Click me to view a small movie of our new house!!!

Click the title above to see the new house, and click the title below to see my second restaurant review.
-Ed

Click this for Edwardo's 2nd restaurant review

http://vietnamnews.vnanet.vn/showarticle.php?num=01RES291006

Finally, A house to call our own

Sunday, October 15th, 2006, we move in to our house by the lake. It is a modest three storey affair, with two bedrooms a large kitchen and three, yes that's right, three patios. One balcony off of our bedroom, one patio off of the kitchen and the third and biggest balcony, on the roof, and a little courtyard in the front. There are two bathrooms and cathedral ceilings. Today will be our last evening in the hotel. We are both very excited to move into our place and put an end to this vagrant hotel living. We will take some pictures and maybe a video of our new home to put on myspace, which you can access by clicking the link at the bottom of every blog. " find me on myspace, and be my friend" We will post any videos on that site as I still havn't figured out how to post videos here. So stay tuned and take a peak at our new diggs.
-Ed
PS.
Now, we extend an open invitation to any and all, friends and family to come and visit us. We have a comfortable, air-conditioned spare bedroom for you to use, and Vietnam offers many enjoyable activities for you tourist types. Give us a shout.
-E

My first published restaurant review

Check out my first story here... For a limited time

http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/index.php?subcat=69

copy and paste in to web browser or just click on the title above!

(Below are two examples of the kinds of scenery found here....)

Spider sandwiches, and the cockroach tub!!

As most of you already know, I am not a huge fan of the crawlies. There are no shortage of the 6-8 legged devils in this filthy country. Two particular tales I would like to share are of the Spider sandwich and the Cockroach bathtub.
Karen and I strolled in to a cafe to have a coffee before work. It was a fair size and there were many people in there, which is normally a good sign. We found an empty table and had a seat, only to discover the menu was completely in Vietnames, and there were no english menu's available.
After some time we managed to get our request for coffee and a sandwich across to our waitress. We got our coffee first and Karen waited for her sandwich.
The sandwich arrived moments later and while it was unremarkable, it looked like a standard ham sandwich. Karen took a bite, and then opened the sandwich to inspect the meat and found a spider stuck to the mayonaise on the bottom side of the bread.
We, of course, returned the uneaten sandwich and Karen passed on a replacement. We finished our coffee and made to leave. We walked up to the counter to pay our bill and noticed a charge for the sandwich. Assuming it was a mistake we pointed it out to our waitress who was standing beside us smiling like a lunatic.
" You charged us for the sandwich we sent back." I said,"remember,...it had a spider in it!"
" Yes, spider!" still smiling like a half-wit.
" You can't be serious!" Stated Karen.
" Your charging us for the spider sandwich?" I asked again bewildered.
" We didn't eat it. It had a spider in it for christ sake!" Karen
" Let me get this straight... You want us to pay for the spider sandwich?"
" Yes, you pay for the spider sandwich." She stated.
With that I was satisfied. It was worth the doller just to hear her call it the spider sandwich. I can see some of you shaking your head in disbelief, that we would pay for the sandwich, but trust me, sometime the principle isn't even worth the trouble.
Now, for the cockroach. After living for over a year in Asia, you get used to the cockroaches that are everywhere you look. They simply become part of the scenery. The puzzleing thing about cockroaches is that even though they can fly, they choose not to, most of the time.
For example, we have a bathtub in our hotel room that seems to be Alkatraz for cockroaches. They get in but they never get out. Everyday, there is a single cockroach desperately trying to escape our bathtub, however, it's prickly little feet just can't find purchase. They never think to simply fly out and I find myself killing an extremely exhausted cockroach everyday, when I get back from work. Puzzlin, No?
Talk to you soon,
Ed

The Two Week Mark

We have been citizens of Hanoi, Vietnam for two weeks now. Our search for an apartment has been fruitless thus far. Hotel living, while having it's advantages, encourages a lifestyle that we are growing tired of. While we have some leads for a new home, we find ourselves being taken advantage of. The idea in Vietnam, is a white face represents wealth, and by their standards, I suppose that is true for the most part. We have found modest apartments asking up to 600 USD, that is just ridiculous considering the same apartment would be rented to a Vietnamese person for less than 200 USD.
There is hope, however, as we are making friends with our Vietnamese co-workers, and they will help us to find a place at a more reasonable price. We have also tossed around the idea of shared accommodation. Living with two or three other people in a huge French villa. I guess we will see how that turns out.
As for work, it is great. This is probably the best job I have ever had. It's fun, creative, and fulfilling. I know I would never have been able to get a job like this in Canada, so I will enjoy it while I can. It doesn't pay as well as teaching English, but it is a much better stepping stone in to something better. Teaching English is like treading water. No future employers will look at it with any real appreciation. It is financially rewarding, I suppose, but you come away from it no further ahead, in terms of hireability. Many people at the Vietnam News, with no journalistic experience, have used this job as a means to move on to Bangkok News, Taipei Times and then Japan News, all of which are more financially rewarding than the last. I am told you can make up to 80,000 US working for Japan News. So we will bide our time, gain some experience and hopefully make the best of it, as so many others have done before us. Mr Johnny Shaw included.
We are afraid to do any traveling right now, as we are concerned with leaving our luggage in a hotel room, unchecked for days at a time. We will have much more to blog about once we get settled here and start to visit all of the interesting places that Vietnam has to offer. So stay tuned, eventually there will be many pictures and new stories of our new experiences.
Talk to you soon,
Ed

It happened again, but better this time!

Karen and I decide to go for a drink with some colleagues from the Vietnam News, and the place we ended up was the very same Red Mask bar where the lights went out during our last visit. We had been there for a little while this time when it happened again. Lights out! The steel gate slides closed and we get the " Shhhhhhhhhhh, police!" from the staff.
This time it was a little more exciting. A police truck pulls up out front with the lights flashing. Five or six uniformed, Vietnamese police officers milling about out front. They stand at the door, hands cupped to their face, trying to see in through the treated glass of the front doors. Then to our surprise a batton shoots through the gate and hits the latch of the gate. The metal door slides open and the police burst through the door with flashlights in hand blowing whistles. There were about two dozen foreigners in the joint that night, and the police herded us out in to the street. Of course, nothing happened to us. We were free to travel half a block down the street to a bar that had done their civic duty and bribed the police. There, we were able to finish the bottles of beer from the Red Mask in peace and lumination.
The moral of this story..... ALWAYS BRIBE YOUR LOCAL AUTHORITIES!!

PS.
The absolute best part was when the police tried to leave and their truck wouldn't start. They had to get local street people to push their truck away. Totally emasculating, eh?

The Situation So Far...

We have been in Vietnam for almost a week. We have both been offered jobs at Vietnam News as Editors. We start Monday. I am looking forward to the break from teaching English, but I know we can both make a lot more money as teachers so we may not stay long at the newspaper. We are still living in the Hotel as it is not as easy to find apartments here as it was in Taiwan. Taiwan had a wonderful resource in The Tainan Bulletin. Vietnam has no such resource, so it is mostly Cafe bulletin boards and word of mouth.
I am including a few pictures here, but we havn't taken many shots. Over the coming weeks we will be sure to capture some of the scenes that we find strange and beautiful here. I will write another blog about our first day at Vietnam News.
Until then,
-Ed

Click the link to MySpace at the bottom of any blog to view a video of local traffic http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1206310177

(Our 12$ Hotel Room)

(Some Hanging Swine)

(The Lake by our Hotel)

The Darkhorse Lost at Sea & Lights out for Whiteys

We went to a local Western bar called the Red Mask last night. I played pool for drinks on the most banged up pool table in existance. The felt was mostly duct tape and the table was warped in three different places. It was also at a slight angle. It was kind of like playing mini golf on a pool table. We met lots of foreigners last night and heard some great stories.
One such story is a guy from Taipei who had been living in Taiwan for five years. He was dubbed the Darkhorse by his friends for his appreciation of Ladyboys in Thailand. The news just rolled in that Darkhorse, taking a ferry to avoid customs, as he was bringing in some illegal cargo, went overboard and was declared by the Japanese Coast Guard to be lost at sea. While the Japanese have lost all hope, the Westerners that knew him believe he is alive and well clinging to a rock somewhere in the straigt between Japan and Taiwan.
The moral of the story is never count out the Ladyboy loving Darkhorse.
The real excitement happened shortly after 1am when the Vietnam police rolled by with a flood light. To our surprise, the power went out and a heavy steel door dropped down over the entrance, trapping us inside. I immediately, for whatever reason, thought of The Lost Boys, and was anticipating the staff to turn into vampires and devour us all. It was explained to me that these clubs were not allowed to be open after 12:00 unless they pay a hefty bribe to the police. So this club has lookouts posted on the street and they signal the arrival of the police and the place shuts down in seconds with all the patrons sitting quietly inside, in the pitch black, drink in hand, waiting for the coast to clear and the lights and music to come back on. It was a unique experience and definately one I am glad we had.
Talk to you soon,
-Ed

Gooooood Morning Vietnaaaam!

Here we are. We said to ourselves. Hanoi, Vietnam. How do you like them apples? Well, I like 'em just fine. This place is amazing. It is like Mexico for Australians and Kiwis. There are a ton of foriegners here but most seem to be tourists. We ran in to a problem at the Taiwan airport that ended up costing us quite a few dollars, so we find ourselves a lot lighter financially than we had expected. Luckily, for us, everything here is the kind of cheap that makes you think you are halucinating or dreaming. We sit down in nice restaurants and eat huge meals, drink beer or whatever and have dessert. The kind of meals you would pay more than one hundred dollars for in Canada, we are paying 4-6 dollars. It is 1 dollar for a cab pretty much anywhere in the city. We are staying at a hotel for 12 dollars a night. This 12 dollar hotel consists of a double bed, satalite tv, mini-fridge and of course AC. The room is clean and there are no bugs.
From what we've seen on the streets, t-shirts, shorts and pants are a measly 2-4 dollars. We got new sim cards for our phones, without showing a lick of ID. In Taiwan, getting a sim card was like applying for a small business loan. The sim cards were 5 dollars and they came with ten dollars worth of minutes.
The temperature is the same as Taiwan, but there is a consistant breeze that makes it pleasant. The one downside is the constant harrassment by peddlers selling everything from books, hats, lighters, fruit and "Mareeewana". Everything they are selling is, of course, "werry cheepy" and they don't accept "no" for an answer unless you get rude about it.
I heard my first "A numbah 1 ok" and almost busted a gut laughing. One thing that is really cool, and I may actually purchase is a Vietnam War, American issue zippo. There were hundreds of thousands of these things left here during the war and there are peddlers on the street selling them. I don't know if they are authentic or not, but who cares?
I am in an internet cafe right now, and I will try and update frequently during our first few weeks here, as it is the most exciting time.
For those of you still reading, I thank you for your interest, and hope you keep tuning in.
Until next time,
Ed

Back on the Scene. Crispy and Clean.(somewhat)

It has been a while, dear readers, since we have posted on our misadventures in Taiwan. Although there are numerous reasons for our negligence, it is inexcusable to go this long without adding something.
I will start with our trip back to Canada. It was wonderful to see all of our family and friends again. We got to see Tom and Katies baby girl Elle, the wonderful sandy beaches of NB and NS, as well as Joe and Kelly's new band play a couple of times. We hung out in Raddie Dave's basement and Larry and Sarah's new apartment. (New to us, I believe they have moved again since our visit) But most importantly, we got to spend some time with our parents and my beautiful little girl. It was a great time and we look forward to being able to do it again sometime in the distant future.
Since we've been back, there have been some changes. We have decided to move out of Taiwan and on to Vietnam. We will be occupying the area that Mr. Shaw is soon departing from in Hanoi. Thanks to his time and effort I believe the transition will be as comfortable as possible. Thank-you Johnny, you are a true friend and gentleman.
We, of course, have been quite busy packing up our belongings(that which we will take) and selling off the rest. Our apartment has already been spoken for, but we still have a motorcycle,scooter, and a computer to sell.
And, speaking of motorcycles...Karen and I got in to our first accidents in Taiwan!! The absolute best part is, we crashed in to each other! Karen is a little bruised and sore, but nothing serious. I suffered the same as her but with a little extra trauma thrown in to my right arm. All things considered it could have been much worse.( An idiot on a scooter cut Karen off, I was following a little too closely and when she slammed on her breaks and went sideways, I didn't have enough room to stop and we collided.)
In closing, I would like to say, that although the Merlins will no longer officially Taiwanon, we will be tearing up vietnam in the near future so goodbye Merlinstaiwanon and Good Morning Vietnam!!!!
-E

Back to the Drawing Board

We are vacationing in Canada until August 3rd. We shall return to our blog when we return to Taiwan. Stay tuned...

Rainy Day People

It has been raining for a week. The streets are rivers and all of the creepies and the crawleys are searching for higher ground. We have all of our drains closed off and any openings to the pipes and sewers are taped up. We are well into rainy season here in Taiwan, and we are looking for a break from the rain during our trip back to Canada.
Our bikes are starting to give us problems now, due to the constant wet and rain we are having problems getting them started. The fact that the rain never lets up, is making it impossible for us to dry them out.
We had thunder and lightning last night that lasted for hours. We stood and watched torrential rains, so heavy the water would bounce off of the ground and splash up a foot or so. It is an odd sight to watch water both fall and rise at the same time. If the lightning had of been workable in the pre dawn we would have taken some video of the strange sight of it.
We will be nice and sick of the rain by the time we leave for Canada, so anyone who is reading this, could you please do whatever you can to make sure it is sunny and nice for the duration of our stay. We are giving you plenty of notice. I don't want to see any rain in Canada.
Other than the diving, we are particularly boring right now as we go about saving up our money and getting ready for the horribly long trip back to Canada. I wish I had something a little more exciting to write about than rain. I assure you it will get more interesting upon our return.
Bye for now, and for those of you in N.S, see you soon.
-E

KTV & Diving in Kenting

It was an eventful week-end for the The Merlins. We spent our saturday enjoying hotpot cuisine and KTV with my adult students. We went to 24h Party World for two hours where we commenced with the drinking and singing. I belted out House of the Rising Sun and Don't You (forget about me) and Karen did a stunning duet with Melinda(Taiwanese Teacher) of a techno version of What's Up. Although it ended early, it was a wonderful evening. We couldn't stay out very late on Saturday due to our 6am departure from Tainan the next morning. We were up with the birds and bats to start our long Sunday. We took the train to Kaoshiung to meet some other divers and a grizzly old Limey Instructor named Andy. We piled in to a van and we were off for Kenting. An hour and a half later we found ourselves in a beautiful beachfront area with sparkleing green seas and a wonderful breeze. We spent the day diving and ended it all off with a nice meal and a cool pegio or two. We are looking forward to the same thing next week-end. I am enclosing some pictures of our night before and day after.

( Karen getting ready to take the plunge)


( I love this picture)


( Packed in like a can of tuna)


( Andy's Angels)

( The whole gang)


( Entertaining the locals)

Fool-ish Earthquake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We experienced our first encounter with an earthquake on Sat. April 1st,2006 at 6:02PM local time. Apparantly Mother Nature had an April Fool's Day joke of her own in mind. Fortunately for those of us living in Tainan, it was felt as a moderate tremor instead of the powerful 6.4 blast on the richter scale that was felt in other regions of the country. It originated in the Southeastern tip of the island (not too far from us) and apparantly shook the skyscraper buildings in the Northeast capital of Taipei, on the opposite end of the island (the island is approx. the same size as P.E.I.-for those folks at home to compare).
Ed and I were just getting ready to go out for dinner when it struck. He had just exited our 2nd floor apt with a week's worth of garbage bags in tow in a last minute attempt to catch the daily garbage truck run, and was descending the inside stairs to the front entrance when it happened. He claims he didn't feel anything strange. I, however, in my well known last minute rush to get ready, was still inside the apt primping in the mirror when it hit. All of a sudden, the things on my dresser started to shake up and down, as did the things on the tables and shelves around me, just like it happened on those creepy poltergiest movies. Then, the floor starting shifting quickly from side to side, as if I were standing on a vibrating teeter-totter. Finally, the entire building started to gently sway, and that's when I made a mad dash for the door!!! The whole thing happened in about fifteen seconds or less. Just enough time to realize just what the heck is going on for a first timer. See, normally we wouldn't be alarmed by a little vibrating and a loud noise, as there are 747's flying into the Tainan airport right over our apt on a regular basis. We just got used to it. The funny thing is, just as the earthquake hit, one flew right overhead. I think that's why Ed didn't even notice it. Plus, he was going down a flight of stairs carrying heavy bags. He thought I was crazy when I came running outside blabbing something about an earthquake! It wasn't until we went out later that night when everyone was talking about it that he finally beleived me! Oh well, Ed, I'm sure that won't be our last one!
-K

Dinner with class

We went out for a lovely dinner with one of my adult classes. I tried everything on the table, and it was all seafood. I am an entirely different person here. I never touched seafood at home. It is very good here. The cast includes from left...
(Benson, Ping, Zoe, Kiki, Dave, Andy, Myself, Ricky, Melinda and of course Karen)

Out of sight, out of mind, out of touch?

It was about quarter to ten when I decided to join a colleague of mine for an after school Heineken in a park next to my school. Karen was working for another hour or so, and I had nothing better to do anyway. We found a couple of comfortable chairs and began to discuss movies, television and other such popular fare. It was then that we came to the conclusion that we were completely ignorant of the goings on of Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and J-Lo. Moving to Taiwan had effectively cut me off from the daily barrage of information regarding the personal lives of celebrities. I came to the realization that I loved not knowing. I am blissfully unaware of the trials and tribulations of movie stars, and I could care no less.
My once vast and mighty sea of pop culture knowledge is drying up by the day. My friends back home, who have found me to be a most challenging Pop-culture trivialist? (is that a word?) Will definitely have the upper hand now, although I will still be a ferocious De Niro player, being that I still watch movies.
I know some people enjoy sneaking a peek in to the lives of movie stars, but I recommend taking a break, and I know it would be hard to do in North America, but try it just the same. It is lovely not having a clue about the stupid lives of people I have never met, and who care about me even less than I care about them.
Bye for now,
E



( Here are some pictures of two banged up cats on the mend.)

The Passion of the Mormon

It was a day like any other that I found myself traveling from one school to the next, for my second class of the day. I rode my motorcycle to the same intersection I always do and waited for the long red light to go away and allow me to continue on. I glanced, unassumingly to my left and noticed a young blonde fellow on a bicycle smiling at me from ear to ear.
“How ya doing?” I said, with a slight nod of my head, signifying that it was more of a greeting than an actual question, as I did not want to get involved in a conversation whilst awaiting a light change.
“ Excellent!” He responded, and right away I knew something was up. Who does that? Who responds “Excellent” when someone asks them how they are doing? A Mormon, that’s who. He proceeded to ask me if I was a teacher and where I was from.
“Yes” and “NS, Canada” were my answers to that, hoping that would be an end to it.
“ A lot of our members are Canadian Teachers!” He went on, still smiling from ear to ear.
Luckily the light turned green. “ See ya later!” I called out over my shoulder as I peeled away from him. I made it about two city blocks before another red light caught me and held me in place. Mere seconds after I arrived my friend on the bicycle pulled up beside me and continued on with his attempt at saving my soul from eternal damnation. He began to ask me if I was familiar with the Church of Jesus Christ and the Later Day Saints. I said I was vaguely aware of such an organization. He began to tell me about a fellow named John and his time in “the Americas”. Green Light, I was gone again, hoping to have seen and heard the last from my new Mormon friend. That was not to be.
The blonde headed Mormon caught up with me again at the next light. I have to admit, I was starting to like this guy. He was red-faced and winded by our third meeting and was catching his breath while trying to convert me. I heard a little more about John and the Indians before I was off again. Yet another red light and the little fella had caught me again. This time he pulled up even more out of breath and barely able to speak. It was all I could stand, I asked him if there was some kind of spiritual commission that he gained from these sorts of things, as he was definitely working his ass off. If he had of been selling stereos instead of eternal salvation I probably would have bought two! I told him to save his breath and his energy, as he was not going to convert me to Mormonism or whatever they are calling it these days. I did tell him that I liked his gumption, and out of all the Mormons I had ever spoken to, he was my favorite. I assured him he did a good job, and if there was ever a chance of converting me, he had the first crack at it. I bid him goodbye and at the next red light I ran it, just to be safe. I don’t think they are allowed to run red lights.

Bye for now,
-E

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

The Lunar New Year is the most significant festival for ethnic Chinese around the world, wherever they come from. It is a very jubilant occasion mainly because it is the time when people take a break from work to get together with family and friends.

The origin of the Lunar New Year Festival can be traced back thousands of years, involving a series of colorful legends and traditions. One of the most famous legends is Nian ¦~, an extremely cruel and ferocious beast that the ancients believed would devour people on New Year's Eve. To keep Nian away, red-paper couplets are pasted on doors, torches are lit, and firecrackers are set off throughout the night, because Nian is said to fear the color red, the light of fire, and loud noises. Early the next morning, as feelings of triumph and renewal fill the air at successfully keeping Nian away for another year, the most popular greeting heard is gong si ®¥³ß, or "congratulations."
Even though Lunar New Year celebrations generally last for only several days, starting on New Year's Eve, the festival itself is actually about three weeks long. It begins on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, the day, it is believed, when various gods ascend to heaven to pay their respects and report on household affairs to the Jade Emperor, the supreme Taoist deity. According to tradition, households busily honor these gods by burning ritualistic paper money to provide for their traveling expenses. Another ritual is to smear malt sugar on the lips of the Kitchen God, one of the traveling deities, to ensure that he either submits a favorable report to the Jade Emperor or keeps silent.

Next, "spring couplets" are hung up around the house. Spring couplets are paper scrolls and squares inscribed with blessings and auspicious words, such as "good fortune," "wealth," "longevity," and "springtime." The paper squares are usually pasted upside down, because the Mandarin word for "upside down," dao, is a homonym of the word "arrival." Thus, the paper squares represent the "arrival" of spring and the "coming" of prosperous times.
For more info go to www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/culture/lunar-NY/


Unfortunately, this year, the pouring rain kept most revelers indoors. There was a spirited outburst of fireworks and firecrackers at midnight that lasted about an hour, but it paled in comparison to previous years, or so we are told.
-E

Sunburned on January 14th

We returned to Kaohsuing once again. This time it was to watch Dave May and his team the "Tainan Phoenix" play in a soccer tournament. We started out Saturday morning at 9AM on a bus with the team and some other supporters. The bus ride was comfortable and didn’t take too long. We soon arrived at some fancy high school on the outskirts of Kaoshuing. There were 16 teams and they played 25 minute games. It was interesting for a while, but Karen and I do not equally share Mr. Mays’ love for the game, and found ourselves bored before too long.
The temperature was just less than 30 degrees and we were sunburned within the hour. We decided to hail a cab and make our way into the city, where we checked into our hotel and dropped off the heavy backpack that we had been lugging around all day. We then made our way to an 85-floor building with an observation deck on the 75th floor. The elevator is the second fastest elevator in the world, with the fastest also being in Taiwan -at the Taipei 101- which is now the tallest building in the world. It was a strange experience to have my ears pop repeatedly on an elevator ride. We traveled 75 floors in no more than 25-30 seconds. The view was incredible. We quickly settled into the bar at dusk(6PM-ish)where we had a drink and watched the night fall from high above the city.
We then made our way to a popular western joint- Smokey Joe's- where we had a fantastic meal, and went on to spend the rest of the evening bar-hopping. It was a great time, and we found some interesting places that we are definitely looking forward to returning to. I am including some pictures from our weekend.
Bye for now,
-E

P.S. Since I don’t seem to be finding too many things that are bad or ugly, I am going to add another element to the Good, Bad & Ugly site. CHINGRISH and all the funniest instances of it we can find. Coming soon to a sidebar near you.....!

(Dave May sporting red knee highs)


(One of the views from the 75th floor)