Thang Nguyen 555
Cultures on Collision Course
about
Author: Thang Nguyen 555
-
Both have open air market. Both got some body of water that defines the city. But that’s about it. 6 hours apart, they might as well be worlds apart. Dakao, even without the street construction, can test your patience. Dalat, even with a new bridge construction, can afford its lake water drained for months .…
-
Village, villa and my vali. Tres French. Tres chic: foula, sweater, socks. No traffic, and the lake all empty out. The bottom of the lake is to be refinished. Dalat without the lake, like an off-season swimming pool. Of course, I sat at Cafe Cali. Near the University, near the romantic oak trees where youthful…
-
You can feel it. The energy, aspiration and action. I haven’t seen an idle person here in Saigon. Even people with great disabilities crawl on their hands and knees, through rough and uneven gutters to sell lottery tickets or variety of snacks. Everybody is proud of their native son: Ngo Bao Chau, math genius. The country is…
-
Rain and heat, the yin and yan of Saigon. I saw sugar donuts on sale, so I thought of my niece who used to love those melted brown sugar donuts. I tried one. It chipped away my tooth, which happened to be the base for neighbouring crown. So I had to plant back all three. Costly…
-
Berkeley is popular with Asian students. Last weekend, I heard that an acquaintance got accepted and would be travelling to Houston to start college. But many young Vietnamese study abroad chose University of Chicago. It is no surprise that Ngo Bao Chau, the math wiz, pitched his tent there. Windy city. Cold. Home of Oprah…
-
On weekend nights, they were out in drove. Revving their bikes, two passengers per bike, some without helmets. The police tried to capture some at check points. But most got away. So Saigon youth, on restless nights and in restless dreams, revved on, without a cause. Their neighbor to the North just got bumped up…
-
The LA Times, August 15th issue, ran a story about a Vietnamese fisherman in New Orleans. He has faced enough trial and tribulation a man can afford in one life time: boat people, legal immigrant life, Katrina, and now Gulf oil disaster. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-0731-viet-fisherman-01.jpg-20100816,0,4824071.photo Captain Nguyen is no ordinary captain. His boat has seen no Treasure…
-
It’s tuck away at one end. The other end of this one-way street is the Zoo. Dakao market stays small and humble, despite break-neck growth in the city. But as far as zoning, it bears a prestigious District-1 address. Dakao is home to a bunch of long-time residents, majority of whom, ethnic Chinese (who for…
-
The rhythm. The ambience. And the audience at Carmen. Different breed. Different beat. The Vietnamese singer tried hard at rolling her Latin “R”‘s, just like her predecessors at the French “un”, or the English “you”. Vietnam, and Saigon in particular, has always been a mix of culture: Cuban band on Caravelle terrace or Carmen Club nearby.…
-
Engineers here are just like anywhere else: in front of the screen, back to you. At lunch, badge around the neck and food coupons in hand. The terrace cafeteria overlooks the city of multi-storied houses, painted in different colors, but not as bold as one would find in cities like Ensenada, Mexico. Cell towers, EV…
Thang Nguyen 555 