Not Fake News. Urban Legends
She’s a hard road finding the perfect pair of streetware / active shoes, but I’m getting closer.
In a case of second verse, same as the first, I’ve taken advantage of cheap online shopping here to update my footwear.
The new ones come a little closer to respectability, have a little more padding underfoot, and are heavier – probably the same weight as heavy work socks.
They’re also more versatile colour-wise – black ‘n white goes with anything, eh Grace?
The above are run-of-the-mill sights on Vietnamese Roads, any one of which would be like rotting meat to flies for
Everyone here, including cops, pretty much ignores these spectacles. They do present a challenge for novices such as myself, inasmuch as getting past them on narrow streets is a fraught game.
But all part of the fun.
I ran across the pictures in a quora.com post , Thailand v. Vietnam, and couldn’t resist nicking them.
Harking back to a favourite subject, I was again today the victim of Vietnamese kindness.
I was about to go on a supermarket run ( walnuts , NZD $7 / 100 gram ), when I heard my name being shouted in Vietnamese accent from over the road.
Lo, it’s Trang, a friend of the aforesaid Richard, waddling over briskly from the cafe over-road, brandishing two bottles;
This chap is a ( Vietnamese ) English teacher, but despite that handicap, I gathered ’twas for the ankle, and that it contained white wine and ethanol.
He repeated the instruction “not to drink” a suspect number of times, possibly three in all.
I sniffed it – alcohol alright – but it contains another herb or spice, which has so far flummoxed my limited bloodhound faculties, and his limited English.
He’s a well-meaning sort, so assuming primum no nocere, and all that, I’ve tried it. No disaster, but an unexpected miracle cure hasn’t happened either.
And because I’m too lazy to produce a separate post ….
I’ve finished the last Sherlock Holmes, and today bought the volume above ( NZD $3.30 ), with the aim of dragging it out through the upcoming travels to Dalat, and back
Far from do what thou wilt, do what you must is more like a traveller’s credo.
That’s been a big part of what I’ve learned on this 15-month jaunt.
Which is a long-winded way of explaining that a couple of boxes have been ticked;
It’s all very wearying. But easy enough to convince myself to do it when I ponder the sad truth that it’s worth 60 hours of online teaching.
Alea jacta est
Hi Dave,
this finds me at a bit of a loose end , feeling 98% rather than 100. So, as per my usual self-interest, I’m writing to cheer myself up a little. This will be a stream-of-consciousness spiel, so you might want to skip some bits.
The caffeine, or more likely, what I’m adding to it ( various mixes of butter & coconut cream ) , isn’t agreeing with me lately. I begged off this morning’s coffee with Henry. I found myself very nauseous after a catch-up two or 3 days ago. When I made it home, I discovered that I was more dehydrated than a ship-wrecked sailor . I tried to fix that this morning by forcing myself to skull water, but the gut still isn’t happy. I’m unsure what’s going on. The first suspect is the butter – rather than the coffee – which is good quality stuff, supplied by Henry, who’s an a-grade foodie. Anyway,
I’m generally a little on edge as there are things which need doing over the next 16 days, in rough order of descending importance;
So that’s more or less the agenda for the next while. All the time, of course, still getting some funds dribbling in with the online teaching.
OK, I must continue my slightly manic streak here, and get some sh*t done.
( Hope to ) ‘talk’ soon,
cheers,
D
Above are two of the latest ‘adventures in food’ as part of making a pig of myself in my last days here in the Tropics.
Yes, ‘pig skin cake’ ( a.k.a Bánh da lợn ) is indeed the name of the dessert on the right. The specimen above, I’m guessing, is made from tapioca starch.
On trying it, I was a little disappointed – it’s an almost tasteless bundle of carbs, but went down easily enough with the usual spoonful of cacao and wads of coconut cream.
On the left is another episode in chocolate-making. Pretty basic – cacao, butter, a duck egg, and coconut cream. Directions – 1) whip up ingredients. 2) stash in freezer.
Works a treat, a filling stop-gap snack with a tiny amount of sugar.
After the usual resistance, I bit the bullet yesterday and sent my passport through the post.
It’s a risky business, more so now that I’m due to leave Vietnam on September 20. Without my passport, I can’t go anywhere.
Grovelling and begging ( i.e. going to the local Immigration Office, emailing the NZ Embassy ), bore no fruit, which left me two choices
.. and hope that general leniency and bribery save the day
.. the money and the passport, and be safe as far as my Visa goes, but take the unavoidable risk of posting the passport to
I chose the latter, with visions of being detained at airports, and so missing flights, in mind.
to post a favourite oldy.
Now, there’s the usual nervous wait til my passport is safely back in hand,
Let us pray.
The morning jaunt to the market came with a warning.
The old chap from the cafe over the road – which I hobble past every day – was gesturing at my foot, pointing to the Cassava root ( mmmm ), and wagging his index finger.
On asking Henry over coffee, it turns out the delicious root (
Apparently, the ground Yuca is acceptable, but the sap from the root – which looks like a white carrot – is released upon chopping, and does all varieties of mischief.
Henry being his generous self has offered to bring some for my sampling tomorrow. I shall report back therewith.