HO CHI MINH CITY - Down a small alley in the poorer part of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), I met an ancient man as he scooped rice from a bucket into his mouth.

After I took his picture, he gave me his one-toothed grin and tried to speak with me in French.

"Merci," he said.

Just two doors away, a wheelchair-bound woman who raises 45 orphans in her small, two-floor home welcomed me to her bedside, showing me pictures and telling me about her kids. [Read article]

I really don't know why people are always complaining about hospital food. It's really not that bad. The biscuit was a little bland, but other than that, they do a pretty good breakfast.

I'm at the hospital because a member of my family is having an operation to remove a part of the lung infected with cancer. Accordingly, I really haven't put much thought into what I wanted to write about for my column this week. Just to give you an idea how much effort I've put into this, I sat up in bed at about 11 o'clock last night and though, "Oh shit, I have to write a column for tomorrow." [Read article]