I had to find an internet cafe to print my web check-in boarding pass.
Though there were several in this ancient city of Hoi An (A UNESCO World Heritage site), most of their printers weren't working. Finally, I found Thang Long Restaurant by the riverside and they offered printing/internet service. On a dead hour, sometime in mid afternoon, there was hardly anyone dining. Most of their half-a-dozen waiting staff were transfixed to a teleserye playing on a hanging television.
I'd sneak a peek and I thought, "Boy! These guys are addicted to teleseryes! And at 3 PM yet. Wicked." I'd mind my own business again and check on my USB stick. Intermittently I would raise my head towards the television. "Hmmm. So they have a Dennis Trillo lookalike in Vietnam," I'd tell myself. Our Dennis is better looking - and definitely a better actor. This one looked bland and too short for Pinoy standard. ;)
But while I was winding down my online activities, I suddenly noticed other familiar faces (Bianca King, et.al.) Reality hit me! This was a Philippine soap, one of those forgettable GMA teleseryes. So forgettable that it's been shown, dubbed in Vietnamese and lapped up by common Viet folks! They were glued to the screen I decided not to get my snack there! Or run the risk of getting ignored altogether. Thanks for the patronage, guys.
Hoi An, aka Faifoo, sits on the South Central Coast of Vietnam's Quang Nam Province. It is home to 120,000 people, once the epicenter of the spice-trading Chams. This well preserved ancient city is 598 kilometers (372 miles) from Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon and 812 kilometers (505 miles) from the capital Hanoi.
Now let's kick the Chinese intruders and land grabbers out of our democratic existence, yeah? But wait, Vietnam is a socialist republic run by communists, isn't it?
This is the Eye in the Sky!
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