charvey in Vietnam

Dambri Waterfall Trip

Two weeks ago I traveled with our company's English Club to Dambri Waterfall, into the highlands near Dalat.  Buckets of fun.  I was the only foreigner on the trip if you don't count Lan, a Vietnamese American guy.  He blends in a bit better than I do, and his Vietnamese is a million times better.  So of course everyone communicated in Vietnamese.  I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to function in Vietnamese pretty much the entire weekend, both listening and speaking.  I learned a few new words, too -- "tent," "itch," "firewood" and "waterfall."  Good times, good times.  See the pics here.

Hong Kong!

Last weekend I went to the Hong Kong Salsa Festival.  It was a blast!  I learned some cool new moves, gorged on McDonalds and met some excellent peeps.  Check out the pics here.

The Aroma of Saigon

I just returned to Saigon from my annual pilgrimage to the USA.  Stepping off the plane, I noticed the unique aroma of Saigon -- tropical moisture, wood fires and motorbike exhaust.  "Ah, it's good to be home."

I had similar experiences when I stepped off the plane in San Francisco and Vermont.  San Francisco smelled of dry, dusty Eucalyptus trees.  Vermont was the moist soil and cool leaves of a northern temperate forest.  Washington was the lush fragrance of the summertime flowering species of the mid-Atlantic.

I read somewhere that sense of smell is closely associated with memory.  That's why certain smells always bring a flood of memories and emotions, as they did in each time I stepped off the plane during my USA holiday.  It's funny -- you never realize that certain places have their own unique aroma signatures because you get used to it. 

My 3 week holiday was awesome.  Stops included:

• San Francisco. Went to the wedding of my good friends Marcie and Mike.  I was honored to deliver a short speech at the rehearsal dinner bang tiếng việt/in Vietnamese.  Marcie's family got a big kick out of it too.  It was also great to see a bunch of the old Yahoo peeps including Spencer, Lisa, Zerlina, Brookie, Larissa and Larry.
• Naples, Florida.  Visited my dad and his wife Marty.  My sister was there too.  Lots of hanging by the pool and playing tennis.  Good times.
• Burlington, Vermont.  My hometown and where my mom and sister still live.  I went to my 20 year high school reunion!  Wowie.  1988 was a long time ago.  Carol, Jennifer et al did an outstanding job organizing, complete with 1988 yearbook photos and an animated video collage of old and new photos of people in our class.  I also attended the 9th annual Gathering of Men -- a weekend with high school buddies dedicated to beer, poker, grilled meats and paintball (nothing is better than shooting your buddies in the back and leaving a black and blue welt the size of a silver dollar).  Lastly, there was a LOT of eating.  Mom cooked all my favorite meals including lasagna, meatloaf and chicken.  Took a side trip to Montreal too.  I was gonna swing up there, but the venue was too far. 
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One night stop to visit my old friend Sue and her tea bar, Tbar.
• Baltimore, Maryland. Another one night stop to visit my old college buddy Colin, his wife Magan and their very chill, very cute 10 month old boy Jonah.  He was the most chill baby I've ever met.  Colin and I got some good Mexican (hard to find in Vietnam) and then went to a cool Scotch bar in Baltimore. 
• Washington, DC. Last stop on the tour.  Visited old college buddy Hank as well as dinner/visits with Darden peeps Katie, Judy, Heidi, Rick, Cecil, Jimbo and his wife Barbara.  Jimbo's story about an encounter with ex-DC mayor Marion Barry was hysterical.  Everybody is doing great.

Ha Long Bay

Last weekend I took an outstanding overnight tour of Ha Long Bay, near Haiphong in north Vietnam with my friends Rick and Katie from the USA.  Ha Long Bay is packed with thousands of conical limestone formations that soar out of the deep green water.  It's quite spectacular. 

We took a cruise on the "Emeraude," a replica of a French steamer that plied the waters around Haiphong around 70 years ago.  It was charming -- all wood and brass from the 30s but with modern conveniences like A/C.  I highly recommend the experience, especially for a little romantic getaway.

Here's a video I shot with Katie on the boat.  We had some fun with it.

Click To Play

Also, check out some pics from my AOL Pictures album.  I'm pretty impressed with this animated blog embed doohickey that AOL created.  Way cool.  Go AOL, go!  You can see the album here.

Nanjing Street in Shanghai

Here's a video from my recent trip to Shanghai, China.  I'm walking down Nanjing Street, the main shopping drag in Shanghai.  I was solicited to buy luxury goods of dubious origin about 50 times.  I guess I look like an easy mark.  Ya wanna buy a rolex?

Click To Play

Tokyo Pics

Hey Public, I've uploaded all my pics to Picasa Web.  You can check out the albums below.

Japan 1

Japan2

Also, here's another video.  This one is of the huge intersection just outside of Shibuya station.  It's kind of like Times Square in Tokyo.

Tokyo 2

Check out the Tsukiji Fish Market.  This is where restaurant buyers come every morning to pick up the freshest fish in town.  It starts around 4:30am.  I got there at 6:30.  More Tokyo pics to come.

Tokyo

Hey My Public, I'm in Tokyo!  You can tell from the sign:

I took a bus into the city, then caught a taxi to the hotel.  The taxi driver was the politest taxi driver I've ever had.  Check out the white gloves.  Wow.  The back door of the cab opened and closed automatically.

Here's the magnificent view from my hotel room at the Park Hotel, looking Southwest over Tokyo Tower from the 29th floor.

The room is a bit small, but plenty big for one person.  It's tastefully furnished.  The main lobby on the 25th floor has a similar but much more expansive view.  It's a pretty cool hotel -- similar to the "W" in the States.

Last night there was a reception for prospective Darden students.  I ran into Takeshi (left) and Ichiro (right), two of my Darden Class of 1999 classmates.  Afterwards, Takeshi took me out on the town.

Street scene in the Ginza district.

Spic and span subway car.

The Tokyo subway is easily the biggest and most comprehensive subway I've even been on.  It seems much bigger and more complex than even New York's.  There are even free public restrooms -- none of that urine smell so familiar in Manhattan. 

My initial impressions of Japan are orderly, quiet and clean.  I knew it was different from Vietnam when everyone formed themselves into neat queues waiting for the terminal shuttle at the airport (orderly). Walking the streets of downtown Tokyo is eerily silent even though it's packed with people and cars (quiet).  This puzzled me until I realized there were no muffler-less motorbikes or constantly bleating horns.  The sidewalks and subway cars are spotless with nary a scrap of paper, cigarette butt or discarded gum (clean).  Although I do love Vietnam, this is a nice change for a few days.  I like Japan.

Weekend in Bali

Last weekend I went to Bali, island of the Gods, to meet up with some friends from San Francisco.   Bali probably is the  closest thing to a tropical paradise I've ever experienced, with Costa Rica a close second.  It wasn't too hot (about 80 Fahrenheit), had beautiful beaches, mountains, great food and friendly people.  We also stayed at a totally pimping villa.  It was great.

The weekend consisted of eating, lounging by the pool, massages, reading and touring the island.  This is a shot of the gang after eating a decadent multi-course grilled seafood meal prepared by the staff of our villa.  Having a staff was cool, but was also a bit weird.  They were there all the time, even all night.  I suppose I could get used to it though.  Hungry and want a snack?  Have the staff whip it up and serve it to you next to the pool.

One day we took a tour of the island.  It was a fine, but quite generic and especially touristy.  One stop was at a quarry where the Balinese cut stones for use in building the many temples of the island.  As our guide explained, nearly every family has a temple.  These women were transporting cut stones from the bottom of the quarry to the roadside.  Each stone weighs about 5 kilos, so they are carrying 15 kilos on their head in each trip.  The vertical was about 60 meters.  It seems that women do most of the hard labor in Asia.  Sweet.

A pastoral scene of terraced rice paddies on the tour.  All the green kinda reminded me of Vermont, except different.

Fresh Faces in Can Tho

Last weekend I went to the city of Can Tho, a major provincial capital in the Mekong Delta.  Some local companies had organized a jobs seminar for students at the University of Can Tho.  VietnamWorks was invited to attend, say a few words and sit on a panel.  Needless to say, we ruthlessly exploited the event to deliver our message, but in a friendly and added-value way for the  students.  Seeing all those fresh-faced youngsters grappling with existential job angst reminded me of my own college days.  Nice kids. 

Charvey giving a brief speech which contained several shameless plugs for VietnamWorks.  On the right, her face partly obscured by flowers, is Chi from Customer Care.  She was my interpreter, and fortunately was able to cover my inarticulate ramblings with an elegant Vietnamese translation.

Students of Can Tho laughing as one of their own went to the stage to practice firm handshakes and good eye contact.  Read the newspaper story in Vietnamese here.

After the event I had lunch with bigwigs from the University and other sponsoring companies.  I felt like I was at a fraternity party.  One guy was a dead ringer for a Vietnamese Chevy Chase, I swear.  A couple guys kept toasting me and saying "50%!" or "100%!" which means chugging half or all of your drink, respectively.  I was advised not to go toe to toe with men from the Mekong since they are legendary drinkers.  Sound advice that I ignored anyway.

Mmmm, yummy giant snails just like mom used to make.  I was served several of these by the host.  Actually, they were kinda tasty.  But once I thought of the slimy snail foot in my mouth (that was the chewy, rubbery part) my I had to suppress the gag reflex.  It's all in the mind.

My USA Trip

My trip to the USA was fantastic.  It was great to catch up with friends and family again, even though I'd only been gone about 3.5 months.  Here are a few pics.

In Naples, Florida with my Dad and his wife Marty.  They ran me ragged around the court and showed no mercy.  Marty made an outstanding turkey dinner, too (my favorite).

The Men at the conclusion of the Seventh Annual Gathering of Men.  These are my high school buddies.  We get together every year and rent a house in Plymouth, Vermont (the birthplace of 30th President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge).  The weekend is full of manly pursuits such as poker, golf, pool, darts, drinking beer and eating massive quantities of grilled meats.  Featured second from left is the newest and smallest member of the group, Ryan.  He quickly earned our respect by taking everyone's money at the poker table and shotgunning a sixpack.

The late afternoon view looking west over Lake Champlain from a beach near my mother's house in Vermont.  Lake Champlain separates the states of Vermont and New York.  Look carefully at the horizon and you can see the Adirondack mountains of New York state.  Although I grew up there, every time I return I am taken aback anew by its rugged beauty.

Here's the main drag in my hometown of Burlington, Vermont.  You'll note an odd city name paved into the walk -- "Ho Chi Minh City."  The line you see in the left of the picture is an imaginary longitudinal line that runs through Burlington and north-south through the poles around the world.  Names of cities that lie on or near the longitude line are carved into blocks in the pavement.  Two others are Singapore and Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua.  Pretty cosmopolitan for a small, remote American city.  According to a cool  distance calculation site I found, Burlington is 8,594 miles (13,830 kilometers) from Ho Chi Minh City, aka Saigon. 

Staying in touch with important people in my life takes time and effort, but the rewards are worth a thousand times the investment.  There was a popular song that appeared in 1999 called the "Sunscreen Song."  It features a guy giving advice in a conversational tone set to chill background music.  It contains bits like, "Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on.  Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young."  True.

Listen to the song on YouTube here.

Off to the USA

In a few hours I'll board a big bird back to the lower 48 for a two week visit.  I have stops planned in Washington DC, Vermont and Florida. 

DC will be a good time with the peeps.  Vermont and Florida is folk time with ma,pa and sis.  A good chunk of my Vermont time will be spent at the Seventh Annual Gathering of Men though.  It's an annual reunion for about eight of my high school buddies.  We rent a big farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, Vermont, where there is no Internet access or mobile phone service (this is key, so none of the guys can call their wives or vice-versa).  There will be much beer drunk, cards played, and trash-talking exchanged.   Special prize for the best trash-talking.

Don't despair, My Public.  I will send at least one or two dispatches from the road.  'Til then, adios.

Phu Quoc Island

Last Thursday and Friday I played a little hooky and took off to visit Phu Quoc, an island off Vietnam's Southern coast in the Gulf of Thailand.  Phu Quoc is an undeveloped island, home to about 75,000 people and the largest pepper exporter in Vietnam (who knew?).  There's also a thriving pearl cultivation industry there. 

Most of the roads on the island are dirt and the island natives primarily work in agriculture and fishing.  I stayed at the Tropicana Resort on the island's west side.  It made for beautful sunsets of the ocean, viewed from Tropicana's restaurant patio while sipping a pina colada.  Marvelous.

Walking along the beach during the first day I encountered this boy and his friends.  They were hunting some kind of small crab that burrowed into the sand at the water's edge.  One boy would hold a fine mesh net, while the other two boys would shovel sand into the net as quickly as possible.  Then they would strain the sand and water out of the net to isolate the crabs.  The bucket this boy is holding is about half-full of writhing little buggers.  We walked together for a while, and it was fun to watch the boys spot some telltale crab signs in the sand and run off excitedly to ply their trade.  Kids are kids everywhere.

No review of Phu Quoc would be complete without a mention of its spectacular seafood.  One day I rented a motorbike and toured the island.  I stopped in a fishing village on the east side and picked a restaurant at random on the water.  When I ordered shrimp I was confused when the waitress motioned for me to go towards the kitchen.  It soon became clear that I was to pick out my lunch!  I chose a fine selection of rather active shrimp.  The matron of the establishment plucked them out of the tank, weighed them, and in 10 short minutes they were sitting at my table ready to eat.  I've never seen shrimp so big.  They were delicious.

Check out this video where I meet the meat: 

Click here for more photos of Phu Quoc.  Click on "View as guest" then "Slideshow."  Maximize your browser window for the best viewing. 

The Killing Fields

Tragedy.  One word.  That is Cambodia.

Over the weekend I visited the infamous "Killing Fields" about 15 kilometers outside of Phnom Penh.

The setting was peaceful and anticlimactic -- a copse of trees, a grassy meadow....and many, many shallow depressions scattered about where victims were buried under a shallow covering of soil.  This is where tens of thousands of Cambodian men, women and children, -- “enemies of the people” – were murdered during the Khmer Rouge’s bloody reign from 1975 to 1979. There is a monument to the fallen in the middle. It’s filled with skulls. Some bear visible witness to the violence that ended their lives – puncture and stabbing wounds are evident on many of the skulls. It’s chilling.

The scale and horror of the cruelty was on the same level as that perpetrated by Hitler’s Nazis. The KR took Mao’s ideas about the Cultural Revolution and brought it to a whole new level. They wanted to create an “agrarian paradise” and completely erase all cultures and ideas that came before them. 1975, the year the KR conquered the country, was reset as “Year Zero.” Nothing that had come before Year Zero existed – the Khmer were going to start a new society. They abolished currency, markets, machinery and independent thought. Anyone with an education or any association with the previous government or foreigners was killed. Nearly two million from a population of about 8 million were killed by the Khmer or died of starvation. It boggles the mind.

Two excellent movies that capture the evil and madness of the KR regime are “The Killing Fields” and a documentary titled “S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine.” I bought both at the actual killing field. I just finished watching “S21.” It contains footage of former prisoners confronting their former captors at the infamous “Tuol Sleng” prison (picture of an inmate at right). The guards recount how they helped prisoners concoct false “confessions,” then tortured and murdered them. They clearly have checked their minds and hearts at the door and tell their stories in a monotone, matter-of-fact manner.

When I was in high school in the late 80s there were two Cambodian kids in my class. They were refugees who had been resettled in Vermont. It’s incredible to think about what they must have gone through, and how that contrasted with their cheerfulness. One of the guys used to entertain the rest of us by climbing a rope like a monkey to the top of the gym ceiling and doing one-arm pushups.

It’s clear that Cambodia is still recovering from the KR genocide. That being said, the people were friendly and generous with their smiles. Genocidal maniacs may come and go, but our humanity abides. 

I had one delightful experience as I walked through the city on Sunday morning.  A rubbish man pulling a cart and a little girl, presumably his daughter, passed me walking the other way.  The little girl ran up to me and I braced myself for her pitch.  But the pitch never came.  In the blink of an eye she darted her small hand out for my empty plastic water bottle and flicked it into the rubbish cart.  Then she flashed a warm smile and skipped away happily.  "Or-kun!" (Khmer for "thank you") I called after her.  Delightful.

Phnom Penh is a disheveled, chaotic city with certain hedonistic element mostly composed of foreign expats. You can check out my photos here.  Click on "enter as guest" then click on "slideshow" for the best viewing.   Not for the squeamish.

Off to Cambodia for My Bday

So Sunday is my birthday -- numero 36 -- so what better way to celebrate but road trip (well actually air-trip) to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the wild frontier of Asia?  I hear you can buy a rocket propelled grenade and blow up a cow there.  I'm pretty sure I wouldn't do that, but it's cool just knowing that I could if the mood strikes.  Anything can happen.  I wing out on Friday, back on Sunday.

On the itinerary is a museum memorializing the horrific death and destruction inflicted by the Khmer Rouge.  Cambodia has had it rough.  It's when I'm visiting places like these that I feel a long, long way from the Green Mountains.  Damn proud to be, well, you know.

I'll post pics and stories when I get back.  Have a good weekend, My Public. 

Golden Reclining Buddha, Bangkok

Ok, I'm pretty late with this post.  Mom and I went to Bangkok a few weeks ago and hit the highlights.  One of them was the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, aka Wat Pho, aka Wat Phra Chetuphon Vimolmangklararm Rajwaramahaviharn (try saying that backwards and you'll evaporate in a puff of dark smoke).  It was impressive.  My favorite feature is not the size, or the golden hue, or the massive feet.  It was the peaceful and chill expression on the buddha.  Those Buddists may -- just may -- be onto something.

Anyway, I took a pretty good video so here it is.  By the way, that snorting sound you hear a few times during the first 30 seconds of video ain't me. 

Cambodia & The Temples of Siem Reap

I got back yesterday from a trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia to visit the famous temples of ancient Khmer civilization.  The UN has designated these temples as a World Heritage Site.  It's easy to see why.  They are nothing short of incredible.  Their scale, sophistication and artistry are off the charts. 

I'd like to write more but it's late right now and I'm lazy.  I'm going to cheat a little and post a link to Wikipedia's entry for the Angkor temples here.  You can view my as-yet untitled photos here.  Click on "View album as guest" on the left hand side, then click on "Slideshow" for the best viewing.  You can also check out the video below of one of the temples that has been overrun by the jungle.  It's over 900 years old.  Amazing.  (Make sure your sound is up so you can hear the eerie jungle sounds.)

The Tunnels of Cu Chi

Today Mom, Aunt Jackie and I went on a day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels about 60 km outside of Saigon.  The Viet Minh (later called Viet Cong) began digging the tunnels for resistance against the French and Japanese before and during WWII.  They used them to move undetected, store goods and even had entire living quarters including hospitals, machine shops, dormitories (if you can properly call them dormitories) and mess halls underground.  (Above left: Our friendly guide Trung demonstrates ducking and hiding into a tunnel.)

The VC used the tunnels to avoid stand up fights with superior American firepower.  Instead, whenever Americans or the ARVN (Army of the Republic of South Vietnam) would roll into an area the VC would escape into their tunnels and pop out once and a while for harassing fire.    When the Americans left they would exit and reassert control over the local villages.  The last time I was here I read a fascinating book about the tunnels called "The Tunnels of Cu Chi" that details the underground war from both Vietnamese and American perspectives.  It seems that although a few individual American units figured out how to detect the tunnels and flush out the enemy, American military leadership didn't realize the importance of the tunnels and these lessons never got disseminated widely enough to make a difference.  There's a good management lesson there.  (At right: Trung demonstrates a booby trap.)

Conditions in the tunnels were absolutely filthy, claustrophobic and miserable.   Judging my short 20 meter jaunt through one of the tunnels they were hot as blazes too.  Forget about politics -- the fact that people spent years living and fighting from these tunnels is a testament to sheer human will.  These people were way motivated.  (At left: Aunt Jackie, yours truly and Mom with a few local cadres.)

I spotted these two local women on the roadside peddling coconuts.  I bought a few.  We communicated with hand signals because their English was terrible.  I mean, they sounded like they were from New Jersey or something.

You can learn more about Cu Chi in this concise Wikipedia entry.