i returned to my new hotel room, switched this morning. it's actually not as good as the japanese place i was staying, but it does have cable television, which is what i really need above all else. it's ironic, but the place where i thought i'd be watching the least amount of tv is actually the place where i've seen the most. my favorite is MTV, in all its incarnations, whether it's MTV asia (spanning all the way to the middle east), or MTV thailand, or MTV singapore, and i think i even saw MTV taiwan. you know you're in someplace hot because there are geckos crawling around everywhere, including my bathroom. i'm not used to something that big scurrying around where i live, but they're beneficial, and after i get over my initial fear, i learn to love them. hope they keep the mosquitoes away, although i haven't really seen too many since i've been in vietnam. i also returned to my old hotel to pay for the 2 cokes i drank but forgot to tell them. the owner seemed confused, but was very touched when he realized how honest i was to come back.
i had the most intense dinner experience since arriving in this country. there were things like iguana and ferret and salamander on the menu (and later i saw a large lizard in a cage out by the entrance), but i thought i'd go with something easy, a plate of squid, and a plate of rabbit. the rabbit ended up coming in a hot pot form. now i've had rabbit before, all diced and cubed and cut so you can't tell it was a rabbit. not the case tonight. i first fished out a piece that i could see was the ear, and then another bony piece that i realize was a cross-section of the jaw with little incissor teeth. the thing that turned my stomach was when i found half a rabbit skull, complete with brain. game over, vietnam you win. i spit out the bits and pieces of teeth and called it a evening, coming here to this internet cafe to check some e-mail before going back to the hotel for a hot shower and to lounge around with the air conditioner on. in southeast asia, that's how i relax.
floating bar
karaoke
fruits
round boats
floating fish house
nha trang 30th liberation celebration