In many ways, Hieu was our first solid friend in Vietnam.  We met him on our English-club foray, and he treated us to some unforgettable chapters throughout our 3-month stay.

First, he was the first to suffer patiently through my absent-mindedess and general ineptitude: when he learned that we were still looking for cell phones, he gave me an old Nokia phone…which I left in the cab on my ride back, losing forever a phone that had been in my possession for a total of 10 minutes.

Second, our LAN party.  Warcraft III in a cooled, crowded but clearly ramshackle internet cafe in Vietnam with friends?  That’s certainly not an experience from the guidebooks.  One of our theses is that our “international counterparts” probably live similar lives to us, and bonding over video games helped corroborate this.

Third, Hieu helped plan our trip to Dai Nam and served as a cultural guide, bringing to life our wanderings through the temple, the mountain replicas and the history of Vietnam arrayed in miniatures, and the 15 stages of hell.

Third, he introduced Rob and I to beef knuckles, fermented shrimp sauce, and boiled beef skin soup.  Apparently, “I know this great beef restaurant” means something a little different in Vietnam than in the US…but it was a great time, and it certainly expanded our palettes. 

Finally, he  taught me how to play Chinese Chess or Xiangqi, which can be seen played on sidewalks at 6am throughout the city.  Some of the pieces are reminiscent of Western chess, with a couple twists e.g. the “knight” (horse) can be blocked and the “king” (general) can’t move outside a little 9-space box .  I found most exciting addition to be the cannon, which captures by leaping over an intermediary piece to strike the next piece in its direct line of fire.  I actually wish I had a playing partner here in Tokyo =(

I think we would have spent more time with him, were it not for his 6pm – 6am work schedule at a landfill just outside of Saigon.  He works for a waste-management company, which currently processes most of the city’s trash.  I actually found it a fascinating topic – managing all the trash from the city is no small feat.  In many ways, the past 20 years have seen activity in Saigon rapidly outgrow public infrastructure.  Motorbikes have flooded streets once used to bicycles.  No solid wiring bring reliable internet anywhere in the city.  The street is usually an acceptable resting place for trash.  The gutters flood during and after a bout of rain, and a huge lake-like reservoir holds most of the city’s sewage and liquid waste…unfortunately, this reservoir rings half of District 1, in the middle of the city, making most journeys outside the city center a gauntlet run through heavy stench.  Needless to say, safe trash disposal will be a huge issue in the coming decade for Saigon, especially as pressure to develop a more eco-friendly city comes internationally and domestically.  But first, the trash simply needs a destination, and at the moment, landfills serve adequately. 

Well, anyway, LAN parties, general orientation around the city, discussions about the future of waste in Saigon – he was an essential ingredient to Vietnam and the underpinnings of Season 1.