A Bowl of Stupid

(‘Hey Mista’, Hey Mista’! You need transport? You need Moto? You want girlfriend? You want marijuana? … Hey Mista’!!”)

So I’m in Saigon .. trying not to get run over by a motorbike, avoiding all the locals hawking anything and everything they can, and otherwise trying not to inadvertently wind up buying a new Vietnamese wife (they apparently comes free with the purchase of a cup of coffee on Thursdays — I kid, I kid).

It’s kind of an unexpected stop here, since my plan was only to visit my buddy in Hong Kong and then head back to Indonesia for surf season — which is starting as I write. However, my old flat-mate from Singapore is in the shipping business and he needed someone to check on a new fruit supplier in Southern Vietnam. As I’m in the area, I have extra time on my hands, and I have experience in the shipping industry, I offered to help.

If it wasn’t for that kid, I don’t think I’d have experienced HALF of what I have in Southeast Asia.

During this trip to Saigon, I toured what seemed like half of Southern Vietnam (most of which is off the beaten tourist track), I met a guy who fought for the North Vietnamese Army in the American War (he’s just regular old guy living back up near Hanoi, but he came down with his nephew who was giving me the tour). And through my tour guide / translator I was able to interact with locals on secondary level not always otherwise available in foreign countries.

The shipment went out yesterday and I head back to Bali tomorrow.

I’ve been walking around Ho Chi Mihn City today, just being a tourist. The city is a thriving swarm of motorbikes and people. The energy is palpable, and on some level it reminds me of how my dad has spoken about Philly at the turn of the last century (except for the ubiquitous cellphones here) — vendors selling fruit on the street, kids swimming in the polluted river, and a city divided by neighborhoods not freeways.

Coming from the chilly, hectic, yet controlled atmosphere of Hong Kong, it’s nice to be able to surrender myself to the heat and chaos of Southeast Asia. That being said, HCMC, like Hong Kong, is still too hectic for me — it’ll be nice to get back to my island again.

As for Hong Kong itself, it’s very, VERY much like Manhattan — a great place to visit if you’ve the cash for it, but to live and enjoy it properly, you’ve got to be very well financed. Granted, I had a nice time. But I also kinda forgot what it was like hanging out with my mate (who’s now living in Hong Kong) after I stopped working in Miami.

In Miami, he always wanted to go out and party, which was fine while I was working because I had money to burn (sorta). But when I stopped working, he still wanted to go out yet he had no full concept of how much it was costing me and how I needed to save money.

It was a bit like that again last week, and I wound up staying in most of the time, while he would still go out with his co-workers. I went there to see him, yet I spent much of my time alone hanging out in his apartment simple because it was too expensive to leave the house! Don’t get me wrong, he tried to oblige by offering to pay for dinner and drinks several times just to get me out, but I felt guilty about doing that too. Regardless, the whole Hong Kong region — Hong Kong island, Kow Loon, Macau, Lantou island — is absolutely stunning. And it is one of the several places I’ve been to out here that I would put on my ‘Must See’ list.

Like I said, it’ll be good to go home tomorrow and heading back out into the surf. When I get settled in back there, we’ll get back to our regularly scheduled nonsensical ramblings.

I’m going back to Vietnam next week for a few days. So today, instead of finally leaving Hong Kong Island, I went to the Vietnam embassy to get my visa. And I wound up exploring the Wan Chai neighborhood.

Wan Chai has earned a reputation as Hong Kong’s Red Light District. But from what I saw, I’m guessing either it doesn’t hold a candle to Bangkok’s many red-light extravaganzas, or things don’t get started in Wan Chai until the sum goes down.

Regardless, my posts about this trip are starting to resemble a soundtrack rather than a descriptive travel blog. I was playing the following song for most of the afternoon. It’s brand new, the video is (for now) only on Local Motion, and can only be seen back in the States (unless you’re using an ‘anonymity’ web-proxy program … ahem).

Like a lot of the new music coming out lately, it hearkens back to the type of shit they were producing in the 1980′s — saxophones, heavy keyboards, and more melodic songs. The video is a short version of the song.

Watch the video if you can, and then go over to the KEXP site and download the MP3 and listen to the extended version. It made for a great day walking about the city.

The Dears – Disclaimer

I’ve been in Hong Kong for almost a week now. It really is a remarkable city. Two of my friends from Bangkok told me after they visited here last year that Hong Kong island is a monument to humans’ engineering and technological prowess. There are massive skyscrapers stretching from Victoria Harbour all the way up the mountain-side to Victoria Peak.

For lack of a better comparison, it’s like Manhattan built onto the side of a mountain.

As with New York, the city never sleeps and the atmosphere is truly international. But Hong Kong is also truly Asian — you can see that by taking off down any small dingy side street where they’re butchering and selling meat and fish wholesale right out in the allyway.

My days have generally consisted of wandering the streets of the island and Kow Loon, bebopping about on the MTR train line, and just sorta taking it in. My nights have been spent getting pissed with one of my best mates from Miami, at whose place I’m staying.

And while that too has been fun, it’s also ridiculously expensive to party here. Add that with the fact that this particular weekend is the biggest of the year — the ‘Hong Kong Sevens’ rugby tournament is going on this weekend. It’s one of the biggest displays of drunken debauchery I’ve ever heard of, let alone been involved in (peripherally, at least). It was going on my first weekend here, and I’m still a bit overwhelmed by the sight of running water and 24 hour electricity. So despite all the fun I was having, by 4 a.m. in the morning the whole scene got to be a bit much for me.

Plus, ever since I got here, the weather really hasn’t been cooperating. It’s been brisk out (hovering at about 20 C / 68 F), with an omnipresent rain and mist. Add that to the multitude of neon lights and millions of people, and it feels a bit like I walked onto the set of Blade Runner.

It really is a spectacular city, and I recommend that anyone who has time, and significant cash reserves, visit at least once in their lifetime. I’m not sure how long I’m gonna stay for now, but I just saw that it’s raining again back in Bali for the next week — so it may be a while.

The mist is burning off a bit this morning, so I went for some coffee and took a nice 3 hour walk about town. A great Bon Iver song popped up on my iTunes, and although the lyrics themselves are a bit melancholy, the song made for a good soundtrack.

Bon Iver — Skinny Love

Ahh, another day, another airport departure lounge — today folks, we’ve got Kuala Lumpur in the den with the candlestick (cuz it’s Halal) on the way to Hong Kong.

Thought I’d take this opportunity to post one of my favorite new songs. It’s the latest from Neko Case, the first single off her latest 2009 CD, Middle Cyclone.

Despite her incredible talent and having been on the scene for the last 10-odd years, until recently, she still remained somewhat of a cult favorite. Indeed, Middle Cyclone is her first album to reach the Top 10 on the US Billboard Charts. Take a listen, it’s pretty good shit.

So I kinda screwed up again. Not big, but enough to make me wanna kick myself again.

Y’see, I had planned on going straight from Australia to visit one of my best friends from Miami now living in Hong Kong, but since I was traveling with a surfboard and only beach clothes, I decided to head back to Bali for a few days first.

I had the chance to buy a 7 day Indonesian visa for only US$10. But instead, I wasn’t sure how long I was staying, so I laid down the US$25 for a full 30 day visa. Mistake number one.

I also had the chance to save money by purchasing the tickets to Hong Kong last week. But instead, I bought them today, only 3 days before I leave, thus costing me about another extra US$90.

From what I’ve heard about Hong Kong, I’m sure that’ll be a drop in the bucket in terms of what I’, gonna have to spend while I’m there. But at this point — with no job prospects and income sources being depleted at a staggering rate — I’ve gotta start watching my finances a bit more carefully.

So that’s it. From today onward, no more hookers, heroin, or hash for me. I’m on the wagon, folks.