I hit the lottery; hot as blazes; Joanna's grit

Unbelievable! This past week I hit the lottery for 3 million ... Vietnamese dong. Nailed all five numbers in order. Phuong was shocked. Her dad was jealous. Her sister-in-law congratulated me. Phuong's mom collected the massive payout for us ... which converts to $131.93 U.S. dollars.  OK, it's not the 3 million I wanted, but I'll take $131.93. That's a decent amount of money here. I buy from three different ticket sellers who roam the city on bicycle or foot -- an older guy, a middle-aged guy, and an older lady. I don't know which one sold me the ticket, so I gave each one of them 20,000. Why not? I can afford to be a big spender now. Honestly, I need the money since my employer scheduled me for three classes over two weeks.
The heat has been unbearable since I've gotten back. Phuong, Joanna and I take a walk twice every day around our neighborhood and down to the park. It's about 88 degrees with 75 percent humidity at 6:30 a.m., so I return from the first walk sweating like the proverbial pig I am. So I shower, take a leisurely walk downtown in 95- or 96-degree heat from around 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., sweat some more, and shower again. Then, around 5 p.m. when it's cooled off to 91 degrees, Phuong and Joanna and I take another walk. When I get home, I'll exercise, shower, eat and go to bed. Welcome to the tropics. God bless air conditioning and Willis Carrier, the man credited with inventing it in 1902.
Joanna had another vaccination on Saturday -- this one for meningitis, I think. The nurse warned us that this one would hurt. The needle was fairly long. Three babies got shots before Joanna, and all three burst into tears and wailed for a good minute or two after they got stuck. Phuong always has me hold Joanna for her vaccinations (so she associates pain with her father). The long needle went in her beefy thigh, Joanna's face went into a scowl, and she glared at the nurse. But she didn't cry. Honest to God, that's how it went down. She toughed it out.  Even the other parents at the clinic were impressed. Some parents around our 'hood ask us if we give Joanna a special diet that makes her so big. Well, she's not that big, really. She's approaching 10 months old (May 9), weighs about 23 pounds, and is 32 inches tall, which is quite tall. There's no special diet. Just steroids. Seriously, I'm one of the biggest guys in the city, and now that I've gotten so incredibly fat, I scare people. Most likely, Joanna gets her size from my genes -- and Phuong is no shrimp either, although she's very thin these days.
Joanna has become a little possessive with her dad since I returned from the U.S. She wants me to hold her, and that's basically it. Dad, dad, dad. She clings to my pants when I cook or make coffee, smiles at me constantly, and, except at bedtime and meal time, wants me to hold her or play with her.  But that little rascal says "mom" as clear as an azure sky, and teases Phuong and Phuong's mom by clinging to me and smiling at them. Funny kid.

Airports, airplanes, family and friends

On a hectic trip to the United States, I flew out of 12 different airports in 18 days and drove about 800 miles in two rental cars. The two rental cars cost me as much as the 11 flights. After all the travel I've done in my life, you would think I'd have a better grip on the money needed to rent a car.You'd be wrong. Same thing happens to me when I buy glasses, which I've been doing my entire life. I let wishful thinking and low-ball estimates take precedence over reality. But as I like to say in Vietnam, tien den, tien di (money comes, money goes). Sometimes I'll jokingly say: Phuong den, tien di. That's not really true, although it always gets a laugh from Phuong's dad. I saw my son Jack, my brother Charles for the first time in about 16 years, my new granddaughter; a bunch of friends and family, and lots of the United States. I got told on several occasions how fat I've gotten, and how much I've aged. Can't argue with either point, but I don't give a crap.
Most of the airports I went to and the airlines I flew were fairly well run and organized. JFK required persistence on my part to find out where the hell I was going since there were no information kiosks or friendly faces at the JetBlue terminal. And the trains taking travelers like me to different terminals on their changeovers were out of order. So I scrambled and found a bus from terminal 5 to terminal 1 and arrived at my departure gate with 30 minutes to spare. The stewardesses on my 16-hour, 40-minute Eva Airlines flight from New York to Taipei were grumpy and snippy, but otherwise my time in the air was OK. (One Eva stewardess twice barked at me to buckle my seatbelt and bring my seat forward. Oddly, my seatbelt was buckled and my seat was forward, but I just said OK and she moved on.) I watched a bunch of movies -- Moonlight (excellent); Lion (pretty good film about an Indian youth); 42 (Jackie Robinson biopic); and Draft Day (entertaining film about Cleveland Browns GM played by Kevin Costner). Read a few books as well. In all, I spent 22 hours in the air coming home. The planes encountered strong headwinds the entire way.
As I noted, my time in the U.S. was fine and dandy. I lost some tennis matches but didn't get injured, ate great food thanks to my ex-wife Lynda, my kind and generous friends Andy and Jane V., and my brother Tom and his wife Shaila. I saw buddies John, Ron and Tommy, and most important, met my first grandchild Frances. She's a beautiful girl just like her mom, and mom and baby are doing great.
Thanks to Lynda and Charlie for getting me a hotel room, to John, Ron, and Andy and Jane for giving me a  place to sleep, and to Vic for recommending a good beer.
Phuong and Joanna met me at the airport, and Joanna smiled and laughed the entire ride home. She didn't say a word about my weight or age either, but seemed genuinely thrilled I was home. I'm thrilled as well. It's nice to be back.

Great trip and Portland is hip

The flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Portland, Ore., was smooth and uneventful. I passed through immigration and customs in Los Angeles in 10 minutes with no hassles whatsoever.  I enjoyed two pretty good movies on the Tokyo to L.A. flight -- La La Land and Arrival -- and chatted with a couple of friendly seat- mates. All went very well. The food was OK. It was better on Japan Airlines than on United, but I didn't get sick from either serving. Really, I had a nice trip here, and enjoyed meeting a gentleman named Kosuke, who gave me a low-tech pen that erases mistakes.  And he knew more about the NBA than I could ever hope to know. Fun guy and hope we can stay in touch. I need to find someone I can beat in tennis.
Didn't think to set up a meeting place with my son Jack in Portland since my phone doesn't work in the U.S., but we bumbled into each other near the arrival gate at the airport. Great to see him. He lives a block from the Willamette River in a very convenient apartment. Good for him.
Portland is a wonderful city -- clean, active,and full of hipsters and spandex. It does rain a bit here, which explains all the greenery -- there were three or four unexpected showers in my two days here. It can go from sunny and clear to raining in a matter of minutes. I've heard the rain referred to as liquid sunshine. The weather was a welcome 50 degrees -- cool but refreshing for someone coming from temperatures in the mid 90s. But I've almost gotten used to the heat in Vietnam, so I guess I could probably get used to the rain if I had to live Portland. Downtown Portland shuts down early. Even the Starbucks closes at 5 p.m. There's countless "craft beers" here from the countless Oregon breweries. My friend John was ahead of his time concerning beer -- he was into real quality beers before it was cool to be into real quality beers. Now, everyone is into craft beer. The marijuana shops -- pot is legal here -- were open until 10 p.m.
 I'm flying to San Luis Obispo in California tomorrow to see my older brother, who I haven't seen in more than 15 years. Family relationships are much different in the United States than in Vietnam (and Peru, for that matter). I appreciate Vietnam's commitment to the family more and more as I continue to live there and grow older. In Vietnam, family defends family, regardless. It's a refreshing change from the individuality that rules in the U.S. I'm not making a judgment, just an observation.
I miss, miss, miss, my family in Vietnam. Being away from Joanna and Phuong is horrible. Nobody, anywhere in the world, smiles like my wife Phuong, who has a cheerfulness and warmth that's absolutely infectious. And Joanna has a cuteness and persistence that's unmatched by any baby anywhere -- in her dad's not-so-humble opinion. We talk by Skype but that only makes me miss them more. I sang "If You're Happy ... " to Joanna over Skype and she did the little "bouncy-bounce" dance she does when Phuong or I hold her as I sing to her at home. She smiles when she hears my voice, but no doubt is a little confused. April 9 is her 9-month birthday. Happy birthday Joanna!!! She's close to walking, but I'm confident she'll wait until I come back before taking her first steps! She has to wait because I have a bet with Phuong and I can't stand it when Phuong wins our bets, which happens ALL THE TIME.
Drinking Vietnamese Con Chon coffee as I write this. There's nothing like a taste of home. Love you so much Phuong and Joanna!!!

Coffee, beer, apples and peanut butter

Phuong arranged a Con Chon coffee tasting at our house Friday morning. Two guys from the company showed up in a small truck -- they were also making deliveries in Bien Hoa -- and brought us four bags of coffee to sample. There was #0, #1, #2, #3. We made four cups -- #0 is unblended coffee with no additives of any kind. Good but lacking that artificial flavor :);  #1 tastes mild but seems loaded with caffeine; #2 has a distinct aftertaste that I love; #3 tasted sweet, almost like sugar was added. When the coffees were too hot, the flavors seemed to get lost. The same thing can happen sometimes when really good beers are super cold. I put milk in all of my coffees, because I'm a wimp and that's the way I like it. The two guys who brought the coffee didn't cringe when I added milk. They were very cool and apologized for not being able to speak English so we could discuss coffee more. I can't get a definitive answer on the animal that poops out the beans. It's a civet, weasel, ferret, squirrel or some such animal. Might be any one of these critters, or all of them. I'll let the experts debate while I enjoy a cup of coffee. We bought some bags since I got paid that day, and I no longer drink coffee on my walk. I drink a lemon-salt-sugar-water-ice thingy that's quite refreshing.
The super spectacular Vincom complex at the corner of Vo Thi Sau and Pham Van Thuan streets now sells St. Sebastiaan ale from Belgium, along with Chimay red and blue. Metro sells the Affligem blonde and sometimes it has the double. Phuong and I have been sharing a beer each night after spending a day running around with Joanna, who's relentless and crawls at breakneck speed to get to all the stuff she shouldn't have. We need the Con Chon #1 to keep up with her.
 It's been really hot lately, about 95 daily, but we're starting to get rain, which cools things off a little. Blocked drains create some street flooding, but I slosh along on the bike wearing plastic bags on my feet and legs so I don't teach with wet shoes, socks, feet, and pant legs. I'm not comfortable riding a motorbike in sandals or flip-flops.
I did my annual apple and peanut butter lesson for my students When I first mention combining apples and peanut butter, the students make faces like I'm asking them to eat something really nasty. But I suggest that the students put a tiny bit of peanut butter on the apple and sample. If they really don't like the combo, spit it in the napkin I provide. I did this with four classes, and only two students didn't care for the mix. The others really seemed to enjoy it -- more than 20 apples and three jars of crunchy peanut butter were consumed, with many students requesting more. Good times.