I’m in Saigon. I’ll be back after tax day. The yoyo scene here is a rich kid’s secret society around here. Nobody wants to stand out. It’s like fight club. First rule of yoyo: hide it! Screw that. I’m proud to walk around with my YYE bags that have off-strings hanging off them and a yoyo holster on my belt loop! Gonna show those kids to be proud to throw! Then again, I’m sure they will humor the “stupid American”
I have to keep this short. Data here is unreliable. The YYE iPhone app is my savior right now.
If you need to get ahold of me, please get voxer and use the text option. Voice and images are unreliable but small packet data has a much better success rate. Please be aware of the time zones. I’m in Vietnam right now! Text message fees are stupid high!
Went to a yoyo store near the resort town I went to today. The gnarwal and cascade in my pocket was worth more than that little spot’s entire inventory. So much for the first yoyo store in Vietnam. They have 3 other locations so one better not suck
I will be going to another store in saigon(reported in yoyo news) Tuesday afternoon to see what I can get! They have loop360s in stock. I’m gonna check inventory before I go.
I’m not allowed to mention these brick and mortar(well that may be a bit extreme) shops since they also have an online presence. If moderators will allow it this time they might make an exception for me but they will also let me know too. If they do allow it will be name only, not a URL
Anyhow. I’m otherwise being rather still in high heat and humidity, sweating like a pig. So are the locals!
Im vietnamese and i love pho! It is pretty hot over there and its not the richest country, so if u want to go to vietnam and uve been living in the comfort of the US all ur life, its not going to be the most comfortable trip lol
Addressing issue 1 of videos: never gonna happen. I don’t do videos.
Issue 2: photos: unlikely. Most are family shots and as a result I tightly control content. There are those on my side that wish me harm and ill intentions. I have to be very selective what I post. I also do not like being in pictures. Or video. I’m a behind the scenes kind of guy. I may make some minor exceptions in some regards but the shots simply don’t exist. That could change today but its outside my control.
Issue 3: pho. I’ve had that thousands of times. My wife is Vietnamese, which in part explains the trip. I’ll have pho a few times before I leave.
The food poisoning has been resolved through anti-biotics. Now I must address dehydration. I’m not bad, just not hydrated enough. Clean water ain’t on tap here.
In a few days I’ll be in Hue. Left alone more and with space I will be able to throw more. I do have 72 hours of no hard schedule in Saigon right now. I return from Hue and then pack and hit the airport to return home. I get 18 hours to adjust to 14 hour time difference and then drive out of town for a gig doing sound for a concert
Any yoyo meet-ups are unlikely due to the inability to communicate around here
Vietnamese is part of my heritage so I have actually been back to Vietnam 4 times in my life! I remember they had this place that sold ice cream that was pretty american somewhere around Saigon if you want to check that out. Or just go to the numerous stands that sell smoothies!
Pho (pronounced like “fuh”) is a vietnamese soup- clear beef broth with rice noodles, meat, and other goodies (tripe, tendon, etcs). You should try it sometime.
No I don’t know any Vietnamese nor do I intend to. My kids know more than they are willing to admit which is fine as they are being intentionally raised with it. They will be expected to speak it and understand it. Right now they are refusing to use what they know.
Waiting to go to the place nearby that has YoYos. I apparently caused the first yoyo store to become embarrassed. Yesterday I was in Vũng Tàu and their selection was 8 different YYFs, the big money item being a red champions edition g-funk. They tried to push a pink OneStar on me. My Cascade and gnarwal in my pocket easily exceeded their inventory in dollar value. I may try their Saigon location but right now I’m after another store. The first store is now on Facebook saying they will open a big shop and give lessons, according to how my wife translated their latest posting.
Been working on 2a basics today. Gotta start throwing my H3X more as I’m reviewing the new 10 ball steel Terrapin X wing cut in there. This bearing took the “thunk” out of this throw or maybe it was the TypeX string or both. I never judge YoYos based on the string it shipped with.
I’m 11 hours ahead of the clock from YYE and 14 hours ahead of my home in California. I gotta enjoy whatever network access I can because once I leave for Hue on Friday I’m cut off until I hit the Hong Kong airport. That is a 3 hour hop from Saigon. From there to SFO is a 14 hour haul. Then a 2 hour drive home
Stash for my trip:
2 yyj unleashed. Red and white both with paper caps
New red dm2
H3x
Al7 albatross(ice)
Blue amplifier
Wang ng trident
Equilateral red
YYE edition barracuda
Tmbr love joy and Baldwin
Anglam(blue)
V
Phenom nickel with gold rings
2 classics set up unresponsive with one set up for 5a with a Takeshi dice
King Yo Star bossman
Yyj destiny
Rextreme, jet set, fiesta xx and go big off- strings
Cascade and an older gnarwal
Strummol8 Sophia for spin top work
Just trying to give myself good variety as well as for showing these kids what else is out there
Loads of slick6 for the loopers, plenty of cotton for the wood, and Type X for everything else.
That’s an older picture is all I can say. I doubt she’s here now but if I see her I will post it. I’m pretty sure the image in question was from her backpacking trip with Jason Lee.
