Blessings in disguise

Went back to Vietnam the same day as getting the visa. Vietnam airlines, by the way, is totally awesome. Why?

Because they still use passenger planes with freaking propellers.

Taking off on that thing is great, you get to hear the BWAAAAAARRRRHHHHHHHHH of the propellers going nuts. Landing is... kind of insane. Basically, it seems like there aren't any airbrakes because of the propellers, so you don't get the slowing action of the ubiquitous jet propelled commercial airliners when you land.

Tiny plane + propellers + full speed landing = Fucking awesome.

Think of a landing where the plane slams into the ground, bounces, lands on one wheel, and proceeds to fishtail/roll a little to the left and right for a while before straigtening out. Meanwhile, the people inside are shook left and right. You always know it's a good landing when you and the person sitting next to you are laughing, or people on the plane begin to clap.

Got to spend more time with Jenni and Kim. Met up with them after dinner and went to a chillin bar/pub. I've never seen so many tourists in one area, but apparently it's Vietnam's backpacker district so it makes sense. There's always this little cute Vietnamese kid there that busts out tons of dance moves! The patrons there love him. We went upstairs after a while and had a great time dancing. There was this older Vietnamese woman that was getting tossed around by a black dude, and another Vietnamese chick that had some killer abs that possibly made Kim and Jenni a tad jealous. We left around 2.

Next morning, I went with Kim to an orphanage in district 3 where I helped care for and feed some of the wee babies there. One of the babies I was playing with was so awesome. While on her stomach, she loved to stare at the ground and lift up her hands and legs so only her tummy touched the ground. She'll make a great skydiver some day. Babies are scary to hold. They get squirmy sometimes, and I'm always afraid that they'll squirm out of my arms.

We headed back, caught some lunch at a place recommended by one of the other volunteers, and then headed back to pick up some of Kim's stuff and get my money changed. One of Jenni's friends in Vietnam was hosting a barbecue at his studio nearby Cu Chi tunnels, out in the middle of nowhere. I caught a bit of a bug somewhere in between Cambodia and Vietnam so I couldn't drink too much (not that I can drink that much anyway) but it was fine. I was still feeling a bit woozy, so I got up to take a walk. Kim invitered herself along (my bad dood) and we spent a lot of the night chatting.



So I ended up paying more for everything because of the delay in getting back to my scheduled flight to Manila, but I wouldn't have done it any other way. It's one of those things that turned out to be a blessing, and I'm totally glad things happened that way.

Now back in Manila.