The past has a way of catching up to us. No matter how fast you run, no matter where you try to hide, it inevitably finds you, for better or worse. I was born in Vietnam, a child of the war. Here, it’s referred to as the...
Vietnam
Wish it, believe it, and it will be so
It started with a persistent thought, a tiny ember of an idea, really. An ember so fragile that the softest breeze would be more than enough to snuff out its light. A desire so improbable that to say it aloud in anything more than a whisper would...
Secret Saigon – What to Do in Ho Chi Minh City
Thanks to the world financial crisis, the skyrocketing cost of fuel and fluctuating currencies of the late 2000’s, the idea of staycations – a holiday close to home – exploded onto the scene. It was suddenly trendy to stay at a quaint little B&B and visit area attractions...
Magic Spaghetti vs Pan-fried Fois Gras with Porcini and Pear Marmalade
Ever since buying a brand new pressure cooker from a friend for the princely sum of US$40, I’ve been doing slightly more cooking lately. By slightly more, I mean once a week. And by cooking, I mean throwing hastily chopped ingredients into the pressure cooker. The one-pot...
40 Going on 25 – Am I Peter Pan?
I’m turning 20 this week. For the 20th time. Seriously. I would never want to be 20 again. Socially awkward, unsure of where I wanted my life to head, quickly moving on to other things once I got bored, getting into trouble. Wait. That description of me...
What Star Trek Has Taught Me About Travel
As a kid in the early 80s, I remember rushing home from school in time to get my Star Trek fix, eager to see what trouble the valiant crew of the Enterprise would encounter that week. Would it be hyper reproductive furballs, gladiator-style death battles or some...
Bloom, Saigon, Bloom
The last yellow petals have fallen, the final oversized watermelons have been discarded and dried out potted mums litter the sidewalk like yesterday’s newspapers. The last vestige of Tet, Vietnamese Lunar New Year, is actually Abba’s sickly sweet Happy New Year playing an endless loop in my head,...
The Faces of the Season
Growing up, my immediate family never celebrated Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year), preferring to dodge all the superstitions that surround it, like it being ill-advised to sweep your house for fear all the good luck would go out with the dust, or the fear of being the...
Food Craving #57: Strawberries in Vietnam
As a kid, my favorite TV snack wasn’t popcorn, peanut butter and apples, fruit roll-ups or any of the other typical “white people” snacks. It was a big bowl of canned lychees over ice. Anytime I had a whole bowl to myself meant I had done something...
The Repro Men — Saigon’s Anonymous Artists
Confession: I’m a bit of an art snob. I once planned an entire trip to Holland around the Van Gogh Museum. And I’ve dabbled in paints and pastels. I once took an evening art class at a local community college just for the joy of having two...