-
Crunch time in Ho chi Minh City. A nuisance for many yet a photo-op for tourists. Millions in ponchos, helmets, dust masks, sunglasses fighting for every inch (centimeter here) to get home in the pouring rain, while tourists leisurely strolled the colonial side walks in shorts, sandals and Sony cameras trying to record their trips.…
-
Both have tunnels, but Thu Thiem‘s has just been built and visited mostly by Viet natives. Cu Chi tunnels however is a backpackers’ must-see. Going through Thu Thiem Tunnel, you feel like you were in Louisiana or Baltimore. It unveils the future of Vietnam, where ferry workers now work as toll booth collectors. District 2 is…
-
On my first trip to Hong Kong summer 1981, I was taken in by the energy and entrepreneurial spirit there. A camera shop (pre-Iphone era) next to a watch shop (again, pre-Ipad era) next to an electronics store. Shoppers from India, Europe, Australia were all there, bustling about. Double-deck buses (still under British colonial rule) moved…
-
While almost everyone in the US gathers around the traditional meal, here in Vietnam, some people come up with a way to marry tradition with technology: ancestor worship online. Its highway to eternity has 10,000 plots, already booked for burial and continued ceremonial service online (to accommodate overseas relatives and those who have resettled to urban…
-
A “xe om” (scooter taxi) guy mentioned a city (Lai Thieu?) where one can find all the abandoned carriages (horse or cow). Hearing that, I flashed back to those early days when I accompanied my grandmother on her monthly trip to receive pension. We took a bus, and Lambretta . I always got treated to a good lunch, a special…
-
When I witnessed the monk set fire on himself some forty years ago, the streets of Saigon had less traffic than it does now. An American photographer got words that there might be something happening’. By day’s end, morning in Washington, his shot sent shock waves over the wire, as flammable as the content it…
-
When my mom, a teacher, took me there, I was 5. This time, I went there by myself. Happy Teacher’s Day! The Temple has always opened to seekers . On New Year‘s Eve, it’s the equivalent of Times Square . The crowd, the smell of incense burning and the long line at fortune teller’s dispensary. It…
-
When I visited the neighborhood gym, and heard “I will survive” over the speaker, I knew I was back in full swing. Scooters weaved in and out, backpackers with signature sandals (footwear was an important identifier here) and fake Heineken bootlegged in from our neighbor in the North. I will survive (recycled cook oil, recycled…
-
He is the man. My man. Summer night 40 some years ago, he practiced his guitar on the roof behind my house (like a line in Your Song). Today he is still playing, whistling and singing. On previous trips, I watched him perform along with two other members in an outdoor cafe. Slowly, it winded…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Thang Nguyen 555 