Larry's Travel Journals Chapter 6.............."Good Morning Vietnam!"

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Chapter 6..........“Good Morning Vietnam!!!!"

 

9:00pm Thursday Nov 4- Pacific (2010)

 

So here we go. Forty years after joining the National Guard so as to not have to go to Vietnam I am on the way to Southeast Asia. Vietnam for 7 days; Malaysia for three and then Singapore for three.

 

I am currently enroute on Singapore Airlines. The plane is a specially converted Airbus that has 100 business class seats. It has about 70 people on it, at least 8 pilots and co-pilots and probably 15 flight crew. This is the longest non-stop flight you can take- 18 hours from LAX to Singapore. The actual flight time tonight is a mere 16h40m. That just means that I have less time to sleep and more time to hang around in Singapore waiting for my connection to Vietnam.

 

Very strange to lift off at 9:00pm Pacific and head due west into the night sky over the ocean. It’s dark out there and since we are chasing the night in Asia it will stay dark for the entire journey.

 

Some of my fellow travelers have done this trip more than once. They have their routines set. I have come armed with my Kindle, my DVDs, newspapers, work to do, etc.

 

14 hours in and just had the best dim sum for breakfast. Better than Yank Sing in SF. The other food was unspectacular but the staff is wonderful.

 

The computer screen at my seat shows what we in the states never think about- Southeast Asia is literally on the equator. It’s going to be hot and humid and rainy since the rainy season starts on Nov1.

 

By the way, the purpose of the trip is to “on-board” our new partner in Vietnam and then to visit the new location of our other new partner in Malaysia. The few days in Singapore are to meet a “legacy” partner (e.g. they have owned the business for a few years). I’m looking forward to going to the US Embassy in Ho Chi Minh City (e.g. Saigon) where I have been invited to lunch by the US Commercial Services group. Every country has this function. They help US companies to export their business products and services within the country. I happened to meet the head of the office when he was visiting Phoenix. I’ll probably do a courtesy call in Kuala Lumpur as well.

 

The airport in Singapore is likely the world’s best airport and it has been 10 years since I have been there so I am eager to browse it and to experience the crossroads of Asia. I expect it to be the same as Heathrow; another “Star Wars” bar scene.

 

 

Chapter II: Saturday- From Changi airport to HCMC

 

4:30am Saturday arrival in Singapore’s Changi airport. Desolate- but of course the Singapore Air club is open 24/7 and it is fabulous.

 

It is amazing how you acclimate yourself to using up a 51/2 hours layover. Having internet access is a wonder and a miracle. Changi airport is like Rodeo Drive. All the best brands. Changi is not the Star Wars bar scene. There are so many Aussies and Kiwis and Canadians and USA businessmen that it has a rather familiar feel.

 

But then the culture shock hit when I arrived at the gate for departure to HCMC. Hey, all these people look like my nephew’s wife’s family. They are all Vietnamese; they’re short, they speak a language I don’t recognize and I am the outlier.

 

Funny how I hadn’t focused on this in the planning of this trip but it struck me that we lost 50,000 soldiers in what they call, “The American War”. I must admit to feeling a bit creepy and thinking that the relatively close time proximity must make it feel like visiting Japan or Germany in the post-war years.

 

After clearing customs and exiting the airport I went in search of my new partner- who I have never met, having done this deal on Skype only. If only there was a red carpet and photographers popping flash bulbs it would have been the scene I exited to. Hundreds of people with greeting signs, expectant family members awaiting the return of a loved one and then the American wearing the sunglasses walks out. Jeez, hundreds of eyes on me. Nothing threatening or anything; just lots of people staring at you as you walk through a sea of humanity. I smiled and nodded as I made eye contact.

 

The hotel is lovely. Most important, the A/C works!!

 

My partner is a serial entrepreneur who is a bigger workaholic than me. He is literally on Skype 24/7 and had come from his office to get me.  The biggest apprehension I have for this trip is that any Chinese influenced culture (e.g. Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore) loves their work and never stops working. So when he said he would meet me tonight for “bar” at 8:00pm I started thinking that this will mean being in meetings till Sunday morning. He was gracious enough to invite me to his home for dinner tomorrow with his family. This is quite an honor and I am looking forward to it. I am not expecting a pastrami on rye or matzoh ball soup.

 

 

Chapter III: Ella

 

Ok, forget the “Star Wars Bar” metaphor; we now have the John Le Carre spy novel metaphor.

 

Mr. Chanh took us to the Saigon Saigon bar at the hotel Caravelle in downtown Saigon. It was hard to see too much since the street lights are not exactly run at Times Square levels of lums but we were in the heart of the city and surrounded by the beautiful hotels and shops. These evenings are always hard for me because I don’t like to drink and inevitably my colleagues always end up ordering alcohol and then beer and more beer. I just end up sitting there all night nursing a single drink. I’m not much fun.

 

But, over drinks we were chatting and discovered that the trainer who is here with me (from North Carolina) and who I had never met before working remotely on this project with him is only 24 years old. 24 years old?! I have a pair of shoes I bought in Rome that are older than that to say nothing of having two kids older than that.

 

Meanwhile the place is filling up with these good looking Vietnamese couples, anglo couples, mixed couples and a small gaggle of hookers. How do I know they were hookers? Mr. Chanh told me so. So of course I’m thinking that the place is filled with people with all sorts of stories to tell and envisioning Saigon circa 1955 with all the intrigue and suspense of a Le Carre novel or even the adaptation of his novel into a great movie called “The Quiet American” with Brandon Fraser.

 

A band appears, they are anglo. They begin to play and wham; they are soaring. I think it is music I’ve heard in Upper Manhattan, or maybe it’s Brazilian. No, it’s Cuban! The whole band sways in unison and transfixes the audience with their beat and their energy. Oh yeah, the lead singer was, how should we say, incredible…… in every way. Put it this way, I am in need of my chiropractor just remembering what moves this young lady was using while performing. I didn’t know that the upper and lower body can actually move in opposite directions while simultaneously moving left to right and front to back.

 

I found a picture of the band on-line

 

 

 

They played one set, then two and Mr. Chanh decided to introduce Chad (the trainer) to the lead singer since he is a puppy of 24 and in town for a week. Using chutzpah I would never have, Mr. Chanh waits for the band’s next break and goes to find the lead singer. He returns with her and she joins us for her break.  Ella has been in Vietnam for four months. Her English wasn’t great but she was very nice and we had this classic Saigon gathering of three cultures and languages. What fun! I was thinking of the old Lucille Ball skit when she has a car accident in France and a chain of people need to translate one language to the next in order to manage the situation. Chad has never been outside the US before this trip but if the trip ended right now he would be the happiest guy on the return flight.

 

Yup, this will be up there with my Tango experience in Argentina but that’s another story.

 

Chapter IV: Sunday/Monday in HCMC

 

What is that Wavy Gravy said at Woodstock? “We must be in heaven man!” Oh yeah, well what if I told you that the Miss Earth pageant is being held in Vietnam this year and guess which hotel they are staying at? Yup. Mine. I have no idea what the Miss Earth contest is but all I know is that Sunday morning 100 beautiful women arrived in the lobby as we were going out for a walk. Each was wearing their sash announcing their country. We quickly found Miss USA who is at least 8 feet tall and we had a nice visit with her. I took pictures of her with Chad who was still beaming from meeting Ella the night before. I’m telling you, this guy has had a great trip already and it has barely begun.

 

Mr. Chanh arranged for a guided tour of HCMC this afternoon. The highlight of the tour happened as we were departing the Presidential Palace (aka, the “Reunification Palace”). Put it this way, it ain’t Fountainbleu or Windsor Castle.

 

Anyway, as we were leaving the building and heading to the bus the skies opened up and we were caught in the biggest downpour I’ve ever seen. Drenched to the bone pretty much sums it up.

 

I have this singular image of the rest of the tour; flooded city streets. Hey, it’s just a city of 9 million people. Why should they have sewers?

 

In an instant, the thousands and thousands of motorbikers donned their rain slickers and continued on their way through knee-deep flooded intersections. That was effectively the end of the tour as no one would leave the bus.

 

It’s now Monday night and I’ve just returned from dinner with 50 of the most beautiful women in the world (ok, not really “with” but rather “nearby”). If Miss USA is “8 feet” tall than certainly Miss Puerto Rico is 9 feet tall and Miss Botswana is at least 13 feet tall. And they all wear high heels- just in case anyone thinks they are not tall enough. Miss Singapore at least is a real 5’8” or so; actually refreshing in an ocean of oak trees.

 

Chapter V: There is work to be done

 

As I write it is Thursday afternoon. We have been going from the hotel to the office and back again for four days. Our partners have a multi-story office complex in which they will have five classrooms and administrative offices. They already have about a dozen staff who are busy staring at computer screens. Doing what? I haven’t the faintest idea since they won’t open for another three months. They have a kitchen staff and two secretaries who dutifully bow when I enter and hold the door for me when I go in/out.

 

I have yet to have a Vietnamese meal. Today they brought in Pizza Hut. Yesterday we had our meeting with the consul office and they took us to Hard Rock Café. There is Coca-Cola everywhere. I don’t know what I fear more, eating Pizza Hut or spicy Pho.

 

I will send photos separately but like everywhere else in Asia the traffic is outrageous. In Beijing it is bicycles, in India it is taxis and here it is Motor Bikes or scooters. Not Motorcycles. The streets are absolutely clogged with motorbikes. I’ve seen four accidents in four days. Imagine what the accident statistics must be for the country.

 

There are two families who bought our business license. Each family has BMWs and other luxury cars. Quite unusual. They don’t drive, they have drivers. By the way, the motorbikes don’t actually stay in a lane or even go in the proper direction. They do observe traffic lights so at rush hour it is quite a scene to see about a thousand motorbikes at a major intersection waiting as if it was the Indy 500 to take off.

 

Four o’clock it rains. Like clockwork. For one hour it pours and then it tapers off. Leaving the air delightfully wet and not cool.

 

Chapter VI: Winding Down

 

As I write it is Friday afternoon but I must go back to Thursday evening. Mr. and Mrs. Chanh invited us to their home. They live in a 30 story condo that could have been built by Trump. Completely incongruous to the surroundings. Guards and layers of security. A lobby that awes you on entry.

 

We then went to dinner on this lagoon that has private lanai’s where you sit above the water and enjoy the beautiful scenery of new Saigon. My pictures are terrible and don’t convey what a lovely setting it is. Like a Hollywood scene we had a huge downpour that hit the water with great big clumps.

 

Needless to say, we had a great meal.

 

I would have to rank this meal, which cost all of $50 for six people, as one of my top 10 meals in my travel history right alongside my experience in Beijing’s Bahai Park where we had a meal from the last emperor’s recipes and the waitstaff wore clothing from that era.

 

And now comes Friday……………………

 

It’s probably inherent to all Asians but like the Japanese, the Vietnamese are picture and certificate crazy. Mr. Chanh advised me on arrival that today would be picture day and I should wear my suit since they are quite formal.

 

Well, that would be fine except the thing that neither Chad or I brought was a suit. Heck, Chad has worn shorts and flip-flops each day. No problem. We will buy you a suit says Mr. Dung. Now I am caught between a sense of guilt for not bringing a suit and causing them to spend money for nothing. But I am more aghast at the fact that no suit in Vietnam will ever fit me; to say nothing of my impending embarrassment at wearing a suit that I wouldn’t want to be buried in that will appear in all their web site advertising and even on billboards throughout Vietnam.

 

I have a branded shirt I plead but they insist. They want a picture of Mr. President in a suit.

 

Swallowing my pride we head off to a tailor who takes one look at Chad (a good-sized country boy) and me (a more than overweight American) and the look on his face suggests that he is saying to himself, “where is Omar the tent-maker?, there isn’t enough wool in the country to make a suit for these guys- in 1 hour!)

 

Turns out we are in a tuxedo rental shop. They put a suit on Chad and it fits! And he likes it! Oy vey I think. I am about to have a coronary.

 

The moment of truth arrives and they put a suit on me. Yes! I am too big and the suit is too small. Victory is mine.

 

So we go back to the office and the company photographer is there and the four partners are dressed for a bar mitzvah. What will they do about Mr. President?

 

If you ever go on the Vietnamese website for our company I will be the “tall” guy in the collared sports shirt, secretly happy that I am the clothing outlier.

 

An hour later we have taken hundreds of photos and then they march out their staff in their company uniforms for pictures with the visiting dignitaries.

 

We then went off to have lunch with all the staff where I made some speeches and we had a great time talking with the young staff about their impressions of America. I asked what they think of when they think of America and one lovely young lady said, “Power”, another said, “Movies”.

 

I must say, lest you conclude otherwise, that our hosts are lovely people and they have been incredibly hospitable. It has been a pleasure to be with them this week. I have no idea how to reciprocate when they come to LA in January.

 

Tonight we will go to dinner at a restaurant owned by one of the families and then Mr. Chanh has offered to take us to another “bar”.  I’m pretty sure he wants to provide us with some of the pleasures of Vietnam- which I have politely and diplomatically declined.

 

Chapter VII: 1,000 Ways to Die

 

It is Friday afternoon and my journey almost came to an end this afternoon. I don’t mean my journey to Asia I mean my life journey.

 

If it didn’t take up so much space I would insert a photo here that I took of the staircase in the office. The short story is that I tripped on the staircase while holding my briefcase and a backpack. Not so bad except that if I hadn’t caught my balance I would have fallen forward through a plate glass window. Wouldn’t have killed me you say? Well behind that plate glass window was a four-story drop! That would have killed me. Reason to Die # 649: Sai-Gone!

 

Chapter VIII: Welcome to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

 

Scenes from a Day-in-the-Life of a world traveler:

 

The enormous Boeing 777 is 100% capacity from HCMC to Singapore. My seatmate is coughing the entire flight.

My new seatmate from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur is coughing the entire flight. I am certain that I am doomed to a hacking cough in my future.

Arrive in KL to discover that my luggage never left HCMC and will arrive sometime tonight.

Yen and her brother Shau (more later) greet me and we head to the car park to discover that they left the key to unlock the steering wheel at home (don’t ask how that happened; it’s a sit-com skit in real life)

The distance between KL airport and KL is sort of like the distance of Tucson to Phoenix. We take a taxi to get their other car.

Oy vey.

 

Did you know that Malaysia, a country of 25 million is 70% Muslim? I knew it had lots of Muslims but I did not know it was 70%. Yikes!

My hotel (which I booked from a selection of recommended options) turns out to be a cross between The Luxor and Dubai. Huge glittering lights, a theme park, a giant lion in the front. Ladies in full-on burkas; ladies in full-on burkas and oh yeah, ladies in full-on burkas.

Room service!!

 

Chapter IX: Sunday in Kuala Lumpur (KL)

 

I came to KL with almost no expectations and my expectations were wildly surpassed. This is a modern and vibrant city. And let me quickly add, a city with great food.

 

Yen and her brother Shau own a Mail Boxes Etc and a DHL franchise and are now the country owners for our brand. Very nice, very smart and very entrepreneurial. They took me on a day-long tour of the city to show me how it is growing. My jaw is still dropped from the massive amounts of new construction and gleaming new office towers and condos. They have built new suburbs where there was only jungle a few short years ago.

 

We went to a massive shopping mall that Yen described as “an indoor Rodeo Drive”. She was right.

 

Every American brand is here. From Subway to Tony Roma’s to the Gap. If you want to understand globalization and the role of the U.S. in the 21^st century (and if you want to get a deep appreciation for the work of Thomas Freidman in the NY Times) come to KL. In some regards it is like being in Los Angeles. I had to ask myself whether this was a good thing. I came to conclude that this is what America is in the 21^st century, an exporter of ideas; a vehicle to improve the quality of people’s lives by meeting their needs with a wide array of goods and services. Where do those ideas originate? They come from our unique concept of liberty and freedom. No, it is not economic imperialism; we have not invaded KL, it is their choice to want our “stuff”.

 

Coincidentally I am reading Churchill’s “The Gathering Storm” in which he discusses the events and decisions that led to WWII and the breakdown of “peace”. Other than the absence of war he never describes what the intelligentsia defined as peace. Everyone wanted to create a world with “peace”. I am thinking, what the heck were the conditions that were needed to make a world that had peace?

It seems to me that in our world that the days of going to war over natural resources and land grabbing are over. The battleground today is the mind. The world is evolving towards one of three visions with very different outcomes; a social democratic nanny-state model like Europe, a pure capitalist model as practiced in the US, or sharia-based totalitarianism. These visions are all on display here in Malaysia and while it appears to be working, for the US this battle is not settled and perhaps will never be permanently resolved.

 

When I travel, it is moments like this that make me anticipate my return and hearing the US customs agent say “Welcome home” as he stamps my passport. I swear- it’s a great moment.

 

Chapter X: Singapore

 

Aah, Singapore.

 

The jewel of the equator.

 

Shopping centers, condos, first-rate hotels, estates that make Beverly Hills look like a middle class community. Arriving after 10 days in Vietnam and Malaysia (which is not a 3^rd world country) is a stark reminder that the trip is coming to a close and that the epicenter of the first world beckons. But what is so great about Singapore is the convergence of all the people of Asia. Four million Asian people plus 1 million expats. The Ion shopping center, like the one in KL, is all luxury brands.

 

Some of us remember Singapore for the caning of an American tourist for spitting chewing gum on the ground. I’m not sure if that would happen again today but it is not a place that one is concerned about personal safety. My hosts took me out last evening to the Botanical Gardens. We walked through the beautifully maintained grounds and passed dog walkers and joggers who displayed no concern for personal safety.

 

The number of modern, gleaming condos makes Singapore a haven for other Asian citizens to invest there in second homes. Real estate values have not declined as they have back home. A luxury condo of less than 1,000 sq ft is not less than $1MM. Some of the estates I saw were in the $30MM range.

 

All but some of the expats from Japan speak English and everyday business is transacted in English.

 

One of the things I have enjoyed this trip is the moment of awareness when you encounter a non-westerner. Whether it was a Muslim, a waiter or someone on the elevator there is that moment they are taken aback. I found that a smile was disarming and led to a smile in return. Just my way of adding a little kindness in the world.

 

Mr. Chanh was actually in Singapore on Tuesday on other business so he joined us for dinner. Actually, that was great. Our partners in Singapore are from India so dinner was a mélange of cultures. We had a great conversation about the rise of Asia, the debt crisis, and the future of mankind going out 50 years. They were keen to know my thoughts on President Obama, the election of 2012 and the current political situation. Suffice to say I displayed American candor and freedom of speech to speak my mind but I will spare you by not commenting further.

 

Anyway, after dinner Mr. Chanh and I stopped for a nightcap and to listen to some music. I walked with him to the taxi stand and waited with him for a cab in the queue. As he said good night and was about to enter the cab he turned and hugged me. It was such a sweet moment that the Japanese lady on line behind us smiled at the sight of the Vietnamese and Americans being so friendly. Very much a Kodak moment.

 

I do count myself as extremely fortunate to have made such good friends around the world. I never forget that my world was no bigger than my neighborhood in Brooklyn when I was a kid. Travel has not made me a “citizen of the world”, it has given me a perspective on why we are so lucky to be living in the US. I wish everyone was as blessed as I have been to see so much of the world and to be sensitized to the many cultural differences.

 

And now if you’ll excuse me, I will enjoy the pleasures of my Singapore Airlines experience which will include popping in “The Godfather Part II” and then “Heat” once I complete watching and listening to “The Wall”. I bid you adieu.