xuan da ve xuan da ve

[pholy 0]

i am planning to visit vietnam with my wife for tet in a few days. we are going to suprise everyone because no one knows we are coming. after 7 months in the states my wife missed her family dearly, but not queerly. i still think she is a vietnam spy and have been keeping my eye on her. so far nothing fishy. except for the fact that she knows how to make really good "american food" ie. sphegetti, meatballs, shepard's pie and tacos. she makes crappy viet food. i ran into other viet kieus from vinh long and planning to meet up and hang out. hopefully they are not really killers or psychos. if they are i hope my vietnamese spy wife is also trained to kill. i planted a few marijuana plants at my grandmother's farm 7 months ago when i was there and hoping to have some coconut water.

does anyone here know how i can buy one of those sweet wooden vietnamese bench/couch and mail them back to the states?

[Scott & Annie 19]

i am planning to visit vietnam with my wife for tet in a few days. we are going to suprise everyone because no one knows we are coming. after 7 months in the states my wife missed her family dearly, but not queerly. i still think she is a vietnam spy and have been keeping my eye on her. so far nothing fishy. except for the fact that she knows how to make really good "american food" ie. sphegetti, meatballs, shepard's pie and tacos. she makes crappy viet food. i ran into other viet kieus from vinh long and planning to meet up and hang out. hopefully they are not really killers or psychos. if they are i hope my vietnamese spy wife is also trained to kill. i planted a few marijuana plants at my grandmother's farm 7 months ago when i was there and hoping to have some coconut water.

does anyone here know how i can buy one of those sweet wooden vietnamese bench/couch and mail them back to the states?

FWIW Pholy: Spaghetti, Meatballs, Shepard's Pie, and Tacos....are not American foods

Probably one of the reasons you're having a hard time determining her undercover status is you're lack of culinary geography!

Have fun on your trip!!

PS: I can get you one of those bamboo benches in the Phils. Send me money via Moneygram and I'll have one delivered to your door

Edited January 6, 2012 by Scott & Annie

[CGivens 1]

i am planning to visit vietnam with my wife for tet in a few days. we are going to suprise everyone because no one knows we are coming. after 7 months in the states my wife missed her family dearly, but not queerly. i still think she is a vietnam spy and have been keeping my eye on her. so far nothing fishy. except for the fact that she knows how to make really good "american food" ie. sphegetti, meatballs, shepard's pie and tacos. she makes crappy viet food. i ran into other viet kieus from vinh long and planning to meet up and hang out. hopefully they are not really killers or psychos. if they are i hope my vietnamese spy wife is also trained to kill. i planted a few marijuana plants at my grandmother's farm 7 months ago when i was there and hoping to have some coconut water.

does anyone here know how i can buy one of those sweet wooden vietnamese bench/couch and mail them back to the states?

[brian_n_phuong 193]

FWIW Pholy: Spaghetti, Meatballs, Shepard's Pie, and Tacos....are not American foods

Probably one of the reasons you're having a hard time determining her undercover status is you're lack of culinary geography!

Have fun on your trip!!

It was supposed to be a joke.

Viet's have a more sophisticated sense of humor than your average Island dwellers

[brian_n_phuong 193]

does anyone here know how i can buy one of those sweet wooden vietnamese bench/couch and mail them back to the states?

Good luck, those things weigh as much as a frickin Escalade. I almost got a hernia moving one during Tet cleaning last year.

Then again, I have heard of a people shipping those marble statues back to the states, so must be possible. Probably have to throw down some major cash to make it happen.

Edited January 7, 2012 by brian_n_phuong

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

does anyone here know how i can buy one of those sweet wooden vietnamese bench/couch and mail them back to the states?

DON'T DO IT!

Seriously, most VN wood crafts are beautiful, but they don't cure their wood properly. They simply don't have the facilities for it. The wood will remain beautiful as long as it stays in the relatively high humidity of Vietnam. When you bring it back to the US it will begin to dry out, and it will warp and crack. Several of my wife's relatives tried to save money by buying their Buddhist altars in Vietnam, and then having them disassembled and shipped to the US. Every one of them are warped and cracked.

I had a guitar made by a brilliant luthier in Saigon. The wood was fabulous, and the dragon inlays were perfect. Two months after getting it back to the US the neck had warped where it joins the body, and all of the strings bottomed out at the 13th fret. I brought it back to Vietnam and had the neck repaired by the same luthier, who did an excellent job. There are now cracks on the face of the guitar. I don't blame the luthier. The wood craft was superb. It's just that the wood wasn't properly cured for export.

My wife bought her altar at a shop in San Jose. It was expertly made in Da Nang, and it's as beautiful as any I've ever seen. The difference is that the wood was cured properly before it was built. It cost about 3X what we would have paid in Vietnam, but so far it's remained perfect. There are a number of shops in California - mostly in Westminster and San Jose - that sell Vietnamese wood furniture. I recommend you buy from one of them, rather than taking a chance buying one in Vietnam. If you do end up buying it in Vietnam then disassemble it and pack it in a crate for shipping. It will cost much less.

[brian_n_phuong 193]

My wife bought her altar at a shop in San Jose. It was expertly made in Da Nang, and it's as beautiful as any I've ever seen. The difference is that the wood was cured properly before it was built. It cost about 3X what we would have paid in Vietnam, but so far it's remained perfect. There are a number of shops in California - mostly in Westminster and San Jose - that sell Vietnamese wood furniture. I recommend you buy from one of them, rather than taking a chance buying one in Vietnam. If you do end up buying it in Vietnam then disassemble it and pack it in a crate for shipping. It will cost much less.

Wow, glad you shared that. The "average" sized alters in our local US Viet market are priced at $700, so I was going to purchase one in Da Nang and have it shipped via FEDEX.

[CGivens 1]

DON'T DO IT!

Seriously, most VN wood crafts are beautiful, but they don't cure their wood properly. They simply don't have the facilities for it. The wood will remain beautiful as long as it stays in the relatively high humidity of Vietnam. When you bring it back to the US it will begin to dry out, and it will warp and crack. Several of my wife's relatives tried to save money by buying their Buddhist altars in Vietnam, and then having them disassembled and shipped to the US. Every one of them are warped and cracked.

I had a guitar made by a brilliant luthier in Saigon. The wood was fabulous, and the dragon inlays were perfect. Two months after getting it back to the US the neck had warped where it joins the body, and all of the strings bottomed out at the 13th fret. I brought it back to Vietnam and had the neck repaired by the same luthier, who did an excellent job. There are now cracks on the face of the guitar. I don't blame the luthier. The wood craft was superb. It's just that the wood wasn't properly cured for export.

My wife bought her altar at a shop in San Jose. It was expertly made in Da Nang, and it's as beautiful as any I've ever seen. The difference is that the wood was cured properly before it was built. It cost about 3X what we would have paid in Vietnam, but so far it's remained perfect. There are a number of shops in California - mostly in Westminster and San Jose - that sell Vietnamese wood furniture. I recommend you buy from one of them, rather than taking a chance buying one in Vietnam. If you do end up buying it in Vietnam then disassemble it and pack it in a crate for shipping. It will cost much less.

Ask one of the Vnese instrument musicians on how to preserve their toys and you'll learn the secret how to keep wood products from cracking. Pham Duc Thanh, who can seen on lots of Thuy Nga's Paris By night, and now resides in Montreal Canada, should be one of them. Whether he'll tell you the secret for free is questionable though.

Edited January 8, 2012 by CGivens

[brian_n_phuong 193]

Ask one of the Vnese instrument musicians on how to preserve their toys and you'll learn the secret how to keep wood products from cracking.

[quann 26]

our family have a vn traditional music background...and we buy instruments from vietnam all the time (dan tranh, dan nhi etc). those are good quality and usually don't crack. the hit and miss seems to be the flute (sa'o) as it's just a piece of cut out bamboo.

Edited January 11, 2012 by quann