travels with an ageing punkrocker/publisher
As our last full day in Vietnam draws to a close, I’m sipping freshly squeezed sugarcane juice, nibbling on a banana pancake, and throwing words at the screen in a bid to entertain my reader. Our day kicked off with a cooking class at Goian Homestay/Restaurant/Cooking School/Evil Villain Lair for all I know, with the incredibly friendly Vinh. She dragged […]
Read moreStill in Hoi An, today was even slower paced than previous. We did pretty much all of our final fittings, and picked up orders today. I now have a new pair of shoes, and many new shirts. Our extra batch of custom gifts, ordered at 25% lower than the lowest price, came through, strangely enough (or not really strangely at […]
Read moreToday was pretty much a repeat of yesterday: shop eat rest shop massage eat. It’s a tough life. Hoi An turned on another typical hot season day, high 30s but somehow feeling a little less hot than yesterday. After breakfast at the hotel we headed to a Be Be, as visited on the last trip where I got an amazing […]
Read moreFor the right price, I’m not sure there isn’t anything that Hoi An can’t make. Clothes like business and casual shirts? Sure. Leather shoes and bags? Not a problem. Jewellery? We got that. Possibly the world’s best sandwiches? Come back tomorrow and I’ll probably have a post then. A house? Hoi An can probably make that too, possibly with an […]
Read moreDay 8/9: Phnom Penh I didn’t sleep well that night. (Writing this from over a week away, in the comfort of home, the other side of a head cold, so these ramblings may not have the same immediacy as previous entries.) I didn’t sleep well that night. I probably slept better for the late night drag show and $4 mojitos, […]
Read moreThe last few days have been full of many cool things, and many hot things. For the hot stuff, well Europe is currently experiencing close to a record-breaking heatwave. The maximum temperatures started with a bearable 32, but today and possibly tomorrow are around 38-39 degrees. Add this to longer hours of daylight, and the temperature peaking around 5pm and […]
Read moreToday was a day of shopping fails. Today, I have to say, I hate the shopping in KL. Remember yesterday’s coffeeshop power outage? Turns out this got me twice, as the laundry I dropped off yesterday wasn’t ready due to the same power issues. And while we’re talking about power issues, I discovered my room’s mini-fridge didn’t work, forcing me […]
Read moreA quiet start to the day, some lounging and relaxing as all our clothes fittings were scheduled for the afternoon. Again it was a stroll into the old town for lunch, where we found a place that had french fries so L could have a carb fix that wasn’t rice, as gluten free bread is nowhere to be found here. […]
Read moreToday was the first full day in Hoi An, and we certainly did consumerism proud. If you take away the whole UNESCO world heritage listing of the old town the business of Hoi An is business, specifically making stuff: clothes, jewellery, glasses, more clothes, and other shiny things. The hotel breakfast is okay, nothing too flash but enough to take […]
Read moreOur last full day in Hanoi. I read an article recently that of all tourists to Vietnam, only 10-20% return for another visit. And we’ve seen the signs of this in the reactions of locals — many are surprised to hear that we’ve been here before. I know the world is a big place, with so many wonderful sights still […]
Read moreBy the time I finish this post it’ll have gone midnight at home, banishing 2017 and starting 2018. Hanoi, an hour behind, will still be partying, the streets below will still be packed with revellers, and fireworks yet to start. The bit I’m still not sure about is that Vietnam has it’s own lunar new year, this year it’s 16 […]
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