Hoes and Such

At about 70% of the clubs here, one can feel an atmosphere with a certain degree of Orchard Towers concentrate. So even at the regular clubs, you get plenty of working women. Happens less like this in Singapore, even if Attica now so I've heard has a couple of Thai working girls showing faces there.

I'm actually cool with prostituition. Well at least in the purest sense of a business transaction - money in exchange for sex. I'm not okay with the tarnished version - which I see a lot more, where now the transaction just doesn't involve sex per se, but in it the allowance to treat the lady with disrespect. Which is still not that bad, if the effects are contained within the transaction. There's however also something known as a spillover effect, where the many many men take it to mean that all the other non-working women around can be treated in the similar manner. Now, I have a major issue that.

Last night, we get this Cambodian working lady - who was quite beautiful in the dark. Then the lights flashed and I saw a pizza- like face under the lights and cake foundation. Her "boyfriend" was this overweight, greasy, drunk guy in his 50s. If you want a mental image, you could think Bam's Uncle in Viva La Bam. Or Borat, Borat's manager in the movie. You see this beautiful enchantress was trying to get a girl for a threesome. And she starting hitting on a friend I was with. ( In my opinion, she's was really cute - her apppearance was slightly andro-femme way, but she's straight - maybe my type, less lipstick lesbian) Which was flattering to her, till Ms Cambodia got a little to persistent this resulting in my friend making a disappearance to the toilet for a while). Ms Cambodia would be the femme fatale type, she would probably pick a less conspicuous girl so as not to steal the thunder in the bedroom. Again we were dancing in a group, and the annoying twat kept edging herself in the middle of our friends.

Okay, most my Viet girl friends are all shorter than me ( standing at 5'5; 5'7 in heels) which makes me the body guard when ugly foreign old men start fancying themself fanciable them to. Of course if the guy is hot, I step back discreetly as anyone in the secret service would know :) So yes, there I was warning off ( Tapping one of them on the shoulder glaring at him and motioning for him to move his fat ass) 2 separate instances one night fat old men last night - Korean, White dudes who were getting a bit to close to my friend. She's a couple years older than me, but I think she looks younger because of her size.

Sometimes I think, maybe it would be more fun to be at a place that was less "meat market". Plus the Music sucked ass. Oh yeah, meat market alright - I even saw 2 guys haggling furiously over price. He was getting worked up, screaming "fuck, this fucking that - I'm not going to pay that amount". His other friend was happy and already settled the price with the other girl. So I saw both of them ending the night with another pair of ladies.

Its an interesting place though. I lost key keys last night. And had to wake up early for work this morning. But I have a 2 hour spa treatment coming up. I'm happy.

The Night's Still Young.

Well, the police shut down the clubs early today. I had great company - pity was looking to dance the night away. That's what I've been doing the past 3 weekends ; hitting the clubs, casino's and almost free 5star hotel buffets. Might seem like a bit of an over kill, but its compensation for the last 6 months in hibernation.

You know why they shut down the clubs early? Because apparently there was a drug bust in Hanoi and it illogically filtered down South to Ho Chi Minh. Though honestly, I don't see how closing a club early would be consequently effective in eradicating drug abuse. So the deejay was under orders to kill the dancefloor. They did this by playing Blue's "One Love", " Hotel California" - the latter being a nice song, but man - its no way a club anthem.

Getting used to the very interesting and campy bordering on cheesy night life here. To be honest, I'm having more fun here than I did couple months back in Singapore. I've met many people and hope to continue meeting people. Too early to say they will be good friends - but the early prognosis is good. Have met 2 girls - LH and L, that have proved to be fun and people I could seriously get along with. Both are from different social circles, but I have fun in both circles. I headed out with LH's friends tonight - Couple of French-Viet Girls and their French Boyfriends, who were absolutely funny.

Who earns my respect, people who go out there and have fun - w/o giving a shit what people think. I like to see people have fun - even if its an energetic mass of uncoordinated jerky movments versus oh-i-am -so-goddamn-fucking-cool with the brief slight hip movements, oh yeah . Move bitches get outta way, clear the floor for those who know and want to have fun. Also, move bitch, when some lone chick suddenly dances into your circle of friends who are dancing. I don't know if its a phenomenom here, or maybe just one at "clubs" with no clear demarcated dance floor. People actually stand still right smack in the middle of the floor like a statue. Also two out of 3 nights, I had different chicks who probably thought they were the bomb, waddle straight into my group of friends and dance right in the middle of our circle. I'm like HELLO????? Look Girl, I know you're workin' ( pun intended) it, trying to get that old white fart's attention, but quit bumping right into me thinking that your chicken dance is sexy.

Little Nuggets

Nugget #1:

I realized my initial attempt at avoiding all kinds of street food has come to naught. Always thought it was great that I have breakfast prepared for me at the guest house in the mornings. You know, having covered most of not all grounds of exposing myself to potentially tummy churning foods. Till I found out the pho-like noodle soup that I have some mornings, was actually bought from the old lady vendor at squats near the pavement outside the alley that leads to the guest house :O

Good thing news - I have a fairly resilient belly then. Not about to think I'm all invincible, I still skipped all the raw oysters and other kinds of seafood. Last night one of the dishes they ordered was frog's legs - nothing wrong, given that frog leg porridge is a commom dish back home in Singapore. And that white, skinless frog legs are available at NTUC. Somehow my brain never made the translation where frogs had green skin in the Frog and the Princess story books and the white skinned-frogs in my porridge. So imagine my surprise, when I see 3 frogs in their full mossy greenish glory, engraved with the dark lines from the grill on the plate. :

Nugget#2:

Zebra crossings on the streets are mere decorations, as properly enlightened by a friend yesterday. One way you could tell a local from a foreigner assuming both are asian, is the way they cross the road.

Nugget #3:

You know the surgical face masks people took to wearing in the 2003 SARS crisis in Singapore - they make and wear cloth versions here, with floral motiffs and the like. Well, they're known as Ninja's here.

The First Weekend

Well, it was pretty good, that I'll admit. Managed to meet up with a nice girl Huong - through an internet friend who put me in touch with her. Thank God for the wonders of the internet. Also had dinner with a relatively youthful "yuppie" crowd down here in HCM - met 2 other interns with a local fund. Headed on down to several clubs after that. Wasn't too bad for the first weekend. A fine fella caught my eye - this young Viet-Australian lawyer. He had a near-shaven head, you know how I dig that. Well, he sure wasn't interested in me. Psssh. And he left early too. Bummer. But two of the very nice interns made sure I got home safe. Eh. One of them even held my hand at the end of the night - cute too. So sweet, but moi knows a practiced fellow when she sees one.

But other than that, my life remains relatively ripple-free. Work got slightly better today, hope it lasts.

Babysitting

Usually, I’m on the otherside – the babysitter. Now, I’m the baby sitted , in the office that is. When I was in India, I struggled hard to be taken seriously, and had to keep pushing before I eventually was. Its looks like its going to be this way here to. Don’t get me wrong , from a social perspective the people are kind, generous and welcoming. Even, if people are kind, generous and welcoming its not going to be help me learn if I hardly even get hands on work. Perhaps its my first week and the work isn’t rolling in just yet. However, things like the fact I’m not going to get my own email account – and that I can use another person’s account if the need be, sounds suspiciously like I’m just being baby sitted. Additionally, the fact the I didn’t need to key in the bookings that just came in, because it wasn’t the usual type and was “complex” and no invitation to watch and learn, plus the fact that I have time to write blog entries, monitor my stock portfolio continuously, know the details of the VT Shooting. Sheesh. Don’t know.

I’ll give it till the end of this week before the bull-dozing starts for me. Diplomatically, of course. But I refuse to let this turn into a Vacation for me. 3 months is a lot of time in terms of opportunity cost – had I another internship instead. There are times when you need encouragement and advice, and I did email my former team leader in India. I hope he replies me.

Things I dig about Vietnam

The people :
They're probably the most sincere and warm people I've met. I'm quite amazed, this coming from Singapore - land of the paper pushers. My colleagues, one of them - Judy took me to one of the markets during lunch to get a thick quilt I could sleep on ( not under) on her motorbike. Another Ahn, volunteered to send me home after work and she also took me for dinner today, at this fabulous duck vermicelli store. Another Thien, volunteered to show me around. The lady that runs the guest house, Tham, always warm and helpful. And many others.

The Food:
Love it, love it love it. If anyone of you think that Viet food stops at the O in pho - You'll be in for a treat.

Transport:
Its affordable to cab around , and hailing one off the street is easy peasy. Well, living in Gurgaon, India for a while, one year ago - I can say that the accessibility of the city is so important and I value that. Its relatively safe too, in India I didn't feel too safe by myself out at night.

Ah, more to add to the list I'm sure as I'm discovering. There's the bitch list too, but you know, I don't need anymore negativity now - so I'll save it for later .

Well, it good that I'm out of my comfort zone, pushing boundaries. I like to think what doesn't break me would equip me better to deal with situations that would confront me further down the road. Yeah, its true - its not easy making friends, but you know what, I be damned if I sit and whine and not do anything productive about it. Well, speaking about comfort zone - I did make myself take the motorbike, people who know about me know its no easy feat trying to coax a Singaporean out of the stereotypical "scaredy-cat" mindset. I'd have reconsider if the bikes are zooming at 50 km/more per hour, but they usually go around 30km/h here.

I'm feeling good :)

Hello from Saigon

I'm surviving, but I'm less than cheery. Well, lets just say things got off the wrong foot, when I overpacked and was forced to unload much of my luggage at the airport. In the midst, my Dad took out my 3 pairs of shoes, and I'm left only with one heeled pair that could probably break apart any second.

The Guesthouse is terribly basic but clean with a rock hard bed. Its not that easy to make friends and that sucks. Well, the lady that runs the guesthouse is really nice, that counts for something, but the fucking cabbie ripped me off today charging me more than double what it would take to get to work. Hoebag.

India was a lot tougher to survive in, but somehow this seems to get on my nerves. The colleagues are warm and friendly ( on first impression today) much nicer than my colleagues in India who basically ignored me at first, unless they wanted something like help with translation. They're really helpful and nice, and patient too. Though admittedly, it got slightly better afterward. Work is tough, well like any learning curve is. Well, I'm not too concerned about the content, but am more keen to conditioning myself to learn quickly and fast. You know all the tourists on guest websites that say the Vietnamese touts are pushy, I believe they'll seriously die in India. But I had friends and a social circle there, the lack of one here I feel is getting to me.

The language barrier is a bummer. I haven't taken pictures and somehow I hardly feel like whipping out the camera. I'm getting used to eating meals by myself, the people on the streets greeting me with a "Konichiwa", like just now during dinner by myself I was eating alone, and the bunch of guys nearby was staring at me, I totally didn't want to make eye contact.

Man... I don't know, maybe it will get better this weekend. I finally found a mall - probably the only mall in Ho Chi Minh. There's a Mango around so says their website, no top shop. But this mall Diamond Mall, has the usual labels that are found at Paragon.

Trying to keep positive,

Me signing out.

Going Vietnamese

Was going to write about Greed & Fear Part II – which was pretty much related to this. Since, its pretty much confirmed that I will be heading to Ho Chi Minh City to do my internship come mid April – barring visa issues, I’ve decided to go with a positive happy-happy spin on things instead. Flee from me, O’ abhorred vermin of Negativity! Or I’ll get the Vietnamese Mafia to kick yo’ stinkin’ ass outta my sight.

Have had some bubbling reservations – maybe I should have applied for a banking internship instead. It ain’t going to be like India – where I already knew there were going to be 20-30 interns from part of the world living and working with me. For me a large motivator, is the opportunity to go out and meet people like me. Young and very international.The dynamics are awesome.

No pre-set social options. Well, then I guess I had better get out there to make some friends. So if anyone knows a couple of folks in HCMC or some where in the vicinity and who could/would kick back and appreciate some rumbling or howling laughs with a relatively funny, skinny, Singaporean Chinese chick , I’d certainly appreciate it. Tell them the cuppa's on me.

That said, be also up one degree of fabulousness to find some fellow travelers that are up for weekend escapade or two.