New years eve

Probably only post of this trip so I'll recap most od the week. Arrived very late or early Christmas eve. Dad worked on Saturday. Ms Han happy for me to be here and doing everything she can to get me to stay. No rain except last night . Warm but not nasty hot. Got a new bike for Christmas so I'm rolling around the compound all the time. Had jess nhi and his girls for diner Wednesday - paella ribs Caesar ice cream. Thurs dinner was noodle salad, Friday dinner at the deck and Saturday at they hyatt for new years eve. Had a massage on Christmas. Had a two hour massage today too. Really nice. Shopped a bit for requests, got watch fixed again, Lu ch with Ann carry at mekong merchant on Tuesday (pizza for me). Ms Han made me pho, fried rice, pancake for dinner on Monday. Tuesday night was green salad, wednesdAy was dinner party, thurs was noodle salad. Quiet around compound most have gone for Christmas ho,day. Everywhere they're getting ready for Tet aka Chinese new year in a couple weeks. Had lunch with Ann carry on Tuesday at mekong merchant -pizza. Caught up on all her news. Went to compound pool one afternoon and paddled around alone. Pretty much the usual routines around here.

End of trip

Wednesday morning
345 alarm, shower
358 in car headed to airport
438 thru check in, security, immigration, to gate

Very displeased with united. Middle middle seat for 10 hr hong kong San Francisco flight.

Tuesday afternoon email advised my flight from hong kong to chicago was cancelled. Automatically rebooked to San Francisco then Chicago, then Greensboro. Excruciating ten hours with stupid movies, animated king Fu panda, cars and action here captain America. Ugh. Wait listed for first to Chicago, didn't make it. First to Greensboro big deal!

Our Tuesday night was nice though. Dad came home a litle early, we went to united office in town to check on fligt and seating ... They could do nothing! Then went to art gallery. Dinner was at the French place, we walked in a drizzle. Nice meal.

All flights were ok. slept as much as possible. in the Chicago Red Carpet lounge sat with John Isner (he sat by me) who was coming back from Beijing where he pulled out of a tournament because he was sick. I didnt ask details! Wow he is really tall. Even the bulk head seat was a tight fit for him on that small plane. I gave him some tennis pointers from my years of playing tennis!

Tuesday

Great Monday night dinner party with dads Ralph Lauren customers. Ms Han did a fantastic job of organizing every little detail. Floral centerpiece, beverage bar, horsdorves of fried tofu and spring rolls with dip. Main course was another feast of squid, steamed greens, salad, Ginger chicken, steamed rice, tofu stuffed with shrimp and a beautiful plate of fresh fruits. They drank all dads cognac and left at 11pm. Ms.Han had an able helper in the kit hen so she finished up about 9pm.
Today did final trip to town for a couple things to throw in suitcase. Lunch of pho ga at home. Packing bag so it will be ready to go.
Dinner tonight at a new French restaurant for me ... Altho dad had been many times.
Dad coming home from work early after lunch since its my last day here. I never know how to gauge my visit with dad. Guess it is what it is.

Monday morning

Muggy morning.
Nice Sunday. DIY breakfast aftervdads swim. Hung around, watched a part of movie, got another wonderful two hour massage. Had a lunch with dad at Mekong merchant ... I had salad, dad had a swordfish sandwich. Quiet DIY dinner at home. Finished watching movie and then another that put me to sleep!

Monday night dinner party with nyc Ralph Lauren guys. Ms Han in charge of menu. Dad suggesting lots of options. I will help by staying out of the way! Actually I may shadow her and learn some tricks of cooking VN dishes. I can also wash dishes and set the table! Mostly I will be a charming host!

A couple things to do in the city this morning so I will knock them off then be back in time to supervise party preparations.

Later ... Got all my errands done at the market and picked up my new silk suit for market. Stopped on way back to house and had lunch. Ladies hard at work prepping for dinner guests tonight. Squid being peeled and sliced, shrimp being minced for stuffing in tofu, squash blossoms being stripped and cleaned. It's all coming together. I actually have no idea what's on the menunfor tonight. Centerpiece already arranged. I feel like I should be doing something but I think they prefer I keep out. Maybe I should do the laundry!

Fortunately I beat the rain which borders on monsoon this afternoon. Front is flooding and it's coming down in buckets. It will pass.

Observation ... While having lunch alone, two tables of ex pat ladies came in. Their conversations were loud enough to overhear. Sounds like a very shallow existence if one doesn't have young family. Spoke of this one and that and the new diet they were on (burger patty with two poached eggs on top). I guess they eat and drink the time away. Hopefully there is some meaningful charity work done or volunteering somewhere sometime.

Friday and saturday

Guess there was little to blog... Went to town. Found the butcher for ground meat and made cheeseburgers for dinner bc dad had appt for pilates at 630 so it would have been a late dinner in town. They were good. Pretty quiet night with very little conversation. Oh well.
Saturday ms Han made eggs for breakfast a nice change. Went to town, saw lizzy on the corner. She had been at yoga and was headed for pedicure. Went to a sale at the caravelle, ferragamo stuff on sale. Long line. Didn't have shoe selection that I prefer but had lots of really nice mens ties. Chose 3 for dad. Waited forever in line. Said he didn't need them. I knowmthey have lovely ferragamo shop in hong kong airport so I will buy myself a nice birthdayngift!

Guess I get to go out tonight ... Have been home since Wednesday night. Maybe I'll even get to the martini bar!

No rain today well just a spritz that I walked thru. Had lunch today at Mekong merchant chicken caesar. They are good to me there.

Wednesday and thursday

Wednesday morning dad left for shanghai. Ann carry came for lunch. Ms Han made phong a and flan. We had a good chat and visit. She is going on med cruise Friday. Then I took taxi to town. Dropped off my watch to get the stem replaced again. Rain fell while I was out.
Dinner with jess and nee at Mekong ... Nice casual meal. Very enjoyable.

Thursday ... Tried going shopping for black pearls but they were hardbto find. Still have time. Tried to find butcher and taxi driver was totally lost. Gave up, came back to house. Lunch was pancake roll up. Very nice and light. Walked around gave ms Han time to get her work done.

Thurs night dad came back from Shanghai so rode with mr do to airport. Should have stays hom e. Dinner home, soup.

Tuesday

Lots of rain usually fast and furious. Spent Tuesday hanging around walked to the river, cappuccino and reading, walked the compind to give ms Han some time tom do some catching up around the house. Had fried rice for lunch, after the rain walked to get a pedicure. Tuesday evening we had invitation to US Vietnam agriculture trade cocktail partite at sheraton . Jess and née came too. A couple welcome speeches, meet and greet and networking done. But we weren't in food and agri biz so we departed after meeting the new ambassador from the US who is at the embassy in Hanoi. Probably wondered what we were doing there! Went out to dinner at nice japanese place. Suchi and tempura. Early night, all the food arrived at once ... and for some reason I feel like we ate too fast. Maybe that's the culture. Wore black skirt, ruffled animalnprint blouse. Still unsure of dress code ... Business attire but there were many under dressed people.

Dad and werner going to shanghai on Wednesday morning, back on thurs. I'll be on my own.

For the record Part two

As listed in my prior post from may 2011, the list of things to bring back, I came loaded with stuff. I have my own import business with this list.

Listerine 1.5 litre and 500 ml bottles
2 tubes of toothpaste
2bottles glucosomine
1 bottle advil
Rubber gloves
Starbucks coffee and sweetener
Jar of fig and Ginger jam
Screwdriver
Zip lock bags
2 oven mitts
2pks white flour sack towels
4 books for Lizzy and Werner
2 bottles vitamins for lizzy
History of southern culture book for TA office
Flip camera
Stain stick, oxyclean
9x9 pan
Round cake pan
Handled sponge for glassware
Maryjames cookbook, Martha magazine and everyday food
LV and NC tee shirts for ms Han, mr do, gardener, dads

Certainly a long list. Everyone pleased with their new goodies.

For the record

Wednesday sept 21

610 alarm, 830 to airport, 945 depart for chicago
Noon boarded flight for 1230 departure
Departed plane at 1245 ... Mechanical issue
Headed to red carpet lounge, board updated flight cancelled deputing thurs at 830am
Shuttled to intercontinental hotel for night
Got 6am shuttle back to ORD boarded and left uneventful

Met dad in hong kong on his way back from Bombay. Hung out in Cathay lounge
Arrived and finally got to an phu 9pm on friday

Saturday dad worked, I puttered. Left for wedding at 5pm which still made us among the first to arrive.

Dancing troupe, three musicians, balloon popping, champagne tower, speeches, singing. About seven courses of food. All over by 9pm. We were acknowledged in one of th espeeches as coming fro america as well as another couple from Singapore and a gal from Australia. The gardener and driver were there too. About 300 people.

Sunday was lovely. Dad swam, I puttered. Breakfast poached egg and coffee.went with dad for two hour massage. Wow that was pampering. Then lunch at mekong merchant...I had pumpkin soup, dad had salami and cheese sandwich. Walked home, watched maos last dancer movie. Took walk around compound, diner about 7 pizza from Mekong merchant, watched gran prix race.

Monday night there's a thing at the hyatt cocktail attire .. Here we go again. Guess I'll dig out the old black sheath..

P.S. or take or send back

4am alarm; 415 departure; 438 arrival; immigration and security cleared 455. waited in royal lounge until boarding. arrived hong kong, went right to red carpet and hung out til boarding. no shopping chanel, cartier, etc. very tempted but ...

among things to bring back: hairspray, mousse for hair, laundry shirt starch, rubber gloves, screwdriver, zip lock bags, potato masher (for guacamole), stain stick, oxyclean for sweaty clothes. far from complete list but what i could remember now. maybe a bottle of alcohol if i can pack it in my luggage.

last one for now

wonderful bbq. amazing. weather was typical. rained very hard for 15 minutes then cleared. ms. han did an awesome job of preparing from 7am til 1pm kick off. spring rolls, ginger chicken and white rice, tenderloin, lamb chops, pasta salad, deviled eggs, guacamole. amazing. about 10 bottles of white wine and a lot of cans of beer. good TA employees. last one left at 7pm! now to complete the packing process, and set the alarm for 4am with a 415 departure. rain came again as folks were leaving so that was good timing. ms han had a helper and they did great cleaning up, serving, prepping ... they did it all and for pocket change. gave up their day off to pitch in. now i get to leave. most everyone has been asking when i'll be back which is a nice feeling to be accepted here. and now i'll sign off for this segment. tomorrow SGN-HKG-CHI-GSO.

among the last ...

went out with jess and nhi last night for dinner. very country vietnamese cooking and atmosphere but quite popular with expat community now. big day on sunday. today is saturday, ms. han has organized the entire party so i'm free of worries. went to fine art museum in the city ... 3 floors. first floor was childrens art, maybe ten years old, second floor was old art and sculpture and third was a lot of the same. interesting. very glad i went. i was enjoying the childrens art and thinking finally a museum where there is not the ever present reminder of agent orange ... and then there it was among the kids paintings, war and agent orange art (notice the pink airplanes and the bombs dropping). most of it was family, environment, teacher, play but there were some disturbing works by kids. sad. was also thinking that anyone born after 1970 was just a child when the war ended, and anyone born after 1975 completely missed it. perspective: we got married in 1974 before the war ended. how hard dad avoided coming to vn at one time and now he cant be away.

around the neighborhood

I'm on a roll.....

commentary: they have an aversion to first and second gear. they only use third and fourth no matter what. guess it cuts down on shifting in city traffic.

commentary observation: a wise person commented that the "women/ladies" who attach themselves to older men are in it for the 4 c's - cash, credit card, car and condo. they see it as a quick and easy way to get out of their lifestyle

must be 6 yr old graduation day. lots of little girls in fancy party dresses out today. cute.

thursday we did a lot of shopping from 9am to at least 1pm. district 5 for glassware, and other bbq items for sunday; metro (costco) for groceries, australian butcher for meats, etc. quite a lot of running around. fortunately we had jess' driver who is a wonderful nice driver and didnt mind runnig us all over the place. dad and i stayed home at night and had a bowl of soup ... pretty calm night after a hectic day.

another one ...

observation: there are no female taxi drivers or female company drivers. wonder why

last night went out with ann carey bc dad had dinner with matthew williams and ed carey. mediterrean place locally. early night.

went up to the tallest building in vietnam yesterday ... photos on flickr too. too bad the weather moved in as i was ascending the 47 floors to the observation deck. fantastic view.

today the coconuts were again cut down to avoid any concussions to the gardener. many people involved in the task. i'll spare you all the duplication of photos from previous cutting.

dad said he's going to try fly fishing in the saigon river early one morning. that will be interesting i'm sure. that's one time that catch and release is a really good idea.

they had their country elections on sunday and according to the newspaper had nearly 100% turnout ... amazing? exaggeration maybe? and from what i've been told, the results were known before the voting even started. and theres only one party so its who will represent the party not which party.

another party boat sank which was owned by a restaurant that dad uses near the factory. 11 or more people killed at a 3rd birthday celebration on the boat. captain didnt have license to operate the boat, people dont know how to swim all factors.

otherwise i'm just trying to be a good houseguest.

Recap Update May 2011

This will probably be my one and only blog post of this trip. guess i want to spare you the same updates that i've done in the past. This time next week i will be on a flight back to NC via HongKong. Have had a very nice trip, did many of the same things I've done before, wandered to some new places, met some new people. went to a ILV coffee (intl ladies of vn) and i dont think thats a group for me. while they are lovely ladies and a source of information, I think i prefer the solitude that i've grown accustomed to when here. not much of a joiner i guess altho i wouldnt mind going on some of the excursions and sightseeing that they do but sewing group? bridge? mahjong? i dont think so. but i'll keep my option open for now.

havent done as much dining out as in the past. dad apparently has discovered that ms han is an excellent cook and prefers staying home. so our dining has been limited to the hyatt and the deck and mekong merchant. roger friesen from canada has b een in town so we've seen him a couple times. there was a black tie operation smile gala that TA had a table so that we a nice dress up night. dad didnt get anything at the art auction. he also went out of town for 2 nights to shanghai so i was on my own ... one night dinner at jess and nhi, one night went to boat house restaurant in compound and sat with sally and anthony cox. thought about going somewhere myself but not really long enough and its more fun with someone along.

have been reading a lot of books. finished the 3rd one last week so now i'll find another on the kindle. raining a little each day but never at the same time so its tricky planning ahead.

had a couple massages with dad on sundays .. got a facial this past sunday which was outstanding. i hope dad will take my suggestion and get one himself to get rid of the pollution and grim that gets into the pores. it was heavenly. and they do a lot more than just around the face. neck, chest, back. really nice. then got a 1/2 hr massage since we had a credit from the previous week.

planning a party for 20 TA people on sunday afternoon. casual bbq lunch. hopefully a tenderloin, some salads, spring roll, beer, wine. the usual bbq minus the burgers ad hot dogs.

observation: there are no convertibles in this town for the obvious reason. too hot and too polluted probably. most cars are suvs or mini van types. they certainly outnumber the sedans but motorbikes are still the preferred method of travel for the locals.

observation: i am very disturbed with the 60+ yr old men and the young "women" who attach themselves.

end of school year approaching here too so more moving vans are around the compound with people leaving. i imagine this would be a difficult place to have a teenager and the possibility of university admission down the road. they have plenty of schools ... american, australian, british that look very impressive so hope they prepare students to go off to university.

brought back with me some silk that dad had gotten year ago in thaliand i think. having it made into a dress for $30. pretty much constructed it using piece of this dress and piece of that one so we'll see how it looks on thursday.

hope the dog is behaving for emily. she is doing me such a huge favor taking care of sophie.

put pics on dads flickr rather than sign in to mine ... just in case his password isnt known. i'll post on my own too eventually. here are a couple just for the blog ... guess thats it. found many of the clothes i left here are a little baggy since last visit. and now the rain starts. but i've been wearing mostly skirts since they seem to be the coolest option. i'll have to look for sales to replenish my supply! love to all. mom