Long Overdue Blog Entry

Yeah I know, It's been over 2-months since I last posted anything on my blog. I credit laziness more than anything else. My brother calls me a "poor journalist"...I really can't argue w/ that notion. But damn, my last entry was so good, I thought I let everyone soak it in for awhile first. At anyrate, with that said, I am a competitive person and like to take on challenges...therefore, I will promise to update the "life and times of J-Do" at least once a week. If I fail at the task, the first response from any reader will receive a special prize yet to be determined. I'm open for suggestions.

So what have I been up to for the last few months...I guess that's the question many want the answer too. Well besides work, which encompasses the majority of my time, I mainly hang out at the local coffee shops. These are nothing like what Orange County has to offer but you can't beat a cup of iced coffee for .50!

This past weekend I was in Singapore. It was a company paid trip for the extended Holiday. April 30th and May 1st are National Holidays here in Vietnam, celebrating Labor Day (May 1st) and Independence Day (April 30th). Depending on who you ask (which is still many) they don't necessarily celebrate independence but remember it more as the "Fall of Saigon". At anyrate, I gladly took the days off and enjoyed my time there w/ some co-workers. It was nice trip...I got to see the town and experienced the Singapore Zoo, Singapore Bird Park, and Singapore Aquarium. Here are a few pics of our trip:


Backround is the Singapore Skyline w/ a building designed in the shape of a Dorian fruit.


Me w/ some co-workers:


Anyone remember the "shy brother" scene from the Five Heartbeats?


Group of us outside our hotel


Peace out! See ya in about a week, maybe sooner!

This is How I Spent My Tet Holiday!

I've never realized or quite understood the importance of the Tet Holiday (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) while living in the States. However, I was able to witness first-hand the impact of this special holiday on the whole country. I rarely celebrated Tet in the US while in Ohio and while in Cali, only did so on the 1st of the Lunar New Year. I was fortunate enough that my company gave us 11 paid days off for Tet, which was this past Saturday, February 17th!

I started my Tet celebration by taking a 2 hour motorbike ride to the deep countryside last Wednesday, Feb. 14th, after work. I was headed to my Aunt's (Dad's oldest sister) house in Long Khanh. She's the oldest on my Dad's side and the only female sibling. She has been a widow for 20 or 25 years (my memory is failing me) and has 7 living children (2 have passed away). Between my Aunt's 7 kids, she has 16 grandkids. Those 16 are from only 5 kids, as one of my cousins is a Priest and another is bedridden due to a stroke years ago (more of a testament to how strong my aunt has been all these years!). We were there to celebrate Tet but also there to acknowledge the anniversary of my Uncle's passing. Here's pretty much how I spent my two days there:

Wednesday night: Ate a ton of food:


Thursday: Biked almost 20 Kilometers to my cousin's house (burnt off all those needed calories) to see his fish and shrimp farm, sugar cane and banana trees. At night we ate another huge Tet meal and then gambled (a traditional thing to do during Tet)! We played "Lotto" which is very similar to Bingo. I won the first game but was shut out the rest of the night.
Friday: Woke up at 4am to attend Mass! Attending the last service for the year is just as important as the first service for the year. Shortly after eating breakfast, I hopped on a bus for my trip back to my Grandparents house for Tet, which was on Saturday.

On Friday night, my aunts, uncles, and cousins stayed up to bring in the New Year at 12 Midnight. We brought in the New Year first by praying and then everyone (starting from youngest to oldest) began to wish and greet the eldest a Happy New Year. It was quite informal yet still very formal in the way it was done. Here's an example of a Happy New Year greeting; "Mom/Dad, I wish you a happy and successful New Year...If I have done anything to displease you in the previous year, please forgive me as I will do my best to be a good son/daughter to you in the New Year." After the greetings we hit the sack.

Pic of my cousin wishing my Grandfather a Happy New Year:


Saturday: Woke up early to attend the first Mass of the year, however luckily this service was at 8am, definitely more manageable than 4am! At about 11am the older people handed out red envelopes w/ lucky money in it to the younger/single people! After that we had a New Year's Feast with over 50 family members!

Good Eats!


Great Peeps!


At night I headed to the Airport in Saigon to pick up my friends who were coming to Vietnam for the first time. Lee, Linda and Neil sure picked an excellent time to visit and to experience the Country. Over the next 5 days and 4 nights, all of us (including my two cousins, Ly and Lan) toured the following 3 cities in Vietnam: Da Nang, Hoi An, and Hue.

We didn't do too much site seeing in Da Nang, as we only stayed overnight there. Hoi An was special because it is a very old city, also known as the Lantern City. We visited places such as My Son Holy City, the Japanese Bridge Pagoda, Phuoc Kien House, the Ngu Hanh Son or better known as the Marble Mountain. Hue was especially nice because we were able to see all of the old Vietnamese Emperor's palaces and "Forbidden City". We also got to dress up in traditional Emperor's wardrobe! Another special attraction was visiting the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary in La Vang or Duc Me La Vang, which is well over 200 years old with unlimitless flowing bins of Holy Water!

Beginning our Tour in Da Nang:


Lee, Neil, and I at Marble Mountain and some future Ohio Sigma Lions:


At the top of Hai Van Pass w/ my cousin Lan:


My subjects, in my Kingdom!


Although my friends thoroughly enjoyed themselves on the tour, I believe the icing on the cake for them was visiting my distant-distant cousin's fish farm on Friday. He's a distant cousin as follows: His Great-Grandfather and my Great-Grandfather are first cousins! At any rate, we took about a 40-minute car ride to the river where my cousin has a houseboat with a fish farm. When we got there he showed us the fish that live under his boathouse and proceeded to fetch us fresh fish by jumping into the river (under his boat) with a fish net. While his family prepared the meal he then took us on a boat ride up the Dong Nai River -- what a spectacular site! Afterwards, we delighted our taste buds w/ freshly marinated and steamed fish spring rolls! MMMM!

My cousins getting ready to dive in to catch some fish!



Boating along the Dong Nai River w/ Lee, Linda, Neil, and my cousin Khanh:


Later that Friday night, we returned to my Grandparents house for Lee, Linda, and Neil's last family dinner in Vietnam before departing back to Ohio and Hong Kong. It was another tasty dinner that capped off a fantastic week of bringing in the New Year with my family and good friends!

My Family along w/ Lee, Linda, and Neil...End of a great Tet Holiday!


Chuc Mung Nam Moi! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

11 Days Off! How you like 'dem apples?

I've written about all the Holidays that I've missed in America by being here in Vietnam. However, today I get to take 11 days off of work for the biggest holiday event in Vietnam -- Tet or the Lunar New Year. The whole country virtually shuts down. Most businesses and government offices close several days before the 1st of the year (which falls on February 17th this year). Our company will be off from February 15 thru February 25! An excellent time for me to tour and explore my Motherland.

I'll be leaving here in about 30 mins. to spend a few days at my Aunt's house in Long Khanh (about 1 1/2 hours outside of Saigon). It's "country" to say the least. I'll be surrounded by all of my favorite mosquito buddies, but at the same time, this area has the freshest tropical fruit around! We'll be having a dinner this evening for the anniversary of my Uncle's death. My cousin, who is a Priest, will be visiting there for 2 days also! It's gonna be a great few days.

After that, I will be returning home this Friday to welcome friends from the Great State of Ohio! They are visiting Hong Kong first for a business conference and then will be joined by my good friend from Mount Union (who lives in Hong Kong now). All 3 will fly into Vietnam and we will be touring Hue, Hoi An and Da Nang. I will be sure to repost w/ pics in a few weeks.

Until then, may all who read this have a very blessed, happy, healthy, and prospersous Lunar New Year!

Superbowl Monday, Vietnam & Rock Music!

Wow, as I sit here on a Monday morning (just shortly after 6AM), getting ready for work...Devin Hester just returned the opening kickoff of the Superbowl to the house. Kinda reminds me of Teddy Ginn Jr. in the BCS Championship this year. At anyrate, I haven't been all too excited about the Superbowl festivities this year and haven't gotten myself into all of the hype surrounding it. Not sure how it'll turn out but I'm more interested in seeing the commercials as my line of work now has me in Advertising. Hope to see a good Go Daddy commercial this year!

If I asked you what's the first thing you think of when I say Vietnam and Music, most would say Paris By Night or some form of a Lionel Richie remake of "I Love You". But you would never say Rock Music! Yes, this past Friday, I went to my first Rock Concert courtesy of a few complimentary tickets. The concert venue was virtually sold out and I was lucky enough to find myself pretty much front and center in the mosh pit. I wasn't expecting much but came outta there quite impressed w/ the music. The first act was a Vietnamese rock group named Anh Khoa. The lead singer reminded me of the lead singer for Creed with his deep vocals and even his hair. The female vocalist, Phuong Thanh, sounded good (looked better) at times, but more often than naught she sounded like she was screaming. The next act however, stole the show. Kryteria, by far was the best act all night. The lead female vocalist was Korean along w/ 3 other guys from Germany. Anywhoo...this girl was absolutely amazing from her drop-dead gorgeous looks to her vocals, deep and soulful. Did I mention she was smokin' hot! Damn!

You'd expect the Vietnamese to be their usual conservative selves at rock concert but what I saw was a "let's get rowdy and act like we're at a rock concert" type of crowd! It was great to see the young crowd start to throw beer cans and water bottles into the mosh pit. At one point, the band yelled out to the crowd sitting in the bleacher seats to get up and join us down close to the stage. It was a mad house as the police/security guards made everyone sit down, kinda comical actually. It didn't last too long as the crowd broke thru the police baricade and slammed to the front of the stage. Other than that, it was pretty tame when it all ended...everyone yelled and screamed until the bands left and then they all courteously turned and left the venue, no riots and no smell of refer through the stands.

Well, it was a great experience all-in-all. I'm waiting for my first hip-hop concert to take place. I know they have plenty of hip-hop heads here but haven't found the right place to listen to it yet. Police here are actually cracking down on graffiti artists and the Goverment are urging kids to not destroy landmark buildings. I think it's great to see hip-hop at its finest!

"And to let me know I'm rockin' the microphone everybody say "Ramo! (Ramo!) Raah!

I had no idea Prince (The Sign) was performing this year's Halftime Show...gotta go now and listen for Purple Rain! Peace out!

MLK Monday!

It's been a few weeks since I've last posted. I'm still recovering from the Buckeyes and Cowboys for tanking it when it mattered in critical games. My apologies to to my Brother for being probably the only being on this Earth to frequent my blog. That's all good w/ me though. This blog is as much for me to keep a listing of interesting experiences in The Motherland, as it is for peeps back at home to keep an eye out on me.

Well, as most Americans celebrated another holiday w/ a day-off, I again spent it working. MLK Day came and went (as did Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day) w/ me in the office as Vietnam doesn't celebrate the great accomplishments of this man. I started it off however w/ a tribute to Dr. King by playing The Boys, "Crazy Dream", a nice little jam from back in the day! I doubt if anyone even remembers that one...I'm as old school as it gets, so I don't expect you to know it! But if you do...count yourself in as a connoisseur of old school hip-hop!

That's all for now...I promise to post again in a few hours as I originally wrote this draft about a week ago!

Peace!

GAMEDAY in Vietnam!

It's finally here: Gameday! Yes, the 51-day wait is over and tomorrow morning (Monday Night for Westerners) my beloved Buckeyes will take on the Gators for the BCS National Championship! I will be taking a sick-day for this one. Don't tell anyone...oops, I guess I just did.

Following my favorite sports teams has been somewhat of a challenge. Actually, watching has been relatively simple (thanks to my trusty Slingbox)! It's just the staying-up factor that has been hard. This past Sunday, I woke up a 2AM local time to catch the Ohio State v. Illinois basketball game, in which the Bucks easily handled Illinois. I went to Mass at 6AM, had breakfast w/ the family and then hurried back to my place to watch Tony Romo and the Cowboys botch a last-second field goal in the NFC Wildcard Game. Suffice to say, I spent the rest of my Sunday afternoon taking a long needed nap.

Tomorrow morning's routine will be somewhat similar. I'll be rolling outta bed at about 5:30AM. Freshen up for the morning and throw on my Scarlet and Gray attire. Go grab some Vietnamese noodle soup for breakfast, maybe throw down a Vietnamese Ice Coffee or two, and then roll on back to the crib for the pre-game show.

The only downer is that I'll be watching the game by myself! Most of you reading will know how big of a fan I am and the Buckeye bashes that my roomates and I would host. I will still be screaming and acting like a fool...maybe even as much as my brother (fyi...Rated R-for expletives!) was during the Meatchicken Game! I will be watching with you all in spirit! Buckeye Spirit!

I promise to upload more pics here or on my picasa folder or another medium once I am able to backup my files to my external hard drive. I've just been lazy to do it and probably more honestly have no idea what I'm doing!

I will be back after THE GAME to post game breakdowns and analysis! Until then, GO BUCKS!

BTW....Mount Union College, my alma mater, posted their 9th National DIII Football Championship in 14 years!

Good Morning Vietnam!

Well, if you didn't already know, I'm now living/working in Vietnam. I've been here for about a month and have begun to settle in nicely. It was quite a change from Ohio to California for the last 8 years and now to Vietnam. Not sure how long the Good Lord will keep me in the Motherland but I'm sure to make the most of it.

I've decided to create an online blog so that my family and friends can keep in touch and stay informed of my status.....which is currently still single (fortunately or unfortunately) depending on who you ask. I'll do my best to update it w/ pictures and posts as often as possible. Please feel free to leave messages/comments if you wish. I probably won't be hitting the grammar or spell check too often so please disregard any of those errors!

It's ironic that almost 31 years ago my parents and family, along w/ hundreds of thousands of other South Vietnamese, made their escape to the US, and now after 3 decades, I'm finding myself living in the very place that my family couldn't. It's definitely a different place, time, and environment now than it was years ago. The economy is booming due to social, economic, and politcal changes and reforms. All of this is evidenced with Vietnam's recent accession into the WTO and w/ President Bush normalizing trade w/ Vietnam. Although the country is seeing excellent growth, foreign investment, and productivity, there is still a long road ahead in the areas of infrastructure, pollution, and further political and social changes.

What's interesting about living away from the States is that you have to really get your mind ready for the changes. For instance, how did I spend Thanksgiving Day last month?...at work. And how will I be spending Christmas Day?....you guessed it, at work! This is definitely not how I ever envisioned spending the Holidays. I guess I forgot that this nation (VN) is not "under God" and that there would be no reason for them to officially count it as a national holiday. There's about 6 million Christians in VN, w/ a population of 83 million (definitely means a limited number of prospects for me!). However, like it or not, just like in the States, the commercialization of Christmas is alive and well with busy shopping malls and expat-Santas riding around on motorbikes.

I can't post that many pictures on here, but you can view my photo album via my picasa account at http://picasaweb.google.com/dojerome. There you'll find various pics of me. I haven't uploaded any from Vietnam just yet, but I'll try to do that this week. I've got some pictures from my cousin's wedding and some from a bbq we had for the OSU/Mich. game in November.

I miss everyone back home and I occasionally miss some of the foods I can't get out here, like: holiday dinners, In-N-Out Burgers, Roscoe's Chicken-n-Waffles, stromboli, spaghetti, pizza, milkshakes, bannana nut bread, and healthy non-avian bird flu chickens!

Well, that's about all for today. I just wanted to wish everyone a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a happy, healthy, holy, and prosperous New Year!

Jerome
a.k.a -- VietBuckeye

Go Bucks!
Go Mount Union!
Go Cowboys!
Go Lakers!