saigon - first impressions

today, for the first time, i treated myself to a foot massage. the 3 slight girls giggled, gossiped, flirted and massaged for 90 minutes. two feet, about the size of a man, were painted on the walls, showing which part of the foot is linked to which part of the body. it's hard to imagine, until she takes out each muscle, each pressure point, like a killer surgeon. their fingers are so strong that when she held my neck i felt meek; like she could kill me anytime she wanted to. by the end of it i felt intoxicated. after today i like vietnam a little more.

people are friendly and eager to smile and talk. often, they don't recognise even nouns in english. my dumb charades skills from college comes to my rescue. everyone laughs as i try to explain vegetarianism. the other day i wrote "chicken pork beef" and scored it off, and then wrote onion tomato egg beneath.

the girls laugh for absolutely everything. if you ever need an ego-boost come to vietnam. i feel much funnier after a week here.

the traffic here is the worst i've ever seen. nothing in india - not even kerala - can beat saigon. here the step-thru scooters have their way everywhere. the trucks don't bully around, and the small guys have more power, maybe thanks to socialism.

i experimented too much with the local food and wine, and shat blood a few days back. i went to meet a dr. jane. she apologised for being rude and asked me if id had anal sex recently. i thought of asking her why she thought that was rude.