Last night I went with Lan for a long (by Vietnamese standards) walk in town after work. First we headed to the Diamond Plaza department store which is a lot like Hecht Co. We then walked over by Di 10's cafe and went to a place called "Godfather Ice Cream" where we sat on the sidewalk, teeming with locals, and enjoyed some coconut ice cream in a coconut, topped off with lychees and what I am sure is cool whip. It was nice for me to do that - to get out and WALK and to break the routine of going to work, meeting up with the aunts, and going home. I wonder how it was that I would on occasion walk home from work in Soho across the Brooklyn Bridge to Carroll Gardens... about an 8K walk and very pleasant, after work. The best part was hanging out on the bridge and watching the sunset behind Lady Liberty, but timing it so that I'd hit home before dark. Just a few kms now is a lot more than I'm used to. I've gotta get back to New York and let my legs move move move. No biking, no walking, and I can't seem to convince any cyclo drivers to loan me their pedicabs for a day.

A week away and Jeff will be in Hanoi, as will I, and we will enjoy the splendors of Ha Long Bay (rent Indochine with Catherine Deneuve), Sapa Valley, and central Vietnam, and then head out to the beach of Mui Ne (Cape Ne) in Phan Thiet. We will try to scan & send photos, but most likely you'll have to wait till I get back on the 26th to do so. The blog won't be updated during that time (14th - 26th), but do check back afterwards.

I am still busy with work because of the two week vacation I will be taking (this is untimely of course, as I've just returned from a six week vacation). October and November to be sure will be jam packed, but after Christmas, I plan to be totally free of work, and will concentrate only on traveling and spending all of my hard earned cash. Not much left for New York, but if you've got job ideas (or if you know a publisher who wants a story about rediscovery and roots) then let me know, so I can continue with my retirement. I'm quite liking it.