Graduated, Gone, Garbage Not a travel journal per se, just something to record ideas, thoughts and photo's for anyone interested.

Aerobic Acrobats

VIETNAM | Friday, 5 Dec 2008 | Views [887]

Everywhere I go in Vietnam there is usually some person doing some strange gyrating. A quick swivel of the hips, a stolen moment lunging, some prostrating at irregular angles, it all happens sporadically and potentially anywhere. Spend a moment walking ... Read more >

Tags: aerobics, fitness, pool, saigon, vietnam

I'm a Little Xe Om Driver

VIETNAM | Monday, 1 Dec 2008 | Views [1254]

I’m a little xe-om driver short and stout, I drive on two wheels, with my jacket inside out… My name is Phuc, which is hilarious to most of my customers. I come from a long line of motorbike taxi drivers, my uncle drove the first Honda to ever ... Read more >

Tags: driving, motorbike, saigon, vietnam, xe-om

Teaching the Troops

VIETNAM | Wednesday, 26 Nov 2008 | Views [615]

Teaching, travelling and living. Not a bad way to see the world eh? In the meantime however, one has to put up with sudden pangs of horror. “Oh Christ, I’m actually a teacher and therefore expected…” Whilst row upon row of young eyes bear into me, ... Read more >

Tags: abroad, celta, efl, english, teaching, tefl, tesol, vietnam

Bums All of Us

VIETNAM | Tuesday, 25 Nov 2008 | Views [426]

Jack Kerouac. Why did I not discover this man earlier in life? He is my hero with a voice of which I’ve longed to articulate. Seriously, his mantra is mine. Just finished reading The Dharma Bums, the successor to The Subterraneans and the second ... Read more >

Oh Holy Ground!

VIETNAM | Thursday, 13 Nov 2008 | Views [494]

There was once an arguably great British band called Athlete. They once had an arguably good little single that went something like this: “You got wires, going in. You got wires, coming out of your skin”. Wires? In skin? What the deuce? ... Read more >

My Tho is Bleeding!

VIETNAM | Sunday, 9 Nov 2008 | Views [2177]

My Tho is very interesting. When taken with students that is. Our trip there from Saigon took about an hour and a half and the road surface was much more forgiving than the previous outing to Cu Chi. I could even read. For a short while. Until ... Read more >

Tags: bee farm, heart of darkness, joseph conrad, mekong, my tho, snake farm

Don't Be A Prick (-ly customer)!

VIETNAM | Thursday, 6 Nov 2008 | Views [555]

Don’t drink in Saigon. It’s cheap and tempting I know. I agree it’s alluring to sit on those flimsy little plastic chairs with your rotund backside nicely nestled at your local bia hoi, however stand up and the chair is still surprisingly stuck ... Read more >

Tags: bia hoi, drinking, drunk, vietnam

Gallery: My Toe's Been Cut Off!

VIETNAM | Thursday, 6 Nov 2008 | Photo Gallery

Frolicking in My Tho, VN
See all 24 photos >>

Got a Job!

VIETNAM | Wednesday, 5 Nov 2008 | Views [396]

After weeks of wrangled negotations and a stand off Khruschev-Kennedy style I have finally landed a job. I will now be working here: ILA Vietnam in District 1. For those of you not in the know ILA Vietnam is the English Language school we did our ... Read more >

Whitey's Can't Handle The Streets!

VIETNAM | Wednesday, 5 Nov 2008 | Views [588]

You hear about gangsta rappers banging on about “life on the streets”. It’s the same ones who cruise around in their flashy cars, eat at gourmet restaurants and incessantly upgrade their latest home entertainment systems. Well, in Vietnam ... Read more >

Tags: bia hoi, noise, saigon, streets, vietnam, xe-om

Pissing People Off With Postcards

VIETNAM | Wednesday, 5 Nov 2008 | Views [1148] | Comments [1]

Writing postcards is bloody difficult. “Hmm, let’s see, must write six weeks of experience in six sentences”. Will the erstwhile recipient even care? In Saigon posting them is like a top secret government mission. First you have to haggle ... Read more >

Tags: ho chi minh post office, postcards, saigon, stamps, vietnam