Vietnam Is A Crowded Place

The population is currently over 83 Million. Traffic in Hanoi and Saigon is horrific. I have been eyeing the weather in Danang and learning about relative humidity. Education is reportedly poor due to a lack of facilties... hummm, but can be compensated with private tutors and home schooling. Can we make this our new home?

There is some question as to whether a farang like me can own property here. This issue is being researched by Henry Che who I met through craigslist.com which now has a list area in Vietnam. Henry has just finished building two houses in Danang for his in-laws so he is familiar with the process.

I would like to build a teak house similar to the Jim Thompson House in Bangkok. This does not require the precision and knowledge of new materials that are the rage in western building. I want to keep it simple by using mostly native materials.

Building a western style home here with western materials does not appeal to me. That does not mean that I don't want a satellite dish, broadband, modern kitchen or multi media but I don't think I will want any sheet rock or wall to wall carpet. I found a picture of Ho Chi Mihn's house on the net. Apparently the talent to build out of teak is not a barrier. I understand they have teak farms too. Hummm... teak farming? The other day I looked at Danang via Google Earth. Lots of facilities... Hopefully I can get to some competent Vietnamese lawyer who can structure some deal for me. We will see.

So Where Is My Book Deal?

We just spent the long beach weekend in Le Marche. The Adriatic side of Italy is unvisited by Americans but is teaming with Italians and some Germans on the hotter days of summer.

The weekend was spent with Fabio and his family in a little town named Grottamare just next to San Benedetto. It is a nice enough town and the beach was just a few hundred yards away from the centre of town. It turns out that Fabio, who is originally from Naples and now lives near Perugia, has many family members who have made their way to Grottamare so we spent many evenings bumping into Grandparents, Uncles, Cousins and the like.

Fabio is married to LoAn, a nice Vietnamese woman, who he met while studying in Perugia. They have a daughter Alice pronounced Alee-Che) who is the same age as Matteo, but almost as tall as Giacomo. We met Fabio through Santhu Nguyen and his wife Virginia who live in Santa Maria just below Assisi... which brings me to my point.

Several months ago, I was toying with the concept of buying a spot of beach near Hue, Vietnam. Hue is the ancient Capitol of Vietnam and Santhu's birthplace. I was inspired by seeing the Jim Thompson house in Bangkok on our recent Southeast Asia trip.

A place on the beach? Giacomo LOVES the beach. Our own beach? Why not? A more RIGID and DEMANDING educational structure? ABSOLUTELY. Warm weather? Average 27 centigrade ALL YEAR ROUND. Less restrictive building codes? Probably. Can the kids learn Mandarin? Probably. LoAn thinks that Danang, 70 miles South of Hue and 700 hundred miles South of Hanoi and 700 miles North of Saigon aka Ho Chi Min City is the the place we ought to be. Can we still get the kids trained at Shaolin? Why not? Can this be done?? A new challenge.

I have just finished Thomas Friedman's book The World Is Flat. Perhaps its just me, but his observations of the very recent and rapid changes in our world do impact my choices in where we can live and how we raise our children for the 21st Century.

HENRY YU (1958-2005)

HENRY was my favorite brother-in-law. I had just met Fabrizia Renzini down at our favorite tavola calda, Il Pizzone,and exchanged email and phone numbers. I came home at about 4pm to find a Skype message... something very bad had happened to Henry. At 47 (My age), Henry had a massive stroke. I looked at Helen and asked her to call British Air to see if they could get us on flight back to California. I called Fabrizia to tell her we were leaving and did not know when we would be back.

The flight was at 8 am the next morning from Fuimicino near Rome. We drafted Rafael Guiterrez (now in Minnessota) to pull an all nighter and drive us to the airport.After arriving at SFO, we were met by Joanne, Brandon and Nikki and made it straight to see Henry.

It was a sad sight. Henry was in a deep coma with very little hope of surviving. A loving wife and three great kids were there in disbelief.Henry was just one of those guys who was there for you.

Before we moved to Italy, Henry offered to do stuff for us like take care of my father's tech support needs. I knew Henry had helped my dad a lot. The day Henry had his stroke, my dad had left messages on Henry's machine... messages Henry could not respond to.Henry was under a lot of self inflicted stress. In addition to being an exceptional 24/7 dad, he was organizing an exhibition at Piedmont High School to encourage Asians into the field of entertainment with actor James Hong and his daughter April Hong.

I admire Henry for putting his family first. I will miss him.

JACKSON MICHAEL YUEN

JACKSON "JAX" MICHAEL YUEN aka Giacomo is seen here at Bayun in Angkor (Feb 2006).

Jax attends asilo in Assisi, Italy where he claims he wants to marry Chiara, the little sister of Enrico.

His current past times include photography, music, paper airplanes and seeing grandpa via internet.

MATTEO REAGAN YUEN

Matteo was born on October 25, 2004 in the town of Assisi.

Potty trained in July 2006.

He is "the Quiet One".

FREEDOMBUS October 2001

The FREEDOMBUS had its first incarnation as a Laidlaw Schoolbus down in Southern California. After serving as our Safari vehicle to the ALCAN, its fate was to change after 9/11 when I was informed by the authorities that I could no longer keep the bus schoolbus yellow.

A little thinking, two gallons of paint from San Leandro Color, a few strips of self adhesive vinyl from TAP Plastics, two days of work and the Freedombus was born.

A week later we were off filming "Jack & George Ride The Freedombus" with the multi talented Michael Struthers. Ultimately this 50 minute film following us through the US immediately after 9/11 landed us at the Wine Country Film Festival in Napa Valley that year.

During this fast paced cross country trip we explored the US stopping to visit American Icons like Elvis, John f Kennedy and Martin Luther King.







In Philidelphia we answered the age old question... who makes a better Philly Cheese steak is better Pat or Geno?