#73 Guess who's back? Busy and back on the move with friends and family.

After 39 hours of travel I arrived in Houston and was
picked up and met by my friends (Andy and Morgan)
smiling faces!!!! I put on my dumb and dumber tux
for the arrival.

My last morning in Bangkok I spent my last baht and bought some tiger balm before going to the airport where I waited about 4 hours for my flight to Hong Kong. After a short wait in Hong Kong I got on my 13 hour flight to L.A where I spent the night in the airport before my 6am flight got delayed to 10am. From there I flew to Phoenix where I had to wait a few more hours before catching my flight to the final desination; Houston.
It was so nice to be off planes and know that I was going to see some friends and just relax for some days.
The next few days consisted of hanging out with Morgan, Andy, and friends. I spent quite a bit of time relaxing by the pool and reading/listening to music, catching up on Entourage 3 and watching playoff basketball; GO PISTONS!!!!!

My first reaction coming back to the US is that is seems everyone is walking around with their cell phones connected to their ears and it also looks like they are all trying to get through the day. Obesity stands out like a nun in a whore house. It will take some time to readjust.

Morgan, Andy and I made a trip to Galveston to hang out on the beach for a day and followed it up with a concert to see Bob Schneider; I love concerts.



This is my close view of the stage at the Bob Schneider
concert; there is nothing like a live concert!!!!


After more lazy days where half of them consisted of talking on the phone to people I haven't had much contact with in the last year; after not having a cell phone for so long it feels a bit like handcuffs where anyone can find you at anytime. Of course you don't have to answer the phone, but we all know that when the caller knows you have a phone and you don't call them back then there is them getting upset with you. I made a lot of homemade meals. It's hard to eat out and pay 10 times more for a meal than I was paying in Asia and know you aren't getting something as fresh or as tasty for that matter (just my opinion, buy it's my page so everything is obviously my opinion)
I had a day out with Morgan and her friends which consisted of drinking bottomless mamosas (orange juice and champagne). It was a long day which made a not so great next morning, but well worth it and good fun the day before.
Once Andy was finished with his finals and let his mind clear, we began creating a new song (yes, we have old songs, we know were working on our fifth).

This is Dave singing (who the song-Open your eyes- is about)
and Andy working the studio controls. I was taking a break.

Finally the day came where my parents arrived. My great uncle Lou from NYC (previously mentioned in a past blog) drove down with them for our almost 2 week road trip. It was great to see them and after 15 minutes with them I was caught up on a years worth of news and it was as if no time had passed; still great to see them.
We all decided to head out for the night to the Greyhound race track where they had 50 cent hot dogs and tap beer and $1 margaritas. That along with dogs running, fat girls screaming, my dad and uncle Lou trashtalking about their bets at the dog races and the reuniting with Juan R (a friend from when I lived here) made for a great night. Congrats to Juan who is now engaged!!

This is the motley crew focused on a race hoping to win
some big bucks. My dad picked a top three the first race
and won 30 cents; we're all high rollers in my family, not just me.


Saturday, the 18th. The road trip with Mom and the Lou's begins. First stop:Corpus Christi.
During this time I have to rethink who is married, but remember it is my mom and day. But hearing the friendly bickering between my dad and uncle Lou you would question it. The good part about this is it makes everyone laugh and makes for good entertainment for the most part.
After stopping for breakfast at a place where they had no coffee and no bread in a little podunk town we made our way down to Corpus where we saw and stayed with my cousin Aaron and his daughter Kailyn (Jaclyn was out of town). During our stay we ate a lot, discussed nothing I talked about during my trip (or very little); politics and things that lately I find to be trite and very unimportant for myself. We hung out and swam at the beach. Walked around and caught up with the parents. Went to town and enjoyed the views of the harbor. Played some chess and bar shuffle board with Aaron; he won overall at chess and I at shuffle board.
At the beach: from left to right: Dad, Mom, Me (ah, back at the beach),
Uncle Lou (that's his name, if you meet him, that's what you call him).
Aaron and Kailyn. Good times, 4 out of 6 got burned.

We our now heading out to our next destination: San Antonio.


Let me introduce you to my parents. If it wasn't for them
getting freaky 28 years ago, I wouldn't be here and you wouldn't
have this blog to read; so we are all thankful for them.
Also, if it wasn't for their support for whatever ridiculous plans
I have, I don't know if I would have had the great adventures
that I have had and will continue to have; so to my parents:
THANK YOU!!!

As far as Uncle Lou goes: he keeps reminding me that I ate bugs during my trip, so today will be the day that I eat his famous peanut butter and sweet onion on wholewheat bread sanwich;
I'll let you know how it is in the next blog; if I remember.

Aaron and Kailyn...and Jaclyn, thanks for having us and letting us run wild through your house and neighborhood, and I always love torturing Kailyn, you know, anyone who can't defend themselves.




“Home is not where you live, but where they understand you”
I found this quote, but to be honest I haven't found anywhere where anyone understands me.
Well, here and there some do.



“Everybody knows how to raise children, except the people who have them.”

P. J. O'Rourke

This was a team pick of a quote by the group here.
I'm out!!!

#72 I have to pass this story on, why could it end normal?

As you know if you read the last blog, I got out some money for my last days in Bangkok and went to get some massages. First, was a Thai massage. This lady twisted and cracked me like never before. Granted, I had been traveling in a bus for 3 days, so everything was tight and needed it. I kept thinking of those police movies where someone is taken into a room to be questioned and when they get out looking black and blue they tell that they were worked over pretty good. Well, I got worked over by a little thai lady for 2 hours and would have definately given up any information had she asked for it.

A little rest, sweet and sour pineapple chicken rice, vegetable steamed rice, two fruit smoothes, a skewer, some spring rolls, a candy bar and some chocolate drink during a couple of hours and I headed back for a oil massage.

My thinking was- "I'll get the latest possible slot for an oil massage and then relax so much that I'll go to bed right after"
When I arrived at 9, I saw my butch lady there ready to give me a massage. I was told she was strong. (strong is good). She gave me a towel which is when it crossed my mind that I didn't have any underwear on. (It had all been dirty for a while, so I'd been going comando). I did have laundry done, but haven't picked it up yet, I figured it was better to do here than when I arrived with Andy and Morgan in Houston and first off asked them if I could do laundry and then told them that I'm happy to sleep where ever but I will be naked.

"Chicks dig me because I rarely wear underwear and when I do it's something unusual"
-Bill Murray in the movie "Stripes"- great flick.

It didn't matter in the end because after handing me the towel she told me to get naked.
To be honest I don't know what the towel was for because after about 5 minutes in she pulled in completely off. I'm not sure if it was because it was a little dark in the room and she wanted my white ass to help illuminate it or what. Well, at least I'm on my stomach, no big deal.
She was as strong as they come, I could hear and feel her arm bone and elbow grinding against my ribs through my back muscles.
Then when she worked on my legs if I got a little relaxed she would tap the spot just between my scrotum and my holy hole which would make me yell, followed up by her laughing. (just wrong). I think she was trying to detach my leg muscles from any thing holding them in place and when I would laugh in pain, she would laugh with enjoyment.
When she turned me on my side I could feel air getting in everywhere it hadn't got to before, yep, I was exposed and she didn't care. I have to give it to her, she was a woman on a mission, to massage with more pressure then I've ever felt and to have me feel like she owned me.

My younger sister Beth is on a proffesional women's football team, the Santa Rosa Scorchers and this lady would have been a good asset for that team (Beth, I can get her contact info if you want). If you want to follow their season or try to get to a game the website is: http://www.srscorchers.com/ Beth has a girl on her team named A-train who is quoted as saying, "We will be eating Cherrioes out of their skulls on Sunday morning".

My lady kept calling me King Kong, saying I was big and hairy; I'm not saying that's not true.

Needless to say, I never fell asleep and it wasn't what I had invisioned. She got knots out and I did wake up much more sore than I was when I went in, but I have to run now because I have one more appointment before I head to the airport.

Also from Bill Murray in Stripes there is a song he sings:
"One of these days everything that I want is gonna be mine, but if it ain't it will be alright as long as there's sunshine and a big old brew".

#71 Last stop in Vietnam, last stop with my little chiquita, too many buses and how to finish?

This is the motley crew from the days bike tour which

continued with a few drinks, into dinner, after dinner drinks

and late night drinks which made for a fun and interesting

night!!!! (Steve (me), Sarah (little one), Michelle (my belle),

and Son (our tour guide and a good man))

The last real stop I made in Vietnam was in Nha Trang which is a city on the coast. It is a big holiday spot for Vietnamese as well as foreigners and since we chose to arrive on the busiest days of the year due to their national holiday of when the North army took Saigon in the war there were no rooms available in the city. (that was a very long sentence, I'm sure corrections could be made, but I'm not going to.) The few rooms that were available were way out of our price range considering we had been paying between $3-$5 each for a night. After checking all around the city I went to a hotel and when he said they were full I asked if we could just throw some mattresses somewhere for the night. He then lead us up 6 floors to the roof where the laundry was hanging to dry and said we could sleep there on floor mats, $1 each. DONE.

Me on my floor mat on the roof of the hotel, notice the

plants in the background; and they said there were

no toilets up there.

We wandered around the city our first night, got some delicious food and found a local baguette sandwich stand for a good price where over the next 3 days we ate over 25 between the 3 of us.

The following morning I called Son, who I had met a few weeks earlier while he was giving someone a trip around the same parts that I was traveling around. The girls and I decided to do a day trip around the Nha Trang area with Son and his compadres. We saw the local aquarium, different temples and went to a home where they make mats. We all got to try our hand at making the mats; not too hard, just time consuming. We had a lot of laughs with our tour guides who were nicknamed Lady boy, koo koo, and Ugly. After our half a day tour we decided to spend some quality time on the beach swimming and resting before meeting up with Son later on.

At about 6 we met up with Son at a locals place where we got a big, cold pitcher of beer for $.75. After a few of those we headed to a restaurant on the street where we ordered some fresh caught squid while continuing to drink our cheap beer. After dinner we went back to our local bar and got others to join us for a card drinking game. We got most of the bar to join in for our group cheers, which consisted of "Mot, Hai, Ba....YO!!!!!" This translates to 1,2,3...YO!!!!

We were told at the restaurant and the bars we were at to quiet down.

After closing this place down we headed to a bar on the beach were I tried to sneak in to avoid the entrance fee and got chased out by a group of security, I would have been fine if Son wasn't soo drunk at this point. We finally paid to get in and began dancing and drinking until they closed the doors and we were finally on our way home. I was ready to go back and sleep on my roof which I'm sure was the biggest space in the hotel, with the best view and for the cheapest. Little Lane came to join me up there utnil we went down to their room to use the bathroom and sleep in a bed for a while. I woke up after a few hours to go up and grab my shorts which had been moved along with most of the money that was in my wallet. I haven't had any money stolen on this trip until Vietnam and there twice, so my cheap roof turned out to be not so cheap, still a good story though.

The next day we didn't do much, laid around, ate a lot and walked around until we met up with the girls friend and a big group of her friends. We were right back where we left off the night before.

The next morning bright and early I said goodbye to My belle and My Little One, Sarah.

I have spent time in 4 countries with these two and have gotten pretty close with Sarah and we have a lot of great stories and times together.

This is Sarah and I on our big night out. She may be small,

but has a strong personality and a big attitude. Oh little one,

where in the world will we meet again? I hope you enjoyed

your time with me as much as I did with you.

George Eliot

"Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away."

I then left bright and early on an 11 hour bus trip down to Saigon where I got a big salad buffet and went to sleep only to wake up early and get an 8 hour bus to Phnom Penh where I went out to eat, wrote my last blog and went to bed, once again, only to wake up early to get a 15 hour bus to Bangkok. I am now sick of buses!!!! I read a lot and listened to a lot of music in that time. One day I only listened to all the mixes Mags made me before I left on the trip (thanks again Mags!!!)

When I arrived in Bangkok I got a room, got a big milk, some Chow Mein and then a massage before falling quickly to sleep.

The next morning (this morning) I had a big choice to make. I had enough money to pay for the room, eat cheap food and get out of here tomorrow evening without getting any more money out. Or, I could take out a little bit of money, eat like a king, get massages, and buy a few things before leaving. I have now eaten 3 meals today and had a two hour thai massage, AND am going back for a oil massage in a couple of hours. I will get at least another 2 before getting on my plane tomorrow night. Like booger says in the movie "risky business"- "sometimes, you gotta just say fuck it!!!"

I can't write anymore for tonight so I will save some thoughts for more blogs to come. I'm a bit confused with how I feel about heading back to the US. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends and family though.

John Schaar

The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created--created first in the mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them, changes both the maker and the destination.

“In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title. Do not lose your knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours.”

Ayn Rand quotes (Russian born American Writer and Novelist, 1905-1982)

#70 Out of Hoi Ann which I loved and meeting up with the little one again to do a familiar route.

Me and my bike on one of my many bike rentals trips. To rent a Motorbike in most places in SE asia shouldn't cost any more then $5, and it is great to have a little freedom once in a while. (I realize saying that, that I've been traveling for quite a while with lots of freedom, so I guess it is freedom within freedom)

This blog is WAY overdue. It is the last stretch of this trip overseas so I have been on the move and enjoying it without taking a break to hang out at a computer.

Hoi Ann turned out to be one of my favorite cities. I could easily live there for some time. Beautiful little city center, very friendly people, 10 minutes from a clean, big beach and cheap, delicious food. I spent a bit of my time with a Kiwi couple I met going to the beach, dinner and out for 12 cent draft beer (beer hoi). I made some friends with some of the locals that sold different foods or rented bicycles or that I would just see frequently in the city.

I met a girl from the US who has been living all over the US out of her car who I found very intriguing. For one reason, I wouldn't picture someone who has been based out of their car to be wearing the same retainer they got when they were 15 when they are now 30. (GREAT TEETH though to prove that all of us who got braces should still be wearing ours)
Anyways, she and I rented a motorbike for a day to go explore small local villages nearby. We also stopped in a neighboring city to see a temple of a religion that is a combination of all religions and I can't think of the name right now, but it was quite interesting.

As you can see in the picture it includes those figures

from many different religions. The saying along with

it translates to "all religions have the same purpose"

It was hard to say goodbye to Hoi Ann, but after almost a week it was time to go. If you remember from other emails there is a little english girl, Sarah, who I've met up with a couple of times in India and then in Thailand and Laos who had just arrived to Saigon. I departed Hoi Ann on a 25 hour trip back to Saigon and had a lazy day with Ms. Lane before Michelle (aka-my belle) arrived the following day. The 3 of us then headed to MuiNe beach to get some sun and some cheap massages on the beach. We found our favorite restaurant where I began my week long attempt to eat all the squid I could get down. The 3 of us went out on a motorbike one day to see the local fishing village and get some local food away from the tourist area. We ended our day at the red sand dunes watching the sun go down. The woman who spoke no english and ran our guesthouse here always would slap me and be quite violent with me as a sign of liking me, I laughed at first and then flinched everytime I was around her after, she was sweet though.

Sorry about it being sideway, but if you tilt your head to

the left, you can see it perfectly. Your other left.

This is at the red sand dunes as the sun is going down.

( I realize other things stand out in this picture other than the sand and sun)

We then headed to the mountains to Dalat where it is cooler for sleeping, mountainous surroundings and good food. I rented a motorbike on my own one day to get out to the mountains and country. (I've rented a lot of bikes on this trip) While enjoying some fresh pineapple and strawberry popcicle like things on the side of the road I had a larger vietnamese man with a big smile and few teeth in his smile approach me. After telling him my name and where I was from I asked him his name. " Long " he said and then made a fist with his right hand and held it out towards me. After looking at it I didn't know if he wanted to me give him a pound on his fist or what. Then he said "long" again and shook his fist. I saw a little scar on his finger but was still confused. Once he realized I was confused he said "long" and then looked at his fist, only then realizing that it was on his other hand that he had "LONG" tattood across his four fingers. It was great to get out of the city and get some fresh air, see farmers at work and enjoy the views and atmosphere. On my way back to the city I had a little old man wave me down for a ride back to the city. He jumped on the back of the seat and then instead of holding onto the seat like most do, he wrapped his little arms around me and held me tight. I tried to imagine that he was a gorgeous girl on the back to make it better. Quite a few time when I've been with little lane during my trip we've done bike rides and I don't think there are many things better than driving with the wind, seeing a new place with a girl you like sitting behind you with her arms wrapped around you, holding on half for safety and have just to be holding on.

Either way, as much as I tried to imagine this old guy as something else it didn't work, but I was still happy to give him a ride back to town.

From Dalat we headed to Bon Ma Thout where we were given all the stuff to make springrolls at a restaurant and we had to put them together which was good fun.

Motorbike quotes:

Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul.

“Faster, faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death...”

– Hunter Thompson

“You start the game with a full pot o’ luck and an empty pot o’ experience... The object is to fill the pot of experience before you empty the pot of luck.”