mrsjono

This is a painting of Kukup, a fishing village near Johor Bahru. It's on the wall of a seafood restaurant (Restoran High King) in Pontian and it caught my eye. I paused to look at it for awhile. When I was a primary school kid, I stayed in one of these houses on stilts during the school holidays. My sisters, cousins and I would point...

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Vietnam may not be as beautiful as China, but there are lots to see on the streets with so many activities happening at the same time. In Mekong Delta alone, I took 200 shots in 3 hours. We were so busy snapping away at the floating markets at one point in time, I didn't know what I was taking. Here are 10 selects...

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船的眼睛看起来很滑稽 ...

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He bought this durian pastry at Can Tho... ate the whole bar on the boat... not doing good the next day... bedridden with broken arm and running a fever... and back to normal after this plate of fruits ;) ...

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I was so pleasantly surprised when our boatwoman started putting on bracelet bands and rings on our wrists and fingers when we finally reached Phong Dien. She had weaved them using banana leaves while the boat was on auto-pilot mode. We couldn't understand what she was saying, the rings don't cost a cent, but from her earnest expression, we could feel her sincerity....

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They are as strange to us as we are as strange to them... ...

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I duck-walked several hundred metres in the tunnels and came out with both legs half-paralysed. Nontheless, it was a great experience not to be missed. You'll find out how clever the Vietcongs were and why the Americans lost. Impressive. ...

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Caodaism believes in something of everything - Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Confucianism, Taoism and whatever religion you can possibly think of. They believe all religions in the world ultimately sends the same message - to bring love and peace to mankind. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but it really does not make sense to me. Their hierarchical organization follows the Roman Catholicism....

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千年老妖树 千年老妖树 ...

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Of the colonial buildings we visited, this was the most beautiful :) Of the colonial buildings we visited, this was the most beautiful :) ...

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If you see ang moh carrying a guide book in their hand, 95% of the time it is a Lonely Planet guide book on Vietnam. It's the Vietnam backpacker's bible. Everyone carries different versions of the book which means everyone ends up going to the same places on the same bus, dining at the same restaurant, same cafe and even eating the same...

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Before we set off, I had totally no idea about the exchange rate, didn't know how the notes look like and didn't know the notes come in what denominators. It was all taken care of by my Minister of Finance. "I'll take all the Dong and you take care of all the US dollar," he said and passed a stack of USD to...

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We met quite a number of Vietnamese who can speak Chinese and/or Cantonese in Saigon. Their ancestors came from China (Guangdong province) and eventually settled down in Vietnam, forming the Hoa ethnic group. The younger generation can converse up to 4 languages (Vietnamese, English, Chinese, Cantonese) fluently. It's time we stop thinking we're great just bcos we're bilingual... Wedding of Mr Kim Chuy...

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I had picked 4 hostels beforehand and we didn't stay in any of them bcos they were all full. We did not book bcos we don't know how to. I figured we'll look around when we get there. We met a family of four from Australia on the bus. The moment they got off the bus, the father just walked into the first...

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Half a year ago, I did research work for a professor on public spaces in Vietnam. Academia on public space in this country have discussed about personal activities not occurring in private places (inside the house) but happening outside, in the public sphere. This phenomenon is unique to Vietnam and it was an opportune time to see for myself and better understand the...

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The first thing that caught my attention when we arrived in Saigon was the traffic. Lanes don't exist and honking doesn't work. There are extremely few traffic lights (I suspect they don't have money to build traffic lights so they make do with roundabouts) and zebra crossings on the roads. While the bus was trying to squeeze its way through, I opened the...

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What could be more extraordinary than going on a holiday with a fractured elbow. Imagine the inconveniences one has to go through without being able to use your right hand. It wasn't an easy journey for our injured friend here and he deserves a pat on the back for completing the journey and leading the way. We took this at 6.58AM, 17 mins...

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I went to Vietnam not knowing what to expect and not expecting much. It was never in my list of destinations to visit. I dono about you, but somehow, Southeast Asia doesn't really appeal to me. Perhaps tourism campaigns for the region were not good enough. Or maybe humans don't cherish what's around (or near) us and we think there are better places...

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