back in USA!

I arrived safely and with all luggage intact at BWI very early on Tuesday morning. Checking into ORD was really easy, they let me take the picture with frames as carry-on and United didn't charge me for the third bag! Hooray all around!!

The transition back to the US was as if I'd never left; I drove home from the airport and it wasn't too weird. It was just like coming home from school when I was in Chicago or Philly - no big deal! The best thing about coming home was seeing my parents, eating cheese, and watching the birds and squirrels fight over the bird feeder on our deck. It feels like I've gone to the countryside!

Anyways now the fun "back to reality" stuff starts. Calling health insurance to make sure I'm covered for next year, worrying about financial aid, making bill payments, running errands, unpacking and packing again, laundry...all to get ready for the roadtrip and new life in Las Vegas!

last year

This time last year, I was in London!
Running around Picadilly's Circus and Hampton Court Palace with Claudia, Sonal, Christopher Martin, and my family!!


and of course, Kings Cross!

What fun that was...and then a few days later, I went to Wimbledon, aiaiaia!!!!

it it wrong

that my first real meal outside of Vietnam was at McDonald's?
ahaha but it was delicious.

10 hours at Seoul Incheon Airport

well, t minus 10 hours!

My motto of "buy now, worry about packing later" and its results:


Apparently I have become a very bad international traveler - I planned to check in 3 bags into my Asiana flight to Chicago O'Hare (by way of Seoul Incheon) and have my backpack and the painting with frames as carry on. Technically only 2 bags are allowed to be checked in, but em Na's mother knows the director of Asiana in HCMC and we all went to the office in Diamond Plaza and I got permission from him to have a third bag, 23 kgs each piece. Sweet deal since an extra bag costs over $100. Though I will still have to pay once I am in Chicago and have to check into my United flight to Baltimore...but here's the kicker: I already checked in and went through immigration and security told me that my frames were not allowed on the plane.

WHAT?! It's not the size, because other people had longer or bigger items. Pieces of wood? Urgh, em Thao and I had just talked about it as she helped me pack and we both laughed at the notion that it would be considered a weapon. I guess, well whatever, can't argue when they say go back. Except now I would have 4 pieces of checked luggage but again Asiana waived a fee. And I just hope and pray that I can either take this onto the United flight or fit it into my luggage, because paying for 2 extra checked luggage will make me really sad.

Sheesh, maybe it's just from traveling alone, but it was too stressful of a situation and my mom had to calm me down as I talked to her while waiting for my flight to Seoul.

Haha I had sticker shock at the SGN airport, $3 for a bottle of 500 ml water, $3 for croissant, $10 for box of chocolates, $6 for sandwich - it's going to be hard to adjust when just last night I had paid...yeah okay best not to think about it now...!!

I arrived at Incheon a bit after 8 am and quickly found my way to the "Rest and Relax" area so I could pass out for a few more hours. Seoul is 2 hours ahead of HCMC so I was really tired even through I slept the whole flight.

So I paid $3 for my 500 ml of water but then here in Seoul was not able to take it through the airport after the security check-point for my transfer. Poopie, just bought it at the SGN airport! Anyways, Incheon is a super nice airport, with computers and wireless internet available, a resting lounge, and lots of light and space...and tons of shopping.

Alrighty now just about 6 hours to go!
It's 12:44 am on Monday, June 29 EST time and I will arrive 11:50 pm tonight!!

Last night in Vietnam!

Wow, two and a half months has really gone by fast. At this time tomorrow night I will be at the airport, checking in my huge bags and saying goodbye to Chu Dung. Now I know a bit more Vietnamese (elementary Vietnamese rockstar!) and have a really bad sandals tan, but still I wish I was able to take the next level of classes. I am a bit jealous of Keisuke, em Na, and my other classmates because of this.

It has been really great and I think what I will miss most are the people. Culture and food aside, whenever I asked other travelers what they like about Vietnam, always one answer is "the people". They are kind and generous with their time and energy. If it was the reverse situation, I don't know if I could be as generous? I feel like there are too many excuses we use: not enough time, I want to watch my tv show, it's too far, it's not what I want to do, whatever.

And maybe because we are tourists, we are sensitive to this (and also perhaps some are too kind, especially when they want money) but I do think that it is different than any other country. People here want to know, it's about community. Where are you from? What do you do here? How old are you? And always...do you have a boyfriend or husband?

And the people are everywhere: eating, sleeping, drinking coffee, resting, working. People are hired to open doors for you at the shopping centers, parking lot attendants for even the smallest restaurants and stores, security guards for hotels, banks, etc at night...it's awesome just the humanity that you see here. No waiting in line at the post office (omg it's fantastic!). And in the lobby of my hotel room in Nha Trang? 5 workers! At the shopping mall, there are 2 to 3 people per every counter. They are ready to pounce if you even think of buying something. Someone's always there, where ever you are, whenever you need anything.

It's people that drive this country.

I will also miss:
- displays of affection and friendship between two people is okay between two men or two women, any age
- seeing people hanging out at the park and watching the older people exercise and stretch
- not being addicted to what's on the news right now. No more 24 hour CNN.
- the relief we all get when it's rainy and cool; even on motorbikes it doesn't feel like a damper to the afternoon
- seriously, not having to wait in line for things is wonderful!
- abundance of fruit and delicious fruit drinks and desserts
- watching people carry crazy things via motorbike: aquarium, small fridge, 6 boxes of Heineken beer, a family of four...a dog??
- where honking is so common it's message is less "Eff you, jerkface" and more "I'm here!"
- Asian babies, because they are the cutest

I realize now that I have not worn a seat belt for over two months. And I really appreciate our dental health care and hygiene.

I am also ready and looking forward to seeing my family, for cooler weather, an actual closet and my own home. Not having to worry "will this place make me sick?". Mom's home cooking and Dad's singing and laughter. Doing my own laundry (odd, no?). Going to the library and Costco. Being able to know exactly where to shop, not bargaining, and being able to drive myself there.

Alas it is on to the next chapter: Vegas and med school!

Long Xuyen

Friday, June 19, 2009

I left with Cau Giang (Chu Dung's nephew) in the afternoon to catch a MaiLinh express bus to Long Xuyen, my mom's hometown. I still have some extended family there, and would be staying with an aunt, travel around and meet family, and then come back to HCMC on Sunday evening. A really quick trip, considering it takes about 5 hours by bus (though less crazy than the trip to Bac Lieu), but it was worth it to see this side of my family that I'd never met before.

This bus to Long Xuyen was one of the larger charter buses and it was quite nice, though a bit more difficult to sleep in than the buses I take from PHL to DC and NYC, I think because the extra leg room make it harder to put your legs up. But the trip was fine, we again took a ferry to cross a large river, and on the other side was Long Xuyen, a rather large city just west of Can Tho.



My mom's father was one of five brothers, and he was brother #7 (Ong bay = literally Mr. 7). Ong Thu (#4) and Ong Nam (#5) are the only siblings still alive, but many children of these siblings are still in Long Xuyen. I stayed with Di Dung (Aunt Dung) and her family, she is the daughter of Ong Sau (#6), I believe, and when he passed away, she lived with my mom's family and that is why they are very close. Di Dung has three children, but my aunt took one of them as her own when she came to the US. But now, cousin Dennis (who was 10 at the time) can only speak English and has lost a connection back to his family. He has married and his children are half Vietnamese and half Hispanic but can only speak English.

I understand fully now the importance of keeping with your heritage and culture, so much history is in the language itself!

Saturday was spent walking around and visiting all of the relatives. Ong Nam really reminded me of my grandfather, and he has 11 children and many grand-children, many of which still live in Long Xuyen. We had dinner that night with some family on Ong Nam and there were about 30 people (lots of kids), and it was absolutely crazy to know that they were all family. I had normally thought of the "family" as small since my mom and dad don't have very many siblings combined and there aren't so many cousins.

In English, they would be called "extended" or "distant" family and relatives, but it was clear that at dinner, "distant" was not the right word. In English, they still called me "sister" and invited me to travel with them to Nha Trang. Sadly I had to say no since I will be back in US by then - but imagine, traveling with 40 family members! I wish I could have gone!!

I was sad that my mom's old school was not there anymore (new school built in its place), and my grandfather's land after the war had been claimed by the government. A large government building and state-owned gas station are in its place.

It was incredible to see this side of my family, I hadn't really even heard many stories about them; but I'm so glad that I was able to see them and speak just a little bit of Vietnamese with everyone. I really hope that I can come back and see everyone again.

Bac Lieu, Vietnam

Last weekend (June 5 - 7, 2009) I traveled with some friends to Bac Lieu, Vietnam (about 7 hour bus ride south west of Ho Chi Minh City) to spend time in the countryside and attend an engagement party. The bus is really like an extension van, about 15 seats, and so the ride isn't bad, depending on how crazy of a driver you have. I traveled with 4 other girls (all doctors!) and they all had to take medication to prevent car sickness. I survived, but the driver was a bit maniacal.

Like "HOLY WTF we're going to crash head first into oncoming traffic as you pass these 4 trucks....wheeeeew that was a close one!!!!!". And repeat...

I talked with em Thao a bit, it has been really nice to make a good friend here in Vietnam. And I was able to sleep, thanks to the help of my ipod. I think otherwise, it would be have been a bit difficult for me with the honking, music, and general crazy noise of the trip. We did have two 30 minute rest stops to use the bathroom and eat/drink, so that was nice. There was also a really cool ferry ride across the Mekong River, where we passed through the city of Can Tho.



We arrived in Bac Lieu about 10:30 pm and the town was very quiet, it was actually difficult to get a taxi to take us to the Bride's home. But we finally made it, and met with the the Bride's family and their friends. We had a late meal and then the family took us to the hotel where our group would be staying the night, a small guest house with a great big room with 4 beds. And air-conditioning...which is all I really needed as Bac Lieu was hotter than HCMC, if one can even imagine that...seems like there are less big trees, more flat land countryside...


But the countryside is beautiful, watching the buildings pass by, seeing how simple life can really be and also how poor the country really is. Often I'd see something really interesting: above ground coffins facing all the same direction, rows of lamps illuminating pools of water (em Thao though this may be somehow related to raising shrimp or crabs), a huge house every now and then, a large factory with rows and rows of motorbikes and bicycles. Seems like everything is fascinating out in the countryside.

Saturday morning, we woke up around 6:30 and prepared our dresses for the engagement party. Bich and I were the only ones who chose to wear ao dai - and it nearly killed me, because it was so stinking hot and the ao dai is supposed to be tight fighting and therefore very hot. At least we suffered together and we did look very nice!

We arrived at the house close to 8 and watched Minh (the bride) get her make up and hair done. Minh is already a beautiful girl but these people can really do some magic with these glosses, powders, and sticks of color. And the hair! Lots of hairspray and pins, and they even hot glued pearls in a crown shape. Sounds weird, but it was so beautiful and really reminded me of a fairy princess.

I have only ever been to family weddings, so am familiar with some of the traditions of the Vietnamese wedding. But I was still interested to see how this engagement party was the same or different...Engagement parties take place in the Bride's home while the actual wedding ceremony takes place in the Groom's home. Then there is of course a celebration dinner and reception at a restaurant or hotel, but the ceremony of Vietnamese Buddhist tradition takes place in the home, in front of ancestors, family, and friends.

At 8 am, Tuan (the Groom) and his family arrived. As is tradition, they walk in a ceremonial process from the driveway to the front of the house. First is the Groom's representative (often a good family friend), followed by the parents and grandparents, then the Groom himself. Following him is a procession of other family and friends, each holding a gift offering to the Bride's family - all in all, it's about 30 people.

Meanwhile, the Bride's family is lined up at the house entrance, ready to greet the Groom. The Groom's Representative introduces the family and makes an offering. The Bride's family offers tea to the Groom's parents and the Groom's family is escorted in. The Bride has yet to be seen.

The parents, grandparents, and other high family members sit across from each other at a long table and one by one, make offerings and prayers to their ancestors and greet each other. Then the Groom makes offerings to the Bride's family, says prayers...and then the Bride comes down. Together the Bride and Groom make offerings to their ancestors and to each family member at the table. The Bride is presented with gold jewelry and other gifts. It takes about one hour and there's lots of bowing, clapping, blessings, and presentation of money.

It's a beautiful ceremony, enriched in tradition and with gestures to family, past and present. I really would like to have such a ceremony for my own wedding. Often at cousin's weddings, because not many people can make it to an engagement party (whereas here, most family from both sides live in Bac Lieu), it becomes a part of the wedding day celebrations. So in the morning you have the celebration at the Bride's home, then the wedding ceremony (either at Groom's home or church or other location), then the reception. It turns into an all day event, but I've always found it to be fun and interesting.


Minh the Bride is on the far right, in a traditional pink ao dai. Her wedding ao dai will be red. There is also a traditional ao dai for men as well, but nowadays they elect to wear the Western suit and tie.


Friends (and doctors!).

After a hearty lunch, our group of 5 girls headed back to the hotel to change and rest. At 4 pm, we headed back out to tour Bac Lieu and make the most of our (essentially) one day excursion to the countryside.

First up, a visit to the Goddess of the Southern Seas, a popular statue and temple in Bac Lieu.




The landscape is just incredible...those are clouds, not smoke from incense. Absolutely beautiful.

Then we headed out to the ocean. The Mekong Delta does not have beaches, it is rather muddy. And there are fascinating creatures that live in the mud, amongst the mangrooves. Small crabs the size of your thumb that have one huge claw the size of their body and the other claw tiny. Or weird amphibian/fish-like creatures that look like large tadpoles and can swim by moving their tail but like to get around by hopping on top of the water. They can also climb onto sticks and mud - it was really weird, like I was imagining these were prehistoric fish and they were going to evolve into frogs or land animals...if that makes any sense.

Best of all the ocean is shallow, so you can walk basically out into the sunset and it's a fantastic sense of really being on the edge of the world:







Urgh, I feel like I'm using all of these adjectives, but still cannot really describe how cool this place was. I really wish we had more time to be here, because walking out into the ocean like in the above picture would have been really awesome.

Then we met up with a larger group of friends and headed to dinner at a small restaurant that specializes in turtles. Yeah, eating turtle was kind of a weird thing, and definitely following the group into the back kitchen area was a bad idea (!!). Oops It was a novel thing to see, but I think when you see the process of live animal to dead animal, it makes it difficult to follow through with eating the thing. I think really only the guys were into the meal, the girls not to much. We kept asking for more noodles, to fill our stomachs with something. I didn't even remember to take pictures, as unique as this meal was.

In fact the most interesting part of the meal was probably when we were waiting for everything to get ready, we ventured into the back, where there was a great view of the sunset and countryside filled with rice paddies, banana trees, and a few ancestral burial grounds...


Sunset in Bac Lieu

After dinner, we all headed to a famous large hotel, restaurant, and cafe in Bac Lieu. Built in 1919, it was formerly owned by the richest man in the province. He was so rich (through owning land and farms) that apparently he once burned money to cook an egg. Whack! Anyways I think probably the government seized the property after the war and now it's a hotel, restaurant, and cafe. A few of us walked around the area, it's about as big as a city block, and then returned to finish our drinks.



Turns out some people were still hungry (yes indeed!) and then we all ventured out to experience some special Bac Lieu seafood noodle soup. The small local restaurants have tiny chairs and tables that make you feel clownish and can put a kink in your back and cramp your legs. But some of the best food (and always super cheap!) comes in these locations, so it's just a part of the culture. And really these people, guys and girls, are tiny so it's okay for them. Haha, us Americans would be thinking, "Uhh you expect my butt to fit where?!"



And so after this late meal, our group of girls split ways and headed back to hotel to clean up and get ready for the overnight trip back to HCMC. Taking the 11:30 pm bus seemed like a good idea at the time (save time! sleep on the bus and you save a whole day!) except it was much harder to me to sleep. And plus there were still the 2 30 minute stops, where you have to get out while they clean the bus, so it's not a good sleep. At 5:30 am we arrived in HCMC, and I think we all still slept for another few hours after that....

It was really a fun trip; I really wanted to get out of the city and see something new, and spending time with these ladies was really great!

Special Bac Lieu album here, as I cannot post all of pics on the blog

Visiting the Women and Children's Hospital

5.24.09



On Sunday, em Thao and I arrived early in the morning at Binh Vien Tu Du (Binh Vien = hospital), a hospital for Women and Children in the downtown area of District 1. Em Thao wanted to show me the hospital and visit with some of the children living in the dormitories at the hospital, orphans with disabilities or special needs that are able to live in the hospital and get treatment, attend school, and make friends.

Earlier that week, we went again to the sieu thi (supermarket) to buy some candies and foods for the children. It's always been fun to visit the supermarket and this time I found amazement in the milk aisle:


It's as big as the US's aisle for carbonated drinks!! They really have quite a few options of sizes and flavors of milk...whereas the carbonated drinks aisle was smaller than if I spread my arms wide. Impressive! Drink your milk (sua) kiddies!

Speaking of milk, a little digression:
So I watch a lot of tv when I eat meals with the housekeeper. It's all Korean/Japanese/Chinese/Taiwanese/Vietnamese dramas that are dubbed in Vietnamese - even I think sometimes the Vietnamese shows are voiced-over because the voices are so much louder and clearer than the rest of the noises in the background, ie footsteps, doors opening and closing. It's fun to watch their emotions and try to follow the crazy drama -

AH! Speaking of great drama: There is a great show that is called "Vi Yeu" that is just like "She's the Man"! And it's the only show I really like because the "boy" is so obviously a girl and the roommate that she has a crush on now knows that the "boy" is a girl but she doesn't know that - and hilarity ensues. Comedy can be understood without actually understanding WTH is going on...

okay back to milk - So watching tv, every now and then there is a commercial break (so much better than a break every 10 minutes!). There is one commercial in particular I think is so cute in delivering it's message: VINAMILK feeds Vietnam...hooray youtube has it!


It has beautiful shots of a downtown city, a countryside with its green fields, an old pagoda or temple, and the Mekong Delta (child on the bridge) - the complete essence of life in Vietnam

OKAY back to the hospital:
It specializes in Women's Care and basically a campus of buildings for cafeteria, pharmacy, and one building that serves as a dormitory for babies and kids. Em Thao and I were able to join in with a "Red Cross" like group that was touring the rooms and handing out gifts - we also spent some time talking with the kids about school and the activities they do.



It seems to be really hard to live as a disabled child in a developing country; wheelchair ramps (let alone elevators) are rare in this city and the buildings and houses are generally tall and skinny, so being able to climb stairs is a must. I'm pretty sure my school does not have any kind of wheelchair ramp...But the hospital does a good job at maintaining a sense of normalcy for these kids and it was really neat to see the nurses taking care of the babies. I really wish I could understand their conditions and read the information that was available to us...

more pics here

Vietnam Quilts

Vietnam Quilts (26/1 Le Thanh Ton, HCMC but there are stores in a few other cities) is an NGO that I have fallen in love with:

"Vietnam Quilts supports community development programs in remote villages in Cambodia and in Vietnam. Its key objective is to generate employment for women. One hundred per cent of profits from its quilt shops are returned to the villages. Vietnam Quilts focus is to provide rewarding employment, increase family incomes and improve conditions for children in these remote communities."

Beautiful hand-made, high quality (and can be custom designed!) quilts, pillows, and other home accessories. All for a good cause, but what is really striking is the quality, color, and design; it's amazing and in the past 2 weeks I have become a repeat customer!



Chu Ni carries back one of my purchases "local style" on the xe om...we did this 4 times! Yeah, don't ask how I am going to get these all back to the States, that is my next project. This is why when traveling to Vietnam, you bring an empty suitcase or prepare to buy one here, because there are just tons of amazing, beautiful things you can bring back!

I really fell in love with the "Ao Dai" pillows because the characters are just so stinking cute!!! They also have little crib quilts with these figures, as well as aprons!


Cotton pillow cases, machine washable
40 x 50 cm
$12

For myself, I bought two red ao dai pillows in the larger 50 x 50 cm size and a white cotton quilt with a flower design.

I am in LOVE with this quilt:
Crib sized baby quilt with green figures
100 x 120 cm
$40



I bought this for a family member who is expecting...and another crib quilt with the alphabet just to have and be prepared for the next addition to our friends or family network...My mom buys baby quilts as gifts and buys them at "Things Remembered" and they are a lot more expensive than $40.


Queen sized, silk and cotton quilt
$190
I purchased this for my mom and custom designed 4 pillows with the silk fabric available in the store.

Silk fabrics available at the store:

There is also cotton available, but you can also purchase your own fabrics at a market and bring it in. They have many workers and volunteers at the store that speak English and other languages that can help you design what you want. And to custom make, it's still cheap - we were charged just a few dollars for the silk fabric and $3 additional for a custom order...and it'll be done in 4 weeks! Otherwise, they can also ship by air or sea for a reasonable price...

Again, I love this store!

For more pictures of the store, products, and fabrics! Yes, I had to create a new album for this store! Haha

Sunday 5.17.09: Reunification Palace

What a fun filled day Sunday was! Em Hoang picked me up at 7:15 am and we met the students (all members of the English Club) in front of the Reunification Palace. As we waited for the rest of the group, there were probably about 5 bus-loads of people, not all foreigners - apparently it's a really popular Sunday morning field trip for both Vietnamese people and tourists....

Entrance fee = 15000 D
Guidebook (contains history written in English, Vietnamese and French) = 10000 D
Tour DVD = 20000 D

Em Khue, the organizer, had purchased tickets for the whole group through the funds of the English Club and also insisted on buying the a guidebook (great souvenir) and DVD.


The group in front of the Reunification Palace.

I already posted a lot about the history of this building for the Reunification Holiday at the end of April. So I already knew much of the history of the building, but seeing everything in person made it so real. The building, with much of the original artwork, furniture, lighting and carpeting, is like a time capsule of 1975 - really freaky and yet fascinating at the same time.


Posing with Em Binh in front of the model (there was only one real vehicle from that time period in the museum - everything else was a model) of the 390 tank that broke down the front gate of the Independence Palace, on April 30, 1975. 4 people were in each tank. There was also a tank that broke down the side gate (model on display) but this tank was the one capture in all the pictures of that iconic moment. Poor side tank, always a bridesmaid, never a bride.



Group shot in front of a model US F5E aircraft, the same one in which pilot Nguyen Thanh Trung bombed the Independence Palace on April 8, 1975. (Note that this date is still during the actual war time - may have contributed to the "Fall of Saigon" not like the tank breaking the gates.)

The building itself was more beautiful than I expected. This current palace was designed by Ngô Viết Thụ, who won the Roman Grand Prize for this building; he combined modern architecture and oriental traditional architecture, including many Chinese characters.

From my guidebook: "The overall outlay of the building is made to express CAT, a Chinese character meaning good future (seen in bird's eye view). Within the front facade of the building there are many other symbols:
KHAU = education and freedom,
TRUNG = center (for balance and peace of mind),
TAM = 3 aspects of democracy = humanity, wisdom, boldness,
VUONG = King,
CHU = sovereignty,
HUNG = prosperity...all aspects important to the future of the Vietnamese people.
(they draw it in my guidebook but the pictures of this don't turn out nice enough to see - so I will try to draw it out when there's more time because it's quite interesting)

Probably my most favorite aspect of the building, along with the beautiful views of the city from it: "The architectural beauty of the Palace is embodied in the flower stone curtain bearing shapes of bamboo joints surrounding the second floor. It not only increases the beauty of the Palace but also admits sunlight from the East." Also there were many stone carvings, displaying dragons and phoenix, under the smaller windows.


windows from the outside


windows from inside - on the 2nd floor. From this view you can see that they are actually floor to ceiling windows and so can let in all of the light from the rising Sun (symbolic: Palace is graced by the East's Rising Sun).


Beautiful view of the street! There is a street that runs across the front, parallel to the gate; and there is another street that runs actually from my school down and dead ends into the front gate (there is a park on both sides as it gets close to the Palace - this is what you see in the video at the top of this post).

Other front entrance photographs taken from different levels:





So I took way too many pictures and cannot post them all here. All pics can be accessed here and there are captions for things that I cannot write about here. Too many interesting things, too little picture space! So I am just posting the highlights...

Colors and lighting also have a great symbolic meaning within the Palace. The Cabinet Meeting room is green to create a calm, peaceful atmosphere. The Banquet Room, used for formal dinners, is yellow to depict South Vietnam's beauty and luxury. Otherwise, many of the other rooms use the strong red and yellow colors of the Vietnamese Flag, and various Chinese characters and symbols within the artwork and furniture. The lighting in each room is also unique and really goes well with the design and intended "mood" of each room - like in the First Lady's Dining Room, your eyes are drawn upwards to the lotus flower shaped lights, which somehow seem to create a more feminine, cozy atmosphere along with the furniture.



The President's International Reception Room - President's Chair is a bit more elevated than the other chairs, and has handles carved in a dragon's head. The guests' chairs have handles that are carved as phoenix. The lacquered wood behind the Presidents' chair has three stripes cut into it, to signify the South Vietnamese flag (yellow with three red stripes).

Side note: In Washington D.C.'s Little Saigon area, it is this flag that flies next to the American flag...still controversial as evidenced by Wiki:
"In the United States, at least 11 states and 113 cities have adopted resolutions recognizing the former South Vietnamese flag as the Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag.[7] The Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag is permanently displayed at memorial sites at Westminster, California and Cabramatta, Australia. The Vietnamese government opposes these efforts and complained to the United States federal government on the grounds that it is a sovereign country with diplomatic relations with the United States. This flag is de facto banned in Vietnam. In contrast, the current Vietnamese flag is considered offensive by many overseas Vietnamese."

(I try very hard to not say things like "Vietnam War" or "Fall of Saigon" because I do not want to sound presumptuous and want to remain as neutral as possible. It may be overreacting a bit but really do not want to offend anyone.)



View of the helicopter pad - The helicopter is a model of the one that the President would use to do an overhead tour of the city. The two circles represent where 2 bombs impacted under release by pilot Lieutenant Nguyen Thanh Trung, at 8:30 am on Aptil 8, 1975.


Group shot at the top of the Palace!

Something really interesting to see on my Picasa page is a description of the Vietnamese History:
Explaining the history of the Norodom Palace - the Reunification Palace sits on the site of the Norodom Palace which was built by the French in 1870s.
The Civil War: It's a reminder that history is exactly that, HIS STORY, and is subjective.

Consider that by the "Vietnam War's" end in 1975, the Vietnamese had been fighting foreign involvement or occupation (by the French, Chinese, Japanese, British, and American governments), for 116 years....



3 iconic image of April 30, 1975 - the day that marks the end of the War.
On Top: One of the most famous photos taken that day, people boarding a helicopter on the CIA rooftop. The photographer, Hugh Van Es, just passed away this week.
Middle: The tank breaks through the front gate of the then Independence Palace.
Bottom: The tanks and soldiers leave their mark on the front lawn of the Palace.

And so ended our tour of the Palace - it was really incredible and I'm so glad that I was able to tour with some friends from the medical school. We had a Vietnamese tour guide that liked to run from room to room, and so it was a bit hurried but a few students were happy to play translator and explain all of the details. Surely it is a must see when in HCMC, to fully understand the history of the city and the people here.

Vung Tau, part 2

#5, our beach house

When we walked back to the beach house on Wednesday night, the roads were clear and the parking lot empty. Thursday morning only 8 am, and the parking lot was full with extended vans, and the beach was crowded. It was a great day for being outside, not overly hot and sunny, just perfect. Vung Tau (about 128 km SE from HCMC)is not the best beach around here, there is some trash and the water is a muddy brown due to pollution from oil drilling (thanks Lonely Planet!), but it's comfortable, has a large town to support it, and is the closest one to HCMC - most people in for the holiday were locals getting out of the city, not foreigners.

The peninsula that juts out into the South China Sea is punctuated by Small Mountain and Big Mountain. Atop Small Mountain is a humongous statue of Jesus (30 m high) with arms outstretch, open towards the ocean. Chi Linh and I were heading up there that morning.



I have no idea how high up the climb was (and apparently google doesn't either?) and yes it was relatively easy walk up the rather steep staircase. The climbing was fine and it wasn't very sunny, just humid; but for some reason I was the sweaty American and everyone else, including Chi Linh, looked FINE. hrmpf.



On the way up to the top, there are many places to stop and enjoy the view, sit on a bench, have a picnic, and rest your legs. Breathtaking. Many of these "resting areas" had religious statues or tablets with stories. And they all had small white benches that were inscribed with a donors' name and location - many donors were from the US, with a large amount from Philadelphia, PA! Whoa, didn't realize there was a large Vietnamese population in Philly? Maybe it is associated with a Catholic church, but it was really neat to read the locations of the many benches.



Within 30 minutes, we made it up to the top. There was a large sitting area, and people where everywhere - sleeping, eating, resting, talking...it was a great view and you work so hard to come up here, why not spend a few hours?? The statue was sitting on a base that you could climb up...and even climb up a smaller staircase within the statue to reach the top of the arms. But there were many people waiting and so we stayed at the base, still an incredible sight to see!





The climb down was much easier and then we headed back to the hotel to clean up and check out - I also walked on a beach a bit and watched people swim, eat ice cream, and play in the water. The water was warm and it was really great day to be out and about. There were so many people, but the beach was large enough that it didn't feel suffocating. It was interesting to note that most people did not wear bathing suits but just cotton shorts and t shirts - why spend money on something when you can just wear other clothes?



We went to another popular place in town for lunch, more seafood! Fried oysters, another sweet and sour soup, fish and chicken in clay pots, and rau muong (one of my favorite asian veggies, like a spinach), all at around $35.



We had to go through town in order to get back onto the highway to HCMC and the traffic was so bad because of so many people on the streets - walking, motorbike, stuffed into vans...parking lots were so full, I really didn't expect so many people to be there! I slept the whole way back and woke up in the city - where there were still people out and about - but with most shops closed and less people on the streets, it felt almost empty. And so ended our trip to the beach!

Vung Tau

WARNING: if you have seafood allergies, read at your own risk...huge intake of seafood ahead..

We left for Vung Tau on Wednesday afternoon with Anh Thang (Chu Dung's driver), Chu Dung, myself, Chi Cindy, and Chi Linh. It was barely even the holiday yet and still traffic was slow leaving HCMC and it was at minimum at 2 hour drive anyways...On the main roads in the city and highways, autos are only allowed in the left lane (or center and left if there are three lanes), while motorikes can zoom by in all lanes. Hence the cause for traffic because we were in essentially one lane for maybe an hour.

En route, we talked about many things but Chi Cindy and Chi Linh were specifically interested in medical school and they balked about the student loan process. In Vietnam, the government does not hand out loans to students and banks generally do not want to give so much money, especially to someone not working...I am eternally grateful that the US government will support me and my $300,000+ debt so that I can follow my dream (screw you Ron Paul!). Though Chu Dung and his wife Co Hao were able to go to university and graduate school for free, now the new generation has to pay a little bit of money for their education. I imagine it's much like the German education system? (Not sure 100%...)

Anyways we got into Vung Tau around 6 pm and headed to our hotel. Chu Dung rented a private beach house (2 bedroom, 3.5 bath, sleeps 4) for $110. You can see the beach from our back door...Just a short walk to the beach and also includes breakfast buffet and chair rentals - though the price tripled the next night due to holiday! We changed, rested up, and then got ready for dinner.

We drove into town and went to a popular seafood restaurant. Across the street, you can buy fresh food and then have it cooked in the restaurant. Picking out the live lobster and crabs to eat was oddly depressing for me. Pick out chicken breast? No problem. But pointing and saying "I want THAT lobster to fry RIGHT NOW" was weird, also because they looked so freaky weird and unappetizing...I almost threw up looking at the large shrimp moving around because they looked like large disgusting centipedes....everything tasted great though, ha!


a selection of live sea creatures awaits...lobster, crabs, shrimp, and snail, oh my!


my lobster...about $9


BEFORE...(enlarge the pic and you'll see what I mean by "unappealing"...)


and AFTER...

The meal can only be described as complete seafood gluttony. I got jokingly chided when I asked for rice, because I still had my lobster and crab to eat. I have little cuts on my thumbs from where they put up a fight, but it was worth the deliciousness. We also had sweet and sour fish soup (with pineapples and tomatoes, we have this often in the US but with the fresh fish it's just too good), snails (not a fan), small oysters (hard for me to open with my clumsy American fingers), oh and steamed okra (<3).


I'm sitting with Chi Cindy. Chu Dung and Chi Linh are across.

Total = around $40.

Afterwards, we burned some calories by walking around the boardwalk near a large hotel, the Imperial, which reminded of the themed hotels in Las Vegas (though not nearly as big or grand). A good day in Vietnam ends with coffee (or also fruit, but never fortune cookies), and so we enjoyed some drinks and rested for the long Thursday.


Enjoying drinks with Chu Dung at the Imperial Hotel.