Conrad @conradcole@mastodon.cloud
Hanoi-based tourism investment and business development advisor.
tossing hot tea -40C at the arctic circle… #ice #tea
https://pod.disroot.org/posts/1462614 https://social.weho.st/media/sPde_IyUNgrTbmWFpgE
Another one of these mutual accusations that come up all the time is that Westerners think Vietnamese are short sighted. Vietnamese think Westerners just live for now. Back and forth all the time.
It all just comes down to being surprised by how the other group values certain things over others for the short term or the longer term, cannot appreciate the importance or lack of importance for that other group, and feels like (on the balance) the other group skews an odd way.
...person's willingness to devote time and resources on a stranger that they could use on their family senseless and stupid. It is irresponsible with regards to their most valued ideal of selflessness.
Who's right? Neither, obviously. Each has different origins and different consequences, but I can't confidently say one is more or less indicative of selfishness.
3 Billion USD in #USA #RealEstate purchases by #Vietnamese nationals in the year ending March 2017. 1.5% of GDP:
http://www.vir.com.vn/us-property-purchases-on-shaky-legal-grounds.html
Everything other than that number is just tiptoeing around the obvious. Massive money laundering operations between the U.S. and #Vietnam. The relative silence about it implies the "level" of individuals involved. It also suggest the level of confidence those individuals have in local prospects.
Looks like @SlowRain has another reason to visit #Vietnam:
http://roadsandkingdoms.com/5-oclock-somewhere/nobodys-itching-stiff-glass-snake-wine-end-long-day/
I wished I had read this when I was in #Saigon last week. I'll have to grab a bottle on the next trip and report back to you.
One of better recent travel videos put together on #Hanoi:
In Saigon this week, and traffic is as bad or worse than ever. I can tolerate it, though, as they reason is that they are building a metro and various other elements of infrastructure that should alleviate things going forward.
It better.
From this morning's bike ride. Because it was simply a beautiful day, & life is good.
#Taiwan
#Taichung https://mastodon.cloud/media/k4aS9a3hApfEg2QCypc
Anyone out there with an interest in #Vietnam, #AsianLiterature, or who generally want to be a part of seeing works from PoC translated, published, and promoted to a public who often do not even have the familiarity to know what they are missing, then this is a project I strongly recommend you support:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1659590636/mekong-translation-bringing-great-literature-to-li
I really want to get my hands on these in English, so let's get it over the line.
Steve Earle on the state of popular country music:
"Most country nowadays, country by men, is hip-hop for people that are afraid of black people."
http://www.allmusic.com/blog/post/steve-earle-interview
With such easy access to the world of alt-country and Americana these days, I can't imagine why anyone would listen to cliche ridden nonsense that is pop country...other than that appeal to white supremacy, I guess. We've all seen how far that will take you in today's America.
As the world increasingly flirts with absurd flavors of #nationalism, I am happily reminded that a night can turn for the better on an impossible to predict intersection of oblique trans-national, tastes.
Cheap #Bourbon
#Chinese Dried Fish in Cumin & Chili Infused Oil
Friends from six countries brought together by optimism, trade, and the curiosity the previous two inspire.
41C in #Hanoi today. Heat index pushing 50C. Many vacated the city for the seaside and higher elevations. Those who remain have abandoned the streets. I wish I could get out and enjoy the spookiness of it being so empty, but it is dangerously hot out there.
I went out for #gin and ice. It required a pair of ten minute motorbike trips and they hurt. It is in moments like this when I am thankful Hanoi doesn't have near the frequency of power outages it once had. People would die from one today.
June 1st, and with it, the first #lychee of the year. I will now proceed to gorge myself on so much of my favorite fruit over the coming weeks that the thought of one will turn my stomach.
Tuesday evening decompression: strong drink, a quiet room, good books.
Thanks to @SlowRain, I find myself paying far more attention to #coffee gear around #Hanoi.
(But that doesn't mean I know any more about it than before.) https://mastodon.cloud/media/7aD-Ooy_zcR394cLS-s
If you're at all interested in classical Chinese, I recommend Bryan Van Norden's "Classical Chinese for Everybody". It's a concise, lucid introduction that doesn't drown the reader in grammar (though there's naturally plenty of it) or bury them under mountains of characters. Best of all, it's free online: https://www.google.com/url?q=http://faculty.vassar.edu/brvannor/ClassicalChineseEveryone.pdf&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwi1vPaSx5bUAhWog1QKHU_WCVcQFggLMAA&usg=AFQjCNH3i_k0mpEdKQmRIrAi6XTe3FbrlA
"The traditional image of her as a remarkable yet human leader, throwing her yard long breasts over her shoulders when going into battle astride an elephant, has been handed down from generation to generation."
-- Keith Taylor on the legendary Bà Triệu
I can't imagine anyone living in #Vietnam today would find its long history of remarkable women surprising. Vietnamese women don't mess around. They get shit done. You learn that quickly or end up wishing you had.
3 groups exist; the Mastorati with here huge followings and massive influence; the Mastolluminati with their cryptic practices and unknowable goals; and the Mastoletariat who labor for every like and boost and must seize the means of production before they're crushed under the heel of the other two
We need to standardize the book #hashtags a bit. What are we going to use in general as a main #hashtag?
#books vs. #reading
#amreading vs. #nowreading
Any others?
Secondary hashtags for genre or subject matter can be whatever you want, but it'd be a good idea to settle on something now for the umbrella hashtag while #Mastodon is still young.
Boost, discuss, & decide.
(Perhaps there are already a few book-related instances or accounts that could chime in here.)
