Independence Day

Something occurred to me last night when Huyen wished me a happy fourth of July. The last time I celebrated an "Independence Day" it was in Vietnam, where they were celebrating -- more or less -- independence from us (and the French). Everyone needs someone to be independent from. Happy 4th of July!

Fourteen Months

Fourteen months ago I met Huyen. I still smile every time I think of her...especially when she sends me funny pictures of her hanging out in trees:

Reverse Culture Shock #7

I'm 201 lbs. Yup, it's true. I've officially cracked the 200 lb* threshold. I'm pretty sure that I've gained about five or six pounds since I've come home. I attribute this to a few things:

1. I'm not working out. To join a gym in the USA you need to pay a membership fee and then monthly fees on top of it. Since I'm home for just three months it isn't worth it. I've tried running by I've got chronically bad knees.

2. Food portions in America are bigger than in Vietnam. As you can imagine, the average American is a tad bigger than the average Vietnamese person and thus the portions are a tad bigger too. I use the word "tad" very loosely here.

3. I'm eating less fruits and vegetables. Sure there is no shortage of fruits and veggies here but in Vietnam they just seemed more attractive. There's something more enticing about seeing a woman selling pineapples just plucked from the ground than a bowl of peaches sitting on my kitchen counter top for a few days.

The weight gain is probably not going to stop anytime soon. Today I'm flying to LA where I will gorge myself on my favorite eats that I haven't enjoyed in a year and a half. That said, I'm also packing my speedo to start swimming again or else I'm going to finally look like the adult version of what I looked like when I was a baby:

(PICTURE: I'm the one with the double chin.)











*I once was 205 lbs a few years ago so total panic has not set in.

Big Yet Small City

(PICTURE: Alex and I on our way to the game. I'm wearing Alex's 7th grade Mets jersey.)

Apparently I'm on a baseball tour of America. A couple weeks ago I went to Pittsburgh to see the Pirates with my dad and brother. Last night I went to the new Citi Field in Queens with my buddy Alex. Next month, I'll be going to see the Yankees play the A's -- my favorite team -- at the new Yankees Stadium.

There are over eight million people living in New York but it seems that around every corner is someone you know. Last night while walking to the game, we passed a girl we went to Syracuse with (who, for the record, I thought was far and away the prettiest girl at Syracuse University). Then at the game we bumped into a guy we went to college with (who clearly had forgotten my name). That guy mentioned that last time he was at the game he saw "my boys" X, Y, Z. Minutes later, Alex and I bumped into X and Y.

In this big-yet-small-city way, NYC is a lot like Hanoi. Hanoi isn't a big city at all and it seems that every time I'm on my bike, I see someone who I know. Huyen emails me often saying, "I saw ___ at ____." To me it is pretty cool when you can live somewhere with lots of people and keep seeing them all over the place. This is quite different than Los Angeles, the city I lived in from 2001-2008. LA is really spread out and you have to make an effort to see someone or else you're liable to never see them again. I mention this because tomorrow I'm off to LA where I'll be trying to see as many friends as possible in the ten days that I'll be there. Good times ahead!

(PICTURE: Citi Field.)

Check out what we got, Ryan!

Ryan wasn't able to come out with Dave and me yesterday because he had his father-in-law's birthday party. Well, check out what he missed out on:


Dave caught two fluke and I caught one. Unfortunately it wasn't fluke season so we had to throw them back into the water. Also unfortunately I had a ten minute bought of sea sickness and chummed the water with Dave's mom famous sausage and peppers which I ate the night before.

Gone Fishing...again

We got rained out yesterday. We're headed off to try our luck again this morning...

Gone Fishing...

(PICTURE: My grandpa Macky fishing.)

I have always loved to fish. I have so many fishing memories from being the king of fishing at Jeff Lakes Camp in 1st grade to catching a whale of a fish in a small lake with my Dad and sister to going out to Long Island once a summer during college and fishing with my buddy Shankles to bi-yearly deep-sea fishing trips in LA.

There's no doubt that I've gotten my love of fishing from my father who grew up going out on boats with my grandpa Macky. Here's a couple other pictures of my grandfather out on the sea:
(PICTURE: My grandpa Macky was the captain of his own boat...)










(PICTURE: ...and dressed like the captain on a cruise ship. Lounging to his left is my grandma Nanny and lounging to her left is my Aunt Jane.)

Today I'm in Long Island, fishing with my college buddies Shankles and Ryan. If I catch anything good I'll be sure to brag about it tomorrow!