October 2018
THOUGHTS...
10/09/2018
Day 74! Oh no...time is flying by! This tells me I am busy and still having a great time here in Việt Nam. Time flies when you're having fun, right? So rather than try to apologize for not keeping up with the blog, I'll just move on and try to do a better job.
Today's Topic: Cắt tóc. In the photo section this month is a picture of Mr. Hùng (pronounced Hoong), my 80 year old barber. He charges me 30,000 VND ($1.28 USD) for a hair cut. The last street barber charged me 100,000 VND - I think he added a tip onto his price...he wouldn't take advantage of me because I am a foreigner, would he? Mr. Hùng and I had a great conversation between his broken English, my broken Vietnamese, and my friendly speak and translate phone app. The sign says “cut hair”. Mr. Hung likes to listen to “Spanish guitar” on his Ipod while he cuts hair. I might add that for my 30,000 VND I also got a complete shave with a straight razor- a dry shave I might add, no shaving cream, no water. Just me and the blade. When I say a complete shave, I mean complete. He shaved my face, neck, forehead – didn’t know I had hair up there, and the outer rim/edge of my ears -again didn’t know… Mr. Hùng and I hit it off. We’ll be seeing each other next month.
Photos: There are three ubiquitous work horses here in Ha Noi. a) the motor bike, b) the bicycle and c) the motorized 3-wheeler. I like to call these three the "pick-up truck" of Việt Nam. If it can strapped onto any of these, it will be. I have a few examples in photo section #1 this month. I have seen the following strapped onto the back seat of a motorbike: a full-size refrigerator, stacks of fire-roasted pigs (both big and small size), doors, 4 foot by 16 foot pieces of sheetrock, full and empty 5-gal water jugs, 4 and 5 people, and chickens and ducks in cages. It is hard to get pictures of these because not only does it catch you off guard, but they are usually buried in the middle of the crowd when I see them. Bicycles usually seem to haul vegetables, foodstuff, or flowers. Motorized 3-wheelers carry machinery or construction type stuff. Of course, in the end, any of these will carry whatever needs to be carried and you will eventually see it being carried.
PHOTOS (page 1.)