royby.com Weblogging
small alley…
Posted 15/08/2010 under Viet Nam • construction •
...tiny pagoda
The neighbour next door runs a small Chinese herb shop in the front of her house. She told us the old couple who lived in the pagoda died and it has not been open since.
park to honour Thich Quang Duc
Posted 15/08/2010 under Viet Nam •
It seems they have been working for years to complete this park, but finally it looks as if it’s coming to completion. It is being built to honour Thich Quang Duc, the Buddhist monk who burned himself to death in protest on this intersection on June 10, 1963.
local pagoda
Posted 09/08/2010 under Viet Nam •
It’s pleasant to stand near this gate and listen to the nuns chanting a mantra
rubbish…
Posted 07/08/2010 under Viet Nam •
...it’s something we need to get rid of
and here there is a rubbish collection daily at 4.45 pm. Not like in Australia where the rubbish sits festering and becoming smelly as it waits for the once a week pickup. Our current rubbish guy is a real gem. Not only does he have his trolley hooked as a trailer to his motorbike, which I think is very innovative, but he’s a really happy friendly person as well. In comparison to the rubbish man at our last house who used to show up drunk most days and was very abusive, this guy is just great. Nothing is too much trouble for him. He even issues a small chit as a receipt when he collect the 15,000 VND per month and that’s a first for me.
It just shows that, no matter what your occupation, you can be happy and make those around you happy as a result.
Incidentally, the guy behind the rubbish cart bending over with no shirt on sells ice, beer and coke from two ice boxes where he is standing outside his house. The coke is not cold, BUT his beer is kept under the ice! Beautiful!
fresh & hot ...
... and delivered to my door every morning
What could be better than fresh crisp white bread delivered to your door every morning, still piping hot from the oven. I don’t think anything compares, it’s totally awesome.
Every morning the deliverers of this breakfast treat ride their bicycles up and down each hem loudly chanting, “Banh mi day, banh mi nong!” A friendly smile accompanies every loaf. Then its time to sit down, cut the loaf, spread some butter and Vegemite (I am an Aussie after all), and enjoy with a home made steaming hot cappuccino.
Heaven on a stick!
he just kept walking
Posted 05/08/2010 under other stuff •
If, like me, you’re sitting at your office desk contemplating the four walls around you and need a taste of fresh air and open vistas, then pay a visit to Matt Greens site. Matt left his office in Brooklyn one day to clear his head and never went back. In fact right now he’s on day 131 of a walk across the USA from Rockaway Beach, New York to Rockaway Beach, Oregon.
Matt’s recording his walk with images taken on the trail and presented in his blog as a daily record of the simple things he now has time to observe. I challenge you to visit his blog and not get hooked by the sheer beauty of the things Matt is seeing. Try clicking on “random images” in the right column or follow day by day as the trails unfold. If you loved reading Steinbeck’s “Travels With Charley” (one man’s search for America), as much as I did, then you surely will be hooked by Matt’s recording of his adventure. Matt’s equivalent to “Rocinante”, Steinbeck’s specially built camper is, I guess, his way too neat and tidy hand cart pushed along the byways just below the Canadian border.
Personally, I’ve always loved seeing an open unknown trail in front of me, always had the irresistible urge to follow it and see where it leads. Good luck to you Matt, you’re out there doing it!
steel lady
Posted 03/08/2010 under Viet Nam • construction •
The form-work for house construction in Viet Nam is mainly shaped by hand, and often by ladies of steel like this one
more change
Posted 03/08/2010 under Viet Nam • construction •No matter where you are in and around Sai Gon it’s hard not to notice the Bitexo Financial Tower as it dominates the landscape. Construction is due to be complete later in 2010 of the 68 floors and 3 basement levels built to resemble a lotus, the symbol of Viet Nam. When complete over 10,000 people will be able to work in this building. GULP! That’s correct, 10,000 people, so that’s why they’ve built 7 basements allowing for 33,000 square metres of parking. Great stuff! But what about the already over clogged roads. How will they cope with the extra traffic I wonder.
However, the solution to traffic issues is evident in the photo. You only need buy a helicopter and viola, your commuting problems are over. Personally I think it’s strange that they provide a heli-pad in a country where there are, to this date at least, no privately owned helicopters. The only choppers around are the large ones used for the off-shore oil industry and those used by the military. Weird!
