I had 5,000,000 dong in my wallet (roughly equivalent to about $200US) – I was a millionaire in Vietnam.  I already loved it but then I learned two things about Vietnam that will forever keep this country in my heart… in this place, sugar and coffee are kings. Find one of the many street vendors and have them whip up an iced, milk coffee (strong coffee with sweetened condensed milk and chilled on ice) or a freshly squeezed orange juice loaded with scoopfuls of sugar for about $1US.  Or just walk around any street and you will find some funky,…

I glance over to see the serene gaze, the praying silence, and I am smitten with my new Buddha.  He still needs to be cleaned up quite a bit, but with this quiet divinity next to my lovely cabinet, I can’t help but smile.  Looking at him, it’s hard to imagine that he will be packed off and shipped to wherever my new home will be in six months time.  Right now, that can’t come soon enough. Thank you to everyone for the thoughtful emails and comments.  Simply put, it warmed my heart to no end.  Like I told my…

Today is a particularly difficult day.  I want to go home today.  Like, California, mom’s hug, all the Christmas trimmings.  Right now, I miss it immeasurably.  

We knew that we were being laughed at. Jen and I were walking through the Zhu Hai ferry station with our bags full of Chinese goodies on the way home after a productive day of shopping. Jen’s ‘spidey sense’ was on fire as she led us to a new area where we discovered Dude #1’s shop.  Essentially, Dude is any Chinese vendor who sells us great things. He’s Dude #1 because so far, he has sold us the best stuff without the Western price tag. I have heard that many Chinese people in the countryside throw out what is now considered…

Jen and I did a ‘burn and turn’ this afternoon to Hong Kong – we left on the 4:30pm ferry right after work, shopped (purchased the cutest trouser jeans), and then returned on the 8:20pm ferry.  So on the way there, as we chit chatted away, this random guy approached us. The first I noticed was that he stunk.  And by that I mean he had really bad breath.  He then incoherently spoke to Jen in Chinese about going to Taiwan and needing $5,000 US dollars… we couldn’t really tell.  We both informed him that we weren’t interested, but then…