Hanoi & Halong Bay

Last Friday we zipped over to the ACG School to collect the kids and make our last trip through the domestic terminal to fly northward to the cooling, verdant streets of Hanoi. Here is a perfect way to spend a good chunk of a day: Start at the bottom of the small lake, wander upward and through the streets of the old quarter whilst shopping and appreciating the french architecture; stop for lunch or a coffee- be sure to sit on a balcony so that you can take in the city scene. Part with 50 cents to walk over the red bridge to the island pagoda - be sure to read the story about how the turtles brought the emperor swords from the lake-bottom so that he could win his battle. Finish your tour around the lake and retire to your hotel room to rest or nap for an hour before heading out to dinner. If you get up early enough, throw on your business-casual clothing and real shoes and head over to the mausoleum to see Uncle Ho. We started our day too late for that, and did not bring the appropriate attire even if we had gotten up earlier. Uncle Ho receives guests until 10:30 am. I guess he needs a nap after that...or maybe a snack.

Though the drive to the Emeraude Cruise Ship on Halong Bay is a bit long, it is well worth it! Halong Bay is a magical place. As you gaze at each new formation you half expect gnomes, trolls, or fairies to be flitting about the dense undergrowth. The Emeraude is an intimate ship offering just the right amount of activities for an overnight stay - a gentle cave hike, a little kayaking or swimming, and a movie on deck after dinner! The food too was very good.

It is hard to believe that we're headed back to Maine in less than 48 hours. Our recent family discussions have centered around what we will miss and what we are looking forward to. I think we've all managed to expand our global horizons. Thank you for your interest in our travels and we hope you are inspired to see new places and take new challenges.

"United Nations" Cooking Class

One of the first things I did upon our arrival here in Saigon was to research my cooking class options and sign up for one at the Vietnam Cookery Center. It was fun - although they wouldn't let us play with knives or fire or prep any of the actual ingredients. I did learn to make a scrumptious carmelized pork in a clay pot and a nice mango/lotus root salad. I digress - back to the most recent class. I found an eco-tour operator here in the city offering three unique options, one of them being cooking classes. If you are ever here and want to do an interesting tour you can book through their website: Connections Vietnam.

This time when I booked the class I had playmates along - the amazing women that I have met while living here in the Ava Apartments: Emma from China, Susan from England, and Emelia from Argentina. If Dominique (Africa) had been available we would have had all continents covered! We ventured out after getting the kids off to school to a neighborhood on the other side of the city where we met our guide, Bao Anh and instructor Ms.Nghia. Bao Anh is studying International Business and is hoping to study abroad in Europe. Ms. Nghia is a retired engineer and teaches these classes a few times a week. One of her specialties is carving centerpieces from fruits and vegetables. We looked through photo albums of her work and I still can't believe some of the centerpieces she has created: peacocks, lobsters, dogs, and a phoenix/dragon for a wedding. We were also lucky enough to meet her husband and daughter.

After arriving at Ms. Nghia's home and taking a few minutes to learn about each other Bao Anh decided to call us the United Nations Cooking Class. A short walk down the street brought us to the local market - a great discussion about local ingredients and local foods ensued. We picked up a few ingredients and returned to Ms. Nghia's home to prepare our menu of spring rolls and beef pho. It was a lovely, interesting morning spent cooking, talking, and comparing cultures. My friends in Maine can look forward to spring rolls, beef pho, carmelized pork in a clay pot, and mango/lotus root salad at our next dinner party! (You can find lotus root in Maine, right? LOL)

China/Technology Failure

We got the camera working but now there is trouble with my laptop! We are a two-laptop family - three computers total if you count the desk version back in Maine - four if you count the one Silas gets to use at his school in Maine. Unfortunately, upon our return to Vietnam from China I find that I cannot log into my laptop - I get the log-in screen but when I enter my password the log-in box gives me a little shimmy and shake and refuses to advance further. I think it is rebelling against the ancient itunes list that I really have been meaning to update because I'm sick of those songs too!

Despite the pollution in Beijing and Xian, the Great Wall and Terra Cotta soldiers were amazing. China has centuries of history that we do not, and it seems as a result a history of story-telling has evolved. When you see these monuments to mankind, you don't just get the facts and figures of when it was built, how much material it took, and how many died doing it - there are stories connected to the construction and era of them. One of our guides also spoke of the "history problems" in China - Tibet for example has a "history problem" along with a few of the ancient dynasties and the perceived success/failure of the Cultural Revolution. I think we do the same thing with US history except we haven't evolved to the point of calling the discrepancies "history problems". We're still a young country and still in denial!

We wrapped up the trip with a visit to one of Hal's friends in Hong Kong. What a city! I would like to return some day. The skyscrapers rise from the mountains of volcanic rock that comprise the island. It is a clean. beautiful and vibrant place with an unbelievable public transportation system. We'll post pics and a bit more commentary when we get my laptop back tomorrow - turns out it is a keyboard failure.

Vast

We landed in Beijing and the plane taxied...over bridges...across major runways...forever...to the gate. We strolled off the plane, down the hallway, farther down the hallway, even farther yet...to the train. We took the train around the airport...over bridges...through terminals...where we got off and walked...and walked...and walked to baggage claim. Yes, the airport is vast and you get a nice walk on the way to collect your luggage and get to the taxi stand!

We've used "points" to reserve our room in the Haidian District at a great place called aloft. It has a hip, trendy feel - yet nice for families. We like the game area with billiards table, foos ball, board games, wii, and computer banks. Across the lobby is a self-service snack area - affordably priced beverages, sandwiches, fruit and other small snacks. There is a small pool and workout room as well. Great staff and a relaxing, low key atmosphere.

Though forewarned about the air quality, were still shocked to see the haze in the sky Tuesday morning. Actually, compared to today (Wednesday) Tuesday was quite clear. So again we are in a place where you cannot drink the water, and it seems that soon you will not be able to breathe the air. Where is our power as humans to change this? The major contributors to the pollution mostly live here - are they used to it? Do they think it is not so bad? As the highest life form why do we allow our living conditions to deteriorate to this level? What does this say about us as a human race? What does this say about our survival?

Okay, enough on global issues. If you are ever here you should see the Chaoyang Acrobat Show. These performers are quite unbelievable! Amazing feats of balance and flexibility, great costumes and a never-seen-before level of stage lighting. We spent a lovely hour visiting the panda exhibit at the zoo. They are just the cutest animals! We had a nice family chat about what makes them more attractive and endearing than other bears - is it their cuteness? Their vulnerability? The human qualities they exhibit when eating, sleeping, or playing? After the pandas we taxied to the east gate of The Forbidden City where...the camera failed us and we had to go to...film. Remember film? It doesn't download to the computer, and you have to guess as to what exactly you are photographing as you peer through a tiny square to try to frame the photo.

More later on The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and Chairman Mao, it is time to pack for our trip to the Great Wall, then a train to Xian to see the Terracotta Warriors. Oh, and the camera is working again - all spiffed up with a new battery and a new memory card.

Lucy On Asia

Faithful followers of the blog might have noticed that Hal's parents, Lucy and Hal Sr. (aka Luli and Gumps), joined the Phillips Vietnam Adventure for awhile. On February 22, we got to Ho Chi Minh City after 2 days in Tokyo, where our highlight was the 5:30 am tuna auction at the world's biggest fish market. We were wide awake at 4 am, so why not?! (Had breakfast at McDonalds, the only thing open so early.)

Spent 3 days in HCMC, getting used to the time change and the HEAT, lolling in the pool at the apt. complex and having wonderful Vietnamese food. Then we flew 1000 miles north to Hanoi on the first of the side-trips that Hal Jr. had arranged. From there we drove to Halong Bay--seeing lots of rice paddies, small towns and HUGE factories--for an overnight cruise. Back in HCMC, we rested (and saw the water puppets one night), then flew to Dalat. It's in the central highlands and cooler, so Hal Sr. played his only round of Asian golf. After a pit-stop in HCMC, the whole family went to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat. Even hotter there! But our Sofitel was cool and lovely, and a nice driver took us three times to the amazing temples.

The Vanderlips then returned to HCMC while we went to Bangkok for 4 days. Hal had reserved all our hotels in Viet Nam, but we found our own in Tokyo and Bangkok. The Old Bangkok Inn was almost too funky: our bed was in a loft, so we had to climb stairs in the night, etc. But we were too lazy to move, and the place grew on us...We saw the city with guides and by ourselves. Besides its gorgeous architecture, we especially remember the crazy canal boats, the birthstone ring we bought for my 70th birthday, and a riverside dinner with two friends from college. One is Thai, the other an American who's lived in Thailand 40 years.

After Thailand, we spent a day in HCMC: so nice to rest and feel taken care of! Then we went to Hue and Hoi An, our last destinations. In Hue, the imperial capital, Jim Sullivan showed us the famous tombs and also a new office for Mandarin Media. We went on our own to the Citadel, then had dinner with Jim and his wife. Next day, we took a train to Danang, through mountains to the sea, then drove to Hoi An. We stayed at the Life Resort, my favorite. (All our Vietnamese hotels were lovely--esp the ones harking back to French times--but the Life Resort was so simple and quiet...Maybe I was just getting TIRED!)

Back to HCMC from Hoi An, we got ready to fly home and had our last dinner with the Ketts, who'd just arrived. We had 4 days seeing old friends around LA and got to Boston March 22. Now we are back in our "comfy rut" culling photos and wondering how we actually made that wonderful trip! We never would have managed it without Hal and Sharon--and it was such fun to see them in HCMC, with Silas and Clara, all having such a good time there. What a great experience it's been...

Hue & Hoi An

Last weekend we ventured to the middle of the "s" that forms the shape of Viet Nam and had a brief but lovely tour of Hue and Hoi An. We started in Hue - Asian home of Mandarin Media and the Sullivan family on a seasonal basis. We spent a lovely afternoon touring the Citadel - a 200 year-old multiple walled city and former powerhouse of the country. Also the place where Thuy Sullivan spent her formative years. The ancient city is quite compelling with its gabled rooftops and elaborate gates. I highly recommend our accommodations - when you enter La Residence you will like you have stepped into the height of the art deco era.

Saturday we piled into our 15-passenger van along with the Sullivan family and headed through Da Nang (China Beach for those of you old enough to remember) to spend the day at the Nam Hai where Hal and Jim had a meeting, and where everyone has stayed except Hal, before going on to the Life Resort in Hoi An. The Nam Hai is lovely and very exclusive, however if money is an object for you I might suggest the Life Resort. Great hotel, great room, great price.

Hoi An is filled with french colonial architecture, tailors, and good food at places like the Mango Rooms and the Cargo Club. While dining at the Mango Rooms we enjoyed watching a riverfront parade and later Silas released paper lanterns on the river. With some insight from Thuy Clara and I ventured out to Thu Thuy Tailors to have an au dai (pronounced ow-yeye) made for Clara, along with a spring jacket.

All in all a restful weekend for the Mandarin Media families!

Tourist Visa to China

Few times have I felt more inept than trying to attain a tourist visa for our planned trip to China - we leave April 6 (maybe). It is almost like there is a book with rules and instructions that are being followed, but there isn't a copy of it for the public. Or, more likely, I'm just looking in the wrong place for the instructions!... Monday: Had the wrong hours for the visa office - only open 8:30 - 11:00 Mon.-Fri. Tuesday: sent away - the photos were wrong. Took new photos and... Wed: 1st question - is this your family? Where are they? They seemed to be willing to let that one go 2nd question: You need to go make copies of all of these documents (copy shop only two blocks away - so far so good) 3rd: your husbands passport is out of blank visa pages - you need to go to the US embassy to get new blank pages. Okay. No one knows where the US embassy is - they think it is near the Sofitel Hotel. Call Hal - who is in a meeting, and tell him to meet me there. Lucky for me the taxi knows where the embassy is. Get to the embassy and find I cannot wait outside - I have to go across the street. It isn't safe to wait on the sidewalk directly in front of the embassy. I move but don't ask why because I'm here for 6 more weeks (5 in country if we manage to get the tourist visas), feeling pretty safe, and don't actually want to know. Hal makes it to the Sofitel and calls to ask me where the embassy is. I didn't find the Sofitel so I don't have an answer - he has to ask someone at the Sofitel. Turns out it is a block down so it is nearby! We make it into the embassy and after a short wait Hal gets his new passport pages. Phew. We're going to Hue this weekend and need our passports to fly so we can't return to the consulate tomorrow - the plan is for all of us to show up Tuesday morning and expedite using express service. Having only spent every morning of the week there, I can't wait to go back next week! I know, I know I can feel the love - you are all thinking "oh, poor Sharon, what a hassle" LOL.

You want velvet?

So Silas and I went downtown the other day to pick up the Cambodian stringed instrument, the trol, that was broken in transit back from Siem Reap. After retrieving it we went up the street to the Ben Thanh Market, a sprawling but roofed warren of stalls where anything and everything are for sale, pending negotiations. You haggle for most everything here. It’s an art, and you realize that any sale must satisfy both parties. As a buyer, you do it because you need to feel good about your purchase, that you’re not being taken — even if the difference between being taken and not is a buck or two. I don’t enjoy it but I don’t dislike it either. It’s a challenge, and it’s a good skill for the kids to see and learn. We bought some sun glasses, looked for a belt, then moved on to a sandal search. What we would call a sandal or flip-flop the Vietnamese call a slipper. They are everywhere on sale. If you look long and hard enough, they have a sameness of style. You’re better off just seeing a pair and buying it and not searching and searching for some pair that seems unique. Those are hard to find. In any case, I was buying Silas a pair and haggling with the old woman in the tall. I had her on the run — down to the 150,000 dong they were were, having started at nearly double that. Then Silas interjects, “Dad, just give her 180,000.” I looked at him, then looked at her and said, “Is he with you?” She laughed and we paid 180,000. Then I bought a pair for myself down the lane and he did it again — interceded on the seller’s behalf! I told him later, in no uncertain terms, that the humor had passed. No more of that. When you’re buying, you can pay what you want, I told him. I forgot to mention that when we picked up the trol, the folks in the music shop admired it. Silas bought that on his on. Started at US$25 but eventually got it down to $18. They seemed to think we got a deal.

Boys Weekend

We can’t blame Silas for coming away from this Boys Weekend a bit disappointed. It was floated as a motorbike ride up Highway 1 between Nha Trang, the old French seaside playground, and finishing at the Life Resort Quy Nhon, a MM client I had never seen. We planned to break the trip in half by staying one night at L’Isle de Baleine, a sorta primitive but drop-dead gorgeous and totally remote island esort lying less than a mile from one of the longest strips of natural dunesland I’ve ever seen outside Ireland. In any case, the motorbikes were a no-go — several Russians turned a bus over on this same road last week, and no foreigners are allowed to drive themselves on anything for the foreseeable future, not even mopeds. Then we tried to SCUBA on Whale Island and they balked at Silas’ mildly asthmatic history, insisting on a doctor’s wavier we couldn’t possibly obtain in the time we had there. Then we got to Quy Nhon with every intention of renting mopeds in Quy Nhon City for a run-about — but all they had were four-gear motorbikes, not the one-speed, automatic mopeds we’d been expecting and Silas had ridden before. A letdown, but we did sample some incredible scenery up the coast, swim in South China Sea at three stunning locales, hike, play pool, gorge ourselves and basically hang out with our often genial travel compatriots, Scott and Jim. We got home Monday and Silas needs a hair cut. I think we’ll find some mopeds and drive to the street barber together.

Mekong Delta

The Kett family from Minneapolis are in the country. They arrived Sunday after an unplanned layover in Japan, which they claim was beneficial because they got to sleep! Given a day to plan a trip with them to either the Cu Chi Tunnels or the Mekong Delta, I jumped on the chance to see the Delta as that didn't make the cut for any of our weekend itineraries.

I found a great local outfit to show us the place - Sinhbalo Tours. They are a low-key operator out of HCMC. Unfortunately traffic was unusually egregious Monday it took a bit longer than expected to get to Cai Be. What would be an hour drive in the USA takes at least two here, and in our case Monday it was almost three both ways.

Once there we hopped on our bikes for a short ride to the riverfront, through a small cafe (literally - right through the middle of the tables out back to the dock) where we loaded the bikes onto the boat that would take us across the river to a cluster of islands.

If the river were land it would be a town with a name. There is a vast network of everyday life taking place here in the wide latte-colored waters. Myriad boats tied together each offering a resource - fish, fruit, bailing wire, wood... Most seem to be permanent structures with a shuttle boat tied to the back for local transportation.

After unloading the bikes at a town landing we began biking down the "road" - a sidewalk really - through the communities of Dong Phu, Hoa Ninh, An Binh, and Binh Hoa Phuoc. All on separate little islands connected by little concrete bridges. It was a great way to see island life and we received many friendly greetings from the residents.

About the time I was thinking of feeling guilty for dragging the jet-lagged Ketts on a long van ride then a few hours on a bike around an island, we reached our final destination and lunch. The restaurant was set out over the river. They brought us spring rolls, delicious local elephant ear fish which we flaked off and rolled up rice paper with vegetables, beef, pork and rice dishes. All fresh and delicious as is most of the food in this country. We all agreed that what was lacking in the day was a little more time to spend in the island. If you go, I highly recommend at least an overnight trip which would give you two days to see the river, the islands, and the mainland towns.

School Events

The ACG School has had some great student events these past few weeks. Last Thursday each class in the primary school (13 total) performed a different traditional Vietnamese Dance. Each part of the country was represented along with the specific ethnic group settled there. Clara's class performed the very dramatic rice stick dance - lots of drumbeats and flashing lights. They did an amazing job and were well choreographed.

The Middle School featured an International Day today. Parents were invited to the afternoon program. They did a great job of presenting an ecological message about how the world is all connected. We enjoyed speeches on recycling, the scarcity of fresh water, Habitat for Humanity, and two student performances: the String Zither Ensemble from the Taipei School and the Salmunori team from the Korean School.

Clara returned from her class field trip to Dalat at 4:00. They FLEW up on Monday morning, took a bus to a river, and a boat to an island campground. Day one was her least favorite - a long morning hike. The afternoon was better because she got to do abseiling (go ahead - wikipedia it - we did LOL). She describes day two as "amazing". It involved team-building activities like she did at Camp Susan Curtis with Dunn School - ropes courses, zip line, leap of faith and the like - and she got to build a raft in the afternoon! She and her team built it from 7 pieces of bamboo wood with two cross beams tied with rope. They tied big plastic jugs to the crossbeams. Then they held races - Clara's team came in second. Day three they transferred from the campground to a very nice hotel in the actual town of Dalat and did a little sightseeing at Bao Dai's Palace and the local market. We went to the Palace in August of '07 and found the architecture interesting but I'm not sure my daughter is old enough to feel the same way. The took a bus back today with several stops along the way. Silas will get his turn late in April when his class goes to Long Hoa.

Music Man

The great trumpet valve oil hunt was concluded this week when Lulli and Gumps came back from Bangkok with some. We had found this trumpet for Silas about three weeks ago, when we’d gone to the music store to get my guitar fixed (played it outside; came back inside; tuned it, broke the nut — presumably its glue a victim of the extraordinary climate variance). Anyway, we saw this trumpet and figured, why not? But no valve oil. And so began the great valve oil hunt. There doesn’t appear to be any in the entire city of Saigon. We solicited several recommendations re. substitutes; they all agreed (even the crazy guy from Wilmington, N.C. whom Scott and I met after watching some Fulham match at the Bhudda Bar) that vegetable oil would work so long as we cleaned the entire instrument out with soap and water each week. We seemed poised to try this a few times but never got around to it… Besides, Silas picked up a new musical obsession last week in Cambodia: a two-stringed instrument, a trol, which he bought from a vendor outside Ta Prohm. You play it with a bow (there's a picture of a fellow playing one in the Angkor Wat gallery) and some Chinese dude gave Silas a lesson in the Siem Reap airport while were waiting for our flight out. Cool moment actually. Silas screeching away on the thing with Lulli looking on, offering some advice from the somewhat relevant perspective of the cellist she is, and this old codger comes shuffling over and just stands in front of the boy watching him. Finally Lulli asks him if he knows how to play, and the guy nods and reaches for the trol. He sits down and starts in on it, a bit rustily, but he gets it down quickly and tunes it and shows Silas how to hold the bow. Played Frere Jacques, then reveals he hadn’t played one of these in 60 years! He had a great time. We had to get to our gate but I think he’d have gone for hours… In an case, the trol was broken when we got back to HCMC, coming through the final security check, the smushed victim of two oversized bags belonging to a less-than-attentive, Gucci-bedecked Viet Kieu family. So we’re off the music story again today to get it fixed. Remains to be seen what we’ll come home with.

Personal Training

So Sharon is way modest to blog about it, but during our 10 weeks in HCMC she has solidified and built on the weight she dropped last fall. She’s working out nearly every day, in the fitness room downstairs here at the Ava, in the pool here doing laps. She’s been obliged to take in a bunch of pants and looks great, i.e. better even than usual. Ironic because she, and we, as a unit, are not eating nearly so responsibly, or macrobiotically, as she (and by extension we) ate during the fall when she embarked on a healthy eating and exercise kick and dropped the weight. We eat out a lot here cuz it’s convenient and cheap, and for some reason we seem to keep a lot more soda and chocolate in the apartment. Like we deserve it somehow? Maybe it’s because despite all the work and school, it does sorta feels like we’re in vacation mode. Or maybe it’s because Sharon and I have been working out so much, and the kids are so active, biking around in the heat and swimming every day. Maybe we have earned it. I know I have. I’ve been working out like a fiend and have definitely lost some weight, and I’m as fit as I’ve been during any winter period since god knows when. We went to a sorta dressy dinner last night and Sharon stepped out in a killer new black&white dress that is suited to her new svelte shape. Obviously, I like the dress — and I’ve been warned that I had better like it: Because the other one she has on this trip doesn’t fit. Too big. And the dresses for sale here in Vietnam are mainly designed for women WAY smaller than her, or so she says. So everything’s relative.

Clara: All In

So Clara came home from her school concert Thursday night and despite a triumphant turn alongside her classmates, performing a traditional North Vietnamese folk dance, she was bummed. We had watched her palling around with her friend Phuong Anh and others; she was totally at home and in the moment. And yet: “I can’t do this…” Do what? “I can’t believe I have to leave all my friends.” This was exactly what she had moaned about in December before leaving for Vietnam, only she had referred to her New Gloucester friends, and how she’d miss them, and why did we have to be away for FOUR months? Well, that’s one of the reasons we love Clara: She’s all in, all the time. We’re very proud of her, and Silas, for the way they’ve adapted to life here, made new friends, traveled around, tried new things. But we were more worried about Clara because, well, she’s 10 and she’s not so computer literate that she can stay in good touch with Louisa, with Melody, with Suzie and Clementine — or not so well as her big brother does with his friends. But she has done pretty well ramping up her computer skills, and she has done better than that making new friends here. After the concert, when we’d had a chance to snuggle and talk about all this, she left me with this admonishment (without the slightest irony): “We have to come back. And we have to stay for more than four months.”

I take it back...

I just read this article in the NYT online: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/09/business/09dollar.html which leads me to believe the lack of visible NGO aid trucks in Cambodia is more likely due to a decrease in aid as opposed to a rising economy...yep, more doom and gloom even on the adventure blog...

Siem Reap, Kampuchea...

...now known as the Kingdom of Cambodia. The faint tinkling of the gamalon greets you as you arrive at the airport and permeates the air wherever you happen to be. It is the weekend and as in Vietnam, the distinct acrid odor of burning trash mingles with the perfumed blossoms adorning every plant.

Hal's parents are traveling with us and we have made the beautiful Sofitel Angkor our haven from the heat and the dust of the day.

Angkor Wat has the least shade so at 8:00 a.m. Saturday we headed there first. It is a single complex built by King Suryavarman II in the 12th century and originally dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu - the protector of creation. The layout is "of sacred Hindu cosmos design". I love my DK Eyewitness Travel Guidebook. The lotus-shaped temples in the middle stand for the center of the universe, the outer walls are the outer edges of the world, and the moat represents the cosmic ocean. As in the other temples, the architecture is amazing along with the bas relief carvings in the hallways of the outer walls.

Nearby Ta Prohm is a temple complex overgrown by and glued together with the roots of kapok trees. You meander down a shaded lane to reach it, serenaded by a group of land-mine victims playing local instruments. Once there it is an amalgamation of ruins and roots. It was much smaller than Hal remembered it and we're not sure if that is because more of it has collapsed and been shut off, or if we wandered the grounds in a different way last time. You exit down another shaded path at the opposite end where you are again serenaded by land-mine victims playing regional instruments.

Angkor Thom differs in that it is a complex of buildings in a very large walled area - you cannot see the walls as you wander about. It was built by King Jayavarman VII late in the 12th century. We entered through the south gate (do they spec the van to fit the gate?) and started at the Bayon - a large complex of 54 towers with over 200 carved stone heads! This was Clara's favorite - there were a lot of places to climb around. The slight breeze and overcast day made for a more comfortable experience. After moving down the road a bit and wandering through Baphoun we decided temples that start with "B" were enough for one day and a swim and lunch were in order. You must understand this is an extremely warm climate. To avoid heat exhaustion you must constantly drink copious quantities of water. You must also pack plenty of clothing because once you are done sightseeing you will be soaked in sweat. Those of you who know Clara know how happy she was about that!

Silas and Lulli wrapped up the day by returning to Angkor Wat for sunset. Looks like it was a pretty mellow scene, and from their account it sounds like even the desperate merchandise hawkers took a break to end the day. We're having a good time with Gumps and Lulli and it was fun to explore the temples with them.

Hal and I were here in August of 2007 and feel things have changed. More tourists, less accessability at the temple sites, fewer signs indicating the country restoring the site, and the absence of militarily escorted foreign aid delivery trucks. The streets too seem less congested and there is an order to be found in the traffic along with a marked lack of oxen drawn carts. Chickens and dogs are still prevalent, hotels and food are still inexpensive but it feels like the local economy is benefiting and moving forward from the promotion of their national treasure - the ancient temples.

If you click on the temple pictures they should open for you in another window with captions underneath.

Dai Nam/Water Puppets/Food

Last weekend we took a ride to the new Dai Nam Amusement Park - about an hour out of the city. It is a sprawling complex themed after the Great Wall of China. There is a stage, large hotel and conference facility, temple, amusement park, water park, and safari. After you enter you wait for a shuttle to take you to the area of the park that you want to go to. We made it through the rides at the amusement park and to the water park before we called it a day. The kids give it a higher rating than Suoi Tien and apparently there is one more park within the city limits that is supposed to be EVEN BETTER YET! I'm afraid Hal will have to venture out to that one - two in the span of four weeks is enough for me. We were quite an attraction at Dai Nam in our own right. All the tweenish girls grab each other, point at Silas, laugh, giggle and try to hide their faces when they notice us noticing them. A gentleman at the restaurant where we had lunch sat with us and had a long chat about the park, the country and the state of America. In the wave area of the water park a young man became so fascinated with Clara that she became uncomfortable and had to slip away. It made me uncomfortable too - I was on "the pier" taking pictures of Silas and Clara and had to run around to where you could enter the water to get to her, though by that time she had made her escape and mixed in with a larger crowd of kids.

Hal's parents are in and out of the country for the next few weeks. We went to a water puppet show with them Monday evening. It was pretty amazing how they make them work, all the movements they can do and the stories they can convey. Water puppetry originated in the northern part of the country and we will try to see another show when we go to Hanoi near the end of April.

You'll see various restaurants in the "fun with Gumps annd Lulli" photos. Quan An Ngon is a fabulous local eatery that is always packed. A couple of young girls brought Gumps a plate of food, wanted to take his photo with it, and asked him if it was delicious. We took their photo too. There are also pictures of the view from the restaurant Saigon Saigon which is at the top of the Caravelle Hotel. The night photos of all of us were taken at one of our local eateries - The Dragon's Nest. We can bike there and there is always a nice breeze in the evening at this rooftop quan (that means restaurant). Lulli brought a pattern and some fabric to have a dress made. We picked a tailor from the International Ladies of Vietnam guide. We'll know Friday how it turned out.

The children in the building have been sharing a virus. It began in the penthouse and is literally working its way down to our floor - yesterday Clara came home from school with a fever. She should be fine in time for our trip to Siem Reap Friday, though we're hoping Silas (a.k.a. "the viking")doesn't get it then!

Week 8

We've had another great week here in HCMC. Sunday we sustained ourselves with brunch at the Riverside Cafe before heading out to the Cholon District of the city - otherwise known as Chinatown. The Riverside Cafe is a peaceful oasis on the banks of the Saigon River within a sprawling apartment complex where the cafe is just one of many amenities. The Binh Tay Market in Cholon is very busy and our rapid tour revealed an array of household items for sale - much of it wholesale only. There is a lovely fountain in the center of market. We also briefly wandered the surrounding streets, though we opted to skip the local temples and pagodas this time. It has been unseasonably warm here and one of my most vivid recollections of the Cholon area, in addition to the market fountain, was searching for cold beverages.


Monday found us dining at the historic Caravelle Hotel which is located in the heart of downtown - also known as District 1. Our dinner companions included James Beard nominated French cookbook author and chef Patricia Wells and her husband Walter - former executive editor of the International Herald Tribune. After drinks at the rooftop Saigon Saigon Bar we headed to a private dining room for a lovely 7 course meal. The Caravelle is about to celebrate its 50th anniversary and the chef presented us with many items I'd never had before like soft shell crab; crispy veal sweet bread on beetroot carpaccio with sauteed wild mushrooms, brown butter and mushroom aioli; Jerusalem artichoke soup with seared deep sea scallops and basil brioche; salmon confit on saffron celery puree, roasted fennel, baked tomato and bouillabaisse vinaigrette; and red wine braised veal cheeks with tomato onion jam. For dessert - spanish white chocolate soup with plum and red wine aspic on mixed fruit compote and reduced milk sherbet. At the close of the evening Hal headed off to the airport to collect his parents - Hal and Lucy - and I headed back to the apartment.

Tuesday after letting Hal and Lucy acclimate we lunched at the fabulous Quan An Ngon - roughly interpreted it means "delicious restaurant". Picture three rectangles next to each other - around the perimeter are situated cooking stations featuring vietnamese specialties - a station for noodle dishes, a station for rice dishes, and station for spring rolls, a station for salads...you get the idea. It is like having all the best authentic street food brought together under one roof with a menu created for your dining pleasure. There is nothing better than sipping a cold Tiger beer whilst sampling your favorite dishes and discovering new ones. If you ever go, here is the address: 138 Nam Ky Nghia in District 1. Not that you'll need it - all the taxis know where it is.

After building up our strength we headed over to the War Remnants Museum. It was interesting to read about the French and American history here in Vietnam. Although, as you can imagine, it was all pretty grim I found the section of the museum dedicated to the photographers who covered the war the most interesting. It is something you should see if you are ever here.

Another local favorite restaurant here in the neighborhood is called the Dragon's Nest. I'd like to post some photos of it but I keep forgetting to bring my camera! I'm not sure the food is anything special but we like the ambiance and the fact that we can ride our bicycles there. We'll have to have a neighborhood photo essay soon - things like the supermarket, our favorite fruit vendor, and the local restaurants. One of my neighbors told me about a great organic farm in Dalat called Organiks. On Saturday morning between 7:00 - 9:00 am they will deliver to my door green beans, lettuce, celery, red peppers, mushrooms, potatoes, onions, strawberries, peas, corn, mulberries, black beans, garbanzo beans, mint, cilantro, cucumbers and pasta sauce - all for 407,000 VND (about $23US) including the delivery fee. Crazy. It is going to be hard to go to Hannaford after this.

We do eat out here a lot more than we do in Maine - it's hard not to when you can feed four people with drinks for 255,000 VND - that's $15 US dollars for those of you who aren't up to dividing the VND total by 17,000 to get the US equivalent. Something else we'll have reverse sticker shock with when we return.

Hal's Streetside Haircut

As you tool around town in your taxi or on your bicycle, here and there you will see a mirror nailed to a wall with a chair in front of it. We have one of these salons in our neighborhood and today Hal took the plunge and tried it out....

Saigon Pony Club

Clara has continued her horseback riding lessons at the Saigon Pony Club. Today she got to canter! She was soooo excited - she has been looking forward to cantering for ages. Just a reminder that if you click on any set of pictures you want to see they should open to a larger size in a new window.

Don't Drink the Water

Water...water everywhere here but don't drink it from the tap! Just a little thing to be thankful for in America....along with stop lights and traffic rules....

Bangkok

Sawansadee! (place hands in prayerful pose in front of nose and bob your head while saying) Hello from Bangkok! The Chao Phraya River flows through this modern, sprawling metropolis of 10 million. We stayed riverside at the luxurious Marriot Resort and Spa - a 600 thai bhat/45 minute ride in from the airport. Approximately 35 thai bhat equals one US dollar. Special note to international travelers: try to find out what the average taxi fee should be prior to arrival. Everything is a negotiation here and it helps to know what you should be working from...

After a relaxing afternoon poolside we headed out for cocktails on the terrace at the Oriental, which involved taking our shuttle boat to another pier and transferring to the Oriental shuttle. Ooops...they wouldn't let us on because we weren't dressed properly! After 6:00 the ladies need skirts/dresses and nice shoes, and the men need slacks and jackets. Ironic really because we do enjoy getting dressed up every now and then and there are so few places to do that in Vietnam or even Maine. No one went with my suggestion to hit the local mall for a new wardrobe so we ended up in a tuk-tuk trying to communicate that we wanted cocktails somewhere up high near the river with a view. I know you are laughing right now because how on earth do you communicate that in another country which speaks another language? Well, after one false stop Hal did get our point across but the new place was "same-same" - dress code after 6:00. We ended up at an english pub before heading off to the night market. We loved the night market! And that is where we should have gone in the first place. The center of the complex is a stage and seating area surrounded by restaurants and the shops are in the adjacent buildings on either side. If you ever go there without remembering to pack your dressy-best, simply wait until 7:00 p.m. or so and head out to the night market for your evening meal and entertainment.

Hal had meetings all day Monday so Silas, Clara and I went with our fabulous tour guide - Miss Chulee - to see the Grand Palace, and the Emerald and Reclining Buddhas. BTW - dress code here too. Slacks for men, skirts or long slacks for ladies, no sandals or flip-flops. We had another stop scheduled at the Marble Temple but decided we'd had enough culture for one day and needed lunch and a boat ride! The Palace and Buddhas were fantastic - we really enjoyed the craftsmanship and architecture that went into creating them. It was great to take a longtail boat along the river and through some of the canals. The homes are charming - each one has their own little float and little boat. Our driver had several pick-ups/drop-offs along the way. He showed us the stretch of canal where Pierce Brosnan piloted a longtail for one of the 007 movies. Our guide also talked about Angelina Jolie's recent visit for childrens charities. Later we wondered if the Thai's are that interested in celebrities or if they share those fun facts with us because they think we are that interested in celebrities. We wondered about that on Phuket too - the tour coordinator at our hotel kept trying to interest us in an ATV tour where you stop and shoot guns among other things. Regardless of what our stereotype is in Thailand, folks seem quite happy to have tourists here and quite worried about the impact of the recent airport closures and global recession on the industry.

Phuket - Initial Observations

Initial observations of Phuket: From Clara and Silas: It looks cleaner and there are fewer motorbikes. The houses look nicer. From Sharon: Wow! We haven't gone this fast in a vehicle since we left Maine. From Hal: There are actual rules of the road being followed here, and our driver is going too fast! Our driver tells us that if you can drive in Phuket you can drive anywhere in the world. What can you do except laugh after that and tell him to visit Ho Chi Minh City....

We're staying at a fabulous resort- The Movenpick Resort & Spa Karon Beach. The amenities, rooms, service, food and landscaping here are incredible. Our fellow guests hail from Korea, Australia, France, Germany, and England near as we can tell. The retailers in the small town next to our resort feature restaurants, tour operators, massage, pedicures, manicures, and soap carved into flowers, colored, and displayed in a cute little box. Popular tours include a giant buddha (200' x 300') which sits atop a nearby mountain. You can also snorkel, scuba, ride ATVs or elephants, and visit temples and monkeys. Golf and shopping are also very popular.

The first day on Phuket (pronounced poo - ket) Hal headed off to work and Silas, Clara and I spent the day trying out two of the three swimming pools and spending some time at the beach. So much for cultural enrichment...Yesterday we booked a tour to Phi-Phi Island (pronounced pee-pee). The tour started with a 40-minute speedboat ride out to a group of islands in the middle of the Andaman Sea. We saw the lagoon and beach where they filmed the movie "The Beach", fed some monkeys at another little inlet, passed near the caves where birds nests were being harvested for birds nest soup, snorkeled in several limestone-enclosed lagoons, and ended the day with a rough ride back to a beach to chill for an hour before returning to the marina. Although the day was a little frantic, what can you expect when you are LIVING the discovery channel?

Obama Tuesday Morning

We listened to Obama on the BBC this morning - CNN is not reliable here and usually comes through in digital fragments. So refreshing to hear America's problems enunciated in plain English and not disguised as poli-speak. He speaks of "crisis turning into catastrophe" but I wonder if the folks in the Midwest would agree - they may feel they are already in catastrophe. Also good to hear him speak of repairing infrastructure and healthcare. Of course, the money has to come from someplace but I have always said that I would be willing to pay more for healthcare if I thought someone was getting a benefit from it! And the ancient school he spoke of down south is just one example of how we are failing our future. We don't pay too much more per student for the school over here than what the taxpayers spend per student in Maine, yet the school day here is longer and the math curriculum more rigorous. And all the kids speak two or three languages. There has to be a way to transfer the quality of this experience to public education if we want our kids to succeed in the global marketplace. Let me know when you figure it out!

We have a great group of residents in our building. On Sunday there was an Argentinian bar-b-que (or should I say meatfest?) in the common area. Most of the families here work in shipping or the oil and gas industry. The host of the bar-b-que hails from Colombia, then lived in Mexico for 6 years (three different cities) and now is here. Another neighbor began in Aberdeen, moved to Houston, and are now here. The shipping couple started in Denmark, did 6 years in Namibia before coming to Vietnam. It is a whole corporate lifestyle that you choose - apparently you fill out a personal profile which helps the company decide where they are going to put you so there is some choice involved. There are also different pay scales and benefits packages depending on where you are posted. For example, if you are motivated by money you can make a ton of it if you choose Angola! None of the wives would do that - when you go there you live in a military compound and can never go anywhere. If your husband has to go out he is escorted by the army. The family who came here from Mexico said things were getting pretty bad there too - a lot of kidnappings and a lot of increased armed security anytime they wanted to leave the compound. A British/Vietnamese family is here while they apply for dual citizenship in Vancouver - apparently the economy is pretty bad in England too though the BBC doesn't speak of it like they do the economy in America. They applied in the US but the legal process was too daunting.

More later. We're off to Phuket and Bangkok on Thursday.

suoi tien waterpark!

Hello everyone, Silas here! We went to the Suoi Tien water park on Saturday, It was pretty cool. First we went to the water park. The walk over was interesting, with tons of fake Vietnamese dragons, and temples decor, fake but really cool. The water park was awesome. there were three main pools The first at the top, was the deepest with a bunch foam floats that were so buoyant you could stand on them! There was also a bunch of little green circles that were attached to a rope with starting and landing floats that were bigger. What you had to do was get onto the big float (that spun on the water on the rope) and skip across the little green ones as fast and lightly as you could. I only got to 7 steps (not even halfway) and fell off the spinning green floats (though i tried time after time to get farther). The next pool was less deep with one of the lame water slides in it and then the next pool was a little kids water jungle gym. so that was pretty cool.
Next we went to the actual rides, basicly the swings, hall of mirrors, the swinging boat thingymajig, a thing that makes you go in upside down in circles, and a lame roller coaster.
So basically the park was only half as good as fun town splash town (all the Maine people reading this will know what that is) probably not even, but it was fun anyway!
Silas.

Cash, cash, cash, and adventures at Metro Cash and Carry

Have I mentioned that it is primarily a cash society here? For example, on Thursday I had my first lesson in Vietnamese - needed to pay the instructor for two weeks up front in cash - 500,000 dong to be exact. Went to pay the bill for our coffees - 72,000 dong cash only. Then it was off to the International Ladies of Vietnam Tea (ILV)- 100,000 dong entrance fee. I thought I had over 200,000 in my wallet but it turns out I only had over 20,000 dong. The 10,000 and 100,000 are almost identical except that the 10,000 is slightly smaller. The same applies to the 500,000 and 50,000 notes - just ask Hal about that sometime! Anyway, the ILV ladies wouldn't take 82,000 or US dollars (you'd think they would give the newbie a break!) so it was off to the ATM. Oddly enough, they did accept and prefer that the membership fee (20) be paid in US dollars. All the big numbers still freak me out even though they aren't that big when you convert them to US dollars.

Around our second week here I went to a large store called the Metro Cash and Carry. It was a fiasco! I needed my passport to apply for a memebership card so I had to find a taxi to return back to our apartment then go back to the Metro. Once I got there I didn't end up buying anything because it was incredibly busy with folks buying supplies for Tet and the checkout lines were astronomically long. I did a walk through and left! Today I made Hal go back with me. I used the same card they gave me January 15 and we picked up the usual range of grocery items - and a bunch of pork and beef. They don't have pork and beef at our local so that is really the biggest reason to go the the Metro since we haven't found it anyplace else. So, we load up, get to the check out and discover that the produce needs to be bagged and priced in the produce department. Hal grabbed a cart and took it all back to the department where an Aussie took pity on him and showed him how the system worked - drop it onto a conveyor belt and walk to the other side of the department where it comes out bagged and priced. Meanwhile, I was taking care of the rest of the cart and bagging it all up. Then, oops, turns out the card they gave me in January was a temporary, one time only card. I just looked at the guy, looked at the groceries that we just paid 2,700,000 dong for, and said what am I supposed to do? Unbelievably, he took pity on me and said the cashier could finish the sale. Now, you must understand that none of these transactions took place in a common language - it was all a mixture of body language and a few common words here and there! So, we head for the door, receipt in hand, where we discover that no one bags their items until they get out the door because the store has employees who take your receipt and check each and every item in your cart. This time Hal was in the lead and the door lady took pity on him and let us leave without a third thorough accounting of our groceries. Whew. This is why I made Hal go with me. Who wants to have this kind of fun on your own?

Midweek Ramble

Friday will mark 1 month since our arrival - three weeks of it spent in Vietnam and one in Bali! It has been strange to be in a new place with few responsibilities. Let me re-phrase: in a new foreign place with a lot of time. Hal has his work and the kids are busy at school - just like in Maine. My work - looking after the house, sewing, volunteering, etc. - stayed in Maine, with the exception of looking after the family.

The first few weeks here were spent adjusting: to the climate, the people, the apartment, the currency, the neighborhood...you get the idea. Then we went to Bali - and I know this may sound strange but that was a vacation. If we were in the states for a school break it would have been to see my parents in Florida.

Now we settle into a real routine. I am finding a few things to do to keep myself out of trouble - a cooking class yesterday, the International Ladies of Vietnam Tea on Thursday mornings (1st one tomorrow) and I just cold-called Mr. Huong, whose name I found in a magazine, for lessons in Vietnamese.

When we went to Bali one of our scuba companions was a former UN employee who ran the refugee resettlement camps for Vietnam and Cambodia during the Vietnam War. He is Indonesian, lives in Java and has a summer home in....New Hampshire! Just over the Maine border. We left him Hal's card so that he could send us some underwater photos he took. I hope he sends them so that we can reach him to invite his family over for lobster in Maine because I would love to hear more of his stories.

We went bowling at the Diamond Plaza Shopping Center on Sunday. The folks on the lane next to ours were from San Diego. The woman we spoke with had left Vietnam when she was five years old and this was her first time back. I wonder if our friend in Bali "resettled" her? As a parent it makes me wonder how you decide when it is time to leave everything you know and love and move to another country? Have conditions in your country declined slowly over time is their a defining moment? I don't suppose you can ever know unless you are forced into that situation.

On a lighter note it is quite tricky re-thinking currency. For example, In Vietnam $1 US dollar equals 17,440 Vietnamese Dong. In Bali we used the Indonesian Rupiah - $1 US dollar = 11,675 rupiah. Next week we will spend some time in Thailand where $1 US dollar = 34.95 Thai Bhat. Cheat sheets converting 25, 50, 75 and 100 are helpful but I should probably learn to do it in my head. Who knows, maybe by the end of April I will have learned to think in Vietnamese!

Hi from Silas!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

Hello everyone!!! I'm here to update you on MY Bali experience. First of all, scuba diving. This is one of the BEST THINGS EVER and i recommend it to anyone whether in the frozen 3ft of snow confines of Maine to Bali. It was sooooo much fun!!! we put on our wet suits,skin tight may I add, the our scuba shoes (those to), then our regulators, extra regulator, water gauge, PDF inflating devise, PDF and oxygen tank all on one vest/PDF. And once we got into the water with 50 pounds of gear on my back, we got on the flippers and goggles. It doesn't sound like fun until you get into the water, then you actually have the time of your life. Basically its like floating in zero G's while thousands of fish swarm down in the coral reef of the WWII shipwreck. What happened to the ship was a Japanese torpedo hit a U.S. container ship and the captain drove it up onto the shore. Then tremors from an eruption of the nearby volcano shook it back into the water where it sank and turned into a coral reef! So we explored the ship wreck for a while and saw tons of cool wildlife. My favorite part was the bow which stuck out of the drop off, It was BIG.
Another thing we did was white water raft. That was fun to but scuba diving is better in my opinion. We went on level 2 rapids, but i like 3 better. the water bas murky because rainy season washed in the mud from the banks.but that didn't matter. we went off waterfalls and hit the sides of the gorge a lot. Whenever we were about to hit something we yelled BOOM BOOM and held onto the ropes on the side of the boat!
All of our hotels were awesome!!!!! The first two had private pools and the first had a toilet that could massage, heat the seat, and more. The first was the dreamland villas, that was the one with the toilet. the second was the Arma. This one was interesting because it had a outdoor balinese shower, that is basically a square pond with stones to stand on with a mossy stone shower that drops a stream of water onto you. There are also coy fish in the pond. Another INTERESTING thing about it was we had a gecko in there about the size of a MONSTER TRUCK! actually it was about 6 in long and tubby.
O.K. thats all I have to say for now!
silas

Bali

We spent a glorious week in Bali - one island of many in a chain that comprises Indonesia. Bali has a primarily Hindu population of around 2.5 million people and is about the size of Prince Edward Island in Canada. Here is a link to a map of Bali.

Our stay began at the Dreamland Villas in Jimbaran Bay. Since the 2002 terrorist bombings at nearby Nusa Dua, security is a priority in this area of Bali. Our hotel was gated and our taxi was checked with mirrors (for the underside) and some type of wand that detects metals or weapons (inside) before we were allowed to enter the villa complex. We spent the first day getting our bearings by sleeping in and body surfing at the Dreamland Beach at Jimbaran Bay.

Day two was discover scuba day. Wow! We took an introductory course through Bali Scuba. After a stop at their storefront to pick up the gear - wetsuits, tanks, regulators, masks, fins, rules- we headed for Tulamben. We learned to scuba around the USAT Liberty which was a WWII freight ship sunk by a Japanese sub in 1942. After she was hit, the crew ran her aground at Tulamben. In 1963 an eruption of nearby volcano Gunung Agung slid her into the sea where she has become a beautiful coral reef and fish sanctuary. I can't say enough about the experience that Mark, Bert and Tok from Bali Scuba gave us. We did two dives with them, they were fabulous instructors and we are now all hooked on the sport and want to learn more!

The next day was golf day at Hal's client course - New Kuta Golf Club. Hal and Silas played the back nine while Clara and I drove the golf carts and enjoyed the ocean breeze and exotic scenery. You have to watch out for the cows, chickens, lizards and dogs when golfing in Bali! Silas scored his first par on the 15th hole.

The residents of Bali are mostly practice the Hindu religion. They believe everything has a spirit - cars, plants, animals, buildings, humans, rocks... and there are many ceremonies and celebrations that take place as part of the religion. Our host at our next stop in Ubud- the Arma Resort and Cultural Center arranged a sunrise purification ceremony for us at Mount Agung. A local priest came with us and purified us at the temple after we watched the sunrise, then we went down the mountain to the high priest and he purified us as well. Our host explained that the many shrines and temples you see in Bali mean different things. Most homes have shrines to the parents of the home, and to the three primary deities needed to maintain harmony: Lord Brahma is birth, Lord Wisnu is life and Lord Iswara is death. The Arma Resort is connected to a local museum and you could spend a week there taking all the courses they offer! Wood carving, cooking, dance, batik, intro. to Hindu, history of Bali, etc...

We polled our scuba companions on what to add to itinerary for our last day in Bali, they said a not-to-miss was rafting down the Ayung River. We met up with the Sullivan Family and had a fabulous day on a class 2 river trip.

Chuc Mung Nom Moi

Happy Lunar New Year! The city is decked out in preparation for the lunar New Year. Residents are purchasing new clothing and gifts for friends and family. Food is being stockpiled. Red and yellow flowers/flowering plants are for sale on the street corners. Hal's company is gifting their local employees as well: cash for the staff and "the suggested gift for the entry/exit station (foreign visa office) which serves the Hue office is: a bottle of wine : 250.000. Envelope : 500 000, 1 case of Heineken, a card, water melon seed, 1 kg dry beef." The new pictures are from district one where we went last night to see the lights and decorations. District one is the city center and is about a 10 minute, $7 taxi ride from here.

Phan Thiet Weekend

We escaped the smog of the city for the fresh breeze off the South China Sea - or, as we would call it in the US - the Pacific Ocean. We hired a car for the ride out and took the train back. All the car rides here are nail-biters and this was no exception. Just try to imagine driving a scooter or vehicle and being surrounded by other vehicles just centimeters away from you. Turns are simply slow drifts through oceans of traffic.... anyway, there is one major road that runs through the country and that is what we drove out to the beach on - it took about 4 1/2 hours. We watched DVDs in the computer to entertain us and to avoid watching the road. The train back took about 5 1/2 hours door-to-door. A relatively relaxing bargain at $5/per head. Hal remarked when we arrived home that no one ever looked at or took our tickets! The beach was lovely and it was amazing to watch the kite boarders. It is a sport that takes a lot of strength and coordination - your hands are doing one thing trying to hang on to and control the kite while your feet are trying to stay balanced on the waves or trying to fly up off the waves to do remarkable spins and jumps.
Hello Silas here. Phan Thiet was beautiful, a postcard beach at its best. It's white sand with no sharp seashells because of the huge powerful crashing waves. It's the perfect beach for wind surfing because the water is warm and there is always a strong gale. The pool was giant!!! it had a waterfall and was at least 6 feet deep. During our stay we rented mopeds and me and my dad rode up to sealinks golf course. it was one of the most beautiful golf courses i've ever seen, with a view of the sea and red sanded dunes with grassy fairways. we went up to the top of the plateau it was built on where it's a ghost town of half built condiminiums everywhere. I had a turn on the moped and rode around the hilltop with my dad on the back, It was a BLAST!!!!! After we got back though i got sick and was tossing my cookies all night... not fun. Okay i've shared everything i have to share, now i'm going to watch the inaguration.
ttyl, silas.

New Family Tea/No Potholders

The school hosted a new family tea this morning. We met parents from Japan, Australia, Germany and Paupau New Guinea. Did you know Paupau New Guinea is a country all to itself? There is also a Paupau in New Guinea, which is the other half of the island. I'll have to ask my new friend Lydia how that all works out with the postal system. Wickipedia is a wonderful tool. Anyway, at the open house we toured the new auditorium and gymnasium and learned about the Cambridge Academic Program (lower grades) and the International Baccalaureate Program (upper grades). The IB program is developed using input from teachers, administrators, and curriculum from over 120 countries. Sounds to me like something the whole world could use and agree upon, though nothing could ever be that easy. I met a few women who live a few blocks away from our apartment and made plans to attend the "ILV" - International Ladies of Vietnam" tea with them after Tet. Such a formal name - I feel I should get my hair and nails done beforehand.

The kids are settling in pretty well. They are on target or ahead in their subjects. A little catch up in math and a lot of catch up in Chinese but nothing they can't handle. Silas came home yesterday and casually mentioned that he had dissected a pig heart in science class!

I should have some new pictures to post after the weekend. We are taking a car out to Phan Thiet for the weekend to the Blue Ocean Resort - here is a link if you want to see what it looks like:

http://www.life-resorts.com/index.php?nav1=gallery&gallery_id=3

Hal is relaxed and ready to go - he had a massage at lunchtime at a place recommended to him by one of his writers here. It was so reasonable and made his back feel so good that I believe he should treat himself every week!

Conversion charts come in very handy here: dollars to dong; cups to ml; Farenheit to Celsius. More things I should have retained from grade school! Next time your child asks you why they need to know those things you can tell them it is so they will understand everything better when they grow up and travel out of the country. The oven is coded in Celsius, with symbols indicating three different settings. Oh, and there are no potholders to be found anywhere. I ventured out to a local store called The Metro that we had heard is like a BJs or Costco. I thought for sure they would have them, but no. What an adventure that was too! Turns out you need your passport to get a membership card. I did not have my passport with me, and when I left the store to take a taxi back to our apartment to get it, I couldn't find a taxi! All in all it took me a good two hours to get it all in order and I didn't end up buying a single thing.

Thanks to everyone for their comments on our posts. It's nice to know we're on the right track with the blog.

Laundry Rules and Other Observations

Laundry rule #1 in gecko land: do not leave the door to the washer or dryer open - and if you do, check for creatures before use. I found most of a cute-but-very-dead gecko in my dried clothes today. A foot and tail were in the lint trap.... my first thought was that I was glad it wasn't something bigger and snakes did come to mind.

I walked to the local market today and one of the streets I take was flooded. I followed a cute little grandma up onto the driveways of local homes to avoid the water. She noticed me at the end of the road, gently took my arm, then pointed to her flip-flops - meaning she had shoes that could get wet and I did not. We walked together for a bit and were joined by three other young women and an adorable baby. We parted ways up the road, and met up again when we had all finished our respective shopping. Local food is very inexpensive - a pound of carrots, a pound of green beans, four cucumbers, and a head of lettuce for about $1.75. It is very frustrating not being able to communicate. My foray today inspired me to start my rosetta stone up again, regardless of how hard the language is to learn. I feel a strong need to be able to exchange at least a few words....

Free to choose?

The more I travel about, the more I suspect that peoples have a more active hand in the choosing of political systems and philosophies, as opposed to simply having those systems or philosophies foisted upon them. I don’t claim this as any sort of original insight, but it’s been driven home to me these past few months. Yes, of course: No one in North Korea (no one anywhere actually) would choose to live under the thumb of some megalomaniacal totalitarian. And surely the yoke of Communism in, say, post-WWII Poland was just that. But if you spend time in Vietnam, and Sweden, and the United States, as I have in the past four months, you begin to see that certain peoples are drawn to systems that speak to them, or were created by them, for specific, long-standing cultural reasons. Take the Swedes. I think that lingering American Cold War attitudes sort of take for granted that the Swedes were duped or bullied somehow into the socialism that pervades their culture still today. But the Swedes love socialism; it comes naturally to them. And it makes sense that a sparse population living in the freaking tundra is probably obliged to act collectively to stay alive; this became clear to them long ago and this ethic has filtered down to the modern day. In the 20th century, when peoples first had a choice about their systems of government, the Swedes naturally gravitated toward socialism.

Here in Vietnam, where strict Communism has given way to a sort of one-party market socialism, you see that it’s a very short and logical segue from the highly bureaucratic, top-down, authoritarian, Confucian culture that pervaded here for a thousand years to the highly bureaucratic, top-down, authoritarian, Communistic nationalism instituted by Ho Chi Minh — in the north after 1954, and everywhere else after 1975. It was a perfect fit. The Vietnamese love a system where authority is wielded and followed. You may have read Sharon’s blog post re. the clerk in Gloria Jeans — there is very little freelancing here, and they prefer it that way. This hurts them when it comes to entrepreneurial innovation, but it helps when you have to mobilize a population to resist/oust a colonial occupier. I learned last week of a client here that has instituted a LEAN program, whereby individual workers are empowered to make more decisions on their own, thereby making the overall operation more efficient, productive and less wasteful of resources. That’s the theory anyway, and it’s antithetical to the Vietnamese ethos. But the idea that it’s working here (and apparently, it is in this one case) shows there are limitations to the stereotype.

What about the States? Well, let’s see… Americans are, if nothing else, born exceptionalists who hate to be told what to do, whose initial idea of themselves was formed in response to what they saw as an oppressive government and state church, who see the individual accumulation of wealth as more vital to the national ethos than anything the state or we as a people might attempt collectively… Is it any surprise that we’re a bunch of gun-toting evangelicals whose government features the lowest tax burden of any industrialized country, the most meager social safety net and a legislative process completely controlled by corporate interests?

Jade Emperor Pagoda

On Sunday we visited the Jade Emperor Pagoda. According to our Nat. Geo. travel guide, it was built by the Cantonese in the early 1900s. It is a quiet oasis within the busy, noisy city.

A vendor outside the temple sells fish and turtles that you can set free inside the temple - I think I read somewhere that is a way to honor your ancestors, or maybe it was a way to seek absolution for a wrong? I'll try to find out more.

There were a lot of worshipers bowing toward the various altars with hands full of incense, and papers were being burned in a large outdoor altar. Inside the air was thick with smoke and incense - the ancient wood carvings encased by the smoky trappings of a century of worship.

Leaving Saigon tomorrow

Joyce Vandermay
It has been a wonderful 10 days. And I'm so happy that I endured the plane ride here, fifteen hours is a long, long time to sit in a tiny seat. And we had the chorus of two extremely un-happy babies, if the one in the front was quiet, then the poor child in the back was crying.
It is quite an adventure to travel around the city by taxi, lots of horns blaring, and a sea of scooters undulating down the street in a haze of smog. A nice breeze will blow the air some-what cleaner. Most of the scooter drivers wear a mask, and often the women wear gloves that go almost to their shoulders,to keep the sun off their skin. And again a wide brimmed hat under their helmet.Some scooters have a scooter "bed" in front of their handle-bars, and some scooters have them behind their seat, it's amazing how much cargo they can carry.
Shopping at the Ben Than market is over-whelming, tiny stalls and the clerks call out Madame, Madame, you want leather purse, shirt, or what ever they have for sale, and sometimes they grab your hand and pull you into their little stall, "you like this, many color" very aggresive sales technique. The fabric stalls are absolutely packed as high as they can with colorful fabric, one day a man was sleeping on top of the stack! Another day a woman crawled out from under a clothing rack, stretched out and went back to work. Clara was concerned about being rude to the clerks by always telling them no, so we decided that a "no thank you" would work.
Sharon and I found a beautiful silk that will become dresses for Analyse and Clara.
Another grand thing we bought was silk pajamas, How nice to wear those to bed!
The meat market was a "trip" all on its own, everything but the moo. Cows tongue, and also testicles, Sharon wimped out in that section.
Don't be worried about traveling to Saigon, you can get any kind of American food you choose, and through charades you can get across what you need, this has been a great trip.

From the Small World Dept.

Okay, so Silas and I have been sucked into the orbit of Fulham Football Club, the most unfancied Premiership team in London and, not coincidentally, the one that most frequently signs American players. Fellow Wellesley soccer product Tom Wadlington has, not surprisingly, thrown himself into Fulham support without reserve, jetting over to Putney for the odd match, kindly picking up authentic FFC gear for Silas, and mixing it up on the Fulham chat boards. Tom the Yank, a.k.a., Tommy Three Points, has become something of a folk legend in SW6. In any case, a few weeks back Tom informs me there’s this raging Fulham fan on the chat boards based in Saigon, of indeterminate British/Commonwealth extraction, goes by the handle “Polecat”, or simply The Cat. It’s incumbent upon me, of course, to hook up with him for some FFC footy-watching in HCMC, Tom says. I’m dubious. This guy could be any manner of whack-job, but Tom introduces us by email and one thing leads to another… Turns out he lives in District 2, as we do. He seems quite normal (for a guy called “Polecat”) and eventually he asks where I’m living and what I’m doing here. Uh, no dice. I don’t want The Cat showing up on my doorstep, in his cups, cursing Frank Lampard. I dodge this adroitly and ask what HE’s doing here. Well, he’s an English teacher — at the ACG International School, Year 8 to be precise. Yep, he’s Silas’ English teacher.

The First Week

Okay... it is hard to believe we have been here a week! Hal, being the most familiar with the country, has settled right in and has been off to numerous meetings and will golf tomorrow morning. Everyone but me seems to have adjusted their internal clocks and are sleeping through the night.

We've discovered the local supermarket which does carry a few western products - cereal, granola bars, potato chips and pepsi. We've been advised to purchase milk from Australia or New Zealand in shelf stable packaging - king of like a super-size juice box. We've picked up fruit and vegetables from the neighborhood produce stands. We're still figuring out the meat part of it - we've purchased frozen products from the supermarket but haven't dared to buy anything from the open air. Eggs are not refrigerated here and you can buy chicken eggs or tiny brown and white quail eggs. I'll try to get a picture of those. There are also BLACK eggs, and we'll have to ask our friend Thuy (twee) what THOSE are. There is a good french bakery in our neighborhood as well. I walked downtown during breakfast time one morning and was intrigued to see the locals getting baguettes with vegetables and meat on them from a local pushcart, or sitting down at a cafe for pho which is a type of broth that you add bits of meat and vegetables to. I'll try to get a picture because it is quite different from having cereal or toast. Also, the food here is very inexpensive - 25 cents for a coke, $6 for a sandwich, fries, and a coke, $6 for a cab into district 1. Clothing is inexpensive too - $5 for silk pajamas; $4/meter for silk fabric, $4 for a shirt...

Silas and Clara really like their school. The system they are in calls kindergarten "year 1" which means Clara is in year 6 and Silas is in year 8. So far the only subject they feel behind in is Mandarin Chinese. Of course, Silas at least is far ahead in spanish! Clara has one teacher for most subjects except computer, library, and physical education - just like Dunn School. Silas has a different teacher for each subject. Clara was teamed up with a girl from Korea named Anna, and Silas was teamed up with a boy from Australia and a boy from Vietnam. They are both of great interest in the school since the majority of the students are Asian. For lunch each day they can choose from a western lunch or an asian lunch. Today Silas had shrimp scampi - the asian choice was a fish dish. We received the first school newsletter today. There is a new family orientation "tea" next Friday. The school has chosen a local orphanage as a charity and there is a drive for food, clothes, toys and money going on. The students will deliver the collected items in February. School begins at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 2:45. After the Tet holiday there will be an afterschool activity from 2:55 - 3:55 Tues. - Thur.: homework lab, computer club, science club, tennis, flag football, dance, art, or a bookclub. There were 28 new students that started school this quarter! There are about 350 students in the school. Last year (year 1) there were 150. To give you an idea of the growth in this country, they expect to have over 1,000 students within two years.

Our apartment is lovely and maids magically arrive to clean it EVERY DAY! We tried to send them away one day but they insisted that they must clean. The kitchen cupboards are positioned very high! I'm not especially short and it is difficult for me to reach the top shelf of the cabinets. When the air conditioning in one of the bedrooms wasn't working they came to fix it immediately. Also, the first sofa we had was made of some sort of fake leather and it started peeling, for lack of a better word, two days after we got here. We showed it to the office manager and they brought a new one the next day. We weren't really asking for a replacement, we just wanted to note the flaking on our inventory sheet so that we wouldn't be charged for the sofa when we left but that is how it was handled. This doesn't bode well for my own home maintenance this spring. I'll be very disappointed when I dial 0 and find my problems aren't fixed IMMEDIATELY, it will be even worse when my feet return to earth and I realize I have to fix things myself!


One thing that we've rapidly learned is that everything has a system that MUST BE FOLLOWED or there will be BIG PROBLEMS. For example, I went to Gloria Jeans to purchase a french press so we could have coffee, and included three bags of coffee - columbian roast, mocha java, and bena bena. Well, the guy rang up 2 columbians and one mocha instead of one of each and you'd thing the world was coming to an end. I told him "no big deal" since the bottom line was that the charge was correct, but he said "oh no, BIG PROBLEM with bank!". My mother, Silas and Clara were waiting for me outside and thought I'd been taken hostage. Since I mentioned it, there are few american chains here - Gloria Jeans, KFC, and Pizza Hut are the only three I've seen. There are many american apparel labels however - my Mother picked up a Chanel purse for $7.00 (120,000 VND), and we've seen copious quantities of Louis Vuitton, Ambercrombie, La Coste, Timberland, Banana Republic, etc... DVD's can also be had for a song though they don't always work in US machines apparently. The woman at one DVD stall said they do work in US computers, usually not on DVD machines. A lot of the movies currently out at the movies are on DVD here. So, let me know if you are dying for a designer label and I'll see what I can do for you... and as a special note to Sandy McDonald - how about copious instead of plethora for a change?

Ho Chi Mihn is divided into districts. Our neighborhood is located in Thao Dien Ward, District 2. Much of the central shopping and high-end hotels are located in the adjacent district 1. We went to dinner in district 1 last night at a place called Bun - there should be a symbol over the "u" but I don't know how to do that. Anyway, bun means rice noodle. We've managed to cook or eat primarily western meals up until then. I'm quite proud of Silas and Clara for trying new foods, though entire crabs came in the dish their grandmother ordered last night and we weren't sure what to do with them. We ended up setting them aside - Silas had a dish with duck - he had to take the duck off the bone to eat it. Clara loved the rolled noodles and the bean sprouts.

We're going to the pagoda tomorrow so keep watch for those pictures along with notes from Silas and Clara.

How to post a comment:

I've had an email asking how to post a comment. I think this is how you do it:

Click on the headline of the entry/paragraph you want to comment on, and it will take you to the "post a comment" screen. Enter your comment, then I think you will need to choose an identity - in our case it comes up automatically as our blog account. After you have figured out how to enter an identity, click "publish your comment".

Sunday Outing

I've discovered that if you click on the slideshow it will open on a larger screen and you can read the descriptions under the photos.

On Sunday we went to the local zoo, out for lunch, then a quick foray through the Ben Than market. We were pretty well saturated by that point - the traffic, the noise, and everyone trying to sell you something at the market. The aisles between the stalls are only about two feet wide and there are many people trying to get through them. I'll get a picture to post when we go back later this week. It may not be so busy on a weekday as it was on Sunday.

The zoo had a variety of animals and some lovely flowers. It was unnerving to see live bunnies in the snake enclosures.

Silas and I walked down to the produce stands and bakery this morning. I've posted some photos of the neighborhood and the local vendors.

Hi from Clara!

Hi everybody! Its Clara. Vietnam is really warm and sunny,a couple days ago we went to the BenThanh market.It was really busy. All the people in the booths were saying buy this buy that!
It was amazing though, the place had everything.We also went to the zoo, the animals were so cute! I really liked the hippos and the deer. I forgot to bring my stuffed hippo though, and take pictures with it. Vietnam is really interesting, but I miss everybody.
BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. Silas finally caught a gecko.

hello!

HELLO!! It's Silas. Vietnam is awesome. The air is sort of smokey, but it also has the scent of tropical flowers, a surprising sort of good smell. At night there are geckos all over the walls, they are about 2 inches long (I still have not caught one). The Saigon river is filthy, I went up to its bank and I saw a sandal and a glove and tons of wrappers everywhere!
The currency of money here is crazy! 17,000 dong is 1 US dollar! So a can of coke that's 6,000 dong is only about 25 cents!
Ho Chi Minh city is about 3 times bigger than Boston, it has 7 million people so it's pretty large! It's pretty polluted and some people wear cloth masks over their noses and mouths because of it. It's climate is a little bit like florida but a lot warmer, like it's in the 80's in the dead of winter. People are very friendly here. They say hello in english just to practise it! One other thing about the city, mopeds and motor bikes are everywhere... The streets are packed with them like a can of sardines! There is also tons of construction going on, the emerging economy makes things pop up within a week. They are paving a road near my apartment today, out of nowhere! There are at least thirty new projects in my district, one next to my "house."
So I have to go now, (to lie in front of my air conditioner) so I will keep everyone posted!

Silas.

We're Here!

I't's 2:30 a.m. in Asia - been a long day of travel and time for everyone to get some sleep in a proper bed! In the "whose life is this" category falls our upgrade to business class for our flight from Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh. It is a short flight of only a few hours, but we were amazed at how refreshing it was to be able to stretch out and take a proper nap. Silas and Clara have claimed their rooms and put their clothes in the closet. So far they have observed that the bottoms of the trees are painted white and we'll try to find out why, and there are no traffic rules. Lines on the pavement are just a suggestion though vehicles seem to stop for the few signals that there are.

We all slept in today ( Saturday), went out to brunch and visited the local supermarket. I've posted a few pictures - Silas next to a Sunday River sticker in Chicago; what we looked like with our luggage when we arrived in Ho Chi Mihn (door-to-door travel time about 33 hours), everyone on our terrace and the view of the Saigon River from our terrace.

Silas says "it's really hot here even in the winter". Clara says "there are lots of mopeds everywhere" and "we have a nice garden and pool at our nice apartment". We'll try to get some traffic shots when we go into the city center tomorrow.