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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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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…
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The cake was a red-white-blue one. The gift (pitched in by everyone in the Bureau of Child Welfare, Indian Town Gap, PA) was a College Dictionary. And the birthday boy: me. Time: 35 years ago, exactly. Cast: John, Bureau chief, Mary Ann Pinskey, Greg, Steve and three others in a make-shift operation. Mission: trying to…
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Nothing wild about them at all. Just three aged musicians on a slow night. All need glasses in a half-lit Texan style steak house. I joined them in between sets. None drank alcoholic beverages, so I ordered a Seven Up on the band. The bar looked depressing, not smoked filled as in Casablanca. A Luxembourg…
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This is part three of my motion trilogy in Vietnam: people in motion, things in motion, and now house in motion. My friend carefully explained that builders would dig underneath the foundation, then seek to maneuver the multi-storied unit meters away. Quite a herculean effort! The long ride to District 7 to visit my friend…
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Thang Nguyen 555 