Two Day Hiatus...

We're off on a quiet honeymoon in the middle of nowhere with about 20 family and friends. Ahoy Hanoi will be back in probably two days. To pass the time I suggest going back and rereading some of the old blogs about Huyen and me. I think it'll be like watching the first few Star Wars movies again before watching the new ones.

Ben

Childhood Obesity

Last week Obama signed the Child Nutrition Bill. No news flash here, but Americans are some of the fattest people in the world. Coming from the US to Vietnam was a slight shock seeing how skinny and seemingly fit everyone was. However, that was three years ago. Recently, I've noticed something around Vietnam -- there's a lot of chubby people here now.

A couple of years ago I had no heavy kids in my classes; now it's irregular not to have a few. I've been noticing this change recently and brought it up to a few friends who have been here for a while. Apparently I'm not the only one noticing the waist lines increasing out here especially on children. Huyen and I live by a high school and every day I see some kids who would definitely be considered obese. I'm not a nutritionist but I don't think it takes one to know that it can't be a coincidence that KFC and other fast food places have been popping up all over the place over the last couple of years. Furthermore, I constantly see kids snacking on packaged foods like chips and candy which clearly are contributing to the problem.

Clearly I don't have a say in Vietnamese governmental policy but if I was was the Vietnamese government, I'd start putting together a child nutrition bill of their own ASAP.

Off getting married...

Here's the first picture Huyen and I ever took together:


And today we're getting married...

It must have been my totally awesome wrist band.

Hanoi Citadel

(PICTURE: Huyen at the Citadel gate.)

This year the Hanoi Citadel was named a world UNESCO site. Why? Well, I'm not totally sure since it definitely doesn't seem to be one of the more historic places in the city. That's at least the opinion I came to after scouting it out to add to our "Tour of Hanoi" for wedding guests.

Neither Huyen or I had been to the citadel before and well, we probably won't be going back after we take the wedding guests there. There just seems to be a hole lot of nothing at the citadel. Sure there are a few things that are a pretty old, but in general it felt like a lot of empty space and just a little bit of history.

The cool thing about the citadel though is that:
1. It's free.
2. It's next to the Army Museum so you can just walk over.
3. There's some good picture opportunities to be had there.

Belated Thanksgiving Post

(PICTURE: Thanksgiving '10 with Su. Huyen, the chef, took the picture.)

This post is long overdue. I just wanted to say how awesome my soon-to-be wife was during Thanksgiving. She made some amazing mashed potatoes, eggplant french fries, stir fried pumpkin, a delicious beef dish as a substitute for turkey and apples and cinnamon for dessert. I can't wait for Thanksgiving '11 when Huyen can help prepare her first ever American Thanksgiving!

WTF? Falcon? Really?

After living out here for nearly three years, I don't have too many "WTF" moments anymore. However, the other day I sure had one.

Huyen and I were scouting the hotel my family and friends will stay at when I looked out the window and saw this:


I'm pretty sure that's a falcon but I can't be sure. What I am sure of though is that it is a HUGE bird and it is living in a cage on someone's balcony. This bird brings to mind a lot of questions:
1. Why a falcon?
2. Do they let it free at night to fly around Hanoi and eat the millions of rats roaming the street?
3. Where does one get a falcon?
4. Do the owners hang laundry on their balcony too?
5. Do the owners have to wear one of those huge falcon gloves?
6. Again, why a falcon? What's the fun in having a giant bird who can't actually fly.

I've always said that the worst pet to have is a bird. To me there's something completely strange about having an animal that flies, not be able to fly. It just seems wrong. And sure size shouldn't matter but having a giant bird in a cage just seems a little bit wronger.

Shed To Wed

Like all brides-to-be, I've been putting in a little extra at the gym recently.

Despite my personal theory that one should look their absolute worst at their wedding so that years later their kids can say, "Wow, Dad/Mom, you look way better now than at your wedding," I've been trying to shed a few pounds before I wed.

Although I'm clearly not in high school shape (or early/mid twenties) the machine at the gym thinks otherwise. Check out this print-out about my stats. There's one really awesome figure on there that I want everyone to pay attention to:


In case you missed it, my "Metabolic Age" is 16! I don't even know what that means but I like it! Sure I'm still 7 pounds away from 200 but that's besides the point. As far as those other numbers, who knows what the hell they mean. I'm 16, I don't need to worry about fat rating or bone mass!!!