Summer is upon us once again...

I can't believe that another year has passed me by. It seemed like it was just yesterday that I was sitting at my little desk at Gore being clueless. So many things have happened since last summer. After my internship at Gore, I was sad to say goodbye to some amazing people but I was also excited to share my experiences of Vietnam with Sean. Coming back to the States, Sean and I moved back into our apartment, bought a car, and slowly settled back into our daily lives. I tried to blog about my experiences in Vietnam after coming back but as classes picked up, I couldn't find the time to sit down and finish what I had started. I guess I failed as a blogger. Hopefully I'll be better at it this summer.

This is my attempt to dust off the blog for the summer. I will try to update often with stories and pictures of my adventures in Europe.

Possibilities

Have you ever taken the time to consider the possibilities of your future? These possibilities decrease as a function of time, whether the relationship is linear or exponential depends upon whether or not you've made good choices along the way.

When I was a child of 4, I wanted to be all the stereotypical things that 4-year-olds wanted to be, from astronaut to artist, to teacher, to musician. But I also wanted to be an astronomer, an archeologist, an anthropologist as well as a paleontologist. I wanted to know what formed rainbows and I didn't settle for the fairytale explanation. When I was 5, I could explain that the rainbows were actually light defraction through water vapor. I knew that trees "breathed" CO2 and released O2 in presence of light but at night, they "breathed" the same way that humans do. At the age of 5, my possibilities of future careers were endless. I could have been anything that I wanted to be.

As I grew older, I chose to focus my energy in math and science. I took an interest in things such as physics and chemistry as opposed to video games or fashion (as did most of my peers). Little did I know that those simple choices and interests served as the cement that will eventually secure my path towards a future career. So the possibilities of my future were further reduced. At this stage, I could no longer be a prodigy musician or artist, anything that I studied had to involve math and science.

When I headed off to college, my possibilities were once again further reduced as I declared my major. I am now a materials science and engineering major. My future career is becoming more and more specific. I now want to focus on polymer and biomaterials engineering. Then I want to use polymer and biomaterials engineering in biomedical applications. With every choice that I make, my possibilities become fewer. I can no long be an astronomer or an anthropologist. If anything, I can still be a very specialized paleontologist who analyzes the microstructure and mechanical properties of fossilized dinosaur bones. I guess I can still be a "teacher." However, I am not certified to teach unless I get my Ph.D. and become a professor.

I guess what I am trying to get at is make smart choices along the way. You don't want to regret the choices you've made because with every choice, you are reducing the possibilities of your future. People tend to say that even though you are closing one door, another door will open. That tends to be true, but the new door that opens isn't always the door that you want to walk through. I am very happy with the choices that I've made. However, if I were to be unhappy with my choices, then where do I go? The doors to becoming an anthropologist and archeologist have been closed. The doors to becoming a polymer engineer have opened. So what if I don't want to become a polymer engineer? I can't become an anthropologist or an archeologist anymore unless I start over to get another bachelors degree. And thus, my point is made. Be careful with the choices that you make along the way because it will cost you time and effort to redo everything. Life is too short to regret choices and redoing them. Make mistakes, but make small ones, ones that don't require 4-5 years to fix.

I think the best training any parent can give their children is the ability to weigh their choices effectively and realizing the impact that a simple choice can make on their lives. One choice may grant you short term happiness, but another may grant you long term satisfaction. It is a matter of how you weigh your decisions. Once they've successfully proven to me that they can make beneficial choices for themselves, I will allow them to make their own choices in life and trust that I have taught them well. Micromanaging will only get you so far. You can't always be there to make choices for them and when you micromanage, they will rebel. They are the only ones who will know what makes them happy.

Autumn is here

Every year, right around October, I get this weird indescribable feeling. It's not a bad feeling. I actually like it. Something about the weather turning cold and the leaves changing colors just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It makes me want to sit by a fireplace with a cup of hot tea and some pumpkin pie.

Even though I complain about the cold, the rain, and the snow, I definitely will miss this feeling when I leave New England.

4 Star Hotels and Bird Nests, Part II

So the next day, we woke up early, at about 5:30 AM, and watched the sunrise from our 12th-floor hotel balcony.

View from our balcony (date and time stamp on pictures are wrong).

We headed downstairs for a fancy Vietnamese style breakfast buffet at around 6:30, and our tour bus came to pick us up at 7:30.

My breakfast consisted of KimChee porridge, French bread, noodle soup, and soy milk.

Sean had a similar breakfast with the addition of bacon.

After our fancy breakfast, the tour bus took us to the Institute of Oceanography of Nha Trang. There we got to see all kinds of sea life, dead and alive. They had some very interesting fish and some of the biggest sea turtles Sean and I have ever seen. After fooling around with the fish, we bought ourselves some touristy beach hats to protect our sensitive white skin from the blazing sun for 25 cents USD a piece and boarded a boat.


The boat took the tour to a 5-star resort called Diamond Bay on a private island. There we rented coconut huts and had the opportunity to try all kinds of water recreation. We rented a hut for $1.50 USD and shed our clothes. After some intense sunscreen rubbing, we were ready for business. By business I mean some kayaking! We rented it for an hour which cost us a meager $3.00 USD.

Fisherman Sean and his kayak.

We wore our hats because we thought it was going to be a blazing day but it turned out mild by the time we got to Diamond Bay. After an hour of kayaking and being fishermen, we decided we wanted something cooler. Sean upgraded to a jetski. It was by far the most expensive thing on the list since we got to Vietnam. A whopping 400,000 Uncle Ho's for 15 minutes. Approximately 20 Benjamins.

Mr. and Mrs. Fisherman

Sean drove that thing like a madman out there. It was a lot more fun than the fisherman kayak. Totally worth 20 big ones. When the 15 minutes was over, we decided to not drop any more of them Ho's, so we started to entertain ourselves by chasing little crabs in the sand. I caught a little guy that Sean named TiddlyWinks.

I let TiddlyWinks go after the blinding flash of the picture.
I hope it didn't actually blind him.

After all our playing, we had lunch at the resort. More fresh seafood and amazing dishes. We then said goodbye to Diamond Bay and boarded the bus to head back to our hotel. We had that afternoon free so Sean and I decided to seek out the famous local dish or bowl of Bun Sua (Jellyfish noodles). We were told by our tour guide that Bun Sua Ba Nam Beo (Mrs. Fifth Leopard's Jellyfish noodles) was a quality local joint so Sean and I hit it up for dinner. The name was interesting enough, but the food spoke for itself. The bowl was loaded with quality jellyfish and fish cake. Two bowls of Bun Sua and 2 iced teas came out to be 45,000 VND (or about $2.50 USD).

Enjoying some of Mrs. Fifth Leopard's quality jellyfish noodles.

After dinner, we headed to the local eateries near Tran Phu bridge. We had some Banh Khot at a street corner, saw some local action of old ladies in pajamas hanging out with their children and grandchildren seaside. While walking back to our hotel, we ran into a lady renting out tandem bikes but we passed her offer because it was getting late and we were tired. And so our second day in Nha Trang came to an end as we turned the AC on full blast in our room and got in bed.

4 Star Hotels and Bird Nests, Part I

I blogged about food in Nha Trang but I haven't said too much about our 4 day trip to this beautiful beach city. We originally booked an all inclusive tour with a 2-star hotel. This means that it came with a room at a 2-star hotel, 3 meals a day, and all transportation and attraction tickets, all for the small price tag of $150 USD for two people. However, after some debating, Sean and I thought we could afford to spend some more and stay at a 4-star hotel right across from the beach. So we called the travel agency and upgraded the day before we left. So our package price came to a total of...bum.bum.bum....$300 USD! It was an amazing deal for an all-inclusive four-day trip for two people.

It was a 12 hour bus ride from Saigon to Nha Trang but along the way we stopped several times to see the different attractions along the way. Our tour guide was full of interesting facts and stories. He was very knowledgeable in terms of history. He also kept the whole tour occupied with games and riddles about Vietnamese culture and history. He even had prizes for those who could answer them correctly. The bus ride felt like nothing at all. It was extremely comfortable with lots of legroom and AC.

Our first stop, which was about 1.5 hour outside of Saigon is a beautiful waterfall resort.

Waterfall near Dong Nai (Deerfield)

Our next stop was Ca Na Beach. But before we got there, we passed beautiful scenery of majestic mountains, green grass plains that reminds me of an African safari, amazing red sand dunes, fisherman villages all in a span of about 250 km. Vietnam's geography is amazing.

Some rice paddies with mountains in the background.
The lone trees remind me of an African Safari.

The boats of a fisherman village.

At Ca Na beach, we had lunch at a seaside restaurant. Our meal consisted of 6 or 7 dishes with fresh seafood. We had fresh scallops still on the shells, a hotpot with freshly caught fish, stir fried squid, and some other stuff that I can't quite remember at the moment.

The view of the street from the restaurant we ate at.

Ca Na Beach with its soft white sand and clear blue water.

By the time we got to Nha Trang, it was already 6:30 PM. Our bus stopped at SanNest restaurant for dinner. SanNest is one of Vietnam's famous bird nest distributors. I will elaborate on bird nest in the coming posts. After dinner, the tour bus dropped us off at our respective hotels so we could check in and get some rest. Sean and I were the only couple from the whole bus to stay at a 4-star hotel. We felt classy =D

Street Food, Part II

So we left Saigon for the beautiful beach city of Nha Trang for four days. More about that later. But leaving Saigon behind meant leaving the dusty sidewalks and also the Saigonese obsession with anything American behind. No California Pho joints here in Nha Trang. There were a whole bunch of touristy restaurants that provided table service and whatnot but nothing beats the cheap and simple street food. The second night we were in Nha Trang, we took a walk across the Tran Phu bridge and away from the touristy Nha Trang to the local joints. We ran into this cute little lady at a corner of a street making little rice cakes on the sidewalk called Banh Khot.

Notice the required uniform of sidewalk stalls-- the blocky pajamas.

I asked the lady for the price and she named a measly 10,000 VND per plate. That is the equivalent of 60 cents USD. Sean and I sat down at the small plastic table and chairs (yay!) and asked for two plates. The plates came with our little rice cakes and a bowl of Nuoc Mam for dipping. Each cake had a filling of one quail egg. They were cheap, simple, and delicious.

60 cents worth of street scoff in Vietnam.

Pho in Saigon California Style

Sounds odd right? Who in their right mind would go to Saigon to have Pho California style? Well, the answer is wealthy Saigonese. They seem to prefer anything and everything that has to do with America or any English-speaking country (including Australia and England). So when Sean and I mentioned that we wanted to have Pho in Vietnam, my cousin took us to a joint called Pho 24. Apparently this is the McDonalds of Pho in Vietnam (and mind you, there are plenty of McDonalds in Vietnam too). They have their so-called restaurants from north to south of Vietnam. It has nice and spotless fancy wooden tables and chairs with their staff decked in white uniforms and they actually have waiter service. The latter is quite uncommon in Vietnam. There's no such thing as a waiter service unless you're at a 5-star restaurant. Well, this place claim to make your Pho experience the same as you would if you were in one of the many Pho joints in California. And it was true. To me it was somewhat disappointing. I traveled half way across the globe just to have the exact same experience that I could have had at home for much less than the $890 I paid for my plane ticket. The Pho cost twice as much as it would have it we had gone to a local Pho joint and it tasted half as good. WHY WHY WHY? My cousin just assumed that we wouldn't have enjoyed the simple plastic tables and chairs with the little lady in her ubiquitous pajamas slamming the bowls on our table. WRONG WRONG WRONG. Next time I'm traveling this far, I'm going to have my fill of cranky Vietnamese ladies slapping bowls of Pho on my table. None of this polite rubbish with the bill being brought to my table and refilling of my drinks.

39,000 VND for this baby when we can get it for 15,000 VND at most
at a local joint with twice the flavor.