bumblebee Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 I was strolling home from work the other day and was approaching an entrance, 1.5 metres wide which brings me onto a road that leads to the local supermarket. I could have done the walk with my eyes closed, like many of my wanders around my home area. As I was got to the entrance it struck me that if i was in Thailand right now I'd be 100 % alert to a possible motorbike coming whizzing around the corner, something that wouldn't cross my mind when at home. There is nothing like a stroll along Buakhao among other sois to make you feel alive and fully alert to all the potential and unexpected accidents and hazards all around. It got me thinking that while in Los I feel fully alive, always aware of, and observing what is going on around me, with my mind more often that not anticipating what potential weirdness may happen in the next few seconds. shit that just wouldn't cross my mind back home in my perhaps 75% ish daily alive mode. Do any of you guys find that also? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiamSam Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 It got me thinking that while in Los I feel fully alive, always aware of, and observing what is going on around me, with my mind more often that not anticipating what potential weirdness may happen in the next few seconds. I've heard that on occasion while holding court in PBG you didn't seem to be all that aware or observant of what was going on around you. Perhaps that is just a rumour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciobha Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Just try to slip one of your bar chits into his bin and see how aware he is, sam!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoolpusher Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Yes BB at home I have a very hazardes job but still 65% awake but in Thailand 100% and day time evern walk with my camera ready to shoot (bit like a Jap), a misshap or a funny or eye opener ...you sure are alive in Thailand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdogg Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 There is nothing like a stroll along Buakhao among other sois to make you feel alive and fully alert to all the potential and unexpected accidents and hazards all around. Except perhaps a strolling down the street in Phnom Penh. At least on Buahhao if I an walking facing traffic, I have a fairly good idea of what can happen in the next second. In general. traffic keeps to the left. But in PP, it seems acceptable for motobikes to go in any lane or direction they please. I'm always looking over my shoulder, to a much greater extent than in Thailand. So it keeps me in the present moment. Many wise people have said that the way to fully experience life is to be in the present. Sounds simple. But it's not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenW Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Living in VN produced in me much the same feeling. I learned quickly the traffic and motorbike damage potentials you guys refer to. Another thing that affected me was to learn to live with the diminutive: a tall clumsy oaf like me had to re-program entirely to get into and out of so many VNese spaces, houses, staircases, hotel lobbies, etc. For years, even though I got better, I kept bumping my head, bashing a shoulder or knee, tripping over. One learns eventually to move more elegantly I think, and as you say bb, to be intensely aware of what is about you (like low ceilings, protruding beams, etc.) Never do I go anywhere now where I am not checking out my surroundings, kind of like an infantry scout, for traffic, for uneven footpaths, for shoulder charging VNese coming in opposite direction, even for pickpockets. I find I now live within an acute consciousness, of which I am quietly but quite proud. Especially when I see blundering tourists and other foreigners stumbling, bumbling about the place. I recall one overweight fiftyish loudmouth white woman in a hotel lobby one evening years ago giving a big sigh of weariness and sitting down on the roof of the lobby's shrine box, candles flickering and red light blazing. The VNese were absolutely appalled (but politely said nothing); I was shocked; she remained completely oblivious. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdogg Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Never do I go anywhere now where I am not checking out my surroundings, kind of like an infantry scout, for traffic, for uneven footpaths, for shoulder charging VNese coming in opposite direction Watch out for the Viet Cong Ken! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumblebee Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 I've heard that on occasion while holding court in PBG you didn't seem to be all that aware or observant of what was going on around you. Perhaps that is just a rumour. I always have one eye on the entrance and another on the serving staff, the trick is to appear not to be doing so. Just try to slip one of your bar chits into his bin and see how aware he is, sam!!!!! Cheeky bastard, AGAIN!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4:17 Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Whenever I would ride my bike -- bicycle -- in Sai Gon or Bien Hoa, whenever I got to my destination I always felt such a rush: "Hot damn! I'm still alive! Fuck yeah!" You take your life in your hands anytime you walk out your front door of course, and riding anywhere is potentially dangerous. But learning to ride in Vietnamese traffic -- that's an ultimate thrill (makes riding in San Francisco traffic kind of ho-hum). Just going to the grocery store or to the bank to pay my rent -- always a thrilling adventure in this part of the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4:17 Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 ... loudmouth white woman in a hotel lobby one evening years ago giving a big sigh of weariness and sitting down on the roof of the lobby's shrine box, candles flickering and red light blazing. The VNese were absolutely appalled (but politely said nothing); I was shocked; she remained completely oblivious. ... That's really sad, on a number of levels. I can imagine the Vietnamese being reserved enough not to say anything to her. Thais, however ... I don't think she would have gotten away with it in Thailand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEXASMAC Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 It takes me a good 24 hours to remember that they drive on the wrong side of the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quietguy Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Got to keep your wits about you on the mean streets of London too. Maybe not so many holes and steel bits sticking out of the pavement, but you have to dodge the preoccupied idiots walking along blindly, reading or sending texts on their mobiles. When I get back to London after a trip to los, everything, pedestrians and traffic seem to moves a lot faster. Takes me a few days to readjust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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