1. I love being near the ocean.

2. Our neigbors very friendly and helpful

3. I think the Filipinos all have a natural beauty.

4. I just love the sunshine.

5. I just love the tropical rain.

6. I love going down to the open market and just walking around.

7. I love riding in a tricycle.

8. I love seeing the reactions of the Filipinos when I speak just a little bit of Cebuano.

9. I love the Filipino food.

10. I love it when the children put my hand to their forehead as a sign of respect.

11.  just love the tropical vegetation.

12. I love being able to pay the locals to do various odd jobs from, electrical work, lawn work, carpentry work and so many things that I really don't have to do.

13. I love the fact that I don't have to have my own transportation here.

14. I love it that the domestic transportation, tryclcles, buses and flights are so inexpensive.

15. I love seeing all the birds and butterflies in our front and back yards.

16. I love it that my wife can ask the neighborhood boys to help her carry stuff into the house or run an errand for her.

17. I love it that the cost of our rent and utilities are so low.

18. I love it that we have enough discretionary money here that we can help the community in some small way.

19. I love it that I am respected more by the children than where I lived before.

20. I just love going out in my little banca boat.

That's enough for now.

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I believe we can have just about anything we want in life..we just have to have priorities I've always wanted to experience the freedom of a boat but I had to go to the Philippines so I could afford one. 

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I was so surprised at all the positive comment I've received after posting a video on YouTube about my Vietnamese learning experience. If you haven't seen it, I'm embedding the video below. If you have a good story about how you learned a foreign language and you got an opportunity to use it. Please comment below the video. I'd love to hear your story.

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Bud in Vietnam 1971                                                                                                      Bud in Vietnam 2010

Vietnam Veteran, Bud Brown recently returned after an emotional trip to Vietnam after an absence of almost 40 years.

"I left Vietnam in 1971 and promised myself that one day I'd return," Brown said."I just didn't think it would take this long."

Brown, who was a U.S. Naval Advisor and speaks Vietnamese says he was amazed at how things had changed, mostly, the abundance of scooters in downtown Ho Chi Minh City. "When I left, peole mostly got around on biicycles and cyclos (which are two wheeled bicycles the carry passengers on a little seat between the two front wheels.)  Now it's almost all cars and scooters. What was the same? "The people are still very friendly,"Brown said. "Everywhere I went, college students would asked if they could practice their English with me."

During his ten day stay in Ho Ch Minh City (called Saigon by the locals), Brown visited several University classrooms, bought souveniers at the world famous Ben Thanh Market, lit insense and at several Chinese temples, visited the War Remnants Memorial and took the tour at the Cu Chi Tunnels, where the Viet Cong hid and lived during the massive American bombings "The tours were very emotional for me", Brown said, especially the War Remnants Museum, that had lots of  photos of the atrocities that happened at that time."

"I was surprised that my Vietnamese came back so easily after all these years,"  Brown said. Since it was so helpful to me I decided to create a website where Americans and others could learn Vietnamese. It's called Vietnamese101.info. Knowing Vietnamese opened up a lot of doors for me that, I'm sure, would have been closed if I had not been able to speak the language."Brown said."I really waant to go back again, but this time I won't wait so long."

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This is the slideshow I just uploaded to YouTube. I used several photos from my latest trip to the Philippines. I want people to know where they can can information if they want to learn Tagalog.

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 ” I would like to thank DirecTravelAsia for arranging my accomodations for my ten day stay in Saigon, Vietnam. The hotel that I stayed in was execllent and, from the time I arrived till the time I left, I felt very comfortable. I would highly recommend DiredTravelAsia to arrange tours or just accomodations for anyone wanting to travel to Vietnam or Southeast Asia.
Sincerely,"
Bud Brown

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Well I have just returned from two months in the Philippines and ten days in Vietnam. If you know me you know I took tons of photos and videos. I will edit the videos and organize the photos then post them here and on YouTube.  Thanks for following me in my adventures. By the way, that two month adventure was just an appitizer for things to come!

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I'm sitting in the airport in Korea on my way back to the States. I can't believe that I just finished a two month trip to the Philippines, including a ten day side trip to Vietnam. As soon as I get home I'm going to post my photos and videos. I really learned a lot about the local people and also improved my Tagalog, Cebuano and Vietnamese language skills. That's really the best way to learn a language, I feel, is to be on the ground hearing and speaking with the local people.

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I am presently in HCM City, Vietnam,  after an absense of 39 years. Some things are the same and some things are different.

Same:

• Still takes the same method to cross the street. Just step out and slowly and steadily walk to the other side, letting all the vehicles go around you.
• People are still friendly and helpful.

Different:

• Not many bicycles on the street. Seems they have been replaced by scooters.
• Most everyone in the city has a cell (mobile) phone
• No more "cyclos" (bicycles with the front two wheels). Only for tourist transportation.

Will keep you updated.

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I believe I have have found the world's biggest shoe. Check out this video and see if you agree!

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