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Facebook is awesome !!!! Well, I am not going to make this blog become a monthly updated blog but actually it has been more than one month since my last update; uhggg, bad owner huh? Honestly, Facebook has been attracting my time these days and that made me almost completely forget... Space; I am sorry, but just trying to be as honest as possible. So anyways, these are what have been happening in my life...
I had a freezing Tet (again, Tet is lunar New year) this year. I had never been like that before, so I did not hang out much. Until the 6th of Tet, I took a train and head up to Hanoi. It was so nice with sunny and warmer weather up there. 3 days in Hanoi were just in the circle of shopping and eating and sleeping and I walked a very long day everyday then; it is kind of killing time but also enjoying the fresh air (just the way I say; not really fresh).
Back home just for 2 days then I did an awesome trip with 3 other friends.We... went... to... Thailand (I did look for you Saksinee
 ). Our first stop there is Mukdahan and we kind of very impressed how quiet that city is. We thought it was on a holiday or something so no one get out of their houses; but no, it was just a normal day. We were dropped at the bus station at night and fumbling the way how to get downtown. We found a Shell gas station just few steps away from the bus station. We got there and hopefully could figure out some useful information or the direction. Shoo, no one there speaks English. We tried to use body language and the map on our hand, but... When we were leaving the gas station, there was a guy drving his small truck there to get some gas. Thank God he knows some English. We asked and he said "I'm going on the same way to get downtown too so I could give you a free ride". We were so glad with that, jumping on the back of his truck and enjoy the place. The next day, we arrived in Khonkaen. There is a friend of my friend, I mean my friend's friend, not my friend but we made friend and she is now my friend; so that is a friend anyways (
 what the hell am I talking?). Whatever, but we got a great chance to stay with her at her house there. She is very nice, as Paul said "better than good". She took us around Khonkaen and showed us the direction to hang out when she is busy with classes. I have got a chance to try lots of amazing Thai food. they have the best curries ever, but really hot and spicy. Just imagine how you are while eating those curries, your nose is running, snuffling sound and saying "yummy yummy" continuously; ohh, I can't wait to have those super good food again. There also are bunch of other good food there. In the following picture is a food that I don't even remember its name but it includes sticky rice with mango and coconut juice I think. I have tried a piece of that and it tastes amazing.
I could not show you the others cause I did not take any picture of them; my fault. But we tried Japanese food at a very nice restaurant intown. Thanks Lauren for that awesome meal.
Thailand has a weird 3 wheels vehicle. If people use it for a taxi, it is called a tuk-tuk, but if it is a public vehicle, it would be called a songteuw. Here, we are riding on a tuk-tuk and one more thing is that people drive on the left in Thailand so that is why the next picture was taken when Paul and I were stopping for the red light and we both confused that little kid was driving a truck.
In this picture is I and Paul proudly riding on a motorbike without helmet to the bank for some money exchange. Driving on the left is kind of strange to me. We were stopped twice by Thai cops within couple minutes because of no helmet but when they figured out we are farang (that is how Thai people call foreigners), the conversation was switched over... cops: "where are you from? where are you going? have you known where the bank is? I recommend the Bangkok bank, fast and easy and no need passport".
 Thailand is a pagoda country, pagoda is everywhere. I visited an amazing pagoda and could not say anything except "awesome". Let show you some pictures I have...
This is a serious recommendation: you SHOULD try Thai massage before you die. It takes an hour and a half for one time and the move could make you fall to dream when you are laying down on a comfortable place. I found these funny restroom signs at the massage place and I think I would never find things like this again at other places.
This for people who are male And this for the opposite sex people
It is just the way how you do that and it is very visual.
The next stop of us is Koh Chang island. We took a night bus from Khonkaen to get to Bangkok and got a taxi at around 2 AM to go the Trat I think, where we catched the ferry to arrive the island. The beach where we stayed is Long Beach and at the Treehouse.
Paradise, huh? I really enjoyed the sunlight and cool water there, the coral is beautiful too that I brought one home even though it was terribly heavy caring with my baggage to me. Food at Kho Chang is delicious but unfortunately, everything is charged double or treble at least. But I mean it is worth it.
Thailand is a great trip to me and I am glad I made it. A good thing is that I got to know a pretty special friend in Khonkaen...
Back Hue, I got stuck with bunch of work. I am kind of running in a race with all of my work now and I feel like I am gona die with some of those. But anyways, today is still good so let enjoy life!
 And the last thing in this post is to a great friend, "welcome back Hue, Julie !!!!". It is so great to see and hang out with you again. Now I know it is real.
Hope you all are enjoying life!
I gotta vanish now.
PS: On facebook,... (I know, I should not mention facebook again here) I have just created an open group calls Addicted to - ORCHID - Fan Club for anyone who loves orchid. This is the link http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9094873508&ref=nf and I think you probably have to sign in to access that link. Anyways, I just want to let you guys know about the group and if anyone wish to join it, you are more than welcome to join our group. Thank you and bye for real. Life is beautiful So the wedding finally happened pretty perfectly as we were expecting. My sister was very excited and happy with that and us too. Almost all of our guests came that night to share happiness with us and that's why the hall looked tight with about 450 people there. The party was started by an imposing dancing act and then five handsome guys (I mean as handsome as... me lol) processed the five wedding cakes with a very solemn moment.
The groom and the bride were leaded into the hall by a group of fashionable and wealthy young people holding fireworks and walking in front of all is a cute couple kids who are my friend Ken and Heather's little son and my niece. I think this part attracted everyone's attention most. I should post some pictures here so you guys could see how the wedding looked but unfortunately that I still have been waiting for the pictures, so there will be a new photo album soon.
Eveyone was satisfied with the wedding and it was just almost 10 days away from Tet (lunar new year). Aunty came back Hue from Houston this year and we have had family meal almost everyday. It's kind of being busy but I feel pretty excited with the warmness of family reunion.
School was pretty crazy this year right before being off for Tet. I was still working on the 27th of Tet (means the 27th of December, lunar calendar - 3 days away from Tet). We are changing our training system into credits system so have to recompile all the curriculums. I have to work on 3 subjects and 2 of them are new to me and that should be finished after Tet.
I enjoyed these 3 days with family and meeting with some old friends who were back home for Tet. We went out for some great and special food here and hung out at the flower shows to get some for house decoration. I actually cold and drizzling here sometimes so kind of wet and not my favourite weather to hang out.
Well, it's just less than one hour away from the new year's eve. The year of mouse is coming. But the feeling is just normal; I don't know why. I could say I'm not as much excited as I was when Tet is coming while I still was a kid. That because of people's age or life is changing? No making banh chung, banh tet at home, even no new clothes... so, I don't know but it just something happens.
Anyways, happy Tet to everyone even most of you have no idea about this biggest holiday in Vietnam. But who cares Need, then... no nead Just "need" and "no need" that I have seen in my life...
...
...
... So, tell me how "need, then... no need" is in your culture? Ring the New Year Hi all in the new year,
I could tell last night was super fun to us spending time at a bar that calls Brown Eyes. I and Liz were going to this place once before but we did not know their address until we got their advertising brochure by chance. So last night, on New year's Eve, is the first time we have been there...
Before going to the bar, we had dinner with good food at a Vietnamese style restaurant that is famous for "com nieu" (rice cooked in small earthenware pots). I took Liz on my motorbike and Paul, Eva and Emily biked on their bicycles. It was funny that Liz didn't have a helmet so I had to wear my rain coat so she could hide in it from the police even though it was not raining. I was the only one wearing rain coat and driving on the streets then; hopefully people didn't look at me as a weird guy then.
We got to Brown Eyes finally. Not many people there yet cause it was pretty early to go to the bar then. But that brought us something special as a good sign in the last hours of the old year as well as for the new year. We got free drink for everyone of us and Brown Eyes shirts as the present for the 20 first guests coming last night...
On the way to Brown Eyes Ordering our drink Enjoying the cocktail
Eva and I and Liz Emily and I Drinking champagne outside
I went to the pool table with Paul and Emily to play some games. I did some nice shoot but not lucky and good enough to win Paul. After the game, I could see the bar was getting crowded with lots of people coming. We met Tyler and Lucas, with his girlfriend and some other new friends there. We talked for a while and joined the dancing group. The music is super loud with wonderful green and red laser lights. People were dancing crazily and that is really fun and overenthusiastic. I could not stay long at the dancing area...
The immortal Happy New Year song resounded meaningly on the New Year's Eve moment. Everyone was sharing love and wishes to each other. I had a strange and happy feeling being with friends there at that moment. We held the burning candle in our hands and singing the new year song... It turned 2008, noisy music came back and people kept dancing...
We got outside, stayed at the courtyard of the bar and opened a bottle of champagne. Cheers and happy new year !!!
I and Liz got back home at around 1.00AM and we wouldn't go to bed until almost 2.00 o'clock. We were so tired and sleepy. But Liz had to get up for a meeting at 9.00 in the next morning and I could sleep in... And I understand how her feeling is on the New Year's Eve being away from home...
Happy New Year !!! Designed for all friends(Please click on the picture to see the larger version)
Dear everyone,
I hope you all are doing well and enjoying the holidays. Please find out the attached picture above which is my Chirstmas & New Year card for you made from a picture I took at the lagoon area in Hue last few days. The picture is about a boat with new fishing-net going to the lagoon to fish. I hope and believe the fishermans on this boat would catch lots of fish and get enough food for their families. The meaning of the picture itself is my wish for you in the new year. I wish you will reap lots of success in the year of 2008. Merry Chirstmas and Happy New Year !!!! This is for all of my friends whom I don't have the email address and I could not send by email. Posting from Quang Ngai Hello all,
I'm sitting at the lobby and typing this entry at the Central hotel in Quang Ngai, a province about 400Km (maybe
) away to the South from Hue. I just come here this morning by bus to meet my instructor for the graduation thesis next year. I'm going to stay here just for a day and going back home tomorrow, so time on the bus is much longer than time I spend to work with my instructor here. It's weird but worth it I hope. Back to the last few days, I spent most of my time with the group of college students from College of Charleston in America coming to Hue this time for some Think About the Children's work. I could tell it is a pleasure to help them with charitable work. We planned to visit the kids at Duc Son orphanage again and to go to three villages at the coastal area of Thua Thien Hue to visit the poor kids. Everything works okay finally even though that is a long story. We hung out sometimes over some bottles of beer or some cups of cocktail at "Why not" and "DMZ" bars at night and I enjoyed playing pool with some of the students even though I didn't win a game; boohoo. I have just posted a new photo album calls "Think About the Children" that includes lots of pictures I took during those days. Hope you guys will check it out. Looking at the pictures, I already felt missing everyone... Wish all have a great time and good experience in Vietnam and have a safe flight back home.
Oh, I have to go now. Sorry. But there is one more thing I want to say before leaving: Wish you all a merry Christmas next week!
Bye and I will be back soon, I hope. blah blah blah I have been busy these days and felt bored sometimes when I don't really concentrate on work. I wish I could go somewhere, travel and make my mind fresh now but it seems like I would not be able to do that until the end of next... year; boohoo. Man is really strange, when they are busy and have so much work to do, they would wish to not have to do that; otherwise, when they have nothing to do, then they would wish to be busy. Right? or that is just how I am?
Anyways, this is a fun clip from YouTube that Liz showed me last time when we had nothing to play and we went up there to watch some shows to kill our time.
Let me know how you guys enjoy it !
Have a great weekend ahead everyone !!!! I will still have to work then; boohoo. BIG Mother People in Hue or even in Vietnam, perhaps everyone knows the name of a pagoda "Duc Son", knows the name of a woman "Minh Tu". However, that doesn't mean there are lots of TV shows or newspaper articles talking noisily about those famous names as most of people think. The concept of "famousness" here is just staying in people's hearts.
The very first time I heard about Duc Son, about Minh Tu is when my granddad was still alive and still working last many years. At that time, going home, he often talked about the kids at Duc Son, and little by little, I heard more and more about the name Minh Tu, from my grandma, from my aunties, and from my mom, from people around me...
Until my cousin BIN passed away, I went to Duc Son for some family matters. That is the first time I met the Buddhist nun Minh Tu in person. She and everyone at Duc Son welcomed me warmly and proved to be very hospitable; I really had a liking as well as respected for her at my first meeting. She still looked optimistic and jolly even though what around her were a low location orphanage always flooded when it just rains hard, contriving daily rice and food for more than 100 kids and what she had had on her was a faded brown dress which was mended many times. She took me around the orphanage to visit the kids. Kids there, anyone is materially deprived and they are much more emotionally deprived. Any time they see a guest comes to visit, they would stream to the visitor, scramble for being carried or being hugged. Some pulled my arms, some grabbed my feet and I was a bit embarrassed.
My granddad passed away, I went back Duc Son with family. When my granddad was still alive, he loved the kids so much. Now, he already passed away, I brought the kids there his present. Time after that, I had come to the orphanage sometimes, also visited Minh Tu, also brought things and also came to play with the kids...
After more than 3 years, I had a chance to go back Duc Son only in these days. In recent days, I have been helping my friend to get formula and food and take all of those to the orphanage for the kids there. Passing the Lim bridge up on the hill, we arrived at Duc Son. Nowaday Duc Son looks really different, the pagoda is higher, cleaner and much nicer. The orphanage looks much better than it was last few years. It was enlarged, upgraded and built much higher to avoid the floods. I met Minh Tu again, she remembered me vaguely; she asked "You are Duc, aren't you?", "No, I am Tuan.", "I'm not sure if you still remember but I am the grandson of... my granddad. My grandma is...", "Ah ah, I remember. Formerly, your grandfather loved the kids here so much. If he didn't struggle for their interests then, it would have been very hard to have this nowaday orphanage for them to live...", "Your grandmother has a big heart too...", "Why I don't see your aunts and your mother come here to visit in recent times?"... Talking and listening to her for more than an hour and a half, I had not heard she complained about any difficulty to her or spun a long yarn about her services. She is always optimistic, has a gentle and righteous smile; she always thinks of the kids first in any situation...
She took us to visit the kids again. The number has gone up to 204 kids until now, at every age-group, including some babies who just were born not longer than 15 days and were thrown away. Seeing guests came to visit, as before, the kids came to say hello, some hugged our feet, some holded our hands, some hugged our hips; they didn't want to release us. Many but they are very orderly and polite. I just think human who were just born are the same, same like a blank paper; the paper will become nice or bad, that depends on people who write on them. If those kids were unlucky and could not meet Minh Tu, they would have been hardly alive or they would have become uneducated people with lots of social problems.
In the true sense of the word, she is a GREAT MOTHER. But, I have to speak in a low voice or she will "kill" me. She doesn't want to be praised even though that is absolutely meritorious.
We still have some blanket and stuffs left. Perhaps we will come again to see you and the kids for that probably this weekend...
Kids Statistics at the Orphanage:
Disabilities: 10 Newborns: 10 Preschool: 13
1st grade: 8 2nd grade: 11 3rd grade: 11
4th garde: 12 5th grade: 13 6th grade: 13
7th grade: 27 8th grade: 18 9th grade: 10
10th grade: 12 11th grade: 9 12th grade: 10
College/University: 17
Total: 204 (95 males & 109 females) Turkey day(This is a late post on Thanksgiving)
Well, my very first real Thanksgiving and it was a great experience. We ate a lot of food and had a fun game making a turkey from sundries. Let remember what we had that night... Turkey and stuffing, Mashed potatoes with gravy, Sweet Potato casserole, Green Bean casserole, Glazed Carrots, Cranberry sauce, Home-made rolls (bread) and Salad. And for desserts, we had Pumpkin Pie, Spice Cake, Sugar cream pie, Apple Pie, Pumpkin roll (with cream cheese), Ice cream and Whipped Cream. (Thanks Marc for helping me all of these names). I didn't bring the camera with me that night so following are pictures from Marc's camera. I don't have pictures of all kinds of food we ate but that is really an awesome meal. Also a great time meeting some new friends. Yup, had fun !!!
Thanks Ken&Heather for inviting me to come. And thanks everyone for showing me about American culture and holiday. I love you all.
Happy happy birthdayHappy birthday - by New kids on the Block
Happy Birthday to you
This is your day On this day for you We're gonna love you in every way This is your day, your day Happy birthday to you, to you Happy birthday to you You're still young Age is just a number Don't you stop having fun This is your day, your day Happy birthday to you , to you This day only comes once every year Because you're so wonderful With each and every thing you do Hey Happy birthday to you This is your day On this day for you We're gonna love you in every way This is your day, your day Happy birthday to you, to you This day is only for you 'Cause you're so special in every way Happy birthday to you Vietnam Teacher's dayHAPPY TEACHER'S DAY TO ALL WHO ARE TEACHING !!!
I had a ceremony at school this morning and a short meeting at my office with students and former students. This is my first year that I received flowers and nice wishes from my students. It's really an honour to me. I also had a hard party with my colleagues and some students; it was fun; drunk pretty much beer and my face then was a happy pink face. I was singing...
Thanks Tam for sending me the picture. Every week flood Oh my...
You know, right after the badminton competition was over, Hue was flooded. That began in the evening that Doug and mom Cindy came down Hue from Hanoi on a night flight. I met them in the next morning and that was so great. Doug went outside with Mr. Cu, the owner of famous Mandarin cafe in Hue to take photo on that bad flood; he also posted about it on his blog. That is the 4th flood within one month. I also added some pictures from my camera at the bottom too. Check it out!
So finally, I got the second prize in the badminton competition. I tried it hard but could not win the final match but I am glad that people know how I can play through this competition.
Back school after the competition and flooding time, I found classes are so crazy. Essays, seminars, specially writing the outline and getting ready for the graduation thesis next year, and prepare for the English club, activities of the Youth Union (I said I can't do and don't want to do but people still push me into this duty); all of work make me feel busy even just thinking of them. But being busy, even so busy is a good thing to me at the moment for some personal reason...
... I am happy I could speak out, I am glad someone is listening to me and I feel warm to know that I have been shared what happens in my life...
Wish you back home safe!
My mind is busy at the moment, VERY BUSY!
Stuck !!! Thanks all friends for reading and leaving messages on my blog in recent days. I'm currently really busy with day and night classes and getting ready for the badminton competition this weekend. I will play men's singles and men's doubles. So, I will not have time for blog as well as reading and leaving comments on yours until next week. Sorry for that and I will be back soon with stories.
Just a quick post before leaving for class. Hope you all are enjoying life. Peace! An old story on a dolphin in a fishing village I was rummaging in my heap of pictures in this computer and I found these old ones. They made me think of a story that happened last 4 years and I decided to tell you what the story is. Here you are, the pictures I've just mentioned:
I got to know this story from a field trip to a mangrove forest in Hue for a research essay when I was an undergraduate student. It was a nice and sunny day and we were a bit tired driving to Ru Cha, the mangrove forest I mentioned above (sorry, this link is in Vietnamese, but you could see some pictures). When we were taking a short rest at a corner of the forest, we found out an old man was trying to move a big fish onto his bamboo boat. He brought the fish to a spacious place on the land and at that time people in that village came to see. The fish is called "ca' o^ng", a slang word that local people used to call that kind of fish and it means a whale; but in fact, I think he is much more alike a dolphin. When that old man (he is the man wearing black shirt in my pictures) saw the dolphin, he was still alive. By tradition of fishing villages here, it is spiritual if someone meets a "ca' o^ng". Anyone should treats him well if don't want to have a bad upheaval in their fishing life. A fishing man's life always closely attaches to water, sea and ocean and risk could be anywhere. So that made fishing people believe on "ca' o^ng" much more.
Back to the story, then, that old man and other villagers started to do the ritual work with the dolphin (now he already died because it was too dry up there). What they did are similar with a ceremony when a man dies. They put paper money around him, burned incense, worshipped and prayed and especially, they built a coffin for him (see the pictures and don't forget to click on them to see the larger versions).
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