I had completed this giddy post on Thursday while in Hanoi but lo and behold, it disappeared into Internet-wasteland….

Oh here I am on Saturday. It’s 4:50pm and well it’s been a great day

THANKFUL for recent activities:
–trip to Hanoi, successful meeting and stayed in great Nha Tho Hotel and went shopping!!!
–buffet lunch at the Sheraton and a lil nap (yummy Caesar salad!)
–visiting the Sunset Bar at the Intercontinental
–watching Jobros on TV (new episode too!)
–email and easy communication with intl friends
–coming home to a really clean room (looks better when I don’t live there!)
–fun activities in the city (dance recital tonite!)
–friendly encounters with ppl
–clean and cooling rain (in HN and Sgn)
–cleaning out fridge and making bread pudding
–picking out outfits to wear!

My mom is so cute cuz she calls just to chat. So I often start my days with that….Freelancing has been way too good to me!

Ok lots of tasks to complete so gotta go but miss ua nd ttys!
cn

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This has been one of my fave hobbies for the past six months. Usually it’s oldie songs but once in awhile, it’s a hip Shania ditty….in any case, I kinda love it and it’s the only time I can wear boots in Saigon!

This is a song we dance to that has a shimmy, shimmy moment…I wouldn’t even call this country line dancing cuz we also do mambos, salsa etc….all I know is that tis da BOMB!

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That’s what we all should be: a bundle of joy Pourquoi? Parce que la vie est belle, n’est-ce pas?

I think life is more than beautiful: it’s a gift to be cherished at all times. It’s April 2010 now….things go by so quickly that without a half an hour here and there during which I can sit and reflect (or rather swing in my hammock like today!), my brain and life would be a blur. I also want to take time to remember what I’m doing at each moment: so as of now, I’m watching backtracks on Channel V which is ultimately better than MTV Asia so I’m not so sad that they switched the channels sometime last year. Goodbye “The Hills” and hello music videos! In the past few minutes, I’ve seen “Yellow” by Coldplay, old Lighthouse and now it’s Switchfoot….good stuff so far

I just ate dinner and let me tell you, homemade yogurt can’t be beat! I think I’ll be making it for the rest of my life and seriously, I love it savory in dips like my delish salad dressing of tonight. I also made beef stroganoff, VN style…they said nutmeg and something else, I used cinnamon and oregano…it all works And yogurt was used instead of sour cream.

This weekend was jam-packed and gorgeous: rockclimbing, a Saigon boat cruise dinner with my neighbours, cruising on the best motorbike out there (Airblade, I love u!), donuts (I haven’t eaten any for THREE years!), a LUSH shower and intro’ing a friend to my fave product….twas just great as most days are in this life.

my neighbours: so cute couple!

Lately, I’ve been living out my dreams I think: I was finally able to cruise to Cam Ranh Bay from Nha Trang along the coastal, mountainous road and I’ve been wanting to do this for a couple years (this is all near my gram’s house) but I never had anyone to go with…until now! I’m also working on a couple writing/editing projects for two local non-profit orgs in town and I feel really confident doing this work. I guess after living here for almost four years, I finally know what I’m doing…sorta! It’s nice to be working and feeling like it’s exactly what I should be doing. Oh yea! As I’m going to be leaving in the summer, I realize that VN has been quite good to me and that I’m gonna miss a lot of things after this VN voyage is over.

SO REST ASSURED, I’LL BE BACK!

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Man, it’s 6:21 am in Ho Chi Minh City and though at least hmmm 60 million locals are probably up and about, this is rare for me….the last time I was up at this hour was….oops, it was Lunar New Year for the past few weeks… so let me rephrase that, the last time I was up at 6am in my NORMAL life in Vietnam was so long ago that I can’t even remember! I’m saying it was at least a year ago…I have to say that I don’t miss those 6am flights to Danang or Phu Quoc at all

So why am I up anyway? I’m not an early riser. Well, truth be told, I’ve been up since 3:30 and I went to bed at 1am. What’s the deal, crazy lady? That’s what I said at about 3 after tossing and turning for awhile.

Again, this rarely happens to me. I usually snooze like a log and delay my alarm for an hour each morning. I can sleep to 11 without feeling guilty but when I sleep til 3PM, I’ve got issues! But once I’m in this state, I gotta get up cuz there’s no more use in pretending that I’ll be sleeping anymore.

(EXCUSE ME FOR NOT POSTING PICS: I AM CAMERA-LESS CIRCA JANUARY 2009.)

So what to do? Well, I’ve been listening to Alicia Keys, just this one song, for about 3.5 hours. Can you see that I can obsess easily about things?

So tonight, I’m gonna find a way to make it…
–without sleeping
–without complaining (failed already! Oops!)
–without bothering too many friends on Skype and text and intl phone calls (I think I’ve contacted almost 10 ppl in the past 3hrs.)

The only reason I can think of for being awake at this hour for me is: EXCITEMENT!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
March seems to be the month for me for all my life in Vietnam.
2007: Ended internship at the University of Danang and got hired by EMW
2008: Started documentary film project for East Meets West Foundation (life-changing and breath-taking experience)
2009: Completed my full-time contact at EMW and entered the world of work instability and freelance (and sleeping to noon )
2010: Have new development projects looming (school and house construction!) and suddenly the mind is on fire!

It’s so interesting but in my life, when it rains, it definitely pours! So it seems like it’s goodbye chill time and hello multi-tasking. I just have to make an effort to not be a workaholic this time So on this sleepless night, I have thought about and actually started three new projects! And have reconnected with numerous ppl who I kinda neglected during my grad school application process.

Kiss kiss to all!

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Hey pals,

After months of neglect and trying to keep up with emails and lives of faraway friends, I have decided to start writing again.

I don’t have my camera this year as I left it in Canada on my last trip home but I do have friends who take snaps for me.

Anyway, a recap is going to take too long so for now, here’s some pics of a recent visit to an elderly home where we celebrated the lunar new year.

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Well, in the past couple of months, I’ve been blessed with time to relax and do things that I ordinary don’t do when I’m taking care of editing deadlines.

Numero 1: COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE!!!!!
If you know me, you’d know that I don’t need this stuff to be wired. BUT the Vietnamese love it and man, it can be GOOD here!

Here’s my ode to TRUNG NGUYEN…it’s so much more delicious than Highlands so please go there and check it out! I’m beyond grateful to my pal, Ilya, for this heads up….afterall, TN has a second floor that’s smoke-free and that’s pretty much UNHEARD of in VN….love it!

Math permutation time: If Cathy and Julianne have coffee at Trung Nguyen while preparing for the GREs, and there are five types of coffee blends to choose from and each can be ordered without milk, with condensed milk, or with fresh milk, how many days can they do without ordering the same type of coffee? Since I’m now done with the test, I’m NOT going to go through the steps to find the answer! So there GREs! (Maybe s/o is just a teeny bit bitter!)

BTW I’ve been going there for a couple months and I’ve not yet tried all the combos of beans and milk! IT’s AMAZING!

Numero 2: Walking? I’ve tried to walk from my house to the downtown area…it’s 1km or so but the sidewalk can be pretty treacherous…however, there are payoffs. I was able to find a German restaurant that I had heard of for a loooooong time b/c I was actually walking slowing and observing what was on the streets instead of whizzing by on the motobike. I got some more exercise and my calves actually hurt which is a good thing

Numero 3: Actually SEEING scenic, VNese sites

I was able to see ppl on a boat piled high with bananas heading to docks where local merchants bought them to sell in the markets. I assume these bananas came up the river from the Mekong region. It was cool to see as I was walking over the bridge near my place. My mind is drawing a blank on other sites rite now, prob cuz I’ve been blogging for awhile, so I’ll stop and resume later…this year I promise!

merci et a la prochaine!
Cathy

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One year ago, I was living in DN, a place that made me sad after one year and four months of seeing friends move down south to sunny Saigon.

Then it was my turn! Now I’m all sparkling with city life and friends and woo hoo I love, ummm, like EVERYTHING!

Despite the monster bugs (ants, spider nests, rats, geckos, giant moths, cockroaches etc.) and the noise and rain and MOLD, I love living in Vietnam, especially Saigon.

These days, one year after the rainy nights stuck like Rapunzel in my ratty (literally) office with no friends to hang out with, LIFE IS HIGH IN THE CLOUDS and I doubt there’s any reason not to be and chilax it!

Top ten (really just ten good things!)

1. Awesome studio complete with kitchen, toaster oven and balcony
2. Social activities galore (live music, cheap airplane travel, hip hop, NGO networking)
3. Friends I can count on (ppl to make me laugh, stylish chicas, ppl who like to eat!)
4. Skyping and its cheap options to stalk like EVERYONE!
5. Meaningful Christmas carols like JOy to the World and O Holy Night which speak truth dear to my heart
6. French and Vietnamese and Korean and all the other languages out there…sorry Anglophones!
7. Motorbikes and the impatient convenience of the cheap lil bike avec basket!
8. Working as a consultant who keeps crazy hours…..:)
9. Housemates who clean my messes w/o making me pay them
10. The elderly!

Thanks be to the Creator for this amazing journey of life that has ups and downs and things we cannot understand but if we seek, we will find marvelous glories that were intended for us in the first place.

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True that I’m back….

– In HCMC/Saigon/home in Vietnam, working at EMW etc.
– At my apartment with the best landlady in HCMC
– In true lazy Cathy form, not knowing where my keys, bank card, rent money, shoes etc. are!
– Eating and having to cook for myself (1st insect attack just occurred last nite which isn’t bad since it’s been 3 days….)
– On the phone, Skype, FB, etc. with all my friends outside of HCMC….miss u tons!

BUT I’M NOT BACK on my motorbike b/c I want to pretend that I’m a tourist here…if anyone has a car that they want to lend me (with chauffeur), I’m down HCMC is dirty and I am just not up to driving in this dusty, rainy, exhaust-pipe mania yet…..

TRAVELING: not overrated but less exciting when one has been on 26 trips in one year!
In the past 6 weeks, I’ve been to SFran/Oakland, USA; Vancouver and surroundings, British Columbia (my province), Canada; Hong Kong for a dim sum delight; and back to Vietnam. I won’t go anywhere for the next 1.5 months I think and then it’s off to the races w/a trip to grams in Nha Trang; work stuff in Danang, Tokyo for sushi, pocky, and friends; and oh CANADA for Christmas! I am blessed with flexibility in my job and so I am totally thankful…I AM NOT UNGRATEFUL.

CIAO for now and mucho smoochos! Pics to come peut-etre!

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After much activity in the first half of 2008, I have now been in my new home city for about 3 weeks in a ROW. I know, like totally normal pour la plupart des gens. But alas, for me, it’s a feat, something to be cherished actually.

However, I have not been without guests. I figure that my life is constantly jostled by a continuous flow of new ppl passing through visiting Vietnam and I just happen to be in position of meeting and greeting them.

Mais je suis fatiguee. Maybe I’m getting “old” or whatever, but I am pretty contented to go home every night and flop on my bed or swing in my hammock and watch K-dramas and Flight of the Conchords.

I recently came to the realization that I don’t have to be doing something at every moment of my life. I CAN RELAX once in awhile. But my first instinct is to resist it, TO FIGHT IT, TO DO SOMETHING. Have you ever been challenged by a somewhat “empty” schedule? In this HCMC life, I have challenges that I haven’t faced before–EVER. It’s the task of living in a city of 8 million people and not having at least 1 million friends. It’s the fact that I don’t have a place I need to be all the time. It’s the question of what do I want to do for myself. It’s much ado about perhaps….nothing!

Maybe some call it freedom; others will say boredom/loneliness. I say it’s new but good. I was praying for a challenge and I think this is part of it: to do well when doing, well, pretty much nothing. OR maybe I can say while doing nothing too exciting…like living steadily w/o constant changes. That’s better: the challenge is to do something in times of peace and quiet.

Must DOs: mop, stop grocery shopping, change lighting and curtains, manage clothing situation, and that that gushy stuff which was oh-so-neglected in more hectic times. Adjusting to regularity, that’s what I’m doing.

BTW slightly soured fancy melon smells like rotten fish….ciaoness

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Humbled and sad yet happy/thankful/blessed to have had this opportunity. And also happy that the kids looked happy as well.

On Saturday, I blew off hip hop to help celebrate Intl Children’s Day with some kids living with HIV. There’s this amazing coffee shop in town SOZO that is also a charity that organizes community volunteering opportunities in elderly homes etc. and this was one of their ongoing programs.

Children are fantastic. I do forget what it’s like to be a little person but I do feel like I definitely have a heart for them. These sweetie pies came to the coffee shop where they played games, squealed with delight, sang songs, and drank cold tea for a couple hours.

THEN we all fall down! Nope, we all went to KFC! Yup that’s in VN but not Burger King or McDonalds. Twas not the tastiest but for the kids, it was an opp to spread some cheer and feel the love. And I felt that love all morning.

One of their peers had just passed away a couple days ago. Another died two weeks ago. Death is immediate and very possible for these children. I don’t really want to believe this but it’s true. So I am sad. But I am also appreciative of the fact that I can spend time with these beautiful children and love them now.

Hip hop snip op….Loving each other is what we are called to do and I am very glad to partake in that task. AMEN

Have a great day lovely ppl

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