Those Crazy Asians

Well i'm back.

You didn't know i'd left though did you?

Don't worry i didn't realise either. By the time i'd started my month long trip to South East Asia it seemed I was getting straight back on the plane again to go home. Yes, South East Asia. Where the mainstream music is pop and new western music is early 90's love songs.

It took me a little while to understand why every location in Vietnam with tourists seemed to pound out the hits of the early 90's as though they'd never even heard of this 21st Century idea.


I'm just going to assume that the sounds of Celine Dion, Bryan Adams, Mariah Carey (urgh), and Elton John are so appealing to them that they simply believe this is all westerners listen to.





The Vietnamese clearly believed so. Never, even in Australia thank God, have i heard the greatest hits of Celine Dion, Bryan Adams and Mariah Carey (urgh) so much. At one point on our trip while travelling on a 2 hour bus ride, a tour guide jumped up just as the bus was leaving, stuck in a DVD and allowed our eyes and ears to feast, in full colour, on the deliciousness of Can't Live, Everything I Do, Candle in the Wind and that God awful Titanic song. Yeah, you know the one.


Now don't get me wrong, some of the music is good - and i'm not going to gratify that answer by expanding because good may just well be an overstatement - but it reaches a point where you've just had enough love for one day and all you want to do is wrap your hands around Richard Mercer's neck until that bastards deep, sexy, erotic voice croaks it! And who will host love song dedications without old sexy voice? It would be a travesty and an end to the horrendous programme once and for all.


So, no, I didn't hear any amazing Asian bands that I had to rush back to write about, just crappy 15 year old love songs that i'd already had the displeasure of hearing many times before in Australia.


I did manage to check out the Vietnamese MTV club. I didn't understand any of it, but there were some attractive Vietnamese females on stage for about 2 hours, which did tweak my interest somewhat. Oh, the music was alright too. It basically sounded like any female or male band/singer you might find on Video Hits, but in a different language. I knew what they were saying without even understanding Vietnamese.

Sex, sex, sex. It's the universal language.


But after all that i had my trusty Ipod and thankfully was able to tune into something a bit more pleasurable on those long journeys through the countryside.


I haven't picked up a paper or read the news, even the music news since I got back last week. So my current information on the world is very limited and therefore what I have possibly posted is also very limited. Though with work starting again i'm sure this will change by tomorrow.


Until then, here are some truly wonderful websites for you to visit.



Bryan Adams

Celine Dion

Mariah Carey (urgh)