Playing catch-up

I must begin by apologising; I did not take my camera along to the wedding - I was in ao dai, the traditional vietnamese wedding costume which has no pockets and I was very much on display so I couldn't really carry around a bulky camera!! What's more is that loads of people were taking photos so in my next post I'll try and steal some of them, then I can explain traditional vietnamese weddings with visual aids!

The wedding was absolutely lovely. The traditional stuff took most of the day - started at 10 and kept going until about 2, then it was a bit of a chillout before running around trying to get last minute things for the reception at 6. It was all really good fun though, Jonny's mates are lovely - the 5 other best men I got on really well with, and of course I already knew Fran, one of my bro's oldest and best friends, but what's really really sweet is that while Jonny's been busy with wedding things or having Vy time, Fran and I have been getting to know each other a lot better, we've been chatting lots and everyone's been having much fun and much food together :) He was telling me about this stuff called monoatomic gold which if you ingest can make you remarkably intelligent (although a quick google will reveal a huge amount of skepticism!), the idea being that it is powder form so it can be ingested, and then it works as a superconductor in the brain, increasing function by lots and lots and lots. I started to fantasize about what I'd do with this newly found intellect and the first thing I thought of was learning Russian and Vietnamese :) and then take over the world..
Friday morning was a rather hanging trip to the dentist to finish the root canal so now I have a magnificent tooth again! I just need to get a crown before I fly back. Then I frantically packed to go on the train for three hours to get to Mui Ne. On the way I got addicted to this gorgeous chilli prawn crisps and I listened to some more of the Chekhov short stories on audiobook - I forgot to tell you, but on the return journey to Saigon I listened to The Avenger (which i LOVED, absolutely hilarious) as well as boys and one or two others. I then on the train listened to The Woman with the Dog, which really affected me actually. Now. This is something I often do when I'm on holiday, I start thinking LOADS. I will sit there and contemplate things endlessly, and so this is a sort of out-loud thought process that originated from this Chekhov story. I don't know what it was but I really identified with it, and started to ponder (and haven't yet finished pondering) when is adultery justified? One could say when it would make for a far happier life it is justified, as in the short story, but then surely what one has done is made another's life far more miserable - but then is that justified if they've brought that upon themselves? If I were to get married and never really love my wife then of course she'd cheat, but then that would probably be my fault. And if it was a loveless marriage, one would imagine that both parties would be a little miserable. I think it's affected me because on a couple of instances now I've really properly fallen for women who are in committed relationships. Of course, I do nothing, but the story led me to wonder if there's maybe a time when it's right to do something, or say something. Aaaaaaaaaahhh, why can't life be simple?? It's utterly rubbish :)

Now that I'm in Mui Ne, I'm staying in a different hotel from the rest of the family, instead being with my brother's mates. I've got a very nice room all to myself and it's got a mosquito net too - I don't know why, but mosquito nets I find quite romantic. Partly because it means you're somewhere tropical, perhaps also because it's rather like a four poster bed :) We had a gorgeous supper last night, sans famille, and then some drinks afterwards - first in a very nice bar and then we got questionable champagne from a little shop that said "brewed under French technology".......... kind of said it all, really.. And one of them claimed to have hints of forest fruits and suchlike, as wines often do. We popped it open when we were in the jacuzzi to find it was basically fizzy white wine with all sorts of artificial flavouring added to it!! Was slightly vile.. Anyway, it was another late night with another early start so I got my free breakfast (pancakes with lemon and sugar) and walked for three quarters of a mile to find an internet cafe.


I'm afraid I have some bad news though...... On the morning of the wedding, I checked my emails to find that Bristol had turned me down. Without explanation, and without an interview which they'd promised. I sent a slightly miffed but still professional email to the admissions tutor who I've been chatting to quite a bit and in return I got a very very thoughtful email from him. He obviously felt quite bad about it, and he said I'd been a victim of circumstance because Bristol was at risk of being fined ten grand per student that exceeded this year's quota, because they've been such repeat offenders in the past. So the first to go were mature students, really.. Never miiiiiiind. It's not any different course-wise to Southampton, it's just a much nicer place to live! Still, if I can put up with living at home for three years, I'm sure I can put up with Southampton for that long) it's still a great uni and an excellent course and I could potentially get a scholarship to the tune of a thousand pounds per annum on my voice. What's more is that they've got a fledgling conducting module on the course with a very good tutor called Robin Browning, a friend of my last tutor Jason. Should be good :) And it's very exciting to know where I'll be living next year!



and now a little more - the battery died on the netbook yesterday so things have happened since - I've been having a lovely time in Mui Ne, getting brown, getting a little blonder, as well as a bit sticky, it's just so so hot. Food here is stunning. The fish in claypot is the best I've had, they basically make a caramel with sugar, a bit of water/oil and then throw in spring onions, garlic, chilli, all sorts of nice things - occasionally five spice as well - and then cook the fish in this wonderful, sticky tasty mixture. Amazing.
Yesterday we went to these absolutely massive sand dunes to have some fun sliding down them. It was rather windy and I took to humming the Lawrence of Arabia theme to myself. Had fun there, it was absolutely stunning to be on these massive dunes with very orange sand, with views of the sea, of the sunset, it was just stunning. Also went out last night which was much fun! Jonny's friend Helena was having her leaving do as she's going back to Oslo (I think..) and so after supper we went to Joe's cafe, Joe being another friend of Jonny's, where we played with his kittens and galvanised ourselves with iced coffees and a chaser whereupon we walked down the road to a beach bar called Sankara. Sankara is absolutely gorgeous, they've got a pool, a nice beach with big waves and cheerful staff, and it's been very nicely designed.
We all got to chatting, and I started talking a lot with a very lovely girl who was really easy to talk to, we basically paired off for the evening and chatted about all sorts until half three thismorning. She was quite excited at finding a lobster whisker with a bit at the end that made it look like a dragon, and I was one of the few people to really get on board with the enthusiasm :) We tried coming up with potential uses for such a thing, with ideas such as disciplining children, using it as a smoking pipe, perhaps a straw to drink through and maybe gynecology, though that was quickly mooted.
She was really interested in finding out a bit more about classical music and asked for a list of not-too mainstream pieces that she might enjoy, so I gave her all sorts like Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Schubert, Richard Strauss and a little description of what the piece represents so she can pick up on the narrative of it all :)

Alas, I'm here at the computer, so is my camera but the lead that I thought was in my bag is unfortunately not, so photos will come later thisafternoon or thisevening. Not that it'll matter, you'll probably only just be waking and abluting by then.