Golfing with Sasin students

I was lucky enough to invited to play along with some of the Thai students at their home course during one Monday break from classes. The family of one of the Sasin students owns the course, Muang Kaew, and offers all Sasin students an incredible VIP discount; I think I only paid 1200 Baht (i.e. $35) for rentals and green fees. It's an impressive track, and it made for a fun day.

Here is our foursome -- (from left to right) myself, Nutt, Song, and Jack


Here is a view of the same foursome on the course


The first 5 holes were truly impressive, with a grat mix of water, bunkers, and palm trees.


One of the best parts of golfing at elite courses in Thailand are the mandatory female caddies, who know the game very well, even though they don't play themselves. They are incredibly sweet, and always provide a small after both good and bad shots.


I hit the ball quite well most of the day, even though I had only played twice in the previous two months. Scoring well, unfortunately, was another story...

Nutt had just picked up the game in recent years, but managed a positive attitude throughout. In my natural coaching demeanor, I used this shot to show Nutt that his swing was all arms -- i.e. very little movement in the lower body.

Jack, on the other hand, had played for some time, and hit some huge drives off the tee.

I'm hoping to get the invite again in the coming weeks.

A Few Days in Bangkok

During a free weekend in Bangkok, I set out for a little exploring and found some very scenic views. One night, the exchange students organized a group outing to a high class bar, called Vertigo, which sits on top of the very tall Banyan tree hotel. The few pictures below capture the scenic views looking out toward the surrounding city:

You can truly start to appreciate the size of the city from these views...


...and you can see a ferris wheel in the middle of this photo..


while very blurry due to the lack of light, this shot tries to capture the ambience of the bar. Drinks are about 2x what they normally are on the streets below, but it provides a nice change from the busy city bars. There is a very nice restaurant that sits behind the bar in the background.



..and a picture of a few of the exchange students. The Kellogg crew will recognize Jeremy, Ayo, and Tarun in the middle.


The following day, I set out on a tour of Siam square, very nearby where I live, but a location that I had not visited often. The site is located in a very busy part of the city, and there are good shots of hte city landscape below.

The recectly contstructed BTS (i.e. Skytrain) runs above a main road, called Sukhumvit ..


Siam square is one of the classiest establishments in Bangkok, and the escalators out near the street show a little of the flavor.

A view of the nearby Siam Paragon, housing moving theatres, video game centers, and many other entertaining activities...

Saigon (part 1 of 5 -- travels in Vietnam)

To take advantage of a 9-day break between classes, I headed to Vietnam for a little exploring of a truly unique country. I arrived safely in Saigon on Saturday (1/13/07) afternoon to begin my trek. I was set to fly out of Hanoi, approximately 1000 km to the north, in 9 days, so I knew I had to move quickly. My first stop was Saigon, captured below:

Literally, 1 minute after sitting down to enjoy my first beer in Vietnam, this cute girl came up to me offering to sell me some gum. I didn't want any, but I couldn't resist giving her 10,000 Vietnamese Dong (btw -- 15,000 Dong = $1 -- I felt like a millionaire there!). I had to resist this urge in the near future, as I soon had many street vendors interested in the new foreigner in town!


When I was at the airport in Bangkok, I saw the guy in the red shirt below wearing a Chicago Cubs hat -- I couldn't help but to inquire further. It turns out that he is a consultant in Chicago, and is looking to apply to B school very soon. He was traveling in Vietnam with an Intrepid travel adventure trip for 2 weeks, and we hit it off right away. We met these two Aussies early in the night, and enjoyed a game or two of pool.


They had never heard of Coors light! I couldn't help but buy them a round. The Colorado followers of the blog should especially appreciate this :-).


Shortly after leaving our first bar, my new Chicago friend and I headed around the corner, and who would be sitting there? -- why some old English friends that I had met in Koh Samui the week before. It's a small world....

This was a new member of the crew who I had not met before -- he was quite a character, and had many entertaining stories from his previous nights out in Saigon. One of them included being chased by a man with a machete! Thankfully, I never had the same experience.

I explored the city a little the next day. Saigon is a hectic place to say the least, but I was able to find some peace and quiet in this park below.

There was a nice flower garden at the end of the park.

Along the way, I made it into my first of many Vietnamese shopping markets, and immediately realized that the Vietnames concept of space, especially when it comes to the shopping experience, is drastically different than their Western counterparts. I found a few Nike things, and made my way out quickly, as shopping has never been one of my more enjoyable leisure activities.

Motorbikes are definitely abundant in and around the city center. The art of crossing the street is something to behold, and is captured in more detail at the bottom of the Vietnamese postings.

As usual, I was attracted to the local pool hall, but this place was more impressive than most. I saw a fairly small "Pool Hall' sign on a quite random street in town. I followed a dizzying set of hallways back for about 100 yards, and made my way into this huge warehouse-style pool hall, with ~16 pristine tables. Luckily, a fellow American from Boston came up to me almost immediately, and we enjoyed a few games. This was supposedly the hot spot in town for pool; my instincts seem to do quite well!

Not wanting to waste the entire day away, I finally slipped away from the pool hall (I returned a few times over the next several days :), and made my away to some of the more touristy attractions in town. Captured below is Reunification Palace, where the first communist tanks crashed into Saigon in April of 1975, to officially close out the Vietnam war between the North and South (...the US troops had exited two years earlier in 1973)

Though I was a bit hesitant, I had to make my way to the War Remants Museum, which vividly captures the atrocities of the Vietnam war, and especially gives a negative tone on the American involvement. I'm not sure if I have ever felt so bad about being an American, but I am glad I saw the story from the other side regardless. In one telling corner of the museum, the opening line of the Declaration of Indepence -- We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness -- is highlighted next to several victims of Agent Orange, the vicious body-deforming gas used by the American army. I believe the headline of the exhibit was, "The Definition of Hypocrisy"

(the front of the exhibit is captured below -- I have spared the audience pictures from the inside)

A common intersection in Saigon. Amazingly, there are few stop lights in Saigon. Many intersections, like the one below, simply operate by calmly passing through, while somehow avoiding cross-traffic. It's truly a system to behold...

..another roundabout. Somehow, I've captured this photo with very few vehicles. Picture about 100 more bikes in the visible road area, and you can imagine the real chaos.

..another city street - this one more clearly captures the crowded nature within the Saigon city-limits

During one of my two days in Saigon, I walked out to the main river. It offered nothing special, but again, it was nice break from the chaos.

This statue on the riverside seemed to be important, and it offered a nice foreground for the buidings behind.

On my third day in Vietnam, I awoke early and jumped on a bus to Nha Trang. Though I knew the bus ride may be a bit long (i.e. 13 hours), I wanted to see the Vietnamese countryside, and I always seem to meet a few good fellow backpackers on such trips

Part of the road to Nah Trang.

..and the oceanside.

Nha Trang (part 2 of 5 – travels in Vietnam)

Finally! .. I had arrived in Nah Trang, the “best beach town in Vietnam”. After a 12 hour day bus, I was not really in the mood to hit the town hard, so I had a quick meal at a recommended restaurant and decided to call it a night in order to properly recharge for the coming days' activities. After a great night’s rest, I set out for a day of sightseeing and a night of partying in what I believe is the best club / bar I've seen in SE Asia. The following pictures capture the Nah Trang events:

Wide streets -- and sun! This was going to be a good day...


The beach is very nice, but unfortunately there is not a lot of activity, at least when compared to Ipanema in Rio or Chaweng beach in Koh Samui. I woke around 8am and went for a nice jog along the sand, the best method I know for familiarizing myself with a beach city.

Not pictured -- During my run, I ran into the Binh Duong soccer club, who is currently ranked 2nd in Vietnam's professional soccer league -- i..e the V-league. They had just stopped in Nah Trang for a quick break, as they were traveling south to play in a tournament. After watching for ~30 minutes, I kindly asked if I could join, as the game seemed quite laidback, and they kindly agreed. I only played for ~10 minutes before they stopped, but it was good fun, and they were clearly in much better shape than I. I had some friendly conversations, and they strongly advised me to meet them at the Sailing Club that night -- game on!


A view out to the islands in the distance -- I would head out that direction the following day.


After my beach run, I found a very friendly motortaxi driver to go checkout some of the landmarks in the area. He spoke quality english, drove safely per my request, and had a great sales method -- i.e. he had a notebook filled with photos and stories from travelers who had used his services before; a great idea!


First stop -- Nah Trang Cathedral. Pretty nice, even compared to western standards. He explained to me that ~40% of Vietnamese are catholic -- surprisingly high, I thought.

the inside

From the cathedral, which sits on a hill, you could see the ultimate destination -- Long Son Pagoda, home of a 14 meter tall sitting buddha. We were headed there next.

At Long Son Buddha, the first attraction is a sleeping buddha -- this thing was huge horizontally!

Climb a few stairs, and you get to the most populat landmark in Nah Trang -- Kim Than Phat To -- i.e. sitting buddha.

..and a closer look.

You can walk underneath, and enjoy the burning incense.

From the hill of the buddha, you can get the best views of the surrounding city of Nah Trang. Not quite a booming metropolis, but definitly a happening beach town.

..and a view out to the mountains.

There are a number of orphans who live in the pagoda, the Vietnamese word denoting a temple. They sell postcards to raise money for their schooling. I couldn't help but to support this cutie -- ..and her quality english was much appreciated.

Next stop -- the Po Nagar Cham towers. Built between the 7th and 12th century, the towers were and still are a famous home to Hindu worship. The complex covers 500 sq meters, and there are ~8 towers.

One of the towers

You can get an impressive view of a connecting bridge from this site.

On the way back into town, my driver pointed out a fishing village that supposedly has been in operation for over 100 years.

That night, I headed out on the town, looking to enjoy a big night in Nah Trang. First stop -- the local bar with a very nice pool table. This seems to be my go to move in Asia. I met a few very nice people, and even one other American, which is quite a rarity in Vietnam.

A couple in the audience (sitting toward the right) had just been married, so they were in full party mode. As you can see, it was a Westerner and a vietnamese girl, a popular scene throughout Vietnam.

At about 11, we headed over to the hot spot in town -- The Sailing Club. At 11, the place was quiet, but by 11:30 it was rocking. The first couple dancing is shown below -- they were good.

..and about 11:40, the place was in full groove. It was a great club for many reasons, but especially because it opened up on to the beach, and there was a nice breeze blowing in from the ocean.

Here are two Swedish girls that I had met at the pool hall, and headed over to the dance club with intiailly.

I guess this is me trying to be artistic with a slight buzz -- not exactly sure :)

It's too bad that this shot did not turn out because it captures the thoroughly entertaining crew that I met that night. Mixed in the crowd were the Swedish girls, some of the soccer players I had met on the beach earlier that day, and some other random travelers -- all good fun!

The next morning, I was was by no means feeling at my peak, but I somehow made it up around 8am for Mama Linh's popular boat trip out to the islands.

At first, I regretted getting up as I was not feeling my best, and the boat was clearly not luxury. However, the guide (speaking below) was very friendly, and soon got the party started ...

Around 12, they set up an impressive lunch for us all.

After lunch, the party really got started, as we began to see what makes Mana Linh's boat tour so special. The onboard crew broke out a guitar, a microphone, and a drum set composed of pots and pans.

Our guide started pulling crew members up on stage to engage in songs from each of the tourist's home country. On the left was one of the Australians onboard who rocked out to one of their national songs.

The Koreans were next.

Unfortunately, the best part of the trip is not shown -- i.e. the 'floating bar'! ..or Mama Linh's main surprise. Basically they throw out on the ocean a floating device equipped with ~8 bottles of wine (i.e. terrible wine!) and a bartender, and claim that all drinks received in the ocean are free! The group shown below took full advantage. The wine was truly awful, and was even worse when combined with splashing seawater ..but it was truly a great time! Drinking 5 glasses of wine while floating in the ocean -- scratch that off my list...

By this point, we were all having a good time. We had a great crew. I especially made friends with 2 Australian couples and an American girl from Boston, who was also traveling through Vietnam.