Remember this? Well I’ve been ca phe sua nong-free for about 3 days now and it has not been fun.  I have definitely had symptoms of caffeine withdrawal.  I’ve had a terrible headache and I’ve been irritable and tired.  Our office manager Thuy keeps telling me that I don’t “look well.”  Today I’m feeling a [...]

I am well aware that I may be eating a lot of crow once Ole Miss’ season gets underway this Saturday against Memphis, but for now I can’t help but gloat over this: Ring them there cowbells!

The name of my school in Vietnamese is Truong Dai Hoc Khoa Hoc Xa Hoi Nhan Van, which means University of Social Sciences and Humanities.  (It is one of the six divisional schools comprising Ho Chi Minh University.) Somehow TDHKHXHNV just doesn’t roll off of the tongue like UGA or USC or whatever.  I told [...]

[This post will not be much use to those of you living in HCMC, as I am afraid I uong'ed too many bia last night and forgot to get the name of the place or a business card.  I'll go back and get the info and post it soon.] My friend Trong from work invited [...]

So the above is the new “motorcycle” – I would call it a moped – that I am getting ready to buy – the Honda Wave S.  I am buying one used from my coworker Nhung’s fiance, Thai.  Thai bought it new in February 2007 for around $1200, and wants to sell it to me [...]

Okay, here, finally is my post about my trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels on Sunday. I booked my 1/2-day trip with Kim Cafe – which is the same travel agency I booked my three-day trip to the Mekong Delta with back in 2001.  The bus ride from Saigon to Cu Chi – about 70 [...]

This video is of the daughter (con gai) of the maid at my guesthouse: The woman in in the video is not the maid – she is Chi (Mrs.) Hung, who owns the guesthouse with her husband.  I came in and Chi Hung and the maid – whose name I think is Hien but I’m [...]

On Sunday afternoon, I was walking around an area of town I wanted to check out – basically near the intersection of Hai Ba Trung and Dien Bien Phu streets – and the skies opened up on me: I stood under the awning of a jewelry store for about 20 minutes before and the rain, [...]

Yesterday (Monday), Tim and the rest of his staff and I went to lunch at a restaurant called Com Nieu Sai Gon.  Tim’s office has a tradition where every time a new person starts – in this case me – they have to take the whole office out for lunch.  Com Nieu Sai Gon is [...]

I still haven’t gotten around to putting up the long post about my trip to the Cu Chi tunnels. (I think I got distracted making and posting “Don’t Hate the Player; Hate the Game.”) In the meantime, here are some compiled video clips from the boat ride back from Cu Chi to Saigon along the [...]