Return to Vietnam 2008

Final Thoughts

2008-09-09T22:52:00.001-07:00

Now that I've been back home for two weeks, I now have some time to reflect on my journey home to VN. And what a journey it was! While I sorta-kinda knew what to expect - the family commitments, the food, the heat, I was pleasantly surprised by the immediate connection I had with the people and the country I had left behind 30 years ago. I was especially impressed with Saigon (officially Ho Chi Minh City, but Saigon to most VN) and it's unlimited buzz of energy. The city never sleeps. While it may lack impressive sites - there are but I didn't really go look for them, and can seem like a chaotic mess of clogged roads and urban hustle-bustle, I found myself quite smitten by Saigon - the city of my birth.

And I can't say enough of the VN people, my people. I'm still amazed at how genuinely warm and hospitable (almost to the point of suffocation) they are. Life is tougher there and making ends meet is always a struggle, yet, everyone is quite happy and eager to lend one another a hand. We all can probably learn a thing or two from them. I'm not oblivious to the real issues of the country: lack of education/opportunities, poverty, corruption, high inflation/unemployment, and lack of health care; but I didn't come to VN to aid in political or social issues. As corny as it sounds but my goal was to reconnect with my roots, and not so much being a "tourist". Seeing the humble places of my parental upbringing as well as my own gives me much appreciation of what my parents had to endure and sacrifice.

It's interesting that for a Communist country I found it vastly liberating and entrepreneurial. The free market is alive and thriving there - you can sell anything anywhere and there's little bureaucratic hurdles there, well I'm sure there are but I was constantly impressed at how hardworking and resourceful the people are. If you have a fruit tree abundant with fruit, you can throw it in a basket, tie it down on your motorbike and sell it at the street corner. You can see the same old ladies selling them all day and into the night.

I've always felt that I had a pretty good perspective on the struggles of my fellow Vietnamese and of my family, but not until I was there in person and connecting with my unknown past did I really gain a true personal perspective. The journey has given me even more respect and admiration to my family, especially my parents, my culture and the people I now call my family and friends. It truly has been an emotional and spiritual journey of a lifetime and I believe I'm a better person for it. Thanks for sharing it with me.

Thank you once again to everyone who took the time to read this blog and to those who opened their hearts (and wallets) to help Co Nga!

What was THE my highlight of my visit?

Well, seeing my family was a highlight; seeing my nanny definitely. But as you can guess it was helping Co Nga and her son that was the highlight for me.

Disappointments?

Probably not seeing more "tourist" sights. Save that for next time with Erin.

Next visit?

To be determined...who wants to join me? :)

Co Nga's Thank You

2008-09-07T20:03:00.000-07:00

Here is the translation of Co Nga's short thank you letter to everyone who generously donated to help her and her son:

Dear benefactors,

Today, Aug. 25, 2008, a group of friends visited my family and donated a large sum of money ($1,000) to assist my son and I. I am deeply moved by your generosity and compassion. The words can not convey my gratefulness to you all and I wish all of you the very best of health, happiness, and prosperity throughout your life. I am profoundly thankful to each and every one of you!

Thank you!

Mother and son,
Lam Kieu Nga
Lam Minh Nghia

Address:

22/94 Huynh Dinh Hai Fuong
24-Binh Thanh, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

=================================================================

An update:

With the help of Ma Hai (our close family friend), Co Nga was able to open her first banking account and deposited the sum of money into the account. Through the help of my mother's connections, the other $1,000 was handed to her late last week. I'm glad to report that the full $2,000 is safely in the bank as the steps to stabilize her house commence. Thank you again!!

Various pictures

2008-09-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

Snake stewed with lemongrass

The whole country is an outdoor bathroom

VN Ninjas!

CTH, Chi Hue (CTH sister), CTH's hubby, Holly, Henri, us

Inside Ben Thanh Market

Saigon's City Hall

View from Dalat hotel

Church of Our Lady (Dalat)

Lake in the town Dalat (VN honeymoon capital)

Random fish vendor

Stranger helping us with directions

Group shot up in Lang Bienh

Once in a while you'll see a motorbike accident

A sidewalk Supercuts in Saigon

Traditional meets modern (he was also texting quite a bit)

A lonely cyclo behind the Church of Our Lady in Saigon

Typical busy Saigon sidewalk

There's never a bad picture with a monk in it. Something about them..

One of my fave picture

We had a massage from an organization of the blind in Saigon. It's a group that specializes in massages and the proceeds goes towards their education, housing, living expenses, etc. I enjoyed mine quite a bit (although the place was not the cleanest), they sure have a great sense of touch!

Ben and an unfortunate snake...

Rice paddies in Vinh Long

Waterfall in Dalat

Ben's new hairstyle

My new hairstyle

Ben and his new girlfriend. :)

A couple of jumping fools

Co Nga's Greatest Gift

2008-09-01T00:24:00.000-07:00

With the generosity of you readers, I am pleased to announce that we raised $2,000 for Co Nga and her son! When I first had the idea of helping them I didn't think we'd raise much at all, maybe a few hundred bucks??? But amazingly 28 wonderful people/families from the other side of the world opened their hearts and wallets to a complete stranger in need and the amount we raised far exceeded my expectations!

I've been in constant discussion with my mother about this little project and shared my concerns with the potential of raising TOO much money and the liability it presents. Can it do more harm than good? What will she do with it? Do we give it all at once or periodically? Who in VN will hold this responsibility? Leading up to the the launch of this unexpected project, my mother had spoken to a close family friend (Ma Hai) who lives close to and is a good friend of Co Nga. My mother and Ma Hai would frequently speak about Co Nga's situation during their calls, and Ma Hai had said that Co Nga has been very concerned about the stability of her house the past few years. That during frequent storms her house would shake to the core and the insufficient roof would rattle loudly, hanging on to the last few nails holding it down. She would spend sleepless nights staying awake praying and fearing for the inevitable loss of a roof section or the collapse of a wall. Ma Hai said that this is a real concern, she's been to the house during these storms, and Co Nga rarely complains to her community and friends of her predicament, as if to spare them the feelings of guilt and helplessness. So when my mom learned of this project she knew exactly what Co Nga can do with this outpouring of donations. The money will be put to use to stabilize her house.

Co Nga and Ma Hai

A few days leading up to us presenting her with the 'greatest gift' (her description), my mom had been in contact with her and had told her of my little project. [I thought just showing up and presenting this gift without proper notice would not be prudent or fair to Co Nga]. She didn't even need to know the approximate amount of money but was so completely stunned and overwhelmed with joy that she couldn't coherently communicate with my mom on the phone. From her strong Buddhist belief she knew people are inherently good but couldn't believe such generosity existed from random strangers who knew very little about her. She added this will reinforce her faith in people even more and will give her continual hope for her son.

A small group of us (CTH, Ben, Ma Hai, Holly, etc.) went to her house to present her the gift and the final amount. She was so excited and greeted the group at the front of the house and invited everyone in. She was also excited that so many people cared enough to see this delivery through. The group also went to the room to visit Nghia as well - I think he was shocked at all the visitors. He appeared happy but didn't have much to say, he did shake hands with only the men visitorsnot the women. Back in the main room she was given a list of all the names of the donors (28 names). She pulled out some stationary from the drawer and proceeded to write a thank you letter to the the 28 generous donors. (I have the letter and will translate and scan/post it when I get home). Good thing she had a few days to let it sink in but you can tell she was still in shock. 'It's really the greatest gift from above and I can never express enough of my gratitude to everyone...I still can't believe it'. [Later she would admit to my mom that she had only seen $50 or $100 but never so much money as the $1,000! It physically shooked her that can't even bare to hold the envelope with money.]

Looking at the benefactor list

Co Nga had insisted that Ma Hai be the trustee of the funds and that she'll help oversee the project. Ma Hai has already contacted contractors for the project. [We only had $1,000 to give to her, the rest will be transferred to Ma Hai upon my return home] The house will need some window screens and, well, windows in general. Only rusted metal bars make up the windows, no glass for insulation or protection of mosquitoes and other critters.

She took some time writing the thank you letter, showed people some old pictures, and spoke excitedly about everything. She was definitely happy and giddy! She gave the group some fruit ('samboche') - I don't know the English name, and we said our goodbyes. I'll definitely will be checking in and keep you posted on the progress.

For me, this has been the most rewarding altruistic project I've ever been part of because I can see the direct impact that it'll have. Sure other charitable acts have their own merits but with this one for me, it is so tangible and immediate that I can't help but being deeply impacted. So THANK YOU to everyone, I can't thank you enough for your generosity. Not only have you helped a mother/son in VN but you've reinforced MY faith of goodness in people. In some ways you've helped me as well...

NOTE:

Some of the funds will be used for medication but since the disease was not addressed early enough and have been left untreated for so long, any medications now will not be very effective. Previously my mom have made repeated contacts with local doctors regarding Co Nga's plight, appealing to their compassion and hoping that, maybe a few local doctors would visit Nghia just once in a while to check in on his well-being. Not one single doctor has volunteered his/her time.

Fruits!

2008-08-30T14:29:00.001-07:00

There are so many exotic fruits in VN and in SE Asia. Sure you can find oranges, apples, melons, grapes, strawberries, mangoes, and other common fruits that we find back home, but in VN there are so many different exotic kinds and I love all of them. You can find some of them in chinatown or any asian marktet back home but they're not as fresh or good. You can find them in cans and frozen as well. Here are just a few (family, email me if I mispelled some of the names in VN):

The jackfruit ('mit'), there are a few varieties, the smaller with softer/wetter meat.

The inside and it's pods. Each the yellow flesh around the big seed (not shown).

The bigger one (this one in my family's orchard in Vinh Long). The meat is more firm. They can be the size of a beer keg (like this one). I prefer this kind of jackfruit over the smaller one.

Mangosteen ('mang cuc')

The inside - picture I found online, not one that I took. There's a seed around the white flesh.

Guava ('oi') - A softer, riper variety.

Guava (firmer, less ripe variety). And lychee ('vai')

Longan ('nhan') and sour-sop ('mang coc'?). Two of my faves...

A different kind of sour sop, this one is much bigger and is a bit sour.

Dragon fruit ('thanh long'). Very common and tastes/texture like a kiwi.

The durian ('xoai rieng') or the 'stinky fruit'. A close relative to the jackfruit. People (like myself) who have acquired the taste and nose think it is aromatic and very tasteful, not stinky. There are a few different types/sizes. The national fruit of Thailand.

The pods inside. Flesh is soft, rich and buttery.

Rambutan ('chom-chom'). White flesh with a seed inside. Similar to a lychee.

There are so many more that are not in season. During Tet (the lunar New Year early Feb) there are all kinds of fruits, practically everything is in season then.

Follow-up:

Relating to the 'nhao' in 'Visting Di 7', my mom tells me that special consideration and selection must be made in order to get the best 'nhao'. It has to be from a healthy mother AND it can only be from the first born where the membrane is the thickest and most nutritive. Subsequent 'nhao's from the same mother will be thinner and less nutritive, therefore, better for livestock and not people. She had to make that extra effort just to ensure that I get the best of the best. Lucky me!!!

The Food: Savory and (sometimes) Unusual

2008-08-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

Ah, the food! I may be a bit biased but I love VN food. There's SO much variety and creativity that it's hard to describe (some say there are over 500 traditional dishes). It's a combination of East/West with Chinese/French/Thai influences that can be so flavorful that it overwhelms the palate. The only consistency is the use of fish sauce ('nuoc mam'), rice-based products and LOTS of fresh vegetables. Maybe that explains why it's hard to find many overweight Vietnamese... :)

An excerpt from the 'Lonely Planet': "...if cooking were a painting, Vietnam would have one of the world's most colourful palettes. The Vietnamese have no culinary inhibitions and are always willing to try something new. When you combine these two tendencies, nothing is ruled out."

I always wanted to try new things so I specifically asked for things that are not traditional. Some items that even the locals won't even try (read 'Visiting Di 7'). Here are some of dishes both from restaurants (most I didn't remember the names) and from homes/family. Bon apetit!

Banh Beo - soft round rice-nooddle disks with mung bean, shredded shrimp, minced/pressed pork ('cha') .

Banh Xeo - VN savory flaky crepes filled w/ bean sprouts, mung beans, shrimp/port. Eat/rolled with fresh lettuce and other veggies. Of course eat/dip with fish sauce ('nuoc mam')

Grilled spicy goat's breasts ('du de'?) with okra. The meat was SO tender and good.

Bun Rieu - crab based noodle soup with fresh water spinach ('rau muong'). With fresh sugarcane juice.

Snake, prepared at home in Vinh Long (mom's side). Skin was too tough and the meat rather gritty. I didn't care of it. Ate only 3 sections. There was another snake soup dish. The soup was very good but, again, the snake wasn't that good.

Home prepared in Long An (dad's side). Sweet and sour fish soup ('canh chua', one of my faves), pork in claypot ('thit kho'), tamarind crab ('cua me'?), veggies - lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions.

Steamed snails ('oc') in lemongrass broth. Very good!

Bun Bo Hue stand - spicy beef noodle soup

Banh cuon - steamed rice-paper rolls w/ minced/pressed pork ('cha lua'?) and dried shrimp

Fried silkworms at CTH's house. Tasted like boiled peanuts. It was very good. Ben/I ate a bunch, Holly tried one and didn't spit it out - she said it wasn't that bad. :)

Various shellfish - I love shellfish (including all kinds of snails)

Shellfish ('oc') at Ben Thanh's night market.

Dog meat! My first time ever. Despite the stereotype, this is more popular with Koreans and Chinese than VN. For the most part it didn't excite my taste buds that much. It was okay and it's not something I'll crave, although the hotpot soup ('lau') with ribs was very good. The meat/soup tasted like oxtail soup. And these dogs are raised for eating not just just something off the street and you don't see it hanging on hooks ala the ducks chinatown.

Various stuff: Banh beo, banh cuon, 'goi' (papaya salad)

Homemade grilled prawns and roasted crab.

Homemade VN hotpot ('lau') with beef, veggies. Some vermicelli ('banh hoi') w/ bbq pork as well.

CTH's flat rice noodle beef ('hu tieu bo kho') for a late breakfast one day.

Grilled game meat in Dalat. Deer, anteater (the best of them all, in the grill), and other four-legged friends.

More game dishes. Squirrel might have been one of them (very boney).

Of course, the traditional 'pho'.

There are so many more dishes but there's not enough time or room to try everything. There are various worms that some say are really good - one in particular ('duong'?) that eats coconut tree roots, big - twice the size of your thumbs, and very buttery, just explodes in your mouth or you can fry it up as well. Also, they say cat meat is better than dog - yikes! And no, I didn't eat a beating cobra's heart or drink it's blood. Maybe next time...

NOTE: Some of these are the rare delicacies. I hope you don't think all VN/Asians eat these things daily. So please keep an open mind about what you've read. I'm sure my VN family reading this back home will cringe at some of these pictures as they've never had some of these items. I guess that's why we travel and visit other cultures: to have new experiences and the best way to start is through your stomach.

Visiting my childhood places

2008-08-23T16:23:00.000-07:00

One day I went with CTH and her husband to visit all the my childhood places of significance. It was a hot and humid day so an A/C taxi will be the mode of transportation of choice. These places are all in Saigon.

Tu Du hospital, the place of my birth. Nhat, CTH's son was also born here. Looks renovated and new, the campus was clean and reminded me of a run-down Kaiser.

On the campus we walked by a children's hospital so we went in. We visited the ward where children with disability are abandoned by their families and to be cared for by the gov't.

Pictures of some of the children/babies with deformities and disabilities. These are regularly abandoned in Saigon....

We were greeted by this child with a missing foot (didn't get name). He insisted on being carried by CTH and she gladly obliged. He will be attached to her for the rest of our short visit.

The main hallway, kids being fed.

Room for younger abandoned kids. This hospital currently tends to 70 children, from baby until they can hold jobs and take care of themselves (sometimes into their 20s).

On the way out we met, Minh, 11. A cheerful kid with no arms and a poorly developed right leg. Next time I'll visit them with some candy/toys or something. This was an unexpected visit so I came empty handed. Nevertheless, they were quite happy to see visitors. If you're ever in Saigon, I encourage you to visit this hospital if you want to spread some temporary joy to these abandoned kids.

Next we went to the house I grew up in after my birth...

I lived on this street from birth until 2 years old, Thanh Thai Street, the house is the white on the left.

The entrance way. The family happens to be home and let me in. I didn't spend that much time in there nor did I take any pictures. There were a few dogs in the house and they were barking at me hysterically. Apparently I wasn't welcomed into my old home. That's okay...

A few homes down, the neighborhood came out to chat with us. Some of these people I have no recollection of but they fondly remember my parents. They are still here after all these years. Chatting above is the nearby mini-mart where my brother used to go and buy candy/snacks.

Owner of mini-mart, Ong Muoi (Mr. Salt?). He's 76 and still cheerful. I bought three bottles of ice tea for 9,000 VND ($0.60) but he didn't want any of my money. I insisted on giving him 50,000 ($3.10)...I figure it will make up for the times my brother stole from his store as a kid. : )

Next we took a 3 minute taxi ride to my old elementary school. I only have brief memories of the school and the huge courtyard. Hong Bang is now a middle school, grades 6-9.

Inside the courtyard. Picture of Uncle Ho (Ho Chi Minh) greeting children and his "teachings"

The 5 teachings of Uncle Ho:

1. Love your country, love your countrymen

2. Study well, work hard

3. Unity and good discipline

4. Maintain good hygiene

5. Be modest, honest, and brave

I'm not sure if these teachings have translated to the success of the young people of VN but from what I can tell, most of the young population (and VN has one of the younger population of any developing nations) are still struggling to obtain a good education and find decent jobs. Good job Uncle Ho!

I eventually exchanged my contact info with one of the teachers in the courtyard. She said this year is the school's 75th anniversary. Maybe I'll get invited back as a special guest/speaker! :)

Around the corner from my school is the house I had more memories in. This house was attached to VN's biggest and newest hospital back then. My father was an administrator there so the hospital provided our family with this house. (House on the left behind taxi, my school on the right - yellow wall).

The front. No one was home so I had to look from the outside.

The house now is divided into three separate homes. This had happened after the Viet Cong took over the house and forever changed our lives...but that's another separate story all-together.

Sign says a doctor (Dr. Tuan) now lives and practice here.

A few blocks away is the front of Cho Ray hospital. My dad's last employer. I recall running around and playing in the back lots and alleys of this hospital. It was quite big and easy to get lost...I didn't venture out far unless someone was with me. It connected to our back yard so it was a common playground of us.

Today the hospital is quite old and looks like a dreary prison - a common Communist architectural design. : )

I wanted to go up to the top floors but encountered this massive line for the elevators. There are only 2 elevators, one reserved for emergencies and one for visitors and minor cases. Needless to say, I decided not to wait in line.

Lastly we went to the Buddhist temple that holds my maternal father's (Ong Ngoai) remains. We had trouble finding it as there are a few similar temples in the area. After driving/walking to 3 other temples, we found it.

This used to be my grandfather's land until the temple bought it from him in the 1950s.

His remains. Passed in 1962 at 62 from pneumonia.

The head monk. He took copious notes about my family for his records. He even remembered my parent's precise visit a few years ago. Wonder if I put on a robe that I can pass for a monk.... Naaahhhh, probably not.

Updates...

2008-08-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all of those who have generously contributed to Co Nga's cause (I'll announce the total amount later in the month). I had no doubt my readers have big hearts. There's still time to contribute, it's never too late to lend a helping hand, even from the other side of the globe.

I've been under the weather with a slight fever/cough. The 4 weeks of little sleep is catching up to me...I'm not 22 any longer. :(

I plan on taking some time off for some R&R this week and head to Hanoi and Halong Bay. Hopefully I'll be fully recovered by then. Holly (my sis-in-law) and her friend Henri are here and will join me/Ben going up north sometime soon. Looking forward to see the northern VN.

My temporary office at Hai Nam Hotel

Here's why my internet connection is so slow...

Co Nga - A Mother's Devotion

2008-08-14T00:57:00.001-07:00

The past 25 days, my journey back home so far has been a whirlwind of experiences and

emotions. I had thought I've seen poverty and substandard conditions but nothing had prepared me for my brief visit with Co Nga (Mrs. Nga). I went to visit the Buddhist temple where my maternal grandfather is interned. (He was from Saigon while my maternal grandmother was from Vinh Long). Nearby I visited a friend of my mother's, Co Nga. Back in the mid-60s she worked for the main US humanitarian organization in Saigon (the name escapes me). This US gov't organization was chartered to allocate resources to the many war-torn villages in the South. My mom had met Co Nga there while filing the necessary bureaucratic paperwork for her own humanitarian efforts (delivery of food, medical supplies, etc.). As a secretary in a US organization, Co Nga was very proficient with English and she would help my mom fill out and expedite the requests. They would become friends through these frequent meetings. That was almost 45 years ago.

Today, she lives in a small house that belonged to her mother (both her parents have passed) in the outter edges of Saigon. The house has a small cement porch and the roof is a single layered, rusted-blue sheet of metal. I had to duck my head at the door to step down into the small living area. On the red/white checkered hard floor is her wooden bed, a dresser, a small table, and of course, the familial altar. She warmly greeted me and invited me to sit down on her bed. Unlike all my visits to other households, she didn't offer my any refreshments (Good. I figured she couldn't afford it and wouldn't want her waste it on me). She can't be more than 4'10", but her serene smile is very sweet and her eyes very tender. We sat next to each other and chatted. She said she never met me but remembered my brother; she mentioned how happy she was to see my mom again a few years ago after not seeing her for 40 years. She spoke fast and with such glee that I had forgotten about her disposition. I had been told that she only has a son and he was once intelligent and quite charming. She had raised him on her own (her husband passed after he was born) and he was doing very well in school. But by 16 he developed schizophrenia. For the next few years she exhausted her meager resources to seek medical help but nothing could calm the illness. [Back then the Communist health care system in VN was very substandard and very unempathetic to the poor...some say nothing has changed] His schizophrenia went untreated and he got worse through the years. There were times that he would destroy property in the house or hurt himself in fits of rage. The rage sometime resulted in the abusing and beating of his own mother. Yet she was still very devoted and loving to her only child. She realizes that it's not him but the disease. She could have easily given up on him and admitted him to an asylum where she said he'd die in a few years. Instead she wanted to keep on raising and tending to his needs. But without the proper treatment and with concern for his (and her) safety, her only course of action was to chain him to the bedroom wall.

I asked Co Nga how he's doing and she said he has good/bad days but he's losing a lot of weight. I asked if it's okay to see him and she jumped up with excitement and led me down a little hall and into his bedroom. I walked slowly after her, admittedly, a bit nervous. His back was to me, barefoot, crouching on the thin bamboo mat reading a comic book. She came and lifted him up saying, "there's an uncle [Chu] to visit you...". He stood up with a big smile and nodded. He was quite pale, gaunt and dressed in mismatched pajamas. She told him to say hi to me but he refused. I then asked him his name and he blurted, "I don't want to tell you my name...". Co Nga, holding his arm, smiled and urged him to tell me. I asked him again and he said his name is Nghia. I then asked him how old he is and he jokingly said, "two years old". We all laughed and I asked again, this time he said 27 (he's actually 32). She stood next to him as I requested a picture of the two of them. I took the picture but could not help noticing her warm smile and proud eyes gazed on him. I took a few more pictures with just him - he indeed has a very cheerful face. Sure enough I can see the iron shackles on his left ankle. The chain runs to an iron bar afixed to the torn out corner of the moldy walls. But no bucket-for-a-toilet as I had been told. Before I left, I asked him if he needed anything, he said, "yes, some cigarettes." I laughed, told him he shouldn't be smoking, said good bye, and Co Nga walked me back out to the main room.

She said he's always asking for cigarettes and never anything else. We sat back on her bed/bench and I asked if she has any old pictures. I was told that she was a very beautiful young woman and had many suitors. She went to the drawer and pulled out an old brown album. I looked through it while she spoke of her days knowing my mom. I saw a few pictures of her with her friends and indeed she was stunning. Even today, at 65, she looks amazingly better than most 50-something women I've been visiting in VN. She jokingly said that she had many foreign suitors (Americans, Koreans, Chinese) back then, had she married one of them her life would have been so different. She then admitted that she's accepted her fate as one who's made to suffer, and that her sole purpose here is to be a good mother and take care of her son. She added that she wanted to take care of her only lifeblood and hopefully in her next life she and her son will live a blessed life. I took some pictures of her pictures while she cheerfully continued on about her deep Buddhist faith and her devotion to her son.

For the past 15 years she has not being able to work or leave the house for too long. She has constant fear of leaving her son alone in the unstable house. What if he harms himself? What if the house catches on fire? [When she leaves the house, she locks the door but leaves the key outside so neighbors can open the door to rescue her son should there be a fire] She would only leave the house to go to her Buddhist temple or to the local market. She and her son survives on the generosity of her community and the temple - she has no other family. She has little means of financial support.

Before I left I handed her an envelope from my mom as a little "gift". She was genuinely surprised that my mom would considered such generosity. She confessed, she didn't expect any such thing but thanked her profusely. Her real joy was that someone so far away was considerate enough to pay her and her son a visit.

I left quite moved and impressed with someone I only knew for 20 minutes. During my visit in VN, I have visited a lot of family and close friends of the family. I would say that all of them are much better off, both in life's disposition and financially, but strangely none of them were as happy or content as Co Nga. Knowing part of her story before my visit, I was expecting a bitter, miserable old woman. Instead I left so touched and moved by the devotion of a mother's love that cannot be underestimated or measured. In a lot of ways, Co Nga reminds me a lot of my own mother. Interestingly, the pictures of young Nghia has some resemblances of my own brother. I recall seeing pictures with similar poses and gazes of my mom and her children in play.

My plea for help:
If you've read the above, I hope you were moved by reading her story as I was writing it. I have to admit, it was difficult for me to write this story and not have my eyes welled up. I have not met anyone in her unfortunate predicament, but yet so genuine, positive, and so at peace with it all. So here's my request using the power of the internet. I'm not sure how many readers of this blog there are but if any of you would like to donate any financial sum to Co Nga, please contact me directly. I'll make sure she gets every cent of it by the time I depart the end of Aug. I'll front the amount (need to check cash flow : ) ) and I'll collect upon my return (I'm not too concerned about the logistics, we'll figure it out). If you know me, you know I hate asking for donations but this case is different. Unlike some of the other people I've written about (cousins, nanny, etc.) who have the help of my extended family, this devoted mother has nobody, zip, nada.

It's ironic that she had worked for a U.S. organization that helped her people, well here's our chance to get this "U.S. organization" (aka, readers of 'Thaimantravels') to help her. Any amount will help her and her son tremendously. At a minimum it gives her hope to know such random generosity exists in a world so set against her.

Visiting Vinh Long (Mom's family)

2008-08-11T22:09:00.001-07:00

One Tuesday we went to the Vinh Long province to visit my mom's family and the place where she was raised. It'll be over a 2 hour drive south of Saigon and into the Mekong delta - VN's rice basket. CTH arranged for a hired car and we packed in the usual crowd - her sister, their kids and a few of their friends (everyone's out of school so they have time to hang out). This is also CTH's side of the family as well. I was looking forward to this as I really don't know much about my mom's side of the family. The customary tradition is that, once married, the wife joins the husband's family. It's one of the reasons why I know very little about her family.

The drive was uneventful. 11 of us (incl. the driver) fit nicely in the green Mercedes full-sized van. What was interesting is that half the passengers (all the women) get motion sickness very easily. They have to take Dramamine, rest their seats back and sleep. Plus they were not used to the car's a/c refrigerant - they would wear their bike masks to cover their faces (3 of the 20-something girls did). And they would have to be shielded from any slight signs of sunshine coming through the windows. I guess they were not used to being in cars, using a/c in the car, or the sun?? Ben and I thought it was a little strange and teased them for it (nice, huh).

We took a brief rest stop at the "Fat Man" for some coffee, snacks, and 'nem' (fermented processed meat wrapped in banana leaf). We chatted with the "Fat Man" (who wasn't that fat at all), he's had this stand and a few others in the area for 30+ years. Supposedly his 'nem' is famous in the States as well...

On the drive we crossed over many smaller rivers and bridges. You can tell you're in the Mekong delta - a watery landscape with lots of rice paddies, small brown canals criss-crossing about, and small sleepy villages appearing out of nowhere. I was told we were nearing our destination when we crossed the major blue-ish bridge over one of the Mekong's 9 major tributaries. To go up the bridge, we had to turn off the a/c, they car was too weak to both climb and keep us cool. I don't recall what the bridge is called but everyone in the car made such a big deal of this bridge. Everyone actually woke up took pictures and marveled at the structure. I didn't think it was that big of a deal, looks like an average bridge to me.

We reached Vinh Long by 11am and was greeted by my cousin (my mom's niece), Anh (back row left) and my mom's greyed-hair much older looking cousin, Chi Be. We walked through narrow gravel paths, passing by small run down shacks and reached the property of my maternal family. This area was where my mother was raised. Typical of the rural VN family, everyone lived (and still does) very close by. My grandma was one of 9 children and all the surviving families still live in the area.

First I went into my cousins small house to greet my frail tiny aunt. [My mom's the youngest of 3, her two brothers have passed a while ago. One sister-in-law (Auntie 3) and her family lives in Paris (I know that family), and the other lives here with her 3 kids and their kids nearby.]

I paid my respects at my maternal grandmother's altar and then to my uncle's altar right next to hers. He had a full head of hair. Who said the baldness gene is from the mother's side??? Mine is definitely from the paternal side of the family. : )

I went next door to Chi Be's place and the huge courtyard has all kinds of auto parts and equipment scattered about. Her family owns an auto parts equipment business somewhere nearby. Her extended family had prepared lunch and she will host the lunch for all of us.

My mom had called ahead and requested a special lunch prepared. She wanted me to experience some of the rare cuisine of Vinh Long. We sat around 2 midsize round tables and was served: steamed chicken with lemon grass (not that big of a deal), eel (think unagi) - the whole thing, and the main course (pictured in the middle) - bbq rat! Yummy! The rat is a big field rat, one that feeds on rice/grains so the meat is very tender. It was actually pretty good, I had 2 pieces - a big hind leg and thigh, and a smaller shoulder/front leg (shoulder a bit bony). It tasted and had the consistency of a squab or a game hen. Not surprisingly, Ben and I enjoyed the meal and ate a lot. Some of the people (incl. CTH and sister) didn't even try the rat even though we said it was a special kind of "chicken".

After lunch, while the rest of the group relaxed on the property, I went to visit another grand-aunt nearby, my grandma's sister in law (widow of 3rd sibling).

Then I wanted to visit the family cemetery nearby. This is where my grandma,

her parents and siblings were laid to rest. I was told that it might be muddy with high grass with big bees and other critters around. They suggested I not go but I insisted on going - I didn't come all the way here to not make the final little trek. A couple of my cousins took me along a narrow grassy path first. Then we trudged through waist high grass but it wasn't muddy. The hot afternoon sun was beating down and I was soaked with sweat. We climbed over a couple of small walls and reached the site after about 5 minutes.

Most of the tombs were covered with grass, only about the top fifth of the white tombs were peaking through the wild green grass/weeds. There were 2 brown cows grazing nearby (not the family's cows). [My grandma's burial is shown top left, in the middle is my great-grandma, to her right (barely visible and covered w/ grass) is my great-grandpa]. Everyone else is all around this grassy area (too many to point out) and they are somehow related to me. I found out that my grandma passed in 1962 at the age of 60 from mouth cancer.

By the time we headed back I was drenched in sweat. We walked passed the area where my mom grew up. A few run-down shacks that were poorly built and rarely maintained. It's similar to my dad's rural upbringing. She had told me of stories of her teen years in Vinh Long hiding with grandma while surrounded by violence and gunfire from VN forces/rebels. Her story is a book of its own (she has written a few books on it) but I won't go into great details here. She lived in this area until she left for Saigon at the age of 18 to pursue a higher education. At that time, it's rare for daughters in VN to get an education let alone a higher degree or multiple degrees. Quite the trailblazer, she attended the top school in the country where she met my dad, already attending the school two years prior - both were pursuing a health degree. Both eventually went on to get law degrees, my dad in law administration and my mom went on to be a successful public defender. Instead of going into private practice and making much more money, she insisted on defending the poor and the oppressed. She would continue until the country was lost (as it's commonly referred in my family) in 1975. Soon my dad would be imprisoned in a Viet Cong concentration camp, my mom would risk our lives and lead our family/friends to escape VN and become refugee boat people, thus our lives changed forever. But that's a completely different story...

[Back to the main story]
Typical rural toilet. I remember using something like this on my grandpa's property in Long An when I was a small kid. I'd go in there, carefully squat over the hole and make my deposit to the muddy water below. But that's not all, as the droppings hit the water dozens of fish would feed off the waste - like a bunch of piranhas fighting over a piece of meat. I remember looking down and see a massive feeding frenzy below. These fish would eventually be served on the dinner table. The circle of life... :)

Small canal nearby the property. I saw a few kids swimming in it. This water flowed down from the Mekong River starting in the Tibetan plateau, through China between Myanmar and Laos, then along the Laos/Thailand border, then through Cambodia (recall the Tonle Sap river/lake) where it splits into two major branches, and then further splitting more in Vinh Long through southern VN and to the South China Sea. By the time it reaches the South China Sea it would branch to 9 points and earning the name River of the Nine Dragons ('Song Cuu Long')

Back yard view along the property. My mom used to swim in this river, she said it was a lot bigger and cleaner.

My cousin Chi Anh (oldest of my cousin) and the grapefruits from the yard. There are a lot of fruit trees on the property (most are not in season). The province is known for it's fresh exotic fruits.

My Auntie and her family - 2 daughters, 1 son, and they son's 2 kids. They are tiny and don't look anything resembling to my family! I feel like Yao Ming around them.

More on the Mekong Delta:

The Delta yields enough rice to feed the whole country with surplus to spare. It is formed by the sediment deposited from the Mekong. The process continues today, silt deposit extends the shoreline by as much as 80 meters a year. Also known for its cultivation of sugarcane, fruits, coconut, fish farms and shrimp, it is one of the most densely populated in VN. Nearly every acre is intensively farmed.

Some numbers

2008-08-11T19:09:00.001-07:00

Cost of large bowl of pho: $1-$1.50 (17,000-27,000 VND)

Bottle of beer: Heineken = $1, Saigon = $0.40 (17,000-7,000 VND)

Fresh squeezed sugarcane juice (my fave) = $0.30 (5,000 VND)

A pound of apples = $1
A pound of durian = $0.30

A taxi ride within town = $1-2 ($17,000-30,000 VND)

If you make $500/month, you can raise your family (incl. parents) and live pretty well.

Number of socks used on trip: None
Number of muddy-guts occurances: None (everyone in my family guarantees that I'll need Immodium AD, so far nada after 3 weeks! and I've been eating at places that even the locals would avoid...)

My local coffee hangout. Iced coffee or 'Cafe sua da' $0.33

"Xe Om" (motorbike within town) = negotiable but avg. 15,000 VND ($0.90) [My 86 y.o. "auntie", 'Ma 2', taking a 'Xe om']

The price of gas recently jumped 31% to about $5/gallon; the price is set by the gov't. The gov't subsidizes the cost of gasoline and have since removed the subsidies 3 weeks ago. Everywhere I go people are complaining about the price of gas. It's the talk of the town. That have impacted the cost of many daily essentials and the poor are the hardest hit.

Blogger issues?

2008-08-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

I'm having trouble connecting to the Blogger site the past weeke. Anyone seeing the same? It just hangs and hangs and once in a while I'm able to connect with limited functionality. VN growing pains with insufficient network infrastructure? Or is Google skimping on the bandwith?

There's so much more to post, I'm WAY behind and this is not helping.

PS: Thanks to my friends/family who helped celebrate Erin's bday...sorry I missed it. Happy bday, Sweets! :)

Some night time fun

2008-08-07T08:20:00.000-07:00

On my second weekend in Saigon I finally had some local fun. One night CTH, her sister (Chi 5), their kids and their mid-20 something friends took us to their local karaoke hangout a block away from their house. The place has about 7-8 private, cozy rooms. It was a lot of fun and it was a good way for Ben to practice/reading VN. We probably did more VN songs than English - 3 to 1, probably.

Later on we saw a bunch of people walking by and looking through our glass door and giving us the thumbs up on our singing (obviously not my singing). Ben and I went out the hallway and saw a bunch of American teenagers hanging about. I found out that they're part of a group travelling within VN for 6 weeks - ending in Saigon, learning about the culture, the language, and volunteering at schools/orphanages/etc. The group is called "Where There Be Dragons". (It sounded like a cool program, wish I could have done something like that when I was a teen). They were waiting for their own karaoke room but I invited them to join us instead. Their chaperone (Katy, from the Bay Area) said they'll only come in if they can practice their VN. I told her of course they can speak VN and that my family are all locals and they don't speak much English. Still there was some hesitation within her group so I told them the invitation is open and if they'd like to join us they know where we are. With that we went back to our room and closed the glass door. Within 20 seconds, the door opened and about 12 young teenagers came pouring into our room. We were packed in there and some had to stand. The kids (15-17) mingled and attempted to speak VN with us (some were pretty good), sang VN songs, and a lot of Elton John songs as well. We didn't even need the microphones, everyone was just singing and having a great time.

Group before 'Where There Be Dragons'

With 'Where There Be Dragons' group
12 kids and 3 adult chaperones (Katy, Thuy, Minh)
Great bunch of kids from all over the U.S.

http://www.wheretherebedragons.com/
Sounds like a great program!

Some of them got Ben's Facebook info and linked in to him within days.

Of course, the kids didn't have any adult beverages. They drank water and ate a lot of the snacks/fruits provided.

They loved singing Elton John's, "Rocket Man", "Tiny Dancer", "Your Song" (last song of the night). They left at 10:30pm, curfew time. We ended the night 30 mins after that.

We went karaoking again the next night with Patrick/Nicole. There were friends of CTH as well.

CTH's crazy sister (Chi 5).

With Patrick

Bowling/arcade complex in Saigon. The place was pretty big, sorta like a Dave & Busters.

We bowled 2 games. Socks came with the bowling shoe rental.

After bowling, as we were leaving we ran into the 'Where there be Dragons' chaperones. They said there's a club on the same floor as bowling. So we went to check it out (free, no dress code).

We had a good time, they played current hits as well as some old-school hip-hop. The crowd was a good mix of tourists and locals.

Ben and some folks. Girl in yellow's from France, green from Portland, the two girls from UK (they turned 18!). [Boy I feel old!]

Reunification Palace

2008-08-06T17:21:00.000-07:00

Back in Saigon, I finally visited an historic site after 10 days in Saigon. My friend and his wife (Patrick/Nicole) from Singapore came over to visit VN for the first time, so it was an opportunity to do the "tourist" thing. The Reunification Palace, while not that overly impressive (in my opinion), has a historical significance as the symbol of the South Vietnamese government until April 1975. It was towards this building - then known as Independence Palace or the Presidential Palace - that the first Viet Cong tanks charged on the morning of April 30, 1975. The VC tanks crashed through the wrought-iron gates in the morning and officially took over South Vietnam, ending the war and "reunified" the country.

The palace was left as is with most of the original furnishings, flooring, and decor in tact (mostly VN art and crafts). It's definitely in a '70s motif with shaggy yellow carpet, steel chairs with vinyl seat coverings, and outdated fixtures. It's rather big with a theatre room, card room, a terrace with a heliport, and a dance room. For a "palace" it looks more like a big Holiday Inn. The 5 floors are big and airy with long hallways, there's a basement with secret tunnels, telecommunications room, passage ways, and a war room...we forgot to visit the basement. :(

Conference room

Tank that crashed through the gates on April 30, 1975

We visited the auditorium where congress and interested parties gathered. The long rectangular room is decorated with green chairs, white walls, and dark mahogany wood tables and trim. With the red Communist flag and star and a golden bust of Ho Chi Minh prominently displayed on stage, I had to give stirring anti-communist speech at the podium...

President's office, not that particularly impressive, huh?

Imagine tanks crashing through these gates

Two bombs were dropped on the helipad where the red circle is. The other bomb hit about 10 yards to the right.

Plenty of anti-American propaganda

Caption says: "The monk Thich Quang Duc is burning himself to against the US and Diem's Buddhist policy"

(Got to love the grammar)

Caption says: "The massacre of Son My villagers by the US Army, one of a long series of sins to Vietnamese People"

********************************************
Flood!

One evening it rained so hard and so long (2-3 hours) parts of the historic center flooded. Traffic was gridlocked as many cars/motorbikes' engines were flooded. Water even entered many local businesses. I was walking back from Patrick's hotel and participated in the waddling through of shin-deep water back to my hotel. I've never seen anything like it and was told that it happens once in a while as bad timing of high-tide (from Saigon river) and heavy rain makes flooding likely. It was actually pretty cool to see!

The Khmer people (last Cambodia posting)

2008-08-04T13:10:00.001-07:00

It appears I'm spending a lot of time talking about Cambodia but I think it's worth the time. Whereas for my native country, I know a lot about about it already even before this journey(how can I not?), but as for Cambodia I must admit ignorance about the country, it's history, and it's people. I think people have unjustly portrayed Cambodia negatively due to war and violence in the past. For me, I found it beautiful and full of optimism. But most importantly it'll be the Cambodian (or Khmer as they refer themselves) that I'll never forget. My expectations for going to Angkor was to get away and to see some old stones in interesting configurations. But it has been much more than that. These Buddhist faithfuls are the warmest and nicest you'll ever meet anywhere.

If getting to know Narin for 4 days is any indication, the Khmer people are very humble and wonderfully kind. They are extremely proud of their culture and are eager to educate visitors of the beauty of Cambodia. After years of war and violence, both international and civil, the country has only known peace for the past 15 years or so. There are still rampant corruption and much distrust of the government and their officials. Despite all that they hopeful for the future and are eager to be part of the democratic process. The day of our arrival we were told that the national election will be in 2 days and the country is abuzz with interest and excitement. Although the country has a monarchy, the governing body is held by an open election every 5 years. The current ruling party - The Cambodia's People Party (CPP), has been in power the last 10 years, and there are two opposing parties. The CPP are known to favor the wealthy and not surprisingly most of their members themselves are wealthy. There are great suspicions on how they acquired their wealth but people are afraid to make any public accusations.
Everywhere we went people were discussing the upcoming election. Narin says the people will discuss the issues but they will not make their political affiliation known for fear of retaliation. Voter coercion and intimidation is widespread, especially in the rural areas where people are less educated. Each day I reminded Narin to remember to go vote. He said his commitment is to the job and to his clients but I insisted he not worry about us and go vote. It's too important to him and his people and our sightseeing was secondary. His village is 45 minutes away and he has to vote where he registered - there's no concept of absentee ballots. Still I wanted him to make the ride (scooter, of course) vote and he said he'd try. We even offered to go with him - I would love to see how it works. Throughout the city and roads banners/signs of each party are prominently displayed (many more CPP signs than the others). Trucks of people shouting their party's propaganda and support can be heard on major streets.

On Sunday, election day, I reminded Narin again to go vote during our 2-3 hour break in the afternoon. His father even called in the morning reminding him of his "obligation" to vote. During the morning tour of more temples, we passed by many buildings/schools turned voting facilities and there were many people waiting to vote. Transportation (pictured) provided by the government took people to the voting booths.

Asked if he wanted to keep the current party in power, Narin admitted he would like to see a change. Not that the other 2 parties were any better; he would like to see if a new party, given the chance, can "improve the country". In particular, he wanted to see increases in government salaries by at least $5 more a month (avg. $100/month); do more to stimulate the economy and instill investor confidence; improve roads and infrastructure, build more schools and hospitals, and do more to help the poor.

Isn't it interesting that no matter where you go, you still see similar issues/concerns? Citizens of developing countries (like Cambodia/VN) and developed countries (ours) alike have similar aspirations for the betterment of their lives and country. But unlike back home, political literacy/participation in Cambodia is surprisingly high even among the poor. The Khmers WANT to vote and they cherish the opportunity to vote. Of the 14 million people, there are 8 million registered voters and there were 5-6 million who did vote. Narin was NOT one of them.

After our afternoon break, Narin/Levy (Levy didn't register to vote) picked us up on time as always, and his index finger tip was clean - no heavy blank ink. (At home we may get an "I voted Today" sticker, in Cambodia and other countries, you dip your finger in ink for fingerprinting and as an electoral badge of honor). He didn't think he can go vote and be back in time...he didn't want to make us wait. There were still many of "beautiful Khmer sights left on the itinerary" and he didn't want us to miss any of it. His commitment to our enjoyment and well-being came first; he will be with us to the end, even if it meant taking a 6hr bus ride to Phnom Penh.

[The Cambodia People Party received 60% of the votes and will stay in power another 5 years]

Narin Heng, 27, single, oldest of 6

Working as guide for 5 yrs

Studied English in high school and in college

Enjoys reading, tv/movies (action flicks), and music

Never been on a plane nor left the country

Prefers VN girls, says western girls are "too big"

Works for: http://www.amazing-angkorwat.com/ (highly recommended tour operator)

Costs of 4D/3N package, including hotel, ALL meals, transportation, site admissions: $230/person. Flight not included (SGN-REP = $300).

Random Musings:

Ben and I were one of the few American tourists in Cambodia. Most of the tourists we ran into were French speaking (France colonized most of SE Asia). A few Brits and Aussies but very few Americans. We met two: Natalie and Amelia, SJ State students from the Bay Area. Travelling 5 weeks through Thailand and Cambodia, skipping VN. Natalie was originally from Poland and HIGHLY recommends the northern Polish city of Dansk.

Of the few cars on the road, most are older used Toyota Camry's and Corolla's, estimated cost to purchase, $20k and $12k. Wealthy people will have a Lexus SUV (both ES and LX)...cost unknown.

Plenty of Coke and some Pepsi, but no McDonalds. Surprisingly there are a few Dairy Queens. I had a soft served cone at the airport DQ for $1.30.

The Khmer kids are also the nicest and friendliest (if not skinniest) kids you'll ever meet....

Few Cambodian Pix

2008-08-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

Cambodian Harry Potter

Future Phnom Penh resident?

Dried squid

Cambodian cow

Largest Cambodian in the country?

Cambodian massage: $1.25

Cambodian auto shop (our car getting fixed)

Cambodian carpool (how many do you see?)

Cambodian gas station

Cambodian taxi ('remok')

Schoolbus driver?

Typical Cambodian food. Similar to Thai/VN. VN food MUCH better!

The Killing Fields

2008-07-31T19:40:00.000-07:00

After we checked out of our room and with Ben's VN visa in hand, we went to visit the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center memorializing the victims of the Killing Fields ($2/person). The site was simple and it wasn't very crowded. This added an eerie feeling to an already gloomy subject matter. There were many

big ditches of mass graves in the lush fields. In some of them you can still see remnants of human bone fragments and pieces of clothing. During the 4 years of terror, 158 prisons, 309 mass-grave sites with an estimated total of 19,000 grave pits existed.

While the memorial was not as moving as Poland's concentration camps at Auschwitz, it was a powerful reminder of how evil mankind can be; an excerpt from a brochure:

[..On April 17th, 1975 the Khmer Rouge, a communist guerrilla group led by Pol Pot, took power in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. They forced all city dwellers into the countryside and to labor camps. During their rule, it is estimated that nearly 2 million Cambodians died by starvation, torture or execution; This equated to about 21% of the Cambodian population.

One of their mottos, was: "To keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss."

The Khmer Rouge created a radical form of agrarian communism where the whole population had to work in collective farms or forced labor projects.. They banned all institutions, including stores, banks, hospitals, schools, religion, and the family. Everyone was forced to work 12 - 14 hours a day, every day. Children were separated from their parents to work in mobile groups or as soldiers. People were fed one watery bowl of soup with a few grains of rice thrown in. Babies, children, adults and the elderly were killed everywhere. The Khmer Rouge killed people if they didn’t like them, if they didn’t work hard enough, if they were educated, if they came from different ethnic groups, or if they showed sympathy when their family members were taken away to be killed. All were killed without reason. Everyone had to pledge total allegiance to Angka, the Khmer Rouge government. It was a campaign based on instilling constant fear and keeping their victims off balance.
After the Vietnamese invaded and liberated the Cambodian people from the Khmer Rouge (1979), 600,000 Cambodians fled to Thai border camps. Ten million landmines were left in the ground, one for every person in Cambodia. The United Nations installed the largest peacekeeping mission in the world in Cambodia in 1991 to ensure free and fair elections after the withdrawal of the Vietnamese troops. Cambodia was turned upside down during the Khmer Rouge years and the country has the daunting task of healing physically, mentally and economically. ]

Shallow mass-graves. Thousands more are still unexcavated.

We visited the somber memorial for about 45 minutes and returned on our 'remok' (not 'romo', I misspelled it) to head to the airport. On the way there we were offered an opportunity to stop by a firing range. There we can shoot AK-47s for $40 and a dollar a bullet. And for $80 we can fire a real life bazooka! Apparently there are still stock piles of arms/weapons left over from the Khmer Rouge. Even if we did have the cash on us (it was probably safe to assume they will not take credit cards), I wouldn't want to support this unsavory tourist curiosity.

In a way the past few hours perfectly sums up Phnom Penh, you can go from pleasant and somber one minute then to debauchery and filth the next.

We arrived at the PNH airport after a 30 minute dusty ride. The airport was small, quiet, and clean. We had to wait 3 hours for our next flight to SGN. The departure tax was $25/person and luckily they accept credit cards. To get out of this city it was worth every penny.

Phnom Penh

2008-07-31T15:23:00.000-07:00

Early in the morning the three of us took a 'romo' (tuk-tuk in Thai) to the VN embassy, this will be our mode of transportation the rest of the day. This was the first time seeing the city in daylight. The city of 3 million is similar to Saigon - lots of scooters, shops, street vendors, etc. The streets seems cleaner than Saigon so far. We arrived at the VN embassy and there was a booth right outside the gate with a policeman handling visa applications. I was disappointed we didn't have to go inside the embassy, I wanted to see what it's like. Apparently requests for VN visas are pretty common so it's better for them to provide this walk-up service. Initially I was a bit suspicious, is this really the right place to hand over your money AND passport for a few hours? Afterall, the booth is pretty empty, no machines or telephone or much paperwork or anything. The Phnom Penh reputation is getting me over-paranoid. He seems legit, has a uniform, an official looking hat, and a name tag - that's good enough for me! We paid $40 and left Ben's passport with the officer; the visa will be available by noon and he will call Narin when it's ready.

Cool, we have some time to check out the Royal Palace. We took a short ride to the Royal Palace, got our tickets ($6 for both, as a "guide" Narin didn't have to pay) and visited the many temples and buildings on this 30 acres sprawl. The palaces gleamed in gold! It is home to His Majesty "Preah Bat Smdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk" (cool name, huh). The many temples are filled with ancient artifacts, sacred scrolls, and buddha statues (a lot from Angkor). One of the most impressive statue was in the Silver Pagoda. The 17th century emerald Buddha statue was made of some compound and solid gold. Weighing almost 200 pounds and adorned with almost 10,000 emeralds, diamonds, and gems. (Photos were not permitted inside). Within 90 minutes of visiting the main buildings, temples, and taking some silly pictures, we were done. Nice palace.

It was only 10:30 and I wanted to make sure Narin catches the bus home on time. He wasn't sure of the schedule of the Siem Reap bus so he called Samnang while we walked outside the palace and towards the riverfront. The last bus is at noon. Soon we were notified that Ben's visa was ready.

I wanted to go visit the Killing Fields Memorial 5km or 20 minutes away but we'll have to go there without Narin. He needed to catch his bus. He said his cousin is on his way to pick him up and that we should just go to the memorial on our own. We warmly said goodbye to Narin. What a great guy and we'll miss him! (More on him later...)

The two of us jumped on a romo to go check out of our room and then to pick up the visa. Soon, we'll go visit the most notorious chapter of Cambodia's violent past, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge and the Killing Fields.

Stuck in Cambodia

2008-07-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

Monday morning, day of our departure from Siem Reap back to Saigon. We had the usual hotel breakfast buffet: fried rice, potatoes, bacon, french toast, pancakes, omlette (to order), danish, coffee, fruit, etc. Okay, so it wasn't really a Cambodian breakfast...there was some pad-thai looking kind of noodles tho'. We checked out and met up with Narin (on the right) and Levy for our short 15 minute ride to the airport. We arrived at the empty airport to get our boarding passes. The issue Ben had in SGN rears it's ugly head: Ben must get a VN re-entry visa BEFORE flying back to VN. We had misunderstood, you can NOT get the VN visa at any VN airport but, rather, you must obtain it before your departure. There was not a Vietnam Airlines ticketing office at the airport so we were told to head back into town. I asked the agent to call our guide, Narin, and asked him to come back for us. Levy and Narin came back shortly and drove us to the VN Airlines office downtown. On the way I spoke to Narin's boss (Panha) who is the owner of the tour company. He explained that it may take at least a day to get a visa so we should be prepared to stay another night. Alright, not too bad we thought. At the airline office we were told that the best way is to have someone in VN go to a government office or travel agent and see if they can provide/fax necessary paperwork for VN re-entry. Otherwise it may take 2 days to get a visa from the VN embassy in Phnom Penh. We changed our flight to an open ticket for the next day and rushed to a mobile phone outlet to get me a local SIM card for my phone. I called CTH in Saigon to explain to her of the situation and she we went scrambling on our behalf. Next we went to another travel agent hoping they can find other alternatives. They said if we do the paperwork by 9pm tonight the visa will come back tomorrow night around 9pm, which means flying out Wed. morning - we'll have to stay two more nights. We decided to give CTH some time do her magic.

We headed for a place to gather our thoughts and go through our options. The four of us went to a random restuarant in a popular tourist stretch of downtown Siem Reap. We sat inside near the "Happy Hour 6am 'til Close" sign. Interesting, HH all day. We ordered some $1.50 fries and got a few rounds of the "happy hour" Angkor draft beers (you guessed it, the national beer is Angkor, quite good, 5% alc.). Buy one at $1 and get the second free, wow, 'fity-cent beers. This was important because both Ben and I are running low on cash. All we had was about $100 and a credit card (my starving-student cousin doesn't even have a credit card) and we both didn't bring our ATM cards to Cambodia (supposed to be a short trip, right?).

CTH called back saying her contacts recommended we go to the VN consulate in Phnom Penh, there they can give Ben a visa within hours. I got off the phone with her to discuss our options with everyone. Narin says the Cambodian capital is about a 6-hour bus ride away and it costs only $6/person. I asked him a series of questions: if he had committments for the next few days, family or other touring gigs? He knew exactly where I was going. I wanted to know if he'd escort us to Phnom Penh (we'd pay for all costs, of course). I figured going there will only cost us 1 night versus 2 nights if we stayed put. Plus, I didn't mind checking out Cambodia's largest city. We ordered another round of drinks to assist in his decision making. He admitted that it'd be fun and he only goes there once a year, if that. He'd have to check with his boss, Panha, first though. Before he can even call, Panha called him. Being fully committed to his valuable clients, he told Narin to go with us. Levy cannot go, he has some driving committments in the morning but Narin should go.

We got the check - $7.50, and Levy drove us to the bus company to purchase tickets for our bus ride. The last bus was at 12:30, sh!t, it's 12:40. Narin says there are other bus companies and we proceeded to the bus station. The first one, a nicer big orange touring bus was all full. The next bus on the other side of the dirt lot was available. This one would be ours and was nowhere as nice. It's smaller, green/white with two huge cracks on the passenger-side windshield. It's as if two fresh coconuts were thrown directly at the windshield. Well, at least the driver-side windshield is in one piece.

We had an hour to kill so we ate lunch at the bus station. We checked out a few eating outlets, all close to each other and decided on one that looked the freshest (if that's possible). These places have no menus, they make 4-5 dishes in big metal pots, each dish served family style, and you eat it with steamed (well, lukewarm) rice. We picked out 2 meat and a veggie dish. Like other meals their meats were very boney. The food was okay but for $1/person, we couldn't complain. (I thought to myself, Erin would not eat at this restaurant.)

At 2pm we walked passed the vendors selling drinks, fruits, gum, etc,. and boarded the bus, we had the first bench on the right side and Narin sat behind us. The nice view through the cracked windshield was ours! (My camera battery was dead so no cool pix from the ride). Locals jumped on/off and we didn't leave until 2:30pm. I noticed that we were the only foreigners on board. (No, everyone must have a seat and there were no livestock on the bus).

The bus was hauling! I looked to see how fast he was going but the speedometer needle didn't budge pass zero, it wasn't working. The roads were good with dirt shoulders but only had a single lane for each direction. The bus would honk its horn and blow pass by everyone, mostly scooters and a few smaller cars, it would honk constantly for the next 6 hours. It was a deep honk too, like that of a semi truck. Needless to say I didn't get any shut-eye. Ben did though, that kid can sleep through anything.

The Cambodian countryside is extremely poor, mostly rice paddies and sporadic ponds for fishing (I think). Straw roofs with four walls make up most of the "houses". Livestock (cattle, chickens, water buffaloes) roam freely in the yards and in dirty lotus-filled ponds. Lots of naked kids and shirtless men abound. Along the way the bus would make occasional stops for pick-up/drop-offs; in some instances it was more of a rolling stop, passengers must hop on/off while the bus was still moving. Two hours after our departure the bus stopped on the side of the road and about a dozen people jumped off and headed to a field with a few shrubs and trees. Narin tapped me on the shoulder, said, "pee break" and got off the bus. Luckily neither one of us had to go.

An hour later (or half-way there) the bus pulled into a dirt lot along side vendors stalls and other buses, it must be a bus station. Everyone got off to take a 15 minute break. The nicer bus was right next to us and I can see it is a lot nicer; cleaner seats with head rests, cleaner floors, and a cracked-free windshield. Not surprisingly, more tourists were on that bus. The area was quite dirty, garbage on the ground and flies buzzing about. Some people went down a little alley where there's an old "toilet" sign. Neither of us wanted to see if it's clean or not, I think I can make a good guess though. (Again, I don't think Erin would've enjoyed this detour) : )

Back on the bus, Narin said he has a cousin in the city and the cousin (Samnang) will recommend a place to stay. Again I took the opportunity to point out to Narin that this was another good reason for him to accompany us. He agreed, "beats staying home and just watching tv". The bus raced through the poor countryside without any more pee breaks and we reached Phnom Penh around 8:30pm. As we approached the final stop Narin said, "where do we go?", which made me a bit nervous. We didn't get off until the bus driver pulled over and said, "last stop". The dimly lit stop had 12-15 eager drivers offering their transportation services. Ours was the only bus in the station. Ben and I got off and were easy targets (shorts/backpack), good thing we had Narin with us and he called his cousin to meet us. Within less than 5 minutes, Samnang showed up on his scooter. He said he found us an affordable guesthouse. Cool! Samnang and Narin made a Thai sandwich on the scooter while Ben jumped on one of the many scooters waiting. Riding through the city, I was glad we had 2 locals with us. Phnom Penh has a reputation as a dangerous, seedy city, a reputation that even both our locals agree.

We got to the guest house and checked out three rooms: $15 = 1 big bed, $20 = 2 beds, $25 = 3 beds. All with private bath/tv/a.c. and the fresh smell of mildew. We splurged on the 3 beds and went to a local restaurant on 2 scooters (I wasn't the sandwich meat this time). We ordered 3-4 dishes with drinks and the tab was $15. We learned that Samnang used to live in Thailand until 10yrs ago and he's here now driving people around on scooters. He and Narin haven't seen each other in about a year. Like Narin, he's a very soft spoken friendly guy but Narin speaks better english.

At around 10pm Samnang took me to a 24hr internet cafe to do some work while the other two went back to the room. I thanked Samnang and said goodbye to him in case I don't see him the next day. I didn't want to stay out too late in this city so at around 2am, I left and looked for a ride. Luckily there was a small hotel nearby and a few scooters waiting. I confirmed the usual $1 ride and gave him the business card of our guesthouse. While we zipped through the city (almost got side-swiped by a tan Camry), the driver asked if I wanted a girl for a night, $40 he said. I chuckled and said no thanks. Phnom Penh, living up to it's reputation...

Tomorrow we need to get Ben a visa and get out of this place.

Our guesthouse the next day.

Cambodia Floating Village

2008-07-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

The last afternoon of our visit in Siem Reap, Narin took us to a nearby floating village on the Tonle Sap lake - the largest freshwater lake in SE Asia. The river of the same name connects to the mighty Mekong river. Because the lake is lower than the Mekong river, during the rainy season the lake would expand to more than double its size then only to contract again during the dry season. It's the only lake in the world to exhibit this behavior. The people of Cambodia rely heavily on this lake but I can tell the lake and river is very polluted and filled with sediment.

We reached the end of a dirt road where many empty colorful wooden boats were waiting for passengers. We hopped onto a one and proceeded down river towards the lake. The water is murky-filthy cappuccino brown. Surprisingly there wasn't much of a stench. All around the banks of the river there are many homes built on barges or small wooden boats. These boats are poorly made and I can't imagine them making the trip down river let alone cross a 2,500 sq km lake. These mobile floating homes allow the people to easily move around. It's common to see large families cramming into these small homes. I was told that the majority of these floating villagers are Vietnamese who are here illegally. Ironically they feel that can have a better life here than back at home in VN.

Along the way I can see why this lake is so polluted. The torrid and impoverished condition is unimagineable. Literally EVERYTHING is disposed into this body of water - food wastes, barbage, wastes from pets, livestock and villagers. Flimpsily built bathrooms are built with drainage pouring out right into the river. Along the way you can see mothers cleaning pots/pans/dishes in the water while others are doing laundry nearby and toddlers peeing off the deck just a few yards away. Yet it's not uncommon to see many kids swimming and playing in the water. I can't imagine the filth that's in this water. Along the way I had to hide my face under my shirt to prevent the occassional light spray of mist caused by my speeding boat. I rather suffer the smell of my own stench than to be sprayed by the water. Many times I wondered what I would do if I somehow fell off the boat. Uggh!!

We reached a dock that looks like it's built just for the tourists. A few shops selling local goods and souvenirs; a small cage showing a few crocodiles and a small stand selling refreshments. Shockingly I lost my appetite during the short ride.

It was also here that a few local kids were providing photo opportunities for eager tourists...for a fee of course. We walked around and I chatted with some of the kids. One kid, 11, in the river floating in a big bucket with a small python around his neck, said he lives across the river on a small boat. He has 7 siblings and 2 of them are married but no kids (yet). All 14 of them live on this tiny boat. His friend and neighbor, Kiet age 10, also in a bucket but is missing his left arm from the shoulder down. I can see many big scars on his body and face so I asked him what had happened. He said he was mangled by a boat propeller while swimming a few years ago. His friend joked that Kiet "refuses to die".

On the other side of the dock, another boy with only a python for clothing was rudely yelling at tourists who refused to donate a dollar for a raw photo. I went over there once he calmed down a little bit and asked him his age. He barked out that he's 3 years old and I told him to tell the truth, he didn't. In the meantime his brother is swimming over from the family boat nearby and climbed onto the dock. I was going to give him a hand out of the water but then, naaah, why...he was doing perfectly fine on his own. He's a little more talkative and said he's 9. Their mother was sitting on the boat peeling cucumbers or squash or something. I yelled out that her younger son is quite a brat and she smiled and said, yeah that's just how he is. She said he's 8 and they call him "Chuot" (or 'Rat'). There are 12 people living on her boat. I really wanted to see what it's like inside these homes but that meant swimming across 10 yards. If only I had my own bucket!

Chuot's home/family

I then spoke to a 10 year old girl, Xuong (I believe that means 'Spring') holding a baby crocodile. She was well spoken and extremely polite. I was surprised how sweet and educated she appeared. She's the oldest of 3 and lives across the river. I asked her if there's a school that she attends but she said there are no schools in the area. Her mom teaches her at home - boat schooling, I assume. She said Chuot is a trouble maker and not to believe anything he says. I then asked the three kids if they want to take a picture with me with the condition they don't demand money afterwards. She eagerly agree and I confirmed with her of our agreement. She said, of course she's not going to ask and that her "word is her bond". In the meantime, Chuot is sitting on the deck pouting and scratching his inner thigh. We posed for the picture and Chuot's brother jumped in as well.

She sweetly thanked me for the picture and started to walk away. I called her back then reached into my pocket and handed her a dollar. She was so thrilled, thanked me, wished me a safe voyage and gleefully skipped away. That of course fumed Chuot. I can hear him mumbling curse words at me while looking the other way.

It was getting late so we got back on the boat and headed back to our drop-off point. Xuong returned to the edge of the deck and waved to us frantically as we left. I left feeling quite humbled to meet such a sweet and polite person despite having every reason to be miserable and bitter.

Visiting Angkor (Cambodia)

2008-07-26T08:39:00.001-07:00

For the weekend, Ben and I visited the most popular archeological site in SE Asia, the temples of Angkor. We took a taxi to the airport and the airport was pretty dead. We got our boarding passes and proceeded to security. While in line for passenger screening, guess what, the power went out. Everything just stopped - most of the lights, the conveyer belt, the metal detector machines... I HOPE they have backup generators for the flight control and radar tracking systems. Though the airport appears to be modern I guess they still have work to do on the power front.

The power went back on after 3-4 minutes and we went through security (didn't have to pull out liquids!) and proceeded to immigration. I didn't have a problem but Ben appears to have an issue. He only has a 1 entry visa, which, as it implies only allows you to enter the country once - which he already did 7 weeks ago. The agent asked bunch of questions and then took his visa paperwork. He said Ben can get a visa before his return or something like that. Hopefully it'll be okay.

We hoped on a smaller prop plane (not that small!) and landed in Siem Reap after about an hour and tried to clear immigration. A visa costs $20 and this time I had a visa issue. I had no blank pages in my passport for the Cambodian visa (a visa requires a full blank page) to be attached. So I was pulled aside and filled out some additional paperwork and pay an extra $10 while Ben waited. I also asked about Ben's returning visa and they said you don't get that here but to get upon our return to VN. What a pain!

We finally exited the airport, it was hot and a bit humid, reminds us of Hawaii Ben pointed out. Outside our tour guide, Narin, and driver, Lavy were waiting for us with one of those cheesy name plates (and they even spelled my name right!). They greeted us, took us to the car nearby and gave us ice cold bottle water and cool wet-wipes from the cooler in the trunk. Narin spoke very good english but Lavy not so much. Narin explained that there over 1,000 temples in Cambodia but the 70+ temples around Angkor are the best preserved. Most of them were built in the 800s-1200s and were only discovered by non-locals in the late 19th century therefore quite well-preserved. The temples were built by kings who erected these colossal temples to honor/worship Hindu and later Buddhists dieties. Angkor was also once Cambodia's capital. The Khmer people, as Cambodians are called, were ancestors of Indians and were later conquered by the Thai people then by other neighboring clans. Finally under some powerful kings the Khmer Empire grew prosperous in the 9th century and flourished for the next 500 years. But the past 300 years, war and violence has marred Cambodia's history, but surprisingly, most of the temples in the region escaped unscathed. For the most part the temples were only known to locals. Not until the late 1800s were they discovered by the outside world. Some were only discovered in the 1920s.

After the crash course Khmer history lesson, we checked in at the Casa Angkor Hotel - a rather nice hotel with a big lobby and a nice pool. 15 minutes later we were off to our first set of temples - Lolei, Preah Ko, Bakong (9th century Hindu temples). It was very hot and the temples were just okay, nothing to wow you...yet. Then we had lunch at a local restaurant and then back to the hotel for a siesta and we both could use it. This will be a routine each day - see sights in the morning, then lunch then a 2.5 hr break at the hotel (it's too hot to be out there in the midday sun), then more site seeing, and then dinner. I think I can get use to this routine....

After the afternoon break, we went to the most famous of all the temples - Angkor Wat. At 500 acres Angkor Wat is the world's largest religious complex. Built in the 11th century as a Hindu temple by a Khmer king, it serves as a funeral temple. The complex is massive! We walked around for a few hours and then went outside, rested and chatted about things with Narin. He's very passionate about his culture, history, and Khmer politics (more on that some other time). Then we witnessed the beautiful sunset over Angor Wat. Now I can understand why this is such a visited site. We visited 11-12 temples during the 2.5 days and I barely could keep the names/history straight. I just remember most were used for worshiping, celebrations, funerals, and coronations. Below are pix of a few temples. For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor Or just go there sometime in your lifetime!

Angkor Wat (Holy City) - Built 1113-1150

Angkor Thom (Great City) - 1180-1220

Was the Khmer capital until 17th century, more than 3 sq miles in size. Below is The Bayon which is in the middle of the city. 37 of 49 original towers still standing. Most are carved with four faces on each cardinal point (East, West, South, North).

TA Phrom - 1186

A jungle temple overgrown by trees and roots. Part of 'Tomb Raider' was filmed here.

Other Temples (Pre Rup, Bakong, Preah Koh): 8th-9th centuries

Too many pictures to post. I'll try to upload them somewhere overnight. No promises though.

Leaving VN...

2008-07-25T10:16:00.000-07:00

Well, for the weekend.

Today I'm leaving for Cambodia and Angkor. I've been wanting to visit this World Heritage Site for a while and I'll finally get a chance this weekend with Ben. More importantly, I'm looking forward to getting away from my family obligations and actually be a tourist even for only a few days. The past 4-5 days have been quite hectic for me - LOTs of family visits, work, and not much sleep.

Thanks to those taking the time to read this. I didn't think too many people would be interested but through the wonders of the internet, more eyeballs are on this...maybe even more than I'd like. : ) Thanks for the kind and funny comments, I actually read them all. Remember I'm not a writer by any stretch (just ask Erin, she's always correcting my spelling/grammar) but this is a good way for me to document some things...gramar, spelin, runonsentencesbedamn! Normally if Erin's here she would take detailed notes on our travels, me, I'm relying on this.

There are many more things I want to document so stay tuned. And thanks again for taking the time to read.

I'll try to update it when I can. Have a great weekend!

About VN

2008-07-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

Some quick facts about Vietnam:

Officially: Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Population 86m (13th largest)

Literacy rate: 94%

Currency: Dong ($1 = 17,000 VND)

GDP: $55B

GDP/capita: $3,000

GDP growth (2007): 8.8%

Rice production: 33m tons/yr

Liters of 'nuoc mam' (fish sauce): 200m/yr

Tonnage of bombs dropped on Vietnam: 15 m

Number of motor bikes: 10 million and growing

Members of Communist Party: 2+ million

Price of gas: $5/gallon

Visiting Long An (Dad's family)

2008-07-24T11:25:00.000-07:00

Today I'm visiting my family in the province of Long An about 50 km away. My dad's family is from this rural, predominantly rice growing region. I'm expecting a drastically different environment than Saigon one that is more impoverished and with little infrastructure. My dad is the oldest of 11 children (9 surviving) and everyone has made to Northern California except for one, an uncle I call "Chu 3" which literally translates to "Uncle 3", but indirectly, it means the "second oldest paternal uncle" - but only if one's dad is the oldest. If my dad is NOT the oldest, then I'd call him "Bac 3". I know, the naming/calling of family members in my culture is mind-boggling, I still struggle with it. Maybe someday I'll try to explain it...once I fully understand it myself. I was looking forward to seeing him and his wife, "Thim 3" (Auntie 3) but really means the "second oldest paternal aunt in-law".

They have 6 chilren - my cousins, and they all have chilren, how many I have no idea. Needless to say I have no recollection of any of them. I was really looking forward to meeting them, especially Chu 3, but shockingly 10 days before my departure I found out he had passed. He was 70 and passed in Saigon of multiple illnesses. What a shock and disappointment for me to hear of this news. Had fate intervened just a few weeks later I would've met him.

The Saturday before my departure my family had a family gathering in SJ in remembrance of Chu 3. Ong Noi (or paternal grandpa) was there and I can tell he was saddened by the loss. A normally pretty talkative 94 year-old, he only said hello to us but not much else. I lit incense and said a little prayer on the familial altar with a new addition, my uncle. The altar plays the focal point of most VN families. It's where ancestors and family members are remembered and revered.

***Note to self ***: Re-read my brother's book.

So Wednesday morning, Ben and I took a hired-car to Tan An, in the province of Long An; Ben skipped his VN class to go with me, this will be his third time there. He was last there for the funeral the week before. He said the funeral was "interesting", indeed it would've been interesting to witness a traditional funeral in VN.

The drive was uneventful, roads were paved with not that much traffic as I had heard. After more than an hour we arrived at my dad's house. He had built it on Ong Noi's property only a few years ago. Apparently, as the oldest son the property naturally goes to him. What kind of a tradition is that??? (I guess my brother will get everything!) :)

We arrived in front of the house and I was greeted by Nam, my cousin (4th born, that's why we call him Nam or "5" - go figure); he lives right next door to the house. I had only recognized him by a few pictures I've seen back at home. The property is a lot smaller than what I recall. There used to be more lush plants and fruit trees. (They told me later that the communists or the well-connected neighbors had taken over some of the land on the property.) The oldest cousin, Tung, the oldest girl cousin, Nga and her hubby (don't remember his name), Nam's wife (don't remember her name) and their daughter (again, don't remember her name) came out to greet me as well. I sat down at the table in the kitchen area for only a few minutes for a little chat but then was escorted upstairs for a quick prayer at my grandma's altar. Then we went across the street to visit my grandpa's younger sister. Only after a few minutes of chit-chat with her did I go to my grandpa's older sister's altar. (I love that smell of incense!).

We all then jumped into the car to go to Ky Xong (or 'que', rural village - I think) where a lot of my remaining cousins and Thim 3 (my recently widowed aunt, if you've lost track) are living. Tung and Nam went along as well. They insisted I ride shotgun. Poor Ben had to squeeze his 6'2" frame into the middle seat of the old Carolla. Eventhough all my cousins there are older than me (40s-50s), in the VN tradition, they have to call me 'Anh' or 'big brother', and I refer to them as 'Em' or younger brother/sister (finally a word that applies to both genders!). I'm not used to that as I tend to call anyone older than me 'Anh' or 'Chi' (big sister). During the 7km drive I found myself using 'Em' to refer myself and they would correct me. I'll have to get used to this like it or not. The children of the oldest child will always be more respected irregardless of age. It's good to be a SAM (Son of the Alpha Male)!!!

Only the first few KMs were paved, they had only finished the road recently. The rest of the way was dirt - well, mud (it had rained during the day). The car went through many ditches and there were times I thought we had lost an axle as it scraped the bottom of the car on natural speed bumps. Along the way there were many local vendors on the side selling everything from fruits to eggs to meat to tires. People were fixing/ selling/cleaning/tending to things. Most homes have livestock trudging about and kids playing together in puddles of muddy water. After crossing a flimsy bridge we arrived to the farm house. It's small with many chickens/roosters/ducks muddling in the muddy water in the front yard. I stepped out and walked up to the porch area. Thim 3 greeted me and I gave her a little hug. That little petite, frail lady gave birth to 6 kids???!! Wow. Shortly after, I was bombarded by 12-13 other people introducing themselves to me. I'm bad with names as is but how will I remember their names and sometimes their traditional hierarchical name (Nam or 'Sau' (Six)) and sometimes their nicknames? I wish I had one of those "Hello my name is _______" name tags to pass out.

I politely said hi to each of them and immediately I was escorted to my Ba Noi's (paternal grandmother) burial which is right next to the house. I gingerly tip-toed to the site (I didn't want to get my sandals muddy) and paid my respects to her (she passed in 1984). I only recall sitting on her lap a few times during our many weekend visits from Saigon. Ong Noi's burial is right next to her, hopefully it'll remain empty for a while longer.
I was then escorted back into the house to visit Chu 3's newly prepared altar - from the picture on the altar, I can see he has the best hair of all the men in my family! Then in the same room I went to my great-grandpa's altar. Then I proceeded to the other part of the house, you have to go outside through the side yard to reach it. (I almost slipped and fell on a slippery rock). I made it inside to visit my great-grandma's altar. This part of the house is where some of my aunt/uncles/cousin had lived prior to coming to America. Today, only some of my remaining cousins and their kids live there.

My cousins scrambled to set up a round wooden table and chairs and served canned coconut juice. I wasn't thirsty but still finished it. I'm glad it's just a light drink because I am quickly stuffing myself during my many visits the past few days. The VN tradition of offering food/drinks/refreshments to guests is alive and well. And it may be considered rude to not embrace the hospitality. More importantly most people in VN may only have 2 daily meals (if they're lucky) and I was raised never to waste food so I did my part by finishing what's in front of me. So much for my goal of shedding a few LBs.

Only the male cousins sat down (the women were doing other things) and we chatted for about 10-15 minutes. With the exception of Nam and Tung, I wasn't sure who the rest were exactly. Cousins or cousin-in-law? Luckily I only had to refer to them as 'Em' and, me 'Anh'. I don't recall what we talked about but my butt was hurt from sitting on the small wooden chair. So I stood up and walked around a bit to see the living conditions. It's rather appauling and the pictures are self-explanatory.

I was then invited back to the main house to have some 'che' (VN dessert). Arrrghh more food! But I did my part and finished it (it was very good). I said no before they were able to complete the sentence "would 'Anh' want more". I gathered everyone for a quick group picture around the new altar, the car driver took the picture. A few had left because a daughter (7-8, maybe) didn't want to be late for her afternoon school session. In fact she was crying because she thought she was going to be late for school. To me that was a promising sign and provides hope for the future. She actually wants to go to school! Most kids in the area must work to help contribute to the family, luckily my family have they luxury to get an education.

I then took a few minutes on my own to go back out to Ba Noi's burial for a little reflection. Soon my aunt joined me. I asked how she's doing and she said she's doing okay. She's still battling a lung/breathing illness (I believe that's what she said as I don't know all the illnesses in Vietnamese) but other than that, she's okay. She told me how the site used to be a lot higher but due to sediment run-offs, the whole area is rising around the site. She added that Chu 3 passed away pretty suddenly. I'm glad he didn't suffer very much. I promised her that I'll try to be back during my stay. I can feel a lot of eyes on us, they seem to be watching my every move. Good thing I didn't have to use the "facilities", they'd probably watch me to see if I can maneuver around and not fall in the pond!

I said good bye to everyone and we slowly drove back to my dad's house. There I toured around the 3-level building. It's the best house on the block. He did a great job! Back at the kitchen table, we sat down and chatted some more. Soon, more fruits!! This time it's longan ("nhang", i think) and 'rambuttan ('chum-chum'). I love these! Ben and I finished both bowls of fruits within our 45 min chat. I passed out the various gifts to Nam (ie, money) from the folks back home. He'll pass it out as instructed on each envelope. I told him I'll return sometime on a Sunday, that's the day everyone gather at the house to hang out, catch up, and of course, eat! I'm glad to see the traditional family gathering is still taking place. I recall many of these when I was a child in VN. I wonder how much has changed now that there are few members. I hope to find out one of these Sundays.

My family back home still try to have such gatherings but they're not as frequent. I always enjoy these gatherings, it's always filled with warmth and laughter. Oh yeah, great food! My last gathering was in SJ the day before I left and my most recent was 3 days later but 10,000 miles away. Ironically, the main inspiration for both gatherings from opposite ends of the world was for a man I never knew.

Random Pix

2008-07-23T15:12:00.001-07:00

Typical traffic jam

First bowl of Pho! Hope she washed her hands.

Ben's pad. People say he's Korean. I say he looks like a Korean girl.

Visiting Di 7

2008-07-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

It's funny the things you remember as a young child. Events that you may deem insignificant initally, but as you seek to understand yourself and trace back to your upbringing - doing an archeological childhood quest of sorts, you'll soon realize that these memories will reveal a lot about yourself. I'm about to do just that and put on my Indiana Jones hat. For once I can be the lead and not the sidekick "Short- Round". (I hated it when kids called me that in Jr. High)

I begin my quest by visiting my nanny, I call Di 7 ("Yi-Baye"). What I remember of her is that she was more than just a nanny; she lived with us fulltime for almost 10 years (until 1979) and rarely goes back home to her village 200 km away. Since both my professional parents were working long days and pursuing higher degrees to provide for the family, Di 7 was responsible for the daily house chores: cleaning, cooking, laundry, gardening, raising livestock, etc. But her biggest and proudest "chore" she had was raising the Nguyen children with unconditional love.

CTH says she's been anxiously awaiting my return so I wanted to make her my first familial visit. We (CTH and Ben) taxied through the city street madness to district 4. The area appears a bit seedier with fewer tall buildings and narrower streets. We turned left into a dark narrow street that ended after about 100 yards. The taxi stopped by an old concrete building with 4-5 children hanging about. Above the top step of the house I see many people moving about but it was rather dark. I stepped out and heard her call out my name. It was Di 7. I walked up and hugged her. She's a lot smaller and bonier than I remembered. Well of course she is, I was probably only 20 pounds when she last held me. And held me she did. I was a very "clingy" child, I always demanded to be held by her. I remember clinging to her constantly during the day and she had to do a lot of chores while holding me. Only during naps and bedtime will she be "Thai-less", even then I would refuse to go to bed unless she lie down with me and lull me to sleep.

She invited us in and we all sat around two long wooden picnic-sized tables, on old wooden chairs and with only a dim battery latern for light. She said the power is out. Geesh, can't this city provide enough electricity for it's 7-8 million residence??? She didn't ask me the usual 5-7 standard questions that everyone seems to be asking: When did you get in, how long will you stay, how are you adjusting, is it too hot for you, blah, blah, blah. I think she already knows those answer from her constant phone calls to CTH. I'm sure she's been throroughly briefed by CTH. She asked if I wanted something to drink/eat but I politely said no, thanks. But then she sprung up and said, I know exactly what you like and proceeded around the corner to the next room (the kitchen I presumed) and came back with her special flan.

I remember loving her flan! She makes it with the perfect texture, size, and the caramel sauce is like no other. It's a dark carmelized taste that is very similar to sweetened expresso. (I love that taste of strong coffee - cappuccino, anyone?). I told her it's exactly as I remembered and she went on to recite the many other foods I loved: steamed pork buns - not the chinese kind, the big VN kind with meat and an egg (exactly what I had on my arrival snack the first night), and yogurt - not Yoplait but the homemade kind (she used to make them in jars the size of baby food). I still love these food items. She said I was very easy to feed, I would eat ANYTHING. Both she and my mom would intentionally feed me things that most kids (and adults) would find repulsive (liver, cow brains, gizards, etc.), in a way it was their to prepare me for life. Since food is life's biggest necessity and for me to be able to eat ANYTHING, I am confident I'll never starve. Want proof? More on that a little later, I'll warn you now, it's pretty nasty!

It's astounding what she remembers: exact names, birthdays, birth signs, dates, events, etc. And not just about me but the whole family AND extended family...even in-laws and their families. Surprisingly she's quite the family historian. According to my limited understanding, in VN tradition a child is brought into this world with a pre-determined destiny based on 4 criterias (influenced by the Chinese zodiac): 1) The birth year, 2) The birth "element", 3) The birth month, and 4) The birth time of day. She said, for newborn boys, everything was aligned for me, all the signs were perfect: Rat, Water, April, but wrong the time of day. She said, "You were born late at night, had you held on until morning you could've been President!". That gave us all quite a chuckle. (Wow, Obama is so lucky I was eager to enter the world!) I jokingly said, "3 out of 4 is not bad, that's 75%, better than average!"

I can see the pride in her eyes as she recounts numerous stories about our family. How the family perservered against heavy odds to make it to America. I can't speak for the whole country, but for our family/friends making it to America is the ultimate achievement. You don't have to be financially secure, or well educated, or have the best hairline; just make it to America and you have achieved.

But the one story that will stick with me the most is about one particular food item that I enjoyed. She said I loved to eat "nhao". I had no idea what that is but she said it's hard to find (you can't just take any "nhao") and even harder to make. Apparently not everyone can get access to this. Luckily my mom did. She befriended some people with access to save and give her the "nhao". This item is so full of nutrients that feeding it to pigs (which my family had a few) will help them grow to 100kg in half the normal time. Careful preparation is key and Di 7 is the best cook around. As she's preparing it, cleaning, cutting, grilling(or boiled, she said I preferred grilled), and the wonderful smell fills the house, I'd run over and yanked on her pantleg begging for some. I'd always get the first taste from the grill. She said I loved it! No one else in the family would eat it (well the pigs would) but me. So what is it? Well the people that my mom befriended works in the maternity ward... Nhao = Placentaphagia. Look it up. Told you I'd eat anything!

Today she is in her sixties with still a lot of love to give. She lives in a government sponsored house caring for 20 foster girls ages 5-18. It doesn't surprise me that she's still providing unconditional love to children. I would not expect anything less. I know I visit her again the next few weeks to catch up some more. Taking pictures slipped my mind as I was so intrigued by the many stories... I'll take more pix when I return.

Oh yes, she has two children, a daughter - Loc, 23, and a son, Thai Phuc Nguyen, 28. She said after my family left and she went on to start her family, she missed me so much that when she had her son she named him after me.

First full day in Saigon

2008-07-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

The combination of jetlag and anxiousness made my first night in Saigon filled with restlessness. I probably slept for only 2-3 hours at the most. Then before 8 am I was awakened by - no, not by the non-stop honking of mopeds or the constant hammering from nearby construction, but by the uncomfortable heat in the room. The a/c was off! I got up and was unable to get it started. I wanted to call the front desk but the phone line dead - strange. I stepped into the hallway to ask the cleaning lady what's going on and she said there's a power outtage. Oh that happens once in a while, she said. (Sure, I bet it doesn't happen at the Sheraton a few blocks away). Just great. I decided to climb back in bed to get some more sleep but couldn't. I just laid there thinking how we just take things for granted, like electricity. I can't wait to learn what else I take for granted everyday, and I'll probably learn it the hard way. 2.5 hours later my best new friend "Electricity" came back along with his buddy A.C.

An hour later, CTH showed up with her 14 y.o. daughter (Thu) at the door to take me to their house around the block for lunch. I'm using the term 'house' loosely as it's really not much of a house. It's in a small private alleyway off a busy street, you must lock/unlock the gate each time for access. There are 4-5 tightly spaced homes/in-home businesses in this alley. At least I now know where I can get my laundry clean. Gotta support local business!

For this family of four the cozy home is about 40 sq. meters or about 425 sq. feet. Including: a master bedroom, kitchen, bath, attic turned bedroom (to reach: climb small steep ladder in kitchen), and a living/dining room.

Why do I say a "living/dining" room? Because this quaint living room (and garage for that matter), with the help of the tablecloth under the portable clothes hanger, magically turns into a dining room! ***Ta-Da!***

That's right, my first meal in Saigon was on the floor and frankly, I couldn't think of a better first meal. In my travels I try to be a temporary local when I can and it can't be any more local than this. Everything homemade and delicious: Beef stirfry, some special chicken "ham" (cha), steamed rice (the ultimate VN staple) and VN iced coffee (ca fe sua da) - she had heard I like strong coffee. And for dessert: fresh guava and lychee. I've been looking forward to eating all these exotic tropical fruits...I know it will get much better and more exotic ("exoticer", is that a word?).

My cousin Ben will be getting out of his VN class soon and meet me at the "house". We'll then go to visit someone that's on the top of my "must visit person" list. My childhood nanny...

Random Musings:

I know you can expect downpours daily in VN but the one I saw while enjoying my dessert was the heaviest and loudest I've ever experienced. It was so loud we had to scream to each other to communicate. It was also the loudest thunder I've recalled, luckily the rain stopped after 30 minutes and there were only 3-4 jumping-off-my-dining-chair roars.

Arrival in Vietnam

2008-07-21T10:26:00.000-07:00

JAL is a pretty nice airline: clean, friendly attendants, good food (for airline food), and great service. They keep on feeding you - my favorite is the Nestle jumbo ice cream sandwich! Watched: '21' (the book 'Bringing Down the House' is much better), 'Street Kings' (some Keanu Reeves, Forrest Whitaker police action drama, it was okay), and 'The Eye' (Jessica Alba, just okay as well). I only managed to read a little of my Lonely Planet guidebook... My flight to Tokyo was delayed an hour which meant I only have 1 hour for my connecting flight to Saigon - not a problem, plenty of time. Then another 6 hour flight to SGN. I tried to sleep but was not very successful, I probably dozed in/out for about 2 hours but that's about it.

Approaching Tan Son Nhat airport around 10pm I looked out the window to check out the night landscape. There aren't as many lights as most modern cities but I can see plenty of dim street lights, a few lighted bridges, some flashing neon signs, small shopping centers (sans big parking lots), and even a modern, lighted tennis court. But what struck me the most are the numerous one-lighted vehicles scrambling around, there are a lot of them - all mopeds/scooters. They easily outnumber their two-lighted counterparts 10 to 1.

We touched down smoothly and from what I can tell everything is pretty modern. By looking at the cargo equipment, the mini-trucks, and the guys wearing the ear-muffs, it seems like a real international airport to me. I disembarked and headed to immigration. Heading there I was a bit paranoid as I've been told that this is where the immigration agents may find ways for your kind "donations" - they tend to target VN-Americans. There were plenty of agents and it seems like everyone went through it without any delays. Will I be different? I found the shortest line (1 person in front of me) and was called to approached the booth in minutes. I handed him my passport/paperwork, we exchanged pleasantries in Vietnamese, of course, he ran my passport through but then reached for his cell phone and made a call. He said something softly to someone and all I can hear was something like "..there's a guest waiting for you..", then he hung up. I was a bit nervous - am I the guest he's refering to? What is he doing, will I be asked to step aside or wait for the person on the phone??? Then to my relief he smiled, stamped my passport/paperwork and said: "Cam on, moi em" (thank you, welcome), and handed me back the paperwork and off I go. Excellent! I think it takes longer visiting the agent in San Francisco!

I then proceeded down an escalator to carousel 1 for my baggage. This is a very nice airport: modern, clean, duty-free shops, ATMs, etc. This is nicer than the Oakland airport (okay, that's not saying much...)!

My bag came out within minutes, I proceeded to the exit (Nothing to Declare), threw all my bags through a scanner, handed a female agent paperwork and I exited the airport. That was easy!

Myth #1: Immigration/custom agents will try to make money off of you. Not true...so far.

(One of the things I wanted to experience for myself are these paranoias or myths that I frequently hear from my friends/family. Some are probably valid but most are not, at least that's my hope. There are too many to document but I will try to point them out as I experience them. )

Upon exiting the terminal and as the automatic glass double-door opened, I was almost knocked down by a huge wave of heat and humidity. I was expecting it but still you're never prepared for it, it's pretty bad and it's 10:15 pm! It's like Miami or Chicago or Cancun in the middle of August. Not a problem, I can deal with it.

I walked through the crowds, looked around and, as expected, didn't recognize anyone. Will my family recognize and find me? Afterall, my shirt is brown and not red as was communicated. I'll give it a few minutes before calling her. One thing I noticed, only one person offered me a taxi ride and he wasn't even very aggressive, he asked me from a far as we made eye contact and I just shook my head 'no'. That's it? I've experienced much more aggressiveness for transportation services in Rome, Mexico, Croatia, etc. Here, nothing. What a disappointment, nobody wants my business. ; ) I waited outside with throngs of others.

It only took 2-3 minutes when a pale, petite lady rushed at me, calling out my name. I've never seen her before but from her voice I know it's my mom's cousin, "Chi Tung Huong" (CTH). They found me! Her husband and 24 y.o. son (Nhat) were there as well. Sure enough, she said she was looking for someone in a RED shirt but her husband (I just call him 'Anh' - or older brother) recognized me. We jumped in a taxi - someone she knows, and headed to Hai Nam Hotel. We chatted during the 10 minute ride but my head is still in a foggy haze so I wasn't much of a conversationalist. I mostly just listened - CTH, she's a talker. The taxi weaved in and out and around cars, mopeds, and bicycles. It's not bad right now...I can't wait to see the madness of the streets during the day.

I checked into the hotel with them and we looked over the room to make sure it's good. It's not a Ritz but not bad for $28/night. Clean, firm bed, tv, a/c, tv (70-80 channels), free Wifi. I verified that my unlocked phone will work by trying out Nhat's SIM chip and it works like a charm! Nice. CTH even brought me 2 VN pork buns. Yummy!

I'll see them tomorrow for lunch they live just a few minutes on foot from the hotel. Ben Thanh Market, the largest in Saigon is right around the corner. I am right in the heart of the city. I can't wait to check out the surroundings tomorrow. I'm pretty jet-lagged, it's been a 19-hour voyage. I can't believe I am back in the city of my birth!

Day 0: Departure day

2008-07-20T10:59:00.001-07:00

Today's the day, I'm on my way to Vietnam! Woke up and I had mixed feelings, more sadness (not seeing Erin for maybe 6 weeks) and stress than excitement at this moment. Maybe getting out of bed and doing this blog will help... Then something to eat. Looks like my flight will be 40 minutes delayed, excellent! I can surely use the extra time.

A quick greasy American breakfast at Baldie's Cafe - a nearby diner that's popular with the locals. We rarely eat breakfast but for today I wanted to fill up before enjoying the great airline food.

As we both sat down on the classic vinyl benches across from one another, both of us dropped like a rock. There are big hidden "sinkholes" in these seats...we almost hit our chins on the table! There must have been some very big butts that sat here throughout the years. : )

My last minute scramble at home to get everything in order including a shower, a walk-through of the house to see if I left anything that I may need, checking on the flight status as Erin yells out all the things on her checklist. "Check, check, got it, yep brought it, have it...". Load up the car and we're ready to go. Erin's actually doing the driving to the airport - this will allow me to relax a bit. SFO International arrival area was a bit busy, not a problem, she squeezed right in and out I go. Said our goodbyes on curbside (boy, I'm gonna miss her!), threw my backpack on and dragged the check-in luggage to the JAL counter. Mostly Japanese tourists are in line but not very crowded. Checked in the 1-way luggage (I'm not bringing it back, Patrick will take it from Saigon and take it back to Singapore). Got the boarding pass, went through security and off to the JAL lounge I go to kill an hour before boarding.

Wow, this lounge is nice, much nicer than AA or Delta but still not as nice as British Airways in London. That's still the best in my book, but JAL is nice. All you can drink (wine, beer, liquor, sake), snacks (cheese, nori, mochi, chips, and so much more), and they're all free of charge. Nice. Found an empty seat among the Japanese dominated rooms - wow, it's pretty tight in here, everyone is so polite talking softly and with small laptops (makes mine look so outdated!), probably a good preview of what it'll be like when I visit Tokyo on my way back from VN.

Grabbed a glass of Clos du Bois cab sauv - not bad for airline lounge wine, and relaxed a bit. Called Erin to give her a status update while she shops (Palo Alto, I think) - okay, I guess I missed her already...

I'm not sure what to expect when I arrive. I've heard a few horror stories with customs and immigration - that agents may find reasons to make a quick buck. I'll go into more horror stories relating to the Vietnam travel experience from my family/friends later on. I'm sure there are some truths to them but for the most part, I think it's more paranoia than anything else. It can't be THAT bad can it???

My mom's cousin will be picking me up. Told her I'll be wearing a red shirt and my shirt is actually brown. Oh well, she knows what I look like, me, I won't be able to recognize her. I'll just let her approach me. Hopefully the bag will arrive, if not, it wouldn't bother me that much as I have all my things with me. Haa-haa!

Okay, on to Tokyo first then Saigon here I come!

Random Musings:

A lot of Japanese vistors in the lounge have a lot of duti-free items, they love those brands -Marlboro, Godiva, Polo, Gucci, Tiffany, etc. Are things that much cheaper here than Tokyo?? I already know the answer to that but I'll find out first hand in about 6 weeks.

Day -1: Packing day

2008-07-08T22:27:00.000-07:00

Last full day before my adventure. Wow, a lot to do. I won't bore you with all the details but it was a busy day, including a family get together in memory of an uncle...more on that some other time...

So after scrambling around for all day, I started packing after 9pm (flight at 1pm the next day). You know how it is when you're getting ready to pack, SO many things to remember, so many considerations (weather, activities, packing too much/little, blah, blah, blah). Luckily we've fine tuned the art of traveling and packing. It's a little different this time because Erin will not be joining me from the get-go. If we both were about to embark on a trip (which is usually always the case), packing and preparing is so much easier - we can split things up and share the load. Traveling solo is different especially since I'm not as anal as Erin, what I mean is I'll probably overlook certain things - hey I'm a guy...I don't think you need to have EVERYTHING when you're traveling (ie, toliet paper, wet wipes, chapstick, q-tips, etc.). But a solo trip will require her assistance: she reads off her usual packing list and I check them off (or just ignore some items all together). If you're curious, I can email you the list. (I haven't figured out how to upload a list or link)

What makes it more challenging is this time is I have to bring some items for the folks in Vietnam (more on that later) AND I have to bring some clothes and other items to Ben, my cousin who's been in Vn for 6 weeks and will be there until October (more on him later). Generally I just take on a carry-on backpack on all my trips, but because of these additional items, I'll have to check-in one bag (I truly don't remember the last time I checked anything in on a flight!). So what exactly am I packing? I try to pack the same whether I'm traveling for 6 days or 6 weeks.

Here's the list (including the clothes I'm wearing on travel day):

4 tshirts
4 short sleeve collared shirts
3 long sleeve hiking shirts
3 shorts-convertible pants
1 blue jeans
1 light windbreaker pants
3 shorts (incl. swim trunks)
1 light windbreaker rain jacket
6 pairs of boxers
4 pairs of socks (2 ankle, 2 long)
1 pair of shoes (casual walking/hiking)
1 pair of sandals (Keens)
1 pair of flip-flops
1 hat

Seems like a lot (and it is), but this is the most clothing I've ever packed! Generally I go with the idiom: "No one ever travelled and said; 'Boy, I wish I had packed more'!"

So for my bon voyage dinner in California, I had to get something that I'll probably won't eat over in VN. That's right, steak! Good 'ol medium-rare, artery cloggin', ribeye and prime rib at Outback Steakhouse! (We didn't have time to go to a real steakhouse!) Wash that down with some Foster's beer and I'm a happy dude!

Day -2: Last day in the office

2008-07-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

Today, Friday July 19, is my last day in the Oakland office, well, last day for the summer that is. Eventually, I'll be back in the same jail-cell cubicle, looking at the same old plain walls and doing the same old tasks sometime in September. But what the heck, the job allows me to be able to take on this little journey back to my homeland Vietnam. I'll still have to do my work in Vietnam but at least the scenery will change a bit. Stay tuned for a picture of my new "office" later on. I'm sure it won't be as exciting as my current desk set up with a few football toys, a few things on the wall, a very nice bottle of wine, and if you look very carefully, you'll see a blue bottle sticking out...MD 20/20. Brings back some fond MadDog college memories.... For the record, all those bottles were given to me by colleagues within the past few months. I figure I'll leave them there for one of those Friday socials in the break room, it usually occurs right at "wine o'clock". All work and no play makes a person kinda dull, don't ya think??

Random Musings:

Why is it TGIF, Thank God (or Goodness for some) It's Friday??? Most Americans are in great spirits on Fridays, the work week is ending, the weekend is here, and there's even a chain restaurant named after the common saying. But some bad historical events occured on Fridays: Lincoln and JFK were assasinated on a Friday, Christ was cruxified on a Friday, it is believed that Adam and Eve ate the apple and died on a Friday, and most executions and hangings were done on a Friday. I don't even want to recite the bad omens on the 13th of Friday... Today, on a Friday, Erin was told by her boss (let's just call him "Mr. Dumas") that she couldn't take the requested time off to join me the last 2 weeks in VN. Bad timing, critical deadlines, etc. Thanks for taking 10 weeks to come up with that decision, Mr. D. It's not a done deal yet (at least in my mind), it might be a last minute decision for her. New job, maybe, anyone hiring? Start date Sept 15. TGIF! I guess for most, ending a work week is thankful enough, for me, why do I enjoy Fridays??? It's date night with the wife! On this Friday, we probably had one of my last sushi dinner for 6+ weeks.

Happy Friday!

"I don't care if Monday's blue

Tuesday's grey and Wednesday too

Thursday I don't care about you

It's Friday I'm in love"

'Friday I'm in Love' by The Cure