JACK BERNARD'S TRAVELS

Appearances are deceiving. Things are not always as they seem. Yes, I’m living in a hotel in a dirty, narrow alley in Saigon. But life is good in the alley. This Bentley is parked at the entrance to the alley every morning. The MSRP on the car is $200,000 plus 100% import tax. The per capita income in Vietnam is now $1,300 per year. I have no idea who the car belongs to but he has something going in the alley. Got to keep our eyes peeled.

Then just inside the entrance to the alley is the Senior Center. Every morning this group gathers for pho and gossip. Many of the “elders” here are living on their US Social Security benefits. Marilynn wants the black hair dye/shoe polish franchise in Saigon, but there are a few gray hairs in this particular group.

Right around the corner from the Senior Center is the local restaurant where the chef is busy working his magic.

And, the restaurant is right across the alley from the spa:

Which is also the family and pet play area:

And that’s right around the corner from the Aries Hotel where we live:

The local scene is rich and varied. N’est pas?

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Vietnam has a vibrant coffee culture. It is the second largest exporter of coffee in the world – after Brazil. There are coffee places everywhere. Carts on the street. Hole in the wall joints on every block. Local chains like Trung Nguyen and Highlands Coffee. International chains like Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (American), Gloria Jeans (Australian), Illy and Lavazza (Italian). But, until now the elephant has been missing from the room.

Until now!

Starbucks opened its first store in Vietnam on February 1st. The opening was a major cluster f…. People who make $500 a month stood in line for more than 2 hours to pay the equivalent of $3.50 for a latte and one hour of wi-fi usage. Three lines snaked around the New World Hotel block where the store is located.

I took this picture at 10:30pm on Thursday night. Every seat inside and out was occupied (the one in the foreground belonged to a guy in the 10 minute line for service). What isn’t shown in the picture is the upstairs seating area – also full. It’s like this from 7am until midnight. One of my local friends told me it is the largest Starbucks in the world. The downstairs area is about the same size as the University Village store in Seattle, the largest one I know of and one of its most successful.

I hate that they’re here. Vietnam was doing a great job without them, but four years ago Howard Schultz announced that Vietnam was a target market and, like a tsunami, Saigon has been waiting for the wave since that announcement. I’m surprised it took them so long to implement, but there are certain obstacles to overcome when companies want to do business here. There are skids to be greased if you take my meaning.

I understand why they wanted to come but everywhere they go they overwhelm and bully the competition. They saturate neighborhoods, overwhelm the little guys and force them out of business. At the moment their $3.50 latte is undercutting the competition at Coffee Bean and Gloria Jean’s by 15 cents. We know it won’t last. Everywhere else in the world they drive the price up. Starbucks coffee is a mass market, assembly line, paper cup product. The local market here in Saigon is slower and more artful. I’m happy to slow it down and wait for the art – like this.

I always wanted to like Starbucks. It changed the coffee culture worldwide. Until the 1980’s espresso was a European specialty drink available only in French or Italian cafes and a smattering of local coffee bars. Now it’s all over America. You might be surprised to know, according to a recent study, that 80% of Americans live within 20 miles of a Starbucks. And, now it’s part of the worldwide coffee culture. There’s a Starbucks on every corner in Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur. It’s a case study in brand marketing and a giant company that is a major employer everywhere it goes. It pays its employees more than minimum wage and provides benefits, something unheard of in small retail units. All that is good, but from a local, Seattle, perspective it’s hard to like Howard Schultz. He may be a marketing genius, but there are a few character blemishes that are hard to overlook. He brags about free-trade coffee but only embraced it when company practices in Central America were disclosed. He celebrates Starbucks’ philanthropy but they haven’t given generously even in their hometown. And, locally, Howard is notorious for bullying his neighbors over a residential property deal. Then, after making a lot of noise about civic pride he bought the Seattle Sonics but sold them to an Oklahoma City group for cold cash when they didn’t deliver playoff caliber play after 5 years. For me it’s hard to separate the brand from the CEO. As we say in Asia, “It’s always about the money.” That seems to be the case for both Howard and Starbucks.

The bottom line is that I’m a Berkeley liberal, and I’m still rooting for the underdog. There may be room for everyone. I hope there is. I’ll keep that thought in mind when I order my next double tall latte. They do make it convenient, don’t they?

Still reporting from an alley in Saigon.

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Yesterday I was struggling to find the subject for my next blog post. I had just finished Alexander Maksik’s excellent short story, Deeper Winter, in the March issue of Harper’s, and I thought that might be it. It is an interesting story and the author is a friend whose work I admire and love to promote. But, the day took a different direction when a Vietnamese friend invited us out.

In the 6 years that we have been hanging around Vietnam we have attended a number of “performances” and most have been disappointing. We’ve seen water puppets in Hanoi, traditional dances in Hue, light shows in Hoi An, music recitals, visiting orchestras, school talent shows, Hard Rock Cafe grand openings, and holiday galas. None of them has captured our imaginations like the one last night.

Our friend didn’t supply any details about what we would see but she did say it was unique and she thought we would like it. She was on the mark.

The event’s venue was the Saigon Opera House or, as it is officially known, The Municipal Theater of HCMC, a building constructed in 1900 in the style of the Third French Republic (see above). It’s a grand building presiding over Lam Son Square in the center of old Saigon. The theater itself is always a surprise because it seats only 800 and takes up only 1/3 of the building’s interior. It was used as a theater until the French ouster and the division of the country in 1954 when it was converted to accommodate the Lower House of the Republic of Vietnam. It was restored to its original function as a theater in 1975 after the Fall of Saigon and restored architecturally in 1998. It’s an architectural treasure, but it’s a government building and suffers accordingly.

Last night’s event, The AO Show, is a mixed-media happening that combines dance, music, and theater elements. It is a concept piece in the best artistic sense. It is misleading to focus on the fact that it is a series of vignettes describing the transformation of modern Vietnamese society and its people. It’s not boring. It is equally misleading to say the it is reminiscent of Cirque du Soleil, but both things are true. The Director is Vietnamese-American, the Music Director and Training Director are both French-Vietnamese, and the Choreographer is a Vietnamese dancer trained in Japan. All of them have international theater credentials.

The show was developed in 2009 and has been performed a total of 217 times – most of them in Europe. It has never been performed in the United States. It would be criminal to miss it given the chance. The trailer is on YouTube. Be sure to watch it “full-screen.” Take a look now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QLzzuOyzdo” title=”AO Show”>. It is hard to describe the energy, artistry, aesthetic, and creativity that combine to deliver a stunning theater experience. I hope Americans will have an opportunity to see it sometime soon. It would be a great addition to any contemporary dance or theater series. I’m going to to do my best to get the troupe to Seattle.

Stunningly surprised in an alley in Saigon.

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Having ranted about my disappointed expectations in Seoul yesterday I want to get back on track today. Our visit to Korea has had some interesting synchronicity. North Korea has been hogging the news cycle, even in the US, recently. Last week, Dennis Rodman, jumped into the headlines by appearing with Kim Jong-Un and proclaimed his love for the pudgy little dictator and delivered the message that all the North Korean leader wanted was to have President Obama “give him a call.” Who would have guessed that “The Worm” would be the catalyst for resolution on the Korean peninsula? How I Learned to Love Kim Jong-Un and the Bomb. It’s a catchy title for his autobiography, eh?

Rodman notwithstanding, there has been a serious focus on the two Korean states in recent weeks. I haven’t kept up on NK’s rocket technology since the failed launch in 2010, but crazy as he might be the little dictator might end up blowing us all to smithereens. In December NK apparently launched a successful long-range rocket and three weeks ago they conducted another provocative nuclear test. This week a major US/South Korean joint military exercise is underway, and Wednesday Kim Jong-Un declared his “right” and intention to deliver a preemptive nuclear strike in the event NK deems itself vulnerable to a US strike.

I awoke this morning in Seoul to news that the UN with China’s concurrence has increased sanctions against the rogue nation for the fourth time, sanctions that tighten commerce in technology, materials that contribute to nuclear development, military goods, and surprisingly luxury goods like yachts, race cars and jewelry. Somebody must know something about the little prince’s taste in luxury. We know that his actress wife is addicted to high fashion and expensive jewelry, but it’s surprising that the UN considers this restriction significant enough to include it in the sanctions.

Yesterday we visited the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone), the line of demarcation at the 38th Parallel that has divided the two parts of the peninsula since 1948. The DMZ itself is a crazy-quilt of razor wire, guard towers, peace monuments, observation posts, tunnels, an industrial enterprise zone, new but unused rail facilities, and tourist sites – an area of hope, despair and military posturing. I found it fascinating and depressing to know that both Korea’s, the US and China devote such immense resources in money and manpower to the continuation of this 70 year old conflict. The experience reminded that Korea, Northern Ireland, Gaza, Yugoslavia, and Vietnam – all countries that were artificially divided over politics, war or religion that effectively divided cultures, families, and resources eventually came undone in armed conflict. I don’t know what will happen on the Korean peninsula. The division has now affected three generations on both sides and the affect on the north has now included physical and cognitive deterioration due to malnutrition. Defectors from the north have not been embraced by the south and it seems almost unanimous that integration of the two Korea’s would present monumental problems if it ever came to pass. Looking at the consequences and problems of integrating the two Germanys and the situation in Korea it is doubtful that unification could be successful. If there is any question about this you only have to read Barbara Demick’s book, Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea.

In any event, this short visit to Seoul and the DMZ has been interesting and worth the trouble. The value of international travel is not a function of traveler comforts. Good transportation and quality hotels can ease the pain but getting to know the people and the culture are the benefits even if they don’t live up to one’s expectations.

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