Walter Mason speaking at Destination Saigon Book Launch

Walter Mason speaking at the launch of his book, Destination Saigon.

OFFICIAL LAUNCH

The official launch of Destination Saigon, by Walter Mason was held tonight at the Unitarian Church, East Sydney.

It completed exceeded all our expections, around 120 packed into the venue to hear Maggie Hamilton official launch Destination Saigon and to hear Walter describe his experience and excitement in writing the book.

 

 

Visits to Vietnam inspire an adventure into publishing

By Chris Boulous
Fairfield Champion, 3 March 2010

NEVER mind Kings Cross or Darlinghurst, Fairfield is the hub of cultural and religious inspiration according to Canley Vale author Walter Mason.

The 39-year-old released his first book, Destination Saigon: Adventures in Vietnam, on Monday.

And while he hopes his humorous travel/religious book will usher in a long and bright literary career, Mr Mason flagged the end of popular city attractions as creative outlets.

``They are dead and docile,'' Mr Mason said of places like Kings Cross and Darlinghurst.

``This area is very inspirational. The real stories are in the south-west.

``It [south west] is where it is happening today. There is a real buzz and energy in places like Cabramatta and it generates creative flair.''

Destination Saigon: Adventures in Vietnam is the culmination of a lifelong dream for the former North Queensland resident.

Ironically, he spent many of his junior years working as a book seller. Now he has his own book on the shelf after a rigorous seven-month process.

``It is very exciting. The book was the result of one of my many trips to Vietnam and travelling for three months from south to north,'' he said.

``The book is a funny and light-hearted look at Vietnam now. Modern Vietnam is a fascinating place probably the reason why I have visited countless number of times.

``So many people are obsessed with Vietnam as part of the war but Vietnam is about so much more. It's incredibly alive and a spiritual culture.''

Mr Mason, a UWS student, is also in the process of obtaining a PhD on the history of self-help books in Australia.

He hopes to publish another novel by the end of the year.

``I plan to go to Vietnam and write another book from a bit of a different angle but that is still in the planning phase,'' he said.

Picture: Wesley Lonergan, Fairfield Champion

Tea in Vietnam

During Tet, the Lunar New Year, Thang and I dutifully went to temple, and we discovered that the young monk there has recently constructed an outdoor tea-drinking room. Now, the Vietnamese have been creating outdoor rooms since long before Jamie Durie was even born, and I was reminded of the absolute mania for tea-drinking and tea-drinking paraphernalia that exists among monks in Vietnam.
While some monks drink coffee (which is viewed as a slightly disreputable tipple in Vietnam), and many monks smoke (though this is increasingly frowned-upon, particularly in the big cities), all monks cultivate an interest in tea. They consume tea the way some consume wine, buying expensive varieties and gathering together to enjoy a cup and reflect on its particular qualities.
Any visit to a monk will necessarily involve a reasonably formalised sharing of tea, normally of the bitterest variety, served in tiny little cups which are rarely washed, but always rinsed out with hot water before yours is poured. Temples are always equipped with guest reception rooms, both formal ones (with massive wooden furniture that is desperately uncomfortable), and less-formal ones which feature rustic flourishes and contemplative artworks, and normally entail sitting on the floor. Depending on how well they know you, it is in either of these rooms that monks will invite you to drink tea.
Tea is an export product for Vietnam, and I have noticed in the supermarkets of Cabramatta that increasingly kooky varieties of tea are coming out of Vietnam. I have been drinking mangosteen and guava teas, but I have also noticed artichoke and bitter melon teas along with the more standard jasmine and lotus.
When I am in Vietnam I often enjoy a delicious cup of Lipton served over ice in a glass, with lashings of condensed milk. But I have a sneaking suspicion that this may not be a traditional way to consume tea.

Hairdessers and Seamstresses

 Hairdressers and Seamstresses
Extract from Destination Saigon: Adventures in Vietnam by Walter Mason

The streets of Saigon are filled with businesses, most of them small and many of them serving to support a single family. The people of the south are inveterate shopkeepers, whose very souls were plotting commerce even while the state insisted that private profit was the worst kind of treason.

My old friend and protector in Vietnam, Kien, is of the generation that could launch itself straight into private enterprise. He runs a suburban hairdressing salon in the traditional manner of most Vietnamese bosses: the hours are long, the pay is poor; he is gruff and inclined to bark demands at the employees. But, oddly, the staff are at perfect liberty to disregard almost everything he asks and, despite his crankiness, the stylists and apprentices all seem to adore him. Indeed several of them, male and female, are not-so-secretly in love with him, and will declare to anyone who’ll listen that they would die for Anh Kien. Such devotion, however, does not extend to sweeping up hair when requested, or closing the door to preserve air-conditioning. Sometimes I would question this wilful disobedience, but Kien would merely shrug it off. ‘They work long hours,’ he reasoned, ‘and they don’t get paid much.’

‘Have you not thought of reducing their hours and increasing their pay? Then perhaps you’d get more out of them.’

Kien snorted at the idea. ‘That’s just the crazy sort of thing I’d expect a foreigner to suggest. Walter oi! You have no understanding of Vietnamese culture.’...read more

Our Lady of La Vang

The manifestations of the feminine divine in Vietnam are of special interest to me, and in Destination Saigon I discuss my rather disappointing visit to La Vang in the Central Vietnamese province of Quang Tri.
Our Lady of La Vang is a common figure of worship in Catholic churches and homes everywhere in Ho Chi Minh City, and her statues are frequently beautfully rendered in white marble. This apparition of the Virgin is entirely (and appropriately) Vietnamese, dressed in ao dai, and clutching a Vietnamese Christ Child.
The apparitions of the Virgin at La Vang occured in the 18th century when Catholics in Vietnam experienced religious oppression at the hands of the ruling family.
These days overseas Vietnamese Catholic communities make a special cult of Our Lady of La Vang, and supernatural events are said to have occured at a shrine to her in Inala,Brisbane.
It must be said, however, that La Vang itself is a rather lacklustre spot - the day I was there it was quite deserted, and the grounds and gardens at the shrine, as well as the old church buildings, were poorly kept. It interests me that the Church hasn't seen fit to pay more attention - and spend more money - on such a significant site. Certainly its tourist potential is currently well under-developed. I couldn't even buy a statue of Our Lady at the site, and you all know how much I love statues.
To my mind the nicest shrine to Our Lady of La Vang stands at the Ba Chuong church on Le Van Sy St, in Phu Nhuan, Ho Chi Minh City. In fact, the whole church is extraordinary and quite beautiful, and well worth visiting.

Destination Saigon: Adventures in Vietnam by Walter Mason

Get a taste of the real Vietnam and its people on a sometimes funny, always fascinating journey from the bustling cities to out of the way villages, into Buddhist monasteries and along the Mekong - a real delight for armchair travellers and those contemplating their own adventure.

Description
From the crazy heat and colour of Saigon to the quieter splendour of Hanoi, Walter Mason gives us a rare, joyous and at times hilarious insight into twenty-first century Vietnam. Seduced by the beauty and charm of its people, and the sensuousness of its culture, we can almost taste the little coconut cakes cooked over a fire in a smoky Can Tho kitchen, or smell the endless supplies of fresh baguettes and croissants just out of city ovens.

As colourful city cafes and bars make way for visits to out-of-the-way shrines and temples, we take an impromptu visit to forbidden fortune tellers, and glimpse a little of the Cao Dai religion, made famous in Graham Greene's The Quiet American. Escaping on impulse to a far-flung province, a brief imprisonment culminates in an invitation to local wedding celebrations.

Travelling off the beaten track to far-flung villages and lesser-known towns, we cruise along the Mekong, board hopelessly overcrowded local buses or perch perilously on the back of motorbikes. Behind-the-scenes visits to Buddhist monasteries reveal a quieter and more transcendent world beyond the busy day trips of tourists. And in the process we begin to see the country through the eyes of its people.

ISBN: 9781741759495
Australian Pub. Date: March 2010

Publisher: ALLEN & UNWIN

Subject: Travel Writing

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