congee

Photo:  Joselito Briones

this is the congee place on the street where i live - always useful on those days when i just want something quick, hot, and filling.  everything they sell here is basically starch - from the congee (rice porridge), fried noodles (chow mien), rice rolls, deep-fried bread sticks, and deep-fried bread sticks wrapped in rice rolls. so basically if you wanna catch up on carbs (after all the time that you've been on a carb-free diet), you can have the bredsticks wrapped in rice rolls, dip it in congee, and have fried noodles on the side. must-try.




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i was going for the white horse

but then all i had was a wide-angle lens and the horse was across the puddle. bah.


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skull biker and his harley

no idea what this was all about, just saw it while doing a walkabout sunday night in central.


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peel bar, hong kong

this was a few weeks ago, i meant to show it to you but i got too busy i forgot. pictured are benj, ogie, and rene. we went to maxim palace dim sum place in city hall, and afterwards we went to this bar, peel at the corner of peel and elgin streets in soho. jomel joined us for dim sum but left early because he was dj'ing in this same bar later that night. anyway, it was still early and there was nobody else there, but mikee, the guy in charge of the place was so much fun.

this is what it looks like inside. we were told this is gonna close early next year and move to a different location.

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floating village, siem reap, cambodia

still in cambodia, this is a series of photos i took of the floating village in siem reap. you can either scroll down to see the rest of the photos, or click on the first photo to launch a slide viewer.

i spotted a striped snake in the water, and one of the houses shown above keeps several alligators, and as you can see from one of the photos, they use the same water to bathe.  i had a coffee in the community shop, by the time it occured to me that they might have gotten the water from the same source, it was already too late to cancel it, i didn't want to embarass the shop owner.  anyway, it was safe, they must've used bottled water.

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me in angkor wat

photo: charles george

charles took this photo in angkor wat, cambodia. (he did the post-processing too)


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tourists watching the sunset from bakheng hill, cambodia

the highest elevation among the temple groups around angkor wat, this was the best place to watch the sunset


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sunrise in angkor wat, cambodia

woke up extra early for this and it was truly beautiful, unfortunately there were scaffoldings (photoshopped out of this photo) so i didn't bother to do proper photos of it.


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this is charles doing his best robert mitchum impression

he also did an impression of smoking marlene dietrich and bette davis, but let's stick to this one.

we spent the whole day walking about so we decided to do an evening dip in the pool.  prince d'angkor hotel in siem reap, cambodia.  the staff are sooooo nice (well, the cambodians in general) and helpful.


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rice fields in siem reap, cambodia, devastated by flooding

this is the rice fields near siem reap in cambodia that should've been a blanket of vibrant green this time of the year but is instead submerged in flood water.

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afternoon drinks

rene, ogie, benj, and josen (l-r) decided to come over for afternoon drinks at the rooftop of my apartment after we had dim sum in wanchai. the half-frozen dark bottle is hendricks.

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more flowers

awwwwwww! another bunch. i hope i don't get used to this.


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panoramic photo of halong bay

just another photo of beautiful halong bay, vietnam. you can click to see the full size of the image (you'll also probably have to maximize your browser window to see the entire image). can't remember how many shots i stitched to get this panoramic view, but it was all automated in photoshop, so no biggie.


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scene from a cafe serving dog meat in hanoi, vietnam

i almost got robbed in hanoi. while walking around the lake near the historic district, a guy touted a cardboard sheet with some photos printed on it, offering something i didn't care to know. red flag! a cardboard with print, a newspaper, a menu, a petition list, or a photo being shoved in your face for attention is (almost) always a decoy. while you're struggling to see what's printed so you can vehemently say no, the guy's other hand is probably very busy picking your pocket already. if you're sitting in a cafe with your stuff on the table and someone shoves something on your face offering something, you can be sure that the guy's (or girl's) other hand is already swiping your things from the table. it bears repeating: anything being shoved in your face to grab your attention is ALWAYS a diversion so a thief can take your stuff. anyway, i saw the sign so i politely said no and walked on - but this one's pretty persistent. at one point, where there was a bigger crowd, he blocked my way so that i can't walk forward, still showing me his pictures. this was, i assumed right, step two. while he blocked my way, someone he works with was already busy trying to unzip my backpack. as i was aware of the play, i instantly noticed the guy behind me at work, yanked my bag, and walked away. at this point the guy with pictures walked even faster so he's still ahead of me, the other guy who was opening my bag ran a few meters ahead. when i saw that they haven't let go, i yelled and warned everyone to be careful because the guy's a pickpocket. at this point the thief closer to me stopped walking, so i just looked him in the eye and walked past. the other thief also stopped, stood with his back on the crowd, like he was looking at something from a distant, feigning innocence. when i walked passed him i felt the energy - conscious control of excitement, unnatural stillness.

so anyway, why let such an encounter ruin your trip, right?  the photo above has nothing to do with the failed robbery - other than that it was taken in hanoi on the same night.  this is supposed to be a popular cafe - on the menu, among other things, are grilled or boiled dog meat.  i read somewhere that dogs can smell whether or not you've eaten dog meat before.  is this true? if you know for sure and have an explanation for it, please drop me a line.


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p.s.
i forgot to mention that the above warning isn't just for hanoi - it's for any city when you're travelling.  i remember once while in fisherman's wharf in san francisco (a tourist trap if there ever is one), amongst the thick crowd a youngish couple suddenly had a yelling row and a very public breakup.  only the whole thing was so fake and staged (they really should've taken acting lessons) - everybody's attention turned to them for a couple of minutes.  i wanted to yell "beware of pickpockets" but i was afraid there might be one near me holding a knife (they sometimes do, tho not usually)

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halong bay, vietnam

wow. i really should travel more - halong bay is (relatively) close to hong kong and yet it took me all this time to visit.  so beautiful and peaceful and relaxing.

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yim tin tsai island, hong kong

these are photos from yim tin tsai island in hong kong, a ghost town about 15-minutes boat ride from sai kung town in hong kong.

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charles and dog

© Joselito Briones

charles, a good friend from way back, visiting from new york.  crazy about them dogs.

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you can do anything but lay off of my...

as if wearing a pair of blue suede shoes isn't enough, am also wearing cord pants in burgundy.  hmn.

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alteration shop

Photo:  Joselito Briones

this here is the alteration shop where i bring my trousers for length alteration.  it's on the same street where i live, on a narrow alley.



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oh and look!

awwwwwww.... and chocolates too!


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look!

somebody gave me flowers. hihi.

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frank sinatra had a cold and i am now a gay talese fan

image from esquire

came across this brilliant piece of writing from gay talese from the mid 60's in esquire. now if only they could make this a movie with sting as frank sinatra.

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