Expressing yourself in Vietnam

Vietnam is well known for its expresso coffee. To savor the richness of Vietnamese expresso, you have to find the right blend and use proper percolating technique. Otherwise, your effort in making good aromatic expresso is wasted.

First, get good coffee. A good brand is Trung Nguyen. Try the Gourmet Blend.

Next you need the vinaly. This is the Vietnamese percolator. It costs only 5,000VND, about US$0.30, which is a steal.

Put just a teaspoon of the coffee powder in the vinaly and place the compactor in the vinaly. Do not put more than a teaspoon, unless you want really strong expresso.

Next place the vinaly over the cup and pour hot water at 100 degrees celcius, to fill the vinaly to the brim. Let the water trickle through and absorb the coffee flavor. While waiting, you can go over your PAP and and see where you are at. It doesn't take long, brewing the expresso, I mean. Your PAP may take longer to brew!

Take a peep in the vinaly and if all goes ok, there shouldn't be any water left, since it has been turned into fine expresso. Remove the vinaly and place it over its cover so as not to stain your fine table.

Take a deep breath over your hot Vietnamese expresso, and smell the coffee. Drink it while hot, and at the same time, go over your PAP again to ensure that you are on track.

Please be warned that Vietnamese expresso is very addictive, so much so that you may spend too much time brewing it, rather than making your PAP a success. If all else fails, I mean the PAP, come up with a nice coffee story in Jogjakarta next year!

Good luck with your PAP. (PS: I needed 10 Vietnamese expressos to keep me awake to get my PAP going.)

Orderly Chaos and Chaotic Order

Welkommen Vietnam.

Being a first timer in Vietnam is really exhilarating. One should try crossing the street. It is a marvelous experience. One cannot but notice and appreciate the fact that whatever the traffic looks like, there is no collision.

It reminds me of how a university functions.

The traffic is self-policing, autonomous, so to say. Generally, the traffic does not run the red lights. When it turns green, there is an exodus of vehicles, especially motorcycles. The majority of the people use the proper lanes. The intersection or junction is the best place to sit and watch traffic.

One can see the weaving in and out of the motorcycles, very much like the weaving of good vietnamese silk. It looks very chaotic; it is chaotic. But, it is orderly.

In the university, management sometimes look chaotic; especially when there is no clear direction as to where it is heading. That is where planning and consultation are to be done cohesively. Only when the general populace understand the rationale behind the directives, can the plan be carried out in an orderly fashion.

Vietnam pix available

The Vietnam fotos taken by the moderator is available for viewing and download here. Feel free to browse through and download at will.

Just a kind reminder that the album may not stay on for a long time as disk space is a premium. So, download your favorite fotos fast before time runs out.

Will the real Mr. Bean step forward

We received e-mails from him, we responded, he replied, we answered his queries, but yet, we never know how to properly address him.

There are some who addressed him as Mr. Tran. Then others would call him Mr. The Binh or Mr. The. Some also called him Dr. Binh. No one would like to offend anyone, especially when we are addressing someone whom we have not met. So some called him Mr. Tran The Binh, as he signed in his e-mails.

Never did we realize that his name sounds exactly like Mr. Bean, the comical actor, Ronald Atkinson. Until Sanchai announced to everyone, on arrival at Ho Chi Minh City airport, that we are meeting Mr. Bean!

Thank you Mr. Binh and all the Vietnamese officers at DAAD HCM city office for all the assistance you gave us before, during, and after the event.