Buddhist Temple

This morning my cousin Hoang came by the hotel to take us to the Buddhist temple where my grandparents' and great grandmother's tombs are. When we arrived, the temple smelled of a sweet jasmine incense. There was a slight haze from the myriad of incense burning throughout the various prayer rooms in the temple.


The head monk greeted us and let us know that we were very fortunate to be visiting today because it is a religious holiday and they would be having a special ceremony. He asked how my mother was and asked me to send along his greetings to her back home. Prior to the ceremonial prayers, I had perform my own prayers to pay my respects to my grandparents and my great grandmother. I did so by lighting 3 sticks of incense for each of them and in a bowing motion with my hands clasped together, bow 3 times in front of their tombs. I also had to light 3 sticks of incense, following the same bowing motion while standing and again by kneeling on the ground, in each of the prayer rooms to pay respects to Buddha and other ancestors.


When the monks began the ceremonial prayers, I found it to be very moving even though I really had no idea what was being said in the prayers. Much of it was in Vietnamese but it was sung in an odd echoing manner. It was almost trance-like. Among the prayers were sounds of bells, chimes and gongs along with variations of knocking and drumming. Nearing the end of the 45 minute ceremony, a Buddhist statue was placed into a vat of water lined with white flower petals. The monk blessed water and poured the water on to a statue signifying cleansing and purity.


Many of the people there also collected the water after the ceremony to either bring home to drink or to use it to soak and massage any ailments one may have as the water is believed to have healing abilities.


The monks asked us to join them for lunch afterwards and we had some great vegetarian soup (Bun Rieu) and dessert called Che Soy Nuoc (rice flour balls stuffed with sweet yellow bean in a sweet ginger and sugar syrup). It was quite tasty!


All in all, it was a very unique experience for me and I feel quite fortunate today.

Visit to Mom's Home in Khanh Hoi

Yesterday we went to Khanh Hoi, just 10 minutes outside of Saigonto the house where my mom grew up. It was quit interesting for me.

When we arrived, I met my cousin Anh Hoang, a couple of uncles and a few more cousins for the first time. It was a bit odd at first because I didn't really know what to say to them. My Vietnamese has improved quite a bit. Hoang mentioned that I spoke Vietnamese much more clearly that he thought I would (yay me! - I knew I could do it). I thought one of my Uncles (Ong Mu) was quite funny. He told me that compared to Vietnamese standards, I'm still considered to be "short" here! Hah! Oh well, my dreams of being a tall or at least average height here has been short lived (no pun intended) :)

Apparently, they did some major renovations to the house in 1998 as the home used to have a bamboo, leafy type roof and dirt floors! It now has walls, tile floors and a real roof.

The visit was nice and we out for dinner at a place that sells Binh Xeo (a curried crepe stuffed with bean sprouts, shrimp and pork). It was very tasty!

Well it's 7:02 am and I need to get ready to go to the Buddhist temple to pay my respects to my grandparents.

Flight to Saigon

Well we made it safely to Saigon after a torturous 17+ hours or so. I haven't really slept but I don't feel deliriously tired or anything yet.

Being diligent travellers, we arrived at the airport in Vancouver 3 hours early for our 2:55 am flight. But as luck would have it, out flight is delayed until 3:35 am. Ok, so it's only 40 mins. but an additional 40 mins. at the witching hour is utterly painful. I hoped to God that we are not seated next to any big snorers or cranky babies. I just wanted to crash out on the plane.... well not that kind of crash, I mean pass out and sleep.

It was a full flight (747) thankfully with no snorers near by. The crying baby thing was actually very hard to avoid. There was not just one little cranky baby on the flight but at least three! Needless to say, Colin & I hardly slept. Kasztan of course had passed out early on.... lucky bastard!

Anyhow after connecting through Hong Kong we are finally here in Saigon! It's bloody hot and the cab driver said that it's much cooler this week compared to last week. Yikes. Anyhow, that's about it so far. I have to connect with my cousin to give him and his family the lovely gifts we brought! Until next time.....

Day of Departure

Ok... this is not so exciting just yet. I'm still packing and it's 10 minutes to 9 pm. So I'm taking a break to give a quick up date. Our flight leaves at 2:55 am so I a few more hours to cram a few more belongings into my backpack.

Of course, those of you who know my mom know that as a family member heading back to the homeland, one must also bring gifts. So I am bringing back gifts for some family. But, once again, if anyone is at all familiar with my family, the gifts are almost always odd. We don't give wine or cigars or anything of that sort. Some people may suggest I bring gifts of maple syrup, something distinctly Canadian. But no, that would be so un"Ho" like.

Let me share with you a tally of items I am bringing as gifts:

• A LARGE grocery bag of full of Metamucil - in individual sized packs of course (yes I said Metamucil... I guess some people need to stay regular)


• 30 bottles of green liniment oil (I like to call it snake oil myself)


• Two big Costco size bins of Cows candy (this one makes some sense to me as it's for my little cousins)

Anyhow, since I'm only bringing one pack, the Metamucil, snake oil and candy are really taking up a lot of space! But alas, I love my mamma and I need to take them with me. "I'm doing this for you Ma!"

Ok, enough procrastinating... I have to try and fit in some underwear amongst the Metamucil.

The day before Veitnam

It's Sunday, May 27th and it's the day before we leave for Vietnam. I'm feeling somewhat anxious packing and anticipating what I may see and feel when I go "home". As some of you know, I was born in Saigon but have not been back since 1975 as my family left as refugees during the Fall of Saigon. Several people have asked about how I feel about seeing my homeland. And to tell you the truth, I have no idea. I may be overwhelmed with emotion but who's to say... all I know is that I am looking forward to learning more about my past, my heritage and a little more about myself. And of course, who wouldn't be excited to see 100 ducks heading to market, strapped to a back of a motorcycle or even a small family riding on one bike!

Nonetheless, I will try and be diligent and keep you all updated on our adventures!