Motorbike Diaries – Vol. 16

October 4, 2009 15 Comments »

Start from the Beginning – Motorbike Diaries Vol. 1 You won’t believe your eyes this week!  I’ve collected some of my recent motorbike photography that will amaze and baffle you.  After living here for a year, I’m still absolutely dumbfounded and tickled by what I see the Vietnamese strap to their motorbikes.  The motorbike culture here […]

The Dust Bowl

July 23, 2009 17 Comments »

I often wonder how many months the pollution and dust in Saigon will take off my life.  For this reason, I can’t imagine living here long term.  Hell, I imagine that living here long term is akin to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day! That may be an exageration, however no one really knows what […]

Butchers in Vietnam

July 20, 2009 3 Comments »

I recently made a trip to a local market to purchase and eat durian for the first time.  While I was there, I was able to capture some photos of butchers of the market. I love this mixture of personalities, ages, and genders!  They were all working in the same market and all selling meat.  […]

Adventure Eating

July 15, 2009 5 Comments »

After 8 months here I finally found some Vietnamese friends who have taken me on as their ‘foreign friend project’. Meaning – they are helping me to see and experience the Vietnamese culture from a local perspective. It’s easy to experience the touristy side of Saigon, however I have found it hard to really integrate […]

The Motorbike Diaries – Vol. 14

July 13, 2009 7 Comments »

Start from the Beginning – Motorbike Diaries Vol. 1 The Great Horn Divide No matter how hard I try, I just can’t do it. I lose the mental battle every time. I tell myself to be calm, patient, understanding – but then it happens – BEEP, BEEP BEEEEEP, BEEP, BEEP; and after the 3rd time of […]

Renewing a Passport Overseas

July 8, 2009 10 Comments »

I decided to start the process of getting my passport renewed as many countries won’t let you enter if you don’t have more than 6 months left on your passport validity. I certainly didn’t want to be turned away at the border of Mongolia! Plus, I’ve learned that working through the American consulate while you […]

Durian – The King of Fruits

July 5, 2009 31 Comments »

There are many hard things about living by yourself overseas…I may write a book about it someday if I can ever force myself to slow down long enough. However, this July 4th weekend highlights one of those many challenges; missing family. It’s my mother’s birthday, and my parent’s pending 50th Wedding anniversary, and my family […]

The Price of Being a Foreigner in Asia

July 2, 2009 19 Comments »

I was out with a friend today shopping for camera equipment for my upcoming trip to Mongolia. I went to a local little camera ‘stall’ near/in The Tax Department Store (I won’t even get into what a terrible name that is for a store…that could be a whole post on it’s own). I was looking […]

The Motorbike Diaries – Vol. 13

June 29, 2009 7 Comments »

Start from the Beginning – Motorbike Diaries Vol. 1 The power of the hand… I hopped on my motorbike tonight at 8:30 PM to find out that my headlight no longer worked. It would only work when I throttled the bike up – but after I slowed down, the light went out. This created an interesting […]

Grey’s Anatomy in Vietnam

June 23, 2009 10 Comments »

I had been putting it off for as long as I could, but finally after 6 months I had to go visit the hospital. No, I wasn’t in an accident nor was I sick. I was required to have a physical in order to obtain a work permit in Vietnam. This wasn’t like when I […]