I mean I want to see

DIDCHA miss me? Didcha miss all these fabulous missives brightening your day? :)

Laos was wonderful…sitting on a rock in the middle of the Mekong looking at Irrawaddy dolphins, playing spot-the-sex-tourist, lying in bed till noon looking at the river, falling asleep watching *yawn* World Cup matches, laughing at randomness, long drives through the countryside in a tuk-tuk on the Bolaven Plateau, visiting a tea plantation, befriending cats and dogs, cycling in Si Phan Don, hitting my head on various vehicles, falling off a bike on a wooden bridge, electrical storms and lots of sunshine and good vibes.

I really love this part of the world, with its mountains and sea and trade and forests and beautiful beautiful people.

Seems like this South Chinese mix is a common look in the region. I’ve now been mistaken for all ASEAN nationalities. Myanmarese (by an SG taxi driver, of all things), Thai, Cambodian, Lao, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Pinoy (on this trip) — hmm not Malaysian though.

I’ll be back to visit Luang Prabang and the North :) So much to look forward to.

A (after a night in a cheapish hotel with fan air vents that flapped intermittently): I thought the geckos used it as a flap door.
B: Yes I was wondering why you kept shining your torch there.
A: Hey I was sleepy. I saw three geckos and thought they were going in and out. I was quite mad that they couldn’t decide whether they wanted to be inside or outside.
B: Well if all three of them push at the same time…

B (on seeing the dolphin-viewing boat, which was more rickety than the other boat we used on the Mekong): Well, seems like we’ve downgraded.

A (on arriving at some rocks in the middle of the Mekong during the dolphin cruise): Are we getting off here?
B: “Your daughter is on some rocks in the middle of the Mekong. Give us a hundred million kip.”
A: Oh my God, we’re getting off here.
(But we did see the dolphins, so yay!)

A (on a short 10-minute walk down Don Khong, an island in Si Phan Don): This is like a safari, isn’t it? Buffalo, cat…
B: Chicken, cow, spider.

C: They built a Swensens in the Cultural Centre. It’s a very high class place. It’s where you’d go to pick up sugar daddies. They drive up in their Maseratis.

*

Didn’t get the Iseas scholarship, which has the bright side of not being bonded. Paying full fees as I might want another course subsidised later (SG govt only subsidises *one* course of graduate study)…I’ve enough funds from my six years of scrimping and saving, and in any case there are things called “student loans” and “working while you study”. Just a matter of getting my arse out there.

Might have to cut down on volunteer stuff commitments, have got A LOT on my plate.

*

All this traipsing off in SE Asia in the company of lovely Americans. I like these guys a lot. D for instance is hilarious with the driest wit, and very observant too.

Thinking of what it is about American innovation. Less fear of failure? Greater population base?

To do:
- return library books
- Read The White Tiger
- learn Indonesian
- look at savings/investment spreadsheets and budget
- write for anthology (I weep. N wants a collection and I’ve been so. lazy. about. writing.)
- NUS paperwork (get back to them about fees, about health check-up, see doctor, etc)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 at 2:11 pm and is filed under Grad school prep, playingtourist. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.