The surf definitely had something to do with it. Nothing on this scale, but some fun chest high waves at Kuta Beach gave me the fix that I needed to endure my final two surfless months in Saigon.

Having my first week off of work in over a year and a fresh mohawk helped to get me in vacation mode...

For those of you craving some fermented sea flavor to complement your dining fare, here is a three step guide to making your own nuoc mam, Phan Thiet style.

Mix fish and rock salt in a large ceramic vat. Cover.

Leave to ferment in the tropical sun for at least one year.

Bottle, label, and enjoy the fishy goodness...

Maybe that is not the kind of Feng Shui that $500 per hour interior designers in Shanghai and New York practice, but what I am getting at is that Hong Kong seems to have a nice balance of different elements. The city is very Chinese, but as a result of the centuries of British rule, there is a thriving Western community - not just expats, but people who have actually grown up in the territory. The city's cuisine also has depth and variety, everything from inexpensive noodle houses to the hautest of haute cuisine.

For now, I am enjoying the motorbike exhaust in your face, developing country chaos of living in Saigon. This city is a rebellious teenager, while Hong Kong is decidedly middle aged and settled. Hong Kong has a piece of my heart, and it is a place I could feel comfortable living when I am more settled as well. My Hawaiian friend who lived there last year even told me that there is some surf on the other side of the island...

Oh yeah...A facemask is another option for air filtration...

Không đi giầy trong nhà - Take your shoes off in the house
Growing up in Hawaii, which has a strong Japanese influence, gave me the habit of leaving my shoes at the door out of respect. This custom is especially important here in Saigon, where the streets are filthy but homes are kept spotless. Moreover, many families dine sitting cross legged on a straw mat on the floor. All the more reason to kick off those grimy shoes at the entrance.

Không nhổ lông mọc trên mụn ruồi - Don't pull out that hair in your mole
Why? It may cause cancer. Not sure if I completely believe that, but the thought has scared me enough to start trimming my mole hairs instead.

Khi ngủ, không đặt tay lên ngực - Don't sleep with your hands on your chest
The heart is a fragile organ, and resting hands on one's chest for sleeping hours can put unnecessary pressure on the cardiovascular system.

Khi uống bia rượu, phải có mồi, đồ ăn - Make sure to eat while your are drinking alcohol
I am fine with eating a handful of salted peanuts while I am sitting at the bar with a beer. However, when drinking with some of my local buddies, I find myself having to constantly refuse the pieces of sausage, barbecued squid, and dried beef that they put in front of my face after every sip. Here, eating goes together with drinking. Apparently, it is better for the stomach, but I think that all that eating gives me a worse hangover than the beer...

Ok, Ok...I know that it is unfair and probably offensive to characterize an entire country by one of its dishes. My patriotic pride would be undermined if someone asked if someone asked whether I was from the United States of Hamburgers...

However, I must say that when I think of Mexico, I think of food. No, not Taco Bell or even Baja Fresh which is tasty yet Gringo-influenced Mexican cuisine. Instead, I am talking about real homestyle Mexican cooking: tacos de cabeza con salsa de habanero, frijoles refritos tradicionales (yes, with plenty of lard..), and chiles rellenos. Plenty of guacamole on the side...

The week of meetings with industrial park developers, plastic and metal manufacturing companies, and local officials near Monterrey, Nuevo Leon was an intense one. However, the guacamole made it worth it all. Now, it's back to my Mexican cuisine-free existence in Saigon. The thought has definitely crossed my mind to stick around and open my own taqueria on Dong Khoi street. Any interested investors out there?

Ok...This is not really a photo of Malibu. The waves were small last weekend, and I probably could not even get barreled like this anymore after a year of living land locked in Saigon...

Anyway, given my boss' generosity for arranging this stopover, I wanted to show him around, especially since this would be his first time to the US. For the Americans / Californians out there, how would you welcome a first time visitor, originally from Spain and now living in Vietnam?

Here is what I came up with - a cruise down Hollywood Boulevard, beers and burgers at Hooters, and shopping at a trendy mall in Manhattan Beach. From this glimpse of the US, he will probably think that we are a vain, consumerist lot of 300 million, but that is fine with me - we had a blast...

Searching for "Hooters" on Google yielded much livelier images, but I decided to go with this safe - yet suggestive - company logo...But again, back to the Cali stopover. After living in Vietnam for over one year, it was incredibly sweet to hug my mom and ride waves with my best friends back in California. However, during brief stay, the nomad in me (who seems to be increasingly vocal and influential) was excited to get back on an airplane and step on to unexplored territory...

It turns out that the words constitute a Chinese proverb that made its way to Vietnam over 2,000 years ago (according to my Vietnamese teacher). As a result of millenia of intermittent Chinese rule and constant Chinese influence, Vietnam's government, education system, and even family structure are similar to those of its big brother to the north. Until Alexandre de Rhodes transliterated the Vietnamese language into its current, Romanized alphabet in the late 18th century, the literate classes used a version of Chinese characters as their own writing system.

So, that explains the origin of this Vietnamese proverb, or Thành Ngữ Việt Nam, but what wisdom does it offer? A discussion with my Vietnamese teacher yielded the following interpretation:

Dục tốc bất đạt...
Literally, "in wanting quick success, one will not succeed." An appropriate reminder for my instant gratification conditioned American mind.

Here are a couple more Vietnamese proverbs that I like:

Ông ăn chả, bà ăn nem...
Literally, "while the man eats chả (grilled chopped meat), his wife eats nem (pork hash wrapped in banana leaf)." Any ideas about the meaning? This one stumped me - I thought it had something to do with men and women having different tastes. My (patient) Vietnamese teacher finally shared that it describes a married couple who each have a lover on the side. In this society where people marry young and divorce is still frowned upon, I suspect that man and wife having "different tastes" happens more often than one might expect...

Mất sổ gạo...
Literally, "to lose one's rice ledger." The decade after the North Vietnamese kicked out the US and completed their "reuinification" of the country was a tough one economically. Soviet-style central planning meant that families were allocated a set portion of rice, which they obtained by presenting their ledger - probably to a local communist party official. In this time of food shortages, "losing one's rice ledger" could mean that the family would go hungry. Today, it seems like most people get enough to eat here in Vietnam, and my Vietnamese teacher explained that people now use the phrase to cheer up someone who is looking dejected by asking, "What happened - did you lose your rice ledger?" I like asking myself this question - makes my problems seem minor by comparison!

As tends to happen when one settles down in a place, I have since accumulated more stuff - a conical hat, books like "The Quiet American," and clothes (I will admit it - I have a weakness for An Phuoc). As a result, I can no longer carry all that I own, and I am fine with that because this is where home is - at least until December 2009.

So, what have I done in the past year? I have learned to speak conversational Vietnamese, made (lifelong?) friends with expats and Vietnamese, and worked for one year in international business. What an rich year it has been since I enjoyed this bowl of noodles on my first day as a resident of Saigon at Pho 24 (coming soon to a mini mall food court near you)...

I am so thankful to PiA for making this experience possible. It has been the richest year of my adult life and has defined my career and life direction. This week marks my first "Expat Anniversary," and I intend to celebrate many more - I may be a lifer!

Anyway, I spent last weekend in the city that seduced me into returning to live and work in Vietnam. Visiting Hanoi as a resident of Vietnam gave me some new things to appreciate about Saigon's quaint, romantic, and refined neighbor to the north:

Language: I find northern pronunciation of the Vietnamese language beautiful. The clear, rhythmic pronunciation and sharp "z" sounds make it easy on the ears and more elegant than the drawl of the South.

Curfew: On Saturday evening, I went out with friends for drinks at a bar called Cuba. At around midnight, the manager turned up the lights and began to urge people to leave, explaining that the police were outside, and that he had to shut down the bar because of the local regulations. I like to be in bed early, so I was secretly grateful to the police for giving me a way out. Back home in Saigon, it is easy to party until daylight any night of the week, but not really my style...

PiA: Hanoi is currently home to five PiA fellows, who are working in NGO and journalism posts. Spending the weekend with them was a blast, and they showed me the side of Hanoi that I missed as a tourist here three years earlier - a running track around West Lake, a brunch café with delicious home baked bread, and the Cinematique, where I watched a production of the Broadway play "The Nerd" that one of the PiA fellows directed. I am the only PiA fellow in Saigon, so it was interesting to catch up with them and discuss the highlights and challenges of our year in Vietnam.

My plane is about to land, so time to shut off my computer. Time to start the week in the chaos of Saigon after a refreshing weekend away...

God, this would be a perfect left hand point - if it were only about two meters taller...Busy with work and settling into Saigon, I missed last year's surf season, which I hear runs from November to January. I am making a promise to myself to get barreled in Vietnam this year - it is a must for me before leaving this country...This photo from Flickr makes the surf look decent...

The most obvious explanation is that I have an white collar job and spend the majority of the daylight hours in an air conditioned, fluorescent-lit office. My lunch break is usually when the clouds gather for the afternoon rain shower, blocking the direct sun. Finally, I suspect that the heavy particulate pollution in Saigon - produced by lumbering diesel trucks, two stroke motorbikes, and construction dust - absorbs some of the sun's rays before they can arrive to darken my face.

I have identified another factor that helps to explain my pale skin - the Vietnamese tendency to protect themselves from the sun. This idea influences design and behavior, making it difficult to get a tan in this country. For example, it is impossible to find a café terrace in this city with tables in the direct sun - all patios are covered by a canopy of umbrellas.

Determined to enjoy the sun's rays as I lunched on a clear day, I deviously moved my cafe chair and table from under shade out into the light. The wait staff approached me to ask that I replace the table - not out of frustration with me breaking the rules, but out of genuine concern for me sitting in the sun. Obstinate in the face of their pleas to move, I remained steadfast, savoring the sunlight and my sandwich...

Medical professionals would laud this country-wide effort to shade skin from the harmful effects of the sun. The conical hat - one of the iconic images of Vietnam - is designed with precisely this function in mind. Much more effective that sunscreen or the billed hats we wear in the US...

While health consciousness contributes to the Shady Saigon phenomenon, there are also aesthetic motivations at play. My Vietnamese colleague explained to me that the reason she (and most women) wears a birka-like scarf around her face and fingertip to shoulder gloves when she rides her motorbike is to prevent her skin from tanning. When asked why she goes through this trouble, she replied "Ask Vietnamese men."

The prevalence of soaps on store shelves that profess to have "whitening" qualities confirms that many people here find lighter skin more beautiful. I am certainly not a social anthropologist, but I suspect that this has to do with status within Vietnam rather than with a desire to look more Caucasian. In a long-time agrarian society like Vietnam, the lower classes have always spent long days in the rice field, browning their skin. Light skin was reserved for those wealthy enough to be able to spend their time inside, and therefore a mark of status.

Anyway, skin color is inevitably a touchy subject, so I will leave it here. It is Saturday afternoon, and against the better judgment of my hosts, I am off to worship the sun. It must be the Hawaiian in me...

My encounters with prospective subjects usually happen as follows: I take out my camera, ask in Vietnamese whether I can take their photo, and get this response...

This morning, I ate breakfast with a friend at a makeshift streetside food court with people serving noodles soups, sticky rice, and other breakfast fare. I recognized an excellent photo opportunity, but when I asked the people sitting around the sticky rice table whether I could take their photo, they ladies turned around and the children scurried away.

Disheartened by the failure, I focused once again on enjoying my bowl of Chinese style rice congee with sliced liver, topped with fish sauce and chilies. Mmm...Sensing my frustration, my Vietnamese friend with whom I was breakfasting told me that the problem was that I was asking people before taking their photo.

"Vietnamese people want you to take their photo," she explained. "However, they are shy, so if you ask them, of course they will say no. Just go ahead and shoot."

This suggestion baffled me because I would feel at least a bit annoyed if someone slyly snapped a photo of me slurping noodles. Of course, the narcissist in me would like being the focus of someone else's attention, but I would expect the paparazzi to at least ask first. Anyway, sitting streetside in Mui Ne, Vietnam I decided to challenge my social conditioning, risk offending the people around me, and trust that my friend understands the Vietnamese mindset better than I do. And...

...It worked! Here is the woman who served our delicious congee, having no problem with my candid photo of her. None of the other images turned out well, but at least I did not get any angry verbal or physical response from my unsuspecting subjects. I guess that in the case of photography in Vietnam, "shoot first, ask questions later," is
an effective strategy.

That said, being able to speak with the average person around here in their language leaves me vulnerable to the kind of paternalistic advice that older family members usually give to the younger generation. In my case, that usually means people telling me that it is about time that I get married, and that I should marry a Vietnamese woman.

Last week, in the span of just a few hours, I got this advice twice from two total strangers - an older woman who was preparing noodles at a streetside stall and a young lady who served me tea at the bakery on the corner near my office. "Come on, Marry a Vietnamese Woman Already," usually follows from these two questions, which are the standard ones that people ask here: "How old are you?" and "Do you have a family yet?"

Compared with the US, people get married early here - tying the knot in one's mid-twenties is common here. A close friend of mine who is in her mid-thirties and has a family and two children recently told me that I am old already, and that it was time for me to settle down. Her advice, like that of my other interlocutors, gets to me because I do not see myself getting married until my mid-thirties. However, I understand that Vietnamese people are only giving me that advice because they care about me and think that would make me happy.

Just to make it clear, I do not mean to generalize and say that every Vietnamese person thinks that marriage in one's twenties is the best way to go, or that everyone I meet thinks that I should get married now. Nor do I have anything against marriage. Seeing my best friend get married last fall in California was one of the most moving experiences of my life. Here I am celebrating at the end of the best man's toast.

Despite the suggestions of the sign, I discovered that Highlands' cafe sua da was not being brewed in the lavatory. Turned out that the door lead to a hallway with two other entrances - one for the restroom and another for an employee break room. Gave me a good laugh anyway.

I came across this campaign stickered vehicle on the streets of Phnom Penh:

The most plausible explanation is that an American expat shipped this truck over from the states. However, could it be that our newly unemployed former president is running for president of Cambodia?

Why is Vietnam so good at recycling? Because it makes economic sense. In fact, there are people who have chosen recycling as a profession, and spend their days roaming the streets in search of aluminum cans, plastic cups, and other scrap material.

I took this photo of one of the recyclers on the street in front of my office as I walked to work in the morning. It is a common sight here in Saigon that still amazes me, especially when i see a recycler skillfully navigating a rickety bike next to a black Mercedes S 500 carrying members of Vietnam's nouveau riche. While she is obscured by her load of plastic bottles, there is actually is a woman pushing this bike along. In fact, most of the recyclers that I have seen are women - another example of women doing a lot of the manual labor in this country...

Anyway, back to the economic explanation of Vietnam's penchant for recycling. I spoke with one of the recyclers yesterday, who told me that he earns about VND 4,500 ($.25) per kilogram of scrap material that he sells to recycling companies. He said that on average, he collects about 10kg of recyclables per day, earning him approximately VND 45,000 ($2.50). Assuming a six day work week, we could estimate that this recycler earns a monthly wage of about $60, which is right around the minimum wage in Vietnam. Relatively low wages in Vietnam makes being a recycler a viable job option - and ensures that my cans of soda water are reincarnated in another soft drink vessel.

I admire the recyclers for taking the entrepreneurial route rather than making a similar wage spending their time on a factory assembly line making shoes destined for your nearest Foot Locker. I like to think that I would make the same career decision if I were in their position. Also, as opposed to working in a factory, the recyclers have the chance for a big payday - one man's trash is another man's treasure comes to mind...