That Will be 900,000 Dong - Cash or Card?

I am officially an official, officialized, official-esque, well kind of official photojournalist. In the past weeks I have been working my tuccass off and Blurb.com has been kind enough to publish and sell my two photographic ventures!

The first, 365: Seasons of the City was my New York City baby for 12 months of my relatively short life. I really like this book and everything it stands for - it will be sitting proudly on my, currently non-existent, Wyoming coffee table in a few months time.

The follow up, What the Phở, was more of a labor of love/hate between myself and the experience I have come to know as "I hate when people ask how Vietnam was because I don't know how to answer" or IHWPAHVWBIDKHTA for short. Nevertheless, the contrast between seeing the world through my lens and my keyboard provides for some interesting material.

And in a shameless act of self-promotion click, click, click here for my books.


P.S. Less then two months until Wyoming :D

Home Sweet Home

Everything is right where I left it 3 months ago, except for the leaves - they are on the ground. I've never enjoyed more the feeling of walking into Target or not having to communicate with my fingers. However, I do not think that you can truly appreciate what you have until you see where others call home.

My last day in Dalat I, once again, put my life in Vietnamese construction's hands and took the alpine slide down to a gorgeous waterfall. I'm here typing, so i guess that means I survived! Enjoy my second to last adventure below and here.

TransContinental

December 11th turned into November 1st. Life is always unpredictable isn't it? I won't blather on for long about my time here, that's what the blog archives are for. However, I think today was the perfect end to a somewhat imperfect experience.

1. While sitting in the park enjoying some dried sweet potato and soy milk, one of my students busts out in an N'Sync song complete with some break dance moves. After he was done he looks at me and asks if I like N'sync. Words could not explain my excitement.

2. 6 Vietnamese teenagers and myself on tandem bicycles, in a skirt no less.

3. Eating che chuoy (banana sweet soup) with my class while they keep yelling at each other to speak English.

and finally...

4. A wonderfully western dinner with some great friends and my favorite little dude (since when do I like kids?!) As well as a few intense games of Dutch Blitz.

2009 has been a year full of lemons and I'm planning on opening up my own lemonade stand very soon. Pink and regular on sale until December 31st.

I have 2 more sets of Vietnam pictures. The first is from the Valley of Love when my fellow KKG'er came to visit Dalat and the second will be posted when I am back on US soil. I think I'll put my camera down for a nap, however my next adventure begins in February when I move to Wyoming to assume the spot of official Air Force girlfriend. I promise Canon will come back to life in full force!

Stay tuned....

Enjoy below and here.

Some Me Time

Sometimes it really does take a day all by yourself to put things into perspective. Add in the serenity and awe-inspiring view of the Angkor Wat temple and you've got yourself a revelation. No better place to ponder matters then in the shadow of the largest religious structure on the globe.

Whether your thoughts are geared toward God, Buddha or Shiva, it is easy to feel closer to them while being here. The Khmer people wanted to get as close to the heavens as possible, so they concentrated much of their construction efforts skyward. Maybe they were on to something.

Although I was enjoying the peace and quiet, it was very difficult to turn down my fellow mid-twenty's motorbike driver when he invited me to go and drink with his friends in the park. Old habits die hard, I guess. Nevertheless, I politely declined and read my book from the comfort of the balcony hammock for the rest of the afternoon. In Cambodia it doesn't get any better then that.

Enjoy Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm and Angkor Thom here and below.

Cambodia and Nothing to Say

I'm suffering from a bit of writers block or perhaps just lack of motivation. Nevertheless my first full day in Cambodia was everything I thought it would be. Filled with temples, temples and more temples...and maybe a massage thrown in there for good measure.

Enjoy the set below and here.

12 Hours & a Chicken Sandwich Later

I loved Cambodia. It was the perfect mix of familiar and un, all wrapped up into one. The amount of poverty contrasted with their amazing command of the English language is what surprised me the most.

Although the 12 hour bus ride from HCMC was grueling, I wouldn't have done it any other way, for the chance to see the countryside of this recently war-torn country was priceless. Tourism was, within the past decade, reintroduced to Cambodia following the atrocities and genocide forced on the nation by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.

Despite this astronomical setback, one would never know the nation was forced back to Year Zero only a few decades ago. In Siem Reap, the town just outside the Angkor Temples, the variety of western amenities rivals that of only the biggest tourist cities in Vietnam. Many people from home thought I was facing certain death by venturing over the Cambodian border. However, my fate was much sweeter; that of $10 massages, adorable children, friendly Buddhist monks and and ruins rivaled only by the final scene in Planet of the Apes.

Enjoy my ride from Saigon to Siem Reap (with a pit stop in Phnom Phen) below and here.

A Year Older

I aged in Saigon - literally. I spent a wonderful birthday weekend with some equally wonderful friends, doing everything American and girly to boot. Dishing about boys, drinking beer and indulging in some much needed Pizza Hut, unfortunately sans bread sticks.

While growing older and wiser I came to some conclusions after this weekend:

1. An American entering the Vietnam War Museum feels exponentionally more American right after crossing the doorway. Not in a good way.

2. Alcohol makes me much more fluent in Vietnamese. Especially when trying to haggle with the cab driver to give us the correct change. Hai muoi, hai muoi, hai muoi!

3. Bad American movies are also bad in Vietnam, go figure.

Enjoy Uncle Ho's city below and here.