photo credit: rooymans2000

I couldn’t make up my mind whether I wanted to spend a weekend in Singapore or Hong Kong. I posted a question on my Facebook profile and almost everyone said I should go to Hong Kong. One friend, however, brought up the very good point of the weather being much nicer in Singapore (you don’t need to say “cold” twice to an Israeli girl to scare her off) and when you lump that with how much cheaper it would be – a decision was made – I am going to Singapore!

I feel that another good reason to go to Singapore is to learn for myself what this place is all about. If I hear one more person (who has never traveled there) tell me: “oh, Singapore, yes, you know you can’t spit on the sidewalk there and a few years ago some guy went to jail for chewing gum”, I will scream. How can that be the only thing we know about a country?? Here’s a slightly more interesting fact, the symbol of Singapore is the “Merlion”, half-fish and half-lion beast.

The food is said to be spectacular and I am very much looking forward to it.

Anyway, I booked my ticket and am going next weekend!

New Year's Celebration in Saigon

In preparing for work in Asia this winter, I knew there would be a lot of challenges. But truthfully, there was one thing that scared me the most about coming out to Vietnam. It wasn’t the fear of working in a foreign country or missing the comforts of home. It wasn’t the risk of getting sick or the difficulty of being away from Kevin and Cuggits. The biggest fear of all was…

KARAOKE

Standing in front of a group of people and singing is pretty much the sum of all fears for me. It took a substantial amount of alcohol last time I did it (which also happens to be the only time I ever did) and I swore to never do it again. I blame it on 10 years spent at the conservatory of music where we had to practice solfège weekly and sing while conducting. It was not fun.

That’s why when my company sent out an email yesterday saying we are all going to celebrate New Year’s in a Karaoke bar, I almost had a heart attack. Singing is a very big part of Asian culture and Vietnam is no exception. EVERYBODY loves Karaoke and feels very comfortable participating. We will be welcoming the new year tonight at a Karaoke venue where I will be downing lots of drinks in order to get up and join the celebration.

If this is any indication of what’s to come in 2009 then it is bound to be a very happy (musical) year.

Happy New Year!

More Than Just A Diagnosis

Philipp, a co-worker at MSS, had a motorcycle accident yesterday. This is quite common in Vietnam and is not really a big deal. This time, however, Philipp got pretty scratched up and decided to go to a hospital. Considering he wasn’t wearing a helmet during the time of accident, he was very lucky to only have a few scratches here and there. This morning he showed up in the office (after driving his motorcycle to work of course) bruised yet cheerful and we were talking about his accident. He showed me the doctor’s note he received at the hospital and it was just so funny I had to take a photo. Take a look at the last item under treatment!

My Friend Trang at Dinner

I met my friend, Trang, for dinner at one of the Banh Trang restaurants in the city. At a Banh Trang restaurant you order meat or fish and get a huge basket full of herbs (some are quite exotic), cucumber slices, bean sprouts, dry rice flour crepes, pickled carrots/shallots and fish sauce of course. The fun part is assembling your meal: you take a little of each ingredient using chopsticks, place it on the rice paper and transform it into a nice roll. Some do it a little more gracefully than others (mine kinda looked like a Vietnamese Burrito) but either way, it is super yummy.

A Vietnamese Wedding

I got up early this morning in order to squeeze in a few more hours by the pool. I took a morning walk and happened to stumble upon a real Vietnamese wedding. All women were wearing the traditional Vietnamese outfit, the Ao Yai and looked so elegant walking in the procession. Mui Ne is definitely the perfect place for a wedding.

Cafe Joe, Mui Ne

I got breakfast at the lovely “Cafe Joe” which I discovered yesterday. While enjoying my food, I got to meet a new member of the staff at “Joe” – a cute little kitty, a red and white tabby! Peter, the chef at the cafe, told me that she arrived last night and decided to adopt them as her new family. She is a very friendly little kitty with a short tail. The two of us enjoyed my breakfast a great deal!

Making Friends in Mui Ne

I took the bus back to HCMC and am getting ready for another week of work before going off to Mekong Delta.

Example of a Visa Exemption in a Passport

Great news! As of fall 2008 Vietnam has established visa exemptions for Viet Kieu (Vietnamese overseas). In theory, that means that as a Vietnamese-born person I can apply for an exemption ($20 the first time, only $10 for subsequent applications) and receive a visa exemption valid for 5 years! That’s awesome! That sure beats the expensive cost of getting a 1-3 month visa, especially a multi-entry visa, which is more expensive (with expedited shipping this can add up to well over $100). And I wouldn’t need to worry about visa issues for 5 years at a time which saves time and money. Ahh, membership has its privileges. As an adoptee I hope that they accept my paperwork since it’s different and not as complete as my fellow Viet Kieu, most of whom left Vietnam with their families and parents who were already Vietnamese citizens. I was only 10 months old and so I never had a Vietnamese passport and there’s very little in the way of documentation about me in Vietnam during the war. I have to call the Vietnamese Mission to the UN (an official Vietnamese office here in NY) first thing on Monday morning to get some questions answered. I guess we’ll just have to see how the application process goes!

For information regarding the new 5-year visa exemption for Vietnamese-born people, click here!

Tien Dat Resort

I am in heaven, also known as Mui Ne beach. I arrived in Phan Thiet very late Wednesday night after a 4.5 hr bus ride from HCMC. Phan Thiet is located north east of HCMC, by the South China sea. It is a very popular beach retreat with Vietnamese and expats alike.

As soon as the bus pulled into Mui Ne, I noticed large fields of dragonfruit trees everywhere. The trees look like a psychedelic cactus and when it’s lit at night, it’s even more magical.

I wake up every morning in my beautiful sea view room at Tien Dat resort to the sound of the waves. My daily routine includes, tanning by the pool, tanning at the beach, lunching with friends at “Sailing Club”, exploring Mui Ne by foot and reading on my porch. It’s definitely exhausting.

All the resorts are located on one stretch lined with coconut trees and excellent seafood BBQ restaurants. In between the resorts, you can sometimes spot a couple of cows or a duck.

This is all so relaxing, I have completely lost sense of time. I think I am going to make this a Christmas tradition.

Merry Christmas!

Tamar is in Mui Ne for Christmas and I’m still celebrating the holidays here in New York.

In the meantime, here is a link to some very festive photos of holiday lights from around Saigon from another fellow blogger in Vietnam.

Merry Christmas!

Kevin & Tamar

In an attempt to comply with blogging restrictions that have recently been publicized from several news sources, I’ll simply post the relevant links here.

An article from the Associated Press on Dec. 24, 2008

An article posted today on the official Vietnam News Agency (Ministry of Culture and Information)

Eating Latkes in Vietnam

All kinds of unexpected things have been happening to me today. This morning, I got locked inside my apartment, my roommate forgot I live there too and put a lock on the door which can only be opened from outside. Normally, there are two nice ladies parked on fold up chairs in the hallway watching people go by the whole day. Luck would have it that this morning, they were nowhere to be found. After waiting a while for them to come back, I devised a whole operation that included a mirror (angled at the hallway), keys and my face shoved in between the bars. Once they came back, I used the 5 words I speak in Vietnamese and was quickly released. A real Hanukkah miracle!

I rushed to work and realized that today is the day a TV crew was coming to MSS to film a short report about Americans celebrating Tet in HCMC. The crew followed Aryeh around for a while until they realized they need some strong supporting actors and I was chosen! I knew I’d be discovered one day! So, scenes of me walking around with Aryeh and Bao in Zen Plaza are being edited as I type soon to be on a Vietnamese TV channel.

After work, I went over to Saigon Center where Chabad was throwing a Hanukkah party for the Jewish community in the city and Israeli backpackers passing through. It was my first time eating Latkes with dragonfruit, not a traditional Jewish combination by any means, it was great.

People Committee Hall

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous here and tonight was particularly beautiful. After spending time relaxing and drinking tea at “La Fenetre du Soleil”, I decided to walk around and enjoy the cool breeze. I took a leisurely stroll stopping to admire how festive and happy the city is in preparation for Christmas and Tet (Vietnamese New Year).

Tonight, however, people were celebrating for a different reason – Vietnam won a soccer match against Singapore and took Southeast Asian championships for the first time in a decade! It was a mob scene, much like Times Square in NY the night Barack Obama won the election but roughly 50 degrees hotter…