Tag: travelogue

  • 31 Hours In 3 Airports In 3 Countries

    I left my hostel at about 5:30PM in order to catch the last bus to the airport. For some reason, all buses stop at 6AM, making it quite difficult to get around Saigon. At the bus station, near the market, it took me about 15 minutes to figure out that there weren’t any more buses.…

  • A Week in Saigon

    I’m not exactly sure what I was thinking, but I ended up booking red-eye flights for my whole vacation for CNY this year. It was what was available on the dates that I wanted to fly, and I was in no position to complain much about it, because I had booked the flights in January.

  • Last Minute Preparations

    An upcoming departure  always fills me with anticipation, especially when I’m traveling in countries that I’ve never been to before. Thankfully I have been getting ready for the trip for the last few weekends, purchasing a diving mask with my prescription, swimming goggles with my prescriptions, and other miscellaneous things. Just like last year, I’ll…

  • Longest Vacation Ever

    It’s been a long year of work, but I’m finally heading on vacation for CNY starting next week. I have about 3.5 weeks off and I’m heading to Dumaguete in the Philippines to do some scuba diving. Then I’ll be visiting Saigon in Vietnam and bus-ing my way into Cambodia and the temples at Angkor.

  • Three Cackling Birds

    On a Monday morning, I was greeted by three cackling birds, sitting on my balcony. I heard them as soon as I woke up. Waking up is strange. It’s like when you emerge out of water. The sounds and sights are all muffled and blurred. You make your way back into reality. Slowly, the world…

  • Six Snarling Stray Dogs

    Six snarling stray dogs came at me and Spike this afternoon while I was walking Spike. They went for Spike, who was pleasantly going about his business at the park. They acted like a hunting pack and were growling, snarling, and snapping. When I saw them approach and surround my Frenchie Spike, who was off…

  • Life at the Small Dog Park

    I still take Spike out every day to the dog park. The membership has slightly altered over the last year. Most of the people who used to come don’t come together anymore. This is down to an annoying dog owner, who was referred to as a “hick” by another Taiwanese. It was implied that she…

  • Cultural Vista: The Young Rich Neighbor

    There’s a young man from a family on the ground floor who used to drive a Honda CRV. It was slightly pimped out and new. Recently, he exchanged the CRV for a Mercedes-Benz C class with Brabus decals and wheels, as well as another Merc, a CLK. Both cars are from a few years ago.…

  • Pain

    I had hobbled home from the hospital. Some neighbors wondered what had happened. I told them in my limited Mandarin about the accident. I hobbled back upstairs to my apartment and finally was able to put my leg up. My legs had gotten the worst of the fall. I must have somersaulted over the front…

  • Shit I Saw on my Way to Work This Week

    New work is a bit further away than old work, but it’s still within 10-15 minutes of my house by scooter. However, there is a lot more traffic and I get to see some crazy stuff on my way there. An accident between a scooter and a Mini. The scooter driver had a baby with…