第一支椿 First Pile!

Yesterday evening a mail came in from an entrepreneur in Vietnam, for whose construction project we have been helping to raise money. The mail says: “Today 12 Nov at 11 am ICT according to the best time and date we drove the first pile. The pile number was #58. The depth was 35 meters.” The simple line struck me with a strong emotion. On an auspicious day, this must be a special moment in life for him, a moment to see his long cherished dream becoming a reality after years of patience, faith and hard work, and perhaps lots of frustration. Looking at the picture in which a small bunch of bright flowers, incenses, fruits, liquor and chickens are set on a wooden table in front of the huge machine, I became emotional as well, overwhelmed by the power of something real. That’s totally different from all the budgets, plans, financial projections in excel sheets. To the Power of something simple but real, cheers!

胡志明市街头 On the Streets of Ho Chi Minh City

出差去越南胡志明市一天,偷空上街看看。趁出差看一个城市总不免走马观花, 但有点时间走出会议室总是好的。这里与我想象中西贡完全不同, 也没有我喜欢的电影《情人》的故事发生地的影子。除了一些零星的建筑外, 看不到法国殖民地的过去。共产党留下的印迹要强的多。几个快速印象：人们非常友善，温和并且特别年轻，好象50%的人口都在十几岁似的；街上的小摩托车象中国的自行车一样多, 过街的时候我的越南同伴说 “闭上眼睛，过”；接头小贩众多，但从不强卖；整个城市杂乱无章，可是人们却能轻松地找到次序。

上载了一些照片在“透过我的镜头中”。

I stole one hour to stroll along the streets of Ho Chi Minh City during my very brief visit to the city. One can never explore any place on a short business trip, but still, some impression outside conference rooms was nice. It was not the "Saigon" I had in my mind or the backdrop of a favorite movie "Lover". I didn't see much sign of a French colonial past except for some sparing apperance of colonial buildings. The communists have left far stronger marks. A few things I saw: people were very friendly, mild and young (as if 50% of the population are teenagers); scooters were like bycicles in China and to cross any street, as my Vietnamese contact put it - "Just close your eyes and go"; and there were many street vendors but I was never met with a hard sell. The city was chaotic but people found their order in a relaxed way.

To share some snapshots, I uploaded a new album in "Through My Lenses" on this blog.