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July 12th, 2016

tielan: (Sanctuary - Helen/John)
Tuesday, July 12th, 2016 06:51 am
Let's try this again...

[community profile] seasonofkink kink definitions

I've never managed to actually do a bingo on one of these before. Suggestions welcome!

seasons of kink )
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tielan: (Default)
Tuesday, July 12th, 2016 06:53 am
Quiet day. After all the walking around on Sunday (and probably the food) my foot has felt swollen and achey, so I stayed off it.

Just three photos today! Lunch, me and my stepmum at dinner, and an interesting coffee place name!

quiet day )

Today I'd like to:
1. see a Chinese masseur and get some bones cracked
2. get a Hello Kitty souvenir for the daughter of a friend in Sydney (I'll get her son something, too - he's always borrowing his sister's pretty glittery things so it's probably best that he gets his own.)

I fly out of Ho Chi Minh City tonight, headed for Paris by way of Singapore. Then it's Bastille Day with my writer girls from Sydney, and then up to see [livejournal.com profile] alphaflyer by way of Brussels...

Wheee!
tielan: aussie flag background with 'aussie aussie aussie' overlay (aussie aussie aussie)
Tuesday, July 12th, 2016 01:59 pm
One of the problems of Vietnam is that I can't have an external monologue.

That conversation I have where I ask about something? The instant I make an enquiry, the assumption is that I WANT IT NOW GIVE IT TO HER QUICKSMART.

To which my inevitable response is "No, I don't want it. No. NO. DO NOT WANT!" Followed by a muttered "I just wanted to know about it, not to be given it."

This is particularly a problem with my stepmum who is lovely, but clueless. And also somewhat interpretative; when I say "I would like to look at A," she interprets it as "I would like to look at A, B, C, D, and all the things down to Y, oh, and there's also Z, and AA and..."

Also, people following you around stores trying to be helpful. Sorry, my dears, I don't find it helpful, I find it slightly stalkerish and creepy. This shop assistant followed me around the Hello Kitty store, never more than one foot behind me... It felt a little like I was being evaluated for shoplifting possibilities, even though this is Vietnam and not, say, the USA.

Even my father is guilty of handwaving the details. When I mention that it would be nice to have lunch, he promptly jumps to "You're hungry? You must be starving! WE MUST DO LUNCH IMMEDIATELY BEFORE SHE FAINTS OF HUNGER."

Also: he wants me to eat Australian beef in Vietnam. Because apparently they export the good stuff? Whatever. I think I'll eat Australian beef in Australia where I can ask for it to be cooked in ways that don't involve it drowning in some kind of peppery sauce after it's been fried on a hotplate.

Dad is not good at listening. This has been a problem all the way back to my childhood. He means well, but he's not quite convinced that I'm grown enough to make a judgement call. Doubtless my inability to get around Vietnam without his or my stepmum's assistance does not help this impression.

And this is why I don't stay with my dad and stepmum longer than a couple of days at a time. I love them, but frankly, their way of doing things kind of drives me batty...