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How To View A Partial Eclipse Through An X-Ray Print

A geek's way of enjoying an eclipse, partial or not ;-)

how to spend a nice quiet weekend in Manila.

Who Are You?

The minute you or anybody else knows what you are you are not it, you are what you or anybody else knows you are and as everything in living is made up of finding out what you are it is extraordinarily difficult really not to know what you are and yet to be that thing.

--Gertrude Stein--

How To Be An Idiot and Survive Being One in Saigon

I landed into Saigon by accident. Well, not really. My less-than-24-hour adventure was a by-product of my lapse in good judgment (this happens to people who don't read their e-tickets properly).

I flew in from Phnom Penh to Saigon with an unhurried and almost lackadaisical mood. I wasn't ready to go home yet and I was still nursing a major vacation hangover. I had thought that I had an immediate connecting flight back to Manila but when I approached the transfers desk, the lady told me my flight was not until the afternoon of the next day.

What?!

Immediately my brain kicked itself into this mode. This mental neuron-charged firework display of my self grasping the idea of a quasi-strandedness. I was giddy, excited, buzzed, and nearly broke.

Not the nearly-broke-like-in-college kind that you can skip the extra cost for another bucket of beer. This is the nearly-broke-scrounge-around-my-pocket-and-backpack-finding-nothing-but-loose-change kind of nearly-broke.

I had less than $40 all in very loose change. As soon as I got out of immigration, I looked for a tourist information desk and a nice lady helped me find a cheap room I could crash in and even helped me get a coupon for a taxi to take me there and fetch me when I leave the next day. I can only imagine how humorous it was for her to help out a dumb tourist, practically on her knees looking for money in her bag and paying for everything in loose US dollars, a smattering of HK Dollars, and even in Pesos.

When all was taken cared of, I zipped through Saigon with a friendly cab driver who did not speak a drop of English but was kind enough to point out places of interest I could go to.

I was astounded at how busy and mobile the whole city was. I've never seen so much motorbikes in my entire life. My cab felt like a lumbering piece of metal against the endless stream of bikes.

In the morning, I explored the city on foot. It was terrifying at first to try and cross the streets. I don't think these motorbikes would even stop for you. Getting from one pavement to another is a gamble. I soon got the hang of it -- quickly cross when a bike is approximately 10 meters away. Stop in the middle of the road. And do the same thing. Don't forget to look left and right constantly. I could almost feel the electricity when bikes whizzed by me on opposite directions while standing in the middle of the road.

A Canadian living in Phnom Penh told me that the state of traffic in Saigon is way better than in Cambodia. He'd rather drive his moto here than there. Vietnamese traffic had a more organized chaotic flow. One can at least be reassured that motorbikes here come in only two very sure directions.

Saigon was very interesting and its people friendly. I'm sorry I only saw pockets of it. I didn't even have a map with me while I was wandering. I'd like to come and visit and get to know more about it. Soon, I hope.

Bayon

This is my favorite picture I took when I visited the Angkor Archaeological Site at Siem Reap, Cambodia. There's something about those mysterious faces with their sublime smiles looking at the cardinal directions.

A Gathering of Dreamlings and Nightmares

The dork in me had kicked in the night before when I decided to be a good girl and be back at the hotel by midnight. I stopped at two drinks and called it a day.

Neil Gaiman awaits in the morrow and I'll kill myself if I missed his book signing. My friends and I lined up around 7 and were mildly surprised to see a queu already. Person number 38 to be in the line. Hey, that ain't bad at all.

I had some books signed by him two years ago but this time, I felt giddier. I think it's because we also get signed copies of Beowulf manuscript. Woohoo! (I still haven't gotten around to seeing the film though.. sigh..) Anyway, this event was more subdued..The last time, the crowd was rowdier than Brazilians in a football match! I thought Neil was pretty overwhelmed by the welcome. Haha!



I had Coraline signed this time. It was a toss up between 1602 and that actually. But Coraline was my favorite children's story of his. The idea of an impostor mother with buttons for eyes was particularly creepy. I had dreams about it for a week.







Write. I like that. Everytime I feel tired and lazy to write even a few sentences, I'll be sure to open this page and remind myself to just write.. Even if didn't made sense, for now.


Oh, and the coolest thing was I met (well.. sorta, if you consider a 60 second encounter thing) had my picture taken with Mike, Neil's son. I wonder what he thought of all of these.. being in Manila, and all..



I think I told him I'd be sure to maybe someday read that Catch The Red Bus book his dad said he used to read to him when he was small.. I'm sure my godson would like that..