Yesterday I was moping about the lack of replies and moped on home, looking forward to some solace in a cup of tea, cabbage soup and whatever was on HBO. Last time I checked, they were showing Selena with Thai subtitles. Bidibidibombom. I came home, found out the gas stove had run out of gas, and decided that going for the moping was a more attractive prospect. As soon as I laid my scolio-ed self on the bed, the neighbor starts blasting the hugely popular instrumentals of My Heart Will Go On. The only discernible rival I've encountered so far is Tell Laura I Love Her, all of which has been etched into my head since I was an impressionable six.
A few minutes later Nathan called and convinced me to head out for some actual dinner. Lightning was striking pretty frequently, albeit silently (odd, no?) and I decided that hanging out in a bed next to the window with metal bars on the top floor of a building was just too depressing. We were walking for two minutes when the monsoon hit and ran the rest of the way to the closest restuarant, where the staff literally mopped up after us and we were literally flooded in. I didn't have my camera so I can't show off how the water began to lap at the top step to the restuarant, or the people wading knee-deep in the street. It was pretty spectacular until when we realized that this rain wasn't of the flash-and-dash variety, and the water rushing along outside certainly was carrying assorted street filth within it.
Did I mention that it's completely normal to see cockroaches, rats and assorted piss on the streets? And that people throw out their trash onto the street? And that I was wearing sandals?
Marooned as we were, it took quite a while before we could find a taxi to ferry us back. The flooding was mostly in small streets with fewer drainage points, so the main streets were clear. On the street corner by my apartment were three or four stalled motorbikes and their be-ponchoed owners attempting to fix them.
Did I mention that I received an email that pertains to a) today?
p.s. Nathan stole all of my good material (see Hanoian ads, engagement ceremony and well-dressed crafty man) so I'm posting a sample menu of what I get to eat on a daily basis.
These fruit shakes are indeed sinfully frosty and delicious, but they don't normally come with a Satan stir-stick.
