5%

Alright, before I start, 95% of the Vietnamese people are good, nice people. I have just kept encountering the other 5% which are the hookers, annoying moto drivers, annoying vendors and people who walk off the street, interrupt a great meal I'm having to ask me if I want to buy Chinese copied Ray Ban Aviators and scammers.

Today this is about a scammer. Warning, I may swear more than normal. The guy I met, lets call him Fuckstick. I was to meet him at 10am where I met him last night. I was meeting him because his sister was moving to Vancouver to work at a hospital and wanted to know more about Canada. 9:45am I'm in the park. I rather be 15 minutes early than 5 minutes late, that's how I roll. An older couple talks to me and they want to learn about Canada. They want me to sit down and talk all about Canada and answer their questions. Alarm #1 goes off in my head. This seems familiar. Park and conversation is same-same and this is my 2nd time in the park. 100% of the time I was in this park people wanted me to talk about Canada. Interesting. I told them I was meeting someone at 10am and they said "Oh, well if they don't show up please come back and find us." I walked off to a secluded spot and took the valuable money out of my money belt on my waist and hid it in my secret pocket. I also checked all my other pockets so it looked like I was looking for something, not hiding something. I felt odd, like I might be walking into an ambush so I proceeded carefully, or so I thought.

It's 10am and a girl comes up to me and knows my name. I assume this is Fuckstick's sister, but it's his niece, lets call her bitch. Bitch and Fuckstick haha. Alright. I meet bitch first, then fuckstick comes by and tells me his sister couldn't make it. Last night they invited me to their house, as their mother is afraid for Fuckstick's sister going to Vancouver. I was to educate about Canada which was no problem. I've talked to others before on the street about it, so why not? My last long blog was about me being always on guard and maybe I should let it down when appropriate. Fuck That Shit! I asked where they lived and they said not too far away. Thanks for the details. I thought we were going to walk but they called a cab. I noticed both had cell phones. I get into the cab (Fuckup #1)and fuckstick sat upfront, bitch sat in the back with me. I paid careful attention to street signs and buildings, sights, landmarks, etc. It was about a 10 minute drive North and we crossed a river. We talked about markets and they pointed out a local market nearby. We get out and they take me down an alley. If this was a North American alley I'd be getting ready, but it's Vietnam so I knew it was leading to their house. I get in and there's no sister. Alarm #2. There's an older women there but it could be fuckstick's wife. I meet "Ian" who is younger and looks my age. We all talk about Canada and I ask questions about Vietnam. Older lady is cooking and everyone goes to eat. Fuck up#2 I ate with them, but i only had white rice. I wasn't even hungry. Ian works at a casino in Cambodia, he's a dealer for a game called Super Pan 9 (weird I know) but it's suppose to be like Ma Jong and Poker. He said that he can get me a hotel room for 50% off and he can let me win (Bull fucking shit haha). Fuckstick answers his cellphone and says that his mother is in the hospital in ICU. Nobody seemed affected by this. Alarm #3. Ian wants to show me how to play this casino game. Alarm #4. This is familiar. I read on the Canadian Embassy website for Vietnam that it's a common scam to be invited to someone's house to talk about Canada. A poker game breaks out and the victim is encouraged to play but loses all of their money. Thank fucking god I read that and I'm 100% I'm in a bad position. We went upstairs and Ian was going to show me. Bitch came upstairs with me and closed the door behind me. Alarm #5. I let them know that I'm broke, I have no money to play and we go back downstairs. Nobody wants to talk about Canada anymore. More news on the mother comes in. It's been about an hour and I let them know that I have plans today so I should get going. They called a cab and we go out to meet it. Fuckstick says to the cab driver "Hello again!" Alarm #6 - The same cab driver that took us there. He could be in on it too. Fuckstick is up front, bitch is in the back. I'm keeping track of where we are and looking for landmarks. We cross a river and I see the big skyscraper in the distance ahead of us. We're going back to my familiar territory. Fuckstick talks about his mom and how she's sick. He asks what blood type I am and I say I don't know. They laugh and are surprised. I ask what their blood type is and fuckstick is AB- and bitch is B+. They want me to buy blood for their mom and tell me each bag is $50USD. They want me to buy 3 bags which is $150 and about $3 million VND which the average person makes $2 million a month. I'm not about to give them a month's worth of money and I don't have that much myself. I ask what blood type the mom is and they say A- and I said "wait, I'm A+ so I can't donate" They wanted me to donate 3 bags of blood and I should give with my heart. I break it to them that I've donated blood 25 times and saved up to 75 people's lives. I've given enough. Also donating one bag of blood takes a month to recover. If I donated 3 bags it would kill me as the human body has 7 bags in it at all times. I let them know I'm broke and that I can barely afford to feed myself daily so I can't give them any money. Bitch reaches into her purse and fiddles around. They figured out I'm not handing over any money. Fuckstick says he wants to give me a motocycle. How nice of him! I said I don't have a license to drive one here, and he said he'll ship it home to Canada for me. I told him shipping would be insanely expensive so I can't do it. Fuckstick says I'm such a nice guy he wants me to have it. I told him he should sell it and buy blood for his mother who is dying. (Stick that moto up your urethra jerk is what I was thinking haha). They let me know they will drop me off anywhere or take me back to the park. Traffic is slow and conversation has broken down. We pass reunification palace so I know exactly where I am. They let me know that we can meet up again in the park to meet his sister, and go to ABC coffee across the street. Bitch fiddles in her purse and worst case scenario it was going to pull a .38 cal revolver and take the little money out of my money belt by force. I'd grab the pistol and pull it six times so she opens fire and makes it useless, then I'd kick her and force her on the other side of the car while I open the door and backwards tumble out as the car was stopped due to traffic. Luckily nothing happens. Traffic flows again and I tell myself next time traffic stops, I'm getting out! I tell them traffic is so slow it would be faster to walk. We stop at a red light, I open my door and say "I'm going to walk, see you guys later!"

I Jason Bourned it outta there. I hoofed it, I beat feet in my Crocks and my bad knee but I knew where I was and where I was going to. I ran North as the car was going South. It can't turn around and it's stuck on a one way street so no U-turn. I turn up a side street and move on the other side so I can see cars coming to me, not sneaking behind me. I look crazy running but I don't give a fuck haha. On the way some good luck occurs and I realize the Canadian consulate is on this street! I bolt faster and walk into the Metropolitan, which is a big office but the consulate is on the 9th floor. I go to the security desk and let them know I want up to the consulate. They asked if I an appointment. Yea, I knew I was going to run for my life and I called ahead for a 1:30pm appointment. The consulate is closed. It's 12 noon and the building empties for lunch. It reopens at 1pm though. I take a seat in the lobby, back to the wall and everyone that comes though the doors I check out. I'm honestly paranoid at this moment and think anyone could be after me. They know I'm Canadian and I ran this way. I gotta piss. Next door is a coffee place. I leave the security of the office building as it has no washroom, and security is everywhere outside (thank god) but I can't piss behind the building. I go to the coffee place, head on a swivel making sure nobody is following me. Again feel like Jason Bourne. I go to the washroom and buy a drink figuring I'd get in trouble if I didn't. I go back to the consulate office and wait until 1pm. Fuck I drank too much water at Fuckstick's house. I gotta piss again and I'm not buying another iced coffee and carrying a litre of water with me. I finished the iced coffee, look around and the closest place is the Vincom Centre, the fancy mall with like 4 underground floors. I walk over, eyeing everybody and ready to swing my water bottle to save my life. Wish I had my paratrooper knife but it's at the hotel, but then again I don't want to shank anyone either. I make it to the mall and go to the washroom. I kill sometime in the mall as there's security and it's not 1pm yet. I head back to the consulate and wait. 1pm I check in at the security desk and they send me up. I walk into the consulate and take a deep breath. I'm secure. Pass through the metal detector alright and the security officer asks me why I'm here. I honestly don't know what to say. I'm here to report a scam attempt. I'm alright but someone wanted all my money. He understood and told me the Consulate opens at 1:30pm but I get to sit and wait in red chairs, surrounded by maple leafs, government officials on the walls and I can let my guard down as I'm considered on Canadian soil.

I replay everything and I'm shooken up on the inside. I knew I was walking into an ambush, but told myself to make sure. I'm so fucking lucky. Honestly there's a hundred of different ways it could have ended, but to get away with my money, my health and my life I was lucky. Unlucky to be in that situation but lucky to get out safely. I realized all the stupid things I did but learn from them and the biggest thing is to trust your gut. My brain knew something wasn't right but I told myself it's alright before I even met up with fuckstick and bitch. Tran was nice to me and invited me over in the same situation and so I assumed it would be the same, plus I told myself to open up a bit more the other day. Fuck haha. It could have ended in so many ways and they flashed through my brain during the 30 minute wait. They could have taken me anywhere in the cab. They could have locked the front gate behind me when I walked into their house. They could have laced the rice I was eating, but everyone else had the same rice. Going upstairs when bitch closed the door behind me she could have pulled a knife or gun. Ian didn't have to let me go back downstairs. They could have refused to call me a cab. Once they realized I wasn't going to fall for their con they could have taken me anywhere and forced my money into their hands so many different ways. I could be fucking worm food right now or decomposing on the shore of the Saigon river. Back in 1970 I would have been killed, and 2010 I could have been as well. It reminded me of that Tour of Duty episode where Purcell and Ruiz go drinking, meet up with an American Asian girl, they go to leave together, cut through an alley, she pulls a gun, Ruiz gets shot, Purcell grabbed her gun and made her shoot Ruiz's date, he takes the gun from her and shoots her right there. It could have been me...

I get called to talk to someone behind plexiglass and again wonder what to say. I explain that I was almost scammed, I escaped and ran to the consulate. She talked to her supervisor and I get sent into a private room where I can talk to another person behind glass but in private. I start from the beginning. I explained I ran to the consulate for asylum but also to report it so nobody else has to go through what I did. I told them I read the warning on their website but I have more details on it, where I was picked up, roughly where they took me, the cons they tried to sell, etc. I also asked about Vietnamese self defence laws as it was in my neighbourhood, what if I see them again? Luckily the law is the same as Canada. If they say "Hi" to me I can't blow them away, but if I'm in a threatened position I can legally defend myself as long as I don't overdo it. If I'm attacked I can fight back but I can't kill three people doing it and have to use reasonable force. I asked what can I do? She said I should write it all down what happened and anything that might be helpful. The consulate will translate it to Vietnamese and when it's done email me. I can come and pick it up and take it to the police, which she gave me a list of police stations in District 1 which I'm staying in, and luckily there's a police station I pass everyday by my hotel. She asked if I'd recognize them if I saw them again and I would. It took me about an hour and a half but I wrote three pages on everything. I also remembered they said I could meet up with them again to talk to his sister. I wrote that down and I'm hoping I can meet up with them again, with undercover police at ABC Bakery and bust at least fuckstick in a raid. There is more tourist security than police, or at least of what I've seen, so a crime like scamming a tourist is big fucking shit. Fuckstick on the way to his place told me that traffic accidents aren't reported on the news because the government is afraid of tourists hearing it and not wanting to come to Vietnam. Wait till they hear about a scam at least two sets of people are trying to commit on tourists! I told the girl behind glass that if I had a map I could show her roughly where they took me. I marked the park where I met them, the route we took to their place, the bridge we took over the river, the market they pointed out on the map, the route we took leaving their place, the street in front of Reunification Palace, where I got out and ran and the path I took to the Consulate.

She briefed me on what to do next, keep my guard up and be careful, gave me the police phone number, my list of local police stations and I gave her my email to let me know when my Vietnamese translation is finished. I was going to go back to the park and tell anyone who's white to be careful of the scam, as I don't want anyone to be in my position or unluckier, but I figure I should lay low. The next time I see fuckstick I want the Saigon police with me and catch that fucker in a sting.

Sadly this has worsen my trust and as I can't throw 84 million people, I can't trust them either. If you're not my hotel staff, the Consulate or Tran the zippo guy fuck you. Sorry but for my own health and safety I have to adapt that attitude. Doesn't matter if your six or sixty. I got another Vietnam experience and at least I can feel how US troops felt about the locals. Kids leading squads into ambushes and selling Coke with glass instead of ice, to the Old Mamasan who is carrying a heavy load. When a GI comes to her aid the load is full of C4 and takes out 4 US troops with her. I said I was hard before. I don't even know what to define what I am now. What's harder than hard? Stiff? Cold? Dead? Right now I'm all those things, but it's internally. I have the closest thing to the 1,000 yard stare as I'll ever get. Guess that's another Vietnam experience. The lady behind glass did tell me that it's good that I was cool and calm about the situation, and that if I did panic or freak out it would have made things worse for me. They might not have let me leave if I was emotional or scared, knowing I'd run to the police. I left with an invitation to see them again, and a frustration at the traffic. I told them I'd see them later. As far as I'm concerned on the outside our relationship is just fucking peachy. In my head I wanna be alone in a room with him and only one of us walks out knowing what could have happened. I'd walk out alone. 95% of the population of Vietnam are good, nice people just trying to survive, just like all of us. Today I ran into one of the 5% and I'm lucky to walk away. But as far as I'm concerned, I'm not going to trust anyone who isn't white. Tran and the family I'm living with are exempted. If that's racist, fine, but if it keeps me alive and boarding a freedom bird home December 15th, I'll be more than happy to be it.

Alright, enough with the dramatic and darker shit. I went home and got organized. I went to Cho Dan Sinh to pick something up and it pissed rain. It quickly ended and as today could have been my last day, I wanted to celebrate being alive and have a good dinner. Yup. Stuffed crust pizza haha. I walked past the consulate and my leg was a little sore. It pissed rain again so I broke out the poncho and kept my umbrella. I walked all the way to the Diamond Centre, a good 9 blocks on a bad knee and the Centre was closing at 5pm for something fancy. Everyone was dressed in tuxes and nice dresses. The only other pizza hut in the district was back near my hotel, but I didn't know the address or street, or the centre's name. I got a free map and told a moto driver that I want to go to the mall, the shopping centre that's in this area. He knew but on the way I realized I don't have my visa card on me, I left it and my passport all day at home as I wouldn't need either. Glad I left it too. I told him to take me home so I can grab shit. It pissed rain again and the internet went out. I asked for a phone book and the staff didn't have one. I wasn't willing to walk in the rain on a bad knee looking for a pizza hut which address I didn't have, nor the directions I wrote out how to get there, as I've been there before. The streets were flooded and my poncho was leaking despite being from the 80's. I found a local place to eat, same place as last night. I got the calzone and had my camera so I took a picture of the crab. I ate, hit Swansons for dessert and came back home. Internet was still out so I came here, Highland Coffee and set up shop to write this. I'll probably watch a movie and go to bed tonight.

Tomorrow I'll hit the post office to see about a package I sent that has to be lost as the tracking number hasn't found it anywhere in the last two weeks. Hoping it's picking up dust at the post office. I'll get my Happy to be Alive stuffed crust pizza as the Pizza Hut is near the post office and consulate. After that I'll probably head home and hope the internet is working. Rough day but I made it, I'll keep making it too, just one day at a time. Night.