Scott's Southeast Asian Adventures

As I get set to return to Asia next Friday, to meet with clients and visit with friends, I'm reminded of August 2007, when I became a resident of Saigon, on a peninsula of District 2 called Thu Thiem. The reminder is in the form of a photo (see below) snapped recently and shared the other day by Carl Robinson, a former AP correspondent who loves nothing more these days than to share memories, stories and images with the 250-plus-member Google discussion group "Vietnam Old Hacks". The photo was taken from the observation deck of the new Bitexco Financial Tower , by far the tallest building in Vietnam now at 68 stories high. The frame transports me back in time because of what it shows. Or, rather, what it doesn't show. And that is so much of what surrounded me when living in Thu Thiem -- miles-long rows of modest houses, restaurants, shops and markets that line Luong Dinh Cua Street, and giant billboards along the Saigon River and next to the little ferry terminal th

Three years ago last week, when Claire and I were living in Saigon, we flew north to Hue , Vietnam's imperial capital, and spent about five days there with my colleague Jim and his family -- wife Thuy, son Cullen and daughter Vivian. I remember it being cold and rainy in the same way my native Seattle is around this time of year. I also remember how fun it was to be in Hue that week, mainly because it was Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. The streets and markets were crowded with shoppers of all ages on the prowl for things like flowers and cakes and decorations and gifts. Despite the gray skies, there was color -- reds and golds and yellows and greens, everywhere you looked. We roamed places like the Citadel and Thu Duc's Thomb. We drank cafe sua during the day, and in true locals style, warm beer at night. We munched on Hue specialties, in the homes of Thuy's relatives. We cruised around the wet city on a rented motorbike. We played pool in the lobby of La Residence Ho