Sawasdeekrab

Well on the weekend I was invited to attend a festival for the New Year. It was a Thai New Year festival, which usually occurs in April however in Melbourne due to the weather the organisers prefer March as it is warmer and generally sunnier. Sunday was no exception with the thermometer reaching the high 20’s and the sun scorching the land black.

My friend told me to arrive early, however I thought against that and arrived about an hour after he suggested. When I arrived he offered some more advice and I listened to what he said and started off on my journey of discovery. The first stop was the stage where there was a cleansing ceremony being performed by the monks. It all felt very solemn so I decided to follow the crowd down the steps towards the river bank.

At the river bank it was crazy. It reminded me of being in a market in Vietnam, with the crowds, pushing and shoving, sounds of laughter and talking filling my ears, temporary shops, and the smell of food. I looked around and found the stall I was looking for yet no-one I knew was there so I returned to the main stage.

At the main stage the monks had moved off and the official opening ceremonies had begun. There were a large number of speeches, and statistics where I discovered that one in thirty Australians have visited Thailand. After the speeches, traditional dancing was the entertainment.

The opening ceremony

The dances all had special meanings and are performed at the New Year ceremonies as a custom. I was impressed with the intricacy of the design of some of the costumes. The way some of the ornaments twisted and formed patterns was spectacular and the colours of the silks took my breath away.

Oops, forgot to take the glasses off

After the contest the sun had started to turn nasty and I felt like I was only seconds from going up in flames and took a time out. When I arrived back it was a lot cooler as the sun had set behind some of the buildings leaving the park in shadows. Most of the crowd had left and the stage shows had nearly finished. I watched the end of the stage shows which consisted of the awarding of the crown for the beauty show and some sword and stick fighting.

After this my friend said we should go down to the beer garden and enjoy some Thai beer. While enjoying the beer we were entertained by some kickboxing, a band playing Thai songs, and a ladyboy show. The band really got the crowd excited as the beer mixed with the music creating a festival type atmosphere. The ladyboy show was quite interesting to watch as it was like a cabaret show where the audience judged the winner based on a variety of criteria. Afterwards my friend and I went to have coffee nearby and then went home exhausted. All in all a very enjoyable day.

Tet 08

The lunar new year is celebrated in many countries. In some you get holidays like China, Vietnam, and Indonesia, while others is just noted on the calendar like Australia. However, there is a large Chinese community in Australia consisting of students and migrants so there tend to be many celebrations. I don’t recall ever going to one before I went to Vietnam, yet now I know that this is a special time for me, as I had spent lots of quality time with my friends. So this Tet I was concerned that I might not see anything when my friend from work suggested that we go to the Crown Casino to take a look at the celebrations.

I went by his place just after midday and it was unusually warm and sunny in Melbourne. This I thought was a good sign. We had to walk through Chinatown to get to the casino and it looked like it was buzzing. The first sounds of Chinese music graced my ears as we approached the corner where Chinatown meets Greek town and a crowd of people just appeared. I was surprised that so many people could fit into such a small area. On stage there were some graceful dancers swaying in time to the music which I found to be enchanting to watch. Suddenly I was startled as a burst of noise crackled behind me and smoke rose from the leftover shells of firecrackers. We decided that the show behind us was more entertaining so we moved towards it. Alas, so did all of Melbourne it seemed as I was pushed in every direction and motionless all at once. I was a statue in the street next to the dragons guarding the entrance to Chinatown. Eventually we got through the crowd and decided that we should go to the casino.

I found the air was quite festive as people where moving around chattering and laughing. Little children were building conical hats out of cardboard, painting faces, and building lanterns. As we got deeper into the festive zone, the smell of food reminded me that I was hungry. As we walked along I was looking for Vietnamese food, yet I could see Thai, Korean, Singaporean, Chinese, yet no Vietnamese. I decided that the Thai food looked the best, with my friend assuring me that this choice would not go wrong. We ate a papaya salad, similar to the green mango salad served in Vietnam. I felt it was close enough to the feeling I was searching for and dug in. I thought that I was celebrating Tet, at a Chinese festival, eating Thai food. We went back for the main course spicy basil chicken and green curry. Delicious, and was washed down with a Thai milk tea, think tea with milk and you would have got the taste .

To digest the food we went down the promenade and came across a little stage. I enjoyed watching the juggler, as he juggled balls and bottles. However, he blew me away when he was balancing and flipping a bottle and wooden spoon. I wonder how he did that. Next on show was an orchestra of Chinese instruments. I was moved by the music which had titles like peace and sounded very traditional to me.

The girl was singing was not Chinese yet her Chinese must have been good as at intervals in the song the Chinese parts of the audience would break into applause to show their admiration of her Chinese skills.

Next we watched a Chinese chef make 4096 noodles. I really enjoyed this presentation as both the mc and chef were cracking jokes everywhere.

Finally, I heard that there were going to be Vietnamese dance performance thought back to all the performances I had seen in Long Xuyen, wondering if they would be the same. I thought they were and I really was impressed with their costumes. I hadn’t seen an ao dai for so long and forgot how beautiful they are. The dancers performed a variety of songs, both traditional and modern. After the show, which I felt was too short, we went inside the casino to escape the heat and down a cold beer. Afterwards, we went browsing through the shopping corner and decided to go home. A different experience from the last few yet really enjoyable all the same.

The Sweet Escape

Over the holiday break I made an escape up north to my hometown of Brisbane. I had felt that I had suffered the cold enough, well my thinking of cold at least, in the last 6 months that I was entitled to some days were moving was energy sapping and a shower required every other minute. To my amazement the opposite happened, I packed the miserable weather into my luggage and brought it with me while someone packed the furnace like weather and took it with them to Melbourne (30 plus temperatures). Such is life. Anyway, even though the weather was miserable, 20 degrees in my hometown was still a lot warmer than 20, maybe even 25, in Melbourne, when you include the humidity. I was happy that I brought the rain with me as most of the people I met enjoyed the fact that it was raining and windy as it was something that had been missing in the last couple of years.

Before Christmas I caught up with one of my closest friends and traded war stories from SEA as he had just returned from a trip to Malaysia. The way he described it made me want to visit there next time I go to SEA. Later we met some other friends and I realised that over the years I had drifted apart as the guys were just talking about their investments. I am happy for them, yet I was really bored listening to them.

For Christmas I met my (just about) in-laws for the first time, brother and his girlfriend, my parents, and their new kittens. I was taken aback by how small they were, thinking back to a picture of Buong sitting peacefully in Eric’s hand (before terrorist training), who is now a couple of kilos. The kittens were a real show stealer and I felt like it was not Christmas but the welcoming of a new family member. For lunch I tried a type of lobster called a Moreton Bay Bug. It kind of reminded me of crab with out the claws. Definitely would be good in a tamarind sauce.

Between Christmas and the New Year I tried to catch up with as many friends I could contact. As I was hinting at before, time apart does change things notably phone numbers. I had all sorts of trouble trying to “find” people and only resulted in catching up with a few. I was impressed that my friends and I got on just like we never separated, even though there were definite changes in their situations like kids and mortgages.

For New Year’s Eve, I went and did the traditional thing of going to South Bank to watch the fireworks. I was surprised to meet an old friend there and halfway through our catch up the countdown started. The fireworks went off with what I though was an amazing dazzling of colour and precision. The fireworks were tuned into music and even with all the speakers around you couldn’t really hear anything except the ooohhhs and aaaahhhhs as people, including myself, were mesmerised by the fireworks. Next time I will make sure that I remember my camera.

The tropical low off the coast decided that wind and rain should also be used in the celebration as a couple of minutes after the fireworks were over it started to rain. The next few days were rather lazy just helping out around the house by keeping the TV on as the people I had managed to contact were back at the grind. I returned to Melbourne without incident and prepared myself get back into the swing of things.

I am realising getting back into the swing of things is harder than I thought.

Bass Strait Tour

A few weeks ago, I travelled around Bass Strait. This trip required me to travel through the hills between where I live in Rosedale and the coast. Lots of fog was hiding in the mountains.

Monash University, Churchill in Gippsland covered in fog

Of course there was not a straight road anywhere to be seen, and street signs with directions left me lost.

The road winding around the hills past the university

the hills with their farms

Philip Island was the first destination I visited. It is an island famous for having the motorcycle grand prix each year. I felt excited to see the track and you could feel that the electricity of the park. I went into the gift shop and saw that they would let you ride in the car around the track. I inquired about the price and found out that it was about $200 for 9 minutes. Now that does not sound like value for money, yet an exciting proposition all the same. When I have some spare money I might just give it a try.

Phillip Island racetrack

From there I went to a place called pyramid rocks. Here I saw some whales breach out at sea, rabbits, and some wallabies. From here I moved along the coast pretty much going all the way to Wilson’s Prom, the most southern part of the main land.

I heard that the road pretty much ended beyond the gates and a 4WD (SUV) was needed to reach the exact point. As I looked at the map I had accomplished something by reaching the most southern sealed road on the mainland. With that I started to go home by the coast road past the lifeless wind farm on the cliffs and through some back streets to Rosedale.

The scenery on the way back

Two weeks later I wanted to complete the trip so I visited Lakes Entrance. It was recently under water from the floods (just before I arrived) however you could not tell when I was there. I noticed that the wind and rain made it a bitterly cold place. For all the hype I had heard about this place I thought it was pretty average. It was quiet, wet, and cold. On the way back though as we climbed the hills that separate this town from the main road to Melbourne and Sydney we stopped at some of the outlooks and got to see why it was called the lakes district. It was quite breathtaking yet the rain was forcing us on our way.

didn't get this photo just right, the street is actually straight

Why they call them the lakes

The way back we stopped at the last town on the rail line passing through Rosedale, Bairnsdale. Bairnsdale is a bigish country town, with wide streets and enough modern entertainment to keep everyone happy. From there I returned to Rosedale and was relieved to have seen the Gippsland’s Bass Coast. My next journey I was hoping would be the mountain region, maybe next year, since the snow seems to have finished for this year.

Rosedale, 3847, Australia

Rosedale is where I have called home since I have arrived in Australia. It is a big town of about 1000 birds. We have lots of birds nesting outside the house and I sometimes just enjoy watching them play. Soon it will be magpie season so I hope I will be safe. A magpie is a vicious black and white bird that swoops on you when you aren’t looking. Besides the birds it is rather peaceful here, I hardly know anyone else is around. Looking for a job and a house have been rather tough activities. The train takes a nice 2.5 hours to get to Melbourne, and the trains so infrequent (3 times daily early am, midday, early evening) that it is a rather time consuming adventure. I have taken some pictures of my times here in Rosedale so that you can see what it is like.

Just off the main rd (Princes St or the Princes Highway), downtown.

The main st a.k.a the Princes Highway.

If you follow the main rd you can go to Melbourne if west or Sydney if you go east. This route to Sydney is longer yet more beautiful with the Pacific Ocean on your left side.

Yes that is ice on the ground. Rosedale is absolutely freezing.

I have been lucky enough to see this a few times well a lot more than a few times when I have gone to Melbourne. I feel that the cold weather always shows itself when I need to go to town. And the answer to your second question is yes, the sun is on the way up.

Ned Kelly's Bakery is the bread spot in town.

There are quite a few references to Ned Kelly in town, mostly all at this bakery.

One of the sulphur laden sunsets that we see here as the sun goes down over the northwestern sky.

There are numerous power plants near by that lover to pour sulphur into the air so that occasionally I can taste and smell it. Plus they also have a by product (an externality

tec[h]onomic speak) of allowing me to use lights, computers, and watch DVDs.

The City

One of the things I wanted to do in Phu Quoc was eat western food. I realised that this would be a wish as I didn’t see many western food outlets. Maybe I didn’t look hard enough. Well the seafood was great and felt extremely satisfied with this part of the trip.

However I still needed my fix for western food and thought I would see some friends in The City. I made the arrangements necessary, hectic as they were, and was on my way with two missions: western food and some games.

These games have been something I wanted for a while. They are the Capcom Classics Collection Vol 1 and Vol 2. They have many of the games I fell in love with as a child and I want to reminisce the feeling of being young again.

After messing around to find a hotel (near the pictured intersection) I was informed that I should go to a birthday party. At arrival I was disappointed as there was no western food. We were at a Mekong Delta restaurant eating Mekong Delta food. It was nice, yet not what I yearned for.

However as everyone had departed a change of air was suggested. We went to a seafood restaurant not far away called Hong Hai. Here we had clams, sea snails, fish, and oysters. This was the first time I had sea snails and they taste much better than the land snails. They are not so chewy and have a better taste.

Also I had never tried oysters. In Australia oysters are a bit smaller than a business card. When I saw them my breath was taken away at how huge they were. We ate them with wasabi and lime juice. That was exquisite once the wasabi nose burn dissipated.

By the time we were finished there it was time to return to the hotel. Just before turning in I saw a bar across the street showing some football and decided to check out who was playing. It was the Manchester and Milan game. I saw the last 30 minutes of the game and felt some deja vu as I saw the score 3 – 0 in Milan’s favour. I felt overjoyed that Liverpool would play Milan again.

Friday was the day that I decided that I would conquer the goals of the mission. I spent the first few hours rummaging through piles of books, looking for the games. I walked up and down the street visiting 4 shops. The first shop I visited I had to wait as they went to another shop and get the game books. After flicking through all the books I could not find what I was looking for yet saw some other games that I might try. Since they are cheap (less than $2) I would buy them. I went to a shop a few doors down and it appeared to me that they had the same books as the previous shop. The next shop also had the same collection. At about this time I was desperate to find the games, yet time and patience were escaping me. I saw one more shop and decided it would be the last.

Now this shop was different from the others as it looked like an official dealer for Sony. It was much cleaner and brighter and filled with amazing looking electronics. I asked the girl if they sold games and they said yes and directed me to a chair and brought out those books. I was saddened that the books started to look like the others that I had seen previously. That was until towards the end of the book I saw volume 1. I was thrilled to have found the game, only hope that they have it. Then I saw a new type of book, and perused through it to find volume 2. When I asked to collect more order the girl was saying that volume 2 would cost more than volume 1 as it is official, that is from Thailand. So I cautiously asked how much and she said 30 000 (about $2.50) will within the range I was willing to pay for the game. I collected the games and paid the girl and left the shop with a feeling of satisfaction.

I walked back to the hotel and proceeded to wait for Eric to arrive from Hanoi. I met him and showed him to the hotel and then he ordered pizza. Pizza Inn is a Korean version of Pizza Hut – practically identical except for a few Korean quirks. I am amazed that Pizza Hut hasn’t done anything yet, especially now that they are in Vietnam (saw my first one later that night). I just enjoyed every mouthful, it had been so long and it was divine.

After that I watched discovery channel learning about tunnels under Kuala Lampur, fast production cars (Bugatti Veyron or the Wiki version here), and rockets. It was really educational, especially about the rockets. I felt like going to get some ingredients and make a rocket myself yet I thought I would probably kill myself with the explosion.

That evening we went to Sheridan’s Irish House. The owner is an expat Irish who looks like he came to retire and enjoy life in his pub. I feel that the cosiness of the place gives it a fantastic feel, and it often frequented by regulars. They have live musicians and tap beer (this is the only place I have seen this combo). We sat down and enjoyed a few brews mostly Fosters as it is cheap and more enjoyable than Larue beer.

The owner, Michael, came over and gave Eric some shots of tequila and kaluha to enjoy. We were both hesitant to drink them yet we did not want to insult. The mixture was a little sweet yet no tequila after taste, which relieved me. We continued to listen to the music and enjoy the atmosphere until closing time. We then moved closer to the hotel at a bar called Alleybooz. Here we met some people from Laos and stayed until it was time to go.

The next morning I didn’t feel so great yet the prospect of playing the Capcom classics made me get ready to go to the bus station. The journey was uneventful and my heart raced as we approached the Van Cong ferry. This is the place where I know I am home as it is a 5 minute trip to the bus station, and I feel 5 minutes is nothing compared to more than 4 hours in the bus. As a feeling of achievement overcame me from successfully completing the mission goals, I realised it was great to be home.

Phu Quoc

As the early hours of the morning approached I could not help feel more and more tired. I tried to stay up until 4.15 am so as I would be able to catch the bus to Rach Gia. I am notorious for sleeping over alarms and if I am going to be awake that early in the morning I like from when I have been up all night. Well not a problem this time as the body clock begrudgingly agreed to wake up at this time. I also noticed that after the shower I had received a kind reminder call from the organiser of the trip. I suspect if I wasn’t so numb from being tired I would be excited about the coming adventure.


We boarded the bus and I could hear the buzz of the members in our troupe, colleagues from the economics faculty and family (12 in all), chatter away as I tried to drift back to sleep hoping to wake up in Rach Gia. The plan was sound except for one variable, the road was so rough. We arrived at the ferry port and had decided to have breakfast. I felt distraught, soup for breakfast – unfortunately that was all the choice besides rice. The soup was not too bad and the coffee that accompanied it was good.

We set sail towards Phu Quoc at 7.45 am. We got into our allocated seats and I tried to go to sleep. After about an hour of travelling I was woken up by what seemed like everybody in the ship yelling my name. It was my friends asking me to show my ticket. Could not go back to sleep for a while and noticed the King Kong movie on the TV. It was the exciting part so I decided to watch it. After the movie finished I followed my friends upstairs to get some fresh air. On the trip to the upper deck I felt like I was in a hospital after a disaster, people looked tired, hot, bothered, and bored all around – the perfect hospital waiting room.

At the harbour, you could hear the hustle and bustle of all the fish farmers and tour guides going about their business. The harbour seemed like any other I have seen in Vietnam. I was expecting something a little more. We departed for the hotel so we would arrive for a late lunch. The first meal was good, fresh seafood and lots of it. By the end of the trip I was having beef withdrawal symptoms.

After lunch I pursued a coffee in a nearby café at the mouth of a creek. It was peaceful and I realised I was fighting to stay awake. I also learnt that we were about 200 to 300 metres from the beach, which is why people go to Phu Quoc I thought.

When I returned we wandered around the town of Duong Dong for the remainder of the afternoon. We were also lucky enough to be caught in a storm and were held up for about an hour or more under a small roof on a muddy floor. Later that night we explored the beach a little, which was about 200 metres away. It sounded so peaceful after the ferocity of the storm and looked magical with the stars and the oyster farms lit up in the distance.

The second day I got out of bed on the wrong side. I was upset that someone asked me to get up at 6am (it was a holiday I thought) and be ready to go to the beach. It was cold and wet. Not good beach weather in my book. Yet, nonetheless we were going to the beach. We all organised to meet downstairs at 6.15 and only I was ready. That left me in a foul mood all day. After a good breakfast, we loaded into the bus at 7.45 and proceeded to travel eastwards.

Having no idea where we going, being tired and grumpy, I really didn’t care. The first step however was a pepper farm. Interesting as I had no ideas about how to produce pepper, something I enjoy so much with eggs. I enjoyed seeing the pepper farm as it was educational.

Next we travelled to a peaceful part of the rain forest. I remember feeling so insignificant there as the trees reached for the sky. It was so cool, and fresh I thought I would like to set up a hammock and stay there all day. The next stop was a small fishing village at the northern tip of the island. It was really rural.

Next, we visited the sea border of Vietnam with Cambodia. Here it started to rain again and we all rushed back to the bus. It was quite beautiful to stand there and watch the boats roll in. The sounds of the waves were quite hypnotic as well.

We proceeded to round the tip of the island head back towards Duong Dong. We stopped to have lunch at an ecotourism restaurant. Wow, the seafood was even better than previous day. They tasted like they were just out of the sea. We had squid, prawns, and fish. We sat around for about an hour just watching the water roll in, chatting and just soaking it all in.

As we started to approach the town again we did the usual Phu Quoc things – visit the tourist places such as an art gallery and a fish sauce factory. Fish sauce is important in Vietnamese diets yet it is simple to make. Just need a bit of time – 1 year in fact. Just mix salt (70%) and ca cop (fish 30%) in a barrel and come back later. When we hopped back into the bus was amazed at how much fish sauce there was. It looked liked we had cleared out that factory. Next we stopped at something closer to my heart – a wine factory. This wine is unique to Phu Quoc Island. This was however not as popular as the fish sauce, except one of the crew bought a 5 litre barrel of the stuff.

We went to meet some people and then decided to return to the hotel. After dinner, with more seafood I wonder if there was any squid and prawns in the sea. We started to play cards and then got kicked out the room by the girls who wanted to sleep. We decided to walk around town to find a bar, café, or restaurant to enjoy a beer. Not a great deal of luck, yet we were able to come through at a little fruit juice place. It was open aired with a tranquil atmosphere. You could see the storm off in the distant creating havoc to the oyster farms off the coast.

This was where I really started to enjoy the holiday. By lunch I was only a little grumpy yet by now I was back to myself. We enjoyed a few beers and discussed what we had seen during the day, and played a joke on one of our friends. As the shop closed and we headed back to the hotel I realised that it was a pleasant if not exhausting day.

The next day I slept through my alarm to realise that I had 5 mins to the scheduled departure time to pack and get ready. Foolish I was I see. No one was ready to go at that time and I could have had breakfast. I really wanted to enjoy the same dish as yesterday.

As we headed out we went to some more tourist places. First up was a Buddhist pagoda on the mountain wedged amongst the rainforest. It was quite a sight. You could feel that this place was a little magical and all the statues made you feel that you were in another country. There were dragons, and statues of Buddas, and lots of Chinese architecture. Some people prayed. I had noticed that the island and Rach Gia had a more Chinese feel to it then any other parts of Vietnam I have visited so far.

A waterfall was the next destination. Lots of little rock pools and creeks running down the mountain. As a few friends and I were enjoying ourselves wading in the water, we realised that the others had not followed us up. When we found one of them searching for us, they were upset that we had wandered off and held up the tour. Yet as we all hopped in the bus all was forgotten.




The last place we had lunch. It was a nice beach, with little surf waves. It was really crowded unlike the beaches from the previous day mostly due to the location and weather. We stopped here for an hour or so and enjoyed the last fruits of the sea for the trip. We had crab, squid, and all sorts of stuff. The smell of the sea, a gentle breeze, and a cold beer made this a most memorable moment.

We boarded the boat and headed home. The boat was overcrowded once again, worse than the first time. 500 people on a 250 capacity boat with rough seas makes you feel afraid. I kept hoping I wouldn’t make the news that day.

Arriving at Rach Gia we had to fight the motorcycle drivers who could offer us everything we needed, to jump on our bus. As I anticipated arriving in Long Xuyen, I thought that there were trying moments yet overall that it was a great experience. I really appreciate the effort the organisers put into the trip and the closeness with experienced. A fantastic way to start the April 30 and Labour Day holidays. I can say now that I have participated in speed tourism, set a record about how much time I spent in a bus on holiday, and have a belly full of seafood.