Sao Lao

After a few hours of sleep I woke up early and got myself ready before my parents woke up. When the maid got up to put the dogs back in their cage my parents got up. We then walked back to aunt V’s villa. After a shower, I gathered all the dirty clothes so I can do laundry. The washing machine in the house was broken and I was prepared to wash my clothes along with my parents’ clothes my hands. After we all took a shower and ate breakfast, my parents went to meet some people, whether for a friendly visit or to deliver things and to meet my father’s uncle and his wife from the US. The couple went to Laos a couple of weeks before my parents. We were supposed to go to Pakse and to Wat Phu Festival together and a decision must be make whether or not we will take a bus or go fly to Pakse. Since there was only enough room in the truck for three people I was left all alone. It was not a big deal since one uncle lives next door and his wife is home during the day.

I was cleaning up around the house when aunt K showed up. She was checking in on me and brought fruits that I like for me. My uncle B and his wife also walked over to visit me. Later uncle X showed up as well to see if I want to check out his place and his business. It was around lunch time and we decided to go have Fer or Pho for lunch. Aunt K teased uncle X saying that he should be the one treating us for lunch. We then followed him and for some reason he just took off in the wrong direction. Uncle B and his wife saw us and said we were going to the wrong Fer restaurant.

When we got to the Fer restaurant, we waited for uncle X to appear. He was a no show and so uncle B called him up to see what was going on. As in turned out uncle X had something to do. I thought it was odd and rude to change a plan at the last minute without saying anything after an agreement was made. Aunt K and I would have gotten lost if uncle B didn’t see us on the road by accident.

After we got back from lunch, aunt K went home and I was left alone. My uncle B and his wife told his daughter to stay with me. But after a few minutes she went away to play with her friends. There was nothing much to do, except to wait for my parents to return and watching television. My aunt V had cable installed before she went back to the US so I was able to watch a few channels in English.

After an overnight bus ride from Pakse, we were back in Vientiane around 6:00 AM. I took a shower and packed my suitcase. I didn’t know where I will be sleeping that night. After breakfast aunt K took me to the airport to pick up my parents. I haven’t seen my parents for three months and was anxious to know what my mother would say when she sees my new hair cut.

An MV from one of my favorite Dutch band, Epica. This is from their first CD, The Phantom Agony Album (released in June 2003).

After we came back from Pakse Market, we finished packing and called for a Tuk Tuk to take us to the bus station. We wanted to get there early so we can choose a suitable bus. Since we were not taking the VIP bus back to Vientiane, we had to pick one that is not yet full of passengers and goods. After some selecting my aunts decided on a bus that was not full of goods on top. Unlike the VIP bus, the economy bus is loaded with sticky rice bags inside the bus and animals and more bags of rice on top.

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For the past couple of days my sites were down due to server problem. I was not able to make new posting at any of my blog sites but manged to be productive doing other things. Over the weekend I watched a bit of TV, mostly Discovery Channel and Dutch music television. I saw What Have You Done by Within Temptation for the first time. I don’t know why I like the song so much.

When I told Johan about it he said I’ve heard that song before. He said it was on one of the CD he made for our driving trip. Johan mentioned how I like angry music so when we have a long drive, he would make a CD for me with my kind of music.

A video clip of Alexandra Bounxouei from her performance at a concert in Tokyo.

It was Friday morning and I had to return to Vientiane to pick up my parents at Wattay Airport. I got up early as usual. After breakfast my aunt K and I went to Grand-Mama temple to make donation for the village festival. Grand-Mama was happy to know that I donated a certain amount of money in her name. Her house is not so far from the temple so for the next three days she will hear her name among the other donors through the loud speakers.

After lunch all of us went shopping at Pakse Market to buy food and things to take back to Vientiane. My aunts were looking for Salted Fish so Bay took us to her favorite Mair Khar (seller). It was another warm day and I was having a craving for coconut juice. My aunt K bought all of us young coconuts. I was very happy to be able to taste fresh coconut juice after all these years.

Afterward, we went to meet my two cousins (the boys) at a computer shop. The computer at the house didn’t have a working CD burner. I wanted to burn pictures that I have taken so the family could watch them, using the new DVD player. I decided to buy a DVD burner for the computer. It is a good investment for the future, especially for the boys.

My aunts thought it would be nice to take me for a tour of Pakse Bridge after we finished our shopping. We started walking toward the bridge only to realized that it was too far away. Having to carry the grocery bags in the hot heat was not a good idea. Aunt N walked back to Pakse Market to catch a Jumbo to take us across the bridge.

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When we came back from grocery shopping, we started to test the DVD player. We later watched a couple of the clips while eating lunch. After lunch we had to get ready to take Grand-Mama to a clinic for an x-ray. It has been almost eight months since Grand-Mama had her surgeries. The screw on her left knee was pushing through the skin and she was afraid it will damage her knee somehow. I made a promise with Grand-Mama that we will take care of her knee after Boun Loy Vanh is finished. She wanted the screw to come out.

We went to a clinic in the center of Pakse. I waited outside anxiously while my aunts were inside with the doctor with my two cousins, helping Grand-Mama to get in and out of the x-ray room. We were told of the good news. Grand-Mama’s knee is healing properly and it is safe for the screw to be out. When we got home, Aunt P took the x-ray to the hospital and to ask for Grand-Mama to be put on a waiting list.

At dinner that night it was so noisy. We all felt a sense of relief and full of hope for Grand-Mama. We watched the rest of the DVD’s and made fun of each other, especially me since I was the only one crying in the clips. My cousins said they didn’t want me to leave the next day. I told them when I get back to Pakse I will try to find a way to see them again.

When we finished with family photo session we headed out to Pakse Market for breakfast and some shopping. I wanted to show the DVD recording to the family but was not able to do so because there is no DVD player in the house. I decided to buy a DVD player as an investment.

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