February 2012
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“It is one of the more unjustifiable pretensions of our age that it measures time...”
– Laurens van der Post, “Venture to the Interior,” in which he documents a journey to his mother’s homeland in Africa.
This is something I can wholly agree with from my trip to Viet Nam this past summer. Time was agonizingly drawn out, like a dream that morphed fluidly from one...
January 2012
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The van rolled in past the gates, gravel from the main road audibly crunching beneath the tires. The few kids running around the fountain in the driveway stopped when they saw us—their heads cocked sideways, eyebrows scrunched, probably wondering what this strange car with these strange people were doing here. I made eye contact with a little girl wearing pink through the window. She then turned...
November 2011
2 posts
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Si Hoang: from kingdom to paradise →
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October 2011
3 posts
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Interlude
I tried to prepare myself for what would happen when I came back to Toronto, when this blog would become defunct. I brainstormed for the perfect final post—something that encapsulates my experiences in a place that means so many things to me. I thought long and hard about what words would paint perfectly the soul of a foreign homeland, an industrializing state, a contradiction of desperate...
I was sitting in a Vertu store with a friend of...
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September 2011
5 posts
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Sometimes
when I wake up, I can still hear the birds chirping. The leaves rustle. The water drifts. Sometimes I mistake the air conditioning in my apartment for the gentle breeze early morning in Sai Gon.
I leave my suitcase out, for when my responsibilities take me to the next province, to the next 10 homes. Of course, they don’t.
I’m easily awakened by my plastic curtains here. A change...
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Where do we go? Nobody knows.
I am happy—unbelievable so—to be home. The wide streets, room to breathe, the English language and the liberation that comes with being able to say what’s on my mind. Communication. Solidarity.
Home.
I have been looking forward to this since before I left, four months ago. I think the most exciting part of my going to Viet Nam was coming back to Canada, to Toronto, and...
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Home is where your stuff is
A few quips before I zonk out (I spent nearly 24 hours in transition and in the air):
-We take for granted so many things over here. Things like closets, cold water and Tropicana orange juice with pulp
-Facebook without having to screw around with DNS or proxy settings = nice
-Big Mac, Starbucks, Tim Horton’s, a juicy steak = self-explanatory
-There really is nothing better than going...
August 2011
35 posts
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Travel tip #7: Crossing the street is a commitment
When crossing the street in Viet Nam, it is necessary to walk slowly but surely. The motorists, they can smell fear. Except for moments when either the pedestrian or the motorist is not paying attention, you’ll find that it really is a smooth and problem-free venture. Cars and bikes will move around you.
Remember:
Once you’re in, you’re in. There’s no going back. Vehicles...
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After having spent over three months living in...
On the other side of the coin
There is something so incredibly sharp about going straight from an AIDS centre for terminally-ill HIV/AIDS patients to your mom’s millionaire friend’s home for dinner.
There have been plenty of moments where I can’t bring myself up to eat, but never out of sheer guilt.
Viet Nam, summer 2011. Three and a half months of constant ups-and-downs. Raw bipolarity.
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Thoughts from 9 July 2011
“I feel like I stepped out of the Discovery Channel. A hike up the mountain regions of Quang Tri that is tiring but exhilarating. Voraciously powerful in an ethereal sort of a way; a light breeze that packs a lot of punch. Finally, a reprieve (can it really be considered as such—when we hiked, while parched, and fell and bled?) from all the noise. The jarring speech and incessant shrieks. The...
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Dear friends, VTV1/VTV4's "Talk Vietnam" will be...
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Travel tip #6: When roaming the streets of Viet...
Your bag of choice would be a cross-body bag (purses, slings, totes, whatevs). That way, if anyone chooses to grab and run, they’d have to drag you along with them.
Knapsacks are large and efficient, but anyone behind you can slash and steal. The same applies to things in back-pockets.
Also, hold tightly onto your fancy iPhones—people can snatch it from you even as you’re...
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Travel tip #5: Mosquito repellent is your best...
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One Week
FADE IN:
INT. GROUND FLOOR OF SI HOANG’S LIBRARY HOUSE, NHA VUON LONG THUAN - NIGHT
An environmentally-friendly children’s library in ao dai designer Si Hoang’s estate. The building is restored Vietnamese architecture, with the typical tiled roof and large wooden columns.
VOICE (O.S.)
Seven days remain in my trip to Viet Nam. Seven days that will probably disappear with a...
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Canada is weaker without Layton’s passion,... →
New Democratic Party and Canada’s Official Opposition leader Jack Layton has just passed away this August 22. He was 61. I learned this news upon logging into Facebook and immediately felt like I got the wind knocked out of me.
Jack Layton was a role model in Canadian politics, not a description that can be applied to everyone (or let’s face it, most of the political players). He was...
People keep telling to enjoy this trip as if it's...
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Travel tip #4: If you go to a restaurant that...
Your best bet would be to negotiate prices right when you order food, instead of leaving it ‘til the bill at the end, when the restaurant staff will explode the prices.
It’s subjective, meant for the kitchen to cook portions according to party size and charge you accordingly. However, that also means that if you look like wealthy folk, or outsiders (people from Canada, for instance),...
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Travel tip #3: Keep a map with you at all times
1) So that you won’t get lost. Duh.
2) So that taxi drivers won’t scam you by going round in circles before taking you to your destination. I’m speaking from experience.
3) Plus all the usual reasons one would keep a map with them
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You know you've been in Viet Nam way too long when...
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This is a clip of my first interview with Voice of...
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I used to read Forbes Lifestyle, and now with...
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DFRO debuts in Viet Nam with a spectacular show
Of course, I’m not the least bit biased in saying that.
DFRO’s August 6, 2011 concert fundraiser was a huge success. Despite rain and apparently, a lack of parking, over 300 people came out and supported us in our first public, fundraising event in the country.
While we only raised $4000 USD/CAD (comparatively small to our usual earnings in Canada), we managed something worth...
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Ha Noi. Ha Noi's wide lanes and arching trees. Its...
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Reflecting on Ha Noi: language
The Bac (“northern”) accent is beautiful, as far as Vietnamese accents go. It’s like a river, a song (“river” in Vietnamese) and yes, even a song (the musical kind).
It’s a sweet bee buzz (zzZzZz) even when it’s laced with venom.
Nguoi Bac (people of the North) are very clever, careful with their words—kheo, as the Vietnamese say. They will not...
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Doughnut cheeseburgers and other CNE food items I... →
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Reliving my TV journalism editing days
by spending all day, cooped up in my room at the Regency Hotel (along with Anita Pham, DFRO Viet Nam’s Director of Communications), to put together not one, not two, not three, but FOUR videos—each about five minutes long. I did not see daylight this August 5th.
All in the name of charity.
Tomorrow (August 6, 2011) is Dreams Fulfilled Relief Organization’s first fundraising...
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July 2011
26 posts
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In the lap of luxury
I’ve discovered a hidden gem in Sai Gon.
The Regency Hotel Health Club. It’s located about a 20 minute cab ride from the downtown core.
I’m currently getting a pedicure, drinking a soda with lime and using one of the hotel laptops. There’s something about a soccer player named Aguero on the flatscreen TV in front of me.
The noise of the city is muted behind thick...
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