I went to Hanoi with my mother in early September. It was my fourth trip to Vietnam. I’ve worked my way up north–started off in Phu Quoc with the ex; spent 2015-2016 New Years with her in Saigon (it was cheaper than celebrating in Singapore); had an amazing time in Da Nang last year; and finally this.
Vietnam is a very unusual place. One advantage of colonialism (for me!) is that the French Romanized the language. I’ll never get the tonal bits right but it’s fairly easy to at least kinda-sorta sound out signs and menus. The French influence is also very easy to see–with food and architecture–as you’ll see later. Some people call it (and Laos, etc) “Paris in the jungle.” The people are universally friendly and do not be fearful to be an American; The American War is in the past and people are more than happy to have us around. Wounds heal.
The swarm of scooters and spiderweb power lines swirl around every street. It’s oppressively hot and everything is out in the open. Life is more low key. Evenings are shared with the family open to the air. There aren’t many rules.
It was very difficult to whittle down these photos. I picked out 104 that I thought were worthy of my highlight reel. I’m limiting myself to ten for this post. I think that is excessive, but I just can’t help myself. It would be to cheat you. *I lied. Turns out be 13*
(Click to enlarge images in new tabs)
Hello, Hanoi! It has about 8 million people but much of the city consists of these little side streets. Full of food and many shops—expect bike mechanics and people sewing. Right off the sidewalk with shutters open.
Mopeds are everywhere. And yes, the hats are a real thing.
I picked this instead of the statue of Lenin that I took from the bus. It is only open for a few hours every morning and it never worked with our schedule to see the preserved body of the North Vietnamese leader. I’m OK with that. I’d be forced to be reverent to the embodiment of something I find evil. I still would have because transgression is fun, but it wasn’t to be.
This is the Hanoi Hilton. They have a guillotine and supposedly John McCain’s flight suit from when he was shot down. It was hard to pick a photo to represent this. The weird clay people with ankle shackles were very unnerving. Not sure I made the best choice. Fuck it.
Now Mom and I went to Ha Long. This was a cave within the mountains. Unbelievable formations and absolutely gorgeous.
Tons of fishermen and tourist boats sailing. Many come up to yours to sell bananas and other treats. The bigger boat was refueling the smaller right before this pic. They stopped to have a smoke and snack. The world goes slower here.
Boy falls in love with world. Craves more.
Hands down my favorite picture of the trip, and one of my favorites of all time. It was beautiful watching him absorb the atmosphere, just by himself. I imagine that I looked like that as a child. I try to feel like that as often as possible. There’s a big world out there, and I intend to experience as much of it as I can.
Ha Long Bay. It is very difficult to express how shockingly beautiful this place is.
The innumerous cliff daggers jut out from the ocean in divine randomness.
Just like that.
Dog in the market. My mother thought it was a baby pig. I decided not to tell her the truth. Markets in Asia are always a fascinating experience. You can buy bottles of blood and every intestine and bit of whatever animal du jour. As a former butcher, it’s good for people to see the process up close, with nothing wasted.
Here is some of that French influence. Based on Notre Dame. Gorgeous but also dirty. This layman blames the grime on the slash-and-burn farming popular in Southeast Asia. Buildings and Baguettes. Album name. Mine.
This little alley was mostly empty, but has many shopfronts and homes alike. There is a market on the tracks during the day. They move aside when the train comes through. I wanted to watch that but my mother was concerned about making our flight—I missed it by about 30 minutes. So it goes.
Same street. Every shop front is open and exposed to walk by. This how shit be, yo.
Sorry that I don’t have more city shots. It is indeed a very large place, but that’s not really my thing. Some people like mountains or the sea—I like quirky little streets. Back alleys and mischief. Everywhere I go I always visit a big local market. I love watching people buying and selling—and most importantly—just living. Seeing life for how it is and minimizing touristy stuff, although most things are touristy for a reason.
Most people fill their lives with spouses, children, or their work. I’m largely empty in those ways. I’ve filled my life with memories of the places and people that I’ve met across six continents. Sometimes that makes me sad, but mostly it just makes me want to explore some more and try to fill that hollow cup. There is more out there to discover.
Yukon, ho!
Comments
265 responses to “A Glib Goes to Hanoi”
I best be first on this bitch.
I JUST finished the writing and proofreading tests. They were….uh….ODD. The proofreading part was designed to be written like a very drunk Chinaman methinks. I think I did well but I probably took a bit too long. I’d rather be slow and perfect in such a situation.
Very cool pictures, I imagine they have the move the market from the tracks down to a science and it would have been cool to see.
So interesting! Thanks so much for this post, Ev. I agree completely about wanting to see the real place with the real people when traveling.
Looking forward to more posts of your travels.
Interesting. Thanks for the look into Vietnam.
And yeah, I can see how the Romanized language would help make things slightly easier in getting around.
Nice post. I’ve never read anything like it. And don’t fret about the spouses, children, and work. All three have serious minuses to counter the pluses. You can always settle down as you get older, but it’s much harder to do it in the reverse order.
Also, if you continue to visit poor countries, a spouse could be in your future.
…more easily than in the US, also fewer 3rd wavers.
Eastern Europe right after the Curtain fell would have been excellent hunting grounds.
I cannot disagree. Hmm.. Colombia has quite a few Venezuelan refugees.
Your tourism dollar will go quite some way in Venezuela…
And there is probably quite a few refugees who haven’t been able to leave.
You can always settle down as you get older
Fertility would disagree, but maybe Evan can snag a 22 yr old.
Evan teaching in his classroom
Replace that with this.
Mina is my favorite. I have difficulty looking at her. She’s on the far left at :30. The blonde at 2:31 in the Bulls jersey is also very fetching.
Let us light the Q signal!
Your new avatar must be one doing the TT pose now.
Nothing like the airy light-heartedness of communist memorials.
East Berlin was awash in the gaiety of soot-stained monuments to the Red Army as I recall.
Yeah, one thing that stands out in my memories of East Germany was how dirty it was.
Evan you are the one Glib I envy. I don’t have the facility with languages or the willingness to take the leap to live expat, but I wish I did.
“try to fill that hollow cup”
We need a better description of the Hanoi whorehouses than this.
Dude, he was traveling with his mom.
One or two crushed up Halcions in her tea, she goes to sleep for 12 hours, everybody wins!
You sir are just not right
No, he’s right. Works like a champ!
LOL
That sort of thing is very popular on the internet right now.
Well this loser certainly thought it was worth writing up.
Poetry.
(Legit LOL btw)
Call me a hopelessly vanilla prude, but: ew.
I’m far too much of a germophobe for that.
Many years ago I was in one of those Tijuana bars where they give you the first beer for free, but then the next beer is tiny and outrageously expensive. Then they try to hook you up with a prostitute. The one they sent to me was pretty cute, but all I could think about was STDs and being beaten up in the back alley. I finished my beer and got the heck out of there.
My brother was in a Tijuana brothel in the 90s. The girls troop out, and he gets so excited he drops his drawers right there in the bar. “Who do you think you’re going to please with that little thing?” one of the girls asks. My brother hooks his thumbs and says, “This guy.”
(Not true, but he likes to tell that joke.)
Was it the Titty Twister?
I remember a street in Beijing where I have never seen so many hookers in my life. My idiot traveling companions knew about the famous hooker street beforehand and of course they had to drag me along to check it out. I was reasonably sure they were smart enough not to partake but watching them really, really want to was kind of amusing and sad.
+1 Dusk Til Dawn.
There’s a street in downtown San Jose, Costa Rica that I call the Hooker Slalom because you have to weave your car in between the girls jumping off the curb to flag you down. I actually saw one jump headfirst in a window one time, legs and feet dangling outside while the vehicle kept moving.
Hooker Ground Zero in Central America
In my twenties, I took some girls into Tijuana to go shopping. In the middle of the day, the hookers will accost you even when you’re accompanied by women.
That’s like Vaci utca in Budapest back in the 90s. The Budapest hookers were much classier than their Tijuana sisters.
Well, that made my day. Good grief.
I am off to the grocery store for the ingredients to make Russian chicken.
Yukon, ho!
Looking forward to your exploration of the Alaskan sex worker scene.
LBFMs
I would think it’s LEFM in Alaska.
The first I’d heard the acronym was in Alaska. A shitty hotel drunk shuttle driver offered to hook me up with Eskimo hookers.
Thanks, Evan!
I love to travel, but the odds of me making it to Vietnam are remote, so I really appreciate the insights.
Also, your pics are terrific – you have a great eye!
Keep ’em coming – we can never get enough adventures!
Something for you soon.
AND BY SOMETHING, MEAN . . .
Oh, sorry. Thought that was a STEVE SMITH comment.
Great pics. Thanks for sharing!
very nice work
Vietnam is on my top ten list….hope I make it.
The weird clay people with ankle shackles were very unnerving. Not sure I made the best choice.
Better than whatever choice ends you up in ankle shackles.
Like filling out a selective service card?
Exactly.
Great post, Evan. I doubt I will ever see the places you are/have been. It’s great fun to follow your travels.
Ditto this.
Do you feel alone when you travel alone in these places, or do you feel like you stand out? And what’s the Vietnamese term of abuse for Westerners?
I’ve mixed up my travel just about 50/50 traveling solo and in groups. There are advantages to both of ways. Solo is a lot more strenuous but you’re in absolute control. It sucks compromising sometimes.
With both there’s a mix of standing out, in the sense that you’re a very conspicuous white boy walking around. But you also feel very much hidden in plain sight because you’re just a generic white boy. I got used to that in Korea. Sure, I’m a foreigner but—I get in trouble when I argue this point in the States–but we all look alike. Races have problems telling people in the outgroup apart. We’re all guilty.
Protip: They are more than happy to take your money for goods and services. Don’t learn their bad words for you. It’s best to just be in blissful ignorance. I’ve actually only been physically threatened twice (once in Germany where I got the fuck beaten out of me) and I’m hard pressed to think of when I’ve really been mistreated. But I also have the tactic of not taking that shit seriously. I just learn how to say hello/goodbye/thank you/please and people are quite good about doing the rest on mime.
I’d like to say I’m not think-skinned about it, but then I remember being treated brusquely in New York and having my southwestern ego bruised, so what do I know. At least I wasn’t beaten. Yikes!
Good job, sir. I agree with you about the photo of the boy on the dock looking out at the mountains. No shit I’d buy a print of that I think.
an obituary that calls balls and strikes
I don’t know how anyone is tempted by illicit drugs in the first place, but a fourth of the folk I know seem to be in those clutches.
Sigh. No offense, but addiction is not a “disease”. Choices matter.
By that logic, coronary artery disease isn’t a disease.
Fair observation, but I can still die of a heart attack without ever eating bacon, not that it would be a life worth living.
Both are diseases that often are self inflicted. I smoke and eat too much. Periodically I get disciplined and get my weight down to my ideal by diet and exercise, but invariably I slip off the wagon because quite frankly I hate exercise and like food. Is this within my control? Well in the yes column is the fact that I periodically step up and do it, so obviously I can. In the no column is the fact that even when I am at my ideal weight and exercising fanatically in the back of my mind is a grumbling voice ranting about how much I hate it. So yeah, it is in my control and yeah it is in the addict’s control but so is running a marathon, and in the same way. Yes, you can go out every day and train for a marathon, watch your diet, and eventually become able to finish but, every year that passes without doing the training makes it harder and eventually you cross a line that you can’t get back from.
It’s called a disease because that provides maximum opportunity for the treatment industry, which seems more interested in treating like a chronic illness than actually getting people off drugs.
Opiate addiction exists, but as you say, it ultimately comes down to personal choices.
It’s called a disease so that other people will pay for the treatments.
IANAD, but I believe some addictions (opioids?) make actual physical changes to your body that I wouldn’t be opposed to calling a disease. Really bad habits, though? Not a disease.
There’s only a couple of drug classes that can kill you in withdrawal, opiates and alcohol are the primary ones.
That said, I think most people die when they’re off opiates and then fall off the wagon. Their systems can’t handle the levels of usage that they could before they cleaned up.
Benzos.
My son passed Sep 2 of a probable OD (Heroin) Was clean for a year prior and 2 years prior to that. Had just moved in with his GF, got a decent job and seemed to be making plans for the future. 20 years of bad decisions and use = flushed life.
Toss in the inability to know for certain what you’re taking.
LJW
I’m not sure I witnessed that, although he was prescribed meds for depression. Chicken or egg.
Sorry to hear that.
It must be horrible to deal with.
It wasn’t unexpected so much as the timing was strange. In the past, he’d fall back into using when he did something stupid (lose a job, piss off his mother). This time it “seemed” he had started to really get his act together. That may be wishful thinking tho.
Sorry to hear that
My sincerest condolences.
I certainly don’t have any answers. My clan are meth-heads; I dread phone calls from two area codes and don’t have the guts to get involved or even be near my own blood. I wish there was something to write that would matter the least in the face of your enormous loss.
I’m very sorry for your loss.
Sorry for your loss.
*Big hug and can’t come up with words*
Damn, that’s awful. I’m so sorry.
Damn. Damn, that sucks. My condolences.
Ugh. I’m so sorry to hear that.
That’s awful. My condolences. I’m sorry for your loss.
I believe there is a strong mental health link to addiction. The addicts I have known all suffered from severe depression and/or anxiety before becoming addicted. There’s something more than oh they tried it once and became addicted. There has to be some other variable that helps drive them back.
This.
I think there’s a middle ground where we recognize that it’s really really hard to break some of these physiological addictions, but recognize the agency of the person who just keeps partaking time and time again.
Not quite a disease, not quite a bad habit, something in between.
“addiction”, perhaps?
I like your way of thinking
It depends on the addiction. Gambling addiction, for example, is a behavioral disorder, not a disease. Opioid addiction is a disease though, as it physically alters the brain. While both are lumped under the banner of addiction, their method of action on a person’s psychology and their treatments are radically different.
Thanks all.
He also considered it a choice and not a disease.
As for me? 20 years of on and off again shit, hardens a person.
For now, my rational side is in effect but the grief will come.
Legalization would go a long way to preventing this (IMO, both before and after 9/2)
1) Brain chemistry
2) Shitty life experiences
Those are the two most obvious to me. I’m not going to say choices aren’t important, or that the government needs to implement a program or anything like that. However your life circumstances are YOUR life circumstances. Other people didn’t live your life, you haven’t lived theirs. Even if they’re close to you, you don’t know what waking up and getting through the day feels like to them.
Oh, I agree: mine was a literal “I don’t know” instead of the colloquial, judgmental I don’t know.
The addicts I have known all suffered from severe depression and/or anxiety before becoming addicted. That agrees with my data.
Yeah, my first reply draft was a little sharper. I’m glad I toned it down because it hit me a few seconds after that you might just have meant it literally. Assuming bad faith is a very, very bad habit.
As you probably have guessed, I have an intimate familiarity with the subject. And too much sensitivity about it.
Also doesn’t help that the system is designed to break you if you get caught.
Cop says : Drugs can ruin your life
Cop catches you doing drugs and puts you in jail, ruining your life.
That sounds like it was written by the DEA. Did that person even really exist?
Was there a line in the obit directing addicts to a place that will “test” their drugs for safety?
lesson learned: don’t move your attractive impressionable daughters to Florida
One of the reasons I have always steered clear of drugs is because of how much I liked drinking as a kid. Combine that and a family history that suggests that I might have some genes that make drinking a bad idea and I always figured it was easier to just steer clear of them. After all on my 19th birthday, my illegal drinking suddenly became legal. Drugs are always going to be illegal.
Also helped that my father was a probation officer and had all sorts of real world examples to point to about the downside of drugs (even though he was a proponent of legalizing them all for as long as I have known him).
<a href="http://
” target=”_blank” >Randal hanging with the popo
A true shitlord would be able to defend himself, methinks.
A true shitlord should be able to post. This reverse Brooks was intended to be a double Gilmore with a half twist.
That photo makes it look like he’s not wearing pants.
The cops just finished the first part of the quid pro quo of the Senatorial endorsement.
Rand never wears pants when he’s “visiting the constituents.”
A true shitlord would be able to defend himself, methinks.
Perhaps. But, I suspect the usual suspects would be screaming bloody murder if Paul were to give an assailant a hot lead injection.
Paul’s been shot at and physically jumped. Combine that with the current tenor coming from the left, and I can’t really say I blame him for wanting a little security.
If the Dem’s don’t take the House, I think we’ll see starting seeing a lot more Senate and House Repubs with armed security. I can’t blame them and am surprised they don’t already now. I was amazed that those Soros contractors were able to get in the elevator with Flake and scream at him for 5 minutes.
Those were VICTIMS!
Shitlord
“I was amazed that those Soros contractors were able to get in the elevator with Flake and scream at him for 5 minutes”
Should never, ever have happened. Capitol police either accepting payoffs or #resisting.
It definitely can happen if they’re there with an invite from a senator.
It would be rather entertaining to watch if Trump appointed a particularly rabid special prosecutor to investigate foreign interference in the Senatorial advise and consent process for Kavanaugh as a direct fuck you for the Russia investigation. See under which senator’s doors Soro’s tentacles reach. Payments to Ford and her lawyers. Etc.
I believe Soros is a dual US/Hungarian citizen.
I would guess 49 of them.
So he’s basically America’s Rasputin.
not a saur bier
did Grigori ever predict something so wonderful?
Jesus, the replies
Yup. Angry, delusional people. November is going to be ugly.
Yeah. I was thinking the same thing. Given those, I wouldn’t blame Paul for either having guards or carrying.
I wouldn’t blame Paul for
eitherhaving guardsorand carrying.jacket looks a little puffy. body armor?
Great article – cool choice of pictures ( I liked the little boy taking it all in)
Absolutely fantastic post, Evan. Great pictures and excellent narration. That ending was particularly striking.
a specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time- bound goal for climate change
Beer Prices Could Double Because Of Climate Change, Study Says
RCDean hit hardest?
Hey, I’m the cocktail guy. I think you’re looking for mexican sharpshooter.
Although, I just got a mixed sixpack from my admin for Boss’s Day. Incredibly, my Irish AGC declined to join me in a morning tipple. I’m starting to wonder if she’s really Irish.
sorry, in my drinking my notion as to who the drinkers are of which drinks started to blur
admittedly, I was watching a Heritage panel and might have lost a few brain cells in the past hour
They could. Or, they couldn’t. Where’s my byline?
“By projecting heat and drought trends over the coming decades”
By projecting the increase in temperature from 4 am to 9 am this morning, it will be over 1 million degrees in just a few decades.
Beer prices already had an input that spike in price (hops, the harvest of 2007/2008), and the average six-price pack only jumped up ~$1-3 (depending on style). Now, some beers weren’t able to be made, and there was a lot of sharing of resources between some breweries, but the prices didn’t double.
I find it hard to believe that a larger growing area for barley would cause malt prices to increase that much. You’ve got new malt houses coming online in the US for the first time in a long time, and a resurgence of the regional hop markets. Several new breweries are also focusing on hyper local items with sourcing all of their ingredients from the region or state. If you really want to know where the big profits are made, look at the three tier structure in your state and any minimum pricing laws. Pro-Tip: Here in Ohio, if you but a six pack from the brewery instead of at the store (at the same price), you just gave them a much bigger cut of profit (TLDR: each tier has a mandatory minimum 25% markup, brewery -> distributor -> retail).
Besides, R C Dean has a bag of money in his avatar, he can probably pay some more for his beer.
apparently that article was just one in a series of hysterical apocalyptic warnings they’re doing
Looks like Lou Reed and I will be forced to resort to making our potables by boiling down T-Rexes and then, of course, flavoring them in wine casks for a week.
Here’s a brief run down on what happened in the hops markets in 2007/2008. It’s short, but breweries who didn’t have long term contracts were unable to purchase specific types of hops, and the hops that were for sale were at a much higher price then the were the year before. The shortage is why some beers weren’t released and why new things come into vogue for a while (Stone released a non-IPA anniversary beer that year: Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal stout, because they couldn’t source enough hops for the IIPA they were planning to do; source: me talking to Greg Koch that year at an event).
Evan’s next adventure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n4lvh_NZDw
What is wrong with you man? That ain’t right.
Uh….I could….*gulp* definitely find time to get ripped apart by some of those ladies, I’m sure….
Looks like Zoot left the grail lantern on again…
“and after the spankings, the oral sex!”
So people who want to sport fuck without strings are officially part of the LGBTQWERTY bloc now.
https://pjmedia.com/trending/huffpost-aromantic-is-a-legitimate-identity-for-people-who-dont-experience-romantic-attraction/
Welcome aboard!
So does this mean they need to include the sex workers as part of the bloc too?
how long do you think it will take before that initialism expands to cover more people than not?
/sets alight yet another Jesse signal
Nice work Evan! Vietnam is one of the places I’d like to visit (Phu Quoc originally, but things happened). Not sure I can take the humidity. I’m a weakling for that sort of thing.
I like quirky little streets.
My favs are grocery stores. I like seeing what people buy for cooking at home. Was in Walmart de Mexico and got a kick out of seeing Washington apples prominently displayed in the produce area. Second favorite that my wive got me started on is hardware stores. Weirdo tools that you can’t find at Home Depot back home and the like.
Nice article Ev.
You mentioned in an earlier article that you liked Vietnamese food more than Korean food (in fact you disparaged Korean food). I was wondering what it was that makes you favor the one over the other.
I like Korean food a lot. The Vietnamese food has always been to “fishy” for me. I will grant you that I think a lot of fish is “fishy”. I grew up in the middle of prime fishing country and got spoiled when it comes to fresh water fish like crappies, perch or walleyes.
I went to a Vietnamese place in Dinkytown all the time when I was at the Church of the Gilded Rodent. Loved it. It’s long gone and I haven’t found another I like as much.
Although picture 11 gives me pause…
THANKS TUNDRA!!!!
Since Evan didn’t number the pics and I’m not that bright I had to count them myself. Being at work, my troubles started when I ran out of fingers and used the next best body part for #11. HR has scheduled a meeting for later this afternoon.
Shit. Again?
Seriously, man, you need to get a padlock or something.
HR types usually like to be the dominant, not the submissive, but whatever works for you.
I am very biased against Korean food.
Korean dinner is pretty awesome. Galmaegi, especially. Samgyeopsal if that’s your thing (too fatty for me). The problem is that my friends all live in a different part of town. The restaurants force you to buy at least two portions, even if you’re alone. I eat like a 12 year old girl and can’t even finish one by myself. I’m not going to waste 60% of the food/money. I really like being able to just buy single portion stuff.
Korean lunch is OK. There are things that I like. Mandu, tuna kimbap, don kassu and a few other things when I’m in the mood. But I can’t do it everyday, even though my work gives me a free meal every day. What it is for me is the gochujang. I’m a super-taster and I just can’t handle it. I’ll be with friends and they’ll want dalk galbi (chicken, for others not in the know). But the gochujang is so strong that I literally can’t tell the difference between the cabbage and veg apart from the chicken. ALL I can taste is the pepper paste.
And breakfast doesn’t exist here. Kids have kimchi and rice for breakfast. Fucking prison food. And again, literally EVERY meal has kimchi. A little bit grilled at dinner is great, but CHRIST. They’ve just been isolated for so long that their cuisine has veered off so much that it’s as monolithic as their homogeneity.
I cook almost all of my own food. I get some shit for eating western food a lot when I travel. We did street/local food twice a day in Chiang Mai and had a nice western dinner pretty much every day. I’d bitch too about other travelers doing that–but part of our travel outside of Korea is to get shit (cheaply) that we simply can’t get without spending an unreasonable amount of money. We had a dinner where she had a passionfruit cocktail, served over a wooden grate flowing dry ice smoke out, and I had an Egyptian ale that was delicious, along with three courses and ended up spending a total of $30 for the both of us.
In America that would have cost easily $80, if not more, and in Korea it would’ve been $120 or so. It’s good to get a nice taste of home from time to time. I miss cheese. I brought back $8 worth from Thailand. If I could’ve found it in Korea it would’ve cost at least $45.
Thai food is the best in the region. Vietnamese second. Japan third. Korean is a distant fucking last. Part of it is that I’ve maybe been here for too long and no longer have any patience for it. For what it’s worth, I am an aberration. Most of my friends love it.
“literally EVERY meal has kimchi”
Not seeing a problem.
Yeah, I don’t like it either – because cabbage makes me slightly nauseous.
Thanks for sharing this. It’s really interesting for me, who will likely never travel over there, to hear about these experiences.
I’m glad you enjoyed!
I’ve got a 2-parter in the works that should be very interesting for all. I’m likely one of very few here to have been there (I can think of some here that quite possibly have) but it’s a bit rare.
Hopefully I can show you something interesting and new.
I really liked the food in Korea. I’m also a fan of Kimche and pickled everything. The soups and noodle dishes at the lunch spots are great including samgyetang and Yukgaejang.
I’ll give Pope a pass because of his Korean wife.
And it almost assuredly is that I’ve been here too long, thought I never liked it too much.
But I’m SMDH at the whole lotta ya. Kimchi and rice for breakfast?! EVERY. DAY. It’s a goddamn warcrime.
I can see getting bored with the POW meal every morning. Its time to eat your rice.
I’ll grant you that kimchi isn’t hot dish, but it isn’t bad either.
My wife and her friends are always making their own kimchi and it is interesting to see the varieties they come up with.
When I visit Korea the thing I miss the most (and is the hardest for the in-laws to come up with) is bread and butter with each meal. It is amazing how much I miss it when it isn’t available.
Interesting. I’ll admit I don’t have a very refined palate when it comes to fine dining. I’ll eat just about anything. The spiciness of Korean food isn’t offputting to me. In fact, it is a welcome break from the bland food I grew up with.
Blandness is one of the reasons, I like Korean food far more than Japanese food. Also, everywhere in Japan is right next to the ocean so I run into the whole seafood is too fishy for me most of the time. My wife grew up near Daegu on a farm, so when we visit it is much more likely we eat veggies and pork than any seafood.
I haven’t been back to Korea for about six years now, but I still think that the country as a whole is warped by the war. A lot of old timers from my MIL’s generation remember not having jack shit to eat. My wife has a lot of stories about hardship from when she was a kid (but nothing like her mom’s stories from the war). I think one of the reasons that restaurants have such big portions and so many side dishes is because people still need reassurance that they can get food. At least that is my dime store theory.
p.s. I laughed at your mention of cheese. I love cheese and my wife has learned to tolerate it. She still thinks cheese is nothing but a chunk of rotten milk and can’t believe that anyone would eat it voluntarily. And the kids and I have to shop for cheese because to her the different kinds are as unknowable as the different kinds of kimchi are to me.
Silly politicians, don’t you know the internet is forever!
https://freebeacon.com/politics/kyrsten-sinema-in-2011-arizona-is-famous-in-a-lindsay-lohan-kind-of-way/
Every day there’s a new clip of this bint saying something really stupid. If the GOP weren’t resolutely stupid, I’d say they rope-a-doped this thing, letting Sinema cruise along for a while before starting a slow but steady drip of tapes of her slagging the state just in time for the elections.
My departed friend Billy tried to get into Vietnam via crossing the Cambodia border. Don’t think he ever made it, probably got wrapped up (literally!) by one of his many native “girlfriends”. But he did motorcycle, solo, across Cambodia – being the only white man for miles.
Ah – wish Billy was still around making trouble. We were supposed to go to Cambodia for a vacation together to “live like kings” but family and work got in the way for me.
https://i.imgur.com/IBfa4xX.jpg
Do you trust your orphans with loading belt-fed ammo? I’m partial to magazine-fed tools and load them myself to keep my confident glow.
They’ve gotten a lot better once I fed the first couple that screwed up to the lampreys.
Anybody seen westernsloper lately?
http://www.cpr.org/news/story/what-one-npr-reporter-saw-on-a-trip-to-the-epicenter-of-colorados-suicide-epidemic
There’s a reservation down there, too. Just sayin’.
I wish there was more data from the old days. I’d love to know how many people went fucking nuts during Minnesoda winters while living with your entire family in a sod hut.
Why do you think people back then had 12 kids? What else are you gonna do for 8 months of frozen weather?
No beer and no T.V. make Homer something something…
Why do you think people back then had 12 kids?
Rape culture?
I’ve read about people going stark raving mad in one of those in the middle of the North Dakota prairie. The wind was one big factor in making them lose it. Especially people by themselves. Imagine; literally the only person for dozens of miles, everything is white, and the wind blows. Every. Day. All. Day.
My dad would go to the shitter with a book and be in there for 30 minutes. Can’t imagine it being much different in the old days.
I don’t think hiding out in the outhouse was much of an option during Minnesota or NoDak winters.
Especially since you had rented out the basement of the outhouse to a Swede*.
*The norwegians I grew up LOVED making Swede jokes like that.
Great article. Thank you. My understanding is that eating dog slightly raises the body’s temperature.
Oh, OT:
https://media.breitbart.com/media/2018/10/NPC-3-trump-anti-immigrant.jpg
Great pictures! It’s totally worth it to click on them to enlarge. Evan, the sky looks rather gray in most pictures. Was it pollution? When I was in Beijing it was kinda like that as well.
We got really lucky with the weather and it was just overcast. We dodged a bunch of rain. If we hadn’t had that shade when we went kayaking in Ha Long we would’ve melted.
The worst that I ever say was during the slash-and-burn season in 2016 in Singapore. All of the smoke drifted over us and you couldn’t see large buildings like 200 feet away. That lasted for at least 4 months. Lots of people got sick.
My rule for traveling is eat whatever the locals put in front of you. If it turns out to be bad, you can puke it up later.
Not only has it led to me eating some tasty things, but it also endears yourself to the locals. My Korean in-laws have the best time making me eat strange foods.
Works both ways too. Visitors to Minnesoda who gamely try lutefisk get my respect.
*flashback of eating lightly sauteed hog brains in Serbia*
I’m willing to try most anything once. But having mainly traveled around the US, that leads to a lot of asking what the specialty of the house is. And if you ever find yourself at a brewery where one of the brewers is pouring beers, if you want them to really start talking, just ask which beer they have on tap that their the most proud of.
maybe….except these guys
I mosey in there one evening oblivious and the barkeep announces how sour beers are great and I with my Southern sweet or salty prejudices figures this will not end well, but I try a taste and doG-it’s-awful: I do a purely involuntary shudder of nuclear proportion. Oh, then try this one: are you trying to kill me? People in this town have guns…..how have you lasted the week?
I crawl and stagger over to this biergarten tourist trap and get a 512 Pecan Porter to sip until I can see straight again.
The next guy who puts a pickle in my brew will be shot.
So no Pickle Gose for you? It tasted overwhelmingly of dill, with a touch of tartness, I was glad I just was willing to risk a sample of it instead of a full pint. I didn’t say you’d enjoy the beers, but the brewer will usually enjoy talking about them and keep pouring samples.
*dry heaves*
Sours Rock! You just got a bad one……
Amen.
Another study seems to prove nothing about cops. Maybe there’s a problem; maybe not; I don’t know and can’t tell from what they’re reporting here. I hate cops, so I wished this proved we should get rid of cops, but I won’t live long enough to see anything like that.
I’m more interested in accountability for actions taken.
Doesn’t it seem odd that someone would underwrite or design a study that would have no useful conclusions? What could they have hoped to have proved?
^This. You’re not going to stop these shootings completely as the cops are involved in violent and volatile situations. But the citizens are held accountable in these cases and so should the king’s men.
You know, it’s funny and sad how quickly institutions become fixed in society. Government and infrastructure, roads in particular, had little to nothing to do with each other. Turn of the 19th century the Progressives seize responsibility for building roads, dams, etc., and now government is synonymous with road-building. Police as we know them didn’t really exist prior to the 19th century, and now the idea that a society wouldn’t have a regular police force on patrol is tantamount to anarchy.
I’ve tried to explain that calmly to my city friends, but they think protecting yourself is ridiculous; I think that when seconds matter, the police are only minutes away. My country friends think all this is obvious: they don’t need cops, but doG help us city folk….we obviously need them.
To me cops are like lead paint: they prevent corrosion and rot, but they poison too many things in the process for us to not turn to obviously better solutions.
My neighbor called the county sheriff to report an active break-in at the unoccupied place across the street from us. The dispatcher asked him if he had a shotgun. “Yes?, Okay good. Can you go over there and handle it until the officers arrive in about 20 minutes?”
That’s where you want to live.
Unless you’re the dirtbag.
That’s a pretty good modern example of the “hue and cry” that was the standard for hundreds of years. I’d argue that it did a pretty good job.
The dispatcher asked him if he had a shotgun.
“Several.”
Can you go over there and handle it until the officers arrive in about 20 minutes?
“If you are deputizing me, then yes, I can.”
Sorry, but if the cops are asking me to do something on their behalf, I think I’m going to want a layer of legal protection.
IANAL (and IIRC, you are), but there’s a lot of instances where doing something at the direction of a law enforcement officer is considered by statute to be the same as acting under color of law.
If the cops ask you to do something, its often the same as if the cops were doing it themselves. Good luck proving the cops asked you to do it in court if they deny it though.
I can’t wait for the next H&H, it’s going to be epic.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6282579/Trump-calls-Stormy-Daniels-Horseface-vows-Avenatti.html
“‘Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present your president. In addition to his…umm…shortcomings, he has demonstrated his incompetence, hatred of women and lack of self control on Twitter AGAIN! And perhaps a penchant for bestiality. Game on, Tiny,’ [Daniels] wrote.”
The absurdity of the whole situation… I think whoever runs the Matrix must be getting bored with business as usual.
NB: Based on that picture, I think Stormy had her tits redone in preparation for this media exposure. They look a lot better than the ridiculous Nerf balls featured in most of her “work”.
And, Stormy violates the Prime Directive of social media.
Do. Not. Engage. With. Trolls.
If she isn’t careful she’s gonna get schlonged.
I’m confused, are they saying it’s bestiality because she is a horse face?
Sarah Jessica Parker hardest hit.
When I saw the movie where she was a Pittsburgh river cop, I remember thinking that she was not attractive at all.
Was it family guy that said she looks like a foot?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ2cjDwaTsU
Ahem. Bruce Willis was the river cop. SJP was an undercover state trooper. Love that movie.
She actually looked kinda cute as one of the witches in Hocus Pocus.
Ha. I told my wife the same thing. Lots of makeup seems to help. Lots.
I’m guessing that’s the implication. So she is tacitly admitting that she’s a horseface.
Trump has to just drive his communications team absolutely, suicidally, nuts.
#LovingIt
I don’t know, maybe they’re in on it…
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!?!
I certainly am. Keep it coming.
Having to stifle full on belly laughs for the sake of my office mates.
They’re in on it. It’s a fucking bit and the stupid media keeps
It’s a fucking bit and the stupid media keeps
Keeps what!? Don’t leave us hanging!
HAHA! Got you!
…keeps chasing the laser pointer!
(honestly thought I finished that…)
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!?!
There is something wrong with you, just so you know.
hatred of women
Disliking one professional whore means he hates all women…
I don’t think she’s very professional. If she was a professional, she would have taken the $130K and kept her mouth shut.
Philippine politics update. Seems like It’s Congs and Dongs all the way down .
King Kong’s dong?
“Mangudadatu brothers” sounds like a WWF team
You are no Anthony Bourdain. -1 noose.
Let’s not judge those who can only orgasm from hypoxia.
Michael Hutchence hardest hit.
Along with Kung Fu.
Tres,
You said something a couple days ago about the injection pump in your Cummins giving you issues.
Do you have an aftermarket lift pump?
I would also recommend this website to maybe figure out what’s going on with your water pump:
https://www.cumminsforum.com/
Micheal just like everything in excess.
If that doesn’t rate a narrowed gaze, I don’t know what does.
You’d rather he have a new sensation?
More like Suicide Brunette, amirite?
Don’t Change, Private Chipperbot.
As for Carradine, to become the master you must snatch the rocks off the hand of the master, once you’re the master you have to get your rocks off yourself.
Snatch the Pebbles from my hand……..
Sup Tres!
HEY YUFUS!
I think my next travel thing will have to be split up into two parts—scenery and food.
Imbedding vids seem like a no-no around here, for hosting reasons. I might have to create a youtube channel for this purpose. Some of them I’ve been vetting are too good not to share.
yeah, youtube or bitchute and you can embed them.
Don thinks sour beers are so bad. Try this .
Now if you use the vagina yeast to do the fermentation of the piss beer you’ve really got something.
Another misleading “science” article.
The interesting part is the filtering technology to extract potable water from urine leaving “fertilizer” behind.
What you do with the water after the fact is pretty much irrelevant.
Fess up….how many Glibs are customers of this very well qualified candidate. Whom I think could be related to Dr. Christine Ford, based on that pic.
Dr. Christine Ford
Who?
Oh, you know. That one woman. She was important for like a week.
Alyssa Milano?
This is hardly a novel idea.
https://www.france24.com/en/20181015-outrageous-new-tv-dating-shows-cut-straight-chase
What, I still have to take off my pants? Do I have to meet her parents, too?
local man has no idea how he’ll continue to barbecue with an extra $3,000,000
Actually, $5,000,000. “Gentrification” is not a thing, and you will lose 4 IQ points if you read it.
For that kind of money, you’d think he could buy or build another restaurant nearby, and pocket a fair chunk of change.
That would be a pretty sweet FU…..take the money, then buy a spot across the street
right…it’s so obvious
Why does TxMo go to so much trouble to present this as a false dichotomy?
He’s either angling for more dough or he’s nuts.
I read the entire thing.
I think I smell burnt toast….
Texas Monthly is infested with progs, but they generally manage to have two or three things worth reading in every issue. Plus, the real estate for-sale section (mostly ranches) is drool-worthy.
Oh, I love TxMo and wouldn’t lecture a former neighbor. Texas is a lovable hot mess where it’s fun to sit around and argue about guns, boots, barbecue, trucks, politics…..it’s basically my living room. And a dose of progs is fair enough; even a fairly gerrymandered state House is still 37% Dem.
But if you can’t outshoot Molly Ivins, back a cow trailer, and tell LoneStar from Shiner, you shouldn’t be opining much about anything between the Sabine and the Pecos; those should be primary points when a prospective writer interviews at TxMo. John Graves is dead, and I don’t feel so hot myself.
But if you can’t outshoot Molly Ivins, No prob.
back a cow trailer, Err, any particular degree of accuracy required?
and tell LoneStar from Shiner, My vague recollection is that a blind taste test between those two could be tough.
“Tons of fishermen and tourist boats sailing.”
I bet there’s shrimp all in these waters.
/bubba
LOL
“according to the SPLC”
As part of their initiation, members must declare they are a “Western chauvinist who refuses to apologize for creating the modern world,” and also abstain from masturbation. To complete the initiation, members must also get a Proud Boys tattoo, and undergo a beating by fellow members while naming five breakfast cereals, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has also designated them as a hate group.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/far-right-group-takes-victory-lap-social-media-after-violence-n920506
To complete the initiation, members must also get a Proud Boys tattoo, and undergo a beating by fellow members while naming five breakfast cereals, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center,
Do I detect the aroma of 4chan here? I doubt the beating, which is just too conveniently “gang initiation”, but the 5 breakfast cereals has to be a tell.
///It’sOkToBeWhite
Ya it’s probably a bunch of dudes lobbing beer pong balls at a prospect while sipping micro brews and forcing him to answer questions
abstain from masturbation…while naming five breakfast cereals
Seems legit.
Corn Flakes
Raisin Bran
Special K
Mini-Wheats
Bran Flakes
Replace Raisin Bran with Grape Nuts and you have the most boring cereals ever.
Mr. Kellogg thought boring cereals would help stop onanism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harvey_Kellogg
(emphasis mine) LOL. The Wikipedia nerds sneak in a funny.
**pushes glasses up nose and bites into a jalapeno**
Huh, maybe there IS a correlation!
**stares at hairy palms **
Did you abstain from masturbating? It doesn’t count otherwise.
Yes, while I typed.
Western chauvinist who refuses to apologize for creating the modern world
Guilty as charged.
also abstain from masturbation.
Are you nuts?
Enjoyed your article, Evan. I had a couple VN vacations sometime back, on the taxpayer dollar. I never got to the north at that time, I’m happy to say. I spent my first vacation in the highlands and a couple years later got a chance to go to the Mekong Delta in place of Bill Clinton, George Bush and Donnie Trump, as they were busy with other things.
I’m guessing the youngster in the picture is not a local, too well dressed, clean clothes and a different hair color and style from what I saw in the older days. My wife cooks VN food pretty much everyday, she shares some with me but often tells me I wouldn’t like it and judging from the preparation she may be right. We have a lot of VN relatives and friends, each of the older ones has an interesting story on their life in Viet Nam and how they were able to get away. Some of the stories have a lot of sadness but the ones telling the story are almost always happy with the outcome. A lot of success stories in the mix. For the most part the Midwest Vietnamese have integrated quite well, those in CA and Houston have stayed closer together, it seems.
Thank you, sir.
The boy was 10 or 11. He was French. His father was there but happy to let his boy sit near the edge of the boat, watching the mountains fade away. It looked like it meant something to him. I’m very happy of that shot.
The father’s wife and daughters were having a day out and so the boys decided to have one out on their own as well.
I sent it to the dad, and he sent me pictures of me with my mother.
Thanks for your service . I (and I assume we) think it was a fucked up campaign over there, but that (vast majority of the) men who trudged in that mud aren’t to blame. We know it’s the men who forced you to go who should be crucified.
Again. Wounds heal. I hope yours do. I can’t possible imagine.
My uncle fought there as well (Jarhead). He described it as one of the most beautiful places he’d ever been, but had no interest in going back.
Did you ever consider going?
When were you there, Fourscore? My dad was there in ’65-66. He volunteered and ended up being an airplane mechanic, so thankfully he was well back from the front lines.
I was there in all of ’67 and went back in Jan ’71. First time I was a Communications guy on the highest mountain in VN until I got moved into an admin job in town, where we lived in a villa, each officer had his own jeep, we could go to the local restaurants/bars with our jeeps/civilian clothes off duty (The way wars should be fought). Second time was in the delta as an advisor to a VN Infantry Div. Not quite the same but still reasonably comfortable.
My wife has been back twice, can’t keep up with the changes. I thought I once wanted to go back but I know it wouldn’t have been the same.
When VN fell in ’75 I was angry and still am a bitter old man. 58K of my generation gone for no reason. Some were close friends. It was things like that moved me into my distrust of the government. There were some good things, however, for me personally that came from the war.
I would have thought Coloradoans knew about horizontal drilling
On the one hand, the NIMBY environmentalist wackos seem to not understand how little their law will matter. On the other hand, the oil guys seems to not understand how little the law will matter. Is there some backroom club of lawyers who just like to bill stupid people to fling feces at each other?
Don’t get me wrong: if you want the case hole, generators, pumps, and motors a half mile from your house, okay- I don’t like noisy stuff either. But, out west, if you think you’re going to stop people from exploiting their mineral rights or, for that matter, prevent your own property from getting pooled in if you don’t drill it yourself, you’re crazy.
There are wells from NY to LA, pipelines under everything, and gasoline doesn’t grown on trees; where do people think their lifestyle comes from? Reminds me of Shrub agreeing to Kyoto: how can a child of oil-patch not know that oil => power => industry => GDP/jobs?1!!? How are so many people so unplugged from how things work?
Is there some backroom club of lawyers who just like to bill stupid people to fling feces at each other?
Umm *looks around nervously*, yes?
Horizontal Driller was my nickname in college ;^)
I LOL’d
Enjoyed the article and pics. FWIW, I worked my way around the world and hit a bunch of countries solo and with random people met along the way in my 20’s and early 30’s. Really glad I did it then as now with a wife and three young boys I am not be able to do travel like that. My only Asia trip was ten days in Thailand and ten in Cambodia around the millennium. Cambodia was like taking a low dosage of LSD for most of the time there.