Typhoon

Monday, September 12, 2016
Hoi An, Vietnam
This morning the front of a Typhoon hit Hoi An. The road outside the front gate was a river about 6 inches deep and the roads into town were flooded. Not to be deterred from my morning coffee I donned a rain suit which covers you from head to ankle and splashed my way by scooter into town. End result, my shorts were soaked and thanks to the wonders of plastic the inside of the jacket ends up being wet by some strange alchemy, so my camera doesn't work now, although it was a bit dodgy before that admittedly.
I went to Mia Coffee first of course where the waiter intoned "Typhoon coming" . After my usual 2 coffees I grabbed a Bahn Mi on the way and met the family and Nick at their favourite coffee shop on Tran Hung Dao near the museum (see pic).
The other pics are from the Korean place which is a front room of a house and the pics of the kid in the Lion Dancer gear is because it is a childrens festival for three days where they bang drums and do lion dances and try to get money from tourists, they do the same thing at Tet but on a bigger scale.
Seeing I have nothing better to write about I will discuss the most menial possible jobs you can have in VN. While I was in HCM recovering from my flight I had plenty of time to sit on the bacony and watch the street. One occupation I could observe is pamphlet hander outer for the massage parlours. The girls who do this flit up and down the street proffering the menus to whoever will take one, not very many at all from what I saw. They go up and down the street and criss cross over and back all day from morning until night, what they get paid I don't know but they are indefatigable, they never stop and never seem dispirited about the many refusals.
Shoeshine boys usually 15 or 16 with their wares in a box which they sling over their shoulder on a strap are everywhere. They constantly scrutinise peoples shoes as the walk by and if they look a bit scuffed or dirty they accost them. I have fallen for these guys in the past and what they quote usually turns into a much bigger job as before you know it they will replace your soles and add an insole and charge you the extra. There's no dole in VN so you work or starve.
The newspaper sellers who sell the English version of Vietnam News. The asking price which is stamped on the cover is 40,000 but if you study it closely underneath you can see 6000, so it's quite a healthy profit for them.I try to buy for 20,000 but the younger ones knock me back now and the older ones will only sell for 25,000. A lot of them ride three wheeled push cycles that they crank by hand as many have legs missing. My man who I usually buy off comes into Mia and always says "Lucky Lucky, lucky money". Now they have proliferated and I hardly see him and I notice that some of the others are a lot younger and obviously not ex servicemen which I presumed the older disabled ones were. 
Lottery ticket sellers- these are usually older women who walk around in cafes and sell to Vietnamese and its surprising how many buy them, the lure of easy money crosses all cultures.
It's 9.09 pm and pouring outside and getting windy so I will leave it there.
 
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