by Sue MackayRomance is alive and well everywhere. My DB and I have just returned from four weeks in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, having had the most amazing experience imaginable. In Hanoi we attended a water puppet show and one of the acts was a romance. Very short but definitely a romance.
In Hoi An while sitting on the little balcony outside our hotel room I witnessed more romance. A young Vietnamese girl working as the receptionist at a small hotel welcomed her suitor when he raced up on a motor bike. Over the next half hour they talked, laughed, and when they thought no one was watching, (not having spied me) they touched each other. It was so innocent, and yet so provocative. Forget language barriers, forget cultures, it was romance as we would all recognise.
When the man got up to leave I could feel the girl's disappointment, and yet he had to go. He'd been hanging around the hotel lobby long enough. I sighed, my DB wondered what I was on, and there starts another story.
We had a fantastic trip and I came back with a complete outline for another book. But first I have to finish the current one.
Anyone reading this, feel free to share your romantic story with me. I love romance, I believe it is essential to all of us.
Hi Sue,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a great time. And TWO holidays; one involving the scenery and travel, and the other involving the "romances" of the journey.
I don't have any great romance story to share, but I must admit I *LOVE* people-watching and making up stories about the folks I see. Where they're going, where they come from, their secrets, their pain, what they're thinking... It makes sitting in a coffee shop in a small rural town or a food court in a main city almost as interesting as traveling the world.
Almost!! LOL
Looking forward to the books.
Hi Gracie
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you here. My traveling is usually a lot less exciting, I admit. But while in Saigon Lindsay shouted me a foot massage - which started at my head! - and I thought about how I could make the situation work for me. Once a writer, always a writer. By the time I got back to our room I had the complete outline of a book. Of course there will some massage in it.
Cheers
Sue
Sue, that story is so sweet! It's the birds and the critters at my house who are being cute and all paired up. There are two kingfishers who have a favourite restaurant off my verandah. There's a big termite nest in the tree and they come and poke a hole in it and take turns having dinner. The other one keeps watch on the branch, and we watch the whole thing. Such gorgeous blue-green wings!
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear you had such a fab trip, Sue! And that you've come back inspired. People watching is such fun - and I'm like Gracie, I love making up stories about the way they're relating to each other, their body language, their facial expressions!
ReplyDeleteOur place is like Rachel's at the moment - a major romance going on outside our kitchen window. The tiny superb blue fairy wrens are building a nest in the bush near the back door.
:)
Sharon
We've got birds here too. The big native wood pigeons are always in pairs and are back for summer. Then we've got quail and in a month or so I expect to see their chicks, usually about twelve to a couple. Ma and Pa Quail make the most amazing parents, always on the look out for predators as they go about their business of digging up our veg garden.
ReplyDeleteSue
Sounds like it was a fab trip, Sue. I can understand how a foot massage that started with your head (lol) would be inspirational. Hmmm maybe that's what I need...
ReplyDeleteSounds like an amazing trip, Sue! Hoi An is one of my favourite places in the world (just pipping Siem Reap), and I'm going back there next year for my honeymoon :) Did you get many clothes made?
ReplyDeleteAnita, it was fabulous, and loved teh massage. Definitely to be recommended. Also very heart rendering at times visiting the amputees museum and the killing fields. I'm astounded at those people have got on with their lives.
ReplyDeleteLeah, I agree about Hoi An. Lovely and great food. I got one dress and three negligees made. Did I mention I'm a lingerie addict? Laos was special too.
Yeehaa, a honeymoon coming up. Wonderful and, of course, romantic.
Cheers
Sue
Sounds like a fabulous trip, Sue! I envy you that massage! I'm brain dead at the moment -- end of a long day -- and drawing a blank with romantic stories. How tragic is that? And I call myself a romance writer...
ReplyDeleteHi Sue --
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful trip (and I'm sure that's just the tip of what you experienced). And how great to come home with a new story outlined!
My real-life romantic story was meeting my husband. We met on Monday and on Thursday he told me he was going to marry me one day...and here we are many years later with a baby on the way (-:
Welcome back, Sue. What lovely adventures and inspirational too. I can see I'm going to have to travel to exotic countries - purely in search of new ideas, of course :)
ReplyDeleteSue, your trip sounds divine and I adored your romantic story about the receptionist and her suitor. Can't wait to see what story idea you've come up with :-)
ReplyDeleteMy romantic story? Mmm... that'd be spending my honeymoon in Paris -- too lovely for words!
Where would we all be without romance!! That story sounds so sweet, Sue. Young love, so gorgeous!
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