Miss Saigon...

Enjoying my first day in Ho Chi Minh City in over a year and found lots of new things showing up in town. More Cafes, cleaner streets, more motorbikes, more fast food chains (nope star bucks and Mc Dicks are not here yet) and more people speaking english. I am sure it will not be long for Saigon to become like Bangkok where it becomes a western city in SE asia.

Did some shopping but finding the prices higher than Hanoi so I am going to save the money for other things when I return to Hanoi.

Tonight my friend and I are going to the Live theatre near the hotel where I am staying at. This theatre is a Vietnamese theatre but they have sub titles so I am eager to listen ... errr... read what this show will be about.

Tommorrow will be the re-unification palace and all the war history from the "southern" perspective. I will upload some pictures on the journal as soon as i can.

Time for dinner... will it be Pho or will it be a hamburger?.... That is the question in my thoughts...

Working Late tonight

It's 9:17 PM Local Hanoi time and I am working late on organizing my picture folders so I can publish them on the Journal. I cannot believe how many pictures I have collected over the years so it's time to publish them and write a little comment about each one so every knows what I have been doing over the years.

Time to sign off and take the motorbike home in the freezing weather. How weird saying that for Hanoi in a tropical country ehh?

Here a good picture of me with the sun going down in Ha Tay Province.

Good Night!

The ability to care?

I have started my wonderful holiday-less gut wrenching week wondering what I am going to be doing over the Christmas holidays? What is on my plate? What should I do? Where should I be? Who should I talk with?

Shall I start my quest for selfish deeds and take all the extra money I been saving and just blow it on shopping and buying things to satify my materialist thirst?

I beg to differ...

What an interesting week it has been... busy at work, busy at home trying to seek approval to go back to Canada for Holiday but later found out that it was denied as fast as playing double jeapordy. I honestly thought I would get time off because I have not had a break since July 2004.

"BEEP... thanks for playing" Next question Alex?

But something happened to me in the last few days that really struck my attention. The compassion to care. The compassion to listen to others. The compassion to put yourself out front to help others...

Earlier in the week when I threw a good bye party for Melissa at my apartment, I later found out that all her friends and my friends never felt such a home-warming get together where everyone can sit around the kitchen table and laugh, poke humour in the countries where we come from, eat Indian food (don't ask who did the ordering) and just have a plain o' good time.

On Wednesday, I had a online chat with a close friend who I known for over a year who is very grateful with the support I have given her over the last few months in dealing with her near pregancy, her mother's recent surgery, her ups and downs at university and work and just being her friend when she needs it. When I look back over the time I known her and how much we have gone through, it worth knowing that I can help someone close to me and make a difference in their lives.

On Friday, I had a friend over at my apartment and she was distraught because she does not like the uncertaincy that I will be leaving Vietnam in the summer of 2006. The feelings of being hurt, betrayed are showing because of the time we spend together knowing there could be an ending in our friendship. What can I do? What can I say? What should I do? What should I say?

The one most imporant thing that consumes my energy and brings me down to my knees is living in a community and lifestyle where nothing is stable, nothing is consistant and no one really knows what will happen.

As a teacher buddy of mine from Unis said: "all my relationships have been very shallow because I never know when they will depart me". I just recently found out that he will be leaving UNIS in June 2006.

What can I say? I have already lost some friends and relationships both foreigners and locals and it takes away the sole purpose of living and traveling overseas. My mind becomes and endless machine thinking and calculating my next thought or my next move or my next decision. The hours of sleep no longer becomes a meaniful and deep sleep I once experience in Canada. Everything just changes around you and you have no control of what happens. I struggle looking for stablity, deep and reliable relations but in reality keep hitting brick walls that slowly attack your self confidence for doing anything good in your life.

Well guess what? Knowing that my friend and I were hurt, there was nothing that you can do but give her a hug and kiss on her forhead telling her that the compassion to care is more powerful then any adversities that we face in our daily lives. I told her no matter what happens, you should always love yourself and love others regardless how much tension and hatred we have for each other.

My door is always open...

Ha Tay on a Motor Bike

Unless like my Tour De Ha Tay brutal 90 KM bicycle ride from Hanoi to the Ha Tay province, I decided with my friend Minh Nguyet that we will take my super duper Nouvo Motorbike and venture the area I discovered a week before.

Leaving Hanoi at 4:00 PM and arriving at the small town in time to watch the sun go down, we have encountered many locals who were eager to say "hello" and "Good-Bye" while we drove through the countryside.

My favorite photo of this trip was the older women who was busy trying to water her rice field using a home made tripod - like scooper in which she was swinging back and forth bringing water from the nearby creek into her rice patty. It was quite a show to watch and Minh Nguyet dared me to try it!



Arriving back into Hanoi, we almost got lost since it was pitch black outside. We had to stop and ask some beer drinking and smoke puffers some directions to where to go back to Hanoi. I have to admit the directions were pretty clear and we arrived back home safe and sound.

I am really GAY????

Well for the last few days... I have been the subject of interesting conversation surrounding the myth if I am really GAY...

I took it upon myself to research deeeeeeply (Mike, don't get any funny ideas) into these rumours and settle for once and for all the true meaning of who I maybe am.

Rumour 1:

Nearly two months ago, I broke up with a women who I deeply in love with and I have converted to Gay-hood?

Rumour 2:

Canada recently opened up their Gay marriage licensing and I thought it was loyal thing to support your country from the far away land in Asia hoping to promote world gay marriages?

Rumour 3:

David Beckham started his Gay quest before he became an international soccer player and found his un-gay partner Victoria?

Rumour 4:

A close friend who I talk to more than anyone, decided it would be "cool" (umm yes, quote on quote) to show off her long haired GAY Friend (see picture above) to other guys and tell them he really just a fill_in_the_blank friend and not a "boyfriend".

Now that I have presented the four rumours, you now have to decide what is the best fit and determine what rumour is really true. Before the truth comes out, I must explain to everyone there is a new exciting concept that not many have heard of:

Searching the online dictionary, I found the terminology to explain the strange and sudden rumours surrounding my sexual and social orientation...

Noun

metrosexual (plural metrosexuals)

1. A young man concerned with self-image, self-indulgence and money.(Usually urban, heterosexual, probably affluent).
2. A young man who is seen, sociologically, as having attributes common to homosexuals, but is in fact heterosexual.

AH-HA!!!! A new breed of gentlemen has risen to satisfy the cravings of the female desires...

Macho men have bitten the dust: They are being replaced by something just as tough inside, but softer at the edges.

Now for those who don't believe me, yes I have long blonde hair, yes I have daily facial cream in my bathroom, yes I like putting up flowers on my dining room table, yes I have the latest GQ and Men's Health magazines sitting on my coffee table, yes I do exercise weekly and finally yes the majority of my friends in Hanoi are women who from time to time need a "girlfriend" to support them.

Do you research ladies and gentlemen because a new progeny of men are hitting the streets, if you think women are changing... well then men can do the same. After all, life is like a box of chocolates because you never know what you are going to get.

Christmas is coming...

Well...just another couple of weeks and we will be celebrating our wonderful beloved Christmas holidays with our family and friends. Tonight I will be spending some time with my best friend Mel who will be leaving Hanoi to spend one week in Korea with a University as part as her job and then she will fly back to USA to be with her family and friends before she continues her adventure back to Vietnam. This photo was take at a undisclosed location and I promised her not to discuss in details of what happened between Melissa and the passionate photographer...

Everything you wanted to know about swallowing....

Stumbled on a medical journal today and found the most interesting information about oral sex. Ladies and Gentlemen... (Drum roll) It is my wonderful pleasure (Funny how I like saying that word) to announce that there is a benefit to swallowing rather than spitting during oral sex.

Now seriously, if you think I am a sick weird pervert who spends his hard-working days in front of the computer all day and does nothing but "fill-in-the-blank" off all day. I am sorry if I disappoint you with my perhaps educational journal entry.

Well, here is the Holy Grail:

Correlation between oral sex and a low incidence of preeclampsia: a role for soluble HLA in seminal fluid?

Yes, here I had found a paper that proved once and for all that there was an actual health benefit to swallowing. I read on and discovered the abstract:

The involvement of immune mechanisms in the aetiology of preeclampsia is often suggested. Normal pregnancy is thought to be associated with a state of tolerance to the foreign antigens of the fetus, whereas in preeclamptic women this immunological tolerance might be hampered. The present study shows that oral sex and swallowing sperm is correlated with a diminished occurrence of preeclampsia which fits in the existing idea that a paternal factor is involved in the occurrence of preeclampsia. Because pregnancy has many similarities with transplantation, we hypothesize that induction of allogeneic tolerance to the paternal HLA molecules of the fetus may be crucial. Recent data suggest that exposure, and especially oral exposure to soluble HLA (sHLA) or HLA derived peptides can lead to transplantation tolerance. Similarly, sHLA antigens, that are present in the seminal plasma, might cause tolerance in the mother to paternal antigens. In order to test whether this indeed may be the case, we investigated whether sHLA antigens are present in seminal plasma. Using a specific ELISA we detected sHLA class I molecules in seminal plasma. The level varied between individuals and was related to the level in plasma. Further studies showed that these sHLA class I molecules included classical HLA class I alleles, such as sHLA-A2, -B7, -B51, -B35 and sHLA-A9. Preliminary data show lower levels of sHLA in seminal plasma in the preeclampsia group, although not significantly different from the control group. An extension of the present study is necessary to verify this hypothesis.

Well ladies I am ready and happy to contribute for the benefit of medical research.

Time to work for Hitler

Now, now, now... Don't start by telling me that I am a Nazi and I am supporting the Nazi Facistist German party.

Since one of my best friends Mel has decided to unleash the hell looking scary German Soldier without clothes picture of me, I thought it would be delightful amusing to publish this picture of me on the internet. Who knows what will happen next...

So no need to worry folks, I am not converting to Nazi religion in Hanoi.. strange paradox saying that in asia.

enjoy!

P.S - for those who want to join me on my Nazi look a like bike, the ride is something you will never forget...

Tour de Ha Tay...

On December 3rd, a few friends from Hanoi decided to the manly thing and prove to the world (Yeah Right) that we are a mountain bike team ready to take on Tour De Ha Tay. The end of this brutal, gruelling, dangerous trek through the countryside lays a known pagoda for the locals to pray and devote their inner feelings towards their higher power(s).

Thought I include some fancy pictures of my energetic, trash talking, nature loving team (yes, for all who need to know, I did finish last) and a meat cow on drugs. Lets just say he or she was eager and welcomed my presence as I huff and puff through the Hanoian countryside.

WHO and Repeatseat?

Stayed late at work tonight because I had to setup a World Health Organization bird flu presentation for the parents from UNIS. Nothing special but I did learn the Tamiflu which is suppose to be a drug that helps the body to fight the virus if becomes infected will not work if the bird flu - human virus strain will mutate. Talk about a specific drug and if the virus changes, it will become unusable... Because of this fact, most people in Vietnam are waiting until more facts are presented from the WHO.

FYI - we are still at level three so there is no need for alarm yet. We are entering flu season in North Vietnam so the expect number of cases will increase over the next few months...

Another note:

My friend Trayr was chatting with me recently and told me that his company is going through some tough times and not sure how things will turn out in the future... I hope things will turn out and emerge out of troubles and his future with them is secured. My thoughts are with you buddy!

Having a good couple of days...

I don't know what happened but for the first time in a long long time, I am having a good couple of days.

Got together with my close friend for lunch yesterday and chatted with her for a long time and discuss life and where things are going. Things were hectic for her but I know that I can only tell her to relax for a few minutes while she catches her breath. I listened to her to talk about her life is changing and she needs to experience some new adventures alone and she should not be afraid and just do it. Just very happy that I can support her and tell her that everything will be ok.

Leaving her for the day, I felt like that I had this huge block lifted off me because I been depressed and in the pits for a long time and I am just happy to know that we have put our differences behind us and know that we still deeply care about each other deep inside. Certainly the rich feelings of warmth and love.

What can I say? No matter what happens or how bad things can become, having close and deep relationships or friendships is what the feeling we as human strive for. It gives us security, it gives us strength, it gives us serenity, it gives us comfort, it gives us warmth, it gives us the most important thing of love.

I cannot explain it but I been happy with my friends in Hanoi and with my co-workers... I am not losing my anger as much and focusing on getting the job done. Things are shaping as a team and we are completing the weekly tasks that I have assigned.

As I learned in my spiritual program in the past, it's all about one day at a time. I am happy to tell my journal that today I feel good and I am grateful for it.