Not quite Vietnamese enough

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How's things? Hope you're all fine and/or dandy.

Wow, it's been a whirlwind few weeks since I've arrived back in HCMC (Saigon), so the creative process has been hampered significantly by just a general lack of quiet time.

I mean, how often are you just there with little to no stimulus around you to concentrate of creative endeavours??

Really the closest one gets to quiet contemplation nowadays is the time in the shower where there's only you and the sound of running water. Well it's either that or the thunderbox, but most of the time people don't even relax when they're on the can. They're too busy filling that satisying moment of release with a newspaper or book. Time on the can is probably one of the few periodsof pure relaxation in your day, when really you're the most psychologically prepared for an epiphanous moment.

I'm sure some moments of pure evil genius was dreamt up whilst someone was on the can:
the crazy frog jingle, televangelism, mighty morphin power rangers, questionnaires that tell you if he's your dream man, fake wrestling, Kenny G doing a cover of Celine Dion's 'my heart will go on', james blunt, my humps, my humps my humps my humps, my humps, my lovely lady lumps...(no, I'm not being rude, I'm quoting the black eyed peas)

Anyway, This week's entry is thus:


You are not your bank account,
You are not the clothes you wear,
You are not the contents of your wallet,
You are not your bowel cancer,
You are not the car you drive,
You are not your khakhis....
Tyler Durden - This is your life


Something happened to me lately that has made me feel more vietnamese than any other time in my stay here so far.

I got hit by a bicycle while crossing the road 😊

Now it sounds far worse than it actually was. I barely got a scratch and neither did the cyclist. But it's like having that first ever car accident. Now that I've finally been hit by something on the road in Vietnam and survived, I feel a mild sense of relief and I can get on with my life now with one thing less to fear.

But, an issue has come up recently that has set me apart from my fellow Vietnamese.

Despite being the equivalent of a multi-kazillionaire in Vietnam, I don't have anything on my body that screams wealthy, apart from looking like I'm from Korea. I am a bit of a minimalist, appreciate functionality before form, and don't really identify with opulence and conspicuous wealth. That's more a reflection of my fight club values than anything else 😉

I don't wear any bling, I have a mobile phone that is just ancient (bordering on 5 years old now), an unfashionable non-Ipod MP3 player, and I don't own my own transport in Vietnam or Australia. It just sounds like I don't own anything 😊

This, in the viewpoint of some of my vietnamese colleagues, translates vaguely into:

'YOU'RE A TIGHTAR*E!'

My owning an ancient mobile phone I think offends some of the sensibilities of my Vietnamese colleagues which I find amusing. Apparently it means that I am not cool and really quite tight because of my multi-kazillionaire status. I still keep my phone basically because it hasn't broken yet, that and I'm a luddite when it comes to technology. I just can't keep up with these tech savvy kids 😊

But lately my non-conformist resolve has begun to wilt slightly, and I am considering getting a new phone. My only requirement?? I can program my own ringtone or load my own ringtone onto the phone 😊

I know it seems absurd that I should care about something as frivolous as this, but ringtones are a big deal here and definitely say something about your musical tastes. This is why it is so important to me 😊

At the moment, when my phone rings it's this dance ditty which is just annoying and says nothing to me about my life (Hang the blessed DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ....that was for you Smiths fans).

Hence, before I get a new phone, I need to decide what I want for my ringtone. This has been wracking my brain for weeks now....

At this stage the front runner is Kenny G's cover of 'My heart will go on'.

No seriously, it's Radiohead's Fitter Happier, QOTSA's No one knows, Jeff Buckley's The sky is a landfill, and a few others.

I am however still very open to suggestions so send them in 😊

Anyways, that's enough from me now. Was that about Vietnam? Kind of I suppose....

See y'all....
Ben

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