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Saigon wasn’t built or planned for 10 million (back in the 50’s, its population was 1 million). And certainly not when scooters are on fire as happened lately. Raging hot. World in flame. Flashback of Monk Thich Quang Duc protesting dictatorship (Tunesian’s style). I fight for my jogging lane, negotiating between the sidewalk and the drainage. It’s a…
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The track is still there. So is the prominent display of coal locomotive. Hard to get there though, tuck in the back of winding District 3 streets. I checked out the logistic and lay-out: upstairs for ticketing, and downstairs with hamburger stores. My sister loves to take train to Hanoi. She grew up reading the Hunchback of…
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Void. Vacuum. Unfilled and unoccupied space. Plenty of them, within and without. So we fear its vastness. We try to fill it up with stuff. In the process, making ourselves mini-gods. Co-creators of space-filling. Bed, bath and beyond. Then give them away to Goodwill to make room for more empty space. Everyone got problems with fitting…
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Forbes ran a piece on the 10 laws for our century i.e. Metcalfe, Moore etc… Encompassed above should be the Golden Rule, the 11th law. Committed to communicate and collaborate. Contribution. Do unto others. Racing to the top, but also helping others to get there. I experimented with the Asian model of running a sales…
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I am all for PE (Physical Education). This trend has picked up in Vietnam; all the powers to young people. Gold gym, Cali gym, NVK gym, Nhat Dang Nhi Da etc…. Let’s go. One and two. Lift those arms, kick those legs. Be healthy and be green. (I have blogged too much about death and caskets, since I live…
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On the way to the gym, I saw a casket being carried out of an alley (with funeral band playing “Soi Da cung can co nhau” – pebble and stone still need each other). Then to my amazement, the pall-bearers swung the casket around 180 degrees, dipped it three times without spilling the whiskey glasses on top then, another…
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One of my first guitar solos was House of Rising Sun. Chu Van An High School music room, with two electric guitars, one bass guitar and a drum set. Long was on bass, Son counted the beat and Hung, son of a dancing instructor, played rhythm. And one, and two: Am, C …. And so we…
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Patricia Conwell has made a chunk of change with her Medical Examiner (Kate) character. Manner of death . In Vietnam, it’s the place of death that matters. If one dies in a street accident, the casket will be placed out on the sidewalk for the three-day mourning. You can always learn something new here. Meals…
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I was waiting for my scooter ride outside Cho Ray Hospital when a peddler approached me. “Want to pick something to read?”. Turned out, she was selling used books, in a box: Cu Chi Tunnel, My Lai Massacre, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, Sorrows of War, Understanding Vietnam… Those subjects are now as old…
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Thang Nguyen 555 