This is the first time that Tamar will be working in Asia since she’ll be consulting at a mobile content company in HCMC for a month. But what other NEW things will we attempt to experience on our upcoming trip in 2009?

First of all, we’re planning on spending a good deal of time in Thailand. A couple days after I arrive in HCMC we’ll take off for some island fun.

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Koh Chang

This archipelago is situated far from the famous islands like Koh Pi Pi and Koh Phangan and the full-moon parties. However, everything I’ve heard about Koh Chang sounds just as good if not better than most of the other more popular islands of Thailand. From beaches to hiking, motorbiking (although reportedly risky for beginners) to hanging out with elephants, this island getaway sounds like the perfect break from the fast paced life in New York City. In addition to the main island of Koh Chang there are several smaller nearby islands to explore and we plan on doing some island hopping just like we did last year in Si Phan Don, Laos.
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The latest film directed by Clint Eastwood stars Eastwood himself as a disgruntled Korean War veteran, Walt Kowalski, whose next door neighbors are a family of Hmong immigrants. I haven’t seen the film yet but after reading the NY Times movie review of Gran Torino and seeing the initial 8.3 rating on IMDB I’m really looking forward to seeing what looks to be another great and interesting film by Clint Eastwood!

photo credit: JasonDGreat

Thailand has a new prime minister and the country looks to be bouncing back from its relatively brief period of instability caused by mass protests and the blockage of Thai airports. The airports have reopened and things are returning to normal. We’re following the news closely as we prepare for our upcoming trip. Even if nobody closes down the islands and beaches we still may need to enter the country by plane so we’re hoping that there will be no further disruptions to the Thai way of life as well as our upcoming visit. Read more about the current situation here: Thai PM vows to restore stability – CNN.com.

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We love animals and it’s always fun to read about new and exciting things in the animal world, especially when they happen in Vietnam and the rest of Southeast Asia!

Two articles recently appeared on CNN.com and both feature some cool creatures that were recently discovered.

Laotian Rat, thought to be extinct

You can read about rare monkeys found in Vietnam or you can find out about all of the newly discovered species found in the region of the Mekong!

A Day in Cholon

My friend, Thi Bay, came up from Cantho (Mekong Delta) to spend the weekend in Ho Chi Minh City. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to see of the tourist attractions of HCMC. Thi Bay’s friend, Elizabeth, joined us for the day and the three of us went around exploring the city.

After breakfast, we decided to drive out to Cholon (district 5) and visit the must sees of that area. Cholon is the bustling Chinese part of HCMC, it also happens to be the place where Kevin was born!

We started at the Quan Am Pagoda which features great carvings and statues made even more beautiful by the constant thick cloud of incense. After admiring the magic of the Pagoda, we made our way through crazy traffic to the big Cholon market. The market has everything one could ever want, well, almost everything. It is no problem getting dry fish, medicinal mushrooms or a “North Face” backpack, but when it comes to simple body lotion, that’s a different story. It turns out that in Vietnam, body lotions are mixed with some suspicious sounding skin whitening chemicals.

We gave up on the lotion search and sat down for a yummy Che!

Christmas Party in HCMC

The Vietnamese sure do know how to party! My company’s Christmas party included a whole lot of singing, dancing, drinking and….texting! Since MSS is a mobile content company, there were lots of games that involved sending text messages. Those messages were then displayed on a big screen as a long thread. It was a lot of fun!

This Morning's Cafe Sua Da

The company I work for, MSS, is throwing a lavish Christmas party this year at a cool venue in the city. The invitation I got said “Please choose the hottest and most charming costume”. Unfortunately for me, all of the qualifying outfits stayed at home in NY. With one day to go, I realized that other than office and beach clothes I brought, I have nothing to wear.

Just like any other sensible woman, I went shopping.

Shopping for a dress in Vietnam is really not a fun activity for me since:
A. I hate shopping. Whatever the occasion/season/location, can’t stand it.
B. This is no ego boost (to put it mildly), everything is very small, tight and short.

After a couple of stores I was ready to join the local “Weight Watchers” and vowed to lay off the cafe sua da (super sweet ice coffee). I walked by a maternity clothing store and even those dresses looked too small to me. Normally, this is when I would give up and reminisce about the good old days when my Grandma used to make my clothes for me. Not really an option this time.

Determined to win this battle and find a dress, I continued on. After what seemed like 50 stores, I found a very nice shop with a very patient and friendly saleswoman. I tried on a few dresses and they all fit! I chose a dress and left the store smiling.

I can now enjoy another sugary drink in peace.

I live in a small neighborhood called Ton That Tuyet in District 4, just across the Saigon River. This neighborhood is 100% Vietnamese, well, minus 2 people: Aryeh and me. This definitely makes for a more authentic experience than staying in the tourist area and I am loving it.

The other night, I decided to get dinner in my hood and started walking around checking out the street food options. My little stroll caused quite a commotion, with every third person stopping to say “hi”, kids smiling and some folks waving or simply pointing. I felt like the queen of England, only better dressed.

I sat down to eat at one of the street stalls and ordered “Bun Bo Hue”, Hue specialty dish and a personal favorite of mine. Within seconds, I had a whole group surrounding me: 1 self-appointed instructor showing me how to eat my dish (clearly he had no idea what a foodie I am), 1 volunteer asking if I liked my food and a about 5 others simply staring as I do my best to not eat the beef chunks.

Dinner was $0.80, the experience – Priceless.

(Pictures coming soon)

View of Saigon River from my Apartment

This city is exactly as I remembered it – fun, energetic and HOT. After settling into my apartment this morning, I hopped on a Xe Om (motorbike taxi) and went to District 1, to start the day at my favorite place – Cafe Centro. After a quick breakfast, I hopped on another Xe Om and went to MSS office located at Zen Plaza. I got to meet the great team I’ll be working with and do some actual work. I love my new office, especially the excellent Sushi bar on the 5th floor…

It turns out that Santa, like me, can’t really stand the winter and has decided to spend Christmas in Vietnam this year. The whole city is overly decorated with elaborate holiday themed installations and lights. In a country where only 5% of the population is Christian, this makes very little sense but is oh so fun to look at.

Spending nearly 23 hours on planes yesterday left me no choice but to get a full body massage today. It was heavenly. To end the day, I met up with Aryeh and Jesse at a great Vietnamese restaurant housed in a beautiful French villa.

Not bad for a first day!