I am now going around town with three strong-willed, intelligent, lovely women, with millions to spend in my pockets. I am in Hoi An near Central Vietnam where, in their dong currency, a million is equivalent to around 2 thousand Pinoy pesos. In a tourist destination like this, you sometimes win by haggling and, in other times, by just surrendering to the lure of fine food or exquisite craft.
The first woman is Trinh from Hanoi. She was one of my much younger classmates at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM). She holds three college degrees and two Masters and has eschewed scholarships in Germany and Luxembourg even after being accepted as a scholar. She has traveled to more than 50 countries.
Trinh is a senior manager in a big bank in Vietnam and runs the retail banking side of the northern region of the country, where she batons a thousand account managers and a thousand bank clerks. She was never into taking pictures when we were in school, but she later enrolled in a photography course in Boston University and fell so into it that she has won international prizes for her pictures.
At AIM campus, the person who lugged a camera every day and was like a mad chronicler was Cat, the second woman in this trip. She is also a much younger classmate in that crash leadership course where she beat most of the guys in ping pong. That is how agile this feline is, the kind of person who can climb high mountains in Kerala wearing beach sandals.
Cat or Katisha has worked with ADB and HP where she was with the Project Management Office, linked with co-workers every day and had to fly to Cincinnati, USA every so often for conferences. She has been to more than 20 countries, visiting popular tourist sites but going through unbeaten paths solo. She loves anime and also paints with watercolor coming out with lovely pieces when using wet on wet technique.
Both Trinh and Cat are travel and photography bugs, with the uncanny ability in stretching their well-earned money. And both are foodies like the third woman in the group.
The third woman is the wife, Gwiz, who openly declares that she would rather be a housewife, to the consternation of her woman libber friends. Her mind and body might seem feeble these days, but she remains sharp. She was a science high school scholar and took up architecture in UP.
Gwiz has gone to more than 25 countries but she has a singular motive in coming to Vietnam, and that is to relish once again Bun Cha, noodles with lots of veggies, roasted pork and ground pork at the same time.
As a sidelight, Trinh, Cat and I will be doing photography for my second edition of my picture book Babae - with them individually at the front end of the lens. This time, I’d like to be able to pay attention to details on the locale and on the wear even if, like the first edition, there will be nudity.
So far, our banters have not touched on management techniques, politics, economy, nor literature. It has been mostly on cuisine, marked by oohs and ahhs, and laughter. It turns out, a lot of my other friends love Vietnamese food.
I will not put my weight on that, mine being limited to “like” and “do not like.” I will just cite what Temples and Markets said about Vietnamese cuisine. That it is guided by the principles from ancient times based on the Chinese five elements. The practice means that each dish must appeal to all five senses – taste and aroma, the sense of touch, the visual, and the sound (crispiness or slurpiness?). Moreover, many dishes strive to include and balance five types of flavor – spicy, salty, sour, sweet, and bitter.
The wife and I are new to most Vietnamese fare but I think we agree with our other friends that this indeed is one of the most outstanding ones in the world.
I meant to write about women’s rights in Vietnam, among other things, having noted how high my friend Trinh has gone in her career. On the other hand, Cat is opting to take it easy by going to teaching. Both are very much single. While the wife Gwiz still swears by supporting the husband’s pursuits, crazy as they may seem oftentimes. For that I am grateful.
Life is about tastes and choices. You could look at life with different lenses and angles. What is in illumination and what is dark. What must be in focus and what should be cropped off even if you see them. Equally important, who will be the company you keep in the frames of your days