Fili’s world

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I didn’t have much energy to write ever since the accident, maybe because I felt like there wasn’t too much to write about, maybe because I was exhausted. To try and make up - I’ll try and force myself to write something a bit longer this time.

My routine day lately is to sleep in till very late - sometimes after mid-noon - go get a long late brunch, maybe sit down on the internet for a while and then wonder around Saigon aimlessly looking for adventures. Some days I would just catch another action-movie from the very limited selection of English movies they show here, sometimes I would play Chinese Chess or cards with anonymous in the park, maybe visit the no-aircon no-westerns mini-gym or do some shopping. Around evening I would get back to the hotel, and go out to do something new and exciting with Jessy if she’s up for it. If not – then I would go read a book at some cafe-restaurant or an ice-cream place.

I’ve been spending loads of money since I’ve come to Saigon. I think a week here is more than a month in HoiAn. Unlike the rest of Vietnam, they seems to have everything a western wants here, but it does cost a great deal of money. It came as a shock to discover how cheap I’ve become and came as an even bigger surprise to rediscover how good it feels to throw away money at things I enjoy and have missed for a long time. Take steaks, for example. You know, those big fat juicy steaks that you all take for granted. Well, the Vietnamese version of a steak, even at the fancy restaurants across Vietnam’s backpackers hangouts was a sad excuse for beef. That was all true till Jessy took me to a restaurant where she once used to work. I can not put in words how delighted I was when, for the first time here, the waitress asked me how I want my over-15$-steak. “What do you mean?” I asked, puzzled. “The steak – you choose cooking – between Rare, Medium and Well-done?”. I felt like giving her a big hug and a long kiss and when she brought me this gorgeous red-watery huge steak I thought about marrying her then and there… Ahhh, the small pleasures in life. The most expensive dish I’ve had prior to that evening was never over 6$, but it was worth every cent.

Moreover, I’ve been needing to do some shopping for a long time, and Saigon makes it easy for me to find simple things I couldn’t find here before – western perfume, a new electric razor and contact lens. I’m still a bit reluctant to buy expensive electronics but I really want to buy a fancy mp3-player and an electronic Vietnamese-English dictionary, which were both a fantasy in small HoiAn - but here they are all over the place.

I think the most striking thing about the Saigon experience is that I’ve got to see how rich Vietnamese people live. They are some extremely wealthy Vietnamese living here, and the contrast between the poor and the rich is overwhelming. Yet, in Saigon, it seems that even the less fortunate live on much higher standard than the rest of the cities. Maybe being more exposed to the outer world and being somewhat more “street wise” has made them more ambitious and demanding, finding endless clever ways to make good money to cover their life style expenses. Even my very simple hotel staff always have some side job, some more legit or decent than others – but always very profitable, surely a whole lot more than their very low pay.

I like this place.

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