Home Part 2

After four all-too-short days in Phoenix, we hit the road with the dogs early Wednesday morning and made it to Denver where we picked up my sister.  Thursday we finished the drive to Madison. 

The dogs, as usual, were exceptionally good travellers and knew instantly where they were as soon as we pulled up to the house in Madison.  Not only were they happier in the cooler weather, but they loved re-exploring the backyard thicket. 

While it's good to be back in Wisconsin, it's definitely bitter-sweet.  There are nothing but happy puppy memories of Augie here and his absence is made apparent in so many big and small ways.  He is deeply missed.

This week has gone so quickly.  Just one more night here before heading to Chicago tomorrow morning.  We'll spend the day there, then it's back to Vietnam at 6:00am Monday morning where I'll begin posting again each day.

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone! 

Home Part 1

Sorry for the absence. 

I flew home for an all-too-short vacation Thursday night and was busy the day or two before getting prepared for the trip.  

I'm back in beautiful Phoenix for a few days before heading on to Wisconsin before returning to Hanoi on May 31.

Until then, Tạm biệt!

You wouldn't see this alongside the road at home...

Sunday I mentioned my frustration at never being in decent position to capture the many photos I'd like to take and share here.  Invariably it's a streetside scene, viewed from a fast moving car.  Or a slow-moving-but-impossible-to-navigate-while-picture-taking scooter I'm driving.  As a result, I've missed a whole bunch of great pictures.  Last week, I missed one picture in particular in downtown Hanoi which I thought would be impossible to find again.  Fortunately, with Chi once again as my trusty guide, I found the subject of last week's missed photo-op yesterday afternoon.   

It seems that I've been using my ATM card a bit too much lately ("I told you it was the tool of the devil!") so it gave up in protest and refused access to the millions (of Vietnamese Dong) I have in my account.  The only way to correct the situation was to make a trip to the bank downtown and apply for a new card. 

The trip into town and bank visit were uneventful.  Driving back to the office by way of the busiest street in Hanoi (the Nghi Tam Expressway - the main road from downtown to the airport), Chi alerted me to the vendor along the street.  I had spoken to her earlier about my disappointment at having missed what I thought was the single opportunity I had to take a picture of this person and his products.  Apparently, this vendor isn't as rare as I had suspected.

Sitting along the side the road was a woman selling fresh fish.  These, however, weren't the eatin' variety.  Instead, each was swimming around in a small plastic bag, dozens of which were attached to the steel frame tower sitting atop her bicycle.   

Since, as you recall, our teapot goldfish had moved on to bluer pastures, it was a perfect chance to not only stop and take pictures, but to buy a new replacement or two.  So here we are, picking out goldfish from a woman in a rice hat standing on one of the busiest roads in Hanoi. 

We picked two mid-size gold fish from a bag containing a dozen or so and she carefully scooped them out into their own plastic bag, filled it with fresh water, wrapped the top with a rubber band and away we went!

And here's a picture of the two newest members of the Air Mekong Commercial Department.  They haven't yet been named, but I'll let you know when they are.

In a couple of the pictures above, you'll notice a mosaic mural running next to the sidewalk (which is rare unto itself in Hanoi) and along the road.  It's probably one of my favorite things about Hanoi, not the least of which is because of the beautiful, brilliant colors, something not too common in this often gray and hazy city.

The mural was the idea of local Hanoian artist and culture and arts journalist, Nguyen Thu Thuy.  Ms Thuy thought a tribute to Hanoi's ceramic-making history (see yesterday's post) would be a perfect way to dress up what was otherwise a drab concrete dike that ran for nearly three miles along the Nghi Tam Expressway.  All the better that her project was timed to commemorate Hanoi's 1000 year anniversary last year.

The proposed project was warmly embraced by the "Hanoi People Committee" and was even voted "the most feasibility idea" (sic).  After raising private funds, work began on the 4.9km (3 mile) project and was started in March 2007 and dedicated September 24, 2010 (just before the anniversary celebration on October 10 - 10/10/10).  It's been designated by the Guiness Book of World Records as the world's largest ceramic mosaic.  You can learn more about the mural here:

http://www.hanoimural.vn/

and here:

http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/vietnams-ceramic-road-sets-new-world-record.html

and here:

http://hanoimural.blogspot.com/



Finally, I know everyone loves to know "what's for lunch".  Today I finally tried the house specialty at the street vendor next door.  Bun Bo Nam Bo is actually a staple from South Vietnam, but has been modified here in Hanoi to account for the slightly less-sweet tooth (teeth?) most Hanoians have.

It's no wonder the restaurant bears the same name as it's most famous dish.  Bun Bo Nam Bo is a big bowl of rice noodles, bean sprouts, beef, fried onions, cucumbers, herbs and peanuts along with a watery, sweetish sauce. 

You'll be shocked to learn that I slobbered up the whole bowl.  Of course, it wouldn't be the same without a ca phe sua da! 

At this point, I have yet to find a single dish I've not liked here in Vietnam.  The food is amazingly fresh and delicious.  (Ok, maybe not so much the pig's ear).

Bat Trang Pottery Village

In much the same way streets in downtown Hanoi are named after the products sold there (silver street, toy street, clothes street, electric-razor-plug-fixit street), so, too, are certain nearby villages.  Yesterday, Chi and a fellow co-worker, Mr Lam, took me to Bat Trang, the pottery village about 40 minutes Southeast of Hanoi.

The village dates back to the 12-14th century, so the pottery making tradition has been handed down for hundreds of years, from generation to generation.  As one might expect, the town has dozens and dozens of stores, one next to the other, all selling pottery, none of which can be distinguished from the other (at least not to my untrained potters eye).

We arrived at the Bat Trang market and, for 50 cents, were offered a tour of one of the potters businesses, so took a short walk and saw how it all worked.  Of course the tour was in Vietnamese and Chi and Lam weren't much on translating at the time, so most of it was lost on me. 

Honestly, I'm not even sure where they start in the whole process:

It might start here, where they poured something into those big vats

After taking a piece out of the vat, I think they put it in this thing.  Maybe.

And at some point, they all go in that (one of two kilns)...

Then the artist does this...(and, yes, that burgundy paint and white vase
becomes porcelain blue during the process)

And they turn out like that!

Only to be sold in dozens and dozens of stores just like this!

(And when the workers take a break, they have tea and sit on very tiny stools...
as tiny as these!)

After all that ceramics learnin', we had to take a break, so we stopped and had some freshly made sugar cane juice.

Cane is in bucket on right, squeezer is green machine on top.
(Sorry, once again cell phone cam behaved more like a cell phone than a cam
so other pics didn't turn out).

Sugar Cane Juice
(I'm sure it's incredibly healthy and low in calories...tasty too!)

Next up, we watched some kids try their hands at pottery-making.

Yes, Chi and I both gave it a try...

And here it is, revealed to the public for the first time, my own ceramic masterpiece.  Sothebys?  Christies?  Anyone?



Finally, we ended the day with a dinner at a local, rural-ish restaurant.  Since this was Mr Lam's hometown, he assured us that the food was "good" (which can be taken several ways around these parts).

First I should say that the minute we walked into this place, I knew things would be interesting since literally every one of the restaurant's many patrons turned and stared at me.  Perhaps they were all Nebraska fans and they didn't like my CU cap?

After sitting down, Japanese-style, we were greeted by these two gentlemen who were both drunk off their arses.  As such, they proceeded to invite themselves to our table to raise a toast.  Two toasts!  Three toasts!  Ten Toasts!  Many, many toasts!  Awkward!

Apparently the owner was reluctant to intercede because he was afraid a fight would commence.  So we simply moved to another table.  Problem solved.

Dinner itself was yet another adventure.  The place had a huge menu which included eel, bison, dog :o(.  I left the ordering to Chi and Mr Lam and am sorry to say that I have only one picture to share, that of the main course.  At least what's left of it.

Honestly, this was delicious.  It was chicken (fresh, obviously.  That'd be the head and both legs) fried in salt with lemongrass.  Since I prefer white meat, I wasn't able to sample the "extra parts" that came with our chicken, but I was told that they were quite tasty.

Among the other things I tried were a vegetable salad featuring pigs ears (rubbery and crunchy at the same time!) and a duck hot pot which actually was pretty tasty as well.  Just a little disconcerting when the feet would boil to the top.  

Later, Mr Lam's aunt showed up, ate peanuts and drank two mini-Red Bulls, which I thought was funny (I'm sure she was in her 50s).  She apparently was called in to intercede in case the drunken fellows got out of hand.  Fortunately, no intervention was necessary.  Instead, as one of them departed, he came over to me, grasped my hand (tightly), sang a long song (which I thought might have been the Vietnamese anthem, but wasn't) and continued to talk about the American War "from 1975" and, "look how America and Vietnam are now friends" and I mustn't hold our loss against them (all while still grasping my hand).

Lastly, bids on my pot are now being accepted.  Please, no bids lower than 20,000. 

(That'd be 20,000 VND.  About $1.00) 

Random Saturday Afternoon in Hanoi

After celebrating the birthday of one of our analysts in Revenue Management for lunch yesterday, Chi and I decided to head downtown and just hang out.  It was a little overcast, but it was mid 70s and relatively little humidity, so it made for a good excuse to be outdoors.

Hanoi really is a fascinating city.  It’s amazing what you see, just walking around the Old Quarter.  Unfortunately, it’s difficult capturing all the images I’d like to share.  So many I see are while I motor around and it’s all I can do to manage navigating the chaos, so snapping pictures while I’m doing so isn’t going to happen.  Even walking around, there are so many things to share, but by the time I dig out my cell phone, set it to camera and attempt to snap the picture, the opportunity passes and I’m SOL.

Nevertheless, I was able to take a few good pictures yesterday afternoon.

Man roaming the streets with a scale which says
"You're too fat" or "You need to eat more!"

Little Resumes posted for selected candidates in the coming election
(More on that soon)

Busy street scene.  Everyone out on their kiddie stools, ready to eat!

Man selling pinwheels and balloons.

If you don't have time to grab a stool, you can grab your food to go...
provided you can catch up with your restaurant!

Bread for sale.

So those pictures represent about a quarter of those I wanted to, attempted to and/or was unable to capture.  Hopefully I'll be able to recapture again, at some point, the images of those pictures that just didn't happen.

The best part of yesterday was our visit to a secret spot of Chi's near Hoan Kiem Lake downtown.  Much like Dick's Hideaway Restaurant in Phoenix, you have to know what you're looking for because there are no signs and, in this case, not even a door.

Just off the main traffic circle, there are several rows of shops.  If you pick the right one, enter and head to the rear, you'll find an alley:

Inside, there's a small courtyard (and, yes, the guy with the bike's about to push his scooter right back through the alley, above, and the shop out front).

After going up one flight of stairs,

(Passing the small bridge which connects to a second floor seating area)...

Up a second flight of stairs...

 Then a third...and fourth...

Four stories up at this point...

For an amazing view of Hoan Kiem Lake, including the turtle temple there in the center.  You can't see it well, but they're constructing a sun deck for the turtle next to the temple so it can work on its tan.

Even better than the view, was the delicious coffee which was delivered shortly after our waitress climbed the same four stories we had just conquered. 

This is "ca phe trung" which is literally "coffee egg".  As you can see, the Vietnamese coffee sits at the bottom, with a creamy egg mixture on top.  After a minute or two of brisk stirring, yet another coffee masterpiece is ready for consumption.

I asked Chi what the egg mixture was made of, but she was unsure.  This is the only place in town where you can get ca phe trung.

It was delicious.  And, yes, the empty glass you see is the bottom of my second.  While Chi was still nursing her first. 

I was thirsty!

The belated story of my uneventful trip to the US Embassy

(Sorry for the late posting: Google Blogger has been down since Thursday, so I wasn't able to include this until this morning when it started working again)

In order for me to work in Vietnam, I’m required to obtain a Vietnamese work permit.  Aside from a physical examination, passport photos and the application itself, I need to submit “my credentials”, which include my college diploma, work history and criminal background check.  I’ve been busy gathering those items and finally received my FBI background check information a couple of weeks ago (I was pleased to find out that I have no criminal background), so it was finally time to submit my application.

Unfortunately, the Vietnamese Government first wants an affidavit verifying the validity of the information I’m submitting from the US Embassy.  So yesterday (Wednesday) I made my way to into town to do just that.

Unfortunately, there’s not much to my story.  The US Embassy is a large, gray building on a busy street in downtown Hanoi.  After getting security screened and having our cell phones taken, we made our way into the building, only to be greeted by Obama, Hillary and Joe (not life size cut outs, just their pictures on the wall). 

Les, who accompanied me, and I commented on how crazy it was to think that every time there’s a change in administrations, thousands of picture frames all over the world are taken down and given new photos.  Just because. 

Anyway, we went inside the visa section where 50 or so Vietnamese citizens (presumably) sat waiting for their names to be called while they watched a video playing on a flat screen TV.  The video was instructional, for the most part, but featured some amazing scenes from home, including an inordinate number from the desert southwest and even Lake Powell.  Needless to say, it made me a little homesick.

Otherwise, I stepped to the counter and spoke to a very pleasant woman about getting my affidavit.  Theoretically, the Vietnamese government wants this affidavit certifying that the documents I (and all other expat Air Mekong employees) submit are official and valid.  Unfortunately, the Embassy can neither verify nor vouch for the validity of these documents.  Instead, all the Embassy can or will do is provide an affadavit saying that the person submitting the documents believes them to be official and valid which definitely isn’t the same thing.  Fortunately, no one in Vietnam processing these permits has noticed the distinction so the work permits continue to be granted.

Of course, in typical bureaucratic fashion, there were long lines, plenty of waiting and lots of evident confusion and frustration on hand.  As I sat waiting for my request to be processed, I watched and couldn’t help but wonder what the story behind each Embassy visitor was that day.  “America” (cue the Mormon Tabernacle Choir), even with all our problems, still represents such hope and opportunity and, no doubt, there were many there who’s own hopes and dreams were in the hands of those behind the bulletproof glass, handling their requests.

Two other funny observations:

One, the most prominent feature in the waiting room that no one could miss, was a large posterboard extolling the features of various US Government links to Facebook.  Just one thing: Facebook is kinda taboo in Vietnam.  Make no mistake, Facebook is HUGE here and, if Air Mekong employees aren’t napping at noon, they’re updating their profiles on Facebook.  But to do so, they have all sorts of secret addresses and website workarounds to gain access.  So the fact that the US Government was promoting Facebook at the Vietnamese Embassy is either one of two things: 1) very subversive or 2) completely clueless.

Second, while I was patiently waiting, Les made his way to the “American Center” which I guess serves as a library of some kind of all things American.  Along with books and pictures and all sorts of other resource material, they had a handful of videos available to view which apparently best represented the good ole USA. Les made note of two of the half dozen or so movies they offered: The Sound of Music and Gone with the Wind.  I don't know about you, but Les and I both thought they were rather odd selections.



A Day at the Office

Several people have asked what the Air Mekong Corporate Office is like.  Unfortunately, it's pretty non-descript and surprisingly like most any other business office on the planet.  As I've mentioned before, we're on the third floor of the Syrena Tower, a mid-size mall/office/hotel complex all in one.  The Air Mekong offices are located on the entire third floor of the building.

When I was first here in January, I was in a small, ok, very small, office that also served as an even smaller conference room.  After returning in March, I was given an interior office next to our Maintenance Department.  It was nice, but I was far removed from the people I need to associate with, so just last week, I moved into a new exterior office (as in, I now have a window).

The office itself is pretty unremarkable.  There are, however, two notable things:

1) Being next to the window is not all it's cracked up to be.  Now that the sun is actually shining here, it's gotten warm very quickly (90s already) and rumor has it that 100 degree temperatures and 95% humidity are the norm all summer long.  Seriously.  (Of course, that's a whole 'nother subject).

What is a big deal is that at least half the time, the office air conditioning either isn't working properly or isn't working at all.  Given my east facing view, the office gets very warm each morning, so the blinds get shut.  By afternoon, I'm drenched.  And it's not pretty.  Fortunately the Fivi-Mart sells fans, so I'll be visiting there this weekend to make a purchase (along with some "Want Want Shelly Senbei!", of course)!

2) Most everything in my office functions just like it would at home.  Except for the lights.  Initially I couldn't figure out how to turn the lights to the office on and off.  Then decided that it must be a master switch for the entire sector: when the sector's lights were on, my lights were on.  When the sector's lights were off, my lights were off.

For reasons I'll share in a moment, that doesn't always work so well.  So one day I happened to ask the previous occupant about the light situation.  After giving me a blank look, he pointed to the wall only to reveal the obvious:

Standard office light fixture

Not-so-standard office light switch

Outside my office, there are two other things that make working here uniquely Vietnamese.

The first is that every day in the office breakroom, a woman, who's only real job is this one I believe, prepares tea for everyone.  There are always warm pots of both green and herbal teas, made fresh throughout the day.



Check out the wicker basket; it keeps the tea warm. 



Normally, instead of the small plate you see, there's a huge pan full of fresh tea leaves.
And there's also usually a gold fish in the center bowl; it wasn't there today, so that's probably not so good for the goldfish.

The second is that while the staff generally takes lunch from noon to one o'clock every day, upon their return at 1:01, they promptly turn off the lights on the floor (hence my early issues with a dark office) and promptly nap for the next thirty minutes. 

(Quiet please...these people work for me)

Sleepytime.
It's hard to inconspicuously take a pic while folks are sleeping, so this didn't turn out
as well as I had hoped.  Obviously the midday lights are off; on the far left are two
employees asleep in their seats, dreaming of ca phe sua da no doubt!

They bring blankets and pillows.  Some nap with their heads down, others lean back in their chairs, mouth's agape.  Rumor has it a few will actually stretch out on the floor.  The only one's who work are the expats in the office...who do so very quietly so as to not wake anyone up.