“He didn’t want a holiday’s brief deception of well-being”. Paul Theroux, The Family Arsenal  

I thought that maybe when I saw the police visit my dog, daughter & wife beating neighbour a couple of days ago that they had been talking to him about not beating his dog. However, if the exhibition I watched just a few moments ago is any indication, that is not so. This man is […]

While I’m in Ha Noi my friend Nhan is living in my house in Sai Gon and a few nights ago he sent me a text message about a neighbour on the other side of the hem who he had just seen savagely beating his small dog. Nhan had seen this happen twice and was […]

Three elderly gentlemen enjoying an afternoon snack of deep fried sweet pastries on a street in Nam Dinh City south of Ha Noi  

I just read again Barthes writing on waiting for the loved one and enjoyed it so much that I’ve copied it below in ‘more’. For Barthes, waiting is that “tumult of anxiety provoked by waiting for the loved being”. Although Barthes never wrote a single major piece, what he did write had a profound influence […]

Living in Viet Nam means adapting to local conditions of cleanliness and hygiene. If you want to eat and drink with the locals then you had better be tolerant of conditions that would not be acceptable in more developed areas of the world. Vietnamese people are well aware of this and tell me that it […]

Walking down my hem this morning made me think of a saying. “Person who walks with nose in the air is destined to step in dog shit”.

Living alone in my old house in Sai Gon certainly has its advantages. I can do pretty much what I want whenever I want without bothering anybody. However, it can also be a very lonely and isolating experience. Even though I have many friends in this city and, modern communications being what they are, I […]

Little Xin Mai has become the centre of attention in this hem since she arrived here from Taiwan with her parents a few weeks ago. Vietnamese people love their children so much and this little girl is being spoiled by every auntie, uncle and cousin in the hem. Its a beautiful thing to watch. In […]

Each morning as I sit having my ca phe this old lady takes her exercise and I find comfort in the continuity of this process having watched her do this for many years now. She strolls at a slow pace up and down the pavement on Nguyen Dinh Chieu St accompanied by the younger lady […]

I have seen this lady before, in fact every time I’ve eaten at the tiny Pizza Roma on the corner of Cach Mang Thang Tam and Nguyen Thi Dieu Sts she has appeared, bobbing around from table to table, barely seen as she navigates her way to each set of diners offering her fist full […]

It’s good to know that The University of Queensland has once again ranked well nationally and internationally. It will always look good on my CV UQ has again performed well in the latest top 500 rankings of world universities. The respected Academic Ranking of World Universities is undertaken by the Institute of Higher Education at […]

This video footage was taken from my rooftop garden looking down into the hem a short while ago. The lady playing guitar and singing is blind or visually impaired and is being led along by a young guy selling lottery tickets. There is some debate about whether this current form of blind street music/begging is […]

Last night I met at this place on Pham Ngoc Thach St with 3 of my former colleagues from RMIT. Janice (on the left) is teaching in New York now and is back here on vacation. This is the 3rd night in a row that I’ve eaten oysters here. And why not, these are the […]

If you want to make the best cup of coffee in the world, first you need the best coffee and I can’t go past Vietnamese coffee for that. Then you need one of these small tin gadgets known as a phin. The phin is a small metal filter which you sit directly on the top […]

This small bit of video footage demonstrates the walk back after lunch from Nguyen Hien com tam on Nguyen Thoung Hien St to my house. The alleys are quite narrow and very cool (temperature wise I mean). I apologise in advance for the slightly stomach churning movement of my stride.  

...and here I am a short while ago sitting out front of Nguyen Hien eating rice with fish and egg, sweat running down the centre of my back, and this old gentleman comes up to sell me lottery tickets. Not a bead of perspiration appearing on his face and he’s wearing a jacket with a […]

I have just re-read what I wrote about Dr. Laurie just after he passed away and it made me realise that since I’ve been back in Sai Gon there has been an expectation in the back of my mind that my mobile would ring and there would be Laurie inviting me to come and drink […]