Good Morning Vietnam!!!!

Gahm uhn, (Vietnamese for Thank you)

Movie Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mJoHqmtFcQ

I recently had the absolute honor and privilege of hosting the woman who brought me in to this great world, my Mom. Lovely mother of mine visited me here in Singapore for 10 days. We spent most of our time in Singapore playing tourist but we then made our way to Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon, Vietnam for 4 days. During this blog I am going to focus on our Vietnam trip. I have to say having my mom here was really great and I am so happy she came.

I will start by saying that we had a blast on our trip but there was a lot of dealing with the Vietnam War. This was tough to handle at times but part of the reason why I wanted to visit Vietnam. Being a tourist in a place where so many American’s lost their lives was not easy to take but I felt learning about our history in Vietnam and visiting the country was important. You will see the war played a role in most of our trip in one way or another. On to the itinerary:

Wednesday:

2 hour flight to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Cab it to our hotel. Realize that of the approximate 7.5 million people living in Ho Chi Minh City nearly all of them were on the road that night riding scooters. Seriously it was a like a sea of fish/scooters gliding through the streets. If a car moved they all just some how sensed it and shifted right with it. The unison was amazing.

We grabbed dinner at a really nice restaurant and it was amazing. We had steak with fries, Pho (traditional Vietnamese soup, very good), chicken and shrimp skewers, tea, coconut milk and three desserts and spent just over 400,000 Vietnamese Dong which was equal to about $20 USD. Love that!

Thursday:

This was probably one of the toughest days emotionally. We visited both the War Remnants Museum and the Reunification Palace. The Reunification Palace was the site of the end of the Vietnam War during the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, when a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates. The site was used by the South during the war and is still used today for some events. This was an interesting place to visit but the really emotional stop was at the War Remnants Museum.

The War Remnants Museum was full of horrible horrible pictures, stories, etc. I know I was not around for Vietnam and the war is quite controversial for many reasons but to see the images of war up close and personal was an experience I won’t ever forget. The evidence of propaganda was quite clear throughout so that needed to be taken into account but the stories and experience were painful to hear about. With nearly 60,000 US soldiers killed, over 150,000 wounded and 3 million Vietnamese killed the amount of death and pain during the war was unbelievable. The effects of Agent Orange seem to be one of the most shocking aspects. I won’t share pictures but if you care to take a look you won’t be able to look for long as they are painful to look at. It seems to affect the next generation of children as well, adding to the pain of it. The Red Cross has as many as 3 million Vietnamese people being affected by it including at least 150,000 children being born with birth defects. Vietnamese Foreign Affairs have much higher numbers than those.

War is sadly necessary at times but no matter what it always leads to unbelievable amounts of pain and suffering. I pray that one day we can rise above this. If there is anything I take away from this it is that war and the effects of war should never be taken lightly.

That night we took a dinner boat cruise and really enjoyed it. It was a little interesting though because they had a female entertainer that was eating fire, bending over backwards and at times dancing quite provocatively. I thought it might be a little much but the women on the boat seemed to be the most entertained. Pretty funny if you ask me.

Friday:

Visit the Cu Chi Tunnels.

Info: The tunnels of Củ Chi are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels located in the Củ Chi district of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam, and were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War, and were the Viet Cong's base of operations for the Tết Offensive in 1968.

Told you there was a lot of dealing with the war on this trip. Interesting part of this trip was that one of our tour guides assisted the US and the other guide’s father was a Viet Cong fighter. Being the only Americans in our group placed my mom and I in a bit of an awkward place especially when our guide was asking us why the US went to war with Vietnam. We did not engage in the discussion.

We learned about the traps the Viet Cong set for Americans and how they lived and worked in the Cu Chi Tunnels. The most awkward point of the day had to be learning about the “heroes” of Vietnam who killed hundreds of American Invaders and the medals and honors they won for doing so. I get that they were fighting for their country and their cause but I don’t take kindly to people celebrating US casualties. The really weird thing was that the impression given was that they didn’t care as much about Communism as the fact that they didn’t want another country taking them over. They had just gotten done fighting the French and were all about killing the foreigners. That is at least how it was portrayed to us by our guide.

I did crawl through the tunnels for over 100 meters and it was hot, stuffy, uncomfortable and not a place I ever would like to be again. My mom and I also shot AK47’s on the gun range and that was awesome. Not nearly as much kick as I might have thought. Another history lesson day and we ended it by taking a boat ride down the Saigon River back to town. It poured halfway back and I couldn’t help but think of Forrest Gump when the rains appeared out of nowhere and the rain came from every direction.

That night my mom treated us to massages at our resort hotel for $25 a piece. That is very high for Vietnam but worth every penny. We got another one the next night as well (with an exfoliating scrub as well), thanks mom, you are the best. I hadn’t felt that good in a while, might have to make a habit of getting massages more often.

Saturday:

Trip to the Mekong Delta

Info: The Mekong Delta “Nine Dragon river delta” is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea.

So early that morning we take a bus ride for about 2 hours until we get to the Mekong River. We get into a boat with about 20 other people and head up the river. The water was very murky and dark but it made me think of all the Vietnam war movies I have seen where the soldiers are riding up the Mekong River.

During the day we took 3 different boats of different sizes in all (two motorized, one powered by a guide paddling), ate coconut candy, had Elephant Ear Fish (both delicious), fresh fruit, rode a bike through a village and had honey tea. We got to wear the very typical Vietnamese hats called Conical Asian hats, which are worn by the locals. We learned that you cannot bury your loved ones underground due to the water so they have mausoleums similar to New Orleans but the amazing part is that if you sell the land you have to take the mausoleums with you.

It was a great day and the only one that wasn’t consumed by the war, which was a nice change of pace.

The trip was amazing and a great time with my mom. I am so happy she made it out, really was great to spend time together. All in all I learned a lot during those 4 days and had a great time with my mom. I am really glad we went to Vietnam.

On a different note, I am all done with my classes, have presented at all the Rotary Clubs that would respond to me (over 12), am headed to Johor Bahru, Malaysia this weekend for a Rotary District Conference and am awaiting the visit of the most beautiful girl in the world, one Emily Martin. Emily and I are going to be spending 4 days in Singapore and 3 days in Thailand (Phuket and Ko Phi Phi) before heading back to the US together April 6^th.

Chinese New Year, Muay Thai and Presidential Palace

Xi Nian Kuai Le!!! (Happy Chinese New Year)

Chinese New Year

It is the year of the dragon so anyone born in 1988 or 1976 or 1964 (12 year increments)…etc. this is your year. Emily “Awesomest girl in the world” Martin, Ashton “Taking over the world” Charles or Nancy “Gave birth to me” Lokken….this means you. This is the most important holiday for any ethnic Chinese or Korean. Yes Korea has the same New Year and they are not happy it is referred to as the Chinese New Year, they feel a bit slighted, or this at least is what I have been told. We get two days off in Singapore, some countries get two weeks off for it but festivities last nearly a month. It is good to give two oranges (not just one) and kumquat trees are everywhere. I am told it’s because of the shape of the fruits (this is only a Singapore thing though) and giving them is a form of good luck.

People will pour out their money to buy presents, decorations, material, food, and clothing. It is also the tradition that every family thoroughly cleans the house to sweep away any ill-fortune in hopes to make way for good incoming luck. It is custom to give red packets/envelopes of money called Hanbao’s to family and friends but should only include even numbered amounts as odd numbers are associated with money given during funerals. Odd numbers are determined by the first number though so $50 would be inappropriate because it starts with an odd number. $8 is the most common amount because it is considered lucky. Only single people are supposed to receive them….since I am not married yet, I got one with $16 in it from a Rotarian, boom!

During Chinese New Year festivities last for nearly the whole month of January and include the Dragon dance, parades, get together’s and the Prosperity Toss known as Yusheng or Lo Hei. The prosperity toss is taking a salad with a ton of ingredients and as a group you toss it around and up in the air with chopsticks. It is very popular and the higher you toss it the more luck. It does it a little messy but not too bad and we all eat it afterwards. I got to have two Lo Hei’s at a Rotary Club meeting, was actually pretty good.

Presidential Palace

There are 5 times a year when the Presidential Palace called Istana (http://www.istana.gov.sg/content/istana/index.html) is open and during Chinese New Year is one of those times. So my roommate Ian, his girlfriend’s sister and friend and I all went to check it out. We got within 5 feet of the president, saw a Dragon Dance, toured the grounds (which is a 9 hole golf course in the heart of the city) and got to tour the presidential office. The office held all of the gifts provided by governments over the years and I have to say that the US by far gave the worst gifts. Malaysia, India, Japan, Italy all gave amazingly ornate beautiful gifts and the US gave two bowls with the state department seal on them. It was embarrassing to be honest. Come on US lock it up and get a little more creative. I am thinking a huge Bald Eagle carved out of granite or glass or something, anything other than a boring ceramic or steel bowl. If I was the President of Singapore I might eat my cereal out of our bowl though, just for fun.

Chinese New year was a lot of fun and I am really glad I got to experience it here in Asia.

High Tea

My Rotary Counselor took me for high tea at the Woodward hotel on Orchard Road a few weeks ago and it was amazing. They had more food and desserts than you can imagine. You get a pot of tea and hang out in the afternoon eating as much as you can. This is the high life and I loved every second. Most of the people having high tea were either businessmen or the wives of businessmen meeting with other wives. I like high tea even if it is very British.

Shark Fin

I mentioned in a blog before that I had not had Shark fin soup well I have still not had it but I have had Dim Sum Shark fin. The shark fin is cartilage and is known as a luxury item. It was wrapped in rice flour and fried. It wasn’t bad but nothing amazing so no need for me to try it again but I have tried it now.

United Nations Basketball

I have joined a basketball team called the United Nations. We have 3 Americans, 2 Canadians, 2 Australians, 2 Frenchman, 1 Dutchman, 1 Chinese man, 1 Malaysian, 1 Italian and 1 Indian. We lost in the finals but we are back playing a second season now. It is funny to hear the different accents on the floor and cursing in different languages when things don’t go our way. It is a great group of guys and has really made Singapore more of a home. We had a poker night the other night with a bunch of the guys. Really glad I got asked to play and have been able to. I have recently had to fight off yelling out Linsanity whenever great play occurs though, probably inappropriate but man I am all caught up in what Jeremy Lin has been doing with the Knicks, love that guy.

Muay Thai

So I have been doing some Muay Thai of late and really enjoying it. I have done some boxing classes before but this is a lot more fun. Muay Thai is like kickboxing but with a little more flair and you use elbows. Haven’t sparred with anyone as it takes a while to get to the level of actually fighting with anyone but have liked it a lot. It’s a great workout and knowing how to use your elbows in a fight is an added plus.

I am officially booked to come back with Emily April 6^th after she comes and visits. Excited to finish up school strong and have Emily come out but really excited to get back to the states and see everyone, get a job and get married. Growing up so fast.

Hong Kong and Rotary

Xianzai, wo xuexi Hanyu, (Right now I study Chinese)

Hong Kong for a weekend? Yes please. I am not sure if any of you know but Hong Kong is an amazing city to fly into. Hong Kong is a combination of a few great islands and they look awesome from a plane. I had flown through there before but never gotten out of the airport. I came in on a Thursday night and stayed until late Monday. The main reason for this trip was for a Rotary Regional Scholar Orientation Seminar, now to the activities.

Thursday night:

Fellow Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar Kristen who is the only scholar in Hong Kong met me at the airport. She had an extra apartment b/c her parents and family members had been in and out for the month and it was cheaper to rent one instead of do the whole hotel thing. Kristen stays in the very nice area of Hong Kong called Soho, which reminded me a lot of London if you take out all of the Chinese characters everywhere. Her apartment is at the top of the hill, which has the longest escalator in the world, who knew it was in Hong Kong? Not this guy. For around $1200 USD a month you get your very own 100 square foot room equipped with a bathroom. These rooms were tiny to say the least but it was quite the deal for me and was really nice to have a friend in HK.

We didn’t do much Thursday but we grabbed some really good pizza by the slice (had it again on Saturday night) b/c I was boycotting Asian food for the time being….just wasn’t feeling Asian food when I got back so I boycotted and then we called it a night early.

Friday:

1) Breakfast at diner (keeping with the no Asian food trend)

2) Took tram to peak of Hong Kong (it was foggy but still beautiful view of the city)

3) Met other Rotary Scholar Rebecca and checked out Stanley Market (pretty cool little market out by the water) - had pizza again…streak continues – I take picture with replica Terracotta Warrior

4) Meet up with Kristen and head to Rotary dinner at nice HK sky rise hotel where we met up with around a dozen other Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars from around the world – Taiwan, Mongolia, Japan, USA, Hong Kong, China, France

5) Eat lots of Dim Sum and tried pigs tongue…..tasted like pot roast…didn’t finish it (streak ends)

6) Bused up to the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology where we spent the next two days

Saturday:

1) Rotary Rotary Rotary Rotary Rotary Rotary Rotary Rotary Rotary Rotary -Lots of presentations on Rotary, our scholarship and the other scholars-Great times with even better people.

2) It was actually a lot of fun getting to know everyone, I now have friends from Mongolia…..one Mongolian scholar represents a few of the Olympic athletes, is the assistant to the Mongolian Finance Minister oh and he hosts Mongolia’s version of the VMA’s…..no big deal

3) I presented on service above self…no one booed or fell asleep…I call it a win

4) They give us all different food for lunch: 2 get hot meals, 4 get nicer sandwiches and the rest of us get bread and cheese…..it was a pretty good exercise showing how the world is broken up with the haves and the have nots…I maturely go on hunger strike and refuse to eat in protest…..I also want to find a way to earn my way to getting food from the food court (Capitalism baby)….they give no means of working my way out of my bread and cheese (I voice my displeasure and continue my strike), Kristen votes we revolt and take the better food many agree…..exercise is a success (should have brought us good food after though…I mean I really went on hunger strike)

5) That night we have a Hong Kong BBQ outside by the water, other than the drizzle and fog it was a great night. I ate and ate and ate and ate and dominated me some chicken, beef, pork, sweet potatoes (oddly white colored), vegetables, marshmallows and topped it off with Mongolian vodka and blueberry juice…oddly a great combination compliments of our Mongolian delegation. FYI at a Hong Kong BBQ you take prongs and cook the meat over an open flame….think hot dogs on a stick in the woods. Great night to say the least…good job organizers.

6) Back to the dorms, I skype Emily, tell her I wish she was there….honestly the only recurring negative point to this whole process is not having her here to share it with…..luckily we have the rest of our lives to make the time up.

Sunday:

1) More Rotary presentations, all really good – one is from the Dean of the Executive MBA program which partners with Northwestern’s Kellogg MBA program – this was my favorite of the weekend and he ended up giving me his most recent book on Leadership Experiences in Asia, almost done, very cool read

2) We all grab lunch at a dim sum Chinese restaurant. I had mentioned it earlier but for all of you who do not know what dim sum is it is smaller portioned bite sized portions of Chinese food carted around to each table: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dim_sum It was amazing, I love the bao’s, these sugary white breaded big puffy round balls of bread with pork, chicken or beef inside. None of it is probably very healthy but man it is good.

3) Afterwards people are all leaving so a few of us staying an extra day or leaving later that night went and grab some afternoon drinks, fun times, sadly two have to head out

4) That night Paul Louis (French scholar living in Singapore) and I grabbed a movie (Sherlock Holmes) which wasn’t bad, we were tired and neither of us had seen a movie in a while. You actually reserve seats in HK not just tickets, which was kind of nice. There was a hockey ring right next to the theatre in the mall….kids weren’t actually half bad.

5) We take a cab back, bad idea….we think the cabbie says it is an extra 16 HK dollars or $2 USD to take the tunnel but turns out he said $60 so our super cheap cab doubled….no biggie fortunately cabs are still not very expensive there. It’s a flat $20 HK or under $3 USD for the first 2 km.

6) Call it a night

Monday:

1) Grab breakfast with Kristen at same diner as before, love that place, she goes to school I head out on the town.

2) Head out with all my stuff…..I have flight late that night

3) Carry my stuff across the Victoria Harbour, too foggy for very good pictures but fun

4) Check out the Hong Kong Maritime Museum…not amazing but nice

5) Head to the highlight of the day the Big Buddha

7) I make a friend there Selena, who works for Chic-Fil-A and was there visiting a friend but since he had to work she ventured out alone….did you know that Chic-Fil-A only requires $5,000 to start a store? You split profits with corporate and owners take home an average of $200,000 USD a year….no big deal….I guess they have an ton of applicants for the small amount of stores they expand to, they use a conservative growth model…..more of the world can learn from them.

8) We go up to the top of the Buddha but it is so foggy we can barely see it even when we get up close, they have a museum up there and other temples to see as well, it is one of the coolest things I have ever seen and done.

9) Weather cleared up and we got some food, I ordered in Mandarin because they didn’t know English…they understood me even though they speak Cantonese (think Italian to Spanish) WOOT WOOT!

10) We go back up to the top and get better pictures with the Buddha

11) Cable car back is more clear so get to see the Big Buddha from the cable car

12) Head to airport early, skype Emily, eat food (had exactly the amount I needed for food with not a dollar to spare) and headed back to Singapore

13)On the flight I finished “Delivering Happiness” by Tony Hsieh recommended by one Ashton Charles, it was a really good read, I started it on the flight out and finished it by the time I got back. This was my first iPad purchased and read book, Ayo, I’m tired of using technology….ok not really, really liked the ease of it.

Hong Kong reminds me a lot of NYC, lots of people, tall buildings, lot’s of lights, skyscrapers and a little grunginess, the subways are much cleaner than NYC though. I liked Hong Kong and my time there I highly recommend HK to anyone.

Shengdan Kuaile!! (Merry Christmas!!)

(Written on my flight home to US)

Shengdan Kuaile!! (Merry Christmas!!)

“I’m coming home, coming home," - P Diddy

The halfway intermission is here for my Asian/Singapore/Rotary adventure and I couldn’t be happier. I have loved my time in Singapore but I miss my fiancé….yep, I really really miss her. I miss my family…I miss my friends…..I miss Publix subs, I miss BBQ, I miss driving a car, I miss good western food (not cowboy’s and Indians food but western hemisphere food) all kinds of it…..I miss throwing a football and watching American Football at a normal hour, I miss….I miss…I miss America. Man I love my country.

That all being said, I really like Singapore and Asia. I am so happy and feel so humbled, honored and lucky to have gotten this opportunity. These three months have opened my eyes to a world that I really never understood. I thought I did for the most part, I mean I read a good amount, I have traveled around, I feel culturally open but I really didn’t know anything about 1/3 or more of the world. I honestly feel and believe that the more I learn in life the more I realize how much I really do not know.

There are over a billion people in China and over a billion people in India……1 BILLION, each country has over 3 times more people than the US. That’s only two countries in this part of the world that account for nearly a third of the world’s population and I really had barely a clue about either country. I thought I was cool because I knew that Mahnmohan Singh was the Prime Minister of India and had been re-elected (thanks subscription to The Economist). That’s like thinking I know about the US because that Barack Obama is our president……yeah…….not so much.

So in these three months I have had a crash course in the culture, food, customs, personalities, dialects, history’s, etc. of Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, India, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, etc. Not only did I get a crash course I got a crash course from the people of those countries while spending time with people from Russia, Spain, France, Canada, Uganda, Norway and more. To say Singapore is a melting pot/international hub is the greatest of all understatements. I wanted international but I feel like I have been drinking from a fire hose with regards to the different people and cultures I continuously am encountering.

Here are some things I have learned over these three months:

1) Ethnic Chinese make up around 70% of Singapore and inhabit a lot of SE Asia

2) Koreans eat with metal chopsticks and a spoon and they love kimchi…LOVE kimchi (fermented cabbage and other ingredients)

3) Singapore is an extremely managed economy….the government has it’s hands in everything…….everything

4) Oma is Korean for mother

5) Mandarin is a very very very difficult language to speak and even more difficult to read and even more difficult to write (excuses excuses excuses haha)

6) I love Indian food….really love it, I am honestly hooked for life, give me some Chicken Masala and some naan and I am a very happy man

7) Getting a grasp on all the cultures, countries and people of the world is extremely hard but it is impossible if you never spend time outside of your country or with anyone other than people from your country, ethnicity, etc.

8) Nothing annoys me more than people getting on the train, bus or elevator before letting the people get out……it is one of my biggest pet peeves in Singapore, sadly this happens a lot

9) Vegetables should never be a flavor of ice cream….NEVER but they seem to think differently here (e.g. Yam ice cream….NO NO NO…it’s just wrong) (yes they have sweet corn flavored ice cream as well)

10) I know this is cheesy but this actually has been something I have been continuously surprised to learn and see to the extent I have. Even though people are different in many ways, people everywhere are the same. I somewhat expected to meet people and be blown away at how different we were from each other. The, “Wow we are just from two different worlds”, kind of moment but that was never the case. Yes there are many differences but when it a came down to it the people were people, just from a different world and culture. Obvious I know but still surprised me.

The first half of my trip is over and I am on a 26 hour journey back to Tampa, FL (Singapore-Hong Kong-Newark-Tampa) for the holidays. By the way, Hong Kong has one of the most beautiful views while landing I have ever experienced, definitely get the window seat if you ever go.

Plans for the little over two weeks I will be in Tampa:

1) Emily and I are going to be food and cake tasting for the wedding

2) I am going to get my tuxedo fitted and chosen

3) We are going to register

4) Take engagement photos

5) Spend ridiculous amount of time with Emily

6) Meet with the Pastor that is going to marry us

7) Spend time time with family and friends

8) Eat zero Eastern food…..zero….all western all the time

I hope I get to see everyone but that most likely will be difficult but my phone is back on so let’s catch up. Congratulations to Bryson and Katherine Ridgway for the birth of their first baby, Keira! Couldn’t be happier for them.

Merry Christmas to everyone and a Happy New Year!

Best,

Andrew