The Intrepid Journal of Sergey Kahn

Surviving Tiger Falls

2011-10-31T02:00:00.000-04:00

Dalat, a home away from home for many French during Vietnam's colonial era. High elevation, a large lake, mountains, pine forests and cool weather. The French would holiday here when the tropical weather of the rest of the country became to much to bare. It was also a popular destination for hunting. Deer, boar, rhinos, elephants and tigers could all be found in nearby forests. However, the hunters were all to successful and now there is hardly a squirrel to be seen in the forests and mountains surrounding Dalat. Still, Daphne and I decided to go there to enjoy the nature and remember what it feels like to not sweat every waking moment.

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Commence Operation: TEA

2011-10-21T06:56:00.001-04:00

It has been over a month since I've last posted, my apologies for the infrequency of posts. I still intend to finish up my rough guide to Yunnan, but perhaps an update about where I am and what I'm doing right now is in order.

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Kunming: A Rough Guide

2011-09-14T06:43:00.000-04:00

Long overdue for an update, I've decided to present my recent travels in Yunnan in the form of a rough guide that other travelers can emulate or at the very least use for insight in addition to the other guidebooks.

Kunming is Yunnan's capital and largest city. If you are a fan of Spring then you may want to move here, as the weather is pretty mild year round. It is very much the modern city and those travelers missing their McDonald's and Starbucks will be happy to find these corporate giants here along with Walmart. Many backpackers we spoke to hated Kunming and were in a rush to escape. Daphne and I, however, found ourselves loving the place. It was clean, quiet, people drove electric bikes, and food was was very good and cheap.
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Yunnan vs. Vietnam: A Comparison

2011-08-18T06:16:00.001-04:00

When traveling in a new country for the first time one can't help drawing comparisons between their host country and the one they're coming from. Crossing the border from my current home in Vietnam into China's southwestern-most province, Yunnan, here are just some of the ways the two differ.

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Photos...Blogs Later

2011-08-12T02:23:00.000-04:00

Back in Saigon! It will take some time before I can post a blog about my trip in Yunnan, China. However, check out my Flickr where I've posted tons of new pictures from my trip. I should have a few more up later this week, too.

Got My Visa

2011-06-30T10:18:00.001-04:00

-First visit to the Chinese Consulate, closed. Guard points at the hours of operation: 8:30-11:30, 2:00-5:00. Noted.

-Second visit, 4:00, closed! A closer look at the sign shows that only the general offices are open at that time, the visa office is only open 8:30-11:00. Sigh.

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Sergey Kahn, Tea Infusionist

2011-06-22T03:58:00.001-04:00

The idea to do something with tea in Saigon has been festering in my head for the past two years. Of course I have dreams of opening my own tea house, but needless to say, at 25 years old, I've yet to have that kind of financial flexibility. I decided to start small and last Friday I led my first Tea Workshop at Soham Yoga Studio and Boutique.

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Food and Film

2011-06-13T14:27:00.001-04:00

Long time no post!
My apologies. I have been very busy the past couple months. Between my internship and teaching, I only have one day off a week.

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Rock The Cat Ba

2011-05-04T13:50:00.005-04:00

Deciding to take advantage of the long holiday weekend (Reunification/Labor Days) Daphne headed for a village in Northern Thailand to do a Thai Yoga Massage training. Since it wasn't really the kind of holiday I could join, I made my first solo trip in nearly two years to the same place where I did my last solo trip. Rock climbing in Ha Long Bay.

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Top 7 Most Annoying Drivers in Saigon

2011-04-24T03:06:00.003-04:00

When I first came to Saigon and was faced with the traffic, I couldn't see any sense in the chaos on the roads (and often times on the sidewalk). But as many of my friends here can attest, there is a logic to driving in the city and the sooner you get a bike and get into it, the easier and less scary it will be. Having said that, there are however certain drivers whose habits can be quite irksome if not also dangerous.

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Designer Life

2011-04-14T05:10:00.002-04:00

Last week I began a new journey without leaving the city. I started an internship at an architectural firm. Pentago, a Malaysian based company, specializes in hotels, villas, and other luxury tourism designs throughout Asia.

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Fowl, Dust and Quiet

2011-04-01T07:58:00.001-04:00

I was woken up by a text coming in on my phone.

LEE: "Running a bit late. Be there in five."
A quick check at the time and I realized that I was the one who would be late. Today, a small group of us were driving away from the flat urban expanses of Saigon to the nearest outdoor rock climbing location. Buu Long.

I rushed to get ready, packing my climbing shoes, camera, bandages, and tissues. All of which would come in handy.
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On Police Chases

2011-03-21T02:37:00.003-04:00

"What if you don't pull over and just drive away?"

The question came up while we were discussing traffic laws and handling cops in Saigon. We were in Ellen's apartment after a session of acro-yoga on her rooftop by the pool. Ellen, a teacher from Wisconsin, was doing much better for herself working at an international school in Saigon than her contemporaries were back in her home state where they have to fight just to keep the meager salary that they were making. The pay and benefits for "real" teachers(not ESL teachers, like myself) are cushy.

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From Blogger to Writer?

2011-03-03T11:01:00.002-05:00

This month I've deceived two separate editors into thinking that I can write[I'm working on a third]. My blog entry, Fighting Motion Sickness on the Pai Trail, is in this month's issue of S.E.A. Backpacker Magazine. You can find it if you're in South East Asia, although so far I've only seen it Thailand.

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Once Bitten, Twice Bitten...

2011-02-18T06:43:00.001-05:00

Ride Cafe's house cat indicated with its forehead against my knuckles that it was petting time. I was wary of this crooked-tailed puss for it was a reputed biter. But wanting something to pet I cautiously gave in and moved my hand from head to neck once, twice then neck to tail a few times before moving to some kitty pressure points, which I massaged in circular motions. A tried and true recipe for a purr.
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Pai in the Sky

2011-02-07T22:28:00.030-05:00

It was Tet holiday again[Chinese New Year] and Daphne and I were joined on our trip this time by our Welsh friend, Rob, who we've known since the beginning of our stay in Saigon when we took our CELTA together. This time, we had plane tickets bought and ready and flew over to Thailand, Destination: Pai.
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Fighting Motion Sickness on the Pai Trail

2011-02-07T07:54:00.008-05:00

According to T-shirts sold on Pai's two block long Walking Street, there are 762 curves between Chiang Mai and Pai and only a few options on how to get there. Airplane was out of the question. Fifty dollars for a thirty minute flight? I think not. The funnest option would have been to rent a motorbike and drive the three hour route but I was traveling in a company of three and not all of us were two wheel competent. So that leaves us with bus or minivan. Minivan is the less nausea inducing option of the two and at only 150 Bhat[5USD] very reasonable.

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Short Acting Career

2011-01-18T02:48:00.010-05:00

A lot of posts from me this month, a good way to start the year I think.

Daphne and I went to a themed potluck on Saturday called Latitudinal Cuisine. It originated in the UK and has spread to our humble Siagon. The basis is that you choose a Latitude or Longitude and everyone brings a dish from one of the countries that lies on the line. This week we did Longitude 15E. Presentations are made, stories are told and then very delicious food is eaten.
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Published!

2011-01-17T00:08:00.008-05:00

So maybe twenty-four is a little late to get my first photograph published for money, but Murakami was 29 when he wrote his first book, Kurt Vonnegut, 30, so perhaps I'm actually ahead of the game.

You can see this picture:

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Not Another Coffee Hole

2011-01-12T10:00:00.014-05:00

You don’t need to read a magazine or guidebook to know that Vietnam has a ripe coffee culture. However, if you did you’d probably be reading about its French colonial influence and how it is now the number 2 coffee producing country in the world, second only to Brazil. In the early morning, old men in checkered boxers and white tanks sit cross-legged reading the daily paper at their favourite hole-in-the-wall. As the day goes on, the holes fill up with their usuals who’ve come to get their coffee fix like bees to a flower, or gift card wielding teenagers to a mall.
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The Do’s and Don’ts of Renting in Saigon

2011-01-07T10:00:00.005-05:00

When renting a house or an apartment laws and expectations vary greatly between countries and, often enough, between cities. Knowing your rights and what to expect can keep you from embarrassment or regret. Nobody wants to sign a one-year lease and find out a month later that they’ve settled for less than they should. That’s why we’re going to cover some basics of the hunt that you’ll need to make your new home in Saigon a happy one from day one.

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Nha Trang New Year

2011-01-05T03:14:00.011-05:00

Not having been sunburned in far too long,
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Another Move

2010-12-17T05:41:00.011-05:00

I am now writing from my third apartment since I moved to Saigon in June of 2009. While Daphne and I loved our old place, the landlord, who had been studying abroad in England, was returning to live in it once more. After an exhausting and often frustrating search we found a new home not to far from the old one. In fact, it's in the same building but in a different block. The rent is $600 [$50 more than what we were paying for the old place] for the same size space but different layout. Things we like about the place: bigger couch, bigger TV, wooden floors, bigger kitchen, bigger bed, better quality AC, bigger shower. The only thing we find lacking is that the layout is shaped to include a hallway, making the living room a bit smaller and the extra bedroom smaller. Also, there is the lack of storage space. Thanks to the successful delivery of Daphne's seven boxes, our storage demands are much higher than the average expat teacher couple. Pictures below:

[Entre]

[We like the couch, despite the animal print motif]

[The larger bed, however, makes some of our bedding obsolete]

[la cuisine]

[la disastre]

In other news, if you want to see what it looks like when the Vietnamese win a football[soccer] game, it looks something like this:

[Vendors capitalize on the event by selling cheap flags on the street]

[The city becomes a party on wheels]

[I don't even know]

Vacation Time!

2010-12-02T03:31:00.013-05:00

The highlight of work like mine and Daphne's is the opportunity to leave the city fairly regularly. Living in HCM, regular trips away help maintain sanity in such a crazy place. Those that read my last blog entry will understand when I say that this trip couldn't have come too soon.

Friday - Arrival
Yvonne had once again opened her home to us in Villa Marina for our stay. There's no favour one can do you like a bed when you're in a place like Singapore, where prices are $100 a night even in the backpackers area. The theme for our trip was food. Daphne missed Singaporean food so much and listed all the foods she was dying to eat when we got there. Unfortunately, it would take a lot more than the six days we were in town to cover her dream menu. The Friday we arrived, the first thing we did after lunch was banking. I followed Daphne to four different banks where she cleared up one issue after another. This is part of a regular ritual for her every time she comes back to Singapore. One thing she had to do was opt-out of a new program her credit card was in that sent a code to your phone that you needed when making online transactions. That's great, except she doesn't live in Singapore and now couldn't do things like buy plane tickets while in Vietnam. "You mean you don't have a global phone number?" The bank clerks had difficulty wrapping their head around that one. What kind of Singaporean wouldn't have a global phone, right?
We had dinner with Daphne's parents and youngest sister, Georgina, who I was meeting for the first time. Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet Daphne's other sister, Michelle, on this trip as she and her baby son were contagious with Hand, mouth & foot disease. Dinner was good but there was so much! We ate at a local hawkers' centre/market and Daphne's mom kept getting up to get more and more food for us. When it comes to family feasts, Chinese can be just as bad as Russians.
After dinner, Daphne and I said goodbye to the folks and went downtown to meet some of Daphne's long time friends at #5 Emerald Hill, which is in an area of preserved colonial houses turned restaurants. The place was famous for its chicken wings but we were too stuffed to pursue so we stuck to the drinks. "Buy one get one martinis, only $16!" In Singapore, the food is quite cheap, but the drinking is very very expensive.

Saturday - A Wedding
The next day we went to the Singapore National Museum to see the Pompeii exhibit and brush up on some Singapore history. From there we went to a Buddhist temple where Daphne showed me how to get my fortune read. It was like a game, you get a wooden jar with a bunch of sticks, you ask a question in your head and shake the jar until one and only one stick comes out with some characters on it. You then roll two stones with one rounded side and one flat, if they come out the same you have to shake the jar again for a new stick, if they come up different then you take your stick to a counter and get your paper fortune. Daphne and I were both happy with our results.

That evening, we were running late for a wedding. Daphne's friend, Annie had just married and run off with a Spanish Swiss, Roberto, to Switzerland. This was actually the dinner, as the wedding tea ceremony was just for family. We arrived at the restaurant just in time to pass the bride and groom who were getting ready to march. As we get to the dining area everyone is standing and looking in our direction. Thinking that we were the bride and groom, the audience barely stops itself from applauding. One person in the back doesn't quite stop fast enough and releases a lone clap. Light laughter follows, cheeks flush.
After a really good four course meal at Da Paolo featuring the best Tiramisu I have ever had, we went with the newly married couple and friends down to the bay front, One Fullerton, and a club called The Butter Factory. The club has a $28 cover, which we avoided by buying four bottles of spirits, and consisted of two rooms, one hiphop, one electro, some very good DJing, good decoration, great sound system and a panoramic view of the coast with the Merlion and The Marina Sands in sight. As expensive as this place was, it didn't stop some patrons from buying one meter tall bottles of Belvedere Vodka. Our initial plan of staying until 2am already didn't offer us much chance for sleep. The fact that we didn't get home until 4am didn't help matters.

[Us With The Happy Couple]

Sunday - A Birthday
The next morning we had to be up to go to an 8am three hour yoga workshop with Yvonne. When I woke up, I kidded myself into believing that I was only tired and could make it. Halfway there in the taxi I had my hand over my mouth and was tapping the taxi driver's shoulder. The taxi driver was very nice to me and gave me his water, his way of showing gratitude that I made it out without messing on his cab. I spent the entirety of the yoga workshop sleeping on a couch outside the room. Daphne and Yvonne said it was a good class, I'll have to take their word.
We headed to a boat dock next where Yvonne had rented an 80 ft. long three story boat house for a delayed birthday party. The boat was beautiful and aside from a brief shower the weather was good. Yvonne's helper, Samita, cooked an amazing Sri Lankan feast. Fresh air, (fairly) clean water, good food, good day. We after partied at Daphne's friend Ruqxana, whose 1970's Beatle is probably the oldest running car in Singapore. Unfortunately, Ruk's nine cats, who although were very sweet and tame, gave Daphne a massive allergy attack leading us back to Yvonne's in search of antihistamines.

[We Had A Wii, But Nobody Touched It Because We Had A Boat, Too]

[People Are Going To Live There Someday]

Monday - Walking
Monday we spent all day on our feet. We met Andria and her baby [commercially viable cuteness] for lunch and then went to a couple Buddhist temples with Daphne's parents and 4 yr. old niece, Zenna. Zenna didn't remember me and was shy at first, but she warmed up and I even practiced my Chinese with her. We went to Chinatown where I bought a bunch of tea and met up with Daphne's friend, Zi, at a tea house. While shopping for tea, the clerks at one of the stalls were staring at a counterfeit $100 bill a customer had just used on them. It was a very good fake, even had the ghost Franklin, but it didn't hold up to scrutiny next to a real one. Unfortunately, my lecture in identifying real from fakes did not award me with a discount for my services. Anyhow, after we had tea we went on a quest for fried radish cake. We had been trying to get it all week but every stall we had gone to was out. This time, we went to three different hawkers' centers around the island before finding a stall that was serving.

[Apple Juice]

Tuesday - Climbing
On our last day we went to Little India's Mustafah market, a massive crowded places that sold everything. I bought some Darjeeling tea and Daphne got some yoga gear. In total, I had bought 1.5 kg of tea on this trip. Am I a nerd or what? At night I went climbing with Yvonne and her kids, Rohan, 7, and Uma, 9, while Daphne hung out with her friend Jeanne. These kids are every mother's dream. Very smart, outgoing, bilingual and well mannered. They took to climbing instantly and when we were on the boat, Rohan was the first person to do a dive from the top of the boat into the water. These kids aren't video game deprived either[they each have their own DS and a Wii] but they enjoy doing other things as well. Yvonne should write a book.

[Rohan Showing Us How It's Done]

The trip was a much needed change of pace and literally a breath of fresh air. Daphne even said that it was the best time she had in Singapore in a long time and wished we could have stayed longer, but its back to grind and honk of Saigon for us.

November Rains

2010-11-22T09:57:00.004-05:00

This last gap between blogs is not due to a lack of having anything to write, but rather waiting for a few 'stories' to play out so that I wouldn't be blogging half way into them. Daphne and I had been visited by a string of bad luck and it would have been poor form to blog about these things without including resolution.

Motorbike Diaries
It began a couple of weeks ago when Daphne got into her second accident. It happened on her way back home from a yoga class just outside our apartment building. A woman crossing the street stopped in the middle of the road to stare at Daphne and her big bag that she uses for all her yoga gear. This caused Daphne to swerve, her yoga bag just catching the woman and causing an imbalance and fall. She didn't look so bad when she got home. It didn't seem as serious as last time, just some scratches on her leg and a swollen hand. But the hand got so swollen [it didn't help that Daphne still went to teach yoga] that we had an x-ray done the next day. Her left pinky was broken just above the knuckle. The doctor put a splint on it and said to get another x-ray done in two weeks to see if it was healing. Meanwhile, Daphne goes on and keeps teaching and driving, despite the doctor recommending against it. But what's a yoga teacher gonna do? Not work for two weeks to a month? Freelancers don't get medical leave.

Exactly two weeks later, driving home from work, Daphne is rear ended by a young guy with track marks on his arm. I get a call from her to meet her at the nearby local hospital. She doesn't call me from her phone though, she forgot that at home that day. I arrived at the dingy hospital in just five minutes. Mosquitoes were flying around the emergency ward and the water cooler in the waiting room had only three reusable plastic cups. Daphne comes out in better condition than I feared. A scrape on her shoulder was the only visible wound but then she showed me the crack in her helmet where she landed on from the fall. Fortunately, she was concussion-free, though she did sport a nasty headache for a couple of days. This time she was quite shaken up and I played chauffeur for the next couple days. We went to get the x-ray done but the bone hadn't healed yet so the doctor said it'll be another month with the splint for her.

I drove Daphne from her class in District 2 to District 7 by testing out a new route that was supposed to be more direct and faster. It was also very dusty, crowded with trucks and crater infested. The brilliance of this route however, was the massive arching bridge, Cau Phu My, that goes from one district to the other. It offered an incredible view of the city at sunset that almost made the grime on our face worth it. On the other side of the bridge we needed to turn left, but what we didn't realize was that the left turn only went into a car lane, an engineering oversight that was being taken advantage of by the motorcops at the next light. We got pulled over and the cops started asking for things in Vietnamese, a language I don't know. I began to speak really fast in English, a language they don't know, while pointing back the way I came. One of the officer pointed to a registration card and license, a document I don't have, and I pretended to not understand and just pointed back and kept on talking. They tried ignoring me for a while and went about doing paperwork, but as that didn't shut me up nor get me to produce what they wanted they finally just waved me away.

Seven Boxes and the Black Friday
Meanwhile, a boat arrives into Saigon bearing seven boxes addressed to a Ms. Chua. What's left of Daphne's possessions from her past life have arrived. Now there was just the not so simple matter of getting it cleared through customs. What should have taken only two days ended up taking two weeks. The problem initially arose because of a change in law. You used to need to fill out a customs declaration card upon arrival to Vietnam, but recently the law has changed so that now you only need to do one if you're bringing more than $7,000. While it's nice to have one less document to fill out in life, it would be even nicer if Customs had adjusted their shipping rules to accommodate the new law. As it was, they still required that you give them your declaration card to get your shipment. Since our arrival from the States was after the new law was instated, we had no such card. You would think that enlightening them with a simple law check would have cleared things up quickly, but no such luck.

Finally, the shippers told us that the boxes would be cleared last Friday morning, so I waited at home for them while Daphne went to teach. When they didn't show up I telephoned the shippers to find out that they've hit another snag with customs who now won't release the boxes until they meet Daphne. I hop on my bike to go meet her at work, but as I'm driving up the ramp my hand gently brushes against a corner of sideview mirror, causing the tip of my finger to slice open and blood to rush. I run up stairs quickly with my finger in my mouth to keep from dripping blood everywhere. Thankfully I manage to stop the bleeding. Wrapping my finger up in toilet paper and medical tape I went back downstairs holding my finger up to the sky to keep it elevated. I drove that way, finger pointing up, all the way to the studio to get Daphne. From there we drove our bikes to the shipping office, left Daphne's bike there, and followed one of the shippers on a 40 minute dusty ride to the port. We had a housing appointment at 1pm but we moved it to 2:3o and Daphne had to cancel her afternoon private class all because the customs officer wanted to see her. But when we got there they were out to lunch. So we waited a half hour, met with the officer who then said we had to go to the warehouse where the boxes were. So we went, waited for the warehouse to open, the boxes were brought to us, opened, searched, a 'token' fee was paid and off we went. We were told that the boxes would finally be released that night. We could only hope.

We got on the bike and just as we left the port a massive storm fell upon us. This time of year, the rainy season should have already been over, so the events that follow I blame entirely on global warming. As we made our way back we found ourselves on Cau Phu My bridge again, but the lower part was flooded. The engine flooded and the bike stopped. We trenched through the water, Daphne pushing the bike from behind while I tried to start it. It would start, she would hop on, and then it would die. About ten times. After some ten minutes of this I finally managed to get it started and kept on long enough to get back on track. Meanwhile, my makeshift bandage is nothing but tape now and stinging. We make it to our housing appointment thirty minutes late and absolutely drenched. We look at the place for about one minute, shake our heads and head back down to the parking to make our way home. Somehow, the parking tag disappeared in the short span of time we were there. The rule for losing your tag is that the garage keeps your bike for 24-hours. Somehow this 'proves' that the bike is yours and that you're not stealing. Because the parking tag is considered more legitimate than the registration card in my wallet for my bike. This is the my last straw, and I end up in a massive shouting match with the security guards. As neither party was backing down, I had to give in[I was surrounded by six guards] and fill out the paper work. We tried walking around the garage checking every corner but could not find the tag. It was gone and I was bikeless. We took a taxi to get Daphne's bike at the shipping office and, feeling like karma rejects, made our way in the rain back home for a much much needed hot shower. The day did end on a good note, however, when at 9pm those seven boxes that caused us so much grief arrived at our door, like Santa coming down the chimney at a wake.

And Then
The next day I woke up in an ill mood having to take a xe om to work[motorbike taxi]. But it was Teacher's Day and my first class of the day gave me roses. Yes, I'm a guy who feels better when he's given flowers, sue me. Other gifts included a couple of cards, $5 and a tie with pink polka dots. When I went to get my bike I picked up some beers and gave it to the parking attendants as an apology for flipping out on them. It's amazing what some flowers can do to your mood.

Now, we have seven more boxes of stuff to move mid-December. We did find a place and have just put down the deposit. While we love where we live now, the owner is returning from his time abroad and wants to live here again. Fortunately, we've found another great place in the same building so moving won't be too difficult. But before that, I think we are in desperate need of a vacation...

Eating My Best Friend

2010-10-12T10:58:00.007-04:00

It will come to no surprise to my readers, or anyone that knows me well, that there is very little that I won't eat. If you're new here[welcome, I'm not sure how you got here but good for you and I hope you leave entertained] then allow me to illustrate this with a short list of food that I've tried:

Kangaroo[Highly Recommended]
Shark Fin Soup[Tastes good, but not good enough to justify the cruelty of the industry. Try a Chinese crab soup instead, it's very similar.]
Duck Fetus[Flavour is OK, but its appearance is just wrong. Gave me food poisoning.]
Fried Bamboo Worm[Tastes like Cheetos, but healthier]
Crocodile[Like chicken but with more awesome]

The delicacies mentioned above are all ones that I consider novel. Occasionally I will mention having tried a certain food to someone that I don't think of as being taboo and they give me eyebrows about it - things like rabbit, caviar or fois gras. But I suppose its all subjective.

As a child, not a birthday passed that I didn't ask my parents for a dog. I loved dogs, cats too for that matter, and dogs loved me back. "He/She really likes you!" I heard this a lot from owners of difficult pooches when they saw how quickly their leashed companions took to me. My best friend in childhood from across the street had two huskies that I played with often, and my roommates in University had a dog that I lived with for two years. So the addition of Dog to the list above may come as a shock even to those that know my eating habits well.

How does a dog lover like me drag himself to a dog meat restaurant? Curiosity[this time it killed the dog...sorry, bad joke]. Curiosity and a belief that putting animals into categories of 'pet' and 'food' are completely culturally driven and not objective rules. If the Vietnamese can eat dogs, so can I. I always make an effort to cross cultural boundaries to strive for a higher, unifying understanding of human nature. That's what traveling is all about, letting go of your inhibitions and taboos.

Now that I got the rationalizations out of the way, let's move on to it. Daphne held no interest in trying dog[she often tells me that I'm more Chinese than she is], so I waited for her to leave town this weekend before my culinary escapade. I drove down to an alley not too far from the backpacking district known for its many dog meat quans and stopped at the first place that said, cay truong. I wasn't sure at first if it was correct. I knew that cay was a word that meant dog, but my last attempt to get dog based on that word didn't work out. It happened like this, I walked into a place for dog and when they didn't understand what I wanted I pointed at a dog that all too conveniently walked up to me at just that moment. Cay also means tree, it was part of their restaurant's name. Really need to pay attention to those accents.

This time though, I was in the right place. They handed me a menu with only two pages, one with the many ways they can prepare the dog meat, all in Vietnamese, and the other half had a list of rice wines and other liquors. I guess alcohol and eating dog go hand in hand? It seemed that way when I ordered iced tea and the server practically scoffed. As for the dog, I ordered thit nuong, which meant barbecued. It was also the only cooking style I recognized on the menu.

The portion they brought me was rather big for one person. I have to say that it looked quite good as far as meats go. It was sprinkled with sesame and served with veggies, rice cracker and pepper/salt for dipping. Now for the tasting. I must confess, despite my rational I was feeling apprehension towards what I was about to do, but as far as I was concerned I was beyond the point of no return. The taste and texture was like a cross between beef and venison, with a hint of what was indisputably dog. I didn't realize that I knew what dog tasted like and it disturbed me to recognize that taste in my mouth. As the serving boys snickered nearby, I was determined not to be beat and finished the whole plate. Afterward, despite my convictions that there was nothing wrong with eating dog, I couldn't help but feel a wave of guilt nausea. A tingling in the stomach, a flush of the face and a few awkward burps. I spent the next couple of hours feeling like a different person. I wondered, will dogs be able to smell my crime and avoid me from now on? That would be tragic.

So, will I ever eat it again? Only if a friend wants to try it, I think it will feel less strange the second time around, but it's not something I'm going to crave. Do I recommend it? If you're like me and you need to try everything, then it doesn't matter whether I recommend it or not, but if you're on the fence and not sure that you can do it then you probably can't.

As for myself, I think I'm basically out of strange foods to eat. I decided to clump cat into the dog category and leave it alone. And as for live monkey brain, no way. Am I missing something? Is there an odd delicacy that I still haven't tried?

Home Again

2010-10-11T13:00:00.019-04:00

Daphne says that I have to blog about going back home before I can blog about eating a dog, so this is that. It will be short because it has already been three weeks since that happened and I'm more interested right now in writing about how I ate a dog.

First Stop
We flew into D.C. first but drove the next day to Duck, North Carolina on the outer banks. My brother's in-laws were visiting from Russia and he rented a beach house for a week. We stayed there for four days which we mostly spent sleeping off our jetlag. Breaks in naps were taken to photograph sunsets, do and take yoga pictures and eat lots of meat. Daphne learned that an order of ribs in America comes at ten times the volume of ribs in Asia.

On the Road
We had to drive all the way back to D.C. before we could pick up a rental and then left immediately for Cincinnati, not arriving until midnight. My grandmother stuffed the fridge with food and complained regularly that we weren't eating enough. Things we did in Cincinnati: saw, ate with, drank with friends, grandmother and uncle's family. Had dinner with Saad, who let us take yoga pictures in his house the next day. Went to the zoo with my grandma and cousin. We wanted to go to King's Island and ride some roller coasters but it was closed.

[Yana and Babushka]

[I love coming to see this tiger]

[Amish enjoying ice cream outside of UDF at the zoo]
[Beers overlooking the Cincy skyline]

[Jungle Jim's Blew Daphne's Mind]

[Yoga at Saad's]

Detours
From Cincinnati we were Indiana bound to spend the night with an old friend of Daphne. We detoured through Kentucky and stopped into the Creation Museum. This places teaches the 'scientific' theory that the world was created six thousand years ago and that dinosaurs were created the same day as man and were even on Noah's Ark. Fossils are from the flood, and the Grand Canyon wasn't created over millions of years, because Mt. St. Helen blew up once and made a big hole so, naturally, you can assume that the rest of earth's geological feature were created thus. It was big, expensive and equal doses of funny and frightening. Later, in Indiana, had a good time with Daphne's friend, Catherine, and her husband, Tim, who are hilarious.

[Churches that take the symbolic approach of the bible are naughty]

[Veloceraptor behind Adam and Eve]

Gap Day
We had a spare day before our next destination so we went for one night to Chicago. The GPS had a feature to avoid toll roads, which made the going much longer than it needed to be. Once were there, we rushed to the University of Chicago Art Museum and tried to squeeze as much in as we could before they chased us out. We walked around the city and went to The House of Blues, but they were closed for three private parties so we walked one mile to Buddy Guy's Legends. That was also closed for a private party, but only until 10 which was in an hour, so we went across the street to have a drink at a dive bar and wait it out. Everyone else in the bar was also waiting to get into Legends, the place only had music via jukebox and there was only a men's restroom. When the private party left, we enjoyed some good music and a very tasty burger.

A Wedding
Next day, we set out on the road for Pennsylvania, where my two best friends from college, John and Kait, were going to marry each other. I turned off the feature on the GPS that blocked toll roads in order to get out of Chicago faster. This worked, except it also kept us on a toll road the whole trip to within five miles of their house costing us $30 in tolls. Meanwhile, we drove through a blinding storm that was traveling along with us in Ohio. Many cars couldn't take it and just pulled over the side of the road to wait it out, but our ETA was late at night so I couldn't waste time. We arrived safely. The wedding was outdoors and very beautiful. The ceremony was short, we all dressed in Pakistani clothing to please John's Muslim father, Kait did not convert, however, which would have really displeased her Christian parents. My friend, Mike, became a minister online to do the ceremony. After the reception some of us stayed to make a bonfire and camp out for the night.

[Best Wedding Party Outfits Ever]

[Congratulations Guys, You Rock]

D.C.
We finished back in D.C. where we spent time with my parents and brother and co. We wanted to see the museums of the Smithsonian but there were all so big. It took us two days to see the Holocaust Museum and at The Natural History Museum we couldn't even make it through the Gemstone exhibit.

Sorry to make this blog so short, but I'm trying to catch up to the present so that I can write more, up to date blogs. Peace.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go Now?

2010-08-14T03:49:00.018-04:00

Stuck at home, sick, on a Saturday I realize that it's been a while since I've posted anything. My initial excuse would be that there hasn't been anything worth writing about, but is that fair? Perhaps then I should take it as sign that I need to be out there doing more interesting stuff or maybe I've been here so long already that I've lost the ability to find what makes the things in my life extraordinary. I'm inclined to think it may be a bit of both.

Not able to find things of interest to outside, I began looking in. I helped Daphne out by making her a website for her yoga: www.daphnechua.com. And also took some new yoga pictures for her, as she has just been sponsored by a local clothing company: www.yborn.net/home/.

I looked even further in and started taking Mandarin on Rosetta Stone. I now know more Chinese than Vietnamese. Why am I not taking Vietnamese instead? Learning languages is difficult for me so I want to use my energy to learn one that I want to know forever, rather than just one that I'll use for a year or two.

I was fortunate to have three people this past month that pulled me out and reminded me that I was living some place different and special. The first was my university mate, Zane, who has just come here to do his CELTA[for which I got a $200 referral fee] at ILA and teach English here. He described things that to me were ordinary in a way that made everything glow. For him everything shined like the sun, while I was still squinting to see the stars. As we taught him simple words and numbers, and he told us about the things that he saw on his first day and the people he talked to, I felt nostalgia for the naivety that comes with being some place new and that I too felt just a year before.

Later that same week, our friend, Bret, who had done the CELTA with us came for a brief visit. He has been living and working in Shanghai and was now on a six week paid vacation traveling through Vietnam and Cambodia. He wanted me to take him shooting around Saigon, something I hadn't done since after my first couple of months here. So on his last day I drove him to District Five, China town, and we walked about all afternoon taking photographs. ...

[Bret shows these guys the photo he took of them]

[Vietnamese grannies are cute, no?]

[Obviously, he didn't get it]

[I took this with one of Bret's lenses. After he left, I placed a long overdue order for two new lenses of my own]

[Cupping, removes toxins from your body, leaves giant hickeys]

[These kids will sell you a lion mask for a good price]

[While I go through great lengths to take mediocre shots, I hand feed great material to Bret on the ground below]

Bret was hardly gone when Daphne had a friend from Singapore visit us on their International Day weekend. Yvonne is actually Taiwanese so we can forgive her lack of patriotism for leaving The Red Dot on its biggest day of the year. Since Daphne was working most of Friday, I was left alone with her friend on tour guide duty. I took her rock climbing for her first time, as well as a few of my other favourite places.
"Just for you reference, that was a red light."
"And just for your reference, a bribe is only ten dollars."
Whenever she tried something new for the first time, it almost felt like I was trying it for the first time, too. Food tasted better, the coffee was stronger and sweeter and everything was beginning to look fresh again.

Now that my contract at ILA is coming to a close I've had to spend the last few months contemplating on what comes next. Do I stay another year or try somewhere else? My three visitors were like prophets pointing the way, they showed what glitters when I was hard at seeing. I'm thinking it's stay.

Paradise Lost and Found

2010-07-19T04:29:00.019-04:00

The month of June marked my one year anniversary in Vietnam. Daphne's absence had left a void in my life, my schedule and my heart. Writing about personal stuff is a challenge for me and doing so in a public forum is all but impossible. So I'll be quite brief with it.

As I had mentioned at the end of the last blog, Daphne and I parted not for a lack of love but for other reasons. I won't go into what those reasons are, but let's just say that those 'other reasons' worked themselves out and exactly one month after I said goodbye to her at the airport she was back there with twice the load of luggage than when she left. I could probably write a book about everything that happened in between, but I'm afraid that all I can manage for the sake of a blog are two vague paragraphs. I hope the reader will understand and accept my censorship and read on.

Naturally, we had to give ourselves a short holiday, so we went to Phu Quoc again[this time by plane, not motorbike] to spend the week on the quiet beach, away from the world outside. We also chose it because during the time we were there, our good friend Sylven was getting married on the mainland just a short ferry ride away.

It's difficult to write about a beach holiday, anyone who's been on one will know. With all the lounging, sunning, swimming and eating it doesn't fit itself into a narrative structure very well. Because we were at the beginning of the rainy season, the weather wasn't as good as our first visit. Rainy, cloudy but also cooler in the nights and a bit less bitey in the evenings. It was the off season, so our room was only $10 and at first we were the only people at the hotel. Off season, however meant that the beaches weren't cleaned as regularly as they usually are, so what was a clean beautiful beach on our first visit was now littered. I'm told that if you were to get stranded on an uninhabited island, the beaches would be filthy there, too. Its all one ocean, after all. Worse than the general litter however, was the tar. Gooey black globs of tar lined the beach and the only way to clean it from the bottoms of our feet was to use the turpentine bottle we kept next to our bungalow. Why was there tar on the beach anyways?

Still we found ourselves having a good time despite these issues. We spent our time in hammocks, in the sea and reading a lot. I finnished Gulliver's Travels and Murakami's Norwegian Wood[on loan from a friend]. At nights we ate good seafood and played pool at Le Bistro while drink rhum lemons.

[Stop, Hammock Time]

We rented a bike and went cruising through the island, trying to find more things to do. At one point, we got into an accident when somebody who wasn't paying attention hit us from the rear. We felt a small bump behind us and then heard a crash. I stopped and looked behind to see a man falling off his bike, and some glass thing that he was carrying shattering on the ground into thousands of shards. In Vietnam, it's actually legal to drive away from an accident, so long as you go report it to a police station later[not likely to happen]. This is because Vietnamese onlookers can't help but get themselves involved and violence is not uncommon. I didn't drive away immediately and instead waited to see if he got up and was alright. When he got up and walked to his bike, he admitted wrong doing by not yelling at me and avoiding eye contact. Although I was ready to drive away from the situation, I held it together knowing I had to give both myself and him face. So I asked Daphne to get off, look at the damage on our bike and confirm that it wasn't a big deal. We then drove away without a word. Of course, it'd be nice to have seen to him and made sure that he was alright, take him to get a bandaid, etc. But without language, he would've assumed one of two things by our approach. Either we were going to ask him for money for damages, or that our polite tone meant that we were apologetic and claiming fault, to which he would've started demanding damages paid. So, under the circumstances, seeing that he was able to get up and lift his bike off the ground, I had to leave it at that.

One day, we took a trip to the far side of the island. We stopped by a pearl farm, where I played with a guard monkey, and went to small beach that had finer white sand then ours, but sadly was just as dirty. On our way back we got caught in some really bad cold rain and had to drive through it for one hour without raincoats. A hot bowl of Bun Rieu, helped warm our bones when we got back to town, and luckily we didn't get sick.

[He found my keys and tried to eat them]

Halfway through our stay, we went to Rach Gia for two nights to see our friend Sylven get married. Sylven's an American who did the CELTA with us and he was marrying a Vietnamese girl, Lan, in her family's house in Kien Giang in the Mekong Delta. Sylven really wanted to do the wedding local and do it right, but it proved to be harder than he had expected[ok, I don't know what he was expecting, but it was hard]. For the wedding, the dinner came first the night before. No pictures, sorry, we forgot our cameras. In order to get there we had to take a car from Rach Gia, where our hotel was, cross a slow ferry, drive some more, and then take a boat to the house itself[two hours in all]. The boat ride was at night, so while one guy drove Sylven had to shine a flashlight ahead to make sure we didn't run into any debris. I'm not sure how they're able to find their houses like this, but finding Lan's wasn't too hard. All we had to do was find the carnival tent with the loud electric keyboard tunes and screechy karaoke vocals emanating from it. The food was pretty good, large shrimp, crab, innards soup and other tasty things were served. Easy to come by for Lan's parents, who were shrimp and crab farmers. One problem, however, was the massive amounts of little insects that kept flying around and falling into the food. Each bite had to be closely scrutinized for unwanted guests before being invited into our mouths. Sylven made a big error with the mother-in-law that night, he didn't bring her an offering of roast pork. One of the many traditions of a Vietnamese wedding. Bringing it the next day wasn't an option either, it had to be then or never. Ironically, we had passed a lot of stands on the way there that sold roast pork[heo quay], Sylven and Lan just didn't know that he needed to bring it.

The next day, the responsibility for gathering all the necessary offerings had been allocated to some of Lan's cousins. That way Sylven could avoid making anymore mistakes. Lan had to spend the night at the house so that she can stay up all night and wash vegetables with her female family members[really] while we made the long trip back to Rach Gia, only to make it again early the next morning. This time, I had my camera.

Aside from Daphne and myself, the only others able to attend Sylven's side were his friend Thorin and his eight year old son[Thorin's not Sylven's].

The little boat we had to take was hard to balance your way onto, and it had no chairs. After that first night of squatting for thirty minutes in the boat, Sylven decided to buy some short plastic chairs for us this time around.

[Land ho]

[All offerings are in order, will Sylven be forgiven for the pig?]

Sylven is now in Lan's house. Offerings are all set. The tradition here is that the man comes to take the woman away from her home. She will now be a part of his family and no longer her own.

[The Bride waits for her cue]

So, as confusing as it was for us to understand what was going on at the wedding, we came to realize that we weren't the only ones confused. The man pictured above[some kind of uncle?] was leading the proceedings. However, in the living room were seated family members who kept interrupting him. Apparently, there was a lack of consensus for how a 'Vietnamese' wedding should be performed, each family member had his or her own opinion on what came next. And on a personal note, I begrudged the uncle with the mic for constantly standing in front of the bride and groom, making good photo-ops near impossible.

Meanwhile, while Uncle rants, family members burn incense and make offerings to their ancestors, or Buddha, or both[?].

Sylven also has to pay up. Aside from a dowry that includes giving the mother gold, he has to give her gifts during the ceremony, as well as to all her sisters[and any other family member that wants to paid off]. In addition to the wedding ring, he also has to dress Lan with other bits of jewelery: necklace, earings, etc.

The ceremony ends with a bow to the audience and a bow to the ancestors/Buddha shrine. No kiss like in the West. Then, a meal, with much fewer guests in attendance than the night before, and we were off[after waiting for a short storm to subside]. Wedding finished. Instead of wedding presents, its customary, as in Chinese weddings as well, to give red envelopes with money instead. Daphne says, that its customary for Chinese to pay for their own wedding, but then make a profit[for some] off of the envelopes in the end[in the West, the parents pay and you get pillow cases and blenders]. However, for whatever reason, it was Lan's mom who got to keep the red envelopes. Payback for no roast pork, maybe?

Sylven and Lan had to leave for Saigon the same day, while Daphne and I stayed one more night in Rach Gia before going back to Phu Quoc to enjoy our last days of holiday.

It took some time before I could post this blog, I had some computer issues that had to be resolved first. Since then, Daphne is on the way to refilling her yoga schedule, I'm back at work, with less then two months before my contract ends. And after that, we shall see...

Hoi An Revisited

2010-05-27T04:13:00.028-04:00

After a year and many travels, Daphne and I got on a train in Saigon and came back to the place where we took our first trip together, Hoi An. We left Sunday evening after teaching my last class and rode for fifteen hours through the night and morning. There were four beds in our cabin, but after the first stop the other two occupants got off and we had the place to ourselves for the rest of the trip. The train itself contained no new technology that it couldn't have been built in the 1920's and the rooms reminded us somewhat of a jail cell in their style. Having said that, it was by no means run down or dirty and the trip itself was smooth. The rhythmic sound of the tracks below us were meditative and the trip didn't feel as long as it was, except that Daphne managed to finish reading The Good Earth.

When we got into town that afternoon, we decided to avoid another headache hunting hotels and went straight to the same hotel we were at last time we were here, Thanh Binh III. The power was out and the sounds of generators were humming in the streets. Rainy season is slow to start this year and being that half the power in Vietnam is hydroelectric this means that scheduled power cuts are a norm, even in Saigon. Amazingly, the clerk at the front desk of the hotel remembered us and gave us a good rate on our room. Hoi An beats the rest of Vietnam when it comes to hotel rates for value of accomodations.

The following morning, our friend Melanie, who sings at the Hyatt in Saigon, came to join us for a day. We decided to do the walking tour of the Old Town again with her, which was fine because there was a lot we hadn't seen the first time around. For one thing we found a local government building devoted to gathering swallows nests for the use in a popular Chinese dish, Bird's Nest Soup. I haven't tried it myself, but I hear its good.

[And you complained that your government had too many bureaucracies]

[Birds' Nests]

Also, now that I could find it, we got to see the folk performance that we had come in late to last time we were there. It was quite charming, though short.

[Supposedly, this dance is about fishing, but I think its a metaphor for an old man who wants two young women]

[These bars mark the flood line of every flooding season. Last year looked pretty bad]

[Boy showing off his water puppet. Me showing off my photoshop]

We had agreed to save the shopping for later when it cooled down and we were done sightseeing, but it didn't stop Melanie from leading us into every shop along the way, which is pretty much every building. Even I spent a Dong or two on gifts. Later, we went to a tailor to get some clothes made. The tailor we had last time was gone, but fortunately we found a new tailor at Trinh 95 who did fantastic work for cheap. Daphne even designed a pair of pants of her own imagination that came out looking great.

The next morning, we left early for the beach since Melanie had to leave us at noon. When she did leave, we spent the rest of the day there.

The beach had gotten more crowded and loud since the last time we were there. Not as bad as the beaches in Thailand or [god forbid] Vung Tau, but not as good as we remembered. Plus, they were setting up for some rock concert that evening which, by the sound of things, wasn't going to impress.

On the way back to town, wanting to find some new ways to experience Hoi An, we stopped by The Sleepy Gecko where an Aussie guy, Steve, runs motorbike tours through the nearby countryside. We signed up for one two days later and then Daphne, who was in yoga withdraw, asked if there was anywhere where we could practice. Steve gave us direction to An Bang beach, which turned out to be closer and less visited than the better known beach of Cua Dai, and told us to talk to Sam at La Plage.

The next day, we decided to check out An Bang and were pleasantly surprised by how few people were there. There were a few seafood huts set up, as well as an Aussie bar called Phattie's on one end and the more chill themed La Plage on the other.

When Daphne asked Sam about the yoga classes, Sam told her that she doesn't teach the class but instead just does free practice with dvd's and a tv outside. Upon hearing this, of course, Daphne offered her services, free of charge, to teach a class the upcoming Sunday. And with these plans laid out, we went to the sand and laid out for the second full day in a row on the beach. The water was so clear that we could see that this time there were jellfish everywhere, where as last year there weren't. Our stay in the water was always limited to the first jellyfish sighting, at which point Daphne was ready to get out until the memory of it faded and we were back in again. The solitude of the beach during the day was great and as the sun went low, locals started coming, setting up mats and makeshift sun-shields to block the last rays. They swam in their clothes and food was cooked and sold not ten feet from the water.

[We're taught to wait 30 minutes after eating before we swim?]

[Beach Boys]

And, just like last year, the sun said its last goodbyes with a light shower and a rainbow.

[Nice]

The next day, we went to the Sleepy Gecko to do our motorbike trip. I was a bit disappointed that I had to drive an automatic motorbike and only became more so when I found out what the trip demanded out of it. The majority of our party for the trip was made up of funny old Aussie men who can't tell a story without making a joke out of it and being as indirect as possible with giving honest details about their lives. Aussies would make excellent spies.

The trip started simply enough with a countryside drive. Steve showed us some farms, taught us about what was planted, how its done, how they fish, etc. Then, he took us to a small canteen and proceeds to give us beers, rice wine[note:wine read 'vodka'], and snake wine, where in a snake is put into the jar that holds the rice wine.

After ensuring that everyone had a good buzz, he leads us to an area that is heavily flooded for farming and then makes us drive across several rickety bamboo bridges that look like something Indiana Jones would struggle with. Fortunately, no one was hurt though we're told that it happens. A few of those later he took us to see how they make beach mats and the women let us have a go at the weaving process. I was a natural, Daphne did...alright.

For the climax of the trip, Steve took us to a secluded beach where we had a short dip. For the finale, we then had to drive along the coast, on the sand, in our less than capable motorbikes. Needless to say this was no easy task, especially with two people on a bike and especially on an automatic Yamaha. We must have driven one kilometer before we got to the road again, by which time we were completely drained and ready for a cold beer. We were so wiped out though, that we were in bed that night by 9.

[The catch of the day]

The next day was my birthday! We rented a bike and, since we had only seen one of the Marble Mountains the last time we were there, we drove out to see the other four that we missed. We found when we got there that the other mountains had a lot less attractions than the main one, so after visiting two of them we aimed our sights at the mountain called Monkey.

To get to Monkey, we had to drive 20 km up the coast of Danang, the third largest city in Vietnam, which was lined with empty beaches and massive would be resorts that were waiting for the coming tourist boom. Monkey had only one finished road and it was all uphill. It took most of the remaining gas to get to the top. The winding road was hypnotic and we had to pop our ears several time for the quick changes in elevation. At the very top was a government complex that had two big white domes on a couple of their buildings. The place looked like something from an old Bond movie and we were turned away at the gate, never knowing what the place was for anyways. Just below that there was a lookout point where we could overlook the South China Sea and get a temporary reprieve from the sun.

The way back we did with the engine off, since it was all down hill and I was low on. In fact, I ran out of gas right in front of a gas seller on the street shortly after we got off the mountain. On the way back, we stopped in to Phatties at An Bang beach for a seafood lunch and a couple of beers.

[Daphne stole a fedora]

After being undercharged for unknown, and uninvestigated, reasons we headed back to the hotel for a shower and out on the town for some wining and dining.

Not surprisingly, we spent our last day on the beach again, worn out from two days of adventuring.

[They are very serious about their boat]

At sunset, we set out some yoga mats at La Plage and Daphne led a class with me and three, much more capable, women.

It quickly turned into a spectator sport, as a crowd of locals, tourists and even dogs came to watch us. I earned a lot of laughs from the locals.

[These kids show off their own skills while we practice]

Our last morning, we took a last swim in the hotel pool before heading to the train station. The train doesn't arrive into Saigon until 5am the next day.

And here, a sadness, for this was to be Daphne's last day in Saigon. Those that read of our first trip to Hoi An may be experiencing a deja vu, for again she left for Singapore and again with no promise of return[well...maybe a hint]. The reasons I won't get into. I'll only say that it was not for a lack of love on either of our part but instead had to do with those nitty gritty details of our lives that no amount of love can erase. And so, once again we say goodbye.

[And we wait]

Shorts

2010-05-26T00:00:00.002-04:00

Some short boops about stuff that happened while I wasn't blogging. I'll be back to the original format soon.

The time the rain came. Six months of dry skies, we're sitting at Lam Cafe, sharing a chocolate banana pancake and drinking a couple rhum lemons. We stare out into the street as we see drops of rain coming down. The drops turn into a downpour in no time, signaling the beginning of Vietnam's rainy season. An American expat cheers the rain but then gives everyone the news: its going to flood, and there will be cockroaches. Then rats. True to his word, the water level was six inches high in mere moments and cockroaches started making there way into the cafe, the staff swinging their brooms at the archway and pouring boiled water onto them. One rat makes a dash inside, hiding behind the drink fridge. The whole time the American's hooting and hollering to his friends, drunk less so on booze than he was on Saigon.

Getting Daphne's bike fixed. Daphne's telling the mechanic his sudden price hikes are unreasonable. She points at her scar and at the bike damage and says, 'same accident! you said less!' As she repeats the word 'accident' for the third time, a woman instantly crashes her bike right in front of the bike shop. We decide to go to another mechanic.

Educating. After doing a reading about a blind marriage that led to divorce. One of my fifteen year old students says that divorce is very bad for the woman. Why? Because then she's no longer a virgin. I tell my student that in the West, chances are slim that she was a virgin when she got married in the first place. I observe his fifteen year old brain exploding behind his eyes.

Trip to Vung Tau. Vietnamese Freedom Day we take the hydrofoil to Vung Tau, the closest beach to HCMC. So did the rest of Saigon. After going to what was supposed to be a cleaner and quieter beach nearby, Long Hai, we found it to be just as crowded as Vung Tau and the ocean fortified with floating trash from one end of the beach to the other. In Vung Tau we try to get a place to stay but everywhere appears to be booked[which is what we should have done before going]. One place that is available and nice is $60 for the night. Thinking it too steep, we decide to go inland to the guesthouses, only to find that some of them cost even more. We head back to the $60 place, but the room is no longer free. I decide that if we're going to spend that much money then we should get more value instead of overpaying for four walls and a bed. We settled in the very cozy Royal Hotel for $100, enjoying a comfortable bed, good breakfast and spending all of the next day by the pool. For us, there's always a silver lining beyond the ring of floating trash.

Educating II. One of my students shows me a neat trick with the VN Dong bill. You can fold it so that it looks like Uncle Ho is smiling or scowling depending on how you hold it.

Books. There aren't enough of them in English. Just photocopied stuff for backpacking hipsters. Alchemist, Life of Pi, Bill Bryson, etc. When I come back from the States I'll be lugging back a suitcase of just books.

Waterpark. We spent the day at the waterpark with some of my coworkers from school. Favourite ride was one that looked like a toilet bowl. Its the first place I've seen where the Vietnamese obey the queue, which they don't even do at the airport. Also, its the most shaded water park I've ever seen. Fun times were had.

Educating III. My students don't know what Communism is. 'You are,' I tell them. Though the more I live here the more I realize that Vietnam is actually the most Capitalist country I've ever been to.

Vietnamese and sunlight. Many Asians prefer being pale, but the relationship between the Vietnamese and the sun borders on phobia. Although its 37 C outside, they're still running around fully covered in jeans, sweaters, stockings, gloves, masks and conical hats. I see some covering their heads with a jacket as they run through the street, as if they were avoiding getting their hair wet from the rain and not blocking the sun. But what really takes the cake is their behaviour at the traffic light. Instead of waiting behind the white line they instead will line up as much as 50 metres further back where there is shade. On one such occasion, I had seen a man stop at the white line just as the light turned red, he then proceeded to inch his way back on his motorbike slowly towards the shade some 15 metres back. Just as he makes it away from the sun, that's when the light turns green. I laughed out loud as I sped away.

Education IV. Category game. Name a genius. Student:"Hitler?" Me: Jaw on the linoleum floor. My students explain that they learned in history that Hitler and Napolean were brilliant leaders[Daphne also had a student once who said he admired Hitler]. I checked with my students to see if they were aware of the bad things he did, which, thankfully, they were, but they were still convinced that he was a great leader and it seems that his skills in leadership have made him a suitable role model here in Vietnam. Instead of arguing against his political abilities I chose to put things in perspective for them. "A good leader doesn't conquer for greed, he leads those that want to be led. Vietnam has been invaded many times by people who did not have Vietnamese interests at heart, Chinese, Japanese, French, Americans, and they were all beaten away because they weren't wanted here and only came for themselves. That's why Hitler was defeated. That's why Napolean was defeated. If they were truly geniuses, they wouldn't have lost because they would have never put their noses where they weren't wanted." This finally got nods from my students, who at first could only reply to my questions by saying, "that's what they told us in school." Days like this make me happy to be a teacher. Days like this also worry me though.

I call Daphne for lunch. She was supposed to meet me in front of the school to show her bike to an interested buyer. On the phone she says,"I'm around the corner at the wonton noodle place." "Why aren't you here?" "I don't have my bike with me. I got stopped by the police." This is bad news because Daphne, like myself, doesn't have a license. Meaning that her bike can be taken away for one month and to get it back she has to get a license and pay a 500,000VND fine[27USD]. So I meet her at the wonton place and ask for the full story: She did an illegal turn and got pulled over, the cop grilled her, and then let her go with a warning and nothing more. Yes, Daphne had punked me. Although, she did not tell a lie on the phone, she told it as it was, her bike wasn't there[it was still at work] and she had indeed been pulled over, the two just weren't related. She stopped laughing, however, when I told her that I already told the prospective buyer that there was no more bike for him to see.

Bakery

2010-05-03T04:16:00.009-04:00

[Part five in a series on Vietnamese food]

Bakeries are alive and well in Vietnam and while most of the shelf space is wasted by gaudy looking birthday cakes or moon cakes during the Moon Festival, there are also some that carry some rather tasty, uniquely Asian delights. Here is our favourite place:

Moon cakes are a traditional Chinese pastry that usually combines savoury and sweet fillings as well as a salted egg yolk to represent the moon. These are given as gifts during the fall Moon Festival and most people I've met don't like them. Some are better than others, perhaps chicken filling is a better choice than clams?

[Moon Cakes]

Other sweet pastries line the shelves with fillings such as red bean, lotus seed, black sesame, and dried fruits, to just name the ones I like, and many of them follow the Moon Cake tradition by having a salted egg yolk in the middle.

[I would NOT recommend the Choco-Pies on the top shelf]

[My favourite, top shelf, half red bean half lotus seed filling]

Daphne wouldn't forgive me if I didn't mention the egg tarts and cream puffs that are behind the cake counter. Also very yummy, and also her favourites.

Veganam

2010-05-03T03:57:00.007-04:00

[Part four in a series on Vietnamese food]

If you have sensitive tastes when it comes to food, Vietnam might not be the place for you. Although I have met people here who can't eat shellfish or are vegetarians, without the language it can be quite difficult to stay faithful to your dietary piques. Asking for no meat still won't ensure that the broth isn't meat based or that the water spinach isn't cooked in fat.
However, I have found this amazing gem in District 4 that serves exclusively vegan food to an all Vietnamese clientele.

Now, I'm probably the furthest thing from a vegan you'll find[I ate duck fetus a month ago] but Daphne and I became regular visitors to this establishment for its amazing variety of unique and delicious foods we couldn't find anywhere else. Located near a few Buddhist monasteries, its purpose is likely to cater to the neighbourhood's monk population, though I had a feeling that the majority of the customers, like us, just came to eat something tasty.

[This is what tasty food looks like]

Banh Mi

2010-05-03T03:13:00.008-04:00

[Third Part in a series on Vietnamese food]

The mark of the French is not only found in the yellow-walled villas and a few street names that escaped being patriotically changed, but also shows up in some of Vietnam's mainstream cuisine. Coffee culture aside, you can't go far without running into a baguette[banh mi] sandwich stand. Fillings and price vary, usually containing paté with some fresh vegetables and some kind of meat. If you're not in a rush, its worth your time to stop for a banh mi op la served hotplate style.

[Our favourite banh mi lady wearing her traditional Vietnamese pj's]

First, they'll cut up some small Vietnamese deli meats. On a hotplate, an egg is cracked and then joined by several meats, fish cake...

paté...

And then served with a banh mi similar to French baguettes but airier, some soy and chili sauce and a plate of vegetables.

It takes skill to pack everything into one baguette. I recommend saving the cucumbers for last, as they are cleaner on the hand and keep the mess fairly contained.

Bon appetit.

Tet in the Delta

2010-02-26T01:52:00.045-05:00

Tet, or Chinese New Year, is a time for Vietnamese families to come together, eat and ensure their future financial prosperity by handing out red envelopes of cash to the youth and paying up to their parents. For the expat, it means that there is nothing to do because everything is closed for the next week. This leaves us with two options, go somewhere that doesn't celebrate the Lunar New Year, or go to the beach.
Our initial plan was for Daphne and I to take a train to Hue for the holiday, but as I waited until a week before Tet to go to the train station, I found that all tickets were sold out. When I got home I looked online for flights but those were sold out as well. Not just for Hue, but for everywhere. An amateur mistake, tickets for Tet holiday need to be bought one to two months in advance. Noted. So we went with the one form of transportation that no one had bought tickets for, or would want to. Motorbike. My second-hand counterfeit 100cc Wave, to be exact. And since Hue was a bit too ambitious for a week-long trip we chose to go through the Mekong Delta instead. A motorbike trip through the Delta was one that I wanted to do since I got here but thought that I would never get the chance. Now, it was the only trip we COULD do.

Escape from Saigon
The plan was to leave Saigon at 9am on the 12th. I knew the trip was off to a bad start when I wake up to find the time read 9:15. We packed, went to have breakfast and weren't properly on our way until noon. Of the whole journey, the hardest to map was the route leaving Saigon. To get to the Delta you take highway 1A all the way south, but if you'll look at the maps of HCMC, you'll notice that it doesn't cover enough of the city to show 1A. So I looked up the map on Diadiem.com and wrote what seemed to be the directions to get out of town. But when we got to where I thought I needed to be, I became confused with how to proceed. So I stopped and we asked for directions to My Tho, the first main stop in the Delta. The man kindly led us back the way we came, into district six and straight to METRO, the department store. Flustered by this misunderstanding caused by our poor pronunciation, I pull out the map and point to where we wanted to go. The man nods knowingly and points back the way we came. In all, it took an hour just to get out of the city and on the highway.

The Bumpy Road
Twenty minutes on the highway, lady luck snubbed her finger at us once again in the shape of a flat tire. Unlike the highways of the West, a busy street like this in Vietnam means a lot of business opportunity. All along the highway are simple mechanic stops and Cafe Vong's, which provide coffee in the shade and the comfort of a hammock. We blew a flat right next to a pit stop and got patched for 30,000VND. But a patch wasn't enough and ten minutes later we were flat again and buying a new tube for another 100,000VND. Worried that so much bad luck so soon was a bad omen, we contemplated turning back. But the thought of being stuck in Saigon with nothing to do for a week was too depressing, so in the end we got back on the bike and pushed on.
Along the highway were families traveling in our directions with gift hampers and bags loaded on their bikes, no doubt on the way to visit relatives in the Delta. This was a comforting sight, as they were all making a similar trip on bikes that were in no better shape than ours. When we told our friends back home what we were planning they would look at my bike and say, 'on that?' Seeing the other bikes on the road, no less derelict than mine, infused us with a bit more confidence than we started out with.
When we got to My Tho we realized that we didn't have time to stop and have a look if we wanted to make it to Can Tho, where we wanted to spend the night, before sunset. With only a week, we had to keep a pretty strict schedule for ourselves so we pushed on and stopped at a hammock place on the highway for some Hu Tieu and the what was the milkiest Ca Phe Sua I've ever had. The hammocks were the perfect treatment for a sore backside.

[Daphne's fake Roxy bag]

As the sun neared its descent, we crossed a magnificent suspension bridge just before Vinh Long where many travelers had stopped their bikes at the top to enjoy a vast view of the Delta, while being sold cold beverages by merchants.

Another half hour and we reached a despicably filthy town called Binh Minh where we had to catch the ferry into Can Tho. The streets here were filled with trash, mostly burnt plastic. It may have been the result of 'cleansing' before Tet, but nowhere in the Delta did we find anything this bad. We were glad to be done with it and at the ferry, just as night had begun to fall. The ferry trip cost a mere 2,500VND and found us packed with a hundred or so other motorbikes heading to see their families. Some people carried yellow flowered plants, like Cai May, a uniquely Vietnamese custom, not even Daphne knew what purpose it held. As we crossed the ferry, we could see another beautiful suspension bridge that looked completed but had no traffic on it. Perhaps the road will be finished there soon and the trip to Binh Minh can be avoided in the future.

Can Tho
Can Tho is a small town that tourists go to if they want to visit one of the floating markets. Our plan was to go visit one early in the morning before heading back on the road, but first we needed to find a place to stay and eat. We picked Lonely Planet recommended Xuan Mai. The staff was friendly, the price was only $12, but the room looked like a hospital room. Still, we were too weary to fuss about town looking for the ideal accommodations, so we took the room and then a much needed shower before heading out to explore the town.
The town itself isn't much. Most of the action was on the river, which had a small tourist market, a few unimpressive restaurants, a gaudy bar called New Cafe, and a lot of tourists, mostly Vietnamese. Across from the market, a stage was set up where some youths were putting on an impressive break dance session, a novelty like this I would be surprised to see in Saigon, let alone in the heart of the Mekong Delta. Tired and hungry, we went for another guidebook recommendation, Phuong Nam, which would prove to be one of the many ways Lonely Planet would fail us on our journey. The food was okay enough, until the next morning.

[Selling plants with yellow flowers is a common sight during Tet]

The loudest business man makes the sale]

Back in the Hospital Room
When I woke up the morning of Tet Eve, I knew that the floating markets weren't going to happen. Food poisoning. The frog legs I had the night before weren't as good as their taste suggested. Fortunately for Daphne, she has an aversion to the delicacy so she was fine. I had to send her on a pharmacy mission while I hid under the blankets, seeking sensory deprivation. Light treated me no better than it treats a vampire and even the sound of the refrigerator was like a drilling on my skull. After some medicine and much purging, it was already 11 and leaving was a must.

[Daphne never passes on a photo op]

I don't know what it is about driving, but it somehow made me feel better. When we would make stops, for gas or to replace Daphne's recently destroyed flipflops, I would feel ill again, but as soon as I started to drive I felt better. So drive I did, until I felt I was well enough to stop for a break and without feeling ill. We stopped for sugarcane and hammocks, I ate my first meal of the day: an apple. Just as we were getting ready to leave, a man came from inside the house behind the hammock stop and invited me to share in some of their rice wine. While not being in the state to start drinking, I was in even less of a state to pass on hospitality. We joined them on the ground for some drink and a bit of food as they shared a joke or two, no doubt at our expense.

Along Canals and Coasts
The 120 km drive from Can Tho was more scenic, running alongside a canal, and quieter, although not in as good of a state as the one from HCMC. We arrived to Rach Gia on the western coast of the Mekong Delta, hoping to catch a ferry to the island of Phu Quoc. Unfortunately, the last ferry had gone already that day, and the next day was Tet, so the ferries would be closed. Instead of resigning to stay there for two nights with nothing to do, we decided to use the daylight and drive another 90 km north to Ha Tien, near the Cambodian border. The road there was even more beautiful than the other roads we'd traveled so far, with the exception of a couple of cement factories and the speed strips and bumpy roads that threatened to destroy my suspension. On our left Vietnam's coastline opened to a beautiful sunset and on our right was forest, paddy fields and little shacks. Ha Tien was even smaller than Can Tho and with even less to do in the town itself. But it was in a good proximity to some other sights we could explore the next day, since a ferry would be impossible from there as well until the 15th. When we arrived at the hotel, Daphne received a beauty mark that's sported by many Vietnamese girls, an oval shaped exhaust burn on the back of her right calf. Burns are nasty things, looking fine when they happen, but monstrous a few days later.

[Along Vietnam's very small western coastline]

Karaoke New Year
We showered and went out looking for some festivities, but the closest thing we could find was a group of men hosting karaoke in the street, blaring out of eight giant speakers. We joined them for a bit and drank with them from their community cup. They got us to sing Hotel California, which we butchered thanks to the keyboardist, who was drunk and didn't know when to switch from verse to chorus. For some strange reason, the town seemed almost completely empty with the exception of gangs of children who ran around the streets at night asking for lucky money. Perhaps that's reason enough for the adults to stay in hiding. We went to bed that night early, barely able to stay awake long enough to greet the Year of the Tiger.

First Day of the Year
The next day, we woke up to the sounds of drums in the street. Teens were performing Lion Dances in stores and in the roads, a blessing of sorts that will be performed for the next fifteen days until the next full moon. Megaphones installed on electric posts spewed out speeches and patriotic songs in the town and the countryside. We decided to take the bike out and explore the lay of the land. But the tank was empty and we soon found out that all the gas stations were closed for the day. No matter, there were enough people selling gas outside of their houses at a hiked rate that finding gas wasn't a problem, though the extra charges did sting.

We went to a nearby cave pagoda we read about in LP called Thach Dong. It was small and crowded with praying tourists so we left after having a quick look and headed for another cave complex called Da Dung[not in LP], which was recommended by our hotelier. The limestone mountain consisted of a long trail up and down with some 14 caves throughout. With the exception of one Quanyin statue, the caves only had urns for incense and a mat to pray on in front of the urn. Daphne and I were adopted by a group of youths who were exploring the mountain. These youths, armed with nothing but a flashlight and bottles of water, were intent to look into every crevasse within the mountain, as if they were expecting to find treasure in there somewhere. If they found a hole big enough to fit a body in it, there they went. If a ledge had enough hand holds, they were climbing it. I followed them on a couple of their adventurous routes, only to find that the mountain had so many bottomless drops in it, its a wonder the whole thing doesn't collapse from its own hollowness. This mountain was a truly excellent find, something like this in the States would be much more restricted due to its lack of safety. I'm certain that the mountain has claimed a few lives to its belly over the years. If you visit this place be sure to bring plenty of water, flashlights and friends. At the bottom of the mountain we posted at a hammock spot near a lotus field and drank some Ca Phe Sua, taking a much needed rest. With not so much daylight left, we decided to drive the 30 km to Duong Beach and watch the sun set on the water.

Don't Ride at Night
The beach is quiet and calm, with no real potential for beach tourism due to the poor sand. We enjoyed a beer, in hammocks again, and when the sun descended we payed our tab and headed back for town. As the sun went down, I had to keep my sunglasses on for as long as I could to avoid the sting of night insects that splattered in our faces. Worse than the night insects that stung the face and eyes, was the ever present danger presented by bicycles, which rode through the night without any reflectors and showed no concern when faced with the sound of engines and horns behind them. After a couple close brushes, we decided that the Delta at night was definitely to be avoided.

Ferry to Phu Quoc
We woke up early the next morning for the ferry to Phu Quoc, which cost 190,000 each plus another 110,000 for the bike. The boat looked sleek and fast, and so it was, but due to the small round windows that were posted too high to see the horizon, I found myself more ill on this boat trip than I have ever in my life been by air or sea travel. I spent the majority of the hour and a half with my eyes closed, fingers squeezing the bridge of my nose as I hyperventilated into a plastic bag. Daphne was ill too, but not nearly as bad. In fact, the male passengers on the boat were evidently more sick than the females. Even when we arrived I couldn't break my meditation until it was time to get off the ship. Fortunately we were going to spend three nights on the island before I had to get back on another boat.

An Island with Few Flaws
We cut through the island, which Daphne noted after looking at a map is larger than her homeland, Singapore, and made our way down Long Beach along a road that alternated between gravel and red dirt, to Lam Ha Eco Resort, where I had made a reservation for $20 a night. The place, however, was not worth the price tag nor the mention in LP. In the room there was a calender that showed June 2008, which was probably the last time the room had been cleaned. The TV had seven channels, but they were all the same one. When we asked where the beach was they pointed us to a road and said, '70 meters'. When we walked down that road we were surprised by a beautiful cluster of bungalows with hammocks on their porches right on the beach that were cleaner than the rooms at Lam Ha and for the same price. We made a note to move the next day.

The beach itself was perfect. White sand, calm waters, virtually no tourists and we only saw one jet ski[the scourge of beach peace]. Long Beach was just that, long. Long and mostly undeveloped. There are some beaches on other parts of the island that are even more deserted, but we found that making the trip was completely unnecessary as we had all we could want right there in our front yard. When the sun set, it set right in front of us, reflecting a beam of light on the water that ran perfectly perpendicular with the sand. We drove in to the town of Duong Dong to have a tasty and cheap meal in the night market, and joined some French expats from China in a nice place called Le Bistro.

Picnic at the Spring
We made the move to the bungalows the next day and after arranging with the owner for some ferry tickets to Rach Gia, for a surprisingly meager 50,000 VND, we drove into the heart of the island to visit Suoi Da Ban, a natural spring. Being the dry season, the spring consisted of a trickle of water flowing along the boulders and an occasional pool. As we followed the stream up the boulders we passed many picnickers along the way, eating fruit, drinking beers, listening to cellphone music and of course, leaving their trash behind. Its something we witnessed throughout our trip in the Delta, no real trash service or environment education means rubbish in every backyard, which, for most people in the Delta, meant a river. We managed to walk far up enough to escape the sounds of cellphone music to enjoy some shade and dip our feet in a pool of water that was cleaner than the rest we saw on our way up. The peace was short lived. As many as five small groups ascended and set up camp, disturbing our short lived peace. On our way back down, we were invited for a couple warm beers by some picnickers and followed our tradition by accepting their hospitality.

[Sadly, that mess wasn't going anywhere]

Trapped on an Island?
When we got back to the hotel after dinner, the hotelier informs us the bad news: there are no tickets off the island until the 22nd. Very big problem. I had work on the 20th, there's no way this could be right that we had to be stuck on the island for another five days because of no boat. Was the transportation really that poorly managed?
We decided to look in town the next day, surely a proper travel agency could help us out, we thought. Worse case scenario, we can always hire some drunk in a fishing boat, though that would take some five hours, and the bike would probably fall through the bottom of the boat. We tried to rest our minds with a night walk on the beach. Daphne, who was convinced that we get more stars in America than in Asia, was pleasantly surprised that night when she looked to see a gorgeous array of stars. We had a brief argument over the constellation that she called The Plow, but I knew as Ursa Major. As the sky glittered, so did the sand from the phosphorescent plankton, that lit up with every step.
Thankfully, we were able to settle things at a travel agency in town the next day, buying ferry tickets at 250,000 VND a pop. We spent the rest of the day as we had spent the first, enjoying the beach for one last time and doing nothing. At sunset, we took a walk and I took some yoga pictures of Daphne on the beach.

Back to the Delta
I was dreading the boat ride back, which this time would take two and a half hours. To my pleasant surprise, the trip wasn't nearly as rocky, and the windows were bigger and lower so I could keep my eyes on the horizon and felt fine. Even managed a small nap. The ride back from Rach Gia seemed to go by much more quickly than the first time and we were back in Can Tho before we knew it. This time, fed up with Lonely Planet's 'research' we searched for a room ourselves and found one that was cheaper and better than the hospital room from before.
We arranged a three hour trip to a floating market for $10 for 6am the next day and headed to the market where we drank Saigon Do's by the river and shared a pork belly hot pot. The hot pot came with a side plate of instant noodles that you could add and two eggs. When Daphne went to crack one of the eggs she found it oddly difficult. As she pulled it apart she let out a scream as some thick bloody mess poked out of the shell. Dropping it on a plate she hid her face behind my back as the table next to us laughed. Later, a woman from the table brought over her ladle to show us what we were missing. In it was something in the shape of a tree mushroom and bland white in colour. 'Baby,' says Daphne to the woman. 'No! No baby,' she replies and offers it to us. Daphne isn't interested to take the chance but being more curious when it comes to food I went ahead and ate it. The taste and texture is comparable to that of egg white, nothing too special. I ask the lady to clarify what it was. 'It's the thing that becomes a duck.' To which Daphne replies, 'so it is baby?' And the woman nods, 'yes, baby'. Duck fetus. Not that big of a deal after all, though I guess its different in a hotpot versus boiled in its shell.

Floating Market
On our last morning, we were out on a small row boat before the sun had even lifted itself over the horizon. In this three hour boat trip I took more pictures than the last week in the Delta. Our boatman took us to see the market, where people were selling mostly watermelon, pineapples, cabbages and other produce. There were even boats selling noodle soup and beverages. After a tour of the market and some breakfast, our boatman took us on a trip through several canals that at times reminded me of scenes from Apocalypse Now. We passed by houses that faced the river, witnessing people starting their day by brushing their teeth, washing their hair or doing the laundry in the river. As we floated along the quiet water we felt like we couldn't have ended the trip on a better note.

[Our captain]

[A merchant makes her way]

[No strangers to dental hygiene]

[Breakfast time]

[VIP parking]

[Daphne enjoys the ride through the canal]

The Easy Road
When we returned to town we were back on the bike for the final journey home. Leaving at a more suitable hour, we had the luxury to stop twice along the way at Cafe Vong's for couple siesta naps in a hammock. As we rolled back into Saigon, after our 800km+ adventure, I said to Daphne that half the fun of a trip like this, is making it back home.

[Bringing home a gift from the family]

Welcome Home

2010-02-02T10:04:00.007-05:00

[Part 4]
My parents and I were on the flight back to Saigon. The plan: Daphne would meet us on her bike at their hotel, we would go to Bee Saigon and have some yummy fish for dinner, buy a tour to Cu Chi Tunnels for the next day, when my parents would be flying out late. Of course, you know where this is going. No writer would give out the plot in the beginning if it wasn't going to completely change before the end.
I had to pick up a new visa after we landed because my school had given me a single entry one last time, which is fine because they said they'd reimburse me for this one, too. Standing in line[a much longer wait than Hanoi for some reason] I turn on my phone, down to one bar, and call Daphne. Busy. One more person closer, I call again. Busy. One more person closer...
She picks up. Tears are on her voice. She tells me she had an accident. She tells me she has to get stitches on her chin. She tells me her friend Yen is coming to get her. She doesn't know what hospital yet. I'm almost speechless. All this and I'm technically not in the country yet. All this and I still don't have my luggage, still haven't gone through customs, still an hour away on taxi. All this and there's only one bar left on my cellphone.
In the mean time, I'm letting people pass me in line one at a time. With nothing else to really say, Daphne said she'd call me back and tell me what hospital to meet her at when Yen got there. Finally, I get to the counter, fill out the application and wait. Wait for what seems likes ages. Back when I first arrived in Vietnam, to Hanoi, I didn't even get to finish filling out my app before they handed me back my passport. Finally, they call my name and I get my passport. I walk over to customs where there's no longer a line, but get stuck there when the officers computer freezes just before finishing. The computer wakes back up and I get my red stamp. Daphne calls again, telling me that Yen wants to take her to a local hospital in D. 5. I tell her that if she's getting stitches she should go to an international hospital instead, suggesting FV in D.7 where I went, post-Cambodia. But that was too far out, so instead I gave their clinic in D.1 a call to see if they would do stitches. But the illiterate nurse that answered the phone said I should make an appointment for the next day. That was no good. Meanwhile, Daphne's still at home, waiting for Yen, and we're still in the airport, my parents asking me 10 questions a minute that I don't have the answers to.
We head for the taxi stand, where there are no reputable taxis to greet us. The first one we do see, is taken by some cripple girl in a wheel chair. Just didn't seem right to go up to her, talking about an emergency need to cut in line. We finally got a ride, heading first to their hotel and then to the yet undecided hospital. Daphne calls as we are exiting the airport and says that they picked Colombia Health Clinic in D.1. Sounds fine, until I get another call on the way. Colombia didn't have any doctors on staff[?] and they had to go to another hospital now, SOS International. So I drop off the parents at their hotel, circle the location of Bee Saigon on a map, switch phones with them to avoid running out and being stranded, and head over to SOS.
Scene: Me, walking into the small operating room, with a full camper bag on my back and an even heavier backpack on my chest. The doctors, wide eyed, 'you can't bring those into a sterile room!' So the bags get ditched in the hall and there I am, finally, at Daphne's side. As she lays on the operating table, she looks up at me and points to her chin. A sleek, clean cut opens like a mouth as she tilts her head up towards me. A cosmetic stitch was sewn from the inside, so in the end we didn't know how many she had. Her knee and foot were badly scraped as well, so the nurse had to use the antiseptic and bandage it up.
Price of everything: $330. Daphne's school was about to help her get insurance, but just a bit too late. The nurse says that the dressing needs to be changed everyday, the price of which would be $22. Poor Daphne's spirit is crushed. She had just began to feel more comfortable driving her bike. The accident itself took place only a block from the apartment while she was on her way home. Some guy in the wrong lane scraped her passing by and she hit the brakes. But the rear brake was weak and needed to be tuned, so all the stopping power went to the front wheel and she flew over her bike. The sharpness of her jaw had acted as a knife, the gravel road the cutting block, cutting open her chin from the inside. People around were helpful, and gave her cotton swabs to hold to her chin. One off duty cop drove her and her bike back to the apartment. He told her to call family. But she didn't have any to call, and I was in the clouds.
Not having insurance made the whole thing an expensive enough affair as it was. It didn't help that we were in the most overpriced hospital in town, or that Daphne had to call off work for two days[much more annoying to do when you have three different jobs to call]. The nurse there was very friendly. She provided us with some free bandages and the address of another, more reasonably priced clinic. I helped Daphne to a taxi, finally heading home. On the way I call my parents to give them an update and check in on them. They're at Bee Saigon, but instead of ordering fish, which was why I sent them there, my mom had ordered a beef dish. A decision she would come to regret. I told them that should order a tour for the Cu Chi tunnels for just the two of them, and that we'd meet up after they got back to have dinner before they left.
The next day my parents didn't go on the tour. My mom had food poisoning. On the way to SOS for a dressing change, I dropped off my keys for them so that they could check out of the hotel and hang out at our place to get some relaxation. We then go to get the dressing change which should have cost the $22 that was advertised the night before, but instead we were given a bill for $80. $80 to put on three new bandages. We told them the price quoted and refused to pay anything but. They then lowered the price to $50, we still said no but with a final price of $35 we consented, reluctantly. In Vietnam, even the hospital bills can be bargained I guess. From then on we went only to Victoria Clinic, the one recommended by the nurse from the night before, which was cleaner and only charged $15 to change dressing. I also picked up antiseptic and more bandages and did most of the cleaning and dressings myself. Keeping her knee from getting an infection was a daily affair.
We came back home and spent the rest of the afternoon resting with my parents, drinking tea and looking through pictures from the trip. Daphne took a couple of naps here and there. We went to a Chinese place nearby for dinner and late at night we said goodbye to the folks as they grabbed a taxi for the airport. We were planning to go see Avatar just then, but as we were about to leave it started to rain so we took a literal rain check for the next day.

Healing
Two days after the accident, Daphne was back at work teaching yoga. Three days after the accident, she's back on her motorbike[though we do go and get the brakes fixed]. A week later, we remove the stitches[only $15 at Victoria]. Now, her chin has healed really well, still a pink scar visible but on the underside of her chin and still healing. Her knee and foot are healed up too, no more bandages. We did try to go see Avatar the next day, but the theatre was sold out, for the next two weeks, so we had to buy a ticket in advance for the next available time which was three days ago[there's only one screen in Saigon playing Avatar in 3D and the whole city wants to go]. Daphne's still nervous every time she rides her bike, sadly getting over that will only take time but she's making good progress and is pretty good driver. Next weekend we plan on taking a trip to the Mekong Delta for Tet. Hopefully, it will be much less eventful then this last trip.

The Flights of Thailand

2010-01-29T14:13:00.001-05:00

[Part 3]

I spent the entire flight to Bangkok trying to plan what we were going to do in Thailand. For the moment we had a ticket for the flight there, that we were on, and a returning flight from Bankok to Saigon on AirAsia, the only airline I know that still uses the sex appeal of their stewardesses to sell tickets. In the end, I went with two nights in Bangkok, two nights in the south on the island of Ko Samui and two nights in the north in Chiang Mai. After collecting our luggage at the airport, we immediately went to buy tickets with Bangkok Airways. It occurred to us that we were doing a lot of flying on this trip, but none of us as much as my mom, who in her three weeks of vacation will have flown on fifteen planes.
On our first night in Bangkok we got rained on. But lucky for us, the rain was short lived. Furthermore, rain was advertised to go on for the entire length of our trip there, however we were lucky that the storm on our first night was to be the last rain we would see on our trip.

[The Wat at Ko Ratanakosin, the Grand Palace]

Our second day we head over Ko Ratanakosin, the Grand Palace of Bangkok, which used to be inhabited by the royalty but is now a tourist site. Bangkok has no shortage of transportation options, so we took the really fast sky train for part of the journey and a river taxi for the other half.

However, when we got to the entrance we were turned away by a worker who said it was closed for a ceremony until noon. He recommended another couple of sites we could see in the mean time, quoting how much it would cost for us to get around with different forms of transportation. He advised that a tuk-tuk would be the cheapest, as it would take us around, wait for us, and bring us back for only 30 Baht[<$1USD]. He shows us on our map the places we should see, and as we thank him for his advice he calls over a tuk-tuk driver for us. While we're riding to the first temple, my dad recalls something we read in Lonely Planet about a scam that sounded very similiar to what was going on: You show up to a temple, someone pretending to work there says its closed and offers you a cheap ride to some other sites, but you have to stop in a bunch of shops on the trip, where the drivers get commission. Sure enough, after we explore the first temple the driver says that he's going to take us to the center where the shops are. We politely say that we're not interested in shopping, to which he quite rudely tells us to get out of his tuk-tuk. A bit upset in being scammed, we found some small consolidation in that we didn't pay, and that the price of the taxi back to the Grand Palace was also 30 Baht, so we got to see this extra temple and didn't lose a penny over it. Just a bit of pride.

[Our Captor]

Back where we began, we went through the gates of Ko Ratanakosin[which were open since 8am] and spend a couple of hours exploring the splendor.

[This Jataka tells the Thai version of the Ramayana and circles the entire inner wall of the temple complex]

[I followed the entire wall, depicting the entire story which would take days to tell, and this was the only character of thousands who was looking right at the viewer]

After lunch we made our way to another nearby Wat that housed a Reclining Buddah[depicting his death] which was 46m long and 15m tall.

All Watted out, we took another river taxi and went to what may be the tallest building in Bangkok to share some expensive drinks and see the sun set over the city. On the way home, I made us stop at the Siam Paragon to check out the bookstore, where I bought a couple Hurakami books and Haunted. Very small English book selection back in Saigon, usually limited to travel themed books for backpackers[On The Road, Bill Bryson, The Beach, etc.]

The next day we flew to Ko Samui. Not much to report, other than spending two days on the beach, doing little of anything but relying and getting a sunburn. Wifi was tricky, though, as hotels charged the equivalent of $1 for 15 minutes. In one quite cafe, that I picked so I could Skype with Daphne in peace, the owner offered free wifi. But when I was running out of power and wanted to plug in, the drunk German spinstress tried to charge me for using the power. Luckily I found another spot with a better connection and better vibes.
One of our favorite things about Ko Samui was the airport that looked like a resort.

[This is already past security]

At the gate, our airlines offered free food and drinks, as well as a meal on every flight regardless how short. They were still running their airlines like it was the nineties!

As on every flight, I spent the time researching what there was to do in Chiang Mai. The city was home to some three hundred temples, so after checking in we spent the remaining day light exploring the temples of the Old Town.

After seeing enough temples to last us a few years, we explored the Sunday Night Market which we were lucky enough to arrive during. The prices here weren't that flexible on account of them already being so cheap. I bought Daphne a couple purses made by Hilltribe people, and my parents bought Aidan a panda shirt.

[A merchant scouting for prospective customers]

The next day we took a tour out to the countries highest peak, Doi Inthanon. The tour was a bit more driving than walking than I would've liked, but it was good to taste the cool fresh air and water from some of the falls that were there.

[To honor the Queen]

[To honor the King]

The next day we got on a plane to head back home. Though it shouldn't take too long to write about a trip that only takes hours, this one will. So I'll have to save the conclusion for later.
[...]

Hanoi

2010-01-21T14:14:00.001-05:00

[Part 2]
The Capital
Finally getting to see the capital up close I couldn't help comparing it to Saigon. They were very similar in some ways. The traffic was still really bad, though perhaps a degree or two better than its southern sister. Fresh flowers were readily available whereas vegetables were served with prejudice. Shopping was easier as the merchants weren't grabby and the bargaining was more amiable. Plus, the tree coverage was better than in Saigon, along with the many lakes scattered throughout the city it gave the city a greener feel.
We spent three nights there, but it was both more and less than what we needed. Daphne was only able to stay for two nights and then had to go back to Saigon for work. We had exhausted the street market from end to end, my mom almost completing her souvenir shopping in one go. Saw the water puppet show, I liked, mom didn't get into it. Ate some really good food, went to an excellent jazz club and ate more from our wallets than our plates at a French restaurant on the last night.
Some photos from Hanoi:

[Double stitching I hope]

[There's gotta be a way to refine this system]

[Daphne checking on her covered yoga class in the reflection of a street barber's mirror]

[Uncle Ho says, 'Safety first']

[Birds as pets is a Hanoi trait, don't see these in Saigon]

[Streetside barber]

After Daphne left us Tuesday morning, we went to an agent to see if we could get a tour outside of the city, having exhausted it, for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, the premiere choice, Perfume Pagoda, was way too far out for leaving so late in the day. We settled instead for taking a private car out to two lesser pagodas that weren't as far away, Thay and Tay Phuong. For being the lesser attractions they weren't bad at all.

[Happy to be away from the traffic]

[A tasty offering]

[...]

Long Time No See

2010-01-21T03:33:00.003-05:00

[Part 1]
[Edited since initial publication to include a couple new pics and better grammar and spelling]
Way, way, way overdue for a blog entry. So bear with me if it takes a few installments to cover everything that's transpired over the last month.

Christmas Eve Housewarming Party
To celebrate our new digs, and give our family-separated friends something to do, Daphne and I threw a housewarming party on Christmas Eve. At about the same time, Daphne got hired as a part time English teacher at ACET and was stuck working that night until 8. No big deal, it just meant a later start time and that the cooking and cleaning would rest solely on my shoulders.

[As usual, I wasn't done cooking yet when guests started to arrive]

[Notice the cleaning rag that guy's carrying? So many spills]

The best part about the party? Getting to sleep in the next day. Daphne and I have conflicting schedules now, so long gone are the lazy mornings. But alas, the repose was interrupted when we saw what a mess was laid outside the bedroom. Not having the foresight to have arranged for a maid to come for only 100,000VND[$6USD], we spent the afternoon cleaning up the apartment.
Meanwhile, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, my parents were on their way to visit. They were going to spend three weeks here, but unfortunately I could only get time off for the latter two. So after a 26 hour flight and one night of rest in Saigon, I had arranged for them to fly to Hoi An the next day for a few nights until I was off from work. Daphne was kind enough to show them around town on Saturday before their flight while I was at work. By the time they left for Hoi An, she had spent more time with them than I had.

A New Motorbike
On Sunday, Daphne sends me a text while I'm at work celebrating her new purchase:a Yamaha automatic motorbike. She had gone with her friend, Yen, to pick it out and had gotten it for 7 mil VND[$390]. She had already payed the deposit on it and later that week we returned with the rest of the money to pick up the motorbike. When Daphne handed the money over, the owner counted and looked at us confused. He then wrote on a sheet of paper the number '17'. English, being Yen's second language, meant that when she had translated the price for Daphne she had made a common, though in this case expensive, pronunciation error.
Daphne was at first distraught by this turn of events, the deposit already being paid it was too late to negotiate on the price. After some careful consideration on the bike, we agreed that the original price was way too little considering that the bike was only three years old and in very good condition. So she paid the remainder and we drove home, each on our bike.
Whatever doubts Daphne had on her purchase melted away between the mechanic and our place. Initially, she had wanted us to take a taxi and have me drive the bike home since she was still inexperienced and the traffic in Saigon is a fright to the uninitiated. But I insisted that if she didn't start driving the bike immediately it would stay in the garage and rust. In just a few days, Daphne was driving the bike to work on her own.

New Years and Family Vacation
My parents arrived back on the 30th, delayed by Jetstar for the second time. Aside from a bit of food poisoning they seemed to have enjoyed their time. We took them to one of our favourite spots, Din Ky, a Chinese place that served anything from steak to shark fins soup, but that we always come to for the excellent crocodile. The next day, I have dim sum with Daphne and then go to meet my parents for a a day of touristing while she goes off to work. The problem with Saigon is that its more of a place to live in than to sight see, so planning what to do was a bit tricky. For a start, I took them to get cheap massages, then some VN iced coffee...and then I was stuck. For one thing, my parents were afraid to get on a motorbike which meant the only way to get around the city was by taxi which is way too slow. In fact, my mom was so stressed out by the traffic that even walking around the city was a problem. But after we consumed our coffees and I had flipped through the guide book, we settled on taking a taxi to a pagoda on the far side of the District. After that, a trip to our old neighbourhood in District 4 to have some baguette sandwiches at my favourite stand. Unfortunately, she was out of baguettes, so we went to a nearby bakery instead, picking a few treats up, and had a seat at another coffee spot to watch the sun fade.
That night, we had reservations at a nice, swanky place called the Temple Club to celebrate New Years Eve and for midnight we went out on the street and counted down with the rest of the town, in Vietnamese.

[Le Loi crowded by festivities]

Sleep? Only a couple of hours, because we had an early flight for Hanoi the next day. Our original flight had been canceled so I had to take the earliest time they had available in order to make it on the bus for Cat Ba Island in Ha Long Bay.

Dragon in the Mists
The short flight to Hanoi didn't leave enough time to make up for the sleepless night before. Nor did it help that it was cold and rainy on arrival. My heart sank. My parents had left the vacation in my hands and here I've sent them up north where its cold and wet for their holiday. I hope that it will be more clear in the Bay when we get there. Driving to the bus station in a taxi, I gaze out the window, noting how different the vibe is from my first visit back in June. Where there was life now it was in hiding.
A couple of bus trips later we were at the ferry to the island. It was still pretty cold but at least it had stopped raining. Seeing the rocky crags of Cat Ba changed all of our moods. A heavy mist hung over the islands in the bay, giving them a magical charm. It was different than my first visit, but still utterly beautiful. The island itself was comparatively empty without the summer beach goers.
We rented a boat out on the bay for the following day with Slo Pony, the climbing company I used last summer. It was still occasionally rainy and cold but it didn't stop us from enjoying the scenery and doing a bit of kayaking.

When I went out on the kayak with my dad, we were directed to steer towards a place called Paradise Cave. "Ten minutes that way, turn left." So paddle we did until we get to an opening in the rock face on our left hand side that opens to another body of water. It seemed like the place, though it wasn't a cave, and there was a sign in the cliff face that read: no entry. My dad insisted that we paddle on and that the entrance must be further down the wall. But after about twenty minutes we get to another similar opening with the same sign. I infer from this that 'Cave' is an incorrect VN translation and that both openings are for the same place. My dad isn't happy with this, especially because of the sign, but I convince him to paddle in for a look. The current at the opening is strong and against us, so we have to power our way in, noticing that the floor is quite shallow at the opening and a larger boat would not be able to pass here. When we finally muscle in, the site is truly paradise. The water, so still it reflects the green rocky cliffs perfectly. I was sad not to have my camera with me. The scene was like something out of a pirate novel or Robinson Crusoe. I wouldn't have been surprised if pirates had at one point used this cove.
At this time, my dad is still nervous about the sign and the fact that we only have thirty minutes left. But I convince him that if we circle the rock on the left we'll get to the opening we saw earlier and get back faster that way. So we paddle until we get to just such an opening that resembles the one we first passed. As we make our way through, the water gets so shallow that we strike ground and have to get out to push it through. On the other side we look around and notice that we are still not out of the cove! Further to the left we see another opening in the rock and some other kayakers paddling their way to it. Surely this was the opening we were looking for. As we paddled over we noticed that the counter stream was even stronger than the first one, with the addition of sharp coral that made it too shallow for passage in parts. But we succeeded in muscling our way through[note, my dad is 63] and made our way through a beautiful stalagmite[or stalactite?] roofed tunnel with colorful see plants below us only to come out into another cove. Although there were other places we could swim to to look for the exit, we only had five minutes until we were supposed to be back on the boat and way more than five minutes of paddling to cover. So we conceded to the cove and turned around, back through the tunnel maneuvered through the coral rapid[but not without getting stuck a couple times and cutting our feet on the coral trying to get out], and muscled our way back all the way through to the boat. We were only thirty minutes late and only ten second later than another group that we managed to catch up to through vigorous paddling[used this word too much, but I don't know any other synonym]. The next day, we got on the bus to go back to Hanoi. The sky was blue, the air was warm. What a tease. But no matter, everyone had a good time and I didn't feel bad anymore about taking my parents up north. Besides, after Hanoi there was still Thailand to look forward to.
[...]

Dear Traveler

2009-12-16T03:07:00.002-05:00

In honor of my parents coming for a visit later this month, I decided to post some helpful traveler tips based on my own observations since being here. I might edit this post later with anything else that comes to mind. Edits will be in bold.
Money
-If its in a popular guide book with one price, its already gone up after publishing.
-In tourist areas, the prices quoted are usually twice what they should be. Its better in local areas, but haggling is still acceptable.
-Don't haggle over anything involving service, like food or tailoring. Street food usually doesn't advertise their prices, but they rarely rip you off. You can politely ask your tailor for a discount if you're making a bigger purchase. In general, when it comes to service, you pay for what you get.
-In general, if something is quoted in dollars and you have dong, you should convert at a rate of 18,000VND to the dollar. However, if you're buying something expensive, they might insist on the black market rate, which will cost you more.
-Its best to bring large US bills to convert to VND. And always at a jewelery store, where you can get the better black market rate. No, its not illegal, its just that Dong isn't tradeable on the international market, so local investors need to buy large amounts of US dollars from tourists, as the state owned banks won't convert Dongs to Dollars. Is it that big of a difference? If you have $1000 dollars with you, you'll profit $80-150 just by converting your money at a jewelery store instead of a bank or post office.

Transport
-Taxis. The best options are either Vinasun or Mai Linh. They are metered and fair. Many other taxi companies don't use a meter and charge too much, or if they do use a meter it counts faster.
-Xe oms, or motorbike taxis. Travel within the same district is 5-15,000VND, 15-25,000VND to get to the next district over, depending how far. Rarely should a trip cost 30,000VND.
-Always have your direction written down, be sure to include all accents and District number[District can be represented by Q.] If you try to say it, they probably won't understand your accent, or they'll think you said something else and take you in the wrong direction.
-They'll always claim to know that they know where it is even if they don't. Don't be surprised if they stop along the way to ask other xe oms for directions. And don't bother pointing to it on a map, as many of them don't know how to read a map.
-Agree to the price of a trip with a xe om before you get on.
-When crossing the street, move at a steady pace, and with confidence. Traffic will move around you. Whatever you do, don't run, and don't make any sudden stops or movements. The traffic will move around you just fine so long as they can read and understand how your moving across the street.
-For cheap flights in SE Asia: Jetstar, Tiger, Airasia, Vietnam Airlines.

Food
-Bring a pack of dry napkins, many places only have wet napkins, which they charge you for[only 1,000VND]. With all the spicy food, a wetnap won't do the job for your nose.
-You don't always get what you think you ordered. For starters, don't try to read Vietnamese, just point and clarify. Also, you come into a place and order a fish from the menu that you end up really liking, then you come back the next day, ordering the same fish, and getting something completely different. Also, always have a backup ready on the menu. Its not uncommon for them to come back five minutes after you placed your order saying, 'sorry, finished.'
-If you find a hair in your food, observe, and let it pass.
-There are no refunds, no free dessert, and its hard enough to get them to take back the meal if they brought the wrong thing.
-Service. It sucks. But there's also no tipping. On occasions when you do tip, don't do percents, just tip between 10-20,000VND.
-Fights. Don't get involved. It might seem like its just between two people, but if you interfere, so will the whole neighbourhood.
-If your food comes first don't wait for the other person's food, just start eating. Your food will get cold.
-No, those aren't free samples, its a shrine with an offering of food. Don't touch it.

Other
-Most practical items you may need on your trip are readily available here and can be bought for cheaper. So save your luggage space for the souvenirs you'll be bringing back.
-Sunglasses. Not just for the sun, but to keep dust out of your eyes while on a motorbike. Applicable near a beach, construction areas and the dry season[now] in general.
-Face mask. Not for disease. Again, dust on the motorbike. Though, I never wear one, I find it too stuffy. But my throat has been scratchy since the rains stopped, so you may not want to follow suite.
-Sunscreen and mosquito repellant. It's pretty useless in the big cities but there are parts of it that are exceptions. Bring small bottles just in case.
-Drugs. No prescription needed and they're cheaper too.

From Goat Barbecue To Sheraton Ball Room

2009-12-13T21:45:00.007-05:00

I've been getting more comfortable with planning lessons over the months. No longer do I need thirty minutes to an hour the day before to plan my lessons. Now, I just open the book fifteen minutes before class and I know what I'm going to teach and how. This has really helped having a social life, too. So even if I have to wake up at 5:30am to get ready for school, I can still go out on the weekends.
After class on Saturday, Daphne and I went to meet our friend Rob[the one that crashed my bike a couple months back] and some of his work friends at a local goat place. It was a big place with a very small menu: steamed goat, roasted goat, grilled goat, sour mixed goat. The food was really good, we ordered the steamed goat which came in a large clay hotpot with goat meat, goat brain, and some other parts of the goat we couldn't identify but were delicious none the less. One of the guys notices that a lot of the servers are at the doorway watching some drama going on outside. As we're debating what they could be rubbernecking about, I decided to be nosey and go have a look. Just outside was a tow truck with a very familiar motorbike loaded on the back. I run up to the tow man yelling, "My bike! My bike! What are you doing to my bike!" The towman and the officer nearby were more than a little surprised to see me. They were expecting to tow conflict free, and in that area of town they least expected to see a foreigner come out yelling at them. Neither of them could speak English, and the towman was already making movements to unload my bike, keeping his eyes on the officer for the go-ahead. The officer was confused, tried to explain something, but failing through the language barrier. I hand him my ownership papers. A nearby local who speak some English asked the translated question of whether the bike was mine or a rental. I lied, saying that I rented, as I am unlicensed I would surely have gotten my bike taken away if I admitted to owning it. Thankfully, the bike was lowered and my papers handed back to me. Apparently, where I parked it was for a food stall that had closed up since I had been eating my goat and all the other bikes had left with it, leaving just mine. There was an official parking lot across the way that I was supposed to park in. What luck. To have noticed the servers watching when I did, and to have been nosey enough to inquire about it. I would've been rather sore to have come out of there and not had my bike anywhere in sight? Where do you go if your bike gets towed here? How do you even know it was towed and not stolen? Not a clue. And I'd be happy if I never had to find out.
Last night we had our company Christmas party. They had it at the Sheraton with a massive buffet and free flowing open bar. It was nice event and the food was excellent, but the down side was that since the school had so many employees and the Sheraton was so expensive, we couldn't bring any guests. Daphne talked me into going anyways and made dinner arrangements with our friend Rob[of crashing motorbikes] so I wouldn't feel guilty for going without her. Luckily, instead of stamping hands when we entered, some people got stickers on their shoulders that didn't do a good job sticking. It wasn't long until stickers were finding their ways off of ILA shoulders and onto those of Daphne and Rob. When we were heading home, the garage security was asking for another 15000VND on top of the 8000VND I had already paid for parking. The average price of parking in the city is 3-5oooVND. I kept a smile, shook my head and told him, 'no, pay already' over and over, pretending that his English wasn't good enough for me to understand. When he finally said, 'you pay more, you know, you foreigner,' the smile came off my face and the engine turned on. He quietly moved himself out of my way and pretended not to notice. Up the ramp we went and into the night.

New Home

2009-12-09T22:00:00.008-05:00

We've finally settled in our new place in District Five, though as you'll see from the pictures, the place still needs a personal touch.

Okay, so it has plenty of personal touch, but not our own. Frankly, photos of heart shapes and baby hands aren't our style. So I'm going to find a photolab and get some of my pictures printed to take over the frames on the walls. As for the rest of the furnishings, we're rather happy with it. Not only was the place fully furnished, as though made to model for an Ikea catalog picture, but it also came with plates, bowls, silverware, pots, pans, and other kitchen necessities that we won't need to buy now. Not to mention a fake Christmas tree which you can see for yourself if you come to our Christmas Eve housewarming party.
We're still getting acquainted with our neighbourhood, which is very different from where we lived in District Four. District Five is pretty much China town, consisting of most of the ethnic Chinese-Vietnamese population of Saigon. A couple of the main differences we've noticed here is the large amount of Cantonese food[including my new favorite, Duck Noodle Soup] and Daphne can actually talk to people now. One of the downsides we've noticed, however, is that there are more westerners here, which means that the locals aren't as warm to us as they were in D. 4, where westerners were few and far between. We found out later that apparently a lot of teachers actually live in our building, from ILA and other schools as well.
One dissatisfying element, however, is the millipedes we keep finding in the house. They aren't many, they're easy to get rid of[much easier than the ant problem of my last place] but its always disgusting to find them crawling around on the floor. We're not exactly sure where they're coming from, but the little garden that lives on our balcony is a likely culprit.

We'll be making a shopping trip for pesticides soon. Aside from that, we're quite happy. The place is cozy and cheaper than our last place. Daphne does miss the wardrobe space we used to have, but not the fluorescent lighting. And we definitely miss the old neighbourhood, we still go back there to have lunch now and then at one of our old haunts. But we're also having fun discovering this new area, and what secrets its hiding.

And The Curtain Falls

2009-11-23T06:56:00.002-05:00

I've just learned that my internet problems aren't the cause of a lame ISP but instead a government action. Facebook is banned. As well as other sites that are popular forms of social communication[so not Myspace]. I believe that my blog is also blocked, as I have to use a web proxy to make this post. There are several theories going around as to why the ban, some say the government fears security breaches through the display of private information, others say it has something to do with an upcoming election. Whatever the reason, its rather annoying and hopefully will be temporary, as I can't post photographs using a proxy.
But I can still write. So let me take this rare chance to poke out from under the ISP curtain. On Friday, Daphne and I stopped by our future apartment to sort some stuff out. We found a nearby Chinese restaurant where after having some good soup we decided to make it one of our future regulars[we have so many places in our current neighbourhood to drink and eat, where will we go now?].
I took an alternate, exploratory route back home when something in my bike started making a clicking noise and causing it to jump. Slowly, and with continued auditory threats from the bike, we made our way to my local bike shop where I always go to get work done[2:30pm].
The first mechanic to deal handle it said I needed a new chain for the wheel and also a new brake. Well enough. Though after paying for that and getting on the bike, I had to do a U-turn almost immediately when I realized the problem persisted. So he drove the bike around, came back, tightened some screw and gave me back the keys. Again, another U-turn and I was getting frustrated. So another mechanic, my regular, had a drive and came back telling me the engine and the gears are messed up. They took the entire engine and gear box apart, showing me all the pieces that needed to be replaced and quoting a price to the tune of 900,000 VND[$50][4:30pm]. Now, by Western standards this isn't much for a bike repair, but in fact this is four times more than any other job I've had done on the bike, and this isn't including the 200,000 VND I had just spent on replacing a chain that wasn't the problem. Discount? Not negotiable. So they told us to come back at 7.
We headed home, picking up two cartons of soy milk on the way. When we got to the door of my apartment on the 11th floor, I searched my pocket for the keys, which were still on the key chain in the bike shop. Lamenting our gross error, we decided to not bother with going back but instead to have a drink down at a street bar until 7. I left the soy milk by the door, hoping it would go undisturbed, and we made our way down.
While drinking at the street bar, we were joined by an old drunk who proceeded to joyfully tell his life story to us. In Vietnamese. Completely disregarding that we couldn't understand. As he used his foreign hand gestures and fast talk to tell his stories, Daphne and I took turns using our imagination to translate for eachother what he was saying. "He fell in love with a French girl during the war, and then something about his legs getting blown off by a grenade."Actually, his legs were just fine, but everytime we did this he would rejoice that he was being understood and shake my hand and offer cheers. Behind him, other locals were dictating with their hands that the gentleman was not just drunk, but insane. Still, it was quite amusing and helped the time pass.
At 7 we made our way back to the bike shop, only to find that they weren't finished putting the bike back together. Another hour we waited, as we watched them reassemble the bike, and a new bill was presented to me, with an addition of nearly 300,000 VND for extra parts. This was quite upsetting and pushed me over the edge. I tried explaining to them, even though they didn't understand any English, that they can't add more things without first consulting me. But they just kept pointing at the parts they replaced and treating me like I was stupid and didn't understand. There was a lot of fussing, hand gestures, mechanics arguing with other mechanics, until finally, the bike was back together and the guy took it for a test drive. Only to find out that it was still broken. So they appologize, agree to the 900,000 bill, and ask me to come back the next day for the bike[8:30pm].
We had held out for dinner until the bike was fixed and now were starving, so we grabbed a taxi to the backpacker area for dinner. It was a good meal and helped distract us from the events of the day, until Daphne looks at me and asks,"Did you get the house key?" Twice in one day, I had forgotten the key. Luckily I still have a roommate[for just another week] and he was able to leave the door unlocked for us. I'll be making extra copies of my next apartment key, that's for sure.
Went the next day after work to pick up my bike. It was running like new, but the price was back to where it was the night before. But as they had replaced another part and didn't charge for it, I took it as a consolation, accepted that I'm in a country with different service standards, and consoled myself with the fact that my bike was now running as if it were brand new. Paying for the bike, I went to get Daphne and we went to have Indian for dinner. At dinner, she offered a toast to my bike being fixed, but I dared not accept, fearing to take chances with jinxes.
Still, even though my bike is working well now, I think I'm ready for something new. So I'll be on the lookout for a new moto and selling my old one soon.

Here's to Better Internet in December

2009-11-19T12:13:00.003-05:00

Haven't been able to post in a while. There are certain sites that my server just won't do at times. Facebook has been a 'no go' for a week now. Next month my lease with Anh ends and Daphne and I will be moving in to our new place. I'll still be on the eleventh floor, but in District 5 instead of 4. There's no riverside view, but its still good and the place is better furnished, as well as $100 cheaper a month. Hopefully the internet will be better there too.
Bought new flip flops. After searching through several high-end shoe boutiques in posh crackerland, Geox, Clarks, Aldo, Timberland, I couldn't find any pair that could serve as a fitting replacement for my wrecked Tevas. Not to mention the high price tags. But on a drive through District 3 we found a street full of local shoe shops. In the first stall I checked, I found a great pair, and got the price down to only 130,00VND[<$8USD].
In other news, I've learned to play Chinese chess and Daphne's teaching yoga now at a couple places in town. My parents are coming for the holidays, so I'll have a special 'tips for travelers' blog up in a couple weeks. Also, house warming/Christmas party, tba.

Chicken Rice Full Moon

2009-11-02T09:47:00.006-05:00

Halloween and a full moon, what good luck. Back in Ohio, I remember that the commute between my university and Cincinnati would go through a forest rich in autumn colours. While there the weather cools and the green browns, in Saigon what trees there are haven't changed their hue and won't. The dry season will be starting soon, however, so that'll be a first for me.
My school goes crazy for Halloween, kids go from room to room asking for candy, and then throwing paper at each other. They prefer tricks over treats. After my class got raided by a neighbouring room, we dropped in on them to exact revenge. The other class held the door fast to prevent our entry as my students struggled to get the door opened. In the push and pull the door actually broke off the dry wall. Oops.
Also, the younger kids got to pay a visit to the ILA haunted 'house', a converted classroom on the fifth floor across from the bathrooms.

My students were so scared to go in, only three in a class of eighteen even tried, of those only two made it through. And there were many tears. My favorite part of Halloween? I got to wear flip flops instead of dress shoes to work as part of my pirate 'costume'. First time my feet didn't hurt at the end of a weekend.
Halloween night Daphne and I joined our friends and former CELTA colleagues, Rob and Sylven, at Muntaz for some Indian food and then went to the club up in the Sheraton for their Halloween party to meet up with my roommate, Anh. It was a good time, but having to wake up at 5am the next morning for work, I couldn't stay out that long.
Today, my real weekend[Monday], we had several errands to run through out the day. Taking lunch at a chicken rice place, we got into a bit of a disagreement with the proprietor. First, never ask for chicken, or you end up getting fish. The words are very similar but the inflection is opposite. So 'asking' chicken yields fish. But we do get our chicken,regretting we didn't get the fish instead, which was cold and chewy. Finishing the meal, we got the bill and it was for 134,000 VND[$7USD]. Ok, so this probably doesn't seem like much, but this is Vietnam. It shouldn't have been half that price. The chicken rice was 90,000 and should've been more like 45-50,000. I had a word with the owner and called foul. Put 105 on the table[still more than I should] and she got angry. She blocked the entrance, threatening to call the cops. Daphne and I told her to go ahead, we weren't going to pay the other 30, not because its expensive, but for the principle. She fiddled with her phone but kept putting it away and instead yelling at passing locals to bare witness. But I could tell by their faces that she wasn't winning favour with them. Especially after I showed them another customer's receipt I had found there, showing that they were charged only 40,000 for the chicken rice. In the end, both Daphne and I had reached our time limit for how long our principles would hold out against a dispute over $1.50. So I paid up and we left. Outside, one of the women watching walked with us and motioned that the place was bad and not worth coming back to. For Anh's two cents, he said, 'so basically what happened was, you were white in Vietnam.' But usually when a merchant gets caught gauging they correct themselves. This woman just went berserk, not willing to lose face in front of me, but instead losing face in front of her neighbours. My two cents? People go crazy when the moon is full.

Mui Ne

2009-10-26T12:07:00.015-04:00

Hooray, my internet works once more. Daphne and I just got back from a Japanese tea ceremony in a really nice, quaint tea house I found in a hidden alley. The matcha wasn't of the highest quality but the ceremony was beautiful and we felt like we could stay at the tea house forever[Daphne even took a small nap in my lap].
Daphne returned from her intensive yoga trainer's program in Dharamsala last Sunday. It was really like a dream to see her again. We had spent the last six weeks talking every day on Skype, but even so it was almost unreal not have a screen between us anymore. I took a couple days off work and we took a morning bus the next day to Mui Ne, a beach resort town[with an unusually large amount of Russian signage] located four-five hours from Saigon. We stayed in a cheap but roomy place called Ngoc Suong and spent most of our time playing in the waves and soaking up[a bit too much] the sun.

[Kite surfing is big here, but too expensive]

We took one day off from the beach and, renting a bike, went looking for some sand dunes that were supposed to be really neat. On the way we stopped by the Mui Ne fishing village where we were greeted by the locals by getting waved away from most streets we wanted to explore. Perhaps they just assumed we were looking for the dunes, or maybe they just wanted to be left in peace. I got some good shots before we moved on.

[Fishing boats]

[Operation Deshell Clams]

[The devastation left behind from above Operation]

[Baskets!]

[Daphne, taking an even better picture of the baskets]

After taking lunch, we headed to the yellow sand dunes, which looked more like an anti-oasis, being that it was a saharan desert just less than a kilo away from the beach and surrounded by trees. When we arrived and parked at the foothill, a little boy runs up and says he's going to guard my bike. Being that the bike and helmets were all locked in I didn't really mind. Another boy came up to us and followed us along the sand dunes, playing as our guide.

[Laziest 'guide' ever]

[Desert, forest, ocean]

After enjoying the serenity and [near] solitude of the dunes we walked back to the bike to find the boy guarding it had been gone. One of the helmets was no longer locked in but resting on the handlebar, and the seat was covered by one of the raincoats which was supposed to be locked in the compartment under the seat. Another teen walks up with the second raincoat, letting us know that the kid had squeezed his hand through the seat looking for money. Then, after packing the coats back in and getting ready to leave. Our 'guide' had the nerve to say, 'you give me money now!' To which I reply, 'go find your friend, ask him for money.'

We hit the road again and moved on to see the sunset at the white dunes, another 40 minute drive away. Where other children rented sheets of plastic to sled down the dunes[Daphne is very aerodynamic on a dune sled].

It was a good little holiday and gave us a chance to reconnect outside of the bustle that is Saigon.
But its good to be back home and living a life with so much in it to do, even when we're not doing that much. I'm back at school and Daphne's on the hunt for a job[will she be a yoga teacher, english teacher or one of the many other things that she's more than qualified to do?].
Just living in the present, and loving it to bits.

Bun bun bun!

2009-10-12T12:38:00.012-04:00

[Second part in a series on Vietnamese food]
If you know about one Vietnamese dish then its probably the soup known as Pho. Cheap, healthy, filling and very good. But 'Pho' isn't the name of the soup, its the name of the noodle. Noodles aren't just noodles here in VietNam. When you look at a menu, the food is listed by its ingredients, the word for rice, com, or one of the words for noodles always comes first in such a list. So Pho Bo, means pho noodle soup with beef[translation sounds longer,eh?] Even if you get an english menu, its good to look at the accompanying vietnamese text to know what kind of noodle you're getting. Among the ones I've come across there's pho[/fa/], a flat and tender rice noodle, mi[/me/], a thin, round egg noodle, bun[/boon/], a thin, round rice noodle, and mien, which is vermicelli.
One of my favorite lunch time meals is a Bun dish. I've only found a few places that serve bun in this manner, usually its served in some kind of soup, like pho. But fortunately for me, there's a stall that sells it right behind my building.

Nem Nuong is a grilled meatball, Cha Gio is a fried spring roll, Chao Tom is minced shrimp wrapped around a piece of sugarcane and grilled, and the Bi...I don't know, roommate's asleep so I can't ask him. So how do I order? I say 'Bun' and then do a wave of my hand over all the food to show I want everything in it[the same technique I use for baguettes].

[The chef prepares the sauce]

[Cha Gio]

[Chao Tom]

[First, some chopped lettuce, basil and some sprouts]

[The rolls are cut up and the shrimp paste gets sliced off its stalk]

[It's garnashed with shreds of pork, lightly pickled carrot, chives, peanuts and spices]

Hmmm...how about some dessert for after? You see that woman who's not doing anything?

[The round textured ones are my favorite, but I don't know what any of these are made of]

It's very common for stalls to be side by side and even work together. While these two women sell completely different products, I often see two stalls selling the exact same thing next to eachother, with the same display and same prices. Very strange.

[I don't like eating from a box]

[I was almost too hungry to keep taking pictures]

And there you have it, though the small stall behind my building has fewer options than a street restaurant might have. A place close to my school has four different kinds of grilled meats in their Bun. The sauce in the bag is a fish sauce mixed with Ot[spicy pepper] which I pour over the noodles.
Wow, I'm hungry just looking at it, but its too late for a meal so its off to bed. Daphne will be returning in just a few days and we have a small trip planned. No hints, you'll just have to read about it next week.

What Happens at T & R

2009-10-01T12:20:00.003-04:00

The best laid plans...Wednesday was the first day of my Vietnamese lessons, a free perk of the job, but before going I had a plan laid out for the morning. I was going to go climbing, even woke up earlier so I'd have time, but I had to stop by the bikeshop first to get my motto fixed. What was wrong with it? I'll get to that later...
I was planning on stopping back at the house after climbing for a shower and change of clothes before class. The class was taught at the same school I teach at, but only for us teachers, and taught by one of the Vietnamese TA's. The school has a dress code for teachers that we have to follow even if we come in on a day off: pants, tucked shirt, tie and shoes. I don't adhere to this, but I still didn't want to come to school in my sweat-stained climbing clothes.
So, a bowl of cereal later, I'm downstairs driving to the bikeshop. The repairs end up taking FOREVER. I was getting the bike rim replaced because its was dented, but I also got talked into a much needed replacement of my gear chains, an oil change, tighter brakes and I had to replace a passenger footrest that came off somehow. The chains take quite a bit of time to do, my ice coffee long drained. My butt goes numb from sitting on a metal stool that is barely a foot off the ground. After the mechanic's done with that there's still the rim to do. So he hands it over to another worker and motions for me that we need to go eat. He speaks no English. So we go around the corner and have a small lunch at a rice stall. I get some eel with ginger and meat stuffed tofu. The mechanic keeps trying to guide me through how I should eat. Showing me to wipe the chopsticks before use, making sure I drank my soup, that I used a spoon for the rice instead of sticks and even told me to wipe my mouth at the end! When we get back the wheel's done and I pay up. But when I drive a few meters down the road I can tell that the bike still has the same problem that I brought it in for. So with a quick u-turn I'm back at the spot shaking my head. The mechanic takes the bike for another spin, comes back and questioned me with the gestures of his arms whether I had crashed it into something. No, I try to explain, but...
The night before, not drunk but drinking, I had convinced my friend, Rob, that he needed to have a lesson, then and there, since the streets were pretty empty and he was still afraid of getting a bike. Rob, drinking and drunk, though I didn't think him to be, agreed very reluctantly under my ill advised persuasion. Outside of T&R Tavern I began to explain how the bike works, but he had already had a lesson and supposedly knew, so I got on the back and told him to drive to the end of the ally. Which he did. The short way. He drove across the street, straight into the metal shutters of a business that was thankfully closed. No fear, family and friends, there are no injuries to report at such a low speed and distance. After I managed to get him, to stop saying 'oh my god' repeatedly and turn the bike off I found myself laughing, as well as our friends across the street. Rob was the only one that wasn't. He was shaken with guilt and was down with a drop in confidence that he'll ever drive a bike again. I gave him a ride home, then noticing that my bike was having difficulty maintaining a straight line and that it kept wanting to turn left. Rob did the gentlemanly thing, offering to pay for repairs, but I declined. Partially because it was my fault for not knowing better than to let him drive drunk[without really knowing how to drive at all], and also because bike repairs are cheap to do, even at the worst of times.
So anyways, I try to gesture what happened to the mechanic, and he tells me that the bike has to get its frame hammered even. So he drives it off, I sit my self down on the stool that an eight year old would feel too grown up for, and look at my watch noticing that I have an hour till class. No time to climb. No time to even shower. So I leave my bike in their hands, after finding out its going to take an hour to fix, and grab a xe om[motorbike taxi] to school. Walking in with my helmet still on, ashamed to show my unkempt hair.
I had to take a driver back, too and got caught in some nasty rain, my coat still attached to my bike. But the bike was fixed and is now in better shape than ever before, so I guess that can count as a happy ending. Moral of the story: teach 'brake' before you teach 'accelerate'. There's another one too, can you guess what is?

[Side note: For those on the other side of the world watching the news about all the bad weather, I am in a pretty safe spot. We don't get earthquakes, and it is central Vietnam that gets the typhoons and flooding every year, not the south where I am. Plus, the Philippines serves as a protective wall against tsunamis(sorry Philippines). So aside from daily rains, nothing to worry about in my slice of Asia.]

Routinization

2009-09-28T08:10:00.005-04:00

It's becoming harder to write blogs the longer I'm here. Life is slowly molding itself into routine. On the weekends I'm waking up at 5am and in school from 7 to 7. Saturday night? With the exception of last week when I went to a boat party for my friend Natasha's birthday, I usually don't go out on Saturday because I've got to lesson plan for Sunday morning. Work on Tuesdays and Thursdays is a bit easier with just two evening classes, but I'm not out until almost 10. Friday is more like a half-day off, I need to spend a chunk of it planning the weekend lessons. But after wearing my legs and back out from standing all day, its good to know that relief is only a $7 massage away in Crackerland.
As for leisurely pursuits. Got a 3-month pass for the rock wall[an overpriced pass], and I hook up with friends or fellow teachers whenever our schedules line up[the planets do that more often] for a game of poker, a drink or an 'expensive' meal out. But I usually don't stay out too late, as I find myself watching the time for when I can meet Daphne on Skype.
Speaking of which...
I'll be back with another entry soon on my other favourite leisurely pursuit. Food.

Banh Xeo

2009-09-18T03:08:00.007-04:00

[First part in a series on Vietnamese food]
Now that life here has settled down a bit I thought it would be good to focus a bit more on the setting. And how better to understand a place than through its food. Saigon has a lot to offer in culinary delights and great prices to match. You can even find really great western options[spanish, french, italian...]
Today I'm featuring the banh xeo. A word of caution to those learning Vietnamese or trying to make sense of a menu with no English, just because you recognize one of the words in a menu item, doesn't mean you know what it is. In this case, 'banh' could mean either sandwich, cake, meat dumpling, pancake, croissant, shrimp crackers, pudding or pastry depending on what other words follow it.
Banh xeo is basically a rice pancake, of sorts, that may or may not have egg in it.
Here are some pictures of it being made:

My roommate informed me that his mom makes it without egg. The yellow comes from the oil that's used. On top there we have some sprouts, mixed with some shrimp, meat and green onion.

Adding more oil.

A satisfied customer. It's served with some greens and a fish sauce with chili. When I was served I was given nothing but chopsticks. I wasn't sure how to eat it and seeing the confused look on my face the woman grabbed the plate from me along with a bowl and some scissors. After chopping everything up and mixing it into the bowl, she poured the sauce over the whole thing and handed it back. I don't know if that's how your supposed to eat it, but I had no complaints. I think the way it was meant to be eaten was with the lettuce around the pancake and dipped into the sauce. The 'pancake' was actually very crispy on the outside. The whole thing makes for a good breakfast or light lunch and costs around 20,000VND[1.1USD].

And just what you need before taking your siesta.

Corporate Teacher

2009-09-11T00:21:00.003-04:00

Woke up this morning wanting to get on Skype and chat with Daphne, only to find that the power was out in the building. A quick change later and I was in the street on my motorbike, looking for a wifi hotspot. Settled for a chain French bakery, Tous Les Jours, that has some pretty yummy, properly French and cheap baked goods. Daphne was also at a wifi hotspot in Dharamshala so we had breakfast together while we talked. What I'd do without technology, I don't know.
Last night, I had plans to meet some friends at Vasco's for a live band from Canada, Handsome Furs. So I got off of work, picked up some street food on the way for a quick dinner, and brought it home. But just as I got home and was out of my work clothes Aimee, one of the many academic managers at my school, calls and politely ask where I am. Turns out, I had a new class to teach and no one had told me. So Aimee goes to the class to keep them busy, as I take a few frantic bites of the chicken I had bought to fill my stomach before getting dressed and driving back over. I get there in time to watch Aimee finish teaching the first half of the class. During break she passes me what she calls an 'emergency lesson plan'. After an awkward session with a particularly quiet and unmotivated class, I got onto my bike and headed over to Vasco's.
I was an hour late. But the band? Indefinitely late. So after an hour of dancing and being sociable, my stomach made a ruling and insisted we leave. So I make my goodbyes and head to a ramen place around the corner before heading home.

Home Body

2009-09-08T10:59:00.004-04:00

Back to health. And to work. My school greeted me back with a new schedule, complete with eight hours of classes on both Saturday and Sunday. But in reality, it keeps me at the school from 7am to 7pm, with time for a short lunch before I have to plan the lessons for the second half of the day. I was wiped out after Saturday but by the next day I was a bit more comfortable with the craziness of the schedule.
The timing could've been better though. Daphne left for her trip to India on Monday where she will be doing a yoga trainer's course and will be gone for six to seven weeks. Which means we really didn't have much of a last weekend together. Also, my roommate is visiting family in Seattle for the next couple weeks, which means I'm living alone for the first time since I've been in Vietnam. It is a bit lonely, but at least I'm catching up on my reading.
Tomorrow I have a follow up blood test to make sure my body's going back to normal. My tonsillitis was caused virally, and doctor's keeping me off sports and heavy drinking for a month to let my spleen and liver settle. I'm more bothered about the sports, because I've gotten pretty out of shape and am ready to do some climbing. On the other hand, the climbing wall here is awful. It's poorly run and seems as though they don't know anything about making routes. I'm thinking I may need to open up my own wall if I end up staying here for more than a year.
Anyhow, I think I might make myself some yoghurt and Coco Puffs and head for bed. Cheers.

Illinbodia

2009-09-01T09:06:00.010-04:00

Going on vacation, we'd like to think that we're leaving the rest of the world behind. But one thing you can't drop at the bus station is that chest cold you've been nursing for two weeks.
I was sure that I'd be better by the time of the trip but I was still feeling quite sick the morning we had to get on the bus. Hopefully, I thought, the rest of a long bus ride will help me feel better. But 12-hours with air conditioning that could not be turned off only made things much worse. By the time we got to Siem Reap I was a mess, and my health would only get worse as the week went on. Tuesday morning, after our complimentary breakfast of tea and toast, we took a tuk tuk[its a carriage hooked to a motorbike, what passes for a taxi around here] out to the Amelio School where Daphne used to do NGO work with Caring for Cambodia. Looking at the people and state of the country, Cambodia really made Vietnam look like a first world country. Their saving grace would be that those that owned motorbikes kept them very shiny and pristine, unlike in Saigon. But the roads were a terror, people get spine injuries from driving on less.

We helped Kaye, the director of teacher training, with some odd jobs around the school. I taught her how use a new program she had just gotten for making picture books.

At siesta time, we went to the pool that the hotel owned to have ourselves a very long nothing. There were a lot of very long nothings on this trip in fact, because I was too ill and too low on energy to do anything. Plus, my appetite for most foods had gone which made it hard to be talked into meals. I failed horribly that night when I tried to have a burger.
The next day we went back to the school and did a small photography project for Kaye. She gave me a driver and we went out to find examples of littering so that she could make a picture book about it for the kids. All I have to say is that the river is very, very dirty and people burn their trash. But I don't know what else they can really do when there is so much more that they need in their lives than a better public trash utility. We spent another siesta in sloth and then met up that night with Kaye and Fionna, the owner of our hotel, at a tapas bar. I managed to find a couple things I could swallow. When we parted, Daphne and I stopped by The Blue Pumpkin, which makes really good ice cream and desserts and got some green tea ice cream. Not as healthy as a pot of green tea, but still very yum.
We had planned to do the temples on the third day, standard tourist protocol, but Daphne was feeling apprehensive about my health and kept asking if I was sure I wanted to go. Had I looked at my health with some clarity I would've said no, but instead I shone with the arrogance of a drunk who's convinced he can still get behind the wheel. My memory of the temple trip is hazy, but here are some picture that prove I must've been there:

After we had done most of Angkor Thom I threw in the towel. I could barely breath with every step back to the tuk tuk. It was absolutely miserable. When we got back to the hotel we talked about going to the doctor and decided we should. I was already planning on going when we returned to Saigon and had called off of work for the weekend. But then Daphne asked if I would mind being quarantined if it came to that. The issue wasn't one of minding, but of my visa status. My Vietnam visa expired the following Wednesday and I had to get my passport to HR stat. What if I was quarantined passed the visa date? Would I be stuck in Cambodia for two weeks, trying to get a new visa?
We finally decided that the hospital would need to wait until Saigon and we didn't leave the hotel room that night[Daphne left for a bit to get a small, but crucial, road item, a blanket, and some soy milk since I was passed eating solid food] or until our pick-up for the bus the next morning.
At the bus station a little beggar boy was biting at our heels and Daphne gave him our leftover breakfast, which he sits down on the spot to eat. On the bus I manage to circulate a thought through the haze of my fever and ask her, 'Did you just give that boy my half eaten banana chocolate pancake?' She looks back at me with an 'oh shit' look. Luckily, I would find out later that what I have isn't contagious, but it was a worrying thought. Well, not so much for me, I was emotionally cold going on frigid by this time in my illness. The only thing I saw was a stretch of road with the hospital on the finish line and reaper racing me there[bound to feel that way when you spent the morning coughing blood into the toilet seat].
So, twelve hour trip, dropped stuff at the house, and taxi to the hospital. Walking through the doors I was relieved to see that there weren't alot of people to wait for, but was less than thrilled that they made me fill out paperwork. Worst hospital ritual ever. What I can say about the hospital, well, I don't have much experience with hospitals but I definitely think the nursing staff's english and service definitely has some ways to go. But the doctors were generally helpful and their english and knowledge was very good. I spent the next two nights there at the hospital on an IV being pumped with antibiotics and fever reducer. With me I brought a stack of tests that I had to grade and have at the school the next day, but thankfully Daphne took on that grueling task for me.
So... Today. I'm at home, I'm on antibodies, and I'm barely moving a muscle. But I'm eating, I'm breathing and I can even smell things now too. So the reaper will have to wait for a rematch.
Expect to see me out and about very little the next couple weeks, I just spent the better part of the month being sick and acting like I'm not and I'm exhausted. I'll write again after that. Wish me health.

Holiday. Again.

2009-08-25T11:36:00.002-04:00

Two weeks into my first teaching job and I'm already on my first holiday. Just a short one though, we'll be back this weekend when I have to teach six hours of classes on Saturday.
Daphne's visa was coming up for expiration so we took the opportunity to head to Siem Reap, Cambodia. She wanted to visit the school where she used to do volunteer work with an NGO, and we're also planning on seeing some very old temples.
Short post. Be back in a week with details of the trip and pictures.

Birthdays, Pho and Learning New Games

2009-08-15T13:33:00.003-04:00

I'm taking the opportunity of this small window of internet access, even though its nearly midnight and I'm still pretty ill. I had my first day of teaching Tuesday evening, was running around like I was trying to find my head as I prepared a lesson plan for a group of Intermediate level students ages 11-14. But the warm-up game I had lined up to start got booed down by the students. So I put it in their hands and let them pick the game, which of course they had to teach me, since I barely know any. But the second class, which I only spent a half-hour planning went by pretty smoothly. Even though I left my lesson plan at home.
Wednesday was Daphne's birthday. Her not being very fond of birthdays, I really wanted her to have a great time. In fact, she couldn't remember her last few birthdays. So for starters I made her the poshest breakfast-in-bed conceivable: crepes with banana-dragon fruit jam filling and turkish coffee. We had plans for dinner, but first I wanted to get my bike tuned up, so it wouldn't give us any hassle later on. The bike breaking down on Daphne's birthday would've been an embarrassment. Then for dinner, we had a six course meal at a nice restaurant, Ngi Xuan, which served really good Hue cuisine. We then made our way to an expat Irish pub, O'Brien's, to meet up with our CELTA friends and celebrate with some drinks. I wish I could've planned for more, but Daphne seemed to be pretty happy, so I am too.

Then yesterday, another birthday girl arrived off a plane from Singapore. Daphne's friend Jeanne, along with their friend Andria, have come to spend Jeanne's birthday eating and shopping the town to the ground. I've never met a girl so skinny with a bigger appetite than me.
After a pretty late night out yesterday, Daphne and I made it home to find that the power was out in the entire building. We had to make the walk up eleven floors to my place, but on the way we came accross a bamboo screen that I had to take with me, despite the extra weight, exhaustion, illness and nine floors left to go. But its worth it, for the feng shui value it adds to our living room.
After waking-up this morning, covered in so much sweat I thought I had just come out of the shower[no power, no AC], we met up with Jeanne and Andria for some more food. Cheap pho, baked goods and iced coffee. Jeanne got to try the really yummy baguette with pate and fried egg. Best sandwich ever and only 12,000 VND[.66USD]. For dinner, it was Quan An Ngon and we had to call the night there for the sake of getting an early start tomorrow. Plus, it was just beginning to rain and we couldn't be bothered. We'll meet up again tomorrow for a trip to the War Museum[I still haven't been to a single museum in Saigon] and the ladies will be on a plane again Monday morning, by when I hope to be free of this week-long illness.

Hoi An: Conclusion

2009-08-03T12:36:00.012-04:00

Delay delay delay. For some reason my internet's been giving me grief, blocking only my blog site and nothing else. But without any further further delay I bring the conclusion of the Hoi An trip, thanks to the wifi in the Highlands Coffee downstairs in my building[no, nothing like the one in Cincy, this place is like the Starbucks of Vietnam].
Instead of boring you with minute details I'm going to shorten this last entry by focusing on the most entertaining chapter, our trip to the Marble Mountains.
The Marble Mountains are five small mountains in an otherwise flat landscape that have seen centuries of Buddhist temples, shrines and statues as well as marble excavation. Five mountains for five elements. Our plan was to visit all of them, having lunch after the first one. It was an uneventful 22 km drive north, just outside of Danang, and the mountains weren't hard to spot. But the entrance was. We passed a thin concrete bridge facing one end of one of the mountains. It certainly didn't look like much of an entrance, but we figured it was worth a shot. We parked the bike on the side of the road under a tree and went to have a look. There was a Buddha sculpture in a shabby state that made for a pitiful entrance and it didn't match the description in Lonely Planet for any of the five mountains. We didn't even know which one we were on. The strangest thing we noted was the lack of tourists, in an otherwise touristy location. But as we walked towards the base we found even more sculptures, covered in some family's drying laundry.

Under one structure there was the family, keeping shade and having a meal. Daphne and I debated over what mountain we were on, how to get up and whether we would have to turn back and find another route. We approached the family and pointed to the guide book.

The family pointed straight to the mountain and then nominated their three year old daughter to lead the way. The little girl, who was absolutely adorable, led us to the sketchiest little climb.

[Daphne didn't even see this sign]

When we reached the top we found...a lot. First there was a serene little Buddhist temple tended by a wide grinning midget monk and a couple other care takers. Guanyin, the goddess of mercy, looked over the remaining Marble Mountains and the town below.

As we climbed on, tourists started to appear as we found more temples, statues, caves and even someone dressed as Monkey God trying to charge for photo ops. We later realized that the reason nothing in the guide book seemed to make sense was because we were doing the mountain backwards[and not paying the admission fee, apparently]. It's hard to give the mountain the justice it deserves, there is just too much stuff on it. Hopefully some of these pictures hint at its beauty.

[Caretaker napping in the temple shade]

[Daphne tries to find out which mountain we're on]

[Entrance to a really cool cave with a giant Buddha carved into it]

[Guanyin carved into the rock face]

[We crawled through a tiny cave system to come out the top of the mountain and got a private view of the ocean and the surrounding countryside]

After four hours of hiking up and down the mountain, which we finally realized was named Thuy Son for the Water element, we knew we wouldn't have time to even set foot on any of the other Mountains.
And having done the whole mountain on only breakfast and in immense heat, we dragged ourselves back down the mountain to the bike and went on the hunt for a very late lunch. Choosing the beach road back we finally found the dingiest little hole in the wall, where they dipped the glasses in a tub to wash them clean. The food was cheap and pretty good, I left a tip bigger than the price because it seemed like no one had been to this place in ages.
That night, after a bowl of wonton noodle soup, Daphne and I sat at a river side bar in Hoi An, reflecting on the last week and writing notes to help me remember what to write in this blog. Drinking our 4000 VND[.2US] beers, we laughed when we remembered the Salsa Club, not noticing that the American who worked there was right behind us. As was the French couple we had met at the cockroach restaurant. 'Ici il n'y a pas des cancrelats, ne c'est pas?'
This was also the first night I noticed I was feeling sick. The next day I drugged up and went to the beach where I felt fine doing nothing but laying out and swimming. But that night, which was our last, we went to a wine bar and that's when I really started to feel it. It was an otherwise pleasant evening, the music was good, we had the place mostly to ourselves, a bottle of champagne and the power in the city kept going out adding to the charm and romance of the evening. But after a couple glasses I felt pitiful and spent the rest of the bottle with my head in Daphne's lap. The climax of my illness was the next morning when I woke up with the biggest fever I've ever had. Daphne ran downstairs and got some Ameflu from the front desk and brought it back with a cup of tea. Luckily, two of these did the trick and my temperature was back down with the quickness.
Ok. That was a not-so-brief entry I suppose, but there it is, that was Hoi An. Unfortunately, I'm sick again just two weeks later and after having completed my induction for school I'm starting my first class on Tuesday. I hope to be in better health by then.

A Month Can Happen in a Week

2009-08-02T12:33:00.007-04:00

I'm back in Saigon. And I suppose explanations are in order. But those of you that know me well know that I'm not very open when it comes to personal matters, keeping an up to date blog is hard enough as it is. So I'll let you, the reader, draw the conclusions. The last month worth of blog entries have included a very special character. Daphne, who I met during the CELTA program, was supposed to leave for Saigon on Monday and head onward on her travels. First, a month in Europe, then India, Cambodia, etc. And she did. First in Singapore for a few days to catch up with family and from there she had a ticket to Amsterdam. But, we both agreed that we weren't done with each other. That's why I had to go to Singapore. That's why she's here with me now.
For the moment, that's all I really can write on the subject, as it already scratches at my comfort level for public exposure. But here are a few pictures from my stay. I didn't do much tourist stuff, other than go to the zoo, which is known as the best in the world for good reason. Singapore is...an interesting city. It's development is so well organized and clean. Urban, but with plenty of green and the buildings aren't all cluttered together. It is expensive though, especially drinking, but what can you expect from a metropolitan country that has to import practically everything.
Anyways:

[There's a lot of this kind of openness at the zoo]

[Daphne's niece Zenna. Makes me miss my cousin Yana a lot]

As for the remainder of the Hoi An blog, I'll finish it up with one more post tomorrow. In other news, I got hired by ILA Vietnam as a teacher, I'll have my induction sometime later this week. Cheers.

We Interrupt this Program...

2009-07-30T08:01:00.002-04:00

When I woke up this morning, I didn't know I was going to be on a plane to Singapore a few hours later. When I return to Saigon on Sunday, Daphne will be coming with me. The conclusion of my Hoi An blog will have to wait until then...

Hoi An: Days Three and Four

2009-07-28T07:30:00.007-04:00

Day Three
My Son
After breakfast and some procrastination we rented another motorbike for the day. This time I scrutinized it much more heavily because we were about to go on a 55km trip and everything had to not only work but be comfortable. Destination: My Son, the ruins of a Hindu temple set in a tropical valley. Ruined even more in the seventies with the help of American bombers, but still an impressive site to see.
It was the longest trip I'd ever made on a motorbike thus far, but it went relatively smoothly, minus an awkward sunburn that made my arms red down to my knuckles, where my fingers were completely white from holding the handle bars. Not much to say about the site itself except to show some pictures:

[Note the Sanskrit on the left column and the linga in the middle]

[If my understanding of Hindu symbolism is correct, then I am a dick]

The site was rather small, but it took us a while to figure it out as we looked at the map in our guide book and tried to figure out where the rest of it was. Our timing getting there and leaving was exactly the same as a small group of French tourists. So much so, that when we left and decided to stop for lunch about 10km out we incidentally stopped in the same little pho place. As we were leaving lunch, we noticed some serious storm clouds coming our way, with another 40km or so to go. We hopped on the bike and decided to race the cloud back to town. Lucky for us the cloud wasn't bringing rain, but unlucky for us it brought wind. Strong wind. In a very dusty area. We only had one pair of sunglasses between us, which I had let Daphne wear, but it got to the point where I had to steal them from her. We felt it was in both our interests that I kept my eyes opened while I drove, Daphne hid her her head and closed her eyes. We made back alright, but I think I still have sand in pores even today.
That night, Daphne and I decided we were done with the tourist bar scene and opted instead for a romantic sit by the river. In one quiet spot on the 'Vietnamese' half of town, there were straw mats laid out with a foot high table in the middle. An old lady comes and brings out cane juice. That's it. That simple.

Day 4
Old Hoi An
We waited until half way into our trip to finally do a proper tour of the town. Since its pretty much about seeing and buying, I'll spare the history lesson. Suffice it to say that the Chinese influence here is[or was] big and the hotels and souvenir shops know it. Here are some pics, they'll do the talking:

Our last stop on the tour was really hard to find. After several hours in the heat already we circled the same block five times trying to find a craft warehouse to watch a music and dance performance. When we finally made it we only got to see five minutes of the show[which was only ten minutes long anyways]. After that I refused to ever step foot on that block again, deciding that in five times, I had seen more than enough of it.

Fine Dining
We picked a recommendation from Lonely Planet called Des Amis. Its the most expensive place there, which doesn't say much, and there's a set menu that changes every night, depending on what the cook feels like doing. It was four courses, and really good, but it had one fatal flaw that didn't rear its head until after the bill was paid. Cockroaches. They slowly started coming through a window that faced a dark alley, and was right between us and the stair case leading out. Did I mention they can fly? I've never seen a cockroach fly in the States, but these do. Flip flops went flying too, as we fought our way through. I'd never seen so many in one place. So, while the food was good, I would recommend taking an early dinner if you every plan to check this place out, unless you're going for dinner and a show.

Hoi An: Days One and Two

2009-07-28T04:11:00.010-04:00

Wow, so after typing up the first two days, I can see that I'm going to have to do installments so here's day one and two. Please forgive me if the style here is a little bit rushed. I do have stuff to do.
Day 1
Getting There
It was a short hour and a half flight from Saigon to Danang. The airport was so small it looked more like an office space. Outside, Daphne and I grabbed a taxi to the bus station, paying twice as much for the fair as Lonely Planet advertised. They need a disclaimer on their cover that prices go up on all of their recommendations immediately after publication.
Danang itself seemed to be a rather soulless town. Industrialized but sprawled[Daphne's reminded of LA] and amazingly bare of people. The place just seemed off, but luckily we weren't staying around. An hour ride on a rickety bus and we were in Hoi An, turning our map in circles trying to figure out where to go for a hotel and waving off motodrivers trying to make a Dong.
We sat down for some fresh squeezed cane juice as we planned our route, but a driver wouldn't stop hastling us. Convinced that Daphne was Vietnamese, he kept trying to talk to her and wasn't put off by her English one bit. Not until she laid some Mandarin on him did he realize he made a mistake.
Old Man in the Red Helmet
We left the juice stand and headed towards the river where we hoped to find a hotel as close as possible to the old town. Along the way, a motordriver in a red helmet stopped us and promised a hotel with pool and wifi for 10 a night. He wanted to put us on his motorbike to take us there, but with our luggage we wouldn't fit and were unwilling to split up and taken one by one. So we followed him on foot for five minutes to a really nice hotel....that was booked. No problem, at least according to him, he'll just take us to another hotel. But we decided to try our own luck, as there were plenty of really nice looking hotels lining the streets to choose from. But every place we checked was booked and the old man in the red helmet kept meeting us outside waving us to come with him. We agreed to follow him, but we couldn't help stopping in to hotels here and there to try our own luck. For a good twenty minutes we walked like this, until we realized that he was taking us to this big, soulless hotel we saw on the way into town that was just too far out of town. We finally divorced ourselves from the driver, it was rather difficult but he moved on and found new tourists to solicit. As we continued checking booked hotel after booked hotel, he kept reappearing to try his luck, but we pushed on and found a really nice hotel for $22 a night. It had an inner garden pool, Chinese influenced interior wood decoration and included breakfast. Settled and showered, it was time to check out the old river town, have some dinner and see what its all about.
The Town
What can I say about Hoi An that your guide book hasn't already told you. Well unless your going to Vietnam you probably don't have one, so I'll try to be brief. River town. Quiet. Charming. Heavy Chinese influence in architecture. Cheap fitted clothing and shoes. Really good cheap food. 20 cent 'fresh' beer. Tourist town[mostly French]. Close to the beach and other really cool sites. That should do it.
The People
Generally friendly, the only annoyance comes from the motorbike drivers and restauranteurs hollering for customers. Everyone there seems to speak pretty decent English and French, a result of heavy tourist traffic. As for the tourists, we had a tendency of running into the same people over and over again in the oddest ways, but more on that later.
The Perfect Fit

["I'd like that in gecko, please"]

There's definitely something addictive about being able to custom make your clothes. If you go to Hoi An your going to need a few days, while the clothes will be done in just one day you'll probably need something changed. Our clothes took about four days of tweaking, especially Daphne's chamsaras that she had made. I had a total of six fitted shirts, three pants and a pair of black crocodile pattern and suede shoes made. The shirts and pants were only $12 a piece and the shoes were $25. Daphne got three chamsaras[a traditional Chinese style outfit], a skirt and a pair of pants.

[Too big, too small, too long, too high...]

Day 2
The Beach
After the intensive month of study that we had undergone, the beach was an obvious first stop for the two of us. No agenda, just go, swim and take our time. For $5 we rented a motorbike for the day and drove the 4k there, trying to use the breaks as little as possible as the screeched worse than the horn did. The beach itself was really nice. Fine sand, calm waves, clean water with an almost pleasant taste to it and really quiet. Actually, it was kind of an eerie quiet, the tourists here in general were a quiet sort but that wasn't all. It wasn't until our third beach trip that we realized what it was. No seabirds. It's amazing how something so simple could make such a big impact on a beach experience but that's how it was.
One thing worth noting about the swimming, however, is that there were stinging microbes that lived in the water. Not that big of a deal, the stings were small, invisible and only hurt a little and for a few seconds. Except for every now and then when you'd get five stings in a row. Or in unpleasant locations.
A swim and a rest later, we were ready for a seafood lunch. We walked along the beach past restaurants that were sandwiched together. You get to one someone runs up with a menu and starts soliciting than when you get to their 'border' there's the server for the next place waiting and you can see the next three on down the way that you'll have to say no to. All the menus are the same and pretty expensive considering the prices off the beach. But at the fifth such restaurant, when we said no they ran back to us with another menu, all the same stuff on it but with half the price. Before heading back to town we had a long siesta under a leaf umbrella, waiting out a rain storm.
The Night Life
Well, it is a tourist town so of course there are some bars to check out on the river banks. That night we went for a couple drinks to a place called 'The Salsa Club'. Ironic, considering less than a third of the music they played was salsa and the other two thirds was Shakira. The oddest thing about the place was the fact that the person who came up to solicit us to come in was a skinny American guy. And he didn't own the place, nor was he friends with the owner. He just came there for holiday one day and decided to stay. Got a job at a local bar to make ends meet, I suppose.

Coming Soon

2009-07-27T12:51:00.002-04:00

Back from holiday. And what an amazing week its been, but I won't go into any details yet. Between taking Daphne to the airport this morning and having to make a very[very] difficult goodbye, being physically ill and editing through over two hundred pictures that I took on the trip, I'm pretty much all sapped out for the day. Expect a very big entry tomorrow though with lots of pictures too.

Motobikes and Bloody Lips

2009-07-18T12:25:00.004-04:00

In honor of the eventful day I've had, I'm posting a second blog. We had a couple errands to run, Daphne and I. The weather was real nice, blue with wispy clouds, a cool wind...so we knew a storm was coming at some point. But we didn't care, we had an early start and we had just rode up to the post office that was built long ago by Gustave Eiffel, of Tower fame. We parked in its garage, got the standard parking slip and were on our way. The post office was an attractive, train station like building, that had the majority of the interior gutted and replaced with a gift shop. But the service was very professional and we got Daphne's package shipped with the quickness.
A couple more stops and we were on our way to the garage to get the bike, blue skies gone and a menacing darkness that was as much a storm as it was the encroaching twilight. But I had lost the slip. While the attendees had no problem recognizing my face when I came to claim my bike, not having your ticket is a serious offense to them and they like to keep your bike for a day as punishment. Unacceptable, as we had a flight in the morning and wouldn't be back for a week. So I tried to play the dumb foreigner card as best as I could, but they just turned to Daphne and tried talking in Vietnamese to her, thinking she was one. I tried to pay the 3,000VND for the parking, gave the guy a 5 and asked for change, completely ignoring the ticket issue. He hands the money right back and keeps pointing at the bike asking for a ticket and pointing to a parking spot for me to return my bike to. But I'm saddled and the key is in the ignition. Finally, I had enough of negotiating, put the 5 in my pocket and revved the engine a couple times. I told Daphne to get on, but the attendants were still in front of me, one with a foot right in front of the wheel. But when Daphne got on and my foot went for the gear, they had provided us with just enough of a gap for me that I had to take it. I brushed past them, up the parking ramp, with one of the attendants running after us. What I drove out of was a mess-and-a-half, but what I was driving into was a torrential storm. Without my raincoat on.
We drove a little around the corner until we were scotfree and under shelter trying to catch our breaths. Daphne noted that my lip was bleeding. How and when that happened, I'm not sure. We thought we could wait out the storm, but seeing it was going to be a long one we put on our coats and went into the thick of it on our last errand.
The agenda called for me getting the charger to my beard trimmer repaired. Thanks to international voltage incompatibility, the charger had blown and I didn't know where I could get it fixed. I got into my head that all I needed was another cord, any cord, that I could splice with the charger's male end. So we went on a hunt, in the rain, to every electronic store we could find trying to explain what we needed to do. All we got were shaking heads and smiles. It seemed that they couldn't wrap their head around what I wanted to do and instead kept telling me, 'but we don't have that charger.' While I would've loved to have saved this futile trip for another day with better weather and humor, I needed a trimmer for the trip tomorrow. Thankfully, the last place we went to, and by last I mean that we were going to give up, the service staff there had reluctantly agreed to take me up on my plot. Did it work? Well, we'll see tomorrow.

School's Out

2009-07-18T01:05:00.004-04:00

Done! The course is finished! So what's next? Daphne's packing her suitcase right now for the trip to Hoi Ann tomorrow. We get back next Sunday, she flies out Monday at 9 and at 11 I have a job interview at ILA Vietnam. I'm going to send my CV out to a couple other schools, but I could be at work as soon as two weeks from now. We'll see how things go.
Yesterday morning we had a potluck with our students. The students generated a game that involved picking tasks out of a bag. Like truth or dare without the truth part. John, one of the teachers, had to flick a student on the nose, and Bret, another teacher, had to kiss his 'favorite student' on the cheek. I had to chug three glasses of water. Foreshadowing for the night ahead maybe?
The school day was halved and just involved a few minor administrative details. Then some pre-evening tea and movie[The Bedford Incident~I recommend it] and we were back at Quan An Ngon for dinner with the CELTA crew.

[At Quan An Ngon]

On the way there, we had a bit of a fright. We saw a four-year old boy take a bus to the face. Luckily he was on the ground crying and his mom was there, so it seems that there was no serious injuries. I can't blame the bus on this one, the kid was crossing the street with his mom and did a 360 in the middle of the road, right into its path. People are pretty careless about safety here sometimes. 'Hold my son's hand while crossing the street at night? Why?'
Anyways, dinner was really good but a little tightly packed. One guy had to crawl under the table on one side to get to his seat. The service was kind of slow, after five minutes I had to get up and get behind the bar to get my beer.
After dinner we headed to an over decorated five story karaoke bar where two of our tutors, Rob and Joanna, joined us. The talent was poorly balanced, with Angela being an absolute diva on the mic, and Phillip, who didn't know when to let go[he REALLY needed to let go]. Bill, the 70 year old New Yorker in cowboy boots, had bought some rice wine in the Mekong Delta. I took a small sip and cringed. Joanna, being Polish, teased me for being a Russian and cringing at alcahol so I was obliged to take a double shot straight from the bottle, look her in the eyes and smile as proof of my rights to heritage.

[There were also some real cool shots of polar bears]

At the end of the night there were some goodbyes but also some see-you-arounds as a few of the crew will still be in Saigon teaching, maybe even in the same school as me.
Alright, Daphne's done packing and we've still got a bunch of errands to run. Updates after I get back from Hoi An. Wish me luck at the interview!

Crocodile for Breakfast

2009-07-12T11:21:00.011-04:00

Only a week to go. I'm told that the third week of CELTA is the hardest, they'd better be right. I had hardly a dollop of sleep all week. To illustrate my point, the sunrise:

[Too HDR?]

This was my Wednesday night/Thursday morning. I had a lesson plan to make for the next day and an assignment due. On top of that, one of my tailored shirts turned another two shirts pink in the wash and the ants got into my cereal. The day went by in a cloudy haze, teaching and classes until 6pm on zero sleep. I wasn't the only one suffering. After our 3pm break, there were ice coffees on desks from one end of the room to the other.
This weekend brought a much needed relief with some great dining and some expensive drinking. Somehow, the CELTAs and I managed to find the three most expensive bars in Saigon Friday night after class. La Habana was not only expensive but charged a sneaky service charge of 10%, a rude move considering that tipping doesn't exist in VietNam, or tax. We hauled out of there to another spot, Vasco's, where there was dancing and bad music. It was just around the corner, but not knowing this some of the CELTAs went into a taxi for a 30 second, 10,000VND ride. We weren't there long, thanks to the weak cover band, crowded dance floor and drink that topped La Habana. So we headed down to the backpacker's area to hit up Go2. On the way, one of my students rode up next to me on her motorbike and chatted me up for a bit. This city can really feel small at times.
Next day, Daphne and I took another trip to Ben Thanh Market. After some yummy soup and cane juice we dropped off her shoes to get fixed and went for a stroll. We found a flashy little Indian temple, not sure if it was truly Hindu, and wanted to have a look. Outside, a gentleman stopped us with an offer of incense. We told him we weren't interested in buying any, but he persisted and it seemed as though he was giving it to us for free, as an offering. When we went inside, he showed us how to light the incense and that two sticks had to go at each shrine. Another woman came over and gave us a bag each with a candle, lime and some kind of leaf inside to put at a shrine. After having a look around this gaudy painted temple and trying to make sense of what just happened we headed out the exit, where the man and woman were waiting for us, rubbing fingers. I anticipated this, but what I didn't anticipate was that they'd ask for 125,000VND[$8USD]. Each. That's fine, I don't think they anticipated getting only 20,000VND.
With that headache behind us, and Daphne's fixed shoes, we headed to do some shopping and get my horn fixed in my bike[always something with that bike]. On the roundabout in front of Ben Thanh, we laugh as we see a shiny yellow Lamborghini trying to navigate through a river of motorbike madness. What a waste of car in a place like this. We got our errands done, had a pot of Pu-er tea at my place, and then headed out to meet a Couchsurfer group at a really nice, decently priced restuarant called Quan An Ngon. Some of the Couchsurfers were actually taking the CELTA, too at another school called Apollo. They had only just finished their first week, with the worst of it still to come.
After dinner, most of the crew went out to Vasco's, but Daphne and I decided to join Steve, Charlie and a couple others for a game of pool and beer at a fourth the price. After a bad couple games of pool I gave up and danced to Abba and Johnny Cash, while Charlie threw down some sick moves to Thriller[A LOT of Michael Jackson is getting played here right now].
And this morning? I had crocodile for breakfast. Probably my new favorite thing ever. Even with the amazing variety, deliciousness and cost of food here, I can't help but start to feel a little greedy for some home-cooked food, especially some of those poppy seed pastries my mother rocks out on the weekends.
Sorry again for the infrequent posts, I'm afraid I won't improve on this until a couple weeks from now. Daphne and I are taking a plane to Danang and Hoi An and vanishing among the ocean waves for about a week, trying to forget CELTA ever happened to us. Then I'll be back in Saigon doing interviews, while she, sadly, goes off on the next leg of her adventure. I might be a little late on the posts, but I'll supplement with some wicked photos, as I'm told Hoi An and Danang are good places for it.
Wish me fun.

Fixed my Flipflops

2009-07-05T10:24:00.006-04:00

As previously promised here are pictures of Natasha's school, before and after. Amazing for less than two weeks of work:
It's no Extreme Makover, but pretty damn impressive.
The opening last night went well. An interesting mix of upper class families with their kids and Couchsurfers who Natasha had invited. She had the event well catered, you couldn't blink after your last sip before someone is there with a fresh glass of wine for you. I munched on cheese and quiche while a Vietnamese guy from Hanoi, who was now the school's dance teacher, proceeded to blow me away with how well he spoke Russian[better than me, I have to admit. He even noted that my accent wasn't Ukranian but American].
After I left the party I went to have dinner with Daphne at this cool little restaurant called Bi Saigon. The menu was massive, I'd argue ambitiously so, considering how small the place and its kitchen were. There was a lot of international cuisine, all fairly cheap, and they had a good drink and dessert menu to match. Eating the seafood in this country, I don't think I'll ever be able to eat seafood that isn't fresh again. Ohio's best sushi spots don't come in the ballpark.
The meal did end up costing a bit more than advertised though, because when we went out to my bike we found my spare helmet was missing. Not that big of a deal, it was a 'fake' helmet I bought so that both my passenger and myself could be street legal. Only cost 60,000VND[3-4USD].
This morning, Daphne and I went to Ben Than Market for breakfast and a little shopping. If you ever look inside a tourist guide for HCMC, this market will be the first thing you find. It's pretty much a warehouse where you can get everything. I mean swords, teapots, clothes shoes, fake purses, watches, artisan masks, food, snake wine, everything. We had some seafood soup and fresh ground cane juice.

Then we proceeded to get molested by every merchant we walked past. And by we I really just mean me. Daphne, being Asian, was eclipsed by the big white dollar sign walking with her. Merchants don't just call to you, they touch your arms and poke you with their merchandise and menus. One woman even stood in our path weilding crap t-shirts and tanks. Anytime we stopped to look at something the person working the stall was in our face asking, 'what do you like? very good you buy" making it uncomfortable to even consider what they had.
I did stop to buy a couple ties. I would hold one and before I could think the lady selling them was on me, insisting I should buy it. I put it down to look at others but she was in my way looking for me and pulling ugly things out to show me. I had to grab her, look her in the eyes and say, 'let me do it.' She wanted 70,000 a tie, I got two for 60,000.
Also got some nice oolong tea from Dalat[where all the shitty Viet wine comes from], but it was pretty expensive at 10USD for 100grams.

Just outside the market, I got my flipflops fixed finally for just 10,000VND. Only took two minutes and they were back on my feet, tight as ever. On the way home I noticed my horn wasn't working, so I stopped on the way to get it fixed. But I wasn't able to, because as soon as I pushed the button to show the mechanic what was wrong it was working again. Can't complain I guess.
Definitely a positive weekend, despite all the crazy rain, but it will only make my feet drag harder tomorrow morning when its back to school.
Looking forward to the weekend already.

It's not Fish, it's Banana

2009-07-04T04:37:00.006-04:00

Weekend's here! And I'm trapped inside by the rain. Out the window I see the cityscape disappear in front of me as the rain falls harder and harder. In a couple hours I'm going to the opening for Natasha's school, a 35 minute minimum drive by bike[assuming I don't get lost] but if the rains keep up it could mean flooding in some parts.
Its good to have a day of rest after a rough week of 12-hour days, lesson plans and four hours-a-night of sleep. Not to mention other distractions. Thursday I missed lunch so that I could pick up my tailored shirts. Amazing work, and only 300,000 VND[18USD] a pop. But I got lost on a roundabout when driving back to the school. I circled it a couple times until I couldn't even recognize the direction I had come from. By the time I was back on track I was starving, had five minutes to get back to school, and it would be another four to five hours before I'd have a chance to eat. At a red light[which isn't always a requirement for stopping] an old woman had some fried food that looked kind of like fish. Turned out to be banana, but it was better than nothing.
Back at school, I've been learning far more about the English language in two week than I ever did in my entire schooling in the States. We have three tutors, Rob[young Brit and amazing teacher], Benita[old Brit, wrote a Grammar book, has traveled the world several times teaching English], and Joanna[Polish]. The class is more diverse than I was expecting, especially since I was worried I wouldn't get in for having a Russian name. But there's a Vietnamese girl from Cali, an Indian girl from...I forget, a Korean, and another girl from Singapore, Daphne, making up part of the fifteen student class, and ages ranging from 21 to 70. We did have sixteen in our class but Phil, a Hawaiian ex-journalists, showed up two days late, brought us laughter, and then disappeared without notice. It would take too long to explain what kind of character he is, but if you've ever seen the cartoon Home Movies just think Coach McGuirk and you'd have a good idea of what I'm talking about.
To celebrate the weekend several of us went to a really neat restaurant that was four stories high, open-window and stuffed with patrons. The beer there was only 12,000VND[.66USD] and the food was cheap, with a menu that included deer, rabbit and turtle alongside the usual beef and seafood options. We finished off the night with more drinks in the 'white people area', as my roommate likes to call it, in a cute little bar called TamTam where Rob[Welsh, upper 20's, very straight laced during the week and a riot on the weekends] proceeded to get us smashed with a drinking game that was very much like The Postmodern Game we used to play in college.
But distractions aside, Sunday's going to be rough. I have to revise my first assignment, finish the second one, and lesson plan for Tuesday. Wouldn't be so bad, but something tells I'm not going to make it out of bed until noon.

[Side note, in the time it took me to write this, the rain has completely stopped. If you don't like the weather in Saigon, wait five minutes]

Disco 2000

2009-06-28T11:13:00.006-04:00

Whoo. What a busy weekend! I just finished my first assignment and prepared my lesson plan for my second 40 minute teaching session tomorrow morning. Pretty much took up the whole day, but to be fair I did sleep in until 11 thanks to the excellent house warming party Anh and I threw. Yesterday we spent 3-4 hours in the supermarket getting stuff together[my former housemate, Kait, would shudder at the thought]. Plates, wine screw, towels, food, beer, ice, speakers... We had billed the party for 6 but didn't get back from shopping until 5:30, with cooking and cleaning still to do. Luckily, people didn't start showing up until 6:30, but I was still making food when the house was starting to get packed. Early comers were helping out, cutting fruit and such.
The security downstairs [who we bribed with food and beer to give our guests a hastle free time] were graciously 'accepting' beers from anyone they saw carrying a case upstairs. The guest list consisted of Anh's coworkers[mostly Vietnamese], my fellow CELTA victims and an open invite to the Couchsurfing community. It was a really good, diverse crowd of French, Polish, Viet, Americans, Welsh, Singaporean, etc. We had the world in our apartment, Natasha even brought a puppy that she had bought not four hours prior.
The neighbors were friendly and didn't give us a hard time, partially thanks to the fruit we brought over to them.[Highlight: me throwing a dragon fruit into the air and chopping it in half] We couldn't wait until the morning to clean, we had to race against the ants, but even so the place still looks hit. A maid is coming tomorrow to fix this since neither of us has time. Bourgeois I know.
Music played[Herbaliser, Deltron, Daft Punk, Girl Talk, Justice, Pulp, and wrapped it up with some Tom Waits]

[Outside my place]

I'm having a genuinely good time in CELTA. I like my tutors and I feel very strongly about the teaching methods I'm learning. You can really see how it works. Some of my former teachers could've used training like this. I do miss having time though, that's a luxury I'll more or less have to do without for now.
And I miss climbing. There's a wall in town but its too far and not open late enough to be practical. I'll try to go next weekend if I can.
Sneak previews: Getting clothes tailored, those before and after pics of Natasha's new school I promised, and maybe my bike will make it one week without having to get repaired.

Toooo Busy

2009-06-24T13:24:00.005-04:00

CELTA course=no free time. I just got done writing a lesson plan for tomorrow at 9am, and then I'll be in the school until 6 or later, depending if there's any other prep work I have to do. This weekend, shopping. Me and Anh are having a house warming party so if you're in Saigon, you're invited! We have to get a lot of supplies, foods and beers for guests and the security guards[for a hastle free time]. Also, I need to buy more work clothes, I've been circulating three shirts and two ties. Gotta run and get some sleep, I have to take my bike in to the shop on the way to work and figure out why it still runs even after I take the key out. I'd rather not have to pull the spark plug to turn it off and risk getting electrocuted[again]. I'll write more on the weekend when I have more free time.

End Of My Vacation

2009-06-21T13:28:00.004-04:00

Let the madness begin. Tomorrow is the first day of the CELTA course, which means my social life will probably be mia for the next four weeks. I have to go to bed soon, since I have to be up in five hours, but I wanted to post a few pictures. I took another trip through my neighborhood and found this little buddhist temple hidden away:

Here I met a friendly monk, Thien, who invited me to join for lunch. I had already eaten but said yes anyways. Good food, and apparently they can eat chicken, which I thought was against their religion. Thien and I exchanged numbers[apparently monks can have cellphones, too?] so that we could have coffee and help each other learn our respective languages.

[Thien serves me tea]

I spent yesterday helping Natasha look at locations for her new school in An Phu[sort of a French expat district] and found and signed a lease on a place that day, as well as organized the entire redecoration of the space. It's really interesting to see first hand how somebody starts a business here. Everything here is done so fast, Natasha even plans to start classes there in two weeks! I'll put some before and after shots of the place when everything is done so you can see what I mean. In the meantime, enjoy these shots of my mechanics working on my bike, again.

[D4 Represent]

[Eating on the job]

That's all for now. Wish me luck tomorrow...

Illin'

2009-06-18T05:12:00.007-04:00

It was bound to happen eventually. I'm sick. Don't worry, I haven't caught anything exotic or serious. I merely got caught out in the rain and didn't dry off properly. At the very least, it could have happened at a worst time. It's a weekday, school doesn't start until Monday and yesterday I bought bedding and a tea set at Ben Than Market. So I'm pretty good to chill at home and lay low. I've stepped out once today for some Pho and that was it. I do have to make at least two more trips today though, one over to the supermarket for more supplies and another probably for dinner, if I have an appetite.
Yesterday I completely moved into my apartment, not that I had a lot of stuff to move, and went on a shopping trip[I don't like the word spree and I won't use it]. I was determined to avoid the large supermarket which I figured would be more expensive, and decided instead to venture between hole-in-the-wall shops in my neighborhood. This became utterly useless, like a bad scavenger hunt, and I had too much of a headache from being sick for all the fuss. While turning the corner in one secluded alley, I heard several beckoning calls from a table of men having lunch. Usually, when someone call out on the street I just ignore it, unless I need a ride on a motorbike because that's what it usually means. This time I didn't, my free beer sense was tingling.

[Mot, Hai, Ba, Yoooo!]

I joined the table of men, only one of whom could speak English[barely] and was made to drink at least three beers with them before I was allowed to leave. The lot of them were already quite drunk[it wasn't even 1pm], the ground below the table was littered with Saigon beer bottles. The table was covered with all sorts of yummy looking foods. They were insistent that I help myself, going so far as to literally shove the food in my face, and I would've been tempted, too, had I not already eaten.
By the time I left them I had a good buzz going and my headache was gone, but I was no longer in any mood to go on with my scavenger hunt. I went back to my hotel and grabbed my moto and an empty bookbag[not having a proper trunk really limits your shopping capabilities] and headed for the supermarket. It's a good thing too, as I found that, at least for household stuff, this was probably the cheapest I could get. I got hangers, towels, bedding, and a couple pillows, which I had to strap to the outside of my bag. After dropping everything off I made it to Ben Thanh Market just in time to buy my tea set[230,000VND~$13] before they closed and zoomed back to the supermarket get an electric kettle that I couldn't fit last time.
I've gotten much better at driving here. As I told a friend earlier today, if you've every played a driver based video game you're ready to drive in Saigon. The same principles apply, you drive in the direction you want to go and every time you hit something you lose points.
Anyways, as promised here are pictures of my new place:

[Living Room. The light up top changes color]

[Kitchen]

[Bedroom. Pardon the mess]

[View outside my window]