Vietnam Day 4 – Cooking for the nuns

Posted on Dec 6, 2012 in Travel

Today we went out for a fun trip to a very old convent. The Convent called Camion (well I am not sure of the spelling of the name of the convent actually since that is what it sounds like in Vietnamese. This is my second trip to the convent and boy have they done a wonderful job in restoring the church, the classrooms and the nuns sleeping quarters in the last year since I have been here. The convent was originally built back in 1844 (over 150 years ago) and you can imagine at that time Vietnam was a very different place – probably very influenced by the french. Well if you look at the architecture and the grounds it is easy to tell that it does in fact look like something right out of France – even the French streetlights that adorn the walkway to the church. It is just a beautiful place. The sky was nice and blue this day, which was not the case when I was here before. I came during the rainy season and it was pouring rain when we visited last time.

The grounds of the convent are kept immaculate.

The reason why we came to the convent this particular time was to visit the elderly retired nuns and Tu and her family cooked for all of the nuns. What they cooked was a traditional Vietnamese soup called Gao (Jow) which is basically a very boiled and tasty rice soup that has bits of pork and chicken. It is very tender on the stomach but very tasty too and it was perfect for the elderly nuns who had special diets which means that they cannot eat anything to harsh. The soup was so good and all of the nuns said it tasted excellent.

This is a picture of one of the very kind nuns. She was in her room when she noticed that we were taking pictures and she came out and wanted a picture of herself too. She is over 90 years old but you would not know it because she was so energetic and happy. Well in fact all of the nuns here were so happy and so positive. They live a very good life.

These two nuns are sisters. One of them was very sick and could not get up to go to dinner, but her sisters sits by her bed all the time and takes care of her. How nice to have a sister that would always be there for you. She was sick but she was full of smiles when the camera came out.

This nun had the kindest eyes and nicest smile. You could see how happy she was in her eyes. She was giggling when we said to take some pictures of her and she said to me after she saw the picture, “I am very pretty but I do not have anyone to take pictures of me”. Well she certainly had a warm heart and a kind disposition. She was 94 years old but was many years younger in her heart and how she looked. She was walking around with us everywhere and always telling us things about the convent.

Another sweet nun. She was the one that was taking care of her sister. Another warm smile.

Before we left we got all of them together and took a group shot. Look at how funny and great they were. I told them to raise up their arms and cheer. When they did, I snapped the picture. It came out great and shows just how happy and full of life they are. Another great day in Vietnam.

Vietnam Day 3 – Around Vinh Long

Posted on Dec 4, 2012 in photography, Travel

Good morning Vietnam. I am still in Vinh Long which is located about 3 hours south of Saigon and right on the Mekong Delta. You know the Mekong Delta is the long river like the Amazon that flows through most of the south of Vietnam. The river is a source of transportation, food and livihood for the people of Vietnam. In fact Tu’s parents own a large construction supply company and they use the river and barges to transport their goods. The river branches in so many directions here in Southern Vietnam you can practically get anywhere that you want by River. The second choice of course is scooters and there are millions of scooters virtually everywhere on the streets. You don’t see cars but you see millions of people riding scooters – in fact the whole family will jump on the scooter and head out to dinner just like we would jump in our cars with the family to go out for a nice dinner.

This kid looks a little sleepy. It isn’t unusual to see passengers on the scooters so comfortable that they actually fall asleep while the scooter rumbles down the road.

The other way people get around here is by bike. You will see people dressed up in their Sunday best on their bikes. I have noticed the roads are so dusty that my clothes actually get quite dusty by the end of the day. Thank God that Tu has a laundry machine in her house or I would be looking pretty dingy.

The Mekong Delta can be very pretty but everything here is so green. When you are traveling along the river the jungle is so dense and green and tropical. You can pick fruits off trees and eat them if you want. I don’t but Tu always does.

Vietnamese food is really good and fresh and pretty low calorie. For lunch today we had hot soup that was boiled fresh over wood. This is the equivalent of a Vietnamese hot plate done the old fashioned way with burning wood. So great.

The Vietnamese kids are very cute. Tu has a ton of nieces, nephews and kids running around. We took some pictures of some of the girls at her mom’s workplace.

Here she is again being funny.

And another little girl that works with her mother.

Here is another black and white portrait of her.

I took this picture at Tu’s factory. The guy was toiling away carrying loads of bricks on his back off a boat into the warehouse.

I always wonder why everyone stares at me here and then I realize that they have a big camera pointed at them.

Vietnam Day 1 – A visit to the orphanage

Posted on Dec 2, 2012 in Travel

Arrived in Vietnam and spent the first day at an orphanage and living facility. It was quite sad to see the faces of the children, the mentally ill and physically disabled that called this place home. They live beyond poverty in some of the saddest and most barren places you could imagine. The place used to be a jail but now it houses babies, kids, mentally and phyiscally handicapped people. The only thing they have to look forward to are infrequent meals and the occasional visitor.

This little boy has aids. He is kept alone. He cannot play with other little boys or girls but he is always very happy and smiling. We gave him this candy and he did not know what to do with it.

This little boy sits behind the steel bars in his crib. The walls are white and there are no toys here. Just the cribs, a little food. Many of the babies sleep right on the floor.

This cute little girl is the youngest in a family of four. All the kids are left here in the orphanage but they were so cute and happy.

Happy faces. Happy times in a very poor place.

This was the oldest brother of the family of four that was left abandoned. You could tell he was the oldest brother because he kept taking care of his brothers and sisters.

Here they are. They are all so cute. I wonder if anyone will adopt all of them. I hope they don’t get split up.

Sometimes it is hard to tell the little boys from the girls because they give them all the same hair cuts. They just shave off all of their hair.

There are three parts of the facility – one for the mentally instable, one for the physically disabled and one for the kids and babies. As we drive up we saw the mentally disabled jail that they put the mentally instable people in. This guy was intently staring at us. He was very nice and waved and was very happy with the very little we gave him. It’s sad that he must live like a prisoner everyday for the rest of his life and he did nothing wrong.

This is a lady. She sits on the hard cement everyday. The only thing she has to look forward to is meals that come all too infrequently.

This was the happiest boy there. He came up to us immediately and smiled the whole time. He could not walk but dragged himself along the ground. When we left he dragged himself across the building to thank us and wave goodbye,

She asked me to take a picture of her. When I showed it to her, she asked me to give her a copy of it. I need to make sure I do that. In fact I should give them all the pictures. They probably have no pictures of themselves in their lives. Imagine how that must feel like.

Overcome with grief, or perhaps because a respite in it this lady broke down in tears when she received her small gift which was just a little bit of candy. She will never leave this place. There is no where else for her to go.

No matter what we did, we could not get this boy to smile. He had a sadness inside him.

This baby sat in her crib behind barred windows and the steel bars on her crib. So many barriers between her and others.

The kids cheered and sat in a row to greet us when we arrived. They were cute and so well behaved.

This little boy was shy. Very shy but he finally took a photo for us.

Self Portrait

Posted on Oct 24, 2012 in Travel

Sometimes when I go on road trips for work I take my camera. I started traveling heavily for work in 1997 and pretty much traveled about 50% of my time through 2011. That’s about 14 years and during that time I amassed close to 2MM miles in the air and many Christmas’s, Thanksgivings and other holidays on the road. It was always pretty hard to travel so much and it wasn’t until I stopped traveling so much that I started to learn what would make business travel much easier – just planning to do stuff you like. Too many times you go on a business trip and you work all day, go back to the hotel, hop on the computer and start answering emails about work from back in the office. I did that for so many years and it drove me crazy. I couldn’t sleep because I would be answering stressful business emails at midnight in London or whatever part of the world I was in at the time. So recently I stopped all that. I rarely go back to the hotel and answer emails right after work. Instead, I do a couple of things that really make me happy and make trips worthwhile and keep me sane. I go the gym, and I bring my camera. When I go the gym, I feel connected to home because I bring some of my daily routine with me. When I go out after with my camera, it makes me realize that every business trip is a chance to explore the world and learn more about places I visit.

I went to Chicago for a business meeting recently. It was to Chicago. It was a great set of meetings actually and I really enjoyed it and what I also enjoyed was going out after those meetings and exploring the city of Chicago. Just me, and my camera. The place was amazing and while I had been to Chicago countless times before, I never saw it like I saw it this time. I actually saw it for it was, a beautiful city. It makes me regret a bit the 12 years before when I had traveled close to 2mm miles on planes that I never brought my camera with me. The memories I would have captured could have been priceless. I wish I had one that.

This link has some of the pictures I captured while in Chicago. I took this interesting picture below a bridge. There was stainless steel that was so shiny that I could capture my reflection it it while I walked under it.

http://www.frankiefoto.com/Travel/Chicago/26120603_VTR3Nr

Reflection Pool

Posted on Oct 23, 2012 in Travel

We took this picture at the Japanese Gardens in Portland. Tu reflects in the tranquil gardens.

The Original

Posted on Oct 1, 2012 in Travel

He’s been singing in San Francisco for at least 30 years. When I was young and visited San Francisco, he was there singing verses about people walking by. Always smiling and always singing. He’s still there only now he has moved up to the Haight district. He said that he was a little rusty because he just got back from Louisiana where he had to bury his Aunt. This guy is the original street singer. I wonder how many people remember him. I bet many do – he’s the original and best.

We’re leaving our heart in San Francisco

Posted on Sep 30, 2012 in Travel

We had a very busy day exploring San Francisco. Up early and on a bus all day viewing all the great areas and neighborhoods of the city by the bay. Tomorrow, its back to San Diego. I can say we definitely made the most of our time. 1,500 miles and more than 10 cities visited and hundreds of cool photos. That’s how you do a road trip and this one has been awesome.

The Palace of Fine Arts is a beautiful place and the most used place for Wedding Photographs in the Bay Area. You can see why. It was originally built as a temporary structure but later made permanent.

Outside of the Science Center in Downtown, Rinnie relaxes.

This is Alamo Park. At sunset the views of the city are incredible.

Rinnie at first thought the Haight Ashbury District was cool, but then the hippies and druggies started to get on her nerves.

We’ve been watching this guy play for years. He used to be on the Wharf, but now he is the Haight.

There is alot of angry people in the Haight Ashbury even though they put these peace and love signs everywhere. I find the place a bit hostile. This is a nice picture of Rinnie in one of the signs.

Tu is in the Rainbow.

Check out the Rinniebow

Golden Gate Park. What a beautiful place.

This was our home for the day- the Big Red Bus. This is the way to see the city.

Tu outside the science center.

Here is Rinnie posing in front of a big red sign.

At the Golden Gate Bridge it was completely fogged in, so we spent our time there taking other pictures.

A brief bit of sun burns off the fog so we could get this picture of Rinnie.

Tu posing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Jump Tu, at the Palace of Fine Arts

Tu walking up something that would appear to be stairs but they are planters. It was pretty scary up there.

Rinnie makes a wish.

Brrr.. it was so cold but we finally made it back to the hotel and warmed ourself by the fire.

In a tree, through a tree to Frisco

Posted on Sep 29, 2012 in Travel

Many hours of driving through Redwood Forest and windy roads and we finally made our way to San Francisco. On the way down, I got a text message that told me that the business meeting that was scheduled for two weeks from now in Ohio had been pushed up to Tuesday which meant that I had to be back in San Diego soon to pack for that trip. Well, the trip will be coming to an end soon but it was well worth it and we saw so much for only traveling for a single week. It’s not over yet. In fact our biggest adventures await us in San Francisco.

During the drive down the 101 we were amazed at the mile after mile of super tall Redwood Trees that lined the road. Every so often there were scenic turnouts and alternative short scenic drives that you could take of the freeway. We took advantage of them and found a desolate stretch of road that the sun shone through the high trees. One of the trees was hollowed out a bit in the middle so Rinnie stepped in side. It was amazing. On another scenic turnout we found another oddity – a Redwood tree that was tunneled through so you could drive through it. Now the tunnel was not big enough for modern cars – it didn’t seem like a great idea to try to get the SUV through it but Tu tried anyway. Well we didn’t quite make it through but that was alright – it was cool anyway.

One of the best parts of coming to San Francisco was that Suzy and Kenna came into the city to see us. We had such a great time and Suzy even drove us down Lombard Street – The most crooked street in the world. The night was foggy and windy and so every time we left the car we had to run back to it to get warm. San Francisco was supposed to be warm according to the weather but that just didn’t happen. Anyway, what a great day in Frisco.

Avenue of the Giants. These RedWood Trees are so big that Rinnie was able to crawl inside one for this picture.

Tu takes the car directly through a Giant Redwood. Wow.

We arrived. Here we are on the Marin side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Fisherman’s Wharf for Crab was our first stop in the city.

This guy has a pot of boiling fresh San Francisco Crab and he would be happy to sort one out for you. Just say the word and you will have some fresh hot crab on your plate.