The telly came to Vietnam a little later than most parts of the world – but my 70-year-old Grandpa made the best out of it.
That was what Grandpa emphasised more than twice during our Viber call last night – we couldn’t video-call because the Internet connection was just appalling – when I asked him to tell me about his TV memories. Continue reading “Better Late Than Never – a Story of Grandpa and the Telly”
Dedicated to Grandpa
“We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney
For years since when I was very little, my family has got a Lunar New Year’s tradition. Close to midnight of New Year’s Eve, Grandpa, Dad, and I (and later on, my little sister) would walk to Hoan Kiem lake (Hanoi), to watch the fireworks show. I would be standing completely still with my neck craning, marveled by the mesmerizing sparkly flowers blooming on the velvety black night sky.
Most parents, and of course, grandparents, would make ooh and ah sounds to kids or playfully clapping the kids’ hands together. But one year, Grandpa, being a former High School teacher in Math who’s extremely keen on natural sciences, decided instead to point at the sky-flowers and explain to me – who was, at that time, a tiny little five-year-old – how each different metals put into firework cannon balls would give off a specific colour when shot up and exploding. Continue reading “How Fireworks Sparked My Curiosity”
The Specs 