Back from Thailand and Vietnam

If you have been wondering if I have abandoned my blog, then wonder no more. I just got back from a 3 1/2 week vacation-honeymoon.  My trip included New York (for the WITNESS Gala and Hub launch) Bangkok (visit friends, family and catch up on what’s been happening in Thailand) and finally Vietnam for a 9 day honeymoon.

Why Vietnam? I remember when I went to Cambodia nearly 12 years ago. I was struck by the feeling that I had traveled back in time  to a place that somehow isolated from all the progress and development that was going on all around SE Asia. It was close to Thailand and yet not Thailand. It was a quieter, calmer place where people hung out, nature seemed untamed, the artists seemed more spiritual and somehow closer to god. It had something that Thailand had lost along the way. Vietnam had always struck me as a beautiful place full of contradictions. I wanted to see it before it was spoiled. Hopefully I wasn’t too late.

Over the next few days I will try to  document the various aspects of the trip. (There’s simply too much to try to get down in one go)

Planning the trip I armed myself with a copy of Frommer’s, emailed a bunch of people who had been there and scoured the web looking at blogs, websites and of course the de facto Trip Advisor.

Here’s a list of resources I found useful:

http://www.asiarooms.com (Forget orbitz, expedia, etc. if you are looking for something other than the big chains use this site)

Trip Advisor: Their travel forums were extremely useful. The information is much more up to date than any print travel guide. Its always a good idea to check here before making any bookings.

Real Travel: Another great place to read  travel blogs (click on Vietnam then trips)

Some blogs about traveling in Vietnam:  Inaction Hero, No Star Where, Wondering Word

The Importance of a Second Language

Having spent my school years in international schools I seem to take it for granted that everyone speaks more than one language. In fact I was always slightly ashamed that I only know two languages well and can just about get by in Spanish and French. (What i call cut and paste knowledge) Today as I am doing just that, cutting and pasting French and Spanish translations onto web pages, I realize that meager though my knowledge may be, I can always look at the text and guess what each word means. When I took French and Spanish I had no dreams of ever living in countries where I would need to converse in either, but throughout my working life, these skills have come in handy more times than I can count. More than just the obvious ways that knowing a second or third language comes in handy, I believe that it changes the way you think and adapt to cultures and the people in your life.

Cartoon taken from Borg Blog

LA County Fair: My First American ‘County Fair’

This weekend we went to the LA County Fair. I have never been to a county fair before and there’s no better time to start than the present to get a taste of Americana. My first experience was the 2 mile trek from ‘general parking.’ Getting out from the car, all you could see was an endless desert of concrete and cars. It was so far away I couldn’t even catch a glimpse of the Ferris wheel. However, if you keep your eyes peeled you will see the trolley stops. Have the patience to stand in line and you will be rewarded with a ride to the entrance. If you want to splurge (I imagine that you were trying to save money by NOT choosing ‘prefered parking’) then you can get a pedicab.

Once you pass the gates, you are bombarded with music, sounds, bright colors and lights. Its the usual fair stuff. Swings, ferris wheels and different games designed to take your money away from you. OK I understand the rides being painfully expensive. But I don’t understand why I would pay a fortune so they can win a small (or even big) ugly stuffed toy that they would never consider buying anywhere else? Is it the pride and joy of being able to give this prize to a beloved? Is it that a souvenir won is more meaningful than a souvenir bought? (nevertheless, I did get to take home a small funny looking stuffed dog)

The best part of the fair is the farm animals area. In this day and age, we hardly know where our food comes from.

Los Angeles Central Library – Worth a visit

chandeliers in tom bradley wing
Originally uploaded by jimw.

As it turns out, I had 5 hours to kill while waiting for my Canadian visa approval. I decided to visit the LA Central Library … if nothing else it provides me with a place to sit, browse some books, plug-in my laptop and get some work done. I was in for a very pleasant surprise.

Working in the web industry, I have not physically visited a library since my school days (when you HAD to) or even thought of going to the library. As it turns out, the library is a great showcase of architecture, local art and has this tremendous sense of place and history that I didn’t know I missed. There is something sacred about walking into a place with so much history, symbolism and scale that simply cannot be compared to sitting in your underwear browsing wikipedia.