JarJar Nixon's Blues Kitchen

Going down to CanTho for a few days to see an active learning program between Michigan State University and CanTho University.

As were packing this morning, my wife asked me,"Is it going to be hot?" Not compared to hanging around in southern Thailand! I am totally heat-prepared for anything in Vietnam now.

Hey, check out Ed's remarks in the posting about Hunter Thompson a few days ago. That really happened to him. He has the videotape to prove it, though I've never seen it...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/21/books/21hunter.html?hp

The NY Times article above summarizes the former Presidents' first leg of their journey to tsunami-affected countries.

The Thai government has worked very hard to rebuild destroyed villages, and those hotels that were not completely destroyed are on their way back to health. Tourists are almost nowhere to be seen, though; in the hotel where I stayed, my guess is that less than one of ten rooms had occupants.

The oddest thing was seeing very large fishing boats resting a kilometer or more away from the beach; the tidal wave had literally picked them up and flung them in unlikely places like behind a building or a ravine. Seeing that I realized how it was absolutely impossible to outrun or survive the waves.

I also went to the victim identification center where the Wall of Remembrance is located. Right now it is fashione dout of wood and lists every country that had victims from the disaster. I met the director of the victim ID operation, a man who worked for a company based in Houston that has provided victim idenfitication services all over the world--at places such as 9/11's Ground Zero and in the Middle East.

The heat was intense, much thicker and headache-provoking than in Vietnam. Amazingly, some of the Thai authorities were wearing black-jackets over long-sleeve shirts and not even breaking a sweat.

While the first two stories have been confirmed, a third story floating around has all the markings of myth:

A taxi driver in southern Thailand recently picked up two foreign guests asking to go be taken into town. They looked frightened and did not speak in the car. When the driver got out for a quick drink at the 7-11, he told the clerk he had to hurry because he had a fare waiting for him in the car. The clerk said, "What passengers?" The cab was empty. Obviously they were the wandering spiris of two tsunami victims.

My Thai friends said that many Thai and folks form neighboring countries have not come to tsunami-affected areas for vacation because they do not want a similar encounter with the lost souls of December 26.

At one of the five-star hotels along the beach in Phuket, Thailand, a 9-year old Japanese girl suddenly saw the water recede early on December 26. She was jolted by the memory of what her teacher had told her a few days earlier: a sure sign of a giant tidal wave is when the water seems to disappear to the horizon. She screamed and alerted the other hotel guests on the beach, and they ran to safety. Most of the hotel guests were safe.

Closeby at the Sofitel, over half of the workers and guests were caught unawares by the tsunami and drowned instantly.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/21/books/21hunter.html?hp

Got back from Phuket, Thailand last night. You probably saw on CNN et. al. about the visit of the former Presidents to stress the need for ongoing disaster relief.
Have a few stories to tell. Here's the first:

There are a group of non-ethnic Thai people called the Sea Gypsies who have along the coast for centuries. They have a folk tale that says when the water suddenly recedes they must quickly escape inland. That is exactly what happened on the mornng of December 26, and they all fled to safety except for one handicapped man whom they could not get out quickly enough.

On the other hand, many other local villagers took the receding water as a blessing...they saw the thousands of fish flapping in the sand and ran to scoop them up...only to be overwhelemd by the tsunami.

More later...

In Bangkok for a conference. I always go through reverse culture shock coming from Vietnam to Thailand. My hotel room had ice already in the bucket when I walked in and the latest Asian Wall Street Journal on the coffee table. The building itself is twice as tall as any building in Vietnam. Going to dinner, though, I spent a half hour sitting in the taxi waiting for a left turn. Absolutely immobile traffic. A stomach-churning vision of the future which HCMC's city planners should keep firmly in mind.....to avoid.

Tet in Saigon has really changed over the past four years that we have been here. From fairly quiet, somber new year days of 2001 to robustly crowded streets downtown, the clubs are packed at night and people are hanging out at any open restaurant during the day. The city used to be buttoned up for the first three days of the new year, but nowadays it just doesn't seem realistic for a cafe owner to miss out on a LOT of business.

Just got back from a concert with Cam Van, Khac Trieu, Hong Ngoc and Dam Vinh Hung. Hong Ngoc has definitely been watching the LA hip-hop scene; her moves and clothes have been very smartly updated. Cam Van and Khac Trieu still belt out the classics with lots of vigor, and DVH seems perched on the verge of regional stardom.

While flipping through my wife's e-commerce textbook I came across a curious word:

BITABLE

Thought at first it had to do with bagels or cream cheese, but turns out it means to what extent a product or servicable can be transacted across a digital platform. For example, it is easy to bank or trade stocks across a computer network. You can even trade almonds and cashews (and Vietnam opened its first nut exchange a couple of years ago). But how about a car or motorcycle? Can you really buy a vehicle--the second-biggest purchase of your life--using just the Internet? Americans have learned that it is nearly possible. For example, we purchased our sporty red Ford Mustang a few years ago using www.AutoByTel.com; after we entered all the information fo rour desired car we were sent to the nearest dealer, who had the exact car at a price under the invoice amount.

So, will motorcycle one day become bitable here in Vietnam? What other products or services?

Spent five days in DaNang, Hoi An and Hue. In Hoi An we just finished supporting the restoration of the Hy Hoa Temple. For a very modest amount of money the city of Hoi An was able to bring back to life a traditional temple and build goodwill between VN and the US.

DaNang is definitely a city on the move and even in Hue the streets are abuzz with motorcycles nowadays. These two cities and CanTho will really take off in the next few years.

I brought my iPod along and listened to a lot of Hong Nhung, U2 (hey, I have the U2 special edition iPod), Yo La Tengo and NRBQ.