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If you were wondering what my living situation is, have a look. I moved from my first apartment to another within the same building. Moving took about 30 minutes including packing. What a great way to live: my worldly possessions can be transported in a backpack and a few plastic grocery bags. I will take a picture of my clothes closet and post here another time. When I think of the bulging closets full of things I used to have, I much prefer this lifestyle. I could use another pair of shoes but shoes my size are not easy to come by in this part of the world.

The first picture above is the view from my balcony on the 5th floor (or 6th floor if you number floors like in America). I am in a neighborhood both residential and commercial. The closest buildings to me are residential and a bit further are hotel and office high rises. The second picture is looking down to the street from the balcony. It is a lovely place for water balloons, but I have yet to find the shop selling balloons.

Moving inside the next picture is my electronic center. Here I have a fridge which at the moment has ice, ice cream (some habits are harder to break than others), a little cheese (exceptionally expensive here), jelly and peanut butter, beer and water. Next to the fridge is the TV and fan. As of now I use the fan more than AC since the temperatures are very pleasant. The other two pictures need no explanation. The wild color sheets are provided along with maid service, a luxury I have not had since days long gone. When I leave my room in the afternoon I return to find everything neatly back in place and fresh sheets on the bed. It is easy to get used to this life.

My routine is something like this. Typically I go to bed about 11-12 and wake up between 7 and 8. As I have mentioned before my time is 12 hours ahead of east coast USA so when you are eating supper I am probably getting up the following morning. I go to the gym 3 times a week and to the swimming pool alternate days. I usually have bread and coffee in my room for breakfast, and then I eat one or two other meals during the day. Once again I am trying to develop a little skill drawing with pencil so I enjoy spending time each day in that noble pursuit. I have started relearning to play guitar on a borrowed guitar and I plan to buy my own next week when the guitar shop I know gets in more stock. I usually have some bit of shopping to do every day and often I take a bus to a modern shopping center which sells groceries, hardware, clothes, etc., something of a Vietnamese Walmart minus the overweight customers. The sun rises and sets early here. By about 6 PM the night lights are twinkling on the streets and motorbikes clog the roads so it is a nice time to sit in a cafe with a ca phe sua da (ice coffee with condensed milk) and observe whatever is going on around me.

I know I have kept up the blog like I intended and I do have several excuses. I will spare you the details but I can sum up by reaffirming the old saying, "Time flies when you are having fun." I continue to say I am happiest I have ever been and I am so thankful for all the things in my past that put me here.