![\"MissSaigon\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/MissSaigon.jpeg\")
<\/a>Preface<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0 Back when the earth was still cooling and I was in the Navy<\/strong> (Yes, ours), I was stationed in Japan<\/strong> at Atsugi Navel Air Station<\/strong> and was an Ensign<\/strong>\u00a0(Yes, and officer and a gentleman<\/span> by an ACT of CONGRESS<\/strong>) on the staff of COMFAIRWESTPAC<\/strong>, which was \u2018Navy-speak\u2019 for, Commander, Fleet Air, Western Pacific.\u00a0 My duties, aside from getting the Admiral\u2019s coffee and newspaper to him in a timely manner each morning, eventually included arranging for the shipping of damaged helicopters out of Viet Nam<\/strong> to a repair facility in Japan and then shipping the repaired aircraft back into Viet Nam<\/strong>.\u00a0 I had three seamen working for me at the time who took turns \u2018escorting\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0the repaired aircraft on the ships going back to the port of Da Nang,<\/strong>\u00a0in South Viet<\/strong>\u00a0Nam.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a>I hate these ‘magnificent ceramic elephants’!<\/p><\/div>\n
I eventually wanted to have a better understanding of what these escorts actually did and since I was<\/i> in the Navy and had never set foot aboard a ship, I asked my commanding officer permission to be out of the office for a while and escort the next batch of helicopters headed \u2018in country\u2019<\/strong>.\u00a0 Permission was granted.\u00a0 I had a buddy, who was flying supply missions in a C-130<\/strong>\u00a0transport aircraft between Da Nang<\/strong> and Saigon<\/strong>, who told me he could throw me in with the cargo anytime if I wanted to tag along. \u00a0So I requested and was granted a couple of extra days for my trip.\u00a0 This was 1969<\/strong> and the war was in full swing and I wasn\u2019t looking for a vacation, but rather wanted to see first hand, from a relatively safe distance, what was really going on.\u00a0 Three days before my ship sailed out of\u00a0Yokohama<\/strong> for Da Nang<\/strong>, my commanding officer had an opportunity to go to Bangkok, Thailand<\/strong> to pick up some \u2018magnificent ceramic elephants\u2019<\/strong> for his wife and told me I needed to stay and man the office, that I could be an escort another time.\u00a0 A \u2018Reduction In Forces\u2019<\/strong> memo came out not too long after that and there was not \u2018another time\u2019, I was soon on my way home and out of the Navy<\/strong> (Yes, honorably).<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The Beginning<\/span>\u00a0of \u2018Little Saigon\u2019<\/span> <\/strong>\u00a0After the Fall of<\/strong> Saigon<\/strong> in 1975<\/strong> many Vietnamese<\/strong> refugees migrated to Southern California<\/strong> because, well, why anyone else would migrate to Southern California, the weather.\u00a0 More and more gathered in the City of Westminster<\/strong> and eventually in 1988<\/strong>, then Governor George Deukmejian<\/strong> officially designated part of Westminster as \u2018Little Saigon\u2019<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Most of the literature I read about \u2018Little Saigon\u2019<\/strong> prior to driving the 15 miles over there, described the food<\/strong>, the jewelry<\/strong>, the food<\/strong>, some temples<\/strong> and the food<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 I learned that Pho<\/strong> (pronounced \u2018Faa\u2019), which is a noodle soup consisting of rice noodles, broth, meat and some spices, was the most popular Vietnamese dish<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The Trip<\/span><\/strong> –\u00a0My son, Jeff<\/strong> is a lover of all food foreign, so I asked if he wanted to meet me for some Pho<\/strong> and an exploration of \u2018Little Saigon\u2019<\/strong> \u2013 he obliged.<\/p>\n \u00a0 We met at the HA NOI<\/strong> restaurant (Must have been in the northern part of town) and had a wonderful meal served by an older \u00a0gentleman\u00a0who\u00a0didn\u2019t speak one word of English, but recommended several dishes by pointing to some pictures on the menu and making some Unfortunately that was the highlight of our trip.\u00a0 I checked to see if there were any tours of\u00a0\u2018Little Saigon\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0available \u2013 there are none.\u00a0 \u2018Little Saigon\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0is a place of contradictions; it is of course\u00a0East meeting West<\/strong>, so we shouldn\u2019t have been surprised to see the\u00a0Sun Moon Bakery<\/strong>\u00a0or the sign in the jewelry mart reading,\u00a0\u2018Lien Phat\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0(Lean Fat?), which was more confusing albeit less disturbing than\u00a0\u2018Dai Phat\u2019<\/strong>.<\/p>\n But for me there was too much West <\/strong>and not enough East<\/strong>. I expected narrow streets lined with colorful garments hanging from two-story wooden buildings, the smell of spicy food offered by traditionally dressed street vendors, Asian music playing \u2013 basically some Far East atmosphere<\/strong>.\u00a0 What we got was a series of strip malls<\/strong> on a busy Southern California street.\u00a0 It was sort of like Barstow<\/strong> with strip mall storefront signs you could only partly read.<\/p>\n The Conclusion<\/span><\/strong> – For\u00a0my money, if you want some good Vietnamese food, visit \u2018Little Saigon\u2019<\/strong>, if you want to get the feel of old Viet Nam<\/strong>, see\u00a0‘Miss Saigon’<\/strong>\u00a0or go to old Viet Nam.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow Preface\u00a0\u00a0 Back when the earth was still cooling and I was in the Navy (Yes, ours), I was stationed in Japan at Atsugi Navel Air Station and was an Ensign\u00a0(Yes, and officer and a gentleman by an … read more<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So I never got to Da Nang<\/strong> and subsequently M<\/strong>issed Saigon<\/strong>, but I live in Orange County<\/strong>, which I\u2019ve come to find out, has the largest Vietnamese population in the world, outside of Vietnam,<\/strong> some 200,000<\/strong>.\u00a0 So my \u2018in country\u2019<\/strong> plan evolved, after 44 years, into my \u2018in county\u2019<\/strong> plan and eventually permission was granted by my commanding officer \u2013 my wife.<\/p>\n<\/a>sort of cooking gestures \u2013 what ever we ordered, it was delicious.\u00a0 Jeff likes his food spicy, so he added some contents from a container on the table to his food; from his reaction, it might have been a bit too spicy, but it said it was good . . . through watering eyes.<\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n