Me and the Little Bee

Hoi An is little more than Chinese temples and tailor shops. We visited this shop 2 years ago, and as soon as I walked up Bee recognized me, gave me a big hug and asked where Abby was.
Everybody who has been to Hoi An has had clothes made and has their favourite shop. Cloth Shop Nguyen located inside the main tailor market at stall No 1A, is by far my fave. I had other clothes made in other places and none were of the quality that I found here.
The stalls are named and numbered, but all you have to do is look for the shortest girl in the place and you will have found Bee. Her name fits her perfectly because she is always busy and fliting about, finding cloth and helping her many customers.

Viet Pick Up Truck

In Vietnam motor-scooters are used as SUVs, minivans and as pick up trucks.
This is not an uncommon site, in Vietnam, or any where in Asia really.

Hoi An Fresh Beer - Self Portrait

Me drinking "fresh beer" at a river front restaurant in Hoi An, Vietnam. It is blazing hot and quite humid in Hoi An; the fresh beer quite refreshing, and cheaper than water.

Celebrating Football Victory Over Singapore - SEA Games

At home if any country wins any major soccer game, whole areas of the city comes to a standstill. Especially if one of those teams is Italy, Portugal or Brazil. For every round of the Euro or World cups cars drive through the city, flying the winning nation's flag and honking their car horns.
I was in Hoi An a smallish city in southern Vietnam when the national team beat out Singapore in the semi finals the locals went crazy. It was almost like home, except everyone was on motor-scooters.
The final game is tonight versus Malaysia. If they win, I can only imagine that Hanoi will erupt into total pandemonium.

I'm a walkin' talkin' stereotype.

I ate a few doors down from this BBQ joint. I think I know what this is, but am not totally sure.
I mean we've all heard the urban myth about the teacher on a year long contract who came to Vietnam. She went to what she thought was a pet shop and picked out the cutest puppy she saw there. She handed over the money for her new pet, they picked up the dog, broke it's neck and took it around back to clean for cooking.
I left the image as large as possible so you can be the judge as to what kind of animal this is.

Hoan Kiem - Hanoi

Hoan Kiem is a large lake in the middle of Hanoi's old quarter. In the middle is a Chinese style bridge that takes you to a temple.

Hoan Kiem by day
under Hanoi's perpetually gray sky.

Hoan Kiem by night,
seen from the 2nd floor of a Western coffee shop.

Chiang Mai Graff

Graff is rare in Chiang Mai, other than crappy tags, so here is a few decent things I found.