All righty. Things are pretty settled and established so week to week there hasn’t been much change. Items of interest this week include our accommodation going up by 20% (“high season”) and a motorbike rental which, even with buying gas, is actually cheaper than taking the very affordable xe oms (motorbike taxis). Then there was our karaoke night out and going to see Ratatat (again) at a new club which totally blew the budget.

For my fifth week (Dec 2-Dec 8), I spent an average of $20.22 per day (384,180 dong/day).  Here’s a general breakdown of where it went:

lunch/dinner at restaurants: $29.00 for the week, average of $4.14/day

water/snacks/drinks/groceries for breakfast: $12.47 for the week, average of $1.78/day

beer: $9.74 for the week, average of $1.39/day

taxis and buses: $2.53 for the week

motorcycle rental and gas: $13.68 for the week, average of $1.95/day

accommodation: $47.60 for the week, or $6.80/night

manicures: $2.84

karaoke, cover charges: $23.68 for the week

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So, for my fifth week, I spent $141.54. My balance from the end of week four was $340.80, so that leaves me at $199.26. I don’t get paid until Jan 1st so hopefully it can stretch that far.  Doubtful. But the Jan 1st cheque will be big so I’m not too worried. At this point, I am living very comfortably, have my own motorbike, and am eating pretty much whatever I want. You could definitely do it for cheaper but hovering at the $20/day mark is working perfect for me.

(Version française plus bas)

Funds on Nov 30th: 2 307 200 Dong ($126.18) (84,29€)
Current funds on December 6th: 1 319 000 Dong + 1 809 720 Dong (=$99 remaining from
paycheck)= 3 128 720 Dong ($171.15) (115,29€)
Spent: 1 792 520 Dong ($98) (66€)

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Has it been 4 weeks already? Holy crap. How time flies.

I will just say that being sick is great for the wallet. I was taken down with a nasty stomach bug so for a couple days I didn’t really eat much. Spent a lot of time lying on my bed which was conveniently located right next to the bathroom. Although because I was so weak, I spent more on motor-taxis as I kept attending my classes but didn’t have the energy to actually walk there myself. Oh yeah, and I GOT PAID THIS WEEK! YAY!

For my second week (Nov 25-Dec 1), I spent an average of $13.88 per day (263,700 dong/day). Compare that with an average of $20.54/day from last week. This is directly linked to the fact that I was ill so my beer and food consumption went sharply down and I managed to sneak into the Loreto Fest to see Ratatat which was normally a $25 ticket. Here’s a general breakdown of where it went:

lunch/dinner at restaurants: $30.26 for the week, average of $4.32/day

water/snacks/drinks/groceries for breakfast: $9.95 for the week, average of $1.42/day

beer: $0 (you now know how sick I really was)

taxis and buses: $15.85 for the week, average of $2.26/day

motorcycle rental: $1.32 for one day

hotel accommodation: $42.41 for the week, or $6.06/night

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So, for my fourth week, I spent $99.79. I got my first paycheque which was 7,000,000 dong ($368.00). My balance from the end of week three was $72.59, so that leaves me at $340.80. I have started renting a motorbike ($1.32/day), but that will actually work out cheaper than the taxis I’ve been taking. Now if I can just manage not to kill myself…

A bit of a bummer is that our accommodation cost is going up. We had an “arrangement” to fix the price, but apparently the owner forgot about that initial conversation and effective December 1st, our housing is going up by 20% for the remainder of our time here (for “high season”). It’s a bit late to start looking for a proper apartment (we’re only here for two more months), and we all really like it where we are so we will probably suck it up. Still not cool, though, Hai Ha!

(Version française plus bas)

Funds on Nov 16th: 3 012 283 Dong ($168.45) (113,05€)
(PS: I made a little mistake last week: I had 3 012 283 VND left, not 2 908 000 VND)
Current funds, on Nov 22nd: 579 283 Dong ($32.39) (21,73€)
Spent: 2 433 000 Dong ($136) (91,25€)

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So unlike the other girls, I’m not good at tracking my spending.

Nearly 3 weeks in I’ve spent a total of $240.  I have no idea what the breakdown of my spending is, life is too short to be anal retentive about every penny.  All I know is that I have a place to live, food to eat and I’m happy as fuck.

(Version française plus bas)

Don’t trust figures! In terms of financial management, I actually did better this week than last week!

Funds on Nov 9th: 1 640 740 Dong ($91,82) (61.34€)
Cash input: 3 500 000 Dong ($195.87) (130.97€)
Current funds (on Nov 15th): 2 908 000 Dong ($162.73) (108.69€)
Spent: 2 232 740 Dong ($124.94) (83.47€)
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I’m working an insanely demanding job, with a long commute spread across many buses and trains, which take me a 10-hour stint of intense concentration.  Unfortunately, I’m still on our travel budget, which is still hobbling along after Japan.  So what sees me through the day?

Starts with a 900 KRW ($.75) can of coffee.  I like this brand because it’s not packed with sugar, which usually just leads to a sugar crash midday, always an awful experience at this job.  Also, I ate some instant ramen: 600 KRW ($.50). Total: 1500 KRW ($1.25)

Then lunch…

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I know I blogged about this a bit while it was happening, but I slowly descended into a sort of sleep-deprived mania madness, and I lost the ability to compose coherent posts about it.  So now I can explain in a little more depth and lucidity…

The Backstory: We were so broke in Tokyo, mid-April, 2.5 weeks away from departure, and one of our monthly leases was up.  Renewal would be $500 we didn’t have.  We were already living in poverty in one of the world’s most expensive cities, so why not go one extra step…Manga Kissas, Internet Cafes: Tokyo is peppered with internet/manga cafes, a cross between an internet cafe, a manga library, and a hotel that rented cubicles instead of rooms.  You can rent by the hour or stay overnight.  They seem to be used for 4 things, as far as I can tell. 

First, people who have missed the last train home and who don’t want to pay the monstrous cab fees to go home.  They’re either Japanese salarymen, stumbling out of a client dinner, or those damned denizens of Tokyo with money to enjoy the nightlife.  In the cafes, you could hear them throwing up or snoring drunkenly. 

Second, highschoolers who want some private time – they live with their parents and they can’t go to love hotels.  In the cafes, you could hear them…well, you could hear them.

Third, manga lovers and gamers. I was actually surprised that people paid money to go to a manga library and read manga.  What kind of manga people read or internet sites they browsed is anyone’s guess, although, in the cafes, they sometimes sounded like the highschoolers.

Fourth, the internet cafe refugees or “cyberhomeless” – people who can’t afford the outrageously expensive housing in Japan but who have enough money to afford a $10/night roof.  They rove from cafe to cafe, catching 7 hours of peace at night to recharge for a part-time job during the day.  It was in this fourth class that I fell.  So instead of paying $500 for another 19 days, I’d pay around $12/night for sleep in Tokyo’s central districts.  I’d save money on transit, because I wouldn’t need to travel out to exciting Kanagawa.  I’d also still be tutoring, so I’d be making a decent amount of money.  The cafes had free coffee and juice, and I’d enjoy internet speed we only wet-dreamed about back at our guesthouse.  I’d sleep in the cafes when I could and then just huddle up on one of the trains and sleep as it wound its way around the city.  So I packed my bags…

and set out with 4000Yen, about $45, to see where it would all take me…