The Motherland!
Getting in touch with my roots right now, roots are very important... I like roots. Spent a little time in Saigon (now known as Ho Chi Min city) before heading to the town my father grew up to visit my grandfather. Tis a very strange experience for me seeing what my people are like, Vietnamese have a very distinctive character and compared with Thai culture the differences are definately magnified. It's the little things you know, like what they call a quarter pounder with cheese, but it's also the big things like the way their society works. I only managed to spend 6 nights there before we jetted to Cambodia, so I don't want to make sweeping generalisations before I've spent some more time there. Also I haven't really gotten down with the nightlife as I haven't been able to contact my playboy cousin (the unrelated type) to get him to take me out. He left Australia at my age and never came back, abandoning Oz to live the life of a playboy in Saigon, so he should be able to show me what I'm really interested in seeing.
It's nice to be with the folks again, very comforting after being out all alone (sort of... for a week anyway) in the crazy world. I am a certified momma's boy, a defining characteristic of our generation I think; or maybe it's just a defining characteristic of the friends I have... who knows. Does that say more about the times we live in or my choice of friends? Hmm... Anyway the point is it's cool spending time with my family and not spending time opening my wallet. Just kidding... sort of. My dad gets real excited when he tells me things about Vietnam (being a local and everything) which is great cause he rarely gets excited about anything, quite like myself. So far I have gotten to know district 1 in Saigon quite well, from the rich tourist area to the backpacker area and especially the cheap dvd area. I have scoured the many stores to amass the greatest collection of pirated dvds the world has ever seen!!! (well at least 40 odd movies that I haven't seen yet anyway).
[Authors note: I know this blog is about me but its a bit tedious reading about all the trivial thoughts someone has and I have a tendency to drift when writing about things and just type as I think.. Like right now. So I pledge to write less about what I think from now on cause it's mostly crap]
I found out that my father grew up in a small town called Sadet which is close to Saigon, just on the other side of the Mekong river. Which is where I met my grandfather for the 2nd time, the first being 15 years ago when I was a little tucker. Unfortunately he is in very bad health (being an 85 year old Vietnamese guy is almost unheard of) and was unable to say more than a few words, which I did not understand anyway as I do not speak Vietnamese or French. So we were restricted to non-verbal communication, he was very sick but still had a tight grip on my hand and when he smiled I could see that he knew who I was and I think he appreciated the visit. Sadly I think the end is near for my last remaining grandparent and all his family knows it. But after hearing several stories of the antics that he got up to in his day, it sounds as if he lived a very full and interesting life, which is all anyone can hope for.
He fathered 12 legitimate children (I have heard there are others) over 2 marriages and managed to feed them, put them through school, and even send some overseas (in my dad's case Australia to study which was fortunate otherwise he would never have met my mother) which is no small feat for a man from a small town in a poor country like Vietnam. My father was the first kid from the town to study overseas (god bless capitalism). He definately was no saint though, most of the stories I manage to squeeze out of my dad are tales of greed and debauchery, which made gramps infamous in his hometown. There are tales involving a regular opium-smoking habit, embezzlement, and also at an old age sharing his bed with his 2nd wife and a 19-year old mistress. These details are probably inappropriate for a holiday-blog, but I know that only real friends will check this site anyway.
In summary right now I'm well fed, well slept, well read and well over this hot ass internet cafe. So check back soon to the mildly entertaining adventures of...
(Fade Out)
It's nice to be with the folks again, very comforting after being out all alone (sort of... for a week anyway) in the crazy world. I am a certified momma's boy, a defining characteristic of our generation I think; or maybe it's just a defining characteristic of the friends I have... who knows. Does that say more about the times we live in or my choice of friends? Hmm... Anyway the point is it's cool spending time with my family and not spending time opening my wallet. Just kidding... sort of. My dad gets real excited when he tells me things about Vietnam (being a local and everything) which is great cause he rarely gets excited about anything, quite like myself. So far I have gotten to know district 1 in Saigon quite well, from the rich tourist area to the backpacker area and especially the cheap dvd area. I have scoured the many stores to amass the greatest collection of pirated dvds the world has ever seen!!! (well at least 40 odd movies that I haven't seen yet anyway).
[Authors note: I know this blog is about me but its a bit tedious reading about all the trivial thoughts someone has and I have a tendency to drift when writing about things and just type as I think.. Like right now. So I pledge to write less about what I think from now on cause it's mostly crap]
I found out that my father grew up in a small town called Sadet which is close to Saigon, just on the other side of the Mekong river. Which is where I met my grandfather for the 2nd time, the first being 15 years ago when I was a little tucker. Unfortunately he is in very bad health (being an 85 year old Vietnamese guy is almost unheard of) and was unable to say more than a few words, which I did not understand anyway as I do not speak Vietnamese or French. So we were restricted to non-verbal communication, he was very sick but still had a tight grip on my hand and when he smiled I could see that he knew who I was and I think he appreciated the visit. Sadly I think the end is near for my last remaining grandparent and all his family knows it. But after hearing several stories of the antics that he got up to in his day, it sounds as if he lived a very full and interesting life, which is all anyone can hope for.
He fathered 12 legitimate children (I have heard there are others) over 2 marriages and managed to feed them, put them through school, and even send some overseas (in my dad's case Australia to study which was fortunate otherwise he would never have met my mother) which is no small feat for a man from a small town in a poor country like Vietnam. My father was the first kid from the town to study overseas (god bless capitalism). He definately was no saint though, most of the stories I manage to squeeze out of my dad are tales of greed and debauchery, which made gramps infamous in his hometown. There are tales involving a regular opium-smoking habit, embezzlement, and also at an old age sharing his bed with his 2nd wife and a 19-year old mistress. These details are probably inappropriate for a holiday-blog, but I know that only real friends will check this site anyway.
In summary right now I'm well fed, well slept, well read and well over this hot ass internet cafe. So check back soon to the mildly entertaining adventures of...
(Bum-ba-da-da.... "DAVE TREK")
(Fade Out)
posted by Dave Tran at 12:41 am
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