My Protanoptic Life » music

Traveling to Mui Ne

Daniel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:30:38 +0000

Sunday morning when I woke up I noticed a recurring morning phenomenon; stiff ankles. I thought about how I should probably stay more active to avoid that displeasure. Right after waking up Tien called a bus service and found a bus going to Saigon at 9:30. Thu got us some hot breakfast from the market while we packed. We ate and headed off by bus. We were still unsure about the train schedule and availability and decided just to head to a travel agency in Pham Ngu Lao and see what we could find. As we were leaving Binh Hoa I saw a scooter stacked 4 boxes high that had fallen over while parked and the driver was trying to pick it back up. A peloton of cyclists passed by. Real cyclists, not just school kids on their way. We did pass a school though and I noticed that all schools in Vietnam look the same. Tan buildings with big fences and blue signs with white text. As we got to Saigon I noticed some large text written with plants on a wall. As we passed I looked back at it and saw it was a billboard wall made with an array of pot holders so you could use pots containing different colored plants to make patterns. Potted plant pixels. The clouds were dark and it began to rain. I feared bad weather or worse, really bad weather. I noticed a police checkpoint set up at the side of the road. I had also seen one as we were entering Long Xuyen and I would see another as we were leaving Saigon. I never found out what the story was. Just after getting into a taxi I saw a guy on a motorbike with no helmet and a styled Asian hairdo with the addition of a mullet. I saw two young girls on a scooter collide with a woman carrying baskets on each side of her handlebars in busy Saigon traffic. I saw a guy on a motorbike sharing headphones with his passenger the way Tien and I do. I'd never seen anybody else wearing headphones while riding. Our taxi turned down Nguyen Trai street, home of the Ruby Star, and we drove for many, many blocks. There were tons of stores full of awesome girl clothes and I thought about how if I was a girl I'd go nuts in a place like that. For a man of my style and stature there is neither the inclination nor the option for such an occurrence. After arriving at the same travel agency where the two motorbike taxis had dropped us off at last time, Tien and I quickly figured out our travel situation, bought bus tickets and went to find coffee. We only had to go next door to Highland Coffee. We had eaten lunch here before, it was the cafe where the French club owner was negotiating with the local DJs. The food was good here but we just wanted coffee. It had western prices but with them, western flavor, which was very welcome. I had savored a cappuccino. We stayed there for an hour while I caught up on some internet stuff and charged my phone whose battery had been depleted while playing Fieldrunners on the bus, then went outside and boarded our bus to Mui Ne. There were very few people on the bus and about half of us were white, though not all speaking English. Most were a group of three girls and one guy who I thought were Ukrainian. As we headed north there was a variety show on the TV with guy and girl hosts who I recognized. Tien said the man's name was Nguyen Ngoc Ngan, which may not sound like you think but is still pretty hard to pronounce. There were a lot of songs sung between guys and girls reaching dramatically out into the air and gazing at each other during the harmonies and looking away during the solos. I asked Tien why so many Vietnamese people like this kind of thing and she just laughed and said it was romantic. I asked why Vietnamese people like romance so much and she didn't know. It seemed odd for a conservative culture to be so enamored with romance. I thought that as far as video media is concerned, romance was to Vietnamese people what action is to Americans. A bit later two Vietnamese people got on, one guy and one girl, and immediately struck up a conversation in English with the Europeans. They both spoke english very comfortably and phrases such as "you know, like" made it clear they had lived in America for a while. The man said he was engaged, though not to the girl he was with, then continued to flirt with the Norwegian girls, a detail I garnished from unwilling eavesdropping. He talked on about money and living in America, and it even seemed like his girl friend was being his wingman. For a while I thought he might just be the guy we stayed with in Binh Duong. He was certainly just as sleazy with all the same lines. One of the bus employees came by asking where to drop us off, but we really didn't know because we hadn't planned that far ahead. The man in front of us said he could recommend a cheap hotel to us. I put my headphones back on and we lost ourselves in a variety of music that I picked while scanning the songs. Debussy, The Thompson Twins, Oscar Peterson, Simply Red, Zero 7, Above and Beyond. We settled on classical and I drifted off for a few songs. When I woke up we were slowing down next to the ocean to let the Norwegians off. There was a sizzler restaurant and a wind surfing and scuba diving tour place. We rode a little farther and got off where the man who was recommending our hotel got off. A guy on a motorbike was waiting for a fare, and he flagged down another passing motorbike to take us to a hotel. As we were riding Tien's driver talked on and on and on in Vietnamese. We left town and headed inland a bit, which wasn't encouraging because I wanted to be in the city or at least by the water. We took some big roads, passed an empty round-about by some big sand dunes, and eventually popped back out onto a highway that paralleled a beautiful beach. I could see the caps of breaking waves in the darkness. The air was warm, and it was magical riding along the coast through that warm night air on a motorbike next to Tien. Tien's driver led us to a dark resort hotel with trees scattered between various buildings. Tien later told me that he had skipped the hotel that the man had recommended because it was apparently too loud and was a dirty place. I honestly couldn't imagine what a hotel was that was dirtier than the place he took us to. It had water stains on the wall, chipped plaster, it smelled funky, there was a board covering the window in the bathroom, and it looked pretty much like it wasn't kept up very well. We checked in and agreed to pay 400k a night, which was clearly too much for what we were getting. We had come so far out of town and hadn't passed anywhere that was definitely open that I figured the price to take the motorbikes elsewhere would've been more than the difference, so I decided to go ahead and take it. Right after checking in we went 50 feet down to the beach where there were lots of red and blue lights bobbing in the dark ocean. We couldn't tell what they were, though it was clear some of them were boats because a few times somebody turned on a flashlight and shined it around the boat they were standing on. There were also some circular boats that looked like baskets sitting on the shore. Somebody was busy filling one of them up with some kind of supplies as if they were about to go out into the water. The sand was coarse and the water seemed a little dirty, so with that and the fact that I was tired we decided against swimming or even staying at the beach and returned to our room for the night.

Hanging out with Dat and Trinh

Daniel — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:00:17 +0000

On Sunday, my first morning back in Vietnam, Tien and I went to our old breakfast place. It was OK, but honestly it's lost its sentimental value with the realization that it's not that great of a restaurant. It is very convenient though. After breakfast we went back to the hotel room and did some online stuff and fell asleep for a long, long time.

When we woke up, Tien's friend Trinh and her boyfriend Dat were on their way to visit us with a couple of motorbikes. Tien and I hadn't eaten dinner yet so when they arrived we went out to find some food. We'd planned on getting pho, but Tien forgot about that and we ended up going to KFC. I was amused by this, expecting their menu to have interesting variations not available in America, but I didn't see anything that was out of the ordinary. I quizzed Tien on what KFC meant and who that guy was, and she had absolutely no idea. Not much of a surprise there from a girl who didn't know McDonalds or Starbucks until she went to Malaysia, and this is one of the things I love about her.

After dinner we headed out into the night traffic and instantly got separated from Dat and Trinh. Saigon traffic can be pretty crazy and Tien isn't used to the big city so she isn't assertive in her motorbiking. This later lead to us putting more effort into figuring out how to get me a motorbike license in VN. The four of us on two bikes cruised around the city a little bit in rain amounts varying between none and pouring, but it was warm so it wasn't all that bad. We did get drenched though, and decided to just call it a night.

That night I found it very hard to sleep, most likely from how long I'd slept earlier that day.

Monday morning we woke up and tried to find a place different from the usual place we eat breakfast, but couldn't find anything before our hunger took priority and we went back there. On our walk we saw a minor motorbike crash. I haven't seen many traffic accidents here, and none have been bad since people tend to go pretty slowly, but this was the first of two that I saw that day.

Trinh and Dat came back to the hotel and we four headed out to a park where Trinh liked to go a lot when she still had free time, Bình Quoí 1. It was labeled as a tourist park, but was essentially a portrait photographers playground. There were barely any tourists there, but what there were plenty of was beautiful girls dressed to the 9's posing in front of cameras. There were also several couples who were getting their engagement photos taken by professional photography crews, complete with off-cam lighting, props and makeup artists. The park was laid out with paths leading past backdrop after backdrop. A waterfall, a cart, a cyclo, a ruined brick wall, a ruined wall with pillars, a stone with flowers next to a pond, a bench on a lawn, a bamboo swing, a barrel and ladle, a causeway across a pond, a canoe in the pond, water lilies, flowers growing in vines up trees, stone statues, so on and so forth. This made it easy for photographers to play musical backdrops with each other, shuffling from one to the next to put their respective couples into the various scenes. Honestly it was pretty brilliant, and it didn't cost anything for us to get in either. I assume they made their money off charging professional crews and selling food and water at the eateries that were scattered throughout the campus.

The four of us spent an hour or so walking around and taking photographs, then headed back towards downtown. We stopped on the way back and I got some absolutely terrible spaghetti carbonara while Tien enjoyed delicious vietnamese food. I resolved not to buy anything too culinarily distant from VN food from now on.

On the way home I saw a blind beggar holding a cane and a hat with his eyes rolled back in his head kneeling at the side of the road where hundreds of motorbikes were passing by.

Back near the hotel Tien and I tried to find a pharmacy for my malaria meds but couldn't find anything. We resolved to find it later and went back inside to take a rest. I fell asleep and didn't wake up for several hours. My sleeping schedule still hadn't adjusted yet and it was taking a toll on my daylight hours and my energy.

We went briefly out with Dat and Trinh again to grab some dinner, then they headed home while Tien and I retired to the old Ruby Star.

Lazy in Laos

Daniel — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:13:39 +0000

Having arrived late to Vientiane and taken the first guesthouse with an opening, Thursday morning I went to find a better option, an option with Internet. That is vital if you want to stay in touch with people who are scattered around the globe. I checked into a nice looking guesthouse with a huge bed in a pretty good looking room. I signed on to catch up with photos and whatnot and discovered that even though there was wifi, the actual Internet connection was glacial. It was reminiscent of the 14.4 days. Facebook took over 15 minutes to load. Ping times to google were Averaging 5000ms over 20 hops with 8% packet loss and an MTU of 1100. This was terrible... On top of that, as the day warmed up there began a breeze that crept in through the window leading out to the tiny alley, bringing with it a pungent aroma of pestilence. It was mid day so I left the stench and went for a walk. Just as I was photographing some stuff and fearing getting rained on a nice tuk tuk driver came up and offered to take me to some local sites that were photogenic. He had photos of the laces and they were indeed grand so I agreed and jumped in the back of his tuk tuk. Off we went, the tuk tuk bumping and whining all the way. The clouds went away without raining and left a hot, humid day. The skies were beautiful blue with an assortment of scattered clouds. I was soon drenched in sweat. We saw four locations and miraculously ended up by my hotel. I went inside to clean up and cool off, then went to find dinner. I also had to figure out what to do in Laos. I found a resturant where some kid on the way out said the food was good and ended up being wrong. Soon after sitting down a local girl started talking to me and invited me to sit with her. I obliged but soon regretted it. She could barely speak conversational English, seemed mentally vacant and just wanted to go to a bar. Soon after sitting down a man came by and offered me Viagra. I paid for my food and left. I did go to a bar though. I had a delicious coctail and chatted with some backpackers from the UK. They suggested that I go to Veng Viang and showed me photos from the previous day. It was gorgeous and I thought that I'd like to go. Then they said it was a party town and I thought twice. It was gorgeous though... I had been in Asia for a month so far and was finally getting a bit tired of traveling. I'm not sure if it was loneliness or exhaustion, but it was probably a bit of both. I was tired of having to look so far past the defacto tourist bullshit to find things actually worth doing. Photographing Veng Viang was definitely worth doing, but I'm the end I decided to fly back to Vietnam to be with tien and go to Vung Tau beach, something we had wanted to do previously but were unable to do. I was a little bummed about not getting to spend more time in Laos, but the world has a lot to see and I can always come back. The next day I checked out of the stinky slow internet room and went to secure my airfare to Vietnam. I couldn't get a ticket for that same day so I got one for Saturday and went to find my third hotel in Vientiane. This was half the price of the last, had a window looking across a street to a temple and had no Internet. There was an Internet cafe right next door though. To access the Internet you were supposed to go buy an access card, then log into their web portal and enter the info to get access. I really didn't feel like leaving my hotel room and took this as another cllaw sharpening tech challenge. Within a few minutes I'd found an open HTTP proxy within their network and used it to get online. The access was much much faster than my previous accomodations but had limitations on allowed protocols. It was fine for my needs and I spent the next few hours trying to circumvent the protocol limitations. I never got anywhere with it, but it was a good exercise and it was good to know that my skills hadn't dulled in the last month of unemployment. I got hungry so I went back to the full mooncafe where I'd met the uk backpackers. This place was a branch of the Cambodian Boom Boom Room, a media store specializing in the illicit sale of music and movies to travelers at terribly low prices. One album was .50. I bought 5. Back at the hotel there was smoke in the air as the monks across the street burned leaves they had raked up. This morning, July 4th, they woke me up with drumming and chanting. I think monks may not be great neighbors. After a delicious breakfast I checked out, found a tuk tuk and headed for the airport. My short stay I Laos is pretty much over, save waiting for my currently delayed flight. I like it here though and I'd like to come back some day and go farther in. Today though it's airplanes, my girl, a hydrofoil and a beach.

Catching up with Ha Long Bay

Daniel — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:45:37 +0000

I am currently sitting on the patio of my hotel room on the 5th floor looking out over Ha Long Bay and the bridge, and watching the moon rise above the hills on the opposing shore. I'm just one girl and a bottle of wine short of the most romantic night ever. This morning we departed for Ha Long bay and I finally realized that when our tour guide says 8am he means wheels rolling at 8am. I always seem to be the last one on the bus. We headed out through early Hanoi traffic which seemed to flow mostly into the city instead of out, so it wasn't busy. We stopped for tea a long while into the drive and I was delighted to find a lot of art at this shop. There were paintings, mosaics, and sewn images showing traditional Vietnamese scenes, and surprisingly some showing nude female figures. Sexuality and nudity have so far been almost completely absent except mildly in advertisements for mobile phones and karaoke bars. There were a group of kids sewing images by hand into canvases, a lot like cross stitching, and it was nice to see art being made. We stopped for lunch at a temple that had a gondola to take us to the top of a mountain, except the gondola wasn't running. This was pretty disappointing to many of us. Apparently the lore says that some king left his country behind to come seek enlightenment, then his people followed him and begged him to come back so he did for a while and then left again. He built the temple at the top of the mountain. In modern times the communist Vietnamese government owns both of the temples and doesn't use them for religious purposes at all but rather just to make money off of tourists like me. We got back in the car and I adored my iPod as a savior from the wailing screams of this bratty little kid that's on the tour. He hits and kicks his parents and screams at the top of his lungs when he doesn't get his way. I'm amazed that his mother lets him get away with it because she seems like a strict type, but then I think he sees through her bluffing threats of discipline. He's a fucking brat though, that's for sure, so the music went up nice and loud. Rock and roll in Vietnam. We stopped at another temple, this one used for actual religious purposes, and I walked around taking photos of the scenes. I was mildly scolded by a monk for setting foot inside a holy place without taking my sandals off. I photographed 3 monks talking to a girl with a motorcycle helmet on. I heard sounds of welding coming from below a secluded corner of a courtyard and couldn't help thinking that I was supposed to jump off the wall and pick the lock on the gate below, fight the fake monks and find the secret passage down to the nanotech laboratory where evil was being done behind a facade of Buddhism. I thought twice about that and instead went off to play with some monk kids who surrounded me laughing and saying short english phrases, playing with my arm hair, wrapping their hands around my arms to see how big they were, and patting my fat belly. One of the monks talked in english with me briefly and brought me a book on Buddhism, and then I had to go so the whole group shouted "see you again!" as I ran down the steps of the temple towards the bus, last one in again. We drove and drove and drove and I listened to louder rock music. Finally we arrived in Ha Long bay opposite its glorious side. We checked into the hotel and I stupidly tried to go make the best of the day. I say stupidly because I was soon drenched in sweat and nearly cheated out of money to use an elevator that goes up to this really beautiful bridge, and later found out that you're not really supposed to go out during the day. Apparently everybody here naps during the day so they can stay up at night when it's cooler, which makes so much sense I never thought an entire society would come to that conclusion. After showering my sweat away I got a beer and sat in the restaurant mooching wifi. Other than the wifi and chatting with my brother about his meeting me in Thailand on the 26th this was a miserable experience. The beer was warm and the room was hot. I didn't even think to open the windows to let the breeze in until I almost had to go for dinner. Then dinner ended up being in the same room I had been sitting in. After dinner we went down to the night market. Rows and rows of tables piled with completely worthless shit. Worthless to me anyway. Progressive minimalism and tourism do not see eye to eye when it comes to the importance of physical novelties. I saw a few cool engrish shirts though, so that was cool. The power went out just as I was crossing the bridge to an outdoor techno club on the beach, so I stayed there at the club and had a mango smoothie that cost approximately . Lot's of things here cost approximately . The music was freakin awesome and I was dissapointed that nobody was dancing, or rather that there was nobody there to dance. The place was empty, so I sat on the beach drinking my smoothie and enjoying the techno by myself, then I began walking home. A Vietnamese guy approached me and began talking to me in good english, though with poor pronunciation. Vietnamese people are so nice it's almost creepy, like there's some hidden agenda. It makes it hard to guage who you can trust, but this guy and his group of friends were all cool so we walked a while and they took photos with me. Then I ran into two people on the tour who are Vietnamese people from France. I walked with them, took some photos for them, and they bought me a beer at a stall where we sat and chatted it up with the owner. I barely understood anything they said, but they knew a little english. Charades was part of the game, and that's always fun. I came home, checked online for some friends, and came upstairs to write in the comfort of my own room rather than in the hotel lobby. So now the moon is higher in the sky, I may have a few additional mosquito bites, and you know probably more details about my day than is really necessary. I'll try to keep it shorter tomorrow...

Another day in the shop

Daniel — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:54:29 +0000

There's nothing incredibly exciting going on yet. We were going to plan my trip to Ha Long bay yesterday but the power outage kinda messed that up. Today we're going to square that away, and tomorrow we'll probably be going back to Ho Chi Minh City. This morning I woke up eaten by mosquitoes, probably because I didn't put on insect repellant before we went out last night to get some smoothies in a nearby village. I took a shower, and when I was done I shaved in the sink which is outside on the back porch, rain pouring down, listening to Pretty Lights on my iPhone. Too bad I couldn't have photographed that. Tien and I went down to the market for breakfast and had some ramen style soup stuff. The american idea of breakfast as being a separate type of meal from other meals is completely gone. All meals are equal here. I'll never be impressed again when I watch a movie and somebody drives a motorcycle through a store or through a crowded market. That happens all the time here, but it's not some badass chasing a bad guy, it's people like your mom and they're going shopping for teddy bear phone charms and perfume. Tien and I played hacky sack in the shop, she picked it up really quickly! She seems to be a quick learner and skilled with her hands and feet. After hacky sack I taught her how to juggle using the hacky sack and two bottles of Naco cosmetic vitamin cream. She picked up juggling equally quick. It was sad when I told her how great she was doing and she said that other people never said things like, never told her she was smart or talented. We sat in the shop for a while and listened to music, talking about lyrics (thank you PearLyrics, damn you big industry music companies) and how melody is greater than genre. I'm not sure how much of what I was saying she understood, but I know she got the idea. We played Wurdle too, which was good for her english. We walked home and the power was out again, but quickly came on, then off, then on. We had a somewhat American lunch, some kind of stew with bread, and now we really need to figure out this weekends plans. Off to a beach, I think, to buy some stuff I need, and then I'm off to Ha Long bay on Monday! Or so goes the plan... One thing I learned quick, before I even left, was that you can plan, but you don't ever really know what's going to happen.

Memorial Night

Daniel — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:34:44 +0000

It's the night of Memorial Day, the Memorial Night. I'm sitting in 4211 #1 having finished a bottle of Bogle 2006 Old Vine Zinfandel with Lauren. I was just developing photos from a day out with Donna and listening to jazz as Brianna got dressed for a date. I love music. I love jazz. I love my friends. I love photography. Lauren and I were talking about her upcoming trip to Austrialia. She was melancholy about it, spending a month in Queensland a few miles outside of a small town in a remote location. I was telling her she should find it to be a vacation, a joy to have time off. She was free to ride bikes or motorcycles, paint, draw, take pictures, sleep, tan, read books, do whatever. It then occurred to me that this is exactly what I will have time to do in Asia. It is exactly what I will have time to do after Friday when I have no job. It was an inspiring realization that the effort I'm going through to take this trip is actually for good reason. So much of this preparation has been going through the necessary motions, and I haven't taken much time to anticipate the relaxing and awesome free time I will have. I think I've just removed myself from the reality and gone through the motions because it's such a drastic life change, and the effect of that is that I've neglected much of the positive excitement that goes along with it. Sure, after Friday I won't have a job. Sure, after Friday I will be in a country where I don't speak the primary language. Sure, after Friday I'll be 5,000 miles away from the nearest familiar place. It's still exciting, it's still great, and it can still be very very very awesome. I sometimes just forget that aspect of this, as if it's a chore.

4 Days left

Daniel — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:18:50 +0000

Today is Memorial Day and it will be the most memorable for me because as of today my brother is now out of Iraq forever! He's finishing his second tour and is now officially out of Iraq, waiting only one day in Kuwait before returning to Germany. So so so stoked about that. Yesterday I didn't get to go geocaching with Lisa, she forgot it was her last day at work and had to work until 7, so Donna and I went without her. We went to Golden Gate Park with the intent of finding travel bugs for me to take to Asia. We went to two lakes and a waterfall on an island before heading back to the car with a travel bug and a geocoin. Afterwards we went downtown and wandered around taking photos. As we were walking down Mission near 5th, a photo in a gallery window caught my eye and we went in to see it. It actually didn't look like a photo at all, more like a painting, but ended up being a photo printed on canvas which made it look more like a painting. We talked to a man working in the gallery and he told us that the photographer, Patrick Davis, teaches photography at San Jose State. When I told him we had to go he invited us to come back and drink wine or coffee and look around the gallery any time we wanted to. We crossed Mission and went to visit Lisa at work. That was great, I hadn't seen her in what seems like ages but is probably only a few weeks. Donna and I got coffee and chatted with Lisa a bit, but she was busy working so we let her be and went back outside. The weather was still really bleak and we were both tired from walking so much so we went and took a nap in Yerba Buena Garden. I nabbed another geocache real quick, but there were no trackables in it. A while later we got up, walked by the Zeum Carousel and ended up wandering around SOMA for a while trying to find where we'd parked the car, taking more pictures down random alleys where we found several hidden bars and restaurants next to smashed car windows and empty graffitied lots fenced off with chain link. We eventually found the car. On the way home it was still overcast and we were still tired, but the day had been good. We listened to Claude Debussy. His music has a way of making melancholy wonderful, so it was a nice compliment to the wonderful day Donna and I made despite the melancholy weather. In the Sunset district of San Francisco it's common for people to leave unwanted things on the street for other people to pick up, and Donna spotted a beautiful, dark wooden dresser carved and colored with birds and branches. Piano melodies poured out of the passenger door into the greyness as we tried to fit this piece of furniture among the belongings I was already been carrying with me. We fit it in the trunk and took it the one block back to 4211, our final treasure found that day. Back at her home we geeked out and I nearly broke my head trying to figure out some some Wordpress plugin stuff before realizing I was trying way too hard. Wordpress is pretty awesome. I helped Lauren move some of her stuff across the street to her new apartment then drifted off sipping on wine listening to the music Donna had on while she played online scrabble with her friend in Chicago.

Thoughts from the back seat of a VW on the way to Santa Cruz

Daniel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:30:38 +0000

Hanging out with Dat and Trinh

Daniel — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:00:17 +0000

That night I found it very hard to sleep, most likely from how long I'd slept earlier that day.

On the way home I saw a blind beggar holding a cane and a hat with his eyes rolled back in his head kneeling at the side of the road where hundreds of motorbikes were passing by.

We went briefly out with Dat and Trinh again to grab some dinner, then they headed home while Tien and I retired to the old Ruby Star.

Lazy in Laos

Daniel — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:13:39 +0000

Catching up with Ha Long Bay

Daniel — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:45:37 +0000

Another day in the shop

Daniel — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:54:29 +0000

Memorial Night

Daniel — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:34:44 +0000

4 Days left

Daniel — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:18:50 +0000

Thoughts from the back seat of a VW on the way to Santa Cruz

Daniel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:30:38 +0000

My Protanoptic Life » music

Daniel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:30:38 +0000

Hanging out with Dat and Trinh

Daniel — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:00:17 +0000

That night I found it very hard to sleep, most likely from how long I'd slept earlier that day.

On the way home I saw a blind beggar holding a cane and a hat with his eyes rolled back in his head kneeling at the side of the road where hundreds of motorbikes were passing by.

We went briefly out with Dat and Trinh again to grab some dinner, then they headed home while Tien and I retired to the old Ruby Star.

Lazy in Laos

Daniel — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:13:39 +0000

Catching up with Ha Long Bay

Daniel — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:45:37 +0000

Another day in the shop

Daniel — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:54:29 +0000

Memorial Night

Daniel — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:34:44 +0000

4 Days left

Daniel — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:18:50 +0000

Thoughts from the back seat of a VW on the way to Santa Cruz

Daniel — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:00:17 +0000

That night I found it very hard to sleep, most likely from how long I'd slept earlier that day.

On the way home I saw a blind beggar holding a cane and a hat with his eyes rolled back in his head kneeling at the side of the road where hundreds of motorbikes were passing by.

We went briefly out with Dat and Trinh again to grab some dinner, then they headed home while Tien and I retired to the old Ruby Star.

My Protanoptic Life » music

Daniel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:30:38 +0000

Hanging out with Dat and Trinh

Daniel — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:00:17 +0000

That night I found it very hard to sleep, most likely from how long I'd slept earlier that day.

On the way home I saw a blind beggar holding a cane and a hat with his eyes rolled back in his head kneeling at the side of the road where hundreds of motorbikes were passing by.

We went briefly out with Dat and Trinh again to grab some dinner, then they headed home while Tien and I retired to the old Ruby Star.

Lazy in Laos

Daniel — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:13:39 +0000

Catching up with Ha Long Bay

Daniel — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:45:37 +0000

Another day in the shop

Daniel — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:54:29 +0000

Memorial Night

Daniel — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:34:44 +0000

4 Days left

Daniel — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:18:50 +0000

Thoughts from the back seat of a VW on the way to Santa Cruz

Daniel — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:13:39 +0000

Having arrived late to Vientiane and taken the first guesthouse with an opening, Thursday morning I went to find a better option, an option with Internet. That is vital if you want to stay in touch with people who are scattered around the globe. I checked into a nice looking guesthouse with a huge bed in a pretty good looking room. I signed on to catch up with photos and whatnot and discovered that even though there was wifi, the actual Internet connection was glacial. It was reminiscent of the 14.4 days. Facebook took over 15 minutes to load. Ping times to google were Averaging 5000ms over 20 hops with 8% packet loss and an MTU of 1100. This was terrible... On top of that, as the day warmed up there began a breeze that crept in through the window leading out to the tiny alley, bringing with it a pungent aroma of pestilence. It was mid day so I left the stench and went for a walk. Just as I was photographing some stuff and fearing getting rained on a nice tuk tuk driver came up and offered to take me to some local sites that were photogenic. He had photos of the laces and they were indeed grand so I agreed and jumped in the back of his tuk tuk. Off we went, the tuk tuk bumping and whining all the way. The clouds went away without raining and left a hot, humid day. The skies were beautiful blue with an assortment of scattered clouds. I was soon drenched in sweat. We saw four locations and miraculously ended up by my hotel. I went inside to clean up and cool off, then went to find dinner. I also had to figure out what to do in Laos. I found a resturant where some kid on the way out said the food was good and ended up being wrong. Soon after sitting down a local girl started talking to me and invited me to sit with her. I obliged but soon regretted it. She could barely speak conversational English, seemed mentally vacant and just wanted to go to a bar. Soon after sitting down a man came by and offered me Viagra. I paid for my food and left. I did go to a bar though. I had a delicious coctail and chatted with some backpackers from the UK. They suggested that I go to Veng Viang and showed me photos from the previous day. It was gorgeous and I thought that I'd like to go. Then they said it was a party town and I thought twice. It was gorgeous though... I had been in Asia for a month so far and was finally getting a bit tired of traveling. I'm not sure if it was loneliness or exhaustion, but it was probably a bit of both. I was tired of having to look so far past the defacto tourist bullshit to find things actually worth doing. Photographing Veng Viang was definitely worth doing, but I'm the end I decided to fly back to Vietnam to be with tien and go to Vung Tau beach, something we had wanted to do previously but were unable to do. I was a little bummed about not getting to spend more time in Laos, but the world has a lot to see and I can always come back. The next day I checked out of the stinky slow internet room and went to secure my airfare to Vietnam. I couldn't get a ticket for that same day so I got one for Saturday and went to find my third hotel in Vientiane. This was half the price of the last, had a window looking across a street to a temple and had no Internet. There was an Internet cafe right next door though. To access the Internet you were supposed to go buy an access card, then log into their web portal and enter the info to get access. I really didn't feel like leaving my hotel room and took this as another cllaw sharpening tech challenge. Within a few minutes I'd found an open HTTP proxy within their network and used it to get online. The access was much much faster than my previous accomodations but had limitations on allowed protocols. It was fine for my needs and I spent the next few hours trying to circumvent the protocol limitations. I never got anywhere with it, but it was a good exercise and it was good to know that my skills hadn't dulled in the last month of unemployment. I got hungry so I went back to the full mooncafe where I'd met the uk backpackers. This place was a branch of the Cambodian Boom Boom Room, a media store specializing in the illicit sale of music and movies to travelers at terribly low prices. One album was $1.50. I bought 5. Back at the hotel there was smoke in the air as the monks across the street burned leaves they had raked up. This morning, July 4th, they woke me up with drumming and chanting. I think monks may not be great neighbors. After a delicious breakfast I checked out, found a tuk tuk and headed for the airport. My short stay I Laos is pretty much over, save waiting for my currently delayed flight. I like it here though and I'd like to come back some day and go farther in. Today though it's airplanes, my girl, a hydrofoil and a beach.

My Protanoptic Life » music

Daniel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:30:38 +0000

Hanging out with Dat and Trinh

Daniel — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:00:17 +0000

That night I found it very hard to sleep, most likely from how long I'd slept earlier that day.

On the way home I saw a blind beggar holding a cane and a hat with his eyes rolled back in his head kneeling at the side of the road where hundreds of motorbikes were passing by.

We went briefly out with Dat and Trinh again to grab some dinner, then they headed home while Tien and I retired to the old Ruby Star.

Lazy in Laos

Daniel — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:13:39 +0000

Catching up with Ha Long Bay

Daniel — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:45:37 +0000

Another day in the shop

Daniel — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:54:29 +0000

Memorial Night

Daniel — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:34:44 +0000

4 Days left

Daniel — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:18:50 +0000

Thoughts from the back seat of a VW on the way to Santa Cruz

Daniel — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:45:37 +0000

I am currently sitting on the patio of my hotel room on the 5th floor looking out over Ha Long Bay and the bridge, and watching the moon rise above the hills on the opposing shore. I'm just one girl and a bottle of wine short of the most romantic night ever. This morning we departed for Ha Long bay and I finally realized that when our tour guide says 8am he means wheels rolling at 8am. I always seem to be the last one on the bus. We headed out through early Hanoi traffic which seemed to flow mostly into the city instead of out, so it wasn't busy. We stopped for tea a long while into the drive and I was delighted to find a lot of art at this shop. There were paintings, mosaics, and sewn images showing traditional Vietnamese scenes, and surprisingly some showing nude female figures. Sexuality and nudity have so far been almost completely absent except mildly in advertisements for mobile phones and karaoke bars. There were a group of kids sewing images by hand into canvases, a lot like cross stitching, and it was nice to see art being made. We stopped for lunch at a temple that had a gondola to take us to the top of a mountain, except the gondola wasn't running. This was pretty disappointing to many of us. Apparently the lore says that some king left his country behind to come seek enlightenment, then his people followed him and begged him to come back so he did for a while and then left again. He built the temple at the top of the mountain. In modern times the communist Vietnamese government owns both of the temples and doesn't use them for religious purposes at all but rather just to make money off of tourists like me. We got back in the car and I adored my iPod as a savior from the wailing screams of this bratty little kid that's on the tour. He hits and kicks his parents and screams at the top of his lungs when he doesn't get his way. I'm amazed that his mother lets him get away with it because she seems like a strict type, but then I think he sees through her bluffing threats of discipline. He's a fucking brat though, that's for sure, so the music went up nice and loud. Rock and roll in Vietnam. We stopped at another temple, this one used for actual religious purposes, and I walked around taking photos of the scenes. I was mildly scolded by a monk for setting foot inside a holy place without taking my sandals off. I photographed 3 monks talking to a girl with a motorcycle helmet on. I heard sounds of welding coming from below a secluded corner of a courtyard and couldn't help thinking that I was supposed to jump off the wall and pick the lock on the gate below, fight the fake monks and find the secret passage down to the nanotech laboratory where evil was being done behind a facade of Buddhism. I thought twice about that and instead went off to play with some monk kids who surrounded me laughing and saying short english phrases, playing with my arm hair, wrapping their hands around my arms to see how big they were, and patting my fat belly. One of the monks talked in english with me briefly and brought me a book on Buddhism, and then I had to go so the whole group shouted "see you again!" as I ran down the steps of the temple towards the bus, last one in again. We drove and drove and drove and I listened to louder rock music. Finally we arrived in Ha Long bay opposite its glorious side. We checked into the hotel and I stupidly tried to go make the best of the day. I say stupidly because I was soon drenched in sweat and nearly cheated out of money to use an elevator that goes up to this really beautiful bridge, and later found out that you're not really supposed to go out during the day. Apparently everybody here naps during the day so they can stay up at night when it's cooler, which makes so much sense I never thought an entire society would come to that conclusion. After showering my sweat away I got a beer and sat in the restaurant mooching wifi. Other than the wifi and chatting with my brother about his meeting me in Thailand on the 26th this was a miserable experience. The beer was warm and the room was hot. I didn't even think to open the windows to let the breeze in until I almost had to go for dinner. Then dinner ended up being in the same room I had been sitting in. After dinner we went down to the night market. Rows and rows of tables piled with completely worthless shit. Worthless to me anyway. Progressive minimalism and tourism do not see eye to eye when it comes to the importance of physical novelties. I saw a few cool engrish shirts though, so that was cool. The power went out just as I was crossing the bridge to an outdoor techno club on the beach, so I stayed there at the club and had a mango smoothie that cost approximately $1. Lot's of things here cost approximately $1. The music was freakin awesome and I was dissapointed that nobody was dancing, or rather that there was nobody there to dance. The place was empty, so I sat on the beach drinking my smoothie and enjoying the techno by myself, then I began walking home. A Vietnamese guy approached me and began talking to me in good english, though with poor pronunciation. Vietnamese people are so nice it's almost creepy, like there's some hidden agenda. It makes it hard to guage who you can trust, but this guy and his group of friends were all cool so we walked a while and they took photos with me. Then I ran into two people on the tour who are Vietnamese people from France. I walked with them, took some photos for them, and they bought me a beer at a stall where we sat and chatted it up with the owner. I barely understood anything they said, but they knew a little english. Charades was part of the game, and that's always fun. I came home, checked online for some friends, and came upstairs to write in the comfort of my own room rather than in the hotel lobby. So now the moon is higher in the sky, I may have a few additional mosquito bites, and you know probably more details about my day than is really necessary. I'll try to keep it shorter tomorrow...

My Protanoptic Life » music

Daniel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:30:38 +0000

Hanging out with Dat and Trinh

Daniel — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:00:17 +0000

That night I found it very hard to sleep, most likely from how long I'd slept earlier that day.

On the way home I saw a blind beggar holding a cane and a hat with his eyes rolled back in his head kneeling at the side of the road where hundreds of motorbikes were passing by.

We went briefly out with Dat and Trinh again to grab some dinner, then they headed home while Tien and I retired to the old Ruby Star.

Lazy in Laos

Daniel — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:13:39 +0000

Catching up with Ha Long Bay

Daniel — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:45:37 +0000

Another day in the shop

Daniel — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:54:29 +0000

Memorial Night

Daniel — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:34:44 +0000

4 Days left

Daniel — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:18:50 +0000

Thoughts from the back seat of a VW on the way to Santa Cruz

Daniel — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:54:29 +0000

My Protanoptic Life » music

Daniel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:30:38 +0000

Hanging out with Dat and Trinh

Daniel — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:00:17 +0000

That night I found it very hard to sleep, most likely from how long I'd slept earlier that day.

On the way home I saw a blind beggar holding a cane and a hat with his eyes rolled back in his head kneeling at the side of the road where hundreds of motorbikes were passing by.

We went briefly out with Dat and Trinh again to grab some dinner, then they headed home while Tien and I retired to the old Ruby Star.

Lazy in Laos

Daniel — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:13:39 +0000

Catching up with Ha Long Bay

Daniel — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:45:37 +0000

Another day in the shop

Daniel — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:54:29 +0000

Memorial Night

Daniel — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:34:44 +0000

4 Days left

Daniel — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:18:50 +0000

Thoughts from the back seat of a VW on the way to Santa Cruz

Daniel — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:34:44 +0000

My Protanoptic Life » music

Daniel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:30:38 +0000

Hanging out with Dat and Trinh

Daniel — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:00:17 +0000

That night I found it very hard to sleep, most likely from how long I'd slept earlier that day.

On the way home I saw a blind beggar holding a cane and a hat with his eyes rolled back in his head kneeling at the side of the road where hundreds of motorbikes were passing by.

We went briefly out with Dat and Trinh again to grab some dinner, then they headed home while Tien and I retired to the old Ruby Star.

Lazy in Laos

Daniel — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:13:39 +0000

Catching up with Ha Long Bay

Daniel — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:45:37 +0000

Another day in the shop

Daniel — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:54:29 +0000

Memorial Night

Daniel — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:34:44 +0000

4 Days left

Daniel — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:18:50 +0000

Thoughts from the back seat of a VW on the way to Santa Cruz

Daniel — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:18:50 +0000

My Protanoptic Life » music

Daniel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:30:38 +0000

Hanging out with Dat and Trinh

Daniel — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:00:17 +0000

That night I found it very hard to sleep, most likely from how long I'd slept earlier that day.

On the way home I saw a blind beggar holding a cane and a hat with his eyes rolled back in his head kneeling at the side of the road where hundreds of motorbikes were passing by.

We went briefly out with Dat and Trinh again to grab some dinner, then they headed home while Tien and I retired to the old Ruby Star.

Lazy in Laos

Daniel — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:13:39 +0000

Catching up with Ha Long Bay

Daniel — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:45:37 +0000

Another day in the shop

Daniel — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:54:29 +0000

Memorial Night

Daniel — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:34:44 +0000

4 Days left

Daniel — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:18:50 +0000

Thoughts from the back seat of a VW on the way to Santa Cruz

Daniel — Sat, 16 May 2009 22:33:43 +0000

In the back of Blake's car cruisin' down highway 1 on the way to Santa Cruz after a crazy morning running around trying to handle my travel visa's. It looks like everything is going to work out, so that's good, but apparently Laos and Cambodia only give single entrance single exit visa's. That's OK, but it does hinder my freedom to roam aimlessly all over SE Asia. Blake, Steven and I are out catching the beautiful sights on our way down Highway 1 to Santa Cruz. Just out for a drive and are going to meet up with Sara, Karen, Brad and Misty. Misty recently went to Vietnam so I've been picking her brain, but this is the first time I'll get face-to-face since she's been back. Last night, Donna and I got some wine and beer then caught the 71 down to Haight to catch a show that one of Donna's friends was putting on with his band, Dead Western. It was a party bus off the bat, as soon as we got on some guy commented on Donna's captain hat and told us a story about his apartment building in NYC having an explosive sewage problem. One of his friends came over wearing a captain hat and set a little sail boat on the raw sewage to sail it around. The people you meet randomly have the most interesting stories. We got off in upper Haight and went to Slice of New York and got some pizza. I've decided that I'm not going to eat any Asian food until I actually get to Asia. That way I can get sick of American, Italian and Mexican food and hopefully will not crave it so much when I can't get it. We met up with Dead Western and hung out before the show. I called up my friend Ben Random and invited him down, he only lives a block away from the venue. He showed up and brought his Panasonic LX3, which I'm thinking about picking up for my trip. Now, I'm really really thinking of picking one up. HD video, F/2 24mm equivalent... yeah, it's rad. After the show I caught the N to 4211 and crashed on the couch with Brianna for a bit until we went back to her own bed and I fell fast asleep and had strange dreams about people from Colorado.