With only 30 minutes left before I need to grab a taxi to the airport I have just enough time for one last drink at Centro and a quick charge of the laptop. My visit to Vietnam this trip has been brief and was roughly split between Ho Chi Minh City and Mui Ne. However, Vietnam never fails to surprise me and, despite the limited time, this visit has still given me some great and new experiences. With each visit (this was my fourth), Ho Chi Minh City continues to establish itself as my most favorite place to be in the world. In short, I feel welcome here, I feel free here and most of all this place just makes me very happy.

But that’s not all I have to say about HCMC and Mui Ne! That’s just all I have time for right now.

For anyone who may have read my previous posts, Applying for Visa Exemption and Still Working on the Visa Exemption for Vietnam, I have good news for my latest update! I got the Certificate of Visa Exemption which is valid until 2014!

Kevin's US Naturalization Certificate (1979)

The problem the first time was that the Vietnamese Embassy wanted to see further proof that I was previously a Vietnamese citizen prior to becoming an American citizen. I have no official Vietnamese documents that prove that such as an old Vietnamese identity card or passport. However, once I sent in a copy of my US Naturalization Certificate they were able to see that the “Country of former nationality” was “Vietnam” and this was sufficient proof that I was previously a “Vietnamese citizen”. On a side note, one thing I love about this Certificate of Naturalization is that I weighed only 30 pounds and still they thought to indicate that my “marital status” was “single”.
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Tamar & Kevin in Chiang Mai

It’s time to say goodbye to Asia again. I cannot believe 8 weeks have gone by already. I’ve had an incredible time living, working and traveling in South East Asia. It has been a very special experience and I hope its positive effects will stay with me for a while. I’ll admit it though, I miss home.

This morning Kevin and I said goodbye at Chiang Mai airport. We almost missed our flights due to a flower festival in town and had to walk with our bags to the highway where we eventually found a taxi. Luckily we made it in time! I boarded a plane to Bangkok and then switched to another plane heading to HCMC, Vietnam. Tomorrow night I leave for New York (via Tokyo). Kevin boarded a plane to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which marks the first stop on his three week adventure around Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. Be sure to check out the blog for stories, photos and videos of his journey!

I spent the evening in HCMC stuffing myself with Vietnamese food (I missed it terribly) and enjoying drinks outdoors with good friends. The city looks as beautiful as ever and I hope to see it again real soon!

We love to write about all of the beautiful and interesting things we see in our travels around Asia. However, not everything in the world is so pretty and Asia is no exception. We wanted to share with you a sad article about the abduction and trafficking of women from Vietnam to other countries in the region like Cambodia.

Click here to read the NY Times article that was published just last month.

Reporter Nicholas D. Kristof has covered this issue as well as others extensively in several parts of the world and he has a page of video reports on YouTube.

Cute Kids in the Neighborhood

This is my last morning in Ton That Tuyet, I fly out to Bangkok in a few hours. I took a walk around the neighborhood to say goodbye. Check out the photos!

A Beautiful Friday Night in Saigon

Today was my last day at MSS, it was sad to say goodbye to people I have been working/hanging out/partying with for the past five weeks. I will certainly miss the energy and smiles all around me. Working in Vietnam has been an incredible experience, one that I will always remember.

The folks at the office wanted to make sure I don’t leave Vietnam before I try every single dish available. The going away celebrations started earlier this week and ended tonight with a feast at 3T (Vietnamese BBQ). I can definitely say I’ve had incredible food in Vietnam with wonderful people and am already lamenting having to say goodbye.

Vietnam keeps changing, every visit here is like a first in a way. There is so much going on at all times, new businesses opening up, new buildings erected, new cuisines offered and new (better) regulations introduced to control the chaos. I wonder what HCMC will be like next time I visit.

I celebrated the end of five weeks of work tonight on a rooftop of a Spanish bar in Dist 1. Sipping Sangria outdoors in perfect weather never felt so good.

I miss Vietnam already!

This week is my last week in HCMC and the going away meals have already begun. Yesterday I went out with a few of my colleagues to have “Bun Ca Ro” for the first time. This north Vietnamese dish consists of noodle, fish broth, fish balls and vegetables. It is incredibly tasty and a good vegetarian alternative to Pho.

Tonight I saw my friend Atsushi (Zeus) for the first time in 6 years. Zeus and I have known each other since San Francisco days, 10 years ago when we both worked together at a little shop in Sausalito. Back then, we used to talk about all the fun places around the world we’d like to live in or visit one day. In the last few years, we both managed to move around a lot and had no idea that the other person had switched continents. A few months ago, Kevin and I discovered that Zeus had moved out to Vietnam of all places and knows a lot of our friends there (here). Turns out he had relocated to HCMC a year ago and started his own business. It was great to reconnect and catch up on the last few years. It’s a small small world!

Rau Ma Drink

Tonight, after a long day at work, I went with Philipp to a local Vietnamese restaurant to try some new food. We started with a cold drink called “Rau Ma” which doesn’t look very appetizing but is very good. Rau Ma is made of ground Pennywort with ice and sugar (lots of sugar).

Bot Chien

This great drink goes really well with “Bot Chien”. Originally a Chinese dish, Bot Chien is made of rice flour cubes with fried eggs and vegetables. This may not have been the best choice for dietary reasons but it was oh so yummy!

I think the Vietnamese equivalent of shaking your hand is the “ritual of 4 questions” (not to be confused with the Jewish 4 questions of Passover). Whenever I meet new people, be it random people on the street or curious co-workers at the office, the conversation starts with the obligatory four questions:

1. How old are you?
2. Are you married? (sometimes replaced with simply pointing to the ring finger and raising the eyebrows)
3. Do you have children?
4. Why not?
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Floating Market, Can Tho

This is my third visit to Vietnam, I have seen many of the wonderful sights all along the country but have never visited the Mekong Delta before. I have always wanted to go and see the southwest of Vietnam where the Mekong river ends its long journey from China through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia.

This past weekend I went to visit my friend Thi Bay in Can Tho, the largest city in the Mekong Delta. After a 5hr bus ride from HCMC through rice fields, villages and towns, I was finally at the campus where Thi Bay lives. Six months ago, Thi Bay left NY for a teaching position at Can Tho University and a chance to reconnect with her Vietnamese roots (her grandfather was Vietnamese, a fact she has to repeat 5 times a day on average). In a short time, Thi Bay has become somewhat of a local star in a city that has very few foreigners. From students walking by to the Xe Om drivers outside the gate, everybody knows her and wants to have a little chat.
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