Hey! We left the crooked town Nha Trang and now we are chilling in Mui Ne. Much nicer city, less hookers, criminals and stuff. We gonna be here for 3 days or so...

 

We did not find a cheap and clean accomodation. Just cheap and dirty ones or clean but very expensive hotel rooms. What to do, what to do?

 

Let’s check out the luxury hotel and see what deal they can offer us!

 

Apparently, luxury is cheaper then pittoresk(?), small pricy hotel rooms. We got a large room with BIG beds for 100 kr each per night.

 

The Bed

 

Of course 100 kr a night are waaaaay over our budget so after dinner we had to get money. Of course there are several ways to get money in Vietnam. Here’s a list of exemples:

 

1. You can start your own business. Like an Internet Caf’e, Bar etc. Only one problem, you gotta marry a Vietnamese girl first. You own jackshit here, everything have to be in your wifes name.
2. Sell sunglasses to tourists. Any problems? 25 % of the Vietnamese population does the same.
3. Take a job at a hotel or restaurants. Only one problem as well, your salary is roughly one Snickers per hour.

 

Any other alternatives?

Of course! Sweden loves monopoly like a fat kid loves cake. Just download the client from our well known, national gambling association and start the grind!

 

One and a half hour fishing in the Svenska Spel lake and  I made 235 kr. Enough to carry the cost for our Rock'n'Roll lifestyle.

Problem solved, the Swedish way.

 

Vietnamese luxury - Seashells around the mirror and frosted glass. Classy!

 

The Lobby

 

The Hotel badge

Another Saturday gone. Saturdays are the best in Nha Trang. Everyone goes out and you can dance at the beach. Excellent!

So yesterday night kicked ass. Litterally. Poor Matt got date raped druged (probably roofies) and went away with a motorbike. Then he was gone.

The guards of our hotel found him later passed out on the street. They just carried him up to his  bed and went down to continue their sleep. Matt woke up by 4 PM all covered in blood from his head. It seems like he have been in a fight, his wrist hurts and the knuckles are swollen. He is bruised up and have a deep wound in his head. No money at all.
I bet he got mugged and tried to fight them off and then got knocked out by a beat stick. The motobike guys use to carry around with shit like that.



That's not all folks! Two of the girls I hang around with got pickpocketed. To top it off they stole her phone and then tried to sell it back to her. I bargained (of course) and cut of 65 % of the "ransom price" and yelled at them to get the phone.
Once they were back we just took the phone and asked them in a polite way to hmm...
FUCK OFF! And they actually did.

So the night was good. Great party.

This morning we woke up by Enter Sandman. Suddenly the whole phucking house started to tumble by the drum solo. When the refrain got on I almost got up to stand in doorway, litterally, the house was shaking that bad.

Still don't know where the music come from. It stopped after the first chorus.

Exit, light
Enter, Night
Take my hand
we're off to never-never land

When people from Lapland’s Vasby telling you it have been a while since you blog, you respond to that. And blog.

 

So what’s up?
I’m on vacation but lately it has been plenty of bizznizz going on. BIG bizznizz!
Don’t want to be a jerk but right now I cannot talk that much about it. But I can give you guys a clue. It involves a hell lot of exercising, hot chicks and hopefully travels to. Give me a week or two and I could probably tell you.

What more?
Have spent some time with three girls from Dublin. I tell you this, Irish people are mental. That’s why we gonna celebrate St Patrick’s Day at Wednesday. Gonna try to find some green clothes and a pair of braces.

 

Bye!

Just wanna upload some pictures.



Tom & Chally - Hetaste butiken




Great feeling - Withdraw four millions from your savings. Pile of money. Lets go shopping!




Lokala Casinot




Met some professional dancers when we where out. They performed on a Cruise Ship. Cool people, even better dancers. 

Hey!
Today we visited the famous tunnels in Saigon. Pretty cool!

 

The Vietnamese are tiny bastards. Aint easy to crawl the tunnels if you’re 187 cm. But it’s fun doh. And warm as hell.

 

The entrance

 

Crouching Tiger

 

Hidden Dragon

 

Hidden trap.

 

Ouch. I told you. Sneaky bastards.

 

The uniform

 

 

 

Guleböj, pineapple and kiwis. There are a lot of fruits going on…

We met a nice mug victim from Norway (great to find people with similar interests).
Apparently South America is the place if you like guns up your face.

 

We also hooked up with two Kiwis at the Saigon Airport
(we have gone pros Airport stalking people).

Also I found out during dinner that my name means “Pineapple” in Vietnamese. A group of girls asked my name and replied “Aah. Pineapple!” in chorus when they found out that my name was Tom.

 

 

---

 

 

At night I encountered another Kiwi. A male one. They are not at all as humble and cute as the female ones. And quite territorial as well. Strange creature…

The guy just started shouting at me when I talked to this girl. This is a short version of our flip out conversation.

 

Kiwi stampede out from club:
“Why are you raising your voice to hear?!”

Tom:
”Eeh, what? You know, we are standing hear talking?”

Kiwi:
”I don’t know how you do in your country but here you don’t treat women like this!”

Tom being smart:
”Oh, I see. You don’t talk to girls here?”

Kiwi mumbles something inaudible and turns to girl instead:
”I just want you to know. We back you up to 110%. You do what you want. All in the restaurant will back you up. Back you up you know.”

Girl concerned of having a 42 old, 105 kilos solid guy over her:
”eh…… alright?”

It went on for this another five minutes.  With some pokes here and there. And speeches of course. Lots of speeches about how I behave, that I was not in Sweden/Switzerland and about the morale of a Kiwi.

The weirdest thing is that during the yelling and jostling he would stop several times and pour beer into my glass. He even took his friends beer and gave it to me.

After a while he got tired of yelling at me and started to talk to my German friend Uli instead. Dropped his pants to the floor and showed his tattoos. Me and the girl were free to go.

Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of him. I don’t know and certainly don’t want to find out how Kiwis reacts to photos.

 

Bottom line.
I guess these things happen when you try to dry out a Silja Line ferry by your own. Or it’s just the way male Kiwis behave. I guess we have to go to New Zealand to find out for sure…

 

I don't know why, but the whole scenario reminds me of this song. Can't get it out of my head.

Due to crappy Internet connections loads of stuff is left behind. Simply cause I do not have the patience to wait 20 min for one (yep 1!!!) picture to upload.

We do not wanna have it like Lord of the Rings (History became legend, legend became myth - and some things that should not have been forgotten … were lost).

But now we are in Saigon. And it's great. And even better, the Internet is OK. So, here comes a large sum of info, mixed with parallel stories and pictures. Try to keep up.

I lead out with the D'Talipapa night market of Boracay. The prawns in there are the largest ones I ever seen. Almost a kilo a piece.. But unfortunately we could not enjoy these culinary delicacy, our backpacker budget is too small. But hey! It was fun just watching them.

 

The best gas station in the world. Even Roffe would be jealous…

After a couple of days in Boracay we found d’mall palengke – a street with great restaurants and cheap liqour stores. We like!
In fact, this street was so good so I took it and named it after me. No more palengke street, its Tom’s Street.

 

After briefing the others (Andreas, Chris, Lisa & Ashlen) about the situation we all agreed. It’s Tom’s Street for now on. Attested in sand as alaways (according to the Laws and Regulations of the Boracay Convention. Founded By Chris, Andreas and Tom. See appendix 7.1 at the beach).

As the Manager of the street I will give you an exclusive guide of the restaurants you can find on Tom’s Street:

 

Tom’s Romantic Dinner Restaurant
Only 5 tables and great food - Tom’s Romantic Dinner Restaurant is the perfect hideaway for newlyweds and loving couples. Reasonable prices and delicious food. A big plus for the wobbly tables and picturesque  candles.

 

Tom’s One Hour Waiting but Great Food Diner
The concept is simple and genuine  – Order a meal and wait an hour. Regardless what you order. Ice Tea just takes 40 min.
Well worth the waiting for the food. Best food you can find on Tom’s Street.
Don’t miss the grumpy waitress who cannot count at all.

 

Tom’s Kinda Techno Place
Is it a bar? Is it a restaurant? Is it a night club?
No, it’s Tom’s Kinda Techno Place!
The hippest place on Tom’s Street. The barbecue is fantastic, the music the loudest you ever experienced! If you just looking for a great meal or tinnitus – Tom’s Kinda Techno Place is the place for you.
Remember ear plugs!

(The new sign is being printed right now. Will be up to the 2011 Reunion Tour)

K 200
Or “The K” as the locals calls it.
My Swedish Dentist gave me an antibacterial gel to put on my newly fixed tooth.
The result? Killed all the “Good germs” in my mouth so I didn’t have any natural protection against the new bacterial fauna of the third world.
Which means? A yeast infection on my tongue and a 4 hour hunt for antifungul medicine.
But don't you worry my friends, that's all history now. When “The K” kicks in you will be good in 48 hours.

 

 

Ashlen, I can’t thank you enough. Your nurse skills are awesome!

Alright, I guess I have to make some more recaps later. Still plenty of things missing. Or I will write a book instead. That’s the amount of untold stuff!

Let’s finish of with a nice picture. I cannot find PhotoShop anywhere, so I fixed the picture in ACDSee. Really proud of the fake moon…

 

From left to right:
Chris, Tom, Random Dude, CK (suspect No.1 of drugging Chris), Stolle (yep, it’s a tiara in his hand) & Cecile (suspect No.2 of drugging Chris)

Alright!
We are in Vietnam. So of course I need a new number. Find it below.

I'm not sure how you should type it in so I give you guys 3 alternatives. Great huh?

Try this:
84 935496918

If it doesn't work, try this:
+84 935496918

Still not working?! Try this:
0084 935496918

Hugs Tom

Ok. We knew that Petronas Twin Towers where a tourist trap but what the hell. "A landmark" as the Dutches said so we went there.

Nothing special but still "a landmark".






The fun part began when the mandatory objectification took place.

"Hi! You so cute. Picture!"

Andreas managed to get a picture as well.
Don't want to brag, but I can get used to this. It's both fun and flatering.

Such a shame that they can't write "Tom Yum" correctly.

That should be your monthly salery if you wanna go out in KL. The nightlife is not higly ranked, just higly priced...

Spoiler alert! If you travel from the Philippines you will find every city expensive. Especially the booze. Hojtaroljan med andra ord.

Well, well. Since we are here we figured that we have to make a real night out. Regardless the price. "Kosta vad det kosta vill" så att säga.

The result was kinda..  hmm..   interesting!
While I took a nap, Stolle acted kindly and went booze hunting. A bootle of cheap Polish (but of course manufactured in Malaysia?) vodka was purchased.



The taste was of course shady, not the Gray Goose type of vodka. Screw it! Or screwdriver it to be more precise. Peel fresh juice and we were on the train. 

30 min later...
Bottle finished. A quick glance in the mirror (this is for you Chris) and we were off. Our first destination:
Reggae Bar - Svennebanan placet numero uno.

Don't get me wrong, I still hate reggae and Svennebanan places. But Reggae Bar have one thing - loads of people.

After we passed the guard (Why?) with a slight hand gesture a' la Tom, I noticed that he stopped everyone except us. Firmly registered them all and made them pay up. The Swedish nationality continues to pay off here. Tall and blond, tall and blond...



Inside we found an extravaganza of reggae influences. Red/green/yellow flags, Marley posters, ganja symbols and of course - a sign telling everyone to NOT do drugs. Everything in order...

After Reggae Bar we headed to the nightclub street. A steady walk for 20 min. "Skip taxi, save money" - we said to each other.

Well there the street was pumping. Sean Paul, techno and Malaysian hits mixed together in a potpourri of bad taste. Went the street up and down and hit the club Sutra - a club exactly like old Kharma in Stockholm. Or at least the same font at the logo.

Great time in there. Funny Indians and good feeling. And best of all, great DJ!

Oh, have to go now. Stolle getting grumpy, he wants to go out again. Kosta vad det kosta vill :)

See more pictures from the night here!

There is a scene in KL. Not big, not super, but a scene.

Sabah, Borneo has lots of things to offer, astonishing wildlife and breathtaking extreme activities. Unfortunetly everything happens outside Kota Kinabalu, which of course is our residence...

So what to do?

At a Tourist Office we found a leaflet about motorbikes for rent. Interesting!
We managed to track down their office and instantly fell in love with two Motocross bikes. A little bit of paper work and we were bikers.

I figured if you were a biker you obviously need a cool name. If not you cannot call yourself a biker. A dive in the thinktank and our names were done.

Andreas gonna be Henry Hård the following days. A name inspired by a song of  Petter. My name obtained by coinsidence, a quick look at my jeans and I was done. You can call me.... Grim Tim.



Our route is sporadically set to this.

Day 1.
We ride out prior to noon and head towards the tip of Borneo. A 4 hour ride.
Well there we gonna watch the sunset and experience the power of the ocean. When the sun is gone, we check in at a nearby longhouse for some traditional stuff.

Day 2.
An early start and we are of to Mount Kinabalu, a large national park area with loads of things to see. I think we gonna skip the strawberry plantation, even when our travel advisor said it was a "must see". Still consider swedish strawberries to be the best so why bother?
The accomondation is set to some native hut or so.

Day 3.
We head out to face the Malaysian Headhunters (and they are not the types of headhunters you find at StepStone). If we still have our heads at our shoulders we return to Kota Kinabalu to return the bikes. 


The Gang



Left: Henry Hård   Right: Grim Tim
Fun facts
Model: Kawasaki KLX 150S
Engine: 150 cc four stroke
Top speed: 125 knyck
First impression: Boom chicka wow wow!

This morning we decided to do some snorkeling. Kota Kinabalu City is not knowned for its beutiful beaches so we had to take a boat to find some fish. 

Our choice fell at Sapi Island, a national park who everyone recommended. 

20 min with speed boat we where ashore.  I litteraly run to the water with my snorkel. Being in a city with no chance to swim is frustrating when it is 30 degrees outside.

Well in the water I found a great marine life. Loads of fishes playing around me, not afraid at all. Before I ran in the water I spoke briefly with the lifeguard. He warned me about jelly fishes but said that they were easy to spot cause of their yellow color.

After 5 min of snorkeling I felt a rudely sting at my thigh, turned around an saw nothing. A couple meters of swimming and another sting... But no jelly fish in sight. The only thing I could see was this yellow seaweed stuff floating around.

I continued swimming but so did the stings. I gave up when my chin felt like it was on fire, bursted up from the water with cyclop and flippers flapping all over.

Back at the beach, my skin itched like hell. Burning feeling followed by pain and then itchy again. What the fuck just happened?

I went back to my towel and passed the lifeguard.

- Jelly bugs?
He asked me with a smile.

- What?
I replied.

- Jelly bugs. Lots of them. In the water. It burns?
He answered. 

- Hell yeah! What is it?
I replied, now kinda upset.

The lifeguard started explain that there was plenty of so called "Jelly bugs"in the water. Not as harsh like jelly fishes but still annoying as hell.

He gave me a bottle of vinegar to wash the rashes.
- This helps.
He said.

I fucking hate vineger. The smell of it makes me vomit. And now I should take a bath in it! And put it on my face aswell. Fuck....

After 3 hours the rashes stopped hurting. This is my leg...





Enough of complaining. We started explore the island and found this:



Godzilla!!!

Happy again. I love lizzard. Especially the ones in this size.




Look at the scars on the tail. This one is a fighter!

So. They trip to Sapi turned out great after all. Thanks to the Godzillas laying around.

Mitt mobilnummer fram till den 24 februari:

0060 10 95 33 690

Vojne, vojne. Now we gone completely local. Ash found a boyfriend in Boracay and took of for a couple of days. She came back 3 days later  totally gobsmacked.
"You guys must go their", was her words, so of course we did.

A 30 min boat ride later we were in Padan. An island not far from Boracay, but real far from tourists and civilisation.
A tricycle took us to JC's aunts house. Oh, by the way, JC is the boyfriend, a cool guy who always wears a cowboy hat. That may seem a little bit lame but he have guns, climb coconut trees, fish and make his own rice from scratch. So, he is cool... and the Phillipino MacGyver. Litterally.

Well there we found out that there was no water and crappy electricity. So a shower equals a bucket. But don't worry, the take real good care of us. Every meal is served with their own rice, fresh fish from the ocean, grilled over a coconut shell fire. And it is delicious, wait and see for the picture upload.

Bye for now, I will upload some pictures with explanations real soon. Keep updated.

Me and Andreas took a break from our ordinary night activities and headed to the Casino. First I thougth of skipping playing because the rake was 10%! Ridicolous.

But after a while I figured that I probably had an EV+ for 20-30%, so what the hell. The blinds where 50-100 so I bougth in for 10 000 Phillipino money and began to work.

A couple of hours later I had 14 450 and called it a day. 4 450 PHP is only 800 SEK but they will last 4 days here.
So, basically, I'm rich now. Sort of.

Bye

Eller Tom vs. Stolle 1-0

Jello. We are in San Fernando, a surf resort 7 hours by bus from Manilla.

I tried surfing and that shit is hazardous! I'm totally bruised up. The waves is not that big, maybe 1-1.5 m high. But they are extremly powerful. Once a wave catch your board you set of with an incredible speed.

Bye for now
/Tom