Is the mail getting through?
Would care packages make it? If so, let me know and I'll sned along some stuff, (beans, rice and the like) if that would be helpful. I hope you don't have to leave. You probably don't really need that expense right now, but I guess it's better than becoming a mutant zombie!! Take care. We're thinking of you a lot. (You being an all encompassing term for all of Japan) Love Karen and Peter
Hey, Brian. Thanks for the update. Good to talk to you the other night. I am on Vancouver Island right now at a McNaughton women's retreat. I am closer to you geographically so feel better. I can almost see you and Yumi. I pray all of you stay safe. Love to you, Mom
Earthquake Hi Brian, I was very interested in your entry of today (Thursday here) and I only wish there was something we could do for all of you. I quite understand Yumi's reluctance to leave, and I hope if that becomes necessary all of you will be able to come here. That sounds a vague wish, but it is sincere.
I found the URL you sent for the MIT report to be very interesting and informative. It was nice to see something scientifically based instead of all the speculation we get constantly. I was also most interested in your comments about CNN, I have found their coverage of these events unreliable, and I'm afraid my regard for the authenticity of their reporting has gone down. Last night listening to Anderson Cooper it sounded as if he was anticipating the worst possible scenario. On the other hand, some news stations make the situation in Tokyo sound completely back to normal, so, there again, it is good to get an on the spot report.
Please continue to keep us informed whenever you have the time - and I believe that you are totally sick of sports drinks!!
Much love to you and to Yumi. Granny.
Way to go Brıan I´m glad to hear that you´re enjoing the rules in Japan. I found it delghtfully civilized and the people very kind and polite, and if they were really nasty twits I´m sure I would have been the last to know (because they were too polite to let on). I´m glad you are stıll enjoyıng yourselves. When do you get to Yumí´s place. Al, Beth and İ and some frıends are ın Turkey now for 3 weeks. It ıs very nıce, the weather ıs great and we found a really nıce vılla to rent except for the herds of barkıng dogs whıch try do out do one another at nıght. Gahh. The keyboard ıs a bıt dıfferent so bear wıth me.´ Keep on blogging. İ love readıng about what you are doing.
Tunnels Hi Bri.
That Okinawa trip in the tunnels etc. must have been interesting. I watched a DVD set a little while ago about the closing phases of the war in the Pacific and there was footage of the battle for Okinawa showing those tunnels, because the Japanese were dug in real, real good.
Sounds like you got a bit of a "pulse-accelerator" trying to get out of Hanoi. That's what it is like, dealing with cretins.
Keep up the good work [the blog I mean] and be blessed!
Love,
Dad
I was relieved to read that the Blog will live on in Japan, if not then I'm afraid I would go into "blog withdrawal! Halong Bay sounds as refreshing as Hanoi sound suffocating, and your boat trip sounds idyllic One of your pictures taken in Hanoi made me wonder if i should visit the Friendly neighbourhood Ear Cleaner as my hearing is far from the best?? However, it would be a costly experiment! Sorry to hear that Yumi had her money stolen, and sorry that Mr. Ho Chi Minh was in seclusion. One question I would like answered sometime - with all these wonderful meals of seafood what is Yumi eating? I hope Canada will find a place on your blog before too much longer! I'm really looking forward to meeting Yumi.
Halong Bay looks unbelievable. I guess your junk boat wasn't junky (har de har har) it sounds like another thing for my places-to-go list. Except I would starve because I can't eat seafood, but neither can Yumi, right? Isn't travelling wonderful?!
You suck I hate you Brian, I hate you so so much! Insane jealousy aside, your adventures with Yumi in SE Asia were day-dream inspiring. Hope you're enjoying Japan and come back to Canada sometime in this lifetime. At this point, you're just our long-lost friend, who new friends probably think is collective hallucination.
Josh hopes you didn't wake up in a bathtub full of ice while in Asia. But if you did, your kidney was delicious.
Hi again, Brian. I have just read your "Apocalypse" for about the 6th time, and it is as interesting as all the others. I'm intrigued that Saigon is still known as Saigon, despite the picture of "Colonel Sanders"! Your references to the war always strike a note with me, having lived through that time. Your driver had a very interesting history story to tell, and experiences he wouldn't want to repeat. I wonder if the war museum contained a picture of the young girl running down the road covered in napalm. She made quite a remarkable recovery and actually toured the States a year or so ago. The tunnels don't look exactly user friendly and flooding them was not one if the brightest ideas of the Americans!!
I hope your journey to Okinawa was good - where to next??
Apocalypse Now in Reverse Hey my Brian!
Your blogs are very very interesting and fun to read! I hope you realize how much we appreciate them. I also realize that it cannot be easy finding the time and the computer to keep the blog up, and that makes me appreciate them even more.
Travel safely! Godspeed.
Dad
I hope the hyudai tower is sturdier than the cars, it looks really high! And..why the fetuses? Your river trip sounds exciting and your street crossing looks hair raising. There was a U of A sponsored river trip there for a mere $8,000, but I don't suppose you paid nearly that much.
Thank you Brian for another interesting entry into your always-interesting blog.
The account of the floating villages made me wonder what happens to them in a storm. Also I'm curious as to why the bookseller threatened to kill you - not too encouraging a prospect.
As for the Killing Fields, I wonder how the museums compare with the horrific ones at Dachau and Auschwicz???? This, of course, was even more recent and while we were aware of it, I don't think the enormity sunk in. Atrocities seem to go on for ever, recently some medical workers on their way to a remote village in Afghanistan were "executed" (of course they were American spies!!). I guess we never learn, and as Burns said “Man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn" . It never seems to end, and I wonder what history will say about Guantanamo.
Grandad would have loved chickens' feet fried in ginger (I think!!), at least the ginger part!
Love, Granny
I most likely would have folded immediately too :) Beautiful pictures... the trees with roots growing up and over these old stone buildings looks like something out of a dream. Definately on my list. Love you lots little brother!
Good for you for standing up to the aggressive bus company. I probably would have folded immediately and offered the guy twice what he was asking.
I do want to see Angkor Wat before it falls down or is destroyed by over-tourism. Keep the notes coming.
Laos Hi Bri:
Sounds like a beautiful place! Too bad you can't hang out longer. We are just checking out of our hotel in T.O. this morning to head back home this afternoon after Sarah's wedding. Keep smiling!
Love, Dad
Tubing etc!! Yumi has my heartfelt sympathy with her tubing experience - I can't swim either, and I'm sure I must have drowned in a previous experience!! Your "interesting points" were indeed interesting, particularly about the low crime rate, and the absence of last food stories - perhaps there is a connection! Good luck telling left from right!! I'm already looking forward to Cambodia. Granny
Looks like a beautiful place! We went tubing down the Pembina river last weekend, by Entwhistle. It was hot but fun. And the scenery was a little more ho-hum. :) Love you lots!!! I am excited to see your pictures of Angkor Wat and read your impressions of the place. It is also a place that I would really really love to see.
Lazy French dude, that almost sounds exactly like Congo with the "laid back not in a hurry to do anything" attitude. I think it most have something to do with the French culture. Here in Congo, they start work at 7:30am....but you're lucky if they are actualy doing some actual work by 8:30am. Then they get a 30min coffee break at 9am. After that they get a 2 hour lunch at noon, which you're lucky if they get back from lunch ready to work by 3pm. The only difference here is the crime rate is not as laid back. It's been quite similar in other former French colonies that I've been too.
Such amazing stories! I liked that the army was bringing the tree to a monastary for monks to carve. And I also like that asshole elephant. PS WHERE IS YOUR MOUSTACHE??????????????????
the ever-lenthening bucket list Thailand looks so beautiful...yet another place to put on my bucket list. I'll have to start tomorrow to get the territory covered that I want to. Great post Brian, it's so wonderful to be able to track your progress!
OOOOoooOOOoo Ladyboys! Brian, I'm very dissapointed in your Bangkok post, I was expecting many more pictures of you and/or Yumi with Ladyboys, and not just a refrence via a type of drink. Also I had a friend who went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Bangkok and got a drink called "the headbanger". From what my friend told me about it, if you can drink it then you have my never ending respect.
Aunt Karen
non-member comment
Is the mail getting through? Would care packages make it? If so, let me know and I'll sned along some stuff, (beans, rice and the like) if that would be helpful. I hope you don't have to leave. You probably don't really need that expense right now, but I guess it's better than becoming a mutant zombie!! Take care. We're thinking of you a lot. (You being an all encompassing term for all of Japan) Love Karen and Peter