Christmas in Viet Nam…

We’ll be on the road again today, heading to Da Lat. In case I don’t get connected in the next day or two, I’ll take this opportunity to say Merry Christmas to all!

We left Ho Chi Minh City on Monday. Spent the first night at a beautiful beach resort in Mui Ne. Tuesday saw us arrive in Nha Trang. Spent much of Wednesday on the ocean–boating, a little SCUBA, fresh seafood. Christmas in a beach resort is a difficult thing to endure, but I’m taking one for the team.

I hope all my friends have a remarkable and joyous holiday!

Ho Chi Minh City traffic report…

I have a surefire way of determining if traffic is going to be totally nuts on any given day:

My phone has a GPS. In the morning, I fire up Google Maps. If I’m still in Ho Chi Minh City, I know the traffic it going to suck.

The Killing Fields and S-21

I visited two Genocide Museums: Choeung Ek, commonly referred to as The Killing Fields, and Tuol Sleng, commonly referred to as S-21 or The Schoolhouse. Although I took pictures, I decided not to share them. There are plenty of photos in the linked Wikipedia articles.

Although I’d read the history of the Khmer Rouge and the atrocities they commited, reading facts and figures about history is not the same as reading personal stories. The first I read, First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (P.S.) , really brought home the horrific nature of the Khmer Rouge policies towards their own people. Stay Alive, My Son is a more straightforward, personal tale, but equally disturbing. And, of course, the movie The Killing Fields brings visual elements to the tale that are also very disturbing.

Going to the places, though, that are discussed in these books is an eye opening experience. Talking to the guides whose intimate knowledge of the history comes through in all of the details they share really brings home the sheer impact of these atrocities. Seeing the implements of torture on display with pictures of them in use brings you closer to the history then you probably want to get. (As an aside, anybody that thinks waterboarding is not torture (I’m looking at you, Dick Cheney) is welcome to come take a look and try it out. They’re also welcome to take a look at the other atrocities commited by a group that thinks nothing of a little waterboarding…).

Any museum with the word Genocide in its title is not going to be a happy place. These two museums are not uplifting at all, except when you step back and admire how far Cambodia has come since the Khmer Rouge were stopped.

One comment from an American tourist: “In New York, people are trying to raise money to build yet another monument to the World War II Holocaust. Maybe they should use that money to try and stop the holocausts that are happening now, in places like Darfur.”

George Santayana said: “Those who refuse to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.”

Angkor Wat

I plan on updating my Picasa Web album with pictures from today’s visit. My initial thoughts are:

Wow.

One day is just enough time to realize that one day is not enough time.

In reading the history of Angkor Wat, it’s apparent that there are a lot of misconceptions about the temples being “lost”. On the other hand, it’s also clear from visiting the site that it’d be easy to “lose” a temple or two. The jungle is so thick and dense that you could be three feet from a temple structure and not know that it’s there. Angkor Wat itself involved excavating thousands of cubic meters of dirt just to uncover the original temple site. When you see the clear land in the photos, realize that it’s land that was cleared and is kept clear–it used to be incredibly dense jungle. One guide suggested that if maintenance work were halted, the temples would be completely overgrown in 20-30 years.

Archeological work on the temples has been going on for over 100 years now. Much has been done but so much more remains to do.

More pictures when I get better net connectivity!

Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap through Pnomh Penh

13 hours on a bus. With infrequent, short stops. The lunch stop involved me getting my lunch serverd just as the bus prepared to depart.

Photos to come tomorrow after a tour of 3 temples. First impressions: Cambodia is *very* green and *very* beautiful. The people are very nice and friendly. Things are cheap like Viet Nam. My hotel, The No Problem Hotel, is nice with A/C, private bath and hot shower. The only problem so far is that wifi doesn’t seem to reach my room so I have to work from the cafe. $13 a night.

More tomorrow after a little touring.

Yeah–totally my fault…

Last night, I got jacked. I hear a lot of that around here, and I’ve nodded sagely and though “That won’t happen to me–I’m too careful.”

I’d pulled over to check something on my phone. A bike pulled up behind me and a woman got off the back and approached me from behind on the sidewalk. As she got to my bike, she came around to the road side and asked “Massage?” I said “No” and went back to what I was doing. She entered in to my personal space and I quickly put my phone in my pocket and dropped my hand to guard the pocket with my phone and wallet. She reached across my hand and grabbed my package. “Massage?” I pushed her hand away and told her to go away.

She got more aggressive and pushed toward me. I stepped off my bike onto the sidewalk and she pushed the bike over, stepped over it and continued towards me. I told her to go away and she turned back to lift up my bike. I rushed forward, grabbed the bike, got on and tried to leave. She came back around and stepped in front of the bike. She reached for my wallet pocket and I slapped her hand away. She grabbed my hand and yanked my thumb back. The whole time, she kept repeating “Massage?” and I kept repeating “No. Go away!”. Finally, the scooter she arrived on pulled up, she jumped on the back and drove away.

I was relieved. I’d gotten away with my phone, wallet and bike. I went home and counted my lucky stars. The only thing that happened was my thumb got a little tweaked.

This morning, I noticed that my wedding band was gone. When she was tweaking my thumb, and I was distracted by that, she stripped the wedding band off my finger.

People talk about crime in Ho Chi Minh City all the time. The reality is that it’s just like any other big city anywhere else in the world. There are rules and I ignored them: if you need to pull over, do so in a well lit area around lots of people. I didn’t do that. My mistake. I paid to learn a lesson. The good news is I could have paid much more. Had she been a little quicker and stronger, she’d have gotten my bike. I defended my wallet and cell phone and managed to save those. The two that came after me in my moment of stupidity were professionals that took advantage of a newbie.

Next time, I’ll be more careful…

47 Trips…

I’ve now ridden this rock around the sun 47 times, and here are some things I’ve learned:

Your comfort zone is a safe place, but it’s very boring. You need to spend at least a little time outside of it.

Get a large enough group of people together to make them identifiable, and they’re crazy. Americans are crazy. Vietnamese are crazy. Republicans are crazy. Democrats are crazy. Somebody, somewhere will think Identifiable Group X is crazy.

Fight for what’s yours. Don’t let go. Ever. You will always regret it in hindsight.

Never confuse “the first” with “the one”.

Keep your eye on the ball. This applies not only to sports, but to an amazing number of non-related fields. Politics. Business. Family. Work.

Each of us is given five balls. One is rubber and four are glass. The rubber ball is work. If you drop it, it will always bounce back. The other four glass balls are family, friends, health and integrity.

Major strides are being made in cancer treatment every year. There are treatments for breast cancer today that didn’t exist ten years ago. These treatments increase your odds of 5 year survivability. None of this matters, of course, if you get breast cancer today. This applies to any type of cancer.

If you’re being served “bbq meat”, never inquire too closely as to the type of “meat”. (I’m pretty sure Viet Nam is not the only place where this is critical advice.)

You can never follow through if you don’t commit.

In any argument, ask yourself “Is this the hill I want to die on?” You’ll be surprised at how much you learn to let go.

Let go.

Almost all of the sentiments expressed in “We Are The World” are bullshit.

A 110cc scooter can go 80km an hour.

If you brush up against a guardrail while riding a 110cc scooter at 80km an hour, bad things will happen. Really, really bad things that’ll make you wish you spent more on your helmet.

Children are irreplaceable.

Raising a child is like gripping a watermelon seed. This truism is truest during the teen years.

You will make mistakes. The biggest mistake you will make is a refusal to learn from your mistakes. Don’t make that mistake.

Leave a mark.

Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Leave those footprints in the odd places, off the beaten path, whenever possible.

I know it’s trite and smacks of Apple fan-boi’ism, but it’s so true: Think Different.

Nothing helps a child learn like sparking imagination. Lego, FTW!

You don’t have to be a child to enjoy Lego.

Smaller, faster, cheaper. At some point, it’ll be small enough, fast enough, cheap enough. That’s a good place to stop.

Learn to be satisified with material things.

Never be satisfied with the knowledge you’ve gained. Always reach for more.

Question everything.

“Perfect” is the enemy of “good enough”.

Never settle.

Torchlight FTW!

I have a confession to make. As a much younger man, I spent hours fighting monstors in the dungeons of Diablo and Diablo II. I’m on pins and needles waiting for the release of Diablo III, and I’ve been following the progress of what’s sure to be an epic game with great interest.

I’m not sure what appeals to me about Diablo. There are certainly parts of the game that are tedious and almost mindless. These are the parts commonly referred to as “grinding”–taking on monsters because you need gold or EP to level up before you move on with the central story. Whether I can explain the appeal or not, Diablo was one of my first gaming loves.

As we all eagerly await the release of Diablo III, a digression has appeared on the horizon. Part of the original Diablo team, combined with folks from Fate and Mythos, have created Torchlight. Torchlight resembles Diablo in many ways, but in many other ways it’s a very different game. For one, it’s more “cartoony” in style, which some folks don’t like but I love. The art is very well done–dark, yet colorful. The music comes from the creator of the original Diablo soundtrack and is wonderful. The gameplay is almost pure Diablo with a few “fixes” that I really like. In short, Torchlight has all of the things I love about Diablo and a few new things that make it even more attractive.

You start off the game by choosing a character from one of three classes: Destroyer, Vanquisher and Alchemist. You choose a pet–either a cat or a dog. Your pet is part of you and follows you everywhere. It carries a pack and you can move items between your pet’s inventory and your own. You can even send your pet to town to sell items! Once you’ve gotten your character and pet generated, you materialize in the town of Torchlight.

Torchlight is a mining town built atop a vein of Ember. Ember is the source of magic in the Torchlight world, and there’s a war going on in the mines for control of the Ember there. The battle is, of course, between good and evil, and you’re recruited to the forces of good.

So far (and I’ve played to Level 20), there’s very little grinding involved. Characters advance at a good, steady pace. Dungeon exploration is fun and there are a myriad of side quests that allow you to explore through a variety of tilesets and dungeon styles. Monsters grow in strength the deeper you go and the closer you get to the main Ember veins. The story line is interesting, and the main characters are well voiced. Everything about the game play draws you in to the superbly crafted game mechanics.

The system requirements for Torchlight are suprisingly mild. There’s even a “Netbook” mode! I’ve not yet tried it and my main gaming machine is gross overkill. Still, I can play at 1600×1050 and the graphics are stunning. The animation is smooth and there’s hardly any jerkiness (there have been moments where things start to stutter, but those typically involve large numbers of enemies being destroyed by multiple, chained lightning bolts).

If you, like me, were a huge fan of Diablo, I urge you to try Torchlight. It’s $20 well spent. Runic, the creators, are working on an MMO based in the Torchlight world, and I can hardly wait. I’m hoping they go the Dungeons & Dragons Online route and use in-game purchases to generate income, rather than a subscription model. If they do that, I’ll be all over it.

Excuse me, sir. Your flood has arrived…

Last night I was heading home from a tutoring gig. It was quite hot, and a gentle rain began to fall. I recall thinking “How nice–a cool rain.”

Soon, the drops began to *hurt*. At that point, I pulled under some shelter and got into my rain gear. While putting on my poncho, the skies opened up. In moments, water was streaming down the road and the drains were overwhelmed.

Cold, dark, wet. Three not-so-great driving conditions when you’re on a scooter. I’ve not travelled the particular road I was on a lot, so I was unfamiliar with the topography. I had to resort closely following other scooters and observing water depths as they fought their way through ‘puddles’. Often, the water was over my footpegs and I was concerned about the engine flooding.

In the end, a 20 minute drive under normal conditions turned into an hour+ slog through the cold and the wet. Several lessons learned:

1) Timbuk2 bags rock. The outside of my messenger bag was soaked. The insides were dry. As it should be (but often isn’t).

2) The normally ‘charming’ habit of Vietnamese drivers who like to drive without headlights takes on a terrifying new meaning in a major rainstorm. WTF? If you’re going to insist on driving without lights of any kind, the very least you can do is avoid *me*. *You* can see *me*.

3) Disc brakes on scooters. Seems silly, but, trust me, well worth it. Especially if the idiot from point 2 *doesn’t* avoid you…

Looks like a little rain…

Over the past few days, storys of Typhoon Ketsana have been causing all our friends back west to write or call with concern. Is everybody OK?

Happily, everybody is doing fine. Ho Chi Minh City didn’t get hit very hard at all. We were mostly dealing with high winds and a couple of serious rain showers as the storm cell skirted past.

There are a couple of more typhoons heading this way. It’s that time of year, so it’s expected. We’re in a good, solid house that we can button down pretty tight. Our neighborhood is new and drainage is solid. We’re not worried about flooding.

Oddly, I first heard news of the devastation in the Philippines and central Viet Nam from friends in the West. Since I don’t (can’t) read Vietnamese newspapers, my news intake is a little delayed.