Away from days .

       On another trip to the local Baskin Robins (fifth time total?) John was approached by the manager claiming that she saw him on YouTube. Why of course, another person that I've made famous... then the manager begged him to take it down because she had some problems with the owners. Apparently, they saw the video on YouTube and they didn't like free advertising because they are idiots. Despite cracking some cost humor here and there the video itself is largely positive and inviting. I guess the owners have their reasons. Maybe they are just anal about small things. Nevertheless one of the owners is a VK from Australia. Now prior to a few years ago I didn't even know there were Viet kieu Uc. I really hope one day I'll get a chance to talk to him. Though I'm not entirely a fan of the Australian accent, sounds like nails on chalk to me. I did remove the video because I didn't want the manager girl to get in more trouble. It really wasn't her fault. I did apologize to her and felt a little discontented that I would remove a video like that since I tend to be set on my artistic direction. However, this was entirely because of the greater good than my own personal gains.

      I saw Uncle 7 this past Monday and our relationship has been relatively unfazed. I still think he's a loser and he still thinks I'm a loser. Despite my better judgement not to go to Bien Hoa on Monday morning with barely two hours of sleep I went anyways. First, I hopped onto a reliable xe om driver and paid him 70,000 instead of 50,000 that he asked for. 20,000 is a meal to him. Not a lot by western standards, but that's a meal for him. Luckily, I didn't have to wait around long for the number 5 to show up and I hopped on as it was still moving, found a seat, and stretched out. I watched the most recent episodes of 30Rock and The Office that I had downloaded on my phone and it was great to laugh by myself as locals around me looked at my phone. The sound of the traffic made certain things inaudible at times, but I did my best to crank the audio as loud as possible. Watching these epic comedies made me not only sad that it will be their last seasons on the air but it only confirmed to me that my native language is English and that no matter how well I can speak Vietnamese, my partner, girlfriend, lover, people around me, etc will only get to know half of me if they don't speak Vietnamese. Great episodes.

    Bus rides in Vietnam are pretty miserable. Coming back from Bien Hoa I was completely drenched in my own sweat because I had to board the bus to reserve a seat. The bus was baking in the sun. Nobody seemed all that hot. Why do I have such a lower tolerance for heat? My forehead instantly starts dripping wet whenever I'm in any form of heat. The bus finally made its way out of the bus station only to park across the street to wait for any more people for 10 minutes. Then it made its away towards Saigon only to stop once again to wait for more people. Luckily there were still plenty of seats left, but then again, it was a Monday at 3 o'clock. I kept thinking people behind me would jack my phone when they left. Yes, i do judge people who uses buses in Vietnam. There has been reported stories of gangsters riding in buses doing evil deeds. I ride the bus out of pure necessity, not because I want to bond with anyone. By the end of my quick trip I was exhausted and dozed off several times. On one instance I dozed off and hit my head on a pole and it knocked me out. When I woke up I was already in Saigon and I was frantically freaking out because I was scared that I would find all my belongings missing. Everything was fine except for the massive amounts of drool all over my face and I had a major headache. I went home and slept until the next morning.

     As for Uncle 7, he was still his clueless self. He uttered so much bullshit with confidence. He mentioned how it was better to have a Vietnam passport because more countries are against the US and make it harder for US citizens to visit. I laughed out loud at this notion and tried to explain it to him. Then he told me that I must wear condoms. I told him that I didn't come down from some mountain and that I knew all about condoms. So that's his life in Vietnam... he just lays on a hammock all day in Bien Hoa under some fans. The food he eats is basic and so is his overall life. Everything is basic. He's okay with that, but I know he'll give up sooner or later. The last time he was in Vietnam he threw in the towel at three months. Oh well.. I did invite him to Saigon to see my surroundings sometimes, but he probably won't come. He's so full of shit he probably can't find his way here. Maybe I should tell him the New World Hotel has a casino full of loser VKs like himself. Oh btw, he called me gay because I was wearing a pink bracelet. Lol.

     Goodnight.