Over the past several weeks there have been literally thousands of dragonflies flying over HCMC and surrounding districts. Whenever a storm is approaching, they hover very low and alight on plants on the rooftop garden where I marvel at the engineering feat that is their wings. Click on the thumbnails to pop-up a larger image […]
Last weekend we drove with friends up to Binh Chau beach and stayed in their bamboo bungalows which are situated within a metre or two of the sand and water. This place is opererated by the same people who run the eco-tourism resort and the hot springs, which is only a few kilometres away. Binh […]
In line with our aim to visit as many places within Vietnam as possible, last weekend Lisa and I along with colleagues from RMIT spent three days in Nha Trang. One of our Vietnamese colleagues lives there and it was yet another opportunity to travel with local knowledge ?built in? so to speak. Nha Trang […]
No matter what time of the day we place our garbage outside our front fence, you can be sure that some person/s will open the plastic bag and check what is in there to see whether anything has any value for recycling. The garbage is collected by hand here every morning, so you can be […]
Last Tuesday evening we ventured down to Thi Sach Street in District 1 to a bar that is owned by several people including the husband of one of our fellow academics at RMIT. “Enigma” is a cosy two story affair and they cater for drinkers with a thirst for beer or wine and serve light […]
Last night was RMIT Vietnam’s student end of semester night, and they decided to exhort people to “Spice up Your Life” and come along to the Masquerade. The student committee had spent many long hours organising and preparing for this event and it is a credit to all involved that such a professional evening went […]
When you are on a motorbike in traffic so dense that it would be impossible to fall over, because the person next to you would prop you up so to speak, the last thing that you want to see is somebody reaching for their cell phone. However, that’s what happens here all the time. Now, […]
Life is hectic at the moment because the exams are upon us and everybody who has ever had anything to with academia knows that with exams comes marking time. I am up to my armpits in exam papers and projects that need have the marks assigned to them very soon. Consequently I’m working from home […]
The link below will bring up a small new window showing some video footage of traffic on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street directly at the front of our alleyway. This was taken on a “quiet” Sunday morning when the traffic density was not too great. You can find the footage here, and please be patient while […]
It poured rain here last night. Now I know that some of you are going to think that I have been overdoing the whole “we are praying for rain” thing but really, when it finally came bucketing down, the difference in the atmosphere was astonishing. The air was cooled and smelt fresh. Anyway, if you […]
It is still dark at 5am this morning and the alarm was not set to wake us until 6.15. However, without any warning, our sound sleep is interrupted by the raucous tones of a full brass band with drums that sounded as if it were playing at the foot of the bed. Actually it was […]
Last student presentation of the semester finished and indeed my final class over and done with, I walk down the tree lined driveway at 21 Pham Ngoc Thach. Some students invite me over to their table under the enormous mango tree where they share their feast of pineapple and rose apple (mung) dipped in salty […]
For the second day in a row there have been storm clouds building and the sound of thunder in the sky. It rained yesterday, not enough to wash away the accumulated layers of dust that have built up on every surface during the dry, but at least it did rain. It could rain any minute […]
Our alleyway became plastered with posters last Wednesday night. Each poster has photos and details of candidates for both the Ward and District positions on the People’s Council and one of our regular drivers from this alley is running for the communal level elections. The Viet Nam News reports that… HA NOI ? The country […]
Driving in this city is a totally different experience to that of driving in Australian cities. At first, the traffic seems to be utterly chaotic with people going in all directions. Cars, trucks and buses travel alongside thousands of motorbikes, bicycles, cyclos, push-pull vehicles for disabled persons and a strange eclectic mix of other assorted […]
Mimi turned up at our front door the other day with these monster king prawns that her father had just barbequed and a bottle of Dalat red wine. Are we being spoilt or what!!
We were very fortunate to be invited to spend the weekend at Binh Chau Spa Resort with a group of people from HCMC. The group consisted of Vietnamese nationals who have completed their degrees in Australia along with people from Nutrifort, a health and fitness monitoring company, others from RMIT as well as partners and […]
Well, we just spent the weekend in Bangkok, I had my camera with me and I couldn’t find anything that I wanted to photograph apart from the weekend markets. However, I neglected to take my camera with me there so, who would want to see images of traffic clogged roads and run-down unattractive apartment buildings. […]
