royby.com

quote of the day

Fri, 02 May 2008 03:18:37 GMT

Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity. - Christopher Morley

changing values...

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 08:25:16 GMT

Last night I began re-reading Robert Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". It must be at least 12 years since I last read this book, and it was one of the books that I decided to bring back from Australia with me because I want to find out how I relate to the story at this time in my life. Pirsig describes the tale as being "An Inquiry Into Values" and, because I consider that my perceptions of life and life's values have changed so much over the...

bad traffic events...

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 07:34:06 GMT

We all have bad days, or bad parts to our days. It's how we deal with the aggravation those bad things engender that makes the difference. Today I began my day with a "bad traffic event". Usually I can drive my motorbike in the peak hour traffic and not worry too much about the congestion, pollution, impatience of other drivers and the dozens of other niggles that add to the driving experience here. Basically, most people on m'bikes here realise we are all in the same position...

too true...

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:48:37 GMT

we males don't really stand a chance...

At the age of eleven or thereabouts women acquire a poise and an ability to handle difficult situations which a man, if he is lucky, manages to achieve somewhere in the later seventies. - PG Wodehouse

language is culture, culture is language

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:00:04 GMT

Since moving to Viet Nam 4 years ago I have enrolled in 3 Vietnamese language courses, 1 in VN and 2 while back in Australia. I also own 4 different self help learning kits, have 5 electronic Viet-English dictionary programs for laptop and Palm Pilot and 2 reasonably large hard copy dictionaries. But I have to admit that, until now, I have not been completely serious about learning the language. However, I decided that I needed to adopt a more positive attitude toward learning Vietnamese if...

happiness is...

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 05:34:08 GMT

Recently, a friend of mine updated his Facebook status to read that what he wanted was "to be happy". Since then I've been thinking a lot about what happiness is and what it takes for us to "be happy", and I've come to a conclusion. In order for us to be happy we simply need to tell ourselves that "we will be happy". Because, whatever our circumstances, it is up to each of us whether we are happy or not. Happiness comes from within. No other person or...

my luggage gets an unexpected holiday

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:32:55 GMT

I am now back in Sai Gon and was going to write that my flight over with the Qantas owned discount airline JetStar was arguably the most comfortable and friendly (staff wise) flight I have taken over here, and the fact is, it was. However, for approximately 15 passengers including myself it was disappointing to discover that our luggage was still on holiday in Sydney. I was dreading flying with JetStar because I have had a couple of not so good experiences with them flying domestically...

spending time with my family

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 07:48:40 GMT

Jay and Grandad

helmets

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:47:37 GMT

Well, it hasn't taken very long for people in Sai Gon to begin flaunting the new helmet laws. It was only on December 15 that nearly every person remarkably complied with the new law requiring helmets for drivers and passengers of motorbikes to be worn everywhere in Viet Nam. The police were out in force making sure that people complied and I really began to believe that this time the law would stick. However, I now notice more people without helmets, particularly the passengers...