Tag: Vietnam

Saigon vs Little Saigon

Burger King near the heart of Little Saigon, Westminster, CA is now closed.

Burger King at Tan Son Nhut Airport is now opened.

Just one of the many striking contrasts e.g. scooters vs wheels nation.

Skin coffee vs alley coffee, homeless folks vs lottery-ticket sellers.

On and on. People in Saigon have a vague notion of what their fellow countrymen are doing in Little Saigon. They saw it on Music Video.

They heard it second-hand via tourists (often consisted of inflated tales of infidelity or gender role reversal). Entertainers have found inspiration and served as in-betweeners.

Instead of setting city folks against country folks, contemporary comedy focuses on overseas Vietnamese (Viet Kieu)  searching for suitable wives. Sometimes, with the help of  a matchmaker (equivalent of head hunter in the working world).

The cultural gap widens when the prospective groom is from Taiwan or Korea.

But it also exists with Viet Kieu, who grew up in N America or Europe.

He could use the chopsticks, speak a few lines of greeting “Chao Bac”, but he also works out at the gym and drinks Corona instead of Ken (Heineken).

If he chooses Mexican foods over Vietnamese, he definitely is from Little Saigon, and not Saigon.

Saigon now has cappuccino and espresso bars, while Little Saigon just wants to offer Cafe Sua Da and Rau Muong.

Someday, the twain shall meet at Starbucks.

For now, both like AE brand (XS size) and everyone loves Hollister.

California Dreaming still.

The strength of Little Saigon lies in its flexibility and fluidity (to and fro both worlds), while Saigon itself, is rooted in colonial French and rich history of openness and optimism.

One doesn’t spend much on room and board in Saigon. Just put on something hip, and hit the town.

Again, if they were to order Mexican, you can tell they are from Little Saigon.

Go Chipotle and Corona.

Social dynamics

Like aerodynamics,  social dynamics involve working with conflicts, not avoiding them.

Since we are all made differently, we accept change at various speed.

That’s why some ideas are voted down immediately.

Others might take some arm-twisting.

For instance, it took a while for some emerging countries to introduce the condoms. Used to be a cultural taboo to mention the subject of sex.

Now, you can find Condom Store in Vietnam.

Years ago, people there were rushing abroad to seek better life.

Now, they would rather see returnees marry them and settle there: best of both worlds.

The West has lost some of its luster.

Besides, “Western” draws have made their ways there: KFC, Carl’s Jr, Domino Pizza, Hard Rock Cafe, Starbucks and LV handbags.

Why not stay home and wait for it (the West) to come.

I came back to SF airport and found on my flight mostly of Asian origins. Are there any Westerners touring Asia these days?

In Asia, people tend not to disagree with you out right.

They accumulate the points of differences, and give them back to you in one fell swoop.

Ouch!

You thought silence was consent.

People skilled in diplomacy anticipated opposite reaction and worked that into their presentation. It’s called getting the buy-in.

But in the end, it’s all in the relationships.

People-people bonds are stronger than idea-idea boundaries.

Let’s build more bridges than barriers.

Knowing in the absence of conflict, we don’t have real dialogue.

Differences define us and strengthen us as people living in a pluralistic society. Like aerodynamics, social dynamics need to face some headwinds and opposing ideas to rise.

Saigon siesta

We used to lie on the floor (absorbing the coolness from the tiles) and listen to “Y0ur Song” , theme of that time’s radio broadcast. That’s my siesta as I can recall.

Older brother used Hit Parade, with Elvis Presley  on the cover.

My friend, meanwhile, laminated his vinyl album (James Taylor).

We have just met over lunch today. He mentioned his 3-year old boy who listened to While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

Rock lives on. So does Saigon siesta.

People find shades.

Some cafes even offer hammocks instead of chairs.

Self-created summer breeze.

People move about between two extremes: fate and future.

Aren’t we all, living in Saigon or South Central.

Still, there is something about growing up, lying on the floor and listening to Soft Rock.

It’s truly a Wonderful World, where “the dog says goodnight” and the rooster crows, always a bit early for city life.

I can’t recall how I  pick up a date, while attending an all-boy school without a cell phone (and SMS).

But I somehow managed.

At work, in Santa Monica, some inshore techs couldn’t open their eyes after a lunch of heavy rice staple.

They probably stayed up late for conference calls anyways , living in our 24/7 connected world.

Siesta: a must at my friend’s work place here in Saigon.

Might as well work that into company policy.

Just that it’s hard to have tile floor at work similar to my “your song” experience.

I hope you don’t mind, I wrote down this song. I hope my friend’s kid grow up liking this song . It’s for him as well.

Joy of randomness

We move between chaos and control.

For those who experience Saigon traffic, the dance takes it to another level: randomness.

A tour bus made its final stop in front of a hotel. Tourists stepped down, immediately, with cameras (little did they know, traffic like this is all too common). Rain and randomness. Control and chaos, coexist.

That’s just one aspect of life in Saigon.

You might be sitting in an outdoor cafe, tucked in the corner table, still got sneaked up by a lottery ticket seller who lost both legs.

Even on a quiet night,  Saigon still has some surprises for you: a translated version of Wonderful Tonight, a circus show from China or a low-key visit by Entertainment’s Most Powerful couple: Angelina and Brad.

Saigon is standing in its former shadow, that of Paris of the Orient. Its skyline sees new addition every six months.

Consumerism of all shades puts on its best display (black and blonde mannequins).

Some guys even went to Thailand to have sex-change.

City life takes young folks out of the country and demands much less in social mores.

With chaos comes consumerism. With consumerism comes individualism. With individualism comes choices and frustration.

For now, the city is maintaining its equilibrium: buses weave in and out, parting a sea of scooters to pick up a few passengers.

Drainage capacity is pushed over the limits during rainy season.

And vendors claim whatever left of the already-carved up sidewalks.

I wrote once about a butterfly with its innocent dance in traffic. Now I realize traffic itself imitates the butterfly in its randomness . Here lies the key to crossing the streets in Saigon. Brave it! Don’t hesitate! Chaos, and not control.

First it’s stressful. Then it’s joyful. Once in a while, it’s painful (My xe-om driver made a 90-degree turn, and the scooter skidded. This destroyed my best dress pants, leaving a knee scar).

No pain no gain.

I guess by now I have gotten over the hump: reverse culture shock.

In academic parlance, I have gone semi-native.

Only when you stuck with it, that it made some sense: people do enjoy living here more than in the countryside.

Here, they can take classes, find jobs and get married.

More options, more choices.

Even amidst chaos, one can find joy in randomness. As unpredictable as a butterfly dance in traffic. I wish the place is a Hollywood set. But it’s far from it. Here the “extras” are the main characters. Or as in Roger Altman‘s genre, the place is the persona. No one seems to be in the lead. The city itself plays the lead role.

Feminism Vietnamese way

I have seen them in Ao Dai, on scooters.

I have seen them in Ao Dai, holding child, on scooters (perhaps on the way to childcare) before work.

I have seen them with child canvassing the street selling lottery tickets.

Perhaps I used to be that very child my teacher mom in Ao Dai used to carry.

I remember we had to get help. Live-in maids. Four working adults in a family were not available for one child.

Existential loneliness. Thay, nhay, chup (stand on the table, toss the ball, jump in mid air, and catch it while falling).

I repeated that drill so many times, it now stuck in my memory.

Then, luckily, I got a hold of my brother’s guitar.

So, from then on, me and the strings.

Back to feminism in Vietnam as I experienced it.

Vietnamese female went professional such as accountant (my sister), teacher (my mom) , pharmacist (my sister-in-law) and dentist (my niece), during the 60’s and war time.

They put in long hours, performed up to par.

Then came home. Another round of expectations: that of a housekeeper, to have home-cooked meals on the table and clean sheets in the bed (Vietnamese female version of Papa – “keep those shoes on my feet”).

Fast forward to the here and now.

Some took a short cut (yahoo news features a mug shot of a supposedly $2500 per night call girl). Others migrate overseas under pretense and pretext of marrying to foreigners.

I only know how my mom lived her life.

From morning to mid-night.

I refer to her in another blog (Mom’s Ao Dai).

But I cannot help mentioning her again since I saw another mom-type, holding baby in arm, while riding the scooter, in Ao Dai (receptionist uniform at a Vung Tau resort).

Good luck to all the children without a helmet. Good luck to all those moms who struggle to raise a family in a very hot, flat and crowded city.

Good luck to young and emerging female type who has to juggle between tradition vs modernity without tossing the baby out with bath water.

Everyone I spoke to agreed that here in Vietnam ,

it’s the women who actually run the show: power, money and happiness/well-being of their children.

Betty Friedman would have been proud: here, they practice feminism without labeling it as so. Just do it. Lean-In. Thanks Mom.

Saigon’s nearest beach

From Saigon, with Russian-made fast boat, you can be in Vung Tau (literally Ship Harbor) in an hour and a half. I made that trip yesterday. Poor man’s vacation. Peace-time R&R. The neighborhood used to be a hang-out place for GI’s, Australian, and every major news agents and double agents. Now the fight has moved on to other theaters. Still I couldn’t help superimpose the scene of Vietnam War last day on it

I even memorized “Toi Di Giua Hoang Hon” (I walk right into dusk). My first trip to Vung Tau as a five-year-old was with my cousin, sister and her husband in a voiture (albeit small one). My Walden.

Then later, our 9th-grade gang went camping by scooters. All  went well on the Western Front . My Eden.

Until we left on a barge, destination US 7th Fleet out in International Waters, also the command center of Operation Frequent Wind.

We were at their mercy :  they would return to complete the task (we were left drifted in the middle of the trip on Saigon’s hottest night in the dark while the city was under siege). My purgatory.

Ships changed flags, copters abandoned, armies turned civies, worthless money tossed out as atonement, while guns dropped by the buckets in lieu of boarding passes.

Random rockets, meant to deter, ended up destroying fishing boats which dotted the sea.You gotta to have amnesia to forget what had happened.

Yesterday, I traveled in the same old river but with a few differences: A/C, faster boat and a flying Vietnam‘s Communist flag at a river outpost . I also noted more highrises dotted Saigon skyline .

When I got to Vung Tau, I ran right into my buddy Ben, whom I know from TEFL school. So we hung out at the expat enclave (the CleverLearn and ILA crew). Ben seemed to know everyone in town, foreigners that was.

Back to Vung Tau, a beach town. It’s now upscale, slightly over-developed , at least on the surface. It could not however accommodate the influx of Saigonese on major holidays. But on stormy nights like last night, even the hottest bar girls would find it hard to get by.

We got Irish pub, Italian pizza and Indian cuisine.

Ben wanted to open an oyster bar, Beach Boys style. All the powers to  him. Maybe he can teach patron a new English word in Today’s special.

I couldn’t help reflect on Vung Tau as my launching pad to the US.

The place has changed over the years. So have I.

But suppose that I decided to stay, as Ben did, I would not get out of it as much as Ben.

He came with no legacy “can you see Saigon from here? I don’t” .  He only saw VT potential.

I, on the other hand, see VT as past and pain, not potential.

Vung Tau, Saigon‘s nearest beach, extends from my past all the way to the future.

Just like life itself, a series of flashbacks and future projections.

It’s good to decide on the fly to have that poor man’s R&R. During war-time, Ben and I would have communicated non-verbally (with a lot of gestures).

He got TESOL, I CELTA. We are like apples and oranges. And we converged on that same old beach. He is staying, and getting married. I am leaving.

Its water is still mercilessly unclean, unless you swim way far out (I am referring to Bai Dau, where there hardly was any wave).

Still a ship harbor. Still raking in the cash and churning out the pain.

Toi van di giua hoang hon, long thuong nho (equivalent of : Hello Darkness my old friend).

toss-up

Theme from Mahogany has a line “so many dreams just slipped through our hands”.

Then “do you know where you’re goin to, do you like the things life is showin you”.

I first heard that while drifting on Wake Island  summer 75.

Back then, I had one thing in mind: departure for the US.

Now, the table has turned. It’s a toss-up for me to come back States, or keep staying here in Vietnam.

I like it here, with all its problems and pain.

Perhaps I could identify with these folks more than with those “snow birds” in Florida. One of whom , in a public library, drew her LV purse closer by reflex (what had they done to her up in New York?) just as I was walking by.

Today, one can catch an Inter-Continental flight and be on the West Coast in less than a day.

They even have Yahoo VN here (along with Yahoo UK, Yahoo Philippines), just to get localized.

Broadband-enabled.

Instant snap shot, then instant transmission = Instagram.

Voila!

Sharing the moment with friends across the pond.

Do you know where you are sending to?

Do you like the things the Ipad is showing you?

I-pod got miniaturized, while a USB could be plugged into a portable speaker on the go.

When osmosis is complete, we will see more VietKieu like myself  stay for the longer term.

Already a new breed of  “snow birds” are forming, starting with repatriating singers and musicians.

(our own Nguyen A Chin, on the other hand, in-shorring to play in front of a homegrown audience of 500 in Virginia last month).

Yes, dreams slipped through our hands.

But if we hold on to at least one, right at dawn,  and make it a reality, then that’s ours for keep.

Do you like the things that life is showing you, do you know?

It’s a toss-up yet a step-up from my one-way nightmare on Wake Island back then.

It’s like I have finally arrived at the real Wake island on my mind. Free to go and free to stay.

Saigon alley

I left W Palm Beach where some called “paradise” for Saigon alley.

Going from beach to bunker, I got a bump up in  the Happiness index.

Costa Rica for example has led this chart for quite sometime.

Vietnam, according to latest survey, ranked behind Costa Rica. In fact, having moved up on the Happiness  Index, it is de-listed from Singaporean Hardship Index (expat executives are no longer granted extra compensation for coming to work here).

Saigon got seasonal fruits, sea foods and sunshine.

Its nearest beach, Vung Tau, is quite crowded over the big holidays.

People in the alley know one another. They hang out at the corner coffee and eat the same meal.

District 1 and its alleys are geared for backpackers and tourists.

I had ended up first at the outer skirt then moved closer to city ‘s center.

Landlords are nice and respectful.

Neighbors are caring. Strangers leave you alone, although gossip behind your back.

Once in a while, a white-face is seen on scooters, with helmet and all.

A Viet Kieu from Australia told me after more than two decades, he could barely crack the culture code.

One dollar is still equal roughly 20,000 VND.

But aside from that, nothing seems easy. I miss the cinemas. Those old facilities have been turned into textile factory, print shop or opera school.

Valuable real estate.

Live shows here could be heard from the street. Some even stood on their scooters to take a peak (coi cop).

Karaoke houses still make money.

On summer nights, lovers  just ride around for ventilation .

They do that year-round, since it’s hot, flat and crowded here.

Neighbors would ask me to come over for tea.

Children run around, and young parents struggle to contain them.

Raising a family on two-wheelers is of course hard.

Worker bees know they have to show up on time, rain or shine.

Wages barely cover the essentials.

So coffee, coffee and occasional “ken” (Heineken) is a treat.

Birthday celebrations have become more prevalent. This is to show Vietnam’s transition from the old (memorial for the dead -a collectivistic and clanish event) to the new (futuristic and individual-oriented occasion).

Young students are catching on with overseas peers, at least in appearance (T-shirt and jeans).

IT workers at software parks also try to catch up : LTE, 4-G and IPV6.

The best about Vietnam is that it rides on two horses: the venerable and heroic tradition ; and the insatiable desire to integrate globally.

No where explains this better than Saigon’s latest tourism expo.

It’s held in the city’s water park, to show case local cuisine and at the same time, destination exotic.

Individual cubicle at work blends perfectly with shared rice cooker.

Saigon, the city, and its alleys, home to many extended families.

Pax Saigonese. It’s peace time, so don’t send war journalists here.

Just move about, and enjoy the counter-intuitive trends that co-exist.

Saigon alley, my home for half a year. Paradise or purgatory? Hardship or Happiness? Or just Peace inside out.

My edu-tour to Vietnam

When you are on a tourist visa, you have to keep renewing it every three months.

Each stamp was like a certificate of completion of my self-education. I learned that:

– my friend’s music students, blind or bright, respected and adored their dead teacher

– dead people, in casket, still get his/her last chance to bow and say goodbye to the alley

– everybody is in motion, rain or shine. Those who work in A/C environment also pound at the keyboards, hence fingers in motion

– individualism will have a hard time here

– living and working in Vietnam equals to living and working inside a fish bowl

– one force gets multiple counter-forces, in all directions, hence, defies physics as we know it

– people lock their doors so carefully that it seems as if they locked themselves in more than lock someone out

– music and movies somehow freezeframed as if the Americans had never left (Woman in Love,  I’d love you to want me…)

– peddlers would ride their three-wheeled stalls down the street while on a mobile phone: double-mobility

– you lose a lot of weight while here (sweat and luckily, not tears)

– you will be approached half a dozen times a day by lottery ticket sellers or xe-om

– Carl Jr and Burger King are here but not Mc Donalds (and not because Vietnam is more anti-MacDonalisation than the French).

– people ask why you live and eat alone. My loneliest meal was having a steak and fries just because my appointment screwed up

– consumerism has not saturated the place with high-margin products and services: spa, sweets and sporting goods

– unless you are an established brand name, forget trying to get in now. Amway all the way.

– you can get live entertainment every night : singers on scooters would bar-hop, while in-house musicians play for time

– another generation of kids are growing up watching flat-screen TV‘s and I-pads touch screens. In twenty years, with full effect of global osmosis in tech and commerce, you will not learn as much from your six months here as I have about the old and the new.

24/7 world. Outsource that software testing project. Fly here to check the lab out. Do what you have to, while it’s still fertile. While the water is still lukewarm. Once things are set, you will be just another globe trotter looking for a trophy to bring home. After a stop at a burger joint, of course. Please don’t eat alone. Still not acceptable then as it is now.

Son Tinh Thuy Tinh

According to Vietnamese legend, the Mountain God showed up early to ask for the Princess’ hand.  The Sea God was half a step late.  Hence, anger turned tsunami, Katrina, Fukushima etc….

Vietnam Central region always stands in the way of major storms.

To endure and overcome natural disasters, people fabricated tales to assuage their own pain.

Kids, show up early. Life consists of 90 per cent perspiration, 10 per cent inspiration.

I have had a chance to be down in Houston right after Katrina. To donate calling cards.

To see and visit serial refugees (North-South Vietnam,  S Vietnam – New Orleans, N Orleans Houston).

Di Ha, as known around town, is the owner of Hong Kong Mall, Vietnamese enclave in Bellaire.

Her mall and food court instantly turned relief and refugee center.

I saw younger faces, Red-Cross types. Activists and community workers.

The future of America is in good hands.

All Son Tinh: showing up early right at the crest of disaster.

I read somewhere that on the Last Day, same bed might see one taken up in the air, while the other left behind.

50-50 odd.

Natural selection.

A set of twin might not even turn out the same.

Something about nature and nurture.

Hard to put a finger on.

I just know I need to try harder: one more push-up, another minute earlier, straighten up that strand of hair.

The moral of the story: early to bed, early to rise. Luckily, the older we get, the less sleep we need.

In today’s 24/7 always-on digital world, we need to be vigilant against insomnia.

(Ariana Huffington of Huffington Post is known as Sleep Evangelist).

Technology itself is a double-edged sword. For good and evil.

I like seeing people’s comments right after an article or an advertisement.

Keep them honest and challenged. Two-way communication. Many to many.

Try smarter and harder.

Be Son Tinh, and not Thuy Tinh.

And be a cheerful loser, if late.

People might come around and give you a second chance.

Thuy Tinh could have reacted nicer, with grace in defeat.

Good for Vietnam Central Region.

Good for humanity, natural or man made, Fukushima  vs Hiroshima.

More on Vietnamese tales and take-aways on our next bed time.