Vietnam

Easiest Visa Process. You can apply for a landing visa and when you get there, have your ID, fill out a one page form, have about 50 USD (no other currency) and boom you are done my friend. 15 minutes tops and that's cause your dumbass was not smart enough to have the form prefilled (it's avaialble on the internet.)
I got in a little after 1:00AM to the hotel. Slept for like 5 hours and I was headed to the office, 1 hour drive away.

Ho Chi Minh city is waay different than Shanghai, there really aren’t too many high rises. I like it, but as the city grows, it’s not going to last long, you can’t have that kind of sprawl. You gotta go up. Sai Gon runs right through the city, the hotel is right next to it and I have a sweet view. Note on the picture: i have a feeling that across the river will look somewhat like shanghai in 10 years or so.

There really isn’t a “highway” no overhead roads you know. Just plain double sided roads with a ton of scooters. Scooters aplenty. Population of about 10 million in the city, 1/3 of Shanghai’s size. The traffic is awful in rush hour. The streets are not developed as Shangahi’s it reminds me more of Jakarta. The road side shops seem more temporary and worn down. I’m sure they will soon make way for more glamorous and probably soulless symbols of progress. They remind me of the streets of Jakarta and some parts of India. Developed, but just not fully.

I get to our temporary office and meet up with TC, our local project engineer. Nicest guy. I’m going to learn a lot from him. He works his butt off, all the time. We sit down and talk about our upcoming project. He goes and does his analysis of some documents and I do mine. He gets his done so much faster and I’m still lagging behind. And he’s a task master. I’m going to be better to have worked with him.

Lunch is at a semi swanky Vietnamese restaurant. We order some rice, some soup, fish curry (fantastic). Then it starts to rain. It’s the beginning of the rainy season here. And as I saw the palm trees and the gigantic banana leaves sway in the wind and the water, all of a sudden, I’m flashing back to a time that’s starting to fade. The river flooding, the creeks flooding, our house was over a meter above the roads, and water still coming up to the steps. You had to get around in canoes or home made rafts for about a week or so. You made the rafts from banana tree stumps. Them suckers float. They’re about 2 meters over 6 foot long. About 5 or 6 stumps, wooden stakes, rope, bam you had your own raft. Be careful in the rip tide though and trust me when the river floods, there be plenty of swirling tides. Toss you over drag you under. But still heck of a lot of fun.

I remember these torrential rains that made the roof drains your personal water falls. The force of the water so hard that you would go stand over the drains to see how long you could let that water hit your skin before you ran away from pain. I can’t remember how long I lasted, but it wasn’t long. Flash, my grandmother and our ayi sitting down on the floor and slicing up breadfruit so they can be fried up for some of the most delicious snacks known to man. Those two arguing like only old friends can and me running into their already sliced raw stock pile and popping few into my mouth before I got snapped in the knuckles with the back end of a spoon. The fun wasn’t eating the raw breadfruit, but trying not to get hit in the knuckles. I think they both knew that as well.

I see the flowers from home and realize I can’t name them anymore…and it fades even further. I see the mini river on the street flowing down hill and remember all the paper boats I made with my friends and my brothers. I see mopeds deliberately going through the water puddles on the side of the road and how both passengers are smiling ear to ear. My friends and I did the same thing. damn, glad it's not all faded...

Earthquake in Sichuan

First I'm okay. I live in Shanghai, the earthquake hit yesterday May 12, 2008 around 2 P.M in Sichaun province 60 miles away from Chengdu. Chengdu is a good 1000 miles west of Shanghai, the quake is supposed to have felt all the way from Pakistan to Vietnam. That's insane.

If Chengdu had been directly hit, what we are seeing now would be a walk in the park. With that said, what we are seeing now in Sichuan is terrible. There are images in the New York times that do a pretty good job of outlining the damage, but the images on the chinese websites are absolutley devastating and heartbreaking. Out of respect, I am not going to post gruesome pictures. However, the attached one broke my heart, good Lord, they're just babies.

The openness and the response by the chinese government is in stark contrast to the idiocy displayed by the Myanmar government. The government has been constantly updating the death tolls and they match with all western newspaper accounts as well. In 1976 July 28, an earthquake hit Tangshan which is near where I am traveling to right now. Tangshan is close to Beijing, farther away than Shanghai is to Chengdu. it killed over 200,000 people and the government tried to cover it up and they almost lost the support of the people. They have learned the lesson it seems and the president himself flew in immediately to the epicenter and he was shown directing rescue efforts from his plane. Of course it is somewhat staged, but not like that doesn't happen in the States....

This is no time for snide political reactions, pray people, pray for the victims, the survivors, the survivors who had to choose between their child and their parents or their wives, siblings on whom to rescue and who to perish, and now they have to live with that decision for the rest of their lives. Pray for us all to do something, to make a difference to the least of our brothers. May the good Lord keep us all.

You can donate to the redcross of china. A good authority on Non governmental organizations in China has informed us that the RedCross of China will distribute as needed and not pilfer your donations. http://www.redcross.org.cn/. I tried and it is crashed right now. I hope some of you get through.

I am so torn about donating to the mynmar disaster but I will go through Doctors without borders because they have been allowed to have access. Since Myanmar is worse off in resources than China, if I had to pick one, I would pick Myanmar. But find a good charity that can deliver the goods...literally. Here's one that has people already on the ground http://www.theirc.org/news/irc-cyclone-emergency-myanmar0509.html

Let us help the least of our brothers during their time of need.

China Womans federation, Poverty Alleviation Federation, and the Youth Development Foundation are also good places to donate for China. Will fill in more as I know more.

10,000 is the death toll right now. Don't be surprised if it ends up being 10 times that. The roads to a lot of the villages are blocked by rockslides and landslides and rescue vehicles and personnel are blocked from gaining access...

Heartbreaking was watching my friend JZ (alias) at work almost break down in tears as tried to explain the pictures he was seeing. He's 21 years old, heart of gold.

Brazil..way back in March

So I’ve been on vacation at the end of March. My buddy had a wedding in Brazil and a few of us flew out there. You ask, wait Daddy, how do you get to Brazil from China. I’ll tell ya how. You fly 15 hours to Chicago, then hang out for 3 hours, and take another 10.5 hour flight to Sao Paulo. Wedding is at 5:00 PM and I get there at 9:30 in the morning. Plenty of time.

I come out, exchange some money, people who work at the airport takes me to the taxi line, we agree to a prearranged cost without the meter (I speak the no portugese, but their English is good enough and I don’t argue too much). Because it was raining, I was told to expect heavy ass traffic, but we make it to the hotel in reasonable time. I get there and my buddies who got there a day earlier are still recovering from umm jetlag…but man its good to see them. Right away, I get asked “how’s lent” in reference to me giving up meat in Brazil and missing out on all the ridiculous Brazilian BBQ. Nothing like getting your balls busted by some good friends. I have no comeback.

We go out for lunch and admire the um beautiful local scenery. I tell you what, I don’t care if you call me a chauvinist, whatever, but Brazilian women are beautiful, just plain and simple. WOW, is all I can say. It’s as if they were born into the clothes they wear. Unbelievable.

The lunch was okay, but we get back eventually to the hotel and start getting ready. We get lost on our way to the wedding, but quickly recover. There is a huge German population in Sao Paulo, a lot of the guests who were our age went to a German university in Sao Paulo. So the whole ceremony was in German which was interesting. Traditional catholic. The reception was nice and yes, yes I did bring my dancing shoes. I can put down a mean two step and that aint’ no joke. Samba, not so much. But we danced t’ll like 3 in the morning and a small after party at an outdoor bar nearby to wind down and that was that.

The next day we got treated to a private family BBQ and got to play some soccer 3 on 3 style. Good times. We were hosted by the bride’s aunt at her family house. The house was really cool, really open architecture for cross ventilaltion, no air conditioning, and I can’t wait to live in a house like that, practical and environmentally conscious. There fruit trees all over the back yard. Avocados the size of my head.

But it’s the following day the real fun starts. We drovea bout 7 hours to the coast which is 2 hours from Rio to ANgra dos Reis. The drive was interesting at parts because you’re going on these windy cobble stone roads with blind turns and one fuck up and you’re off the cliff, and it’s raining. We saw a really bad accident, still don’t know if everyone was okay and then another bad one the car was upside down, but everyone seemed to be sitting outside the car. It was pretty bad, but everyone in our group made it down okay. 1.5 hour boat ride and we made it Hotel Nautilus. We had our rooms, nice cozy. 3 meals a day inclusive. Snorkling, and fishing and some trips to some secluded beaches. I went snorkeling for the first time, so kick ass. The goggles, they do something. Starfish, blowfish, urchins, all sortsa crazy striped fish.

Then at night we go fishing. No Rods, just a line and a hook and some bait. The line is attached to a piece of flat wood 7 by 10 inches or so. How did that go? Well let’s just say you are reading the ramblings of the worst fisherman in the group. Even the newbies caught one, (this was my second time fishing, well third if you count the time I used a towel to catch a minnow back when I was like 9). Come to think of it, that’s the only fish I’ve ever caught in my life. So the rest of the week was spent listening to “hey, how many fish did you catch” jokes. Good times. Oh night time was also poker night, I haven’t played in the longest time, and I can’t wait to go back to Shanghai and start a poker night. Scavenger hunt, ladies vs. the manly men, and yes this is a man’s world. Damn right we won….

The following day we get on a boat and head out to a secluded beach, we get there and there is nobody on the beach. We anchored about 75 yards from the beach and I just jumped in and had to be the first on the beach. Kick ass. Barbeque on the boat, swimming, snorkeling, a little beach volleyball…got burned like a mofo, first time ever. The brazilian sun is super intense. Could not believe that. I wear sunscreen all the time now.

Get back I try my hand at fishing again on a kayak and my back is killing me, I try to stretch out and I flip the sonofabitch. Good thing I passed pull up class cause it took me some doing to get back on that thing. Everybody had a good laugh at that one. Did a little hiking the next day and I had to get back to catch my flight....we'll finish up the story tomorrow...

Note on the images: the first is we are pretty damn high on those windy roads and the clouds are pretty close to us, and it's a long ways down through the fog. 2nd the secluded beach as we leave (more people came). the last one was the evening sky right after the wedding ceremony, it was...well look at the picture...

Shanghai

There was a bus explosion/fire yesterday, May 5, in Shanghai. You can read a pretty concise and in my opinion accurate account of it here . one of the local international schools canceled classes today. no fear though, life is going on as normal. the government certainly does not want to characterize this as some sort of terrorism, and it probably isn't. According to the BBC correspondent in the past couple years, there are two other incidents where buses have caught on fire due to overheating.

i'm not worried you? nah hell nah...

Korea

by far the worst consulate to deal with the korean consulate in Shanghai. Let's just say they don't know what the hell is going on in terms of their own rules and regulations. There was an ultimate tourney in Jeju Island, which is a special autonomous region of Korea. More info here. So first question I ask, do I need a visa to Korea? answer yes, do I need a visa to go to Jeju, the special autonomous region? yes. I apply for the visa, how many days? 5, great I will submit and give you 7 days. What you need additional documents than the list you provided, you need a copy of an email of invitation, the official letter of invitation isn't good enough? fine. What's this email, I don't need a visa to Jeju? Okay, hello? yes, huh? you need a copy of my chinese visa? but I have an email that says I don't need a visa. What I still need a visa? fine I will fax you a copy of my chinese visa. So is my visa ready? no? but i have to travel tomorrow. you said it would take 5 days, what do you mean it could take 5 days? Fine.

I have my tickets so I check some webisites and I get all types of hits suggesting that I do not need a visa. Excellent. So screw it, I'm getting on the plane and what are they going to do, send me back? fine, that's no worse than sitting in Shanghai and missing the Jeju Ultimate tourney. I get there, and of course I don't need a visa. 400 RMB down the drain and the SOBs still have my passport. Worst incompetant, don't know what the fuck they are doing idiots of a consulate. It's been a week since i got back from Jeju and I'm still angry at the incompetency and utter lack of professionalism displayed by these morons. the thing is i can't do anything about it, because in case I need their services in the future for business, they can tell me to go fuck off. So these bastards get to continue their idiotic ways and hear no complaints. FUck IT, i'm giving them a piece of my mind when I pick up my passport. easy there tommy tuffnuts, easy there.

okay so Jeju tourney, shangahi wins for the third year in a row. I was not on the winning team, since i have regressed since i started in shanghai, i was on the B team. Decent saturday, although the wind was the worst I've played in, and sunday was perfect weather, but our play was terrible. anyways, Jeju was a lot of fun, really well organized tourney, logistics was pretty damn perfect, buses were avaialble to and from the fields, to the party, everything. Good times. Jeju Island looks awesome, and I wish I had time to see some of the sites. It's the number one honeymoon spot for koreans and pretty up there for a lot of japanese.

Korean food is pretty good, I enjoyed. The language barrier is pretty brutal. The street side shops, no english, lots of pointing at pictures. Funnyincident. So friday afternoon we get to our hotels, settle down and go get some food. we get to place and we cannot find out what they have available versus what's on the menu. No english is spoken, but there are pictures of 4 of the dishes they serve on the outside wall. We take the cook/waitress outside and start pointing. She says no to our choice, and we can't figure out why. Later a guy who speaks english comes by and explains the cook thinks it's too spicey for us. We all say "ah hell no bring on the spicey"well somehting like that... and still there is slight apprehension but the chef concedes and decides to serve us the dish. the dish was cold noodles in a spicey sauce (not that spicey actually). The noodles had ice in it to keep it cold. It had this really nice mustard and oyster sauce on the side, very nice. yes I had kimchi, and it was good. I have no pictures cause my camera be dead....



So that's korea kids.