September 19, 2001. Sai Gon.
I am registered at the US Consulate here in HCMC under my legal name, Lan Dung Thi Hong. My home address is
1B Cu Xa Ngan Hang
Tran Xuan Soan, District 7, HCMC
Tel: 84-8 872-4539
DongDuCafe: 84-8 823 2414

Work is Minh Nhat Company (ask for Hani)
51-53 Vo Van Tan, District 3, HCMC
Tel: 84-8 930-5812 / 930-1388

My cell phone is 84 091 343 8920

My permanent home address in Arlington is
5508 N. Carlin Springs Road
Arlington, VA 22203-1202
Tel: 703-525-2784
Emergency Contacts:
Chuong Giu Hong / Bach Tuyet Hong – dad & mom, Arlington, 703-525-2784
Kiki/Cathy Hong – sister, Atlanta, work 678-336-2000, chong@atv.com
Kelly Hong – sister, New York work @ BMG, 212-930-6727, Kelly.hong@bmgdirect.com
Souris Hong – sister, New York cell - 917-687-2332, souris@fakefunk.com

All friends and family have access to my whereabouts through the Vietnamese US Consulate & Embassy offices. I have signed a waiver for such information to be distributed to any of you in case you inquire.

Over the past week, I have had a thousand thoughts, and have communicated often with all of you back home. Instead of writing a compendious blog about what I thought and felt, below is a conglomeration of messages sent to different friends and family that describe what I’ve been going through.

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My family is safe. I was out on Tuesday, and arrived home at 10 p.m. Saigon time. The phone rang – it was mom. She called to tell me that she and dad and Kiki were all okay in Arlington and that Kaly and Souris were both in contact from New York. I asked her what happened so she put Kiki on to tell me. I didn't really believe it, and my reaction was almost comical "I miss everything!" I said to Ki. But there was nothing funny about this. I immediately bolted upstairs and turned CNBC on and the internet and got online with Souris and other friends in NY. I watched and I wrote and I cried and I cried. My sisters are both safe. Souris watched the explosion of the second building upon impact, and the crumbling of the towers from outside of her home in Soho – she’s at Sullivan & Broome where it meets 6th Avenue – in direct view of the Towers. A man next to her fainted. Everyone stood on the street and cried.

I watched live CNBC coverage till 5 a.m., and managed to contact many close friends immediately. Both New York and Arlington are my homes; the two places I feel closest to, and I didn’t think anyone in Vietnam would understand the proximity of the tragedy for me. Our skyline is forever changed - it is really difficult to grasp, until I go to New York again and see for myself that our towers are gone. It is also difficult to see the footage, and think - "I KNOW that corner. I've BEEN there. That's my HOME." It's very frustrating to be far away. In many ways, I wish I was in NY to be with those I love who consider NY their home as well. It is as shocking to anyone around the world as it is to anyone in America, but to New Yorkers, the Towers were a part of our everyday visual landscape.

I had a message from Jeff. As you know, he was to come visit and he was scheduled to be on a flight from JFK to SFO on Tuesday afternoon at 4:30. He was to go on from California to Singapore to Vietnam. We are grateful that he was not on a cross country plane at the time. We have cancelled everything we had planned for our two week holiday, and here I am at work instead. Jeff and I were both supremely disappointed about our trip.
I cancelled our plans to Hanoi, postponed my ticket, and made measures to change our two week plans. I wrote to Handspan, a tour agency that Jeff and I were planning on using, to tell them we will not be coming. They replied with this:

Dear Hani Hong,

We are very sorry about terrorist happened in NewYork and Washington.
It is horrible that I can not imagine. Everybody was shocked in Vietnam. We welcome you to Handspan at any time if you would like to come to Hanoi another time.
See ya another time.
With best regards
Linh Chi

I have been getting live CNBC and CNN feed here, and am getting thorough coverage. I was surprised that the Vietnamese community is totally aware. I received many calls from friends here who know that I call NY home, and who were concerned for my friends and family. I am so deeply deeply saddened by this. I never watch TV here, but of course, have been watching news since Tuesday. There is no normal programming here, as we only get cable, and only about 5 channels of which CNBC is one so there is constant coverage. I only watch every other day or so now. They repeat everything anyway.

I have to say that watching the news, and the way people are treating the rescue workers in NY, I think OFTEN of the AIDS Rides, and the way the crew treated us. It is the same sort of outpouring of appreciation for "heroes" and the sort of situation where total strangers bring out their best sides to help everyone. Again, it is because the entire nation, like AIDS riders on a smaller scale, are facing a common adversity and this is what human beings do when faced with such. And so, it seems that the only thing that will bring the world together is a newer more powerful enemy from a galaxy far far away.

It did not even occur to me to return home soon. I did, however, call the US consulate office here in HCMC and registered my name and my presence in the country. Security – expectedly – was tight. They even checked inside my cup of coffee. I should have done it when I first arrived but recent events made it even more pressing that I did so.

I do, however, feel safe here, and I am sure that I will be protected by my family should I become stranded (I will still have a job and be able to do many other things, though may perhaps postpone a trip to Angkor Wat for another time). Life very much goes on here, although my friends comment about how very sad I am and wish that they could help me in some other way. I think being home and holding friends and family and seeing them with my own eyes and seeing my New York skyline are what I need to continue to heal.

I saw a photo on the Washington Post web site last night that made me reel with pain. It was of a little seven-year-old black boy dressed in a yellow rain coat who grievously had his head in his arms, leaning against his mother's white casket, with his grandmother behind him, and there was such pain in that image. His mother was one of the rescue workers who came to the WTC to help those in need. I must stop looking at those kinds of pictures. I look at Souris' pictures of all the rescue workers, police department, and fire department in NY. It's really wonderful. NYC is truly a great city. I can't wait to return.