Hurrah for Taking A Day Off

No public broadcasts to wake me up this morning, thank goodness, so that was very happy for me. I woke up on my own slightly before 7 am, but I’m going to attribute that to going to bed relatively early. When I’m away from home, sometimes it’s a lot easier to get to sleep at a reasonable hour, because…well, because there’s not as much to do. I opted for both the unspeakably bad movie on HBO and my book, which is still very good (Carter Beats the Devil, in case you feel like picking up some new reading material).

I’ve got a rough plan of action outlined for today, a couple places that I want to see, that kind of thing. When I travel somewhere, or have people traveling to see me, I don’t necessarily like to have a military-style plan of action (“at 08:00 hours, we will get breakfast at the diner. At 08:45, we will depart for the Old Treasury Building…”), but I like to have a list of options, a list of places and times, so that I have plans for things that I could do, if I have the time and inclination. That way I don’t wake up in the morning and waste half of the day figuring out what I want to do, because I don’t know what the possibilities are.

Mission (mostly) accomplished for today. I made it to the place I wanted to find for lunch, it’s a chain that I’d been to in Saigon, and it just has standard Western fare, but it’s well done, and I was looking for something a little relaxed and familiar. The Australian manager and I were chatting for a bit, he came out here a year ago with his wife and kids, seems like a very nice guy. It was also nice to be able to have a normal-speed conversation with someone in English. Ever since Itsy Bitsy said that she and Teeny Weeny couldn’t understand about half of what I said when I first arrived, but were now up to about 80%, I’ve been trying to speak a little more slowly, annunciate better, etc. I’m happy to do it, and even if they’re interpreters, English still isn’t their first language. If they had Vietnamese English teachers, which they both did, then I’m not surprised that they don’t expect me to pronounce some things the way I do. But still…it was nice to not have to think about the way I’m speaking so much and just speak.

I took a walk down to a market about 2 kilometers south of the lake, the one that T and I went to a few weeks ago. It’s supposed to be one of the best places in the city to buy fabric, and as with last time, the selection is mind-numbing. I was hoping to find the same fabric that I bought for a shirt that got destroyed by the first tailor I went to, but it was nowhere to be found. And trust me, it wasn’t for lack of trying. I was actually quite disappointed, because I really liked it, but I found a few other things to console me. On my way to the market, I saw two things that made me wish I had someone to laugh at them with, instead of just chuckling to myself on the street. One was a store called “I’m A Girl!!” which sounds as though it caters to the post-op transsexual, and the other was a mannequin that looked exactly like Paris Hilton, standing outside a store called “Free Love”. Indeed.

The weather here has turned cooler, but by “cooler”, I mean low 70s – upper 60s if I’m really being generous, but I honestly don’t think it’s that cold. It’s really funny, though, to see people dressed up like Nanuk of the North, with fur-trimmed, quilted parkas, hats, gloves, scarves, etc. I, on the other hand, am walking around quite comfortably in jeans, flip-flops, a tank top, and my light rain coat, because it’s another heavily overcast day. In fact, I’ve been a touch warm at times. The looks I get from people are akin to the looks I’d cast toward the guys I’d see walking around Madison, Wisconsin in January, wearing shorts and a fleece. The term “cold” is relative, you see.

After an afternoon of walking around, during which I’m sure I covered at least a few miles, I was heading back to the hotel and decided to pop into the bakery across the street for a treat. Excellent idea, I must say. I have an idea for where I’m going to go tonight, it’s also recommended by my guide book, and since I was so heartily in agreement with it about the place I went to last night, I figure I can trust its judgment once again. It’s also about two blocks from the hotel, so that’s good, since I’m a little tired and I think I’m getting a cold. Nothing major, the same thing happened last time, but I should probably try not to exert myself – just drink lots and lots of water and rest.

Speaking of resting, I feel a nap coming on…

I love naps. I really, really love naps. I so rarely get to take them, so it feels like a real treat when I can sneak one in. (Another benefit to life on the road – the opportunities are more plentiful, because it’s rare that there’s someone waiting for me somewhere.) Dinner was nice, very filling. In fact, a little too filling, which is really the same as saying I ate too much. Which I did. They were showing the World Series on TV, which reminds me of my last trip here, when they were showing last year’s Wimbledon tournament as the 2005 one was going on. The series is over, and people who would like to know about it, already know how it turned out, but still – I suppose it makes for good background television. I am working my way through my book, and getting good at taking myself out for dinner.

It’s almost 10 pm, and I’ve got a little work to do (well, actually a lot of work), but I’m also getting a little tired. Tonight’s debate is whether I should be responsible and do some work, or whether I should just go to sleep. Hmm…