Xin Chow !

It really feels a bit weird to be in a 3rd country in 3 days. Just Sunday morning I was still in Australia, and now I am in Vietnam. Yes Vietnam. Country of the blue dragon. Country of Pho, and sweet rice rolls.

On first glance it is like Shanghai. Cheap food, cheap clothes, cheap everything. Crazily expensive rent. Only instead of bicycles, you see a lot of motorcycles. Same crazy hooting taxis. Never in a thousand years would I have thought that I would have have a chance to be in 5 different countries in the same calendar year. And yet I am. It has been a crazy ride so far and for now I hope it does not stop.

After I got back to Malaysia and unpacked, it was all about getting myself pumped up for work again. It really takes a lot of effort to get back in the groove. Fortunately, it was made easier when I was unfortunately landing in a whole load of work. I actually expected a very slack two days but heaven knows best, and one of my customers defaulted on 40 million dollars. Paperwork, stress and hellfires. Those words describe my days. I also had to pack up my place as I would be leaving for a new department when I come back from Vietnam. So back went all my things into two boxes. I have been sitting here for 7 months now, since March. It is also my third cubicle on the same floor. Goodbye little corner seat.

And then Vietnam. Oh excitement. Really ? I guess there was a little. Packing went by really quick. I am very proud and glad to say that I do not mind living in a suitcase at all. As long as once in a while I get to change all the clothes I put inside. I am also very proud to say that I am a much better packer, and now I can travel lighter than I have ever been able to do before. No longer do I have the urge to put every piece of clothing I own into the bag, for fear of not getting the right style or look. I can decide, and actually put back clothing into the wardrobe. I am stronger than that shirt. I am.

Flight only lasted about an hour and a half. No entertainment, though I was very impressed by the lunch served. It was 3 sandwiches, an apple, some chocolate and a glass of water. All packed into a nice box. It was like unwrapping a Christmas present. Very nice.

Taxi was easy to get, and off to the apartment. I will be staying there with MrNM. Great guy. Anyway, then went to the office and the CEO was there from Hanoi, (I am in Ho Chi Minh) and he reminded me of those old Indian movie style policeman. Balding, with a big moustache, short and very fierce eyes. Had to impress. Then met some of the people around who I would be working near and with, and then had a very short time to realise that I would be working in an all new environment, in an all new department, with all new stuff, with an all new language with very tight deadlines. Ah, the challenge. Can be exhausting.

Dinner was with one of the managers who I will call MsF. American bred, born in Vietnam. Came back to work, for only a month so far. 32 years old. Divorced. No kids. Haha. Anyway. MrNM and myself walked around the city, he showing me a lot of interesting shops and little eateries and big massage parlours, and colourful minimarts and dingy looking furniture stores....till we met up with MsF with her boyfriend and two girlfriends at a little Restaurant called Goldfish. (It was opposite MNG). Everything had a goldfish on it. We had goldfish soup. Which was actually cream of chicken. But branded goldfish. And some other random food. And wine. Which I learnt that the people here are quite fond of. When I say people, I mean the expats. Ms F and her boyfriend are both American, and her two friends were Korean who have been in Vietnam for the last 7 years, aged 25 and 29. So these people had wine with food. Obviously, so did I. And we talked. And adjourned to a nice little wine bar where we had another 2 bottles of wine and talked some more. Mind you, the Koreans knew fluent Vietnamese but not much English, so we had a lot of fun learning little Viet slangs and phrases while the wine kept slipping down.

Work the next day. By the way, MrNM and I have separate bedrooms and bathrooms. Good. We can each take our own sweet time. At the office, got a lot more work. So it was good. Because otherwise I would have fallen asleep in the office. Viet people are very polite, soft spoken and friendly. Lunch time, we visited Diamond Plaza. Which is basically a shopping department store. I am telling you, Ho Chi Minh, or Saigon has more branded shops than Malaysia. It is really a big shopping centre and playground for the expatriates here who number more than 100,000. There are 15,000 Koreans alone. And then there are all the VietQs, who are basically really rich Viets, who are elite, and have studied overseas and speak perfect English and look like they stepped out from MTV Asia. They get paid a lot. And refer to the other Vietnamese as locals. Lol.

Anyway, work work work. How interesting can it be right, to tell you about it ? Well, I found it really interesting, which was good, since it was completely new stuff to me. So that was good. Kept me busy and we also did a lot of laughing in the office as we showed off our new skills in Viet language. Especially when we were saying things like "You are infinitely beautiful" and "You are achingly beautiful" and "You give me a cavity when I am near you".

The plan was to go to this gentlemen's barbershop for MrNM to get a haircut and a head massage while I got a SIM card before meeting up for dinner but we bumped into MsF, who was looking for an apartment. We followed her down an alley, and waited for her to inspect it. When she was done, it started raining cats, dogs, hippos, lions, and snakes. We ran through the rain to a nearby restaurant, called Alibi. Which is a pretty famous place in Ho Chi Minh. Just look it up and see !! And we had cocktails and waited for the rain to stop with some burritos and salmon billinis. As the rain did not seem to stop, soon we were joined by more expats, from India, US, and around.

Anyway, we soon realised we were the youngest people on the table. Then next youngest was probably MsF who was 32. The other people on the table were investing in Vietnam, and had some clubs, jazz lounges, a real estate firm, and advertising firm and there was even one lady who was working with social organisations. But after 2 hours more and some food, I realised we were really out of our depth. These people had money and had experiences. They were discussing separation, divorces, businesses and one of them even had a son who was older than myself. And they were discussing how many years it had been and the pain, and how they moved on and things like that. They were discussing how to invest their next million, and which clubs were good to go to, which wines were good and which car was good. They had iPhones, and cars and drivers, and careers and love life. And they were all well travelled and had been all over the world and had so many experiences and so much knowledge. I felt so insignificant. And young. And humbled.

But it was a great time. They did not act condescending to me. And we were able to carry on good conversation, even though I listened a lot more than I talked.

I think this people are what I want to be like in the future. They travel around, and learn so much and enjoy the world. No baggage, nothing to tie them down. Friends around the world. But can I manage to achieve this ? With a lot of hard work, I am sure I can.

And I want to.

And you guys out there, make sure you are somewhere around on this world, so I can visit you.

I love you and miss you all out there.

Serious !!

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