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the ingrediants…

Posted 05/02/2012 under mobile images • Viet Nam •

...for a very happy Tet!

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hooray… no facebook again

Posted 08/01/2012 under other stuff • Viet Nam •

So it seems as if FaceBook is not accessible again, at least it hasn't been for me over the past few days. There has been much debate whether FB has been blocked here officially or not in the past, and to me it doesn't really matter one way or the other. Actually, if I can't access FB it will be a blessing. Previously when it was inaccessible I really enjoyed not using it, but when it re-appeared online I got sucked in to the vortex of checking it and began using it again to make comments and communicate with those I normally wouldn't be able to. And that is the advantage of FB isn't it? You can keep in touch with others so easily.

But it can also complicate matters, like my contact list on my Android mobile wants to access my FB contacts and add them to my list, creating duplicates in some cases which annoys the hell out of me. Try merging the duplicates and then be denied FB access and see what happens to your contact list. Also, Yahoo Messenger now wants to integrate with FB messenger. That means duplicate messages when one contacts details are different in Yahoo to those in FB. Confusing! Strangely, I can still access FB messenger on my mobile, not sure why I can access one and not the other.

So it seems I can still send me messages to my FB friends to let them know I won't be hanging around the news feed for an indeterminate length of time, and I'll no longer be posting my witty profile updates that no doubt impress them all so much. Once I wean myself off it, I'm going to be glad that FB is out of my life once more. I wonder, is this my chance to kick the habit once and for all?

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of some consolation

Posted 05/01/2012 under mobile images • Viet Nam • food • restaurants •

At least I had an attractive table decoration to admire while my cappuccino got cold (previous article).

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miss understandings

Posted 05/01/2012 under mobile images • Viet Nam • food • restaurants •

Conversation at lunch today;

Me: "I'll have the smoked beef and cheddar baguette with salad and a cappuccino please. But can you bring the cappuccino after you bring the baguette, not before?"

Waiter: "You want a tall latte?"

Me: "No, I want a cappuccino, but don't bring it right now, bring it later."

Waiter: "OK, you want a tall latte?"

Me: "No, why would I want a tall latte? I want a cappuccino."

Waiter: "Tall latte and cappuccino same thing."

Me: "No, a cappuccino and tall latte are different things."

Waiter: "Tall latte and cappuccino the same. They both have one shot espresso and hot milk."

Me: "Yes, but they are different and I want a cappuccino please."

At this stage I realised it was pointless asking for the cappuccino later rather than sooner so that I could enjoy it hot after the baguette instead of cold after sitting there for 10 or 15 minutes. Tactical error on my part, I should have ordered the coffee when half way through the baguette, but hey, I was in an upmarket cafe where the staff are supposedly used to serving and understanding foreigners, wasn't I??? Annam, please get your act together.

My cappuccino getting cold while I enjoy my baguette.

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xoi ga

Posted 04/01/2012 under mobile images • Viet Nam • food •

To the uninitiated this may not look all that appetising, however, this is one of my favourite things to eat. It's xoi ga, or sticky rice and chicken. In this version the chicken is mixed with mushroom, tiny shrimps and a quail egg and encased in the sticky rice which in turn is wrapped in a leaf and cooked in a steamer. I prefer to eat this with a dash of soy sauce, preferably mixed with chili and garlic. Yum. If eaten for breakfast this will "stick to your ribs" all day.

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kumquat tea

Posted 04/01/2012 under mobile images • Viet Nam • food • restaurants •

On a warm day a hot cup of kumquat tea is very refreshing.

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my birthday cake/s

Posted 11/12/2011 under mobile images • Viet Nam • food •

thanks to Jaap and Hong I had these delicious birthday cake/s from Givral. Thanks guys

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a disturbing event

Posted 07/12/2011 under Viet Nam •

I witnessed an event yesterday that left me feeling very disturbed. I was riding my motorbike along Nguyen Huu Can around 11.30 when suddenly, right in front of me I saw what at first appeared to be a traffic accident and a resulting scuffle. I assumed that one motorbike had somehow accidentally clipped another and brought it down in the heavy morning traffic and those involved had begun throwing punches. However, my initial observation was only partly correct. It quickly became apparent that not one, but at least two motorbikes had been in pursuit of this one bike and that they had deliberately brought it down in order to apprehend the people on it.

The bike being pursued was being driven by a thin looking young Vietnamese guy and he had an even thinner young Vietnamese woman behind him as a passenger. The initial bikes giving chase both had 2 young Vietnamese guys on them and all 4 very quickly stepped off their bikes to tackle the couple. Meanwhile, as most of the road was blocked I pulled over to the pavement and became a "gawker". Usually I hate "gawkers", people who see something interesting in the traffic whether that be an accident or anything at all of interest happening on the pavement and either stop dead in the middle of the road or go very slow and crane their necks to watch, paying no attention to the traffic around them or the fact they're creating an obstacle. I hate gawkers cos they get in my way, but yesterday I succumbed, this looked too interesting, I became a gawker. However I did at least think to pull right off the road.

Anyway, back to the unfolding drama on Nguyen Huu Can. The initial 4 guys in pursuit were very quickly joined by at least another 6 or 8 young guys, all in civilian clothes, on 3 or 4 more motorbikes creating one hell of a blockage on the road with more gawkers stopping to watch. All of these guys were off their bikes in a flash and jumping over the motorbike on its side in the road to get at one or other of the couple. The young guy was very quickly punched to the ground and when he went down several guys jumped into him and gave him a fair old kicking. He was hauled back to his feet and received another beating as guys scrambled around trying to hold onto him and pick his bike up off the tarmac where it lay. By this stage his face and body were very red from the blows he'd taken. Meanwhile, the young woman hadn't escaped unscathed as she was crying and clutching her stomach and looked to be in some pain, no doubt from both the initial motorbike crash and the strong treatment she was receiving. Both these guys were in complete shock, and who wouldn't be under the circumstances.

It quickly became obvious to me that this wasn't just a random event or some argument about bad driving I was witnessing. The speed and professionalism of the guys in pursuit was a sure indication they'd done this type of thing before and they were very intent on capturing, subduing and removing these 2 individuals with a minimum of fuss. The young guy had his shirt ripped open at the front and folded back in such a manner that he couldn't easily move his arms and was bundled onto a motorbike in between two of the pursuers. The young woman meanwhile was similarly manhandled (without her shirt being ripped open) and wedged in between 2 guys with the guy at the rear keeping a firm grip on her arms. The couples motorbike was mounted by one of the pursuers and the whole lot drove out into the centre of the road to do a U turn and drive back in toward District 1. Apart from a helmet and a few pieces of motorbike plastic lying on the road you wouldn't know that anything had taken place there, (once we gawkers dispersed that is).

I can only speculate about the story behind this event. First thought is that the young couple were thieves being officially apprehended, or perhaps they owed somebody money, who knows. One thing for sure is that whoever their pursuers were they knew exactly what they were doing. These guys were very professional, very tough and I'm certainly glad it wasn't me they were chasing. They were quick to knock the stuffing out of the young couple taking any fight or thoughts of running they may have had right out of the equation.

An interesting bit of drama and as I said at the beginning, I drove on feeling quite disturbed. When you witness violence first hand at close quarters like this it is disturbing. On the one hand I felt some empathy for the young couple. Not knowing what their crime was allowed me to feel this way, but if for instance it was my house they'd just robbed I guess my feelings would be different towards them. The other reason I was disturbed was because actually I got a bit of a buzz out of the whole scene, it got my adrenalin pumping and left me on a bit of a high. Disturbing.

It's disturbing when we have to acknowledge our own animal instincts isn't it!

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flash flooding in downtown Sai Gon

Posted 12/11/2011 under mobile images • Viet Nam •

This is the corner of Le Loi and Pasteur Sts in downtown Sia Gon yesterday at 4pm after a deluge inundated the city. Fortunately these types of flash flooding usually dissipate soon after the rain stops.

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morning cafe scene

Posted 10/10/2011 under mobile images • Viet Nam • food • restaurants •

early morning cafe scene, downtown Sai Gon

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