Just like that ...

Some poor gentlemen just collapsed and died outside Dunkin' Donuts here in PBD, opposite my office. Despite some foreigner's best effort to revive the person, and despite the ambulance coming quite quickly, the gentlemen is now laying dead on the pavement, waiting to be picked up by the police.

There's a sizeable crowd around the poor gentlemen, who is now covered with some newspaper, and cordoned off with a few traffic cones.

Condolences to his family.

Life is fragile like that ...

I'm renewing my vow to spend life with vigor and to enjoy all the things I want to do, love all the people who means a lot to me, and to never have to regret not doing anything because I didn't make the time to do it. Time to buy a flash for the camera and start chasing bugs, perhaps. Time to take my dad for a vacation too.

Sometimes, we need a bit of jolt to reiterate the messages that are all around us.

Eh ... what's that ... ?

Now that Dad has retired, he's spending a lot of time doing some of the things he loves best.

Gardening is one such thing - it's funny ... he's never been a great gardener when he was young ... all he ever does it help mum carry pots from point A to point B. But over the years, he's proven to be a great green finger ! Anyone familiar with the Kuan Yin temple in Taman Bukit Kuchai can drop by and see some of his handy work ! He and a few friends garden there on the weekends !!!!

Can you see it ? Click to see a better pic.

Anyways ... we have this bit of land opposite our house, which isn't developed. Dad puts many of the flowering plants there because mum doesn't like too many flowers within the house compound - messy, she says.

Today, while doing his early morning gardening ... he came across ...

It's about the same thickness of the pagar's wire mesh ... very thin and small ...

Gosh ... we call it a 'Green Bamboo Snake' in chinese, not sure what it's called in English.

It's so small you can't see it at first against the green background. And I really had to move very, very, close to get a picture. I was using my full 135mm zoom ... and was only 2, 3 feet away when taking most of the pictures.

Dad was getting freaked out. He doesn't take risks, and is quite averse to all sorts of things. He kept telling at me from across the road to be careful, and to keep my distance, reminding me that even the crocodile hunter didn't have a good ending. :P


Nice snake, no ?

Manila Makan & Shop Place: Tiendesitas

Having been to Manila many times, and usually just sticking to the safe and tested formula of Greenbelt, Landmark and Glorietta Malls in Makati for my shopping and makan, I've never really ventured anywhere outside of that ... until this past trip.

I needed to stay really close to the office, and thus, was based out of Ortigas City, in Pasig, instead of Makati.

For the uninformed, Manila is not one city. It's a metropolitan with many cities within. Makati is one. Pasig is another.

Our local Pinoy seafood meals. Garlic fried rice, spicy prawns and steam tilapia.

This time, for makan and shopping, I discovered ... Tiendesitas ! Wikipedia link here.


The name means "collection of little shops", and is like a small scale Chatuchak / Lumpini night market of Bangkok. It has sections for food, antiques, souveniers, furniture, clothing, accessories, you know ... just name it, it's probably there.

And just like Lumpini in Bangkok, there is live band show at night ! Not bad at all ...

Shops mostly closed by the time I left ... but to the Bangkok faithful, doesn't it remind you of Lumpini Night Market ?

I was having an informal meeting with a customer there for dinner, and we settled on some local seafood at a stall called Fat Butchie's. It's seriously not bad at all ... !

Fat Butchie's !

If you ever drop by Manila, you should really go visit Tiendesitas. A word though ... it's open from 12 noon to 12 midnight, and toilets are located in Comfort Zones. You've been warned !

Ordering what we want ...

*** Photos are of terrible quality because it's taken with my old, outdated, ought to be replaced mobile phone, You are strongly discouraged from suing me if you suffer eyesight problems after looking at them. I know a lawyer very, very, well ***

While going through the phone, I discovered there were some other photos in there ... so might as well publish it, although it has nothing to do with this post altogether !

Jalan Gasing sees a fair share of accidents ! I know the driver is ok, sitting by the road behind the car. This is near Catholic High School, where there is a sharpish bend. Don't speed lah peeps ...

If you have difficulty finding parking in Bangkok, the reason is because there is no parking. Here, you look for prarking instead !!! LOL !!!

Where to makan in Ho Chi Minh City ?

Traveling is tiring, but there are perks of being always on the go. I mean, how many people can claim to have eaten real Vietnamese food in Vietnam? I mean, Vietnam kitchen in 1U doesn't count! It's not in Vietnam mah !

My room service lunch - which is pretty good !

Last week, when in Ho Chi Minh City, I had a chance to try out the highly rated Quan An Ngon ("Delicious" in Vietnamese).

Nah ... address also give ... don't miss out !

Verdict: Good. Must. Eat. There. Every. Time. I. Go. To. Ho. Chi. Minh. City. Must. Try. Everything.

It's always full of people, both tourists and locals. In fact, there were more locals. That's always a good sign !

View of part of the restaurant from the 2nd floor. This is where you sit on low chairs, traditional Viet style.

They are a little like Marche - there are many stalls in the restaurant, each offering different specialities from all over Vietnam. But unlike Marche, where you walk around and order what you want, you order off the menu. Try out the noodles from Hue !

Starters.

It's cheap - around 3-8 USD per person if you don't pop wine bottles ... and the atmosphere is decent as well. And you really don't need to take Vietnamese food with wine anyways ...

My noodle main course. It tastes much better than it looks.

I'm definitely giving this place a thumbs up, and will visit again !