And for these images I found while stumbling upon, I wanna buy an slr.

Y, T and F by VB

It is just so comforting to know that we have a God who is Faithful, who remains the same Yesterday, Today and Forever!

We will be performing this song on Sunday. 

My fingers are already swollen. 

-July29-

random photos

Random Photos from my Facebook.

 

4 years in Vietnam

Nicci, Marien and I celebrated 4 years of our friendships here in Vietnam. 

We missed the rest of the group but I am still happy they visited me here even just for a weekend. 

AT first I planned to bring them to Mui Ne.

I have not been there also so I really really want to go there.

But the koya travel agency did not recommend to be there just for a day.

It will be a waste of time daw.

Usually, to maximize the experience, we have to allot 2 days minimum.

So I gave up Mui Ne. 

Next time nalang. 

Plan B is to go to Vung Tau for beach. 

But the girls didn't feel like going to the beach. 

And I too, so Bye Vung Tau.

We end up city tour on Saturday and a spontaneous decision to go to Cu chi Tunnel on Sunday.

This post is our Saturday HCMC escapade.

[More pictures to be uploaded by my photographer visitors. :)]

After eating Banh Mi Thap Cam for breakfast in Bready, we do a walking tour at District 1.

Banh Mi Thap Cam in Bready is the best!
Nicci loves the salt and lime concoction.

 First Stop: HCMC Notre Dame Cathedral.

Even though I always see this almost everyday, I still adore the contrast of the blue sky and the red brick of the cathedral.

  What is unique this time is that I got to go inside :)

I missed Baclaran church. hahaha! 

A bit of trivia:

Vietnam population are majority Confucianism and Buddhism. 

But a big fraction of their population is Catholic. 

Catholicism is brought to Vietnam by Alexander de Rhodes, a french missionary. 

He also devised the system of writing that the Vietnamese are still using today. 

This is the reason that in the Indochina region, Vietnam is the only nation that uses Roman characters in their writing.

Interesting, isn't it? 

Next stop is the Reunification Palace.

It was the White House of then South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, when the South and the North is still divided. 

The South Vietnam then was anti-communist, backed up mainly by the US. On the other hand, North Vietnam was an ally of communism and was supported by other communist nations.

Vietnam War is the war between these two opposing regions and it was ended on the Fall of Saigon, when a tank of the North Vietnam Army bulldozed through the main gate of this palace.

This moment signifies the REUNIFICATION of Vietnam under the communist rule.

To be fair, Vietnam history is very interesting.

Today, this palace is very popular tourist spot in Ho Chi Minh City. Everyday, buses of tourist arrive here.

And to be fair, the palace is well maintained :)

We love the greenness of the grass.

I love the blueness of the sky.

Unlike the heavy, ghostly feeling I expected from an old antique building, this place exudes a light and historical feel, that made the visit more interesting. 

 

 

It is very noticeable the American influence in the architecture and the interiors of the palace, especially this leisure room which is so american 70-ish.

View from the veranda on the 3rd floor.

The rooftop is a helipad.

 I think this is where the Americans escaped through a helicopter when the North Vietnam Army is taking over the palace.

 

And to complete our history lesson, we then went (again, for me) to the War Remnants Museum. 

 The museum focuses on Vietnam War. 

It showcases the brutality of the [pakialamerong] America. 

I swear, whenever I see my pictures of this place, I feel anger and sadness. 

What is socially involved?hahaha!

 Lunch is at a rice chicken house near the war remnants :) very gwud!

The best is the thap cam rice chicken and roasted duck and fried pork.

And of course the dessert which I don't know the name.

 What i like in Vietnamese food is their wide array of condiments to make their food even more tastier!

Very busog after so we walked towards Ben Tanh to do shopping! 

Of course, when you say Vietnam, it means cheap bags and clothes to tourists. 

But I told them that bags here are thap cam originals and imitations. 

If you're the type who buys the brand, I really don't recommend you to buy bags here unless from the authentic outlet stores which sell the surplus stuffs directly from the factory.

Just go to Cambodia We Export Shop. 

But to be fair, their imitated bags last 3 years! So if you just don't care, it is super worthy!

 

SO, they end up spending 45minutes in this store selling brass accessories.

what is namakyaw? 

TIPS: Very useful vietnamese phase when shopping: 

Mak wah! - so expensive!

bak di - give me discount!

I am not sure though of the spelling. hahaha! 

Usually, people in Ben Tanh (and the rest of the tourist district) knows how to speak in English and amazingly, Tagalog! hahaha! 

I can randomly here tinderas saying, "maganda and mura!"

Kewlness!

They also bought candies for pasalubong.

 They love these peanut candies. 

I don't. haha!

Dinner was at my favorite in Pham Ngu Lao area,  Cafe333.

Break from our heavy Vietnamese lunch, we ordered pizza and pasta. 

I convinced them to try the Schweppes plus lime for drinks but it failed! 

di pala sya masarap.

And we were very exhausted for a very long day of walk.  

We have to prepare for the next day's whole day tour to Cu Chi. 

We slept early - 12mn :)

 too sleepy to proofread....zzzZZZZZZZ

-July25-


P.S.
Thanks Marien for some of the pics :)

Simplicity is Genius

Today is about simplicity. 

According to Albert Einstein "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex and more violent. It takes a touch of GENIUS and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction."

This world is full of complexity. 

Amidst of all these clutter is simplicity and our challenge is to search for that.

And when we find that and utilize it in good, then we became a true GENIUS.

I've read this story from a blog which best illustrates this idea.

This happened in one of the biggest cosmetics companies in Japan. The company received a complaint that a consumer had bought a soap box that was empty.  Immediately the authorities isolated the problem to the assembly line, which transported all the packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department.

For some reason, one soap box went through the assembly line empty. Management asked its engineers to solve the problem. Post-haste, the engineers worked hard to devise an X-ray machine with high-resolution monitors manned by two people to watch all the soap boxes that passed through the line to make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they worked hard and they worked fast but they spent a lot of time and money to do so.

But when a rank-and-file employee in a small company was posed with the same problem, he did not get into complications of X-rays, etc but instead came out with another solution.  He bought a strong industrial electric fan and pointed it at the assembly line. He switched the fan on, and as each soap box passed the fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out of the line.

True and amazingly genius right?

Lastly, Paulo Coelho said "Most of the simple things in life are simple and only the WISE understand them".

- July22-

ipod

 a gift to myself for being a good boy!

More to come. :) 

-July11-

Up and about

It was raining again and I wanted to feel good.

Good thing my utorrent just finished downloading UP.

So I turned off the light, turned on the aircon to its lowest temperature, plugged my earphones and hollah! 

Adventure is out there!

...and here comes the first sad part...crying...

Cute Russel!

good afternoon. 

my name is russel. 

i am a wilderness explorer.... 

Kevin! 

who apparently is a female.. 

and here comes the second sad part....crying...again..

there is another sad part here, the moment that Mr. Frederickson is browsing the adventure book of Ellie.....CRYING!!

 and the last crying part...really burst into tears!

And yeah! I felt really really good after.

And that's what I usually do whenever I'm down and sad. 

Watch sad movies! Cry to the max!

For me, it has a magical healing effect. 

That afterwards, I feel so damn gooood! 

- July06-

Rain and the Goo

Super rain from the Philippines is now here.

Nothing to do...

No new blog posts.

Bored with Facebook. 

Bored with Tumblr.

No interesting person online.

Just finished Pokemon Platinum.

Don't feel like watching movies.

Bored with AXN.

Singing will encourage the rain. 

Of course lazy to clean my room.

And nothing TO EAT IN THE FRIDGE?!?

Oops, I have no fridge....

Hmmmm..

I'm grabbing a hot cup of Chekhup and will dive into the dirty World of Goo!

-July5-

Sky Lanterns

The first time I saw actual Chinese Sky Lanterns being lighted and being raise up in the air is during UP Lantern Parade 2010.

And this is the time I start to fall in love with these creations.

They are just so lovely, romantic, and awesome! :)

Especially the moment that it gradually leaves your hand to float up and up!

And today, I was inspired by the lantern scene in Tangled.

So I am planning to fly Sky Lanterns! :)

I am just not sure when and where.

But I will! :)

-July04-

cute couple!

Just sharing this post from Patty Laurel's blog.

Carlo and Cat from Bob Nicolas on Vimeo.

cute couple! 

-July04-

Random Photos

...

Roadside Foodtrip

This afternoon, I visited Trinh who lives at District 12.

It's so far!! Cost me 250000VND for a cab.

Anyway, she took me to a roadside food stall selling rice cakes.

 Looks not so apetizing but I'm telling you, they're good!

Rice cakes are famous dish of Huế.

 Huế is located at the central part of Vietnam and is known for it's cuisine, some of which are the famous Bún bò Huế and a variety of rice cakes.

Huế was once the capital of Vietnam (before the war). 

The Kings and Palaces were then located in this part so people there prepared and served delicious food for the Royal families.

After our rice cake feast, she took me to a nearby stall that serves tra - their version of Pinoy's Halo-halo.

Yum yum!

-July03-