Tonight, I feasted on clams with lemongrass and barbequed oysters topped with green onion and peanuts. I bit through the shells of crab covered in hot chili oil, so spicy it burned my lips, watered my eyes, made me cry and laugh at the same time, and sucked out nutty flakes of red and whiteRead more
I am pretty sure I was a kung fu fighter in a past life. This revelation occurred to me in Hue, Vietnam during a city bus tour from hell. It wasn’t my first time in Hue. I was here three years ago when I first toured the country and I hated it. Really, really hatedRead more
“I’ve never met another half before,” I said to him. “You have, I am sure. But they just didn’t tell you.” “Why?” I asked. “Shame.” Like me, he can pass as full-blooded. But look carefully and you can see the face of his father. A sharper nose, eyes the same color as mine: soft brown,Read more
I’ve now spent enough time in South-East Asia to not be constantly amazed, startled or confused by the life that passes around me. In some ways, it’s a pity. How incredible was that feeling I had in that first taxi ride from the airport in Saigon, the gateway to my first South-East Asian experience? What wildRead more
Vietnamese women are beautiful. Small, delicate, graceful, they move through the chaos of Vietnam like exquisite underdogs. Physically, they are a generally flawless specimen. Thin, well-groomed, hair hanging long and straight like shiny black silk with unblemished skin protected from the sun as if its rays are toxic. Culturally and traditionally, they are perfection inRead more
It finally happened. I got ripped off. I got played. I got screwed over. Enough with the dramatics. Here’s the story. It’s raining outside, a cold winter’s night in Hanoi. I am running late to meet a friend at a bar across town. The xe oms, or cheap motorbike taxis, that so often frequent everyRead more
A love letter to “Greg”, my 50 litre Gregory Jade backpack, who has been my most faithful travel companion over the years. Dear Greg, You’ve taken a hammering over the years. Seen too many dirty floors and dusty trails. Been thrown into many under carriages of hot buses and trains, buried underneath things far largerRead more
Writers block, writers block, writers block. How can I describe the last few days? How can I find the right words to explain how things happened, how people and families have welcomed me into their homes, their lives? How I am feeling my own existence in ways I’ve never felt before? It’s been two weeksRead more
I am sipping a cold beer in a slender glass filled with ice – the Vietnamese way of consuming the local brew. My father used to drink it this way, asked for ice in whatever alcoholic beverage he drank. A travesty to Western beer drinkers, but the only way to drink it here after aRead more
Hanoi is a city to be felt, not explained. It is a city of paradoxes. It is visceral, it is complex, it is elegant, it is ugly. Modern. Historic. Timeless. The Old Quarter, where I am, a tangle of narrow streets lined with store fronts packed inside like sardines, a litany of any and allRead more