Troubled bridge over water

I wasn't on the bridge that collapsed in Vietnam. That bridge is about 100 miles south of us. Just this morning I commented that if I'm now afraid of bridges in Minnesota (after the 35W bridge collapse) then surely I must be petrified of bridges in this country. So far 50+ dead on that bridge; probably many more.

"I'm being followed by a moonshadow"

Tuesday night is a full moon. That means it's time for the Tet Trung Thu or the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. This festival is an ancient festival revolving around children. It dates back 15,000 - 20,000 years ago in Southeast Asia and is said that originally it came about as a way for parents to make up for lost time with their children after the harvest season. When the harvest was complete parents were anxious to spend time with their children and do something special with them as well as celebrate the harvest after spending so much time working hard and being away from the family. It was held under the full moon, which represents fullness and prosperity of life. It's a combination of Halloween and Thanksgiving. Children parade on the streets while singing and carrying colorful lanterns of different sizes. Some of the popular shapes include fish, stars, butterflies and a lantern that spins when a candle is inserted, representing the earth circling the sun. Dances are also traditional and include the dragon dance and the flower dance. On the stage below Terry and Eileen's apartment we watched a dragon dance and other characters on stage with an audience of children under a huge umbrella canopy protecting them from the rain.

It is customary to give Banh Trung Thu, boxes of moon cakes, which are traditionally very rich - - our version would be like a fruit cake. The cakes are filled with lotus seeds, ground beans and orange peels and have a bright duck egg yoke in the center to represent the moon. The one Eileen gave to me had multiple duck eggs inside (very good luck!) as well as pork and other meats. It's okay, not horrible, not great. It's sweet but has some savoury flavors as well. It's packaged really prettily and everyone gives them to people close to them. I saw many motorbikes with the decorative moon cake bags hanging from them today! And there are lanterns everywhere - - it's so beautiful!!

At Acoustic the music stopped and lanterns with candles were passed out to everyone. The candles are placed inside the paper (!) lanterns and lit (!). Then everyone in the bar sang a cute little song in Vietnamese; there was a lot of laughter going on and people were coming up to the mic to say something to the crowd and the crowd would loudly react. Again, I have it on my moving camera so it will be interesting to see it again. The temperature in the place went up by about 20 degrees when the candles were lit so we headed toward the exit (the single exit!!!) as fast as we could. Candles, paper lanterns, one exit - - a recipe for catastrophe. But it was so beautiful. Here's pretty Eileen holding her pretty lantern.

Vietnamese Coffee and American Pie

After our flying rice dinner we had Kiet drive us to District 1 so we could do Karaoke, Terry's favorite pastime. After driving around trying to find the perfect place we settled on Terry's second choice for places only to find it was packed and we were turned away at the door. So we headed back to District 3 where we were planning on going to a bar to listen to the music of their friend. The place we were going to is called Acoustic and features acoustical rock. It's at the end of a narrow alley-street with all kinds of music places from coffee shops to bars. Lights in the trees decorate the walled alley - - so beautiful! It's the tropical version of Greenwich Village or SoHo. Since it was only 7:45 we decided to go to a coffee bar first. The music there was violin, guitar, bass, and female singers. All music from the 1960's and really well done. The place was a Swiss Familiy Robinson looking place; all open air, a multi-level house, beautiful furniture - - very tropical. So perfect with floating flowers in water with candles. The ambiance was so relaxing. We drank Vietnamese coffee which is very thick and sweet poured over ice. It tastes exactly like those Coffee Nip candies. Yum! See the photo.

At 9:00 we headed over to Acoustic to the jam-packed, smoke-filled rock bar. A Vietnamese girl was singing when we got there - - I wish I had a tape of it. She was a fantastic performer and I could have listened to her all night long. Kind of a jazzy singer, more rock sounding than Norah Jones but on that same vein. Jeram, the guy we came to see, ran over to greet us and brought us to his standing table near the stage where is girlfriend Zoey was. He is in his late 30's and has a gravelly rough singing voice that makes him unique and a pleasure to listen to! He is fantastic. He only did a 15 minute set, sad for us! He dedicated a song to his friends Terry and Eileen and it was American Pie. I captured it with my moving camera so can't wait to hear him again via that! He did some Beatles, some Curt Cobain...a nice variety...but sang too short a time for my liking.

Wild rice

We drove to District 3 for dinner - - T & E live in District 1. There's a little hole in the wall place we sought for dinner; an unassuming little place with a wait staff that is nonchalant and low-key. I dare say they're NOT tourist friendly. And we were the only apparent tourists there - - at least the only Westerners there. We heard that this was a place where they throw the rice through the air to your table but because of the low-key nature of the place figured we had selected the wrong place. Au contraire!! All of a sudden there was a loud crash like someone had dropped a tray of dishes and through the air came a disc of rice - - and landed smack on the floor. With hardly any reaction from the wait staff there was more loud breaking noise and another rice disc flew by - - again on the floor. This time I had my moving camera ready! The third time is a charm, though, because the thing whirred past me and landed onto the plate of the server across the room. So what happens is the rice is cooked in a clay pot until it is crispy (thus the disc). The breaking sound is the guy breaking the clay pot the rice is cooked in - - he breaks it into a pile of clay on the floor; every three or four pots are swept up and I suppose tossed away. All with little to no reaction from the wait staff even after I reacted either with an "Aw" when they missed or a "Yes!" when it was caught. Nothing. That's why we thought we were in the wrong place at first! What fun. The photos can't capture it because it's hard to keep your eye on a flying disc of rice - - but look, up in the sky, toward the center of the photo! The food was outstanding and of course, inexpensive. I think it was $16US tonight.

The Tourist Police

On some street corners there are men in grass green colored uniforms; they really stand out. Eileen tells me they are the tourist police. They help people cross the street or answer a random tourist-type question. Generally they are assigned areas where there has been some type of problem in the past like a tourist gets hit by a motorbike crossing the street (fairly common I would imagine) or a crime of some sort has occured. "What are you, the tourist police?" "Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I am." I think it's just funny! I have moving pictures of them standing in groups kibbitzing; I'll endeavor to get a still shot so I can post it.

"I'm picking out a Thermos for you"

I am a fan of the Thermos. I love them, in fact. The only thing I probably like more is a Swiss Army Knife, but Thermoses - - THE Thermos - - is at the top of my list of favorite gadgety products. So imagine my excitement the other night when we were coming home from dinner down Ly Tu Trung Road and I saw a Thermos store! A STORE dedicated to the Thermos!!! A store filled with Thermi (okay, I'm making up that word)! I told Eileen that if there's one store I NEED to go to, it's that one. So on Tuesday we ventured out to find it and triumphantly did. Kiet, Terry and Eileen's driver, pulled over on to the sidewalk to wait for us and we entered Thermos Nirvana. I touched each one as it was displayed on the wall, each on its own little stand with a spotlight upon it. This store really celebrates the Thermos like it deserves to be celebrated! It's a thing of beauty. And the products are so funky and plastic-y now - - not your grandfather's Thermos, that's for sure! Most of them come with little insulated carrying bags so one can sling it proudly over their shoulder proclaiming to the world, "I'm carrying my hot liquid!" or "This is the liquid I'm going to drink later, everyone!" Amazing colors; amazing styles. So I picked a spot near the door, set down my bag and pulled out my camera readying myself to take the perfect photo to capture the essence of the place only to be told, "No picture." Seriously? I can't take a picture of the ONLY store I HAD to go into in Saigon?! What? "No, no, no" the sales girl said. So off we went. I was dejected, completely dejected. Eileen wonders if maybe the Thermoses are fakes and so the sales girl is worried about being caught...good point and an explanation that makes sense. I had to settle for a photo from the outside. If only I had that photo, then I would be happy...that's all I need...

Spa and Lunch

On Tuesday morning we had an appointment at YKC, a spa named after the first letters of three of the owners. NOT to be confused with KFC or JFK for those who have read my other posts. Ha! After the hectic drive there amongst honking and veering motorbikes we entered the tranquil spa and were greeted warmly by the owner who is acquainted well with Eileen. She lives in VN but is of Chinese descent. When I told her we were going to Tibet on Friday she had a blank face. She asked questions about its location and still didn't know. I said 'Mt. Everest' and 'Dalai Lhama' and 'Buddhist' and she still didn't know. She commented that here she is from China and she still doesn't know where it is; she was so surprised about that! We laughed and moved on. It's just interesting to me that she didn't know. Her name is Cindy, the "C" in the acronym. Her son is Kai, the "K."

Here's what I had done at YKC: eyebrow shaping & dye, lash dye w/liner applied (Interesting! I've never had such a thing done but with no makeup-wearing in this climate it's great!), leg & feet massage, neck & arm massage, shampoo with 30 minute head rub, style with ANOTHER neck rub, AND a pedicure (French) with ANOTHER leg and foot rub for $58US. !!!! In North America that would have been the deluxe package, would have taken all day and would have probably cost at least $250, I think.

Lunch was near the pink cathedral that my room looks out over in the distance. It is a pancake restaurant. Stop thinking about pancakes as you know them. Instead, think of large pieces of flat soybean batter/dough with pieces of shrimp baked in the batter on a flatiron over an open coal and wood fire in lots of oil and filled with greens/herbs (mint, basil, lettuces of all kinds), soybeans (small little yellow beans), bean sprouts, and dipped in fish sauce and chilies. Yum!! Then we had coconut juice from a straw out of the coconut itself (common on every street corner) and cold tea. The price was again, ridiculously low at $15US for two people to eat but the price is not the notable part of this lunch - - these pancakes are amazing, unlike anything I've ever eaten. Every bite was an experience, a sensation that I didn't want to end. All the flavors from the ingredients mingled together in such a way that it was a pleasure just to chew it! See the photos of the street the restaurant is on (note pink spires), the kitchen for cooking and the kitchen for cleaning the dishes.

The only hard part about lunch is that there are beggars who come through selling stuff like postcards or little papers of some sort (like VN lottery tickets or something). They are all of a certain age so it makes me assume (probably accurately) that they have been wounded in the war. One guy is legless so walks on his hands while carrying a basket of postcards on his head. He's a pleasant enough guy who seems to have a lot of friends there (everyone who worked there was happy with him and talking to him - - maybe he's a relative or something). Then someone wheeled in a man in a wheelchair whose legs and arms were skinnier than they should have been but long enough as they should be. Proportionate but disproportionate at the same time. He was selling something only to the Vietnamese so didn't approach us as Westerners. Then there's an old woman with burns over her face, neck and arms... The begging isn't pervasive but it is not uncommon. It's not annoying but it is off-putting and makes me feel sad when I contemplate the Vietnam war and its physical effect on so many people. I say all this not out of pity for these people; not at all. And I don't say any of it in judgement of them as beggars or that I even think they shouldn't ask for money. It just really pulls at my heart to see so many people wounded (most in their 40's to 60's) in such drastic ways most likely from the war we came in to fight...

I met a dentist today

We visited a quilt shop today to look at fabrics for a quilt Eileen is having made. Her friend is the owner. She's a Vietnamese woman named Thanh (Tahn) who moved to France for her education and then worked there for a time. She's a trained and practicing dentist here in Vietnam and was the same in Paris, France. When she and her husband moved back to VN from Paris, Thanh wanted to do something to help the women in the community gain employment so she opened this quilt store where the quilts are all hand stitched. The orders are taken at the store, fabrics selected, then sent to a village where the women sit on the floor and stitch for a fair wage. It's an interesting endeavor and she's very successful. She still practices dentistry but only a few days per week. She is familiar with Ivoclar Vivadent's products and uses our composites and a few products I don't know about. She is amazed how inexpensively she can purchase products here in VN and can't figure it out. Compared to what she pays in France (which is off the charts expensive, according to her) she can't figure out how a company can make money selling them so inexpensively here and knows someone is paying for it in the long run. I'm not sure how all that works, either, but now I'm curious...

Will fresh food cooked perfectly grow tiresome?

I wonder if I'll ever get tired of this food here. Will I crave KFC or Pizza Hut? Will I say, "What? Fresh seafood - - again?" or "Why do we always have to have greens cooked perfectly in garlic with fresh soft shell crab and a fresh fruit platter; why can't we just have mac & cheese?" Blaahhhaaaahhaa! I hope not! Again, we went out to eat and pulled all the stops out with ordering: crabs in salt, pepper, and garlic (I would have licked the plate had Terry and Eileen not already done it! Just kidding), skewers of Tiger Prawns done in chilies and salt (amazing but I had to stop because my lips were burning!), a huge bowl of butter clams in a cilantro, butter & cream sauce (the people next to us spooned this broth into their baby's mouth; so were we!), fish spring rolls that we make ourselves with rice paper, a heaping bowl of herbs (mint, basil, lettuce, and other greens I've never known) and chili sauce, a large bowl of white rice to sop up the juices and a large plate of Chinese spinach with garlic gloves heaped on for dessert. Oh, and tea, beer, and a little liquor. This time we spent the most we've ever spent - - but that's because we were at a dinner club (outdoors) that sang Carpenter's, Beach Boys, and Elvis. We spent just under $40US or 565,000 dong. Seriously. We had a similar version of the meal at lunch time for $15US (see photo of soft shell crabs waiting at the entrance of the restaurant - - I had 2 of those) and will do the same tomorrow and the next day, I'm sure.

JFK is in Vietnam!

One funny thing I keep chuckling about is this: Hoe, my cousin's boss, said something really funny. Some background on this remarkable guy: He is a multi-business owner, self-taught architect, trained engineer from Moscow University with an advanced degree in economics, wonderful father and great host among many, many other things. His English is remarkable as is his Russian, Chinese, and other languages. The other night at dinner he leaned over to me and said, "Have you seen that JFK is here?" "What?" I said, "JFK? Huh?" He said, "Yes, I wonder what you think of that." Still confused by what he was saying (and I knew then that he was, too) we just looked at each other and it dawned on both of us at the same time and we burst out laughing! We realized he meant KFC! So funny! JFK vs. KFC! (By the way, Pizza Hut is here, too.)

As an aside, Hoe's life has been interesting. Not from a wealthy family, he grew up in Saigon. When the war started his family scraped enough together to send him, a child approximately 6 or 7, to the country to live in hopeful safety. He lived away from his family for a time working and attending a sort of school and then moved home when the war was complete in 1975. I'm sure I'll learn more about his story but that's interesting to me. Eventually he was accepted into an Engineering program at Moscow University. He left Saigon for Moscow University but spent a few years first learning the language so he could attend the school. He was selected for the engineering program on his merit. Some are selected for their standing in the community but he was sent for his intelligence/achievements. It was there he met his now-wife, LiLi (pronounced Lily). I'll look forward to learning more about him on our trip to Tibet. What I know of him so far I really like. He's very easy to be around and I enjoy hearing what he has to say.

The good and the bad

They know if you've been sleeping, they know if you've been bad or good... The interesting thing about VN or any communist country for that matter, is that they take your passport for the duration of your stay at any hotel or guest house. Or in this case, apartment building. I arrived on Saturday and they hope to have my passport back on Monday after it is taken to the police for review. I've heard stories about residents that audibly complain about a lack of towels in this maid-serviced apartment building only to hear a knock at the door from a maid bearing clean towels. The story also goes that a woman broke a volume of glass in her kitchen and received replacements of those glasses without asking for them. Cameras? Recording devices? Most definitely. And the good thing about them taking my passport at hotels is that the government supposedly always knows where tourists are. So providing I'm not involved with any government-related disappearance, I can always be tracked if a kidnapping befalls me...there are the good aspects of communistic governments and the bad aspects...

Good morning, Vietnam

Even though my blog states that it is Sunday it is really Monday morning. I've been at the computer since 3:30 this morning - - it is nearly 7:00. It's great using this blog as my diary/journal! I'm able to type so much faster than I can write and I'm able to share my experiences and the sights with friends back home. Here are the first photos of the day, taken at 5:40. I'll write more as the day progresses.

A day in the life

Today I was awake early watching the fog lift over the city from my bedroom window; at about 5:15 a.m. After a breakfast of cheese, crackers, a boiled egg, and peach juice I settled in to read my book, "When Heaven and Earth Changed Places," by an author whose first name is Le Ly. The plan is that I will meet Le Ly on Wednesday evening; I want to be prepared to discuss the contents of her book when I see her so this is my homework. She is in town along with Oliver Stone as they work on his new movie about the My Lai Masacre. She is a Vietnamese woman who has written about her life during the war and her support of the Viet Cong during that time. She said for many people in the United States the war was about democracy vs. communism; but for Vietnam that wasn't the fight at all - - most Vietnamese knew little about democracy and even less about communism. For most Vietnamese it was a fight for independence; a war between rich and poor, a war between those who wanted to leave VN as it had been for a thousand years and for those who wanted it to change. She said these things had been going on for decades and still go on today. How could America think it could change a country that has been fighting so many battles for so long? It's interesting so far. She calls herself "uneducated yet literate." That's a description I would give to many Vietnamese people here. It seems formal education might not be prevalent but literacy is the norm. According to the statistics provided by this communist government the literacy rate is 98%. Seems high for any nation...

After visiting the War Remnants Museum (see previous post) we went to lunch by the river, next to the Renaissance Hotel I stayed at in 2000. We had a feast of shrimp steamed in coconut juice, clams steeped in ginger water, fresh herbs/greens, never-ending glasses of "cha da" (iced tea), pumpkin greens, heaping bowls of rice with "nuoc mom" (fish sauce), varieties of fresh fruit with salt and chilies, pork and eggplant, mud fish in garlic (yum!!) and probably more that I can't recall. We had more food for a bigger price today: 320,000 dong or $20US. What on earth!?! Are you kidding me!? Again, this is craziness.

After lunch we shopped. Each store had greater stuff than the last. I bought so many gifts and so many things I know I'll end up keeping for myself! Again, crazy low prices.

This heat is ridiculous. Not so much the heat but the humidity. My skin is constantly glowing, even the backs of my hands and my calves. I want to acclimate soon! Then I'll head to Tibet where the environment sucks every ounce of moisture out of the body! What a contrast!

On Sunday night we were graciously invited to Terry's boss's house (how is 'boss's' spelled, anyway?) which is on the other side of town in an area that sounds something like "foo lock", I think. Being a successful businessman, Hoe lives in apparent wealth and luxury with a gated ultra modern-style home that he recently designed and built. See photos. More important than the beautiful physical environment he has created for himself, his wife LiLi, children MiMi and BeBe, and dog ToBy (all nicknames; not their given Vietnamese names), there is a warmth among the family, servants and guests in the home that was a joy to be around! We enjoyed a many-course meal (now this is heaven on earth!), lots of wine/beer, lively conversation, and entertainment by Mr. Son (pronounced Sahn) and his son (pronounced sun). The interesting thing is that only three of the guests spoke both English and Vietamese so they acted as the interpreters for the rest of us. Mr. Son would carry on lively conversations with me, looking directly into my eyes smiling and animated and I would nod and smile back in hopefully appropriate places! I had no idea what he was saying until Hoe or someone else interpreted for me. The women appeared to speak no English but the children present were fluent in English complete with slang and intonations I could have heard at home in Minnesota! Part way through dinner Mr. Son decided to entertain us with "ope-er-ah" or his opera voice! What a treat. He sang a Vietnamese folk song that he said showed his love for his country - - he said he wanted to share that with us so we knew how much he loved his Vietnam. It was a song with apparently many verses because he sang for quite some time. I wasn't ready for him to stop because it was so beautiful. He sang a couple of songs for us - - everyone laughed at one of the songs but we have no clue what he sang. By the way, Mr. Son will go with us on Friday to Tibet along with Hoe, the host of our evening. Then Mr. Son's 12 year old (I'm guessing) son entertained us with his piano playing whilst we ate our pommelos for dessert. He is a beautiful classical pianist with a little "theme from Love Story" thrown in. It was beautiful. As I sat there listening to these strangers perform I thought: how lucky am I to be in this environment? How lucky am I to be able to experience these snippits of life in this other country? And like Hoe and I discussed after dinner we're all alike all over the world. We have the same hopes and dreams, the same thoughts and ideas, and the same need to reach out to strangers and friends. My mind keeps going back to Mr. Son performing opera at dinner as he stood at the table. I can't imagine experiencing such a thing at home.

A pre-McDonalds Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) is sprawling. It is Vietnam's largest and most populous city. I don't' know the exact size or population but to the naked eye it seems similar to New York City, Tokyo, or other huge, sprawling cities; it just doesn't have the skyscrapers. There are a few tall buildings but I don't think any are above 30 stories - - yet. There is a lot of construction with a lot of plans for more and more development so I would guess that in 5 years this place will look very different from how it looks today. And I predict there will be a McDonalds within that period of time; guaranteed. KFC is here complete with statues of the Colonel outside. Plus, there's a push to remove the street vendors: the people who carry large quantities of merchandise to sell on their heads, backs, and motorbikes. That will definitely eliminate people following you on the street asking you to purchase postcards and other trinkets but it will take away the charm of this city and country, in my opinion. I like the idea that I'm able to purchase soup from someone who makes it all before my eyes on the sidewalk while buses and motorbikes rush by. I like that people are able to set up their 3-D greeting card business (pop-up images cut from paper) on the street and that they sit and cut the images for their cards while I watch. And I might rather to buy oranges from a toothless, smiling woman with hundreds of them balanced on the front and back of her bike - - with one or two sliced in half so I can see the quality of her merchandise instead of going to a market. What I DON'T want to see are all of the air conditioned shops going in with "greeters" trying to sell me the products in the store. That's what I avoid in the states like the plague! "How are you today?" "Can I help you find anything?" "Did you find everything you were looking for?" Yuck. That's why I shop online. And that's why I visit a place like HCMC. The shoes I bought today are made in Sapa, a town in northern Vietnam (VN) on the border of China. I visited Sapa in 2000 and loved it. It is an area rich with culture due to the many ethnic minorities that live there: people who dress in their native clothing vs. Western-style clothing, people who lead treks through the countryside and sell their handiwork like fabrics and bags made from indigo hand-dyed fabrics. But now today I found out that the government pays these ethnic minorities (subsidises them) to continue dressing in their original garb and prepare their handiwork to sell in order to keep the tourist trade up. The government knows that that's what tourists want so it continues and thrives. But back to my shoes: they match other stuff I bought when I was in Sapa in 2000 and they fit so well. I love them!! They were comparatively expensive at $24US per pair. But keep in mind they were made by the ethnic minorities in Sapa...

War Remnants

On Sunday we visited the War Remnants Museum - - formerly the War Atrocities Museum when I was here in 2000. It is wholly dedicated to the Vietnam Conflict; the American War as it is called here. It is filled with photos of politicians of the time, GIs on the battlefield, wounded soldiers, civilians, people in America protesting against the war, etc. It also has pro war against America posters from European nations, South American nations - - supporting Vietnam in their efforts to fight against us and get us out of their country. All a very interesting perspective because one sees it from many different points of view. There are fetuses in jars showing the effects of Agent Orange, pictures of children with deformities, soldiers missing limbs, pictures of the land/terrain obliterated by the war. There is a mock set-up of the prisons with photos; often 14 men were thrown in one 6 x 10' cell. The photos are displayed beside the cells - - all very powerful. There is a "guest" book of sorts called an Impression Book where people from all over the world have signed their sentiments. There is also a wing dedicated to the artwork done by children on their impressions of war and of peace. Most of the work is done by children who are 13 years old in this display. See the photos I've included for a few of the many photos I took.

Words you'll never hear in Vietnam

These words will never be heard in Vietnam: It's a dry heat. Because I'm here to tell you, it's not! I've stopped wearing makeup and stopped blow drying my hair. There's just no point.

Saigon Jane

I'm in Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City to be exact. The former Saigon. The flight could have been horrendous considering it's a 14 hour flight from San Francisco but I slept for the first 10 hours so I'm lucky - - the flight flew by for me. In fact, I had to keep figuring and re-figuring the time vs. hours traveled because how could I have slept for that many hours in an airplane seat? And all with no aching neck or back, no swollen feet, no problems - - and with no meds taken to help make me tired and relaxed for the flight. That's what just plain exhaustion can do for a person, I guess.

Flying through Taipei, Taiwan was interesting. Typhoons in China made the weather rainy - - torrential downpours. But all moved smoothly along and everything remained on time. The flight to Vietnam from Taipei was just under 3 hours. Every seat on the plane is equipped with an interactive touch screen with cameras so we were able to watch the take-off and landing from the pilot's perspective due to a camera mounted in the cockpit. Or we had the choice of the downward view so we could watch what was below us as we flew. Very interesting. There's a large sign (see photo) in the Taipei Airport that reads 'Drug Trafficking is Punishable by Death in ROC (Republic of China)'... Hmmm...note to self...(see the photo).

In Vietnam Terry and Eileen, my cousin and his wife (residents of Vietnam), met me at the airport waving a huge balloon (see photo) - - that's so Eileen so I knew right away it was her when I saw the long balloon. After settling in at the apartment we walked across the park to lunch and had the following: 4 appetizers, 2 beers, 3 teas, 1 fresh watermelon juice, 3 entrees - - all for $250,000 dong, or $15US. Amazing! (see photo) My Vietnamese home will be in Ho Chi Minh City, near the American and French Consulates in a high rise building with a department store on the first level. Terry and Eileen live on the 18th floor; see photos of the views from the apartment. On the 13th floor is a pool and party deck on the top of one of the buildings. Did I mention there are massages available for $10US for 1.5 hours or $7US for 1 hour. This is craziness! More later...

Basic Itinerary

My flight itinerary:
Friday, 21 September
depart San Francisco for Taipei, Taiwan and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (formerly Saigon) - approximately 17 hours in flight from San Francisco
Friday, 28 September
depart Ho Chi Minh City for Chengdu, China and Lhasa, Tibet - approximately 9 hours in flight
Tuesday, 9 October
depart Chengdu, China via Hong Kong, Taiwan, and San Francisco - approximately 23 hours in flight
Wednesday, 10 October
return home at 6:00 a.m.

Time calculations
At midnight in Minneapolis it is noon the next day in Vietnam (+12 hours)
At midnight in Minneapolis it is 1:00 p.m. the next day in Lhasa, Tibet (+13 hours)