Today there was a big open air concert in front of the Hanoi Opera house and yours truely went for a short while. It was pretty good with a Jazz band (All guys with this Hot babe playing the bass) who playes some really cool tunes like Take Five and Take the A-Train. There was an opening act with little girls doing a nice dance with a all girl choir singing waving all the flags of the SEA games nations. I was soo proud to see our Jalur Gemilang being waved around. I didn’t stay long there cos it was kinda chilly and I am not a big fan of huge crowds.

When you are alone you notice allot of things. Example there was this one guy at the concert who was pretending to be a cop. He was blowing his whisle at people telling them to move and stuff. The real cops just laughed at him and the crowd totally ignored him. He was in this 30’s, wearing a jacket with a small vietnamese flag on top right conner.

Then there were these two girls. I think they were from far away cos the looked soo excited seing the stage and everything. And during rehersal when the people announced that Vietnam had managed to tie thier football match with Thailand 1-1, they screamed and jumped with excitement.

I found a supermarket near my hotel and today I had 250gms of Swensens Rum and Raisin. Yum…I told myself I deserved a treat. Thats all for now. More tomorrow.

Well, I could complain, but Its not that half bad. Its clean, the room is huge, there bed is comfy, the bathroom rivals my some bedrooms in size, the breakfast sucks, but the view from the 6th Floor Restaurant is not half bad. Its a bit far from the attractions, but I am okay with that. There is MTV and CNN, but no Star or HBO. I will survive.

I finished reading the only story book I brought here, and so, most of my entertainment is gone. I watched a really cool movie staring Samuel Jackson and Mila Jovivich called “No Good Deed”. I was actually a real good watch, love those independent film makers. They are much better that the Hollywood boys at story telling. Apparently it got really bad reviews from other people, but I liked it. So there.

Its a nice 18 Degrees in Hanoi today and most major roads are blocked and the traffic is crazy as the city prepares for the SEA Games. They were putting up a stage last night in front of the Opera House and I think I will check it out today, see what’s playing. It could be some live music and stuff.

Thats it from me for now.

It was a long day and I swear that computers are alive. I had to fix a problem and I was sure, like a 100% sure I did it correctly. The output file showed different, and I animated and animated the code over and over again, and it seems correct. Upset and almost defeated I went to the washroom to wash my face. I came back tried it once again, just like the 100 times I have done if before and it worked. What the? I am happy it worked, but I wasted 3 hours trying to get it to work. Sigh.

On other news, It was announced today that effective January 2004, my job role is officially changed from Support (A desk Job I had for most of the 2 1/4 years I worked at this company), to Implementation (what I have been doing non-stop since June). This means that I will be on the road more and more next year. Joy? A little. I always wanted to see the world, and I am doing so, one nation at a time, slowly. Next on my wish list to go to? Bangladesh, Pakistan and Mongolia :).

I checked out of my hotel today and I will be checking into my 4th hotel this trip! Arghh! Because of the SEA Games, I cannot have one long stay in on hotel and I am paying 5 star prices for 3 star (not really 3 star by Malaysian standards) prices. Why I say this? My room had rats!! I am not joking, a few nights ago, I turned off the lights to sleep and then I hears crawling noises and things moving. I turned on the lights, and they stopped, I turn them off and I heard them again. Rats I tell ya!! Rats!!

One thing I learned from experience! Always bring a torch light! Today I got up, after hitting the snooze button for the 4th time (maybe 5th) and after my shower, just before I started packing my bags, the power went out and I had to pack my bags in the Dark! (There are windows in my room). After I finish packing my bags, then the Power came back on! Fine!. Difference between a 5 Star and a 3 Star? 5 Stars have Power Generators.

The Check Out Process was funny as well. I went to the desk to check out, they took my key and called housekeeping. Then housekeeping called back and asked me where the TV remote was. I said “Maybe its on the floor”. They called housekeeping and she looked at the floor and called back and said “Its not on the floor:”. Then I said “Maybe It fell under the bed?”. They Called and said it was not under the bed. Pissed, I said, then look for it. Its in the room somewhere. 5 Minutes later, they called and said “It was under the bed”. Sigh! Then there was the issue of my hotel phone charges being written by hand. I told them I need a print out on official hotel paper for my claims. And they argued with me that the power outage made them loose the connection to something or rather. And Finally they did something, and I got half in Pen writing in Vietnamese and half on the bill in English. My Accounting department is gonna love me for this.

My Travel agent called and said she wanted me to pay for my new hotel in cash. I was like, What? No way! Retail POS.Argh….I wanna come home.

POS
abbr.

point-of-sale

I thought that since I am stuck here might as well go see a football match, but sadly they are all sould out. Indonesia Vs Laos and Thailand Vs Vietnam are the only ones in the city while I am here and they are booked solid. Sigh.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I, Nick Tay am not going home this week, I have been “asked” to stay until Dec 6th, 2003. Which means I am gonna miss my APYAC. Which also means I have a total of 33 Days anual leave and replacement leaves left. I only actually get 14 days annually, but I have only taken 4 days for Chinese New Year and the rest are replacements for working on my designated Saturday Off (0.5 days Leave Added) and Sunday and Public Holidays (1.0 Days Added). Sigh. Now I am depressed. I am gonna try and at least catch 1 football game here since the SEA Games are in Hanoi. The Malaysian team is playing Cambodia on Saturday but thats in HCM, not sure who is playing here in Hanoi.

foot·ball (fÊŠt’bôl’)
n.

A game played on a rectangular field with net goals at either end in which two teams of 11 players each try to drive a ball into the other’s goal by kicking, heading, or using any part of the body except the arms and hands. The goalie is the only player who may touch or move the ball with the arms or hands.

[From alteration of assoc., abbreviation of association football.]