April 29, 2012

The evening of our return from the north, the whole department at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities gave Ron a celebratory sending off party. We first went to the Dean's office where she interviewed him about his semester here in Vietnam. Then they presented him with a beautiful embroidered picture as a going-away gift.

Dr. Dau Minh Hong, Tran Khang & Ron

Plus another art piece for us to take home.

Dr. Hong, Ron and Ly

Then we went to a Japanese restaurant with the whole staff of the department. We had tons of food including sushi, a hot pot with mushrooms of every shape and size (including pigeon heads for flavor) and several bottles of fine French wine.

Ron got a prize in his bowl!

Nguyen Vinh Hang, Ron, Khang, Me and Elaine

The next day was Elaine's departure day. She stayed almost 3 weeks and it went so fast! It was so much fun having her. We even put her to work one evening helping Ron enter the grades of his students. I will miss her.

Wednesday we flew up to Nha Trang via Vietnam Airlines. Nha Trang University invited Ron to conduct a seminar to 100 Deans and Vice Rectors about Developing and Assessing Learning Outcomes. We stayed at the Hai Yen Hotel in beautiful Nha Trang. It's considered the beach capital of Vietnam with towering mountains behind and a beach that stretches on for miles. There are little islands all within sight and something called Vinpearl Land which is similar to our Disneyland. There are still motorbikes everywhere, but the streets are wide, and the traffic seems calmer somehow.

The evening we arrived we were met at out hotel by a Fulbright student, Max, who lives in Nha Trang studying lobster aquaculture. Max and Huy brought their motorbikes, and the 4 of us took off for about a mile to a barbecue restaurant.

We cooked beef (Australian), tuna, and everything right there on our own hibachi. It was very smoky, loud, and the beer was cold!

We were picked up in a van the next morning and taken to the University. The room was huge and after a brief introduction by the Vice Rector, Ron spoke for about 2 hours to all these Deans.

He did a great job. They took us to lunch right next to the beach and they ordered several dishes for us including ostrich! I think I'll pass on the ostrich.

After lunch Ron spoke to a smaller group of people in a room with a long conference table. This time the subject was about his Syllabi and Testing methods.

They asked lots of questions and he had an interpreter who repeated his words after each sentence.

The Vice Rector, me and Ron, Kim An, and the Interpreter

We were only in Nha Trang for 2 days, so that afternoon we enjoyed the beautiful turquoise waters and the beach. Hundreds of local people make use of the beach and the water early in the morning, and then disappear during the heat of the day. The evening brings them back out with the whole family. Lining the coast for a few blocks are beautiful restaurants with everything fresh from the sea. Nha Trang has museums, markets, water sports, scuba diving, and so much that we didn't have time for. We must come back someday.

April 20, 2012

April 13 we flew to Hue where there are tombs, temples, palaces, and pagodas. It's situated on the beautiful Perfume River and we checked into the magnificent 5 star  Imperial Hotel and were met by Ms. Hoai who is Director of Marketing and the neice of one of Ron's Ph.D. students at Texas Tech, Hai Nguyen. It's one of the finest hotels in all of Vietnam. She took us to lunch on the 3rd floor and we had a fabulous meal which was pre-arranged. They just kept bringing course after course.

One of the courses.

After lunch, she offered us a driver and we crossed over the Perfume River to the Citadel. It was built to protect the Vietnamese emperors from outside invaders in the early 19th century. It was also the site of some of the most fierce fighting during the French and American wars in Vietnam.

That evening we met Hoai again and had dinner at the Japanese restaurant in the hotel and then sat on the King's Panorama Bar on the rooftop to watch the beautiful city of Hue at night.

The next day was a tour of tombs. First was the tomb of Tu Duc. He was the emperor from 1848-1883, had 104 wives, countless concubines and no offspring. Then we saw the tomb of Khai Dinh. He was the emperor from 1916 to 1925. When he died his son Bao Dai took over the reign at only 14.  It was said that construction of his flamboyant tomb took 11 years to build which was 2 years longer than his reign. This is a hillside momument and boy were there tons of steps! Of course, it was probably 110 degrees and we were sweating up a storm. Elaine was a real trooper though climbing all those stairs with a new artificial knee!

The pagoda where Thich Quang Duc studied was next. He was the man in 1963 who self-immolated in downtown Saigon to protest President Diem's persecution of the Buddhist religion.

Back to the fabulous Imperial Hotel for lunch. This time it was also pre-arranged and we had Bun Bo Hue. That's soup with beef, onion, noodles and spices from Hue. The evening was special because Ron has been wanting me to see the DMZ Bar since taking his students there for the past several summers. We ate and drank outside at this downtown establishment with people from all over the world. Fun.

The next day we had a driver again, and he drove us to Hoi An, stopping at Da Nang and we went to the Cham museum where artifacts from the local Cham ruins are housed. It's not a very large museum but fascinating to see all the stuff dating from the 5th to 15th centuries.

In Hoi An we stayed at the Hoi An Hotel. The city has narrow car (and motorbike) free streets. It's located by the South China Sea (called the East Sea by Vietnamese) and it has beautiful beaches. We took a walking tour checking out handicraft workshops, a Japanese covered bridge, and several museums. There's lots of Japanese and Chinese influences on the buildings. The temperatures were steamy but it's a beautiful little city.

We were sweating like crazy and our guide had a jacket on!

A street in Hoi An

We strolled over to 41 Le Loi street where they have pet worms who build cocoons then they take the cocoons and boil them till silk comes out. Then they spin it and make beautiful clothes in any style you want. I had them make me a dress, Elaine fashioned a blouse, and Ron ordered 3 pairs of pants, and 2 shirts. The next day - they were done.

I even bought a blouse right off the rack that fit me perfectly.

We flew home Tuesday from the brand new Da Nang airport.

April 9, 2012

We're heading south to the Mekong Delta. We hired a driver to pick us up here at our apartment and Yen (Carie's Mom), Elaine, Ron and I left early Friday morning and we returned Saturday afternoon. Our first stop was Ap Bac. The Battle of Ap Bac took place on January 3, 1963 and it was the 1st big battle of the Vietnam War. There were 3 American advisors killed and 8 wounded plus out of the 15 American helicopters sent, only 1 escaped undamaged and 5 were either downed or destroyed. This battle changed America's views of the Vietnam War. Out in the rice field there were signs with pictures on them of downed helicopters and destroyed tanks.

Sign in Rice Field

After touring the museum, we walked way out into the rice field where workers were tending to the most bountiful rice harvests on earth.

 

Then we drove down to Can Tho. It's a large city with a smaller feel and a busy waterfront area. We 3 "girls" checked out the massage on the 3rd floor of our hotel the Ninh Kieu 2. The female masseuse I had was quite rough, climbed right up on the table on top of me, and waited afterward while I changed and then asked for a tip! My sister had the same thing happen to her. They did do a leg/foot massage afterward although my leg is still a little tender where I got hit by the motorbike and I didn't quite get the message to her in Vietnamese correctly. 

Friday night we were guided to a boat for dinner by a student Ron had met last summer when he was here. We got on a little late and all the good seats were taken on the top floor, but even though the band was a little close and a little loud, we had a good time. 

We ordered several dishes to share. But we did not get the FIELD MOUSE!

Check out the different ways to cook Field - Mouse.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to take a boat to the Floating Market at Cai Rang. There are many canals connecting with the main river and people on small boats are selling every kind of fruit and vegetable you can imagine. 

Pumpkins

We pulled our boat up next to a woman selling pineapples. She carved it up beautifully, split it down the middle, and VOILA I had a pineapple popsicle!

 

After a big breakfast at our hotel we got back in the van and headed north stopping off at My Tho for lunch at a restaurant right on the Mekong River. We ordered a rice ball, and Standing Fish (because it looks like it's standing up).

This rice ball is hollow and the waitress cut it with a knife, flattened it, then folded it in sections. YUM!

The waitress took rice paper, put greens and cucumbers inside, then added the flesh of the fish and rolled it up. YUM!

Washing it down with a 333 Beer, it was a delicious lunch to put an end to a fun weekend.

April 4, 2012

My sister, Elaine, who lives in Venice Beach, California arrived today. She flew from LA to Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh City and had no problems. Yay!

Elaine at Tan Son Nhat Airport

There are hundreds of people lined up to welcome people arriving from all over. She flew Cathay Pacific Airlines from Hong Kong and there was another flight arriving from Hong Kong on another airline at the exact same time. So you can imagine how many people we're talking about.

She was able to meet our friend Carie at our favorite bar in the evening and then we walked over to the mall and ate dinner. 

We live right down the street from the city zoo, so Saturday we decided to check it out. It's King Hung's birthday and a big holiday here, so the zoo was quite crowded. I think we enjoyed watching the people as much as we did the animals. The young people stare at us and some teenagers even asked to take our picture with them! I guess they liked staring at us too! It's a huge zoo and they seem to take good care of the animals.  

There are plans to build a Saigon Safari Park in the Cu Chi District and then all of the animals will be relocated if and when it eventually opens.

Sunday, after our language class, we took Elaine to Carie's house for lunch. Oh My Gosh. She out did herself again. We had shrimp egg rolls, a wonderful soup with noodles called Bun Bo Hue with beef and a pork pate that floated on top. Then she brought out a big bowl of pork knees. My sister just had an artificial knee operation last year, and this was suppose to be good for her knees. For dessert we had pomelo, dragon fruit and a kind of cookie that tastes like jello. We had a great time with her whole family.

Elaine, me and Carie

She has a wonderful family and they always welcome us with open arms. 

Carie's brother Luan, his wife Nga and 1 1/2 year old Sushi

Elaine had brought them all shirts from Venice Beach!

Ron was trying to show Carie something on his computer and when he turned it on...there was nothing at all on his desk top! They all fiddled with it but it still looked dead. Luan suggested they go to see his friend who would fix it. It had been raining all day, and it was a Sunday, and it was getting dark, but they took a taxi to his friend's shop and within an hour had it back to normal! And to top it off - he didn't even want to charge Ron anything for his service. I think Ron gave him money to buy a few beers before they left though.

Well, we stayed quite late and by the time we were ready to leave, it was raining really hard. On the way home the taxi driver had to change directions 3 times because of fallen trees and when we got to our apartment there was a tree down right in front so we had to walk in the rest of the way. Unknown to us, we were in the middle of a typhoon! My first! It was typhoon Pakhar and was right over Ho Chi Minh City! We're on the 10th floor, and the windows rattled with the wind and rain well into the night. The next morning Elaine and I took a taxi to the Ben Thanh Market and the streets were lined with downed limbs and trees and some were even pulled right out by their roots. We heard that no one was killed, but it was a mighty fierce storm with lots of property damage.

Tuesday Elaine and I sat in on Ron's class. His subject was the "American War." It's impossible to know exactly how much the students have been told about the war and how it was taught in their schools because they are all very young. But he did a great job covering both sides - the soldiers (American and Vietnamese) plus the anti-war movement. He showed pictures of all of the presidents who were involved on both sides, plus William Westmoreland, General Vo Nguyen Giap, the demonstrations on college campuses, My Lai Massacre, the Paris Peace negotiations and eventually the fall of Saigon. His students were very engrossed. I saw one girl tear up. I'm sure they all have a relative or two who were involved somehow during the war. Probably grandparents.

Today I took Elaine to the Co-Op market with another wild taxi drive. I think we'll just stay in the next 2 days!