Yeah, so I’m back. As many may have noticed, I took a 2 month break. Did everyone also notice the forums ran just fine without me? See, you don’t need me here! I mean, I enjoy being here, but this forum is all of you, not an individual or a few individuals.
So, it’s time for me to go again. I’m heading to Vietnam on March 27th and I’ll be back April 11th. During this time, my email will be down because I’m leaving the email server OFF. I will have my phone OFF and I will NOT be checking email, voicemail and text messages.
Why am I going to Vietnam? In short, my wife has an agenda to make a lot of people angry, and apparently it’s necessary to spend over $10,000 to “take a crap” on someone’s parade. I’m not going to go into her family politics. In all honesty, as stupid as this whole trip sounds and I’m not lying about that objective. If you knew the whole story, you’d actually understand why it’s absolutely necessary.
Anyhow, a little background. My wife is Vietnamese. By that, I don’t just mean “Vietnamese” because “Both her parents are Vietnamese”. While that is true, we’re talking Vietnamese by Vietnamese parents, born and raised in Vietnam. Yeah, 100% authentic. The real deal. Anyhow, I am 100% NOT Vietnamese. I’m 100% NOT even Asian. Yeah, I’m some white dude with European ancestry born in San Francisco. I do not understand Vietnamese, I do not speak Vietnamese. I’ve been married to this woman almost 11 years now and known her another 2.5 years longer than that!
So, what am I gonna do for 2 weeks? Well, as I’ll be around her family, they don’t speak much English. Other than my kids, I am probably not gonna hear any English. I’ll have almost all of my movement controlled and all my food chosen for me. Whatever. Less to think about. That leaves me the spare time. What am I gonna do?
What do you think I’m gonna do. I’m posting on a yoyo forum.
Darn right. I’m gonna be playing with skill toys. I’m selecting my yoyos, including some last minute purchases at YYE! I’m bringing stuff for 1A, a 2A pair(Unleashed, my favorites), 4A and 5A stuff. I’m definitely taking a Kendama. I’m working this week on spin tops to see if it’s worth taking my Sophia with me.
I’ve been in contact with 2 yoyo stores in the Saigon, where I’ll be spending most of my time. There’s a Vietnamese yoyo I’m trying to get while there but the makers suddenly went quiet on me. I’m being contacted by yoyo clubs. I’ve got my wife’s family over there handling contacts for me and arranging some of my activities so even if I can’t speak the language, I can still enjoy activities with like-minded individuals. Yoyo is NOT so cheap there. Their prices are a bit higher than ours, and what I don’t have to put much thought into, they gotta cough it up big time. I don’t know, if that Y-Not(The Vietnamese brand I’m trying to get) yoyo can be had at the right price, I may be bringing home more than 1. I kind of doubt that, but who knows. There’s also an off-string I want to get, but honestly, it’s nothing I can’t get somewhere else, and maybe at a slightly better price.
Then, when I get back, I have 24-36 hours to recover from the 14 hour time difference because I have a gig on the 13th. Then I’m gonna take another few days off just to decompress and I’ll be back.
Once again, yoyo and skill toys saves the day, trip, whatever.
Now, I have to make the choice as to what yoyos to bring with me. I got a TIMBR LoveJoy and Baldwin coming at me from YYE if all goes well, so cotton strings are coming. I use Slick6 for 2A for now, so I’m bringing plenty of those. I got a 100-count of YYSL Type X at CalStates for this trip, so I’m gonna be good for strings. I’m gonna pack some tools in my luggage so I won’t have any issues with carry-on.
