...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 […]

... 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, […]

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 […]

The form-work for house construction in Viet Nam is mainly shaped by hand, and often by ladies of steel like this one.

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 […]

The old terrace houses juxtaposed against the ugly (to my eyes anyway) new apartment block make a statement about the change taking place in Sai Gon.

I just love eating Bun Cha (pronounced “boom char”) and this is a very nice description of the dish written by Thanh Huong as published in the Saigon Times Online. By Thanh Huong in Hanoi A portion of bun cha Photo: - Thanh Huong Hanoi people eat bun cha as a treat - not to […]

For a long time now I’ve been thinking about writing about food. Well, I sometimes do write about food but in a very unstructured manner. Food is important, without it what do we have to look forward to after a nights fast or a long hard day grinding away at the keyboard. I recently created […]

“If a man would pursue Philosophy, his first task is to throw away conceit. For it is impossible to begin to learn what he has a conceit that he already knows.” Epictetus LXXII

The small hems (alleys) in this city are a never-ending source of fascination. If I get bored with working in my home office the thing to do is head off in some new direction and get lost among the thousands of alleys that criss-cross most residential city blocks. However, the rapidity with which the hems […]

At the risk of being branded sexist or sex-obsessed there are some signs around this city that just give me a good laugh. I simply can’t help relating the word play back to my aussie humour roots. For instance, there is the “box” series such as the well known… and the newer… and then, lo […]

This is the rear of an office block under construction in District 3. The assembly of 4 bamboo ladders tied together enables workers to render and paint the outside of the building. It’s very typical of the type of scaffolding provided for workers here. As they complete a section the ladders are moved horizontally along […]

I’m sick and tired of the time wasting triviality of Facebook. I’ve decided to take a break from using it, which is a dilemma in some ways because it’s the only way that I communicate with several of my friends. No doubt I will get back to it some time in the future, maybe next […]

I came across a small re-cycling yard not far off the main street of Batu Ferringhi on Penang Island. It’s the first time I’ve seen toilet seats and lids being re-sprayed to extend their useful life. Things could get a bit sticky once the paint begins to peel.

Now this my friends could be the best ever home made cappuccino (for me at any rate). Just look at that milk foam!!

It’s been a long time coming, but I’ve finally got around to re-building an image gallery. It’s in it’s early stages as far as content goes yet, but I have created a section I’ve called “Portraits of Viet Nam” which, as the name suggests are images of people that I’ve taken over the years while […]

Skimming is the common term for credit/debit card fraud and amazingly, in recent weeks a gang from, “a particular part of Asia” has skimmed approx. A$50million from Australian bank accounts. Westpac bank have blocked over 10,000 of their customers cards while police involved in the investigation say it’s the biggest attack of this type they […]

I received an e-mail today that, on first appearance, looked like just another spam mail offering to deposit millions of dollars into my bank account. However, this one is a little bit different. The sender claims to be an ex US Army Major and to help convince me of the seriousness of his desire to […]