes the danger and intrigue out of ocean navigation...
Crabbing at low tide in the bay:Early Saturday morning I headed to Goldie for a round of golf, then checked into my sketchy hotel in Surfer's Paradise. It was the cheapest accommodations I could find for one night... But it served the purpose, which was a place to crash after Ed & Kate's engagement party. That started in the afternoon in the Currumbin Valley at Kate's (and soon to be Ed's) grandparents'. After many-a Pimms we piled in a taxi-van and headed to a few hotspots in Surfer's.
Sunday was spent brunching and lounging by the pool... I'm going to miss this place.

Follow the Ho Chi Minh trail!

I've mailed my passport to the Vietnamese embassy in Canberra, Australia. I'm hoping they stamp in a tourist visa and send it back to me in time for a flight I've booked from Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) on the 19th of December. If all goes well I'll be ducking through doorways in backstreet markets, crawling through tunnels in the DMZ, and riding on the back bicycle taxis as a conclusion to my Asian Pacific stint. I have a friend and ex-coworker living and working in HCMC and will be staying and travelling Vietnam with him from the 19th to the 30th... Then back to Canada in time for New Years at A Bar Named Sue. Seems like a perfectly logical itineray to me.

I've posted more pics below... scrolling.

Queensland Realestate

Checkout this unit in Q1 in Surfer's Paradise... it's only on the 50th floor (out of 80). The penthouse which occupies the entire 74th floor is for sale for $8.8M.

How about a French Chateau in Paradise for $5.5M? Or something for your drug running uncle might like?

Pics

Me on the observation deck of Q1, the world's tallest residential building on Queensland's Gold Coast:
Greg's pet possums:
I like birds:

Me & Mom on Kangaroo Point, my actual building in the far background:
Bats on Indoorpilly Island... These flying foxes take flight every night to go find fruit, they have wingspans of over a metre:

More pics

Me at Rainbow Beach on the edge of the sandblow:

Massages at the market, why not:
Chicks on the beach in Coolum:Gold Coast girl on the beach, what's that peaking out:
Frank on Mount Coolum Golf Course: