One of the nice things about living in Vietnam is that you can spoil yourself for very little money. To give you an example, I usually get a haircut and an ear cleaning (they do that at barbershops here) for 15,000 dong or $1 U.S. Today I got a haircut, ear cleaning, shave, shampoo and facial massage for just 30,000 dong or just $2 dollars. I felt really RELAXED afterwards. I then drove down the street and had myself a delicious fruit shake for about 25 cents followed by a visit to the Internet cafe for 25 cents an hour. Even though Internet connections here are painfully slow, you can't beat that price. Curiously, I have noticed that most Vietnamese are much more into chatting online than using the Internet itself.

My CD collection has grown by leaps and bounds recently. Last month I got 21 CDs for $20, and last week as a repeat customer I got a further discount and got another 21 CDs for just $14. Do I feel guilty about buying pirated CDs? Not really. Over the years I've spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars on music, so I don't feel bad about getting a few on the cheap for a change.

I also bought myself a Honda Future motorbike last week. Damn nice. I won't be able to ride it much until I get it registered and I have a license plate. It is a very, very smooth ride though- and that’s saying a lot considering all the potholes in this city. All this week I've been dropping Kat off at work in the morning and keeping her motorbike for the day, so I am feeling more and more comfortable and confident riding one with each passing day.

Things overall are going really well. I've got two or three different prospects as far as jobs go and I'm feeling quite pleased with how things are shaping up. There are possibilities now as well as in February after the Tet holidays.