I'm at the airport right now, waiting for my flight to LA, which is delayed. Had a neat little last day in HCMC. Met up with with Phi for a final lunch with her, Bich and her boyfriend (boo). Had some awesome Thai seafood soup at a cafe. Then met up with Hien who took me out for frozen yogurt. I decided to eat way too much, and then we went out for duck. After saying my goodbyes to the two people that were so instrumental in me having such an amazing time in Saigon, I had the day to myself. It was in a way good, since it really felt like the excitement of visiting a new place wore off, and I almost felt like this is what it would be like if I lived here. One thing you quickly realize is that there isn't a whole hell of a lot to do in Ho Chi Minh City. There are somethings to do, but there aren't as much as there are in LA. This may seem somewhat snobby to say, or even obvious, but I started to realize I'd like to go to concerts, or even the movies once in a while. (Not too many theaters here; DVD's are a buck, including new theatrical releases. Kinda hard to convince your average Johnny Saigon to fork over $8 a head for a flick) But then again, the city seems like it can still surprise me, which is the reason I love Vietnam so much. Walking through the park, I walked across this mass jazzercize class, the craziness of the whole scene immediately putting me in a good mood. Meeting Mr. Tuan about that cable channel has got me pondering about moving to Saigon, so trying to seperate the high you feel from when you arrive from what is true life in the city is something I wanted to try to do. Right now, I have no reason to move anywhere, but it's still on my mind.
Had dinner with Chad and Charlie before I headed out, beef stew with bread. Had a couple drinks, then said my goodbyes. Got to the airport about an hour ago. Kind of had a strange encounter after I checked in. I bought a bunch of crap here as gifts, and bought a second bag for cheap to take it all. I check in my bags, and I'm on my way to go through security, but I get called back. They scanned my bag, and need to talk to me. Basically, I have a ton of stuff in there I probably have no business getting through security and customs, but why not try. The guy makes me open the bag. I got five of these electric tennis racket things that act as hand bug zappers. The dude tells me I can't take these. I ask why, and he says they may spark in mid air, a fairly legitimate concern. I remembered that you can remove the rechargable battery, so in a desperate attempt at finding a way to keep them, I take off the battery. I'm already figuring this won't work, but I want to show the guard, "Hey, it's all good now." To prove they're now harmless, I touch the metal bug zapper part; apperently, despite being unplugged from it's power source, it zaps the shit out of me anyway. Now, at this point, I figure the guard has just been proven right, and it's game over. However, my boy here just looks at it, nods his head, and says "OK." Wtf. I kinda love Vietnam for this; unlike Americans, it seems like Vietnamese people with boring jobs don't enjoy ruining people's day whenever they can. I packed up all my rackets, thanked the guy, and am now praying that Japanese security and American customs are forgiving as well.
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