SHALLOW EXPAT RAMBLINGS...............

Hello to everybody........

Well today there will be nothing particularly profound: no earthshattering observations, nothing deep or meaningful, but just a collection of selected, unconnected thoughts from the last few weeks. So let's set the tone right away:

Halibu....... ha ha. Nothing needs to be said here. Every time I see our bottle in the kitchen it makes me smile .

And now a message to the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the UK. Every time I come back to the UK I have to start dealing with COINS. In Vietnam it's just NOTES. Notes are way better in my view; easier to store, easier to handle, and they don't clank about in your pocket. But that isn't to say that the currency in Vietnam is perfect. There are so many 'noughts' that it makes you dizzy. Yesterday we finished work on a deal here where a company was sold and the figure was in the trillions of Dong. It was so long that it nearly went off the side of the page.

We've now moved house. We love our new house; Sally loves our new house. Here's a photo of something which our landlord left us in the garden. Clearly this is a Go Go Dancers cage from a defunct Hanoi nightclub.

As is the norm here, we asked for a safe to store cash and valuables . And boy did our new landlord deliver us a safe. There will be no sneaking out with this little beauty. It's a monster and we won't be accidentally taking this at the end of our lease as excess baggage.

So whilst I said there is nothing profound in this posting, here is a thought process that possibly has a little depth. 'Expat Possessions'. We are paying 71.08 GBP every month for storage in a warehouse in Leeds for the possessions that we didn't bring with us to Vietnam. Neither Karen nor I can remember what these possessions are. We have managed perfectly well without them for 18 months. So what are they? Possessions or emotional baggage? And how will we feel in a couple of years when we open the container and say....."Wow , I remember these"?

And moving this thought process on, when we moved into this house last week, we found 15 cases of possessions in the cellar. These didn't belong to the previous tenant , but to somebody else who left Vietnam 8 years ago but couldn't afford to take them at the time. The person apparently wanted them to be stored for her, didn't want to pay, and consistently wouldn't pay for them to be shipped. Well anyway they are now in the community recycling system in Hanoi and we have an empty cellar.

Moving swiftly along, I went to Hong Kong recently on business. When reading the local newspaper I read about a survey of men living there between the ages of 40 to 50. It claimed that over 50% of them would willingly trade living a shorter life with having a full head of hair. I read it twice to ensure I had not misread it. I had not misread it.

My final thought today. I have fallen in love again. It was a sudden realization of a love that I used to have which gradually faded until I had forgotten all about it. And now in Vietnam it has sprung back into my life with a youthful energy that makes my old heart leap (just a little). I will make my re-affirmation of this love right here and now in this blog. I LOVE the Radio (Digital of course) and in particular I LOVE BOB HARRIS. I listen to him every week on 'catch up radio'. What a voice he has; so soothing , so smooth, and so restful. Long live Bob Harris.

Cheers everyone,.......some more photos below.......

Kevin

A Mahjong set I bought for Karen,who plays with friends from the Asian Women's Group in Hanoi.

Our front garden.........