For the first time since moving to New York, I’ll celebrate the holiday season in the states. To mark the occasion, we got a Christmas tree, with one lone ornament I picked up at the Columbia bookstore.

My hometown of Marietta, Ohio was nicely covered in today’s NY Times – “A Historic River Town Where the West Began“. The article gives an impressive overview of the town’s history. It’s well worth a read.

(Photo via Chuck)

The Wall Street Journal on Asia’s Best Coffee:

Though he hesitates to recommend any particular Hanoi cafe, Mr. Lowerson does have some advice for the coffee loving visitor: “Just pull up a stool anywhere, sip the sweetness and watch the passing parade.”

The pug we occasionally watch for a friend:

A sunny day in September:

The Guardian lists the 50 best foods in the world and where to eat them. It seems that I have a lot of traveling and eating to do.

Last night, I ate the best Indian food I’ve tasted since I visited India. Not surprisingly, the restaurant was tucked away in outer Queens, where so much good food can be found. Queens is also home to the best Thai, Chinese, and Greek food I’ve enjoyed in New York City.

Here’s another dramatic description of the difficulties of learning Vietnamese in an LA Times article titled, “Vietnam, the perfect place to ride out the recession”:

It’s impossible.

That’s it!

OK, it essentially consists of eight words. And these eight words have about 35,000 variations. If you raise your voice, lower your voice, wiggle your voice box or sound like you choked on a frog, the meaning of the word changes. If you have a cold or just swallowed too-hot coffee, you might be in danger of telling your neighbor that his mother looks like a pork chop.

Here is a photo of the New York Financial District as viewed from the East River:

Writing in the Wall St. Journal, James Hookway tells the story of the Minsk, the classic motorcycle from Belarus favored by many expats in Hanoi.

Minsks still ply the crumbling roads of ex-Soviet client states from Afghanistan to Mozambique. In Vietnam’s far-flung reaches, they are often the only mechanized transport around. Locals here nicknamed them “buffaloes.” Smugglers use them to spirit chickens, cigarettes and other contraband across Vietnam’s snaking border with China.

This way of life may be under threat. The Minsk’s manufacturer, OAO Motovelo, lost $10.5 million in 2008, according to Belarussian media reports, as Japanese and Chinese bikes encroached further into the company’s main markets in Russia, eastern Europe and Asia. The factory has been plagued by strikes and protests, and the government there is trying to help the company restructure its debts.

In 2006, I spent five days driving from Hanoi to Sapa on a Minsk. Despite the challenges, including a dry season rainstorm induced mudslide, it remains one of the most remarkable trips of my life. Here is my Minsk perched over a valley near Mai Chau, Vietnam.

After a wonderful summer in Vietnam, I’m happy to be back in New York City preparing for my final year of graduate study.

However, I miss my morning iced coffee, always enjoyed from the comfort of a little plastic stool, the perfect vantage point from which to watch the city wake up and begin its day.