All The Leaves Are Burning

[Cái Bè, 1/14/25]

Although most of the world don’t play or watch baseball, the baseball cap can be found everywhere. When there’s a MLB logo, it’s most often the NY Yankees, with LA Dodgers a distant second. You almost never see Cubs, Giants, Braves, Astros, Rockies, Marlins or Mariners caps. As mythical cities, New York and Los Angeles stand apart.

There’s a ludicrous rap by two dorks called “Dân Chơi Cali” [“California Playas”]. It begins with Justin singing in English:

California, know how to party
In the city, city of L.A.
In the city, city of O.C.
In the city, city of Little Saigon
Keep it rocking, we keep it rocking 

Then it’s Phong Lê’s turn:

Chào mừng tụi bây đến Cali tiểu bang người Việt của tao đó
Từ dân chơi đến ghệ đẹp mày muốn cái thứ gì cũng có
Từ L.A. đến O.C. chạy mấy tiến qua San Jose
Ngày nào cũng ăn chơi sợ mày không đủ tiền đô
Ăn uống thì quá rẻ phở 3 đồng 1 tô
Nhưng muốn ghệ đẹp thì dù mày có bao nhiêu tiền cũng không đủ
Có xe đẹp nhà đẹp mày phải có số làm chủ
Làm dân chơi mà không có tiền thì kiếm ghệ xấu mà gù 

[Welcome to Cali my Vietnamese state
From playas to hot chicks nothing is lacking
From L.A. to O.C. or a few hours to San Jose
Each day is a party with the only fear your lack of dough
Eating is so cheap only three bucks for a bowl of phở
But if you want a hot chick there’s never enough cash
To have a nice car and nice house you must be destined to be a boss
If a playa without cash you must find some ugly chick to screw]

Though boasting about chicks, the only ones in this pitiful video are those briefly shot on the streets. These jerkoffs couldn’t even seduce or pay a handful to strut with them for a few minutes. Behind them is a Range Rover and a Bentley, both gleaming black, then a row of three-bedroom houses with modest front yards. Whips could have been borrowed or rented. Though only Beavis and Butthead could have made a funnier parody of flexing playas, people inside Vietnam don’t know this. Gushing commenters wish they, too, could be in Cali.

Orange County’s Westminster has a Vietnamese-American mayor, Chi Charlie Nguyen. He’s been feuding with two councilmen, also Viet-American. It’s gotten so bad Westminster is suing NamQuan Nguyen and Amy Phan West for disrupting council meetings. So smoothly conducted, these can run over ten hours. Whether white, black, brown or yellow, California politicians are truly special. Sheng Thao, a Hmong, was just recalled as Oakland’s mayor. Let’s not fret over snags, snafus or apocalyptic fires. Cali is a glamorous, sunshiny playground where everybody gets along, to echo Rodney King. There’s no better beacon for a progressive multicultural society.

In “California Playas,” there’s a glimpse of Phước Lộc Thọ, a Westminster shopping mall. Its name means fortune, prosperity and longevity, everything you can want from this often harrowing life. The mall’s principal owner is a half Chinese, Frank Jao. His alma mater is not Harvard, Yale or even UCLA, but Coastline Community College. No swishy rappers, Jao is quietly the key player in Cali’s Little Saigon.

Taking the bus yesterday from Châu Đốc (pop 102,000) to Saigon (pop 9 million), we stopped at Phúc Lộc Rest Area in Cái Bè. (Phúc is a variation of Phước.) Phúc Lộc had over 20 food stands serving rice dishes, sandwiches, savory buns and cakes, a supermarket, a pharmacy, a gift shop, all brand new and super clean, a striking contrast to the funkiness of traditional wet markets. The café had couches. There were kiddie rides.

Since the mid 90’s, Vietnam has built many roads, bridges, shopping malls, bus depots, airports and skyscrapers. Ferries for crossing rivers have mostly been eliminated. Even in the most remote villages, people are eating and dressing better than a decade ago. Abject poverty, never close to being eliminated, is resurging, however, but this only reflects a global economic crisis.

Standing outside Phúc Lộc, I noticed a man in his late 50’s wearing a jean mask and a California flag cap. A native of Quảng Ngãi, he was going home for Tết. His small frame, boniness, posture and general expression betrayed a hard life.

“You know there are these huge fires in California?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you amazed by the government’s response?”

“What more can they do? It’s a natural disaster.”

In case you haven’t seen it, there’s a clip of Gavin Newsom smiling and rocking from side to side as he talks of devastated LA being redeveloped. Wars and disasters provide great kickbacks. For mayor Karen Bass, there’s the added satisfaction of seeing millionaires being divested of nearly all. This former member of the Vinceremos Brigade is kicking rich asses. Bass, too, can’t hide her glee.

After Lori Lightfoot came Karen Bass. Should the US last a few more decades, many more will appear, let’s hope.

The ride from Châu Đốc to Saigon took more than six hours. Arrived, I immediately hop on a mini bus to Vung Tau. Next to me was a masked man in his 30’s. Suffocated, he slept. Later he breathed freely because Covid had disappeared from his vaccinated mind.

Trapped in typical Saigon traffic jams, we took forever to escape that city. On a 3-axel truck was this cute complaint in cursive, “Spend All My Youth - To Pay The Bank.” Towering condo complexes keep sprouting. There are too many of us. A new beer garden, Lúa, advertised Budweiser. Though Beerlao is cheaper and much better, it doesn’t have that aura of NYC or Los Angeles.

After three weeks, I returned to my 1901 room. I’m blessed to be in an elegant building from a saner era. Seeing me again, DC HomeStay’s receptionist, Thảo, couldn’t help but blurt, “You’ve aged!” Miss Hà the housekeeper cracked up, “You’re so much darker.” Maternally, she lightly stroked my arm.

“I’m lucky I didn’t die!”

Vietnamese often evoke death casually or humorously. Tây Ninh, Phnom Penh, Kampot, Kep, Hà Tiên and Châu Đốc have all been instructive. Though mostly delightful, there were dark notes.

My last glimpse of Châu Đốc was of a slumped beggar with a bandaged foot at the edge of a road at 5:42AM. He had been there awhile. No Vietnamese or Cambodian city has as visible a homeless population as Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento, Santa Cruz or San Diego, however. Imagine Skid Row in a month. With California dreaming a long established religion, it doesn’t matter if all its leaves are burning, and its sky blood red. Dropping to their knees, they’ll keep on praying. If only they could be parachuted into flaming LA.

[Chau Doc, 1/13/25]

[Chau Doc, 1/13/25]

[Chau Doc, 1/14/25]