Blogs from Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 249

In 1999, Linda and I hosted the first known youth exchange from Vietnam. This young 16-year-old girl who was born in a thatch hut in the Mekong Delta town of Tan Heip proved to be a sensational youth exchange. Trang blossomed as a youth exchange student. To know Trang was to love her was the saying in District 5690. Trang came knowing little English. In eight months she was fluent in English. She was on the honor roll at Kinsley High School 100% of the time. The first week in school she was tutoring American students in Algebra. Above all, she had a good singing voice and loved to sign. Her rendition of “ My Heart Will Go On,” and “Heal This Land,” would bring tears to my eyes. Our relationship has continued to this day. ... read more

Today Former Deputy Prime Minister John Manley to Maple Healthcare for some treatment. He is in HCMC on business and we spent 25 minutes talking in the lobby while his wife visited the dentist. Imagine, traveling to Vietnam to get your dental work done... Word has apparently spread about how high quality but cheap it is. Anyways, very interesting guy (Ottawa native, graduate from Carleton, Deputy Prime Minister etc.) We talked about his career, he asked how I ended up here, and he even gave me an update on canal conditions during Winterlude 2006 back in the Capital. So, despite the fact that I keep posting all of these party shots or updates from me off on another beach vacation or at some festival, you'll see that I still manage to do may share of schmoozing. ... read more

Hmmm... Still can't really get into this place. The girls feel much the same, though Eva can't seem to get enough of the markets - yes, we did the markets AGAIN today, though different ones, and yes, we bought more. Shockin', as a true Aussie would say. The area where we are staying, D Pham Ngu Lao, is tourist central, and it seems that the Saigonese hanging around these quarters are very 'spoilt' by the Vietnamese tourist boom. I have gotten everything from wolf-whistles to 'Moto, madame?', 'No, thanks', 'Marijuana, madame?'. Last night, we had dinner in close to the guesthouse, though nothing really grabbed us, probably mainly due to the seedy-looking middle-aged single white men lingering everywhere. We ended up at an Indian restaurant down an alleyway. The food was ok, the service was American-style ... read more

So far on our trip the big cities have not been among our favourites. Ho Chi Mihn City (HCMC) or Saigon won us over. Vietnam seems to be a false-dichotomy of communist leadership but capitalist ways. When the country opened its doors to the world in 1986 everything changed for the vietnamese. Now markets overflow with products and sellers vie for the buyer's attention with cheaper prices. Competition in every market seems intense and Vietnamese companies struggle for survival among a seemingly westernized market. Brand names overflow the streets on billboards with flashing lights. Thousands of motorbikes fill the streets, horns honking. It is the family vehicle in many cases and up to five people can fit on one little bike! Tourists use the bikes as taxi's and every corner in the street is full of ... read more

A bus from Phnom Penh took us across the border and into Vietnam. Arriving in Saigon was amazing and I was struck by the many different influences of architecture. The buildings line up like a child’s Lego construction, blocks of all different shapes, sizes, and colours, it’s wonderfully eccentric. Decided to dump our bags at the bus company’s office and try to find a guest house on foot. Wandering in this sweltering city with no clue as to which direction to turn can be frustrating. It’s impossible to walk along the pavement for more than a few feet before a bike or someone eating their food or doing their washing obstructs your path. This adds time to your journey as you constantly slalom in between objects and people, it also adds to the city’s charm. However, ... read more