Skip to main content

Read Rule Number One Again


“Goooood morning Vietnam!”

As the clock on the wall strikes 6:00 a.m. we’re ready to leap into another day. This is not a radio program being transmitted from the rice patties of Central Vietnam but (my hope) a humorous travel log from our Cenergy Power company retreat in November of 2019.

How do you possibly begin with so many unique and vivid experiences rolled into a ten-day trip in Asia? Well, it’s best I think, if we start with the rules we adopted early in this trip for safety, comfort, and a wide variety of extraordinary travel experiences.

The rules were simple:

Rule #1 - Always follow Doan Hyphuoc Vo (Dr. Vo)
Rule #2 - If you think you are right, read Rule #1 again

Why you say, well, sit back and allow me to share the story of our adventures in Vietnam.

Dr. Vo is the team lead (and our personal guide) for Cenergy’s Electrical Engineering Operations. He was born in Saigon in the early 1950s. This blog post could be a complete biography of his life growing up in Vietnam; dodging the Vietcong as a young boy, being captured during the Vietnam war, attending University to become an electrical engineer, and immigrating to the United States in 1981.

However, my objective with these posts is to document our travels and extend my heartfelt thank you for his eternal optimism, patience, planning, and persistence. It was simply uncanny how he was able to corral a frantic group of 22 people while arranging top-notch accommodations, maneuver bustling airports, overcrowded streets, open-air markets, a variety of recreational activities, excellent local foods, and quite frankly the ability to accommodate each individual's needs. No tour guide could possibly be as flexible or accommodating.

After 20 hours of travel from LAX on EvaAir (Taiwan based) via TPE, we arrived on Friday, November 21, 2019.

Luggage, oh my - as a group we schlepped - 8 large cardboard boxes, 2 checked suitcases per person, backpacks as carry-ons, cameras, caged chickens (just kidding), you name it we had it. We looked like a circus had just dropped from the sky into Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

Now imagine the challenge of passing through customs, a group this size approaching with carts loaded to the brim. Large X-Ray machines loom ahead with the prospect of having every box, bag, and backpack (after an exhausting flight) unloaded and reloaded one-by-one on to the rolling carts was absurd. Just minutes earlier our entry into Vietnam was routine, simply hand your passport and visa to security at customs. We were home free, (we thought) however there was one final checkpoint after collecting all the luggage.

So, how do you handle this? It’s simple - for Dr. Vo.

He walks casually to the head of the group and motions to the security guards running the X-Ray machine, “Would you like to see my passport?” He says in Vietnamese.

Suddenly, as if by magic we wheeled all those huge boxes and large heavy suitcases around the X-Ray machine to the exit with one stipulation, “Please place your backpacks on the conveyer.”

“In Vietnam what’s illegal is legal,” he would say to me many times during the upcoming week around the city.

Little did we know we had effortlessly passed through customs by following Rule #1. This would occur many times during our whirlwind travels.

But wait, its approaching Midnight and were still at the airport.

If you’ve never traveled to Asia here’s what you can expect. As you exit the airport, there is a barrier with hundreds of people waving placards, jabbering on cellphones, taxis, buses, scooters darting in every direction - in short, mass confusion. But there among the masses was Dr. Vo's man in Vietnam, Quach Bao. He calmly lead us off to the side and had taxis' ready to load that pile of stuff and our group of weary travelers. What a relief.

That night, headed for the hotel, we received our first lesson navigating Ho Chi Minh City,

“You see these cabs with the VinaSun logo they are legitimate, many of the others are not. In Vietnam what’s illegal is legal.”

Without incident, another potential nightmare handled with ease and comfort.

So remember, when in doubt - read rule number one again.

And we haven’t even started yet, stay tuned . . .

Comments

Most Popular of All Time

Beyond Facts-The Deep Dive

✨ In this episode, Beyond Facts: Reimagining School–in the Age of AI . . .   This week's podcast is a bit different; it's another example of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can offer tools to creatively enhance your analytical presentation of information. We took this week's blog and copied it into Gemini with the question, “If a story is to work, it must, on some level, create an illusion of escape and also achieve a goal simultaneously. Does this apply to my blog post that follows?” What's created is not just an analysis of the writing, but an AI-generated discussion produced “On the Fly” - Enjoy! Did you know that the word "school" comes from the ancient Greek word scholÄ“ , which originally meant "leisure"? Not a rigid schedule or droning lectures filled with "facts," but free time for thinking and conversation. To the Greeks, learning happened best when life slowed down—when you had room to reflect, to ask questions, and to wrestle ...

A Heart Full of Thanks

Oh, the thanks I could think, and the thanks I could say! For the wonderful people who brightened my day. The first one is Lori, my wife, sweet and true, Who knows just the thing and knows just what to do. She whipped up a feast with a smile and a sigh, With corn on the cob and a steak cooked “On the Fly!” My neighbor, Steve, with a mischievous gleam, Said, “No fence work today! No work, it would seem! You’ll paint with some water, some colors so bright, And sign your new painting with all of your might!" I laughed and I said, “But I don’t know that skill! I’ll slap on some paint and see what sticks still!” Then there’s my friends on the Facebook machine, The best group of readers that ever was seen! They read all my blogs and they hear my podcasts, They send all their cheer that's built to last! And Billy and Linda. A Snoopy card in the mail. A wonderful surprise that was sure to prevail! From very good friends, a delightful new tale ! But the thanks didn't stop, no, not...

The Summer Surprise

In this special episode, The Summer Surprise . . .   Well, howdy there! It's me, Huck Finn, and lemme tell ya, somethin' special happened just the other day. We called it "The Summer Surprise.” Phew-wee! That ol' post box, it coughed up somethin' good! Wasn't no bills, nor them pesky ads, and thankfully, no regular ol' rocks neither. Nope, this here was a letter, folded up neat as a pin, looked a bit like one o' them school lockers, just sittin' there waitin' to be opened. It was from young Sierra, a mighty fine friend, and she'd gone and made some pure, honest-to-goodness artwork with her own two hands. My fingers they was all thumbs, just itching to see what kind of wild wonder she'd whipped up this time. I unfolded that paper, careful-like, you know, and bless my bare feet, there it was! A picture of a whole gymnasium and a mini-soccer field, all done up in colors that just popped. She'd used crayons and pencils, and you could tel...

A Pirate's Ponderings

In this episode, A Pirate's Ponderings: Turning 69 with a Classic . . . When was the last time you were so compelled by a quest that you had your bags packed and your boots on before the first rooster crowed? For me, this summer has been exactly that, a journey where the world outside faded away and the one inside my head roared to life. I felt like that young cabin boy in training, with the vast ocean of a great story stretching out before me. My hand was on the wheel, navigating every swell, riding the waves, and eager to see what lay just beyond the horizon. This wasn't a journey across lands, but a flight of imagination that has been an exciting ride. My adventure took off on the deck of the Hispaniola as I became lost on Treasure Island . My imagination soared, and I could almost taste the salt spray and feel the ship's timbers groan as we sailed toward our destiny. Below deck, in the narrow, shadowy depths, I could smell the hearty meals Long John Silver and Jim Haw...