in hiding

I'm trying really unsuccessfully to hide out while my parents dad pack. He's alternating between accusing me of not being able to get my shit together and mumbling about how much there is to do and how its all on him. Unfortunately, he's chosen to pack on the floor right behind me, anddddd there isn't internet anywhere else, so I'm not moving. I think my mum's trying to hide too. This is because, without fail, my dad unpacks everything anyone else has packed & repacks it, all the while telling us how fail we are. He likes to roll everything up. And while I appreciate that's the best way to pack more in, sometimes there's not all that much stuff and you end up with too much space and your things roll around.


This time however, we seem to have ended up with ALOT of stuff. Here are 3 things I can see:
- Speakers. Four of them. I'm trying to figure out how much they weigh without getting too close, I can't see, but they're direct/reflecting speakers. I don't know what that means. But they're big.
- Oh hey! Look! Its the 6 tops i bought for $15. Unfortunately, they're all the same shade of purple.
- Light fittings? Seriously, what is this?

Cya in Australia/somewhere in between/whatevs

pee ess, Happy Birthday to Crystal!

i lost count.

I'm writing from my hotel room in Nha Trang. We arrived here bright and early this morning, having left home at the totally decent hour of 4:30 am. But don't worry, we took the easy road, and flew instead of going with the 10+ hour drive. Probably on a dirt road. So its all good. I have no idea what's so special about this place, since the last time I was here was 12 years ago... so i did the logical thing and wiki-ed it.

Wiki says: It is well known for its pristine beaches and excellent scuba diving and is fast becoming a popular destination for international tourists, attracting large numbers of backpackers as well as more affluent travelers on the Southeast Asia circuit. It is already very popular with Vietnamese tourists. Nha Trang Bay is amongst the world's most beautiful bays.

I was also told by the hotel staff who picked us up that we'd just missed Miss World. Who apparently has been staying here and just left this morning. Apparently she smiled alot and didn't talk much. And then I read: Nha Trang was the site of the Miss Universe 2008 Pageant that was held on July 14, 2008.

So um, obviously I've been living under a rock, yeah?


So far...
- I got 3 mosquito bites in the 1st 10 minutes. I was eating breakfast. They were eating me. Some list some doctor printed out for me which I pretty much ignored said that you can get malaria in Nha Trang. Don't have to worry so much in the city. Obvs I ignored all the advice right? I mean, preventing malaria? What a drag. I'm just gonna drink vodka tonics. One of the 4-5 things I learnt at uni last year was that people used to drink gin and tonics cos it prevented malaria tranmission. Its all in the blue-quinine-y sheen of the tonicness.

This is not Nha Trang.

- I met some Australians! I was trying to squish my way back to some stall my mum was back at, mumbled something like "Excuse me. Sorry. You're right." And the guy was slightly in shock and blurted out to his sister "She speaks normally!". Yeahhh... Hi guys... That's cos I'm from Australia. We became BFFLs for approximately 5 minutes. I don't know their names, but fuck, I miss home.

also not nha trang. somewhere in between phan thiet

- I went on a chanel 2.55 hunt. Yes, my sister is still looking for that bloody bag. We came close the day before yesterday in Saigon, except they didn't have black. And my sister has her heart set on black. Fussy fussy fussy. Found some similarish ones today, but they were were the 'reissue' version. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS. But I had to go after some random lady who HAD the bag to ask where she got it. I'm pretty sure I scared her/made her think I was trying to steal from her or something, because unforts she didn't understand english very much. Or Vietnamese. Or German. I ran out of languages after that. But I think we deduced that her sister bought it for her from France. Or she was from France. Something about France anyway.

random sand dunes, mui ne

- I bought some sweeet glasses for $6. They pretty much look exactly like my glasses but navy. Only my glasses cost about $294 more. Being half blind is expensive y'know? Salesperson originally said they were $16. Absolute ridic. I probably would've tried to buy it for $10. My mum is the bargain master. Except she called after us the first time we walked away. I reckon we could've gotten it for $ 5. Seriously. On the topic of things I bought today : 2 skirts and a ring.

actual photo of nha trang.

- Blackout! Last time this happened it was the night before some exam. I don't remember which. But I spent alot of time smsing the people I'd been emailing/chatting/whining/ranting to about exams to complain more,omg fail! and to let them know I was still alive, and hadn't done the sensible thing and turned off my computer to study. I then spent alot of time playing with candle wax and trying to position the light on my phone so i could see. Only to have it automatically switch off every 2 minutes. Damn energy conservation! This time, we waited around in the lobby, being assured it would be fixed soon. Really soon. We waited. And waited. Got fed up and went to the beach. I nearly stepped on a syringe. We sat around some more. Two hours later, we gave up hope and walked the 9 flights of stairs to our room. The power came back on like, 10 minutes later.

Tomorrow I plan to lounge around, watch gilmore girls/greys anatomy, find a book to read that's actually in english and take advantage of the free wireless. My sister plans to wake up just in time for the buffet breakfast, eat a lot of bacon and going straight back to bed, she will also take advantage of the internet. My mum plans to wake up super early, go for a walk along the beach, suss out if its gonna rain or not and then drag the family on a tour to monkey island. I'm guessing she's gonna win.