Recreation
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Bachelor Party. Spring Break. Girls’ Night Out. Spousal date…and the list goes on. One of the things foreigners found fascinating about America is its sense of enjoyment (and sometimes entitlement). We’re gonna party, Winter Spring Summer or Fall. Time for yourself. Look at yourself in the mirror, just to acknowledge the reflection that is there.…
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Jet lag makes you feel hallucinating. Your body clock is still in sync with the old-time zone, and so, your sleep is out of whack. Brought back a memory of a minor jet lag (East coast, West coast), whose hotel bed could not even induce me to sleep. Then I visited my mom at her then…
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Besides fun, fear and need for recognition, each of us is motivated by an unique set of triggers. Some are expressive e.g. talk it out to then realize what they think. Analytical people, however, weigh the pros and cons before opening their mouths. Amiable people just empathize, feely-touchy and are good listeners Social folks love…
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As a child I feared rising flood water (drowning). I feared thief by night, bully by day. I feared having to stand out in the crowd (wearing bright colors). For a nail that sticks up will be hammered down. Fear of being drafted, of being called out in class to recite something in English. Fear…
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First-timers to Saigon are shocked on arrival: the dance of two-wheel traffic. Some even had to flag down a cyclo (three-way cycle) to take them across the street. An Ivy-League Math Prof was killed when crossing the street. He was there for a conference on solving traffic problems. I have slowly built up confidence and…
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Dead Valley is known to be the hottest place on Earth. Yet millions have traveled pass there on their way to Las Vegas. Venture Capitalists are also well versed in what’s so called “valley of death” i.e. when a start-up moved pass its honey-moon stage, and simply cannot sustain the burnt rate. Yet people keep trying. Then,…
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We make that trip all our lives. To and Fro. Back and Forth. Arriving and Leaving. The Goodbye Girl. The Run-Away Bride. The Mid-night Cowboy. All feels restless Gotta be somebody, going places. This time, point B happens to be Mars itself. Young people can muster up the courage to go to far-away wars, but dare…
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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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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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What do you do when you are awaken in the dark, with trumpet sound out “auld lang sync”? (To te con me danh du). Should we forget the time we picked daisies in the field. Yet that vibration created sensation at the early hour here in Saigon. The departed tried to fight traffic to his/her burial ground.…
Thang Nguyen 555 