Ja's Jolly jaunt here, there and every where

Just a nightmare for a week

supertopoz — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:26:00 GMT

This week I have been so busy. I get up at about 4.30 do my lesson planning and then go to school and print out my work to make the class. Which is really bad because I hate spending 3 hours creating a class. I would never do that any where.

But having said that my daily schedual is really hard. I have learnt so much about the theory of teaching. Which is wonderful it is really what I need to know. However because as with many teachers, I know my language very well. But for the life of me I find it really hard to analysis it. I realize that what I am doing with Korean children is suitable. But I will need to know far more about English Grammar in order to teach adults.

Having said that this course is not all about Grammar, there is much more to it than that. interestingly my teachers state that an English teacher should not speak in the students own language when teaching. But I disagree to some degree. I command much more respect and much clearer learning when I speak Korean in my class.

Also I got sick on Wednesday, I had to go to the hospital I paid out 100 dollars, but doctor did a whole loads of tests and gave me a clean bill of health except for a stomach bug, which he quickly subscribed strong antibiotics. Which seem to work well. This however is my 4th week in the last 6 of being on antibiotics. Oh well. One month in a year can’t be so bad. Doc did a urine test and said there are no problem there. So I am glad about that.

A big thanks to Lan in all this because she took me to the hospital, and she has eaten dinner with me everyday this week, and called me frequently to find out if I am okay. Which of course makes life much easier.

Last weekend.

supertopoz — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:13:00 GMT

The Weekend of the 15th and 16th of November.
This weekend has been hectic, I flew from Hanoi to Saigon on Saturday afternoon, and spent much of Saturday evening looking for somewhere to stay. Basically because the person who promised Lan a room changed their mind. Any way I am in a hotel now, and I hope to stay in this same room for much of the my time in Saigon. The room is special as it is on the 6th floor which and mostly surrounded by other rooms not windows. So compared to many places in the this city it is relatively quite.

Yesterday I played hard all day, a bit of TV in the morning and later I went out and had a small party with some friends of friends. It was a nice party, plus one new thing happened to me. For the first time in my life I ate crab, I was surprised as it did not taste at all like fish, and basically tasted like chicken.

Also at the little party we played Jenga, yes the amazing block game which seems to travel the world. And the people I were with loved it so much. We played it again and again for about 2 hours.

In the evening I went to a Salsa class, the class was in some woman’s living room. It was fun to watch and I met a few new people. Including two Koreans, I felt sorry for the Korean man, as clearly he bought a girl whom he wanted to date. The short and long of it is, she gave me her number and e-mail umber within a few minutes of talking, but I guess he had been trying to get her number for a long time.

After Salsa I went off and changed my clothes and then went out for a meal, where I met some people that I had worked alongside in Korea, Vietnamese people are so warm and friendly it’s really cool. I also met some new people from China too. All of them are lawyers. The food was great, and it was washed down with a few beers. Having said that the beer here gets weaker and weaker as the evening goes on. Because the waiter kept dropping more and more ice into my glass. Hehehehe.

Trip to the perfume pagoda

supertopoz — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:12:00 GMT

Trip to the Perfume Pagoda.

We took a mini bus at about 8am and set out for the perfume pagoda. All went well on the trip. There are a few good highways in Vietnam, but even the best ones have areas with large potholes. The most crazy thing of course is people crossing the highway with three lanes of cars and a million lanes of motor bikes. Even worse is crossing left into the on coming traffic.

On the way we stopped at a toilet break which really was a big store selling nic naks. Sonia’s eyes lit up and she was happy to see more stuff. After about another hour on country roads passing through the red river delta, where much of the land seems flooded from the weeks and weeks of rain which we have had here recently.

We made it to a place where we could take a small row boat. These things look like Canadian canoes but they are painted red. They are extremely useful as the ride up the river into the mountains was on navigable by boat. It was apparent that the river was well over it’s banks and had been that way for sometime. But for the woman rowing our boat it seemed just like a normal day. With five of us in the boat she rowed for an hour.

Then we climbed up the mountain a short way and started our tour of the perfume pagoda. It is a small temple by Korean standards but according to our guide a very important one. After lunch we took a 20 minute walk up the mountain to reach Giant Grotto type cave which too was part of the temple complex. The neon flashing head dress of the Buddhas made it all worth while.

Finally we headed back home, and took a bumpy bus ride back the Hanoi.

We had a struggle to get Sonia some money to pay me back what she owes. But the following I believe to be true. When traveling use cash, yes there is no doubt a thief and take it in a second. But you can see a thief robbing you there and then. You can beat him on the head and make him pay for his crime. Or you can be robbed by the bank, when you use your card. But the difference being that you can not beat anyone on the head when the bank robs you. You just end up walking strangely when you have been done up the ass by the bank in Vietnam, and again by the bank in England, and by anyone else along the road who feels that you should pay them to rob you. Hehehehe

Gallery: Perfume Pagoda

supertopoz — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:46:00 GMT

The Bamboo Cafe experience.

supertopoz — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:03:00 GMT

Picture in your mind 1000’s of bamboo sticks latticed together to form a kind of wicker looking house. Put this into a restaurant, on the walls and the ceiling and then you have got the bamboo café. It would have looked cool about 30 years ago. Now it looks retro. The vibe is laid back and the cost of the food is reasonable, everything comes with a delightful double helping of mono sodium glutamate.

It is the laid back vibe, which really causes you to notice something different about this place. At around 7 or 8 pm you can see the Bamboo, full of weary faces, some from all the of the corners of the earth. But they all have two things in common, some have drinks others do not. But all lack that vital ingredient in a restaurant, “food”.

Ladies and gentleman regardless of your order, expect a minimum waiting time of 20 minutes from order to table and the maximum waiting time, is best left up to God to decide. Our record so far has been one hour.

Also owing to the laid back vibe. Expect, to get the wrong food, someone else’s food, no food, the wrong drink, someone else’s drink or no drink. You also might have your food snatched away at any point, and given to someone else. Or you might have it snatched away see it disappear, and ten minutes later see it reappear with no apparent change. All of which was experienced in our hour of waiting.

What keeps people coming back, well if you have ever watched faulty towers, then this is the live version, and you are part of the show. It is no doubt in my mind, that the chef is out the back with his chimps doing a jig, and twiddling his thumbs. Then at any particular moment he might whip up a dish or two, but only if he is in the mood. All this of course has to be done between sips of beer a cigarette and the occasional puff on the hubbly.

Our rest day trip up to Halong Bay

supertopoz — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 10:42:00 GMT

Not much happened which was unusal today, we took a boat and went up to Ha Long bay to see some caves and to see various other sights. We also went Canoeing and snorkeling.

So I will mention about the people we went with. A couple from Lithuania Who were very young and quite. What appeared to be a Gay couple from Switzerland who appeared very much to be in love. Two guys from Bavaria who were also climbers but were not climbing on this trip. Also an Australian and a Vietnamese woman who may or may not have been a wife, servant to something of that nature.

It was a good fun trip. The weather was cool and windy in the morning, and hot and sunny in the afternoon. I met a few Koreans in various places too. Frankly they were worse than Americans on vacation, which of course is only opinion not fact.

Also for the first time today I had a glass of Sugar cane juice, and the lady making it was totally perplexed because I help her use the machine which squishes the juice out of the cane. It was hard work, so she was surprised but pleased.

For Dinner we went to the Green Mango. Which seems to becoming out regular dinner venue. I had a red curry which tasted exactly the same as last nights green Curry, but of course it was red. However we were so tired it was hard to eat anything.

Love to you all.

Jason

Gallery: Trip to halong bay

supertopoz — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 10:34:00 GMT

Butterfly valley

supertopoz — Thu, 6 Nov 2008 22:20:00 GMT

Butter fly valley.

This is THE place to climb on Cat Bat Island. We travel there by motor bike, we could travel by one bike which is cheaper. But it seems more beneficial to the guys we rent the bikes from to hire two and go with two bikes. Before we go to the Valley we buy two passes, and we also pay some money to the family who live there, and they supply us with lunch. Which is the best lunch in all of Cat Ba.

The climbing here is quite good, although I feel it is not as hard as the guide book says. It seems that I am climbing much better than I thought. Also Sonia is really good and belaying and I feel safe.

The valley is so named owing to the number to butter flies which can be found there. Also the valley contains various other animals, most of the domestic. Dogs, goats, sheep, dogs and what look like buffalo, the kind used for ploughing.

So the only sound in this place is the occasional moo from a cow, or grunt from a dog. There is a road to this place but it is small. And the valley is right in the middle of nowhere.

We climb all morning, have lunch then spend an hour lounging in hammocks. I hope you enjoy the pictures. The other guy is Erwin and Austrian we climbed with.

Gallery: Butterfly valley

supertopoz — Thu, 6 Nov 2008 22:02:00 GMT

Gallery: Trip to the polish pillar

supertopoz — Wed, 5 Nov 2008 12:30:00 GMT

Climing out in the bay

Trip to the Polish pillar

supertopoz — Tue, 4 Nov 2008 12:28:00 GMT

This morning we paid out a load of money and took a boat to a place called the polish pillar, which basically is a sea stack in the middle of the Halong bay area of Vietnam.
This pillar has two or three routes to it’s summit. We took the easiest route which was fun, a little scary but a huge adventure.
The logisitics were taken care of by the Slopony company, all we had to do was to ride in a boat, and then in a canoe, and then climb the mountain. All in all a fun trip. The rock was very sharp and a little loose.

Sonia from the moment we woke up to the moment we stepped onto the pillar was in a grumpy mood. On more than one occasion she complained to me about me in general. Hehhehehehe.

Erwin the man from Austria was a really cool and batted clean up of the route that I led. The summit was reached in about 2 hours, basically because I had to go slowly owing both to the delicate nature of the rock, and me needing to find worth while gear placement.

When we reached the summit we found it to be really, sharp but, every one was happy including Sonia. After rigging a precarious belay we raped off and took the canoes and boat to where we would be having lunch.

After lunch it was more climbing a some canoeing as well as a little swimming.

What a great day. And not a single drop of rain to be seen.

Not much happened today.

supertopoz — Mon, 3 Nov 2008 10:50:00 GMT

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Early this morning the road out side the hotel was a river again, but this time the water was much clearer, I guess all the shit was washed away yesterday.

Sonia slipped and fell down a storm drain. Well we were out looking for some lunch, by 2 o’clock we had done some hard shopping. We found a restaurant that wasn’t there and a bakery, with small sweet cakes. Sonia step of the curb and one leg went in the drain. Poor girl all her wonderful new shopping went flying into the street. Now luckly, I was carrying my first aid kit and quickly applied some Iodine and Band-Aids to the relevant cuts. An Australia couple offered some words of kindness, but they looked a little perplexed, and complained that there is too much rain in Vietnam and not enough in Australia. Personally I felt really, really hungry and tried hard to keep it together enough to fix up Sonia’s cuts. She on the other hand seemed very concerned with the damage to her goods.

After a short trip back to the hotel to drop of the mornings shopping, I started dancing, I could see a patch of blue sky. Wow!!!! So once more we set out for a little site seeing and some more, shopping. We ambled our way here and there, in fact on the hunt for some shoes. Which we finally found, after the second incident of the day, in which dear Sonia fell one legged into the lake.

It is true, we spent a good time getting some shots, around the lake, but poor Sonia focusing as she was on the perfect shot, step backwards and one footed into the lake. Not to worry though, the lake was so thick with gunk, it seemed more like stepping into jelly. The full realization of what was happening suddenly entered her mind and she was out the water in a flash, with an unscathed camera. Welcome to the zoo that is Vietnam, where all the monkeys a hairless and wearing clothes.

I would like to mention that if you are fortunate to visit Vietnam and you would like to buy some products on the cheap, please let me lend to you, the ultimate discount machine, Sonia. This girl was born to bargain.

The Oz’ies who witnessed the drain incident also spotted us twice more, once by the lake and once out side the restaurant we were at.

I have one problem, with the Nam and that is the food. I eat six times a day in Korea, but so far have only had three meals in as many days here. I really need to get it together on the food front. Fill me up and I will run for three hours with no problems. Catch me on empty and I am like a bull in a China shop. Sorry Sonia, hehehehe.

Rain, floods and a Giant.

supertopoz — Sat, 1 Nov 2008 11:42:00 GMT

It did not stop raining since I came to Hanoi, not to worry though there are different kinds of rain. Mostly it ranges from heavy rain to torrential rain, heavy rain seems okay.

But after 5 hours of torrential rain yesterday, things took a turn for the murky side. My first flood arrived and we were up to our knees in Shit. I sat eating a late breakfast for 30 minutes, look outside and the street was awash with 3 feet of sewage.

I stressed a while about how I was going to meet Sonia. But as the guy sitting next to me pointed out, "a good time for a beer." So because I my medicaton, I had a bottle of water and watched the world and his waste go by.

Finally for 30 minutes it became light rain and the flooded street dryed up enough to take a moped taxi to Airport mini bus. Where I met Emielo, who's picture you can see. As he discribed him self, he looks and sounds like a columbian drug cartel leader. If you get into trouble he is the man to be next to. I spent my whole afternoon and a good part of the evening listening to him. The back of my neck hurt much from laughing so hard.

So finally after about only 6 hours wait I met up with Sonia. Actually she was late through no fault of her own, just a delayed flight.

So we took the bus home, and waited only 30 minutes to get back into a nicely flooded Hanoi. Don't worry it looks just like Vienna. Trouble is yet the Vietnamese have not started selling or hiring Gondolas.

Check out the new photos and a short video.

Gallery: Floods and a Giant

supertopoz — Sat, 1 Nov 2008 11:40:00 GMT

Hanoi, in the rain

In the nam

supertopoz — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:02:00 GMT

I made it to Hanoi, in one peace, (piece).

This time around there was no hassle with my Visa, having said that for 50 dollars I would hope it to be hassle free. Waited 40 minutes at the wrong baggage collecting place. hehehehe.

My bag weighs a so much, like 22 kilos. But still I get a million offers from the motor cycle guys to take me on their bike. I met two girls from swiden, we found a hotel together which was nice, they went out for something to eat. Then I found them standing around in the street looking a little lost. Nice to be needed, I found us back to the hotel.

There are so many western people here it's really funny. There are vietnamese people mixed in but it seems strange to see more foriegners in vietnam in a few minutes than in my whole time in Korea.

Strange to come to Vietnam to see Vietnam but only see other people from back home. hehehehehe.

I am feeling peaceful a little more now, basically because. As usual there was nothing to worry about.

Hope you like the picture of my room. I have Air con, but it's broken I did some maintenance on it, so it works okay for about 30 minutes then it starts leaking. Of and my room does not have any windows, which is kind of nice as I can not hear the street too much.

I am about to leave Kyoung Ju

supertopoz — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 08:48:00 GMT

Just a quick mention, ran to the bank yesterday to make sure there is enough money to pay my phone bill while I am away. But of course the bank was closed so for the first time, I learned how to you the ATM first time in Korea. It was a nice experience I spent 10 minutes putting the bank book in the wrong way. Then got some help from a nice lady, luckly the ATM had instructions in English.

This morning went out the house without my wallet, but found I was without and ran back. Got it now. My bag weighs a ton.

Gallery: Just last weekend in Pusan

supertopoz — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:35:00 GMT

Me doing what I do best

Final days in Korea.

supertopoz — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:39:00 GMT

Met Bora for lunch, saw the exchange rate was close to 1500 won for one dollar and ran to the bank. Saw some Russians in the bank, and went for it. I traded my money on the black market. They got a good deal and I hid my exchange from the banking system.

I waited 30 minutes in the bank and slowly watched the currency climb to over 1500 won, but by the time I was my turn to see the tellar it dropped to 1493. But un known to me I am a VIP at the bank so I got some discount on my money. Arhh they are so sweet.

Right now I am trying to pull everything together and makes sure I am sorted. I see exactly why so many people travel on package tours, I have to do so much of my own paper work my could cut down a tree and still not be able to have enough paper for all that needs to be done. So I am thinking buying like a few boxes of paper and simply handing it over to officals I meet on my travels.

Of and my ass hurts from being done in by so many government officials bank tellers immigration officers, and so on. Me!!!! I am cash man, forget all those machines and bank cards, cash talks. You can see it feel it, and most importantly you can see when it is gone, or in my case going.

Store cards, bank cards, credit cards, telephone cards, stick em’ in me ass cards. The card operator wins. Every time, it’s the card issuer who wins, plus the smart people who can crack the security and steal your information. Put the money in Ya pocket and you will know what you have.

For no apparent reason this afternoon the lock on my bicycle feel came unlocked and fell off, I had to stop and pick it up. It came undone without the right combination being in place. 30 seconds later a mad woman cam flying round the corner in her car, I wonder if I had not stopped to pick up the lock, if we might have crashed. Heehehhe.

Strange but true.