Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Food


They call it a "hamburger" (I'm not sure I'm spelling that right)

Fruits



A quick note about the food here--I apologize about not taking pictures of my culinary adventures but I already standout enough so I don't think taking pictures of my food will make things any better.  Also, I think me taking pictures of the "exotic" street food is like a person in the States going to Taco Bell, taking pictures of her mexican pizza, and then using the photos as a source of cultural capital.  Because noodles are somehow more photogenic here.

The first couple of weeks here I was pretty adventurous, eating at random street joints and ordering things I really didn't know what they were, but everything was delicious and cheap.  However, my digestive system and tongue are apparently two separate entities and I won't share too many details but I gots what Dave Chappelle calls the "mud butt."  Not unexpected as I brought the jumbo-sized Pepto with me, but not a wonderful experience.  Anyways, after that I settled down and started to eat with the family I live with, who while won't be scoring perfect scores on health inspection checks, is much cleaner than the streets (or so I thought...more on that later).  Nowadays, when I do go out, I usually visit "Western"/Non-Vietnamese food places to hit some of my cravings (Hamburgers, fish and chips, philly cheesesteak, pizza, fish and chips, and Indian (which was quite good and cheap too)) which is somewhat weird as I am in Hanoi but whatever.

Still, having someone buy and cook everything for you is terribly convenient--I read, watch movies, write, research, then come down to eat.  Then back to work or go out.  Done.  I feel it has made me a bit sheltered as I'm not at the market haggling for a dollar off cabbage but I would rather do other stuff than, you know, worry about feeding myself.

There are some negative aspects of this arrangement though.  I find that many Vietnamese families believe a strong man is one who eats an outrageous amount of food.  In fact, I think that's number 2 in my Dad's list for men who can date/marry my sisters-- A big appetite (number one is "not black"...Hah, I joke.........).  So while I would have probably liked this when I was a bit younger when my metabolism was a bit quicker, right now I am struggling.  Minimum serving at lunch and dinner: 2 bowls of rice, two servings of each meat dish (1/4 lbs per serving--there are normally two meats so four servings), two servings of vegetables, 1 bowl of soup (which has vegetables, broth, and another meat/fish), and 2 different types of fruits (generally a banana and 2 small servings of another fruit).  And they still yelled at encouraged me to eat more.  One of the customs in many Vietnamese houses is 1) the host should offer the guest as much food as possible and 2) the guest to show respect and eat a lot.  Not good for tony's heart.

At first, I was eating 3 meals (breakfast is much smaller but still heavy in my opinion--2 fruits, bread (a 6 inch french loaf), sometime eggs, meat, and sticky rice (Xôi (soy)) 

Usually xôi comes wrapped in a banana leaf and then newspaper (sanitary I know) but this one came wrapped in this paper.  Xôi and seismic readings for only 5000 dong (25 cents)


but I physically couldn't do it.  At the end of each meal I found myself moaning and I think quite possibly on the verge of death.  There were many days where I honestly didn't do anything because I was falling into a food coma.  So I started skipping breakfast (which I usually do/or just eat some fruit) which gives more room for lunch and dinner, but I think it makes them push harder since I didn't eat breakfast.  You get what you can get I guess.  I learned some tricks though.  Before, I would just eat in a smooth and quiet manner, i.e. wait for everyone to get meat (it's served family style) and then sneak in and grab some.  I found out that even though I was eating a lot, it wasn't registering as the family didn't notice I was eating.  So now I make very exaggerated motions to say "Hey, I getting some meat!"  (Hmm that doesn't sound right...).  I also hold my bowl close to my face to hide the contents of my bowl--sometimes it is empty or has a small vegetable that I nibble on and this gives me a chance to "rest" before I shove my face full of food again.  

There was a point where I was like, "Okay, just say no."  So one day I did when the wife tried to make me finish a bowl of soup (it was the serving bowl ~ 2.5 cups of liquid, veggies, etc.).  She really egged me on, but I stood my ground.  She then say, "Fine" and proceed to drink/eat the entire bowl in front of me in under a minute.  Total emasculation.  I remember this moment because I was thinking..."Oh Hell no."  So the next day I picked up my game and took her out.  Finished everything.  No leftovers, no prisoners.  Which is kinda of bad because now they know I'm capable of eating a lot and provide more pressure but at least I have my manhood.  Oh, I'm that competitive.


They also make fun of how I eat.  I eat with my mouth closed, bite noodles clean instead of slurping, and usually don't talk with my mouth full since, well, it is like the first thing we learned in school.  Viet Nam doesn't have that rule and they slurp, gnaw, and smack away while telling a story.  One time they joked they should eat like tony and after about 20 seconds of silence, the wife decided, "well, maybe your mouth can open a little bit."  This was said, of course, with her mouth full. 


On a different note, I discovered that I really, really love pork fat.  Before, I wasn't anti-pork fat but it wasn't a large portion of my diet.  Here, however, pork is king and everywhere there is the king, his delicious, seductive, yet obese mistress, pork fat, is always present.  She (yes pork fat has a gender) is either rendered and coating vegetables, defeating the whole purpose of the veggie's nutrition, or in its pure, white, and smooth form that gives a bit of chewy resistance but effortlessly melts in your mouth.  Contrasting this soft texture is the crisp skin that gives a nice crunch with a deep, almost burnt (but good), smokey pork flavor.  Ugh, goes straight to my hips.  It is the sole reason that I started jogging in the park.


I also live down the street from a french bakery with croissants for 40 cents each.  Huge, flaky croissants.  Cheap, Delicious, and Convenient.  Also known as Dangerous.  I also been drinking lots of coffee with condensed milk because it is everywhere and cheap.  I usually pick a general direction and walk and less than a minute there is a coffee shop.  My favorite is by the Army Museum, quite popular with Communist soldiers, and has a random table with a picture of Girl's Generation.  Tea here is good but absurdly strong.  Seriously, for a small pot they put a handful of tea leaves.   


Oh one last note.  A few days ago I decided to invite myself to go shopping with the live-in maid of the house at 6:30 am and well it was an interesting experience.  First, she joked I would distract people because I was weird-looking.  Hah.  She was right.  Every woman behind the counters asked about me:  "Where are you from?  Who are you with?  Are you with her (the maid)?"  I did get a lot of smiles...if only I were single, man, I would hitting up that market...to get discounts on fruit. 


We then went straight to the meat table (a literal table with meat) and she went STRAIGHT into the raw chicken.  The butcher gave her a bag, which the butcher placed STRAIGHT on the raw meat.  The maid then used her chicken hands to pack the bag.  She then handed me the bag to hold, which of course I did (Mental note: wash hands!  Don't touch your face!--of course my eye started itching).  We went to the vegetable "section" and she and her raw chicken hands went STRAIGHT into everything.  After that, we were going home when she grabbed my elbow and said to wait because she forgot to buy something (Mental note: wash elbow!).


I knew this probably happened all the time but it was better when I didn't know for sure (Oh, you're paranoid tony, they know better).  They do have this anti-bacteria veggie/fruit washer thing and seem to cook everything thoroughly (even if they boil chicken to death twice, but that's a good thing looking back), but man...that's RAW chicken you're flinging around there.  I may sound like an elitist here but I don't think many people understand concepts of basic biology or the idea of bacteria/viruses and how they are spread.  Even many students/professors who are pursuing or have a college degree seem to ignore basic notions of sanitary living  (granted most are in the film/humanities field, but still...).  I see people on the street washing dishes with limes, which is better than nothing, but citrus acid only goes so far.  Though, with bacteria evolving to become more resistant due to the use of anti-bacterial products, maybe they know better.  Or not, it's raw chicken!  


Again no pics at the market because do Americans take pics at Wal-mart?  Well, judging from facebook, yes they do but not of the produce.


tony

Thursday, October 14, 2010

The Owl and the Sparrow

Panda Express and PF Chang's are two restaurants that come to mind when I think of authentic Asian cuisine, as in "authentic Asian food is NOT Panda Express or PF Chang's."  The notion of authenticity, in this case, is useful as I can guide you away from "imitation" Chinese food (or just bad food in general) and hopefully towards greener rice pastures...err paddies.  In a broader view, labeling something's authenticity or "realness" is a way many of us differentiate between cultures --this is authentic Vietnamese food, thus you are experiencing a different culture from X and getting a real foreign/"other" experience, not, in my case, "Americanized" food (assuming you are not Vietnamese).  Authenticity a form of discourse that makes cultures distinctive from each other by defining them and promoting what is the rightfully "real" or wrongfully unauthentic.  You could argue a positive for all of this is that it has stopped the complete collapse of global cultures into one homogeneous mass culture or that it provides a way to recognize other cultures.

However, this concept severely limits our views on culture as it is a form of essentialism; when I say this is real Vietnamese food, there is an implication that the entire culture and nation of Viet Nam prepares and presumably enjoys the dish, which is obviously not true.  Even Viet Nam's most famous dish, pho, is prepared and eaten in different ways depending on your location (spice blend, noodle size, condiments, herbs, etc.).  As much as the Ministry of Culture would like, there is unfortunately no such thing as a single, homogeneous, and authentic Vietnamese (or any) culture.  Ministries of Culture don't work because culture is a constantly shifting, multiplying, and hybridizing force--it is difficult to really control and confine to one definition.  In Viet Nam's case, I don't think you can discuss Vietnamese culture without mentioning the various regions and ethnic groups within Viet Nam, nor could you without touching on influences from French, Chinese, and American culture (to name a few), who in turn, were influenced by others (British, Spanish, Christianity, etc.) and so on. I believe arguments about what is more authentically (insert culture) misses the point X's culture is a complex hybrid that varies with location and time and there are multiple ways to express one's culture.  In theory, there is no "authentic" culture.

The reason I am blabbering about this subject is because I have been sitting in some screenwriting classes at my University and the professor is pushing his students to create  "authentic" Vietnamese films.  This, according to him, means ignoring and opposing Hollywood and other Western influences and making a film that is uniquely Vietnamese.  Generally, I disagree with him because of the reasons above; one of his examples of a strictly "Western" director is Quentin Tarantino, which, similar to my Viet Nam example, cannot be discussed without mentioning Asian Kung Fu and Blaxploitation films.  (I think David Murphy in his discussion of African Cinema makes a good point that "if we follow this argument [of completely opposing Western Cinema] to its logical conclusion, then all [non-Western] films are 'inauthentic' or 'Western' simply because cinema was first invented in the West" (Murphy 28).  I suppose we will also have to take the pleasure out of non-Western cinema too.).

Yet, there is a part of me that doesn't blame him.  I think his desire for real Vietnamese films is similar to many calls by flaming liberals in our elitist Universities to produce more "positive" or "real" representations of homosexuals, Asians, African Americans, Women, etc. in media, history, literature, and so on.   On a personal level, I also don't want to see just Vietnamese imitations of Hollywood films, where viewers would think these films are a knockoff of HW pictures.  I would like to be some kind of Vietnamese aesthetic in cinema and for this distinctive style to be recognized on a global level--"Oh, that is Vietnamese cinema."  I think it was hard for me to completely reject the idea of authenticity because I am Vietnamese (I'm not exactly sure what percentage but it's there somewhere) and I believe we all have our opinions on how our culture (Hispanic, homosexual, women, whatever) should be presented and expressed.

We were then shown the film The Owl and the Sparrow (2007) by director Stephane Gauger as an example of a "Western" Vietnamese film.  It has been around for a couple of years but not many small films come to Texas (it is now available on Netflix).  Gauger is an interesting fellow; his mother is Vietnamese and his father is American (either of French or German descendant--there are two conflicting sources) and he was born in Saigon, Viet Nam, but moved to California at the age of five.  His education focused mainly on the technical area of film (lighting, camerawork) and he has worked with Tony and Timothy Bui (Three Seasons).   

The Owl and the Sparrow, Gauger's first film, is about three strangers meeting in Ho Chi Minh City: a country-side young girl who has run away from her job in her uncle's window blind factory; a 2nd-generation (possibly even more) zoo keeper who's fiance recently left him; and a lonely and depressed female flight attendant due to the fact that she has no love prospects in sight.  Throughout the whole film, I kept thinking, "This isn't Vietnamese..."  There were some instances where I thought Gauger captured some essence of Viet Nam--the clutters of trash interspersed with the modernity of HCMC, the chaotic and noisy traffic, and the hand-held camera work gave the film a slightly gritty feel (though I think the 50,000 dollar budget had more to do with that).  Nevertheless, I felt overall I was watching an American film: The story seemed to me like an universal (heterosexual) love story (I won't share the ending but I think you know where this is going) that could have occurred anywhere; stylistically it just felt like an American indie film with its hand-held camera work; and its ending, with musical score and all, produced a Hollywood feeling.

The film for the most part avoids politics and  Viet Nam's history, which is not exactly a bad thing since most Vietnamese films up until 2003 only dealt with those issues and those weren't exactly popular with a country full of young people who never experienced the war and turmoil like past generations.  (Since the film was being filmed in Viet Nam, it did have to be approved but Gauger says he did not have to change anything from the original screenplay.  However, this approval must have been in the back of his mind when constructing the script and in an interview he acknowledges that violence, politics, and sexual topics are "the three no nos" (qtd in Stone).)  Even the issue of poverty, which he does deal with the most--the young girl lives on the  street and sells flowers while avoiding people who "capture" children for orphanages--is glossed over by the romantic storyline. 

But I think I got too wrapped in the professor's use of the words "authentic" and "real" and some of my desires/thoughts positioned HW/Western films as normative, making non-Western film abnormalities (Sigh...so hard).  Instead of the idea of authentic vs. unauthentic, it is helpful to imagine film as an universal language with different accents and dialects, similar to James Potts or Hamid Naficy.  In this sense, like language, everyone speaks with an accent; so while there will be a dominant language(s) (classical and new HW), we don't have to necessarily place it in the center.  We shouldn't be expecting a completely different cinematic language from films around the globe, but, rather, we should focus on how these groups adapt film codes to their specific culture to produce an language that contains both domestic and foreign words.  For better or worse, I think The Owl and the Sparrow is a low-budget Hollywood film with a Vietnamese accent.  (Because of this, the fact that some people say it is an art film annoys me--speaking a different language and showing a foreign city does not make it an art film.  I think some focus on the "exotic" aspects while ignoring the films plays out like a HW film.) 


I think a lesson I got out of this is that while we should avoid the "authentic" debate and aim towards exploring cinema and culture as multifaceted, complex, and perpetually fluctuating objects, as my reception of the film shows, the concept should still be considered because perceived and imagined ideas about authenticity are very powerful and still affect us, even if we try really hard to ignore it.

On a personal note, although I have ragged on the film, I actually enjoyed it.  Yes, it is not full of depth, somewhat sappy, and very, very predictable.  But, after watching some of these films where everyone is poor and dying in wars, it was kind of a nice change.  We academics don't always have to complain and pout all the time, do we?  I enjoy cute and simple movies from time to time.  Plus, I always find that after 3 months of not seeing EAG, I start pining more...

tony



Murphy, David.  "Africans Filming Africa: Questioning Theories of An Authentic African Cinema." Transnational Cinema: The Film Reader.  Eds. Elizabeth Ezra and Terry Rowden.  New York: Routledge, 2006.  15-26.

Stone, Judy. "Stephane Gauger on 'Owl and the Sparrow.'"  SF360.org. San Francisco Film Society, 9 Feb 2009.  Web.  15 Oct 2010.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Ratatouille 2: Journey to Viet Nam


Here is a suggestion to Pixar: make a sequel to Ratatouille and have the rat come to Viet Nam.  The French have a long history in Viet Nam and made a very deep impact on the Viet Nam's culinary scene.  The film could also deal with many "post-colonial" and political issues that I'm sure kids are waiting for to be addressed in a computer-animated form.

What inspired this idea is that during lunch yesterday, a rat ran through the kitchen and climbed up onto the counter.  My landlord, giving chase, tried to kill it but the rat went into the stove (one of these medium-sized portable gas stoves).  He then tried to flush it out by turning on the stove tops--as much as I dislike rats, I did think that was kind of cruel but I bit my tongue; actually, living here you have to suspend any belief about animal cruelty--but Ratatouille was nowhere to be seen...He just wanted to cook!  Anyways, they recommended I try rat as it is a specialty and better than chicken (the pic above is from the web) so I shall put that on the list.  We then ate lunch in silence while staring at the stove.  Maybe they should make one of those short films they show before some of their movies because I don't think Ratatouille will last long in Viet Nam.

A Few other notes:

Weasel coffee in Viet Nam is different from cà phê Chồn (Kopi luwak) : cà phê Chồn refers to coffee beans eaten and digested from the Civet, while what is called Weasel Coffee in Viet Nam is actually beans eaten by another animal and is just regurgitated, not fully passed through the digestive system.  Weasel coffee is much cheaper and more available, although apparently you can get cà phê Chồn that is artificially made using the same enzymes in the Civet's digestive system.  I may have to splurge but I am drinking this stuff!

Also, another reason not to eat dog.

A followup on the 1000 year Anniversary of Hanoi.  I thought the Vietnamese Government did an outstanding job in planning and executing this celebration.  I fully support the Vietnamese Government in this case.

However, some very dumb people disagree with me.  It was rumored that the Government spent around 40 million dollars for this celebration and, well, let's say some people didn't see where that 40 million dollars went.  Overall, some people thought the celebration was boring and felt it was an older man's nostalgic view of what a "partay" should be.  Traffic was horrible, construction was rushed in many areas, outdated stages and equipment were placed throughout the city, and the events were dull and dry (old trees and rocks can only go so far) and only focused on the more ancient "traditional" aspects of Hanoi, ignoring the current environment.  People went to these events, but when they got there, they just walked around.  There seemed to be no attempt to make Hanoi's anniversary a more global, or even national, event, nor was there any sign of looking forward, a missed opportunity to showcase Hanoi's plans for growth and evolution in the next 1000 years.  I think many people liked celebrating their history, but perhaps it was difficult to relate to some of these traditions.

There was also a very unfortunate accident when a firework setup exploded in Hanoi.  This was censored by the government in the news (online, TV, print) so I won't tell you that it killed 4 people.

fun...


I am impressed by their flower arrangement skills.




And this is the traditional áo dài, a national reminder of our history, culture, and...hold on, I got a text.  I actually love this picture. 


tony

Monday, October 4, 2010

My Quest for Films



So I am still on the trail digging up these, let's say "low-demand," government films, and it is somewhat frustrating to see Dougie Howser's face at 80 percent of these DVD stores (Really, who is bringing these into the country) while I am on store 7 looking for one film.  In theory, the film archives of Vietnam should have the film.  However, there is a steep charge to watch them (4 subway foot longs per hour - on a Steenbeck, no less...) which I think is a bit expensive, so I am trying to gather as many films as I can and using the archives as my last resort.

Now, some of the stores I visit sell pirated copies of HW films, and when I say some, I really mean all.  But since I am being funded by the Fulbright Program and State Department, I would never use the money provided to me for anything illegal and I am, like totally, disgusted by this.

But IF I did buy something, it would totally be Mad Men (Seasons 1-3) for 7 dollars because I heard it was a really good show.  And I heard it was a really good quality version.  Dexter Season 4 for three dollars would probably be a good choice too.  Battlestar Galactica would be great too.  And they have a huge Bollywood section.  But IF I did this, I probably wouldn't spend too much since I most likely cannot take them home (they may get through security but is a 1 dollar disc copy of Machete worth it?) so I would probably give them away to my students.

On another note, I understand better Lawrence Lessig's proposition that media companies (TV in this case) should provide more "free" versions.  Hulu and NBC don't provide licenses to broadcast here in Vietnam...but guess what?  I can walk down the street and buy a show for 2 dollars - money you don't get which could have come from ads and commercials on websites/during the show.  In Hanoi, even if I wanted to, it is really difficult to find a legit copy of films and TV shows so the market here is almost non-existent--they're not gaining money here anyways.  Allow the shows to stream here and raise your viewership/website numbers.  Also, I'm mad because I can't watch The Office.  I guess I'll just wait for the bootleg dvd...if I did buy bootlegs which I don't.

Women want him.  Men want to be him.  So buy me.

1000 Year Celebration



So before I typed this blog, I was ironing clothes while listening to BoA and Katy Perry on Grooveshark (yes I would hand over my "man" card but I gave that away a long time ago) and paused to look outside my windows.  While it is cloudy, Hanoi weather has finally cooled off a bit allowing to open my windows and sit on my balcony to type or, in this case, iron my clothes.  I then had one of these holy moly "how the heck did I get here?" moments that occasionally hits me (G version).  I don't usually get emotional about my life--I'm more of a "whatever, no biggie, laid-back" person--but living in Hanoi has created some moments where I'm actually proud of myself and amazed that I am actually doing this...like ironing to Katy Perry in Hanoi, something I never thought I would ever do.

Anyways...in the first two weeks of October, Hanoi is celebrating the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi, so adding to my experience is the fact that I am living in a city that is turning 1000.  While exciting as this event is and my luck that I am present during such a time, it has been both wonderful and horrible.  

Bad first:  it is kind of crowded.  And when I say crowded, I mean packed.  My friend and I tried to go eat at a place down the street from where I live.  Normally, 5 minutes walking time.  We got a quarter of the way there after 20 minutes, because once the street gets jammed, all of the motorbikes go onto the sidewalk.  So from building wall to building wall on the street were motorbikes.  We saw what was ahead and with heavy exhaust fumes in our lungs, said "oh, tuck this" (rather I said that, she said it Viet).  It took about 25 minutes to walk back, which was much harder to do since we were going against traffic and led to a couple of scratches on our legs from being scraped by shoes, metal parts, etc., and we ate somewhere else.

However, the city is really beautiful during this time and the government has really spruced the place up--think Christmas but more humid.  Here are some pics during a more calmer but still above-average busy time:



                                       


Doves for peace....(Right next to the Army Museum)



 I will admit it has distracted me from my studies...but what's the point of flying around the world and just studying?  You have to experience the culture right?  1000 years doesn't come around that often...

tony


Friday, October 1, 2010

Randon Stuff

I should probably blog more often so I am more coherent instead of just bottling up events and then trying to remember them after almost two weeks and end up with a huge post but here goes.  Another list:

1.  Dill is surprisingly, at least to me, a very popular herb here in Hanoi.  Funny story: Thì là, the name for dill, is supposedly  derived from the Vietnamese phrase đây là, which means "that is."  As my landlord told me, when asked by someone (most likely French) what that herb was, the Vietnamese people would say "that is..." but dill did not have an official name so people would stop talking and try to think of a name.  The French, however, assumed this was the name of the plant and everyone just ran with it.  Hence đây là shifted to the similar sounding thì là.  I know, I just made your mind explode with knowledge.


2.  Living in Viet Nam has made me really cheap -- apparently even more than I already was according to somebody who got new shoes and an ipod from me (EAG!! >O).  A meal on the street cost about 15000 to 25000 (80 cents to 1.20 dollars) and this is a hearty meal, not obese Chili's servings but still a pretty decent meal.  Even some of the nicer restaurants (you know, the one with actual chairs and an indoor dining room section) offer meals for 30 to 40K (2.00 dollars ish).  So after a month of so of these prices, going to a more "western" restaurant is like a mini culture shock: 70,000 for a sandwich!?  I mean, it is only $3.50 and I have no problem dropping 10 bucks (~198,000K dong) a plate back home, but still...70,000?!?  That just sounds so much worse.

3.  You don't have to speak Vietnamese to live here.  I read an article the other day that talked about how in Thailand, you HAVE to speak Thai since people just assume (white, black, etc) that you do.  Here, if you look different, they speak English, which kind of annoys me since I want to practice speaking Vietnamese (I still response in Vietnamese but still...)  As my previous post mentioned, I'm really dark compared to others here, I'm about a foot taller than the average Hanoian (it has been weird to stand in a room and be literally shoulders above everyone else - I'm "only" 5'9''), and everyone thinks I'm mixed with something - though I do like the surprise that people show when I talk or at least show I understand them...However, I found you can coast through Hanoi with much speaking ability.  I'm not sure exactly why or how this happens, but I'll figure it out.     


4.  It's weird that I'm not recognized by Vietnamese people as Vietnamese or even Vietnamese American, but also tourists and foreigners don't recognize me as American.  A couple from America asked me in very bad Vietnamese (even worst than mine!) what street they were on and I could not figure out what they were saying (Yeah I could have said earlier I spoke English but I wanted to laugh at them for a COUPLE of seconds) so in my "American" voice I asked them what they were asking and they seemed very surprised I spoke English.  Oh, woe is me, where do I fit in??  And I have father issues!  I should write a book.


5.  Papaya is a very sexy word - apparently, also very difficult for Vietnamese people to say and I find that it impresses the ladies on your pronunciation and tongue skills.  


6.  Coffee is really cheap here and I drink too much of it.  I am trying to find weasel coffee - cà phê Chồn.  It is the coffee where the Asian Palm Civet eats the beans and then poops it out, giving it an "unique" flavor due to the enzyme reactions during the digestive process.  I drove by a cafe named Cafe Number Two and I wondered if that was their specialty, or if they were just the number two store in their chain.  Yes, I made a poop joke and it is a real cafe.


7.  I can't manage to eat dog or cat.  Before, I believed if you weren't a vegetarian or vegan, you couldn't argue against dog or cat meat because you consume cows, fish, chicken, turkey, and a million other types of animals (whatever is in a hot dog, which man, I could go for a hot dog right now) so why is it any different?  I just think of my dog and can't do it.  Also, watching many kitten videos on youtube has made unable to eat cat.


8.  I do have more but this will be the last point for today:  From what I have heard, Obama is very well respected here...George W. Bush...not so much.  Of course this makes sense since Bush stands for FREEDOM while Obama is very well loved by a socialist country.  Hence, from my Fulbright Level knowledge, I conclude that Obama is a Muslim.


tony