On The Road Now

August 27, 2021August 27, 2021

Passport Photos and So Much More

Our photo studio find - a battery-powered mosquito zapper — Sometimes you find the things you need in the most unexpected places

BALI, INDONESIA – Last week Melanie and I went to a local photo studio to get ‘mugshots’ for our new visa application. The required package included four photos in three different sizes – 12 photos in all – for each of us.

I can only guess why they need so many photos. One of the smaller ones will go on our new ID cards. Another one could be incorporated into the new visa sticker that goes inside our passports.

As for the other 10 pictures, I suppose they will be attached to terribly important paperwork and filed away in various official government archives. How could we survive without bureaucracy?

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May 3, 2021May 3, 2021

Seeing red in Vietnam

Vietnamese flags along the street in Da Nang — Vietnamese flags displayed along the street in Da Nang

DANANG, VIETNAM – I’ve been seeing red this past week.

No, I’m not angry.

What I mean is I’ve been seeing red flags all over.

They’re not the figurative ‘red flags’ you see mentally when something seems amiss.

No, I’m talking about literal red flags, as in the national flag of Vietnam. The simple bright red banner with a brilliant yellow five-pointed star in the center.

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April 10, 2021April 10, 2021

Game On: Making change in Vietnam

My million-Dong bankroll — Vietnamese currency: 500 to 500,000-Dong notes

DANANG, VIETNAM – A while back I read a story about the ‘money game’ described by an expat living in Mexico.

It was all about the challenges of acquiring and keeping enough small-denomination bills to be able to shop in local markets and stores.

We play that same game here in Vietnam.

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October 31, 2020October 31, 2020

Riding The Storm Out: Our Typhoon Close Encounter

Workers clear downed trees and repair power lines after Typhoon Molave blew through Danang — Workers clear downed trees and repair power lines after Typhoon Molave struck Vietnam

DANANG, VIETNAM – We awoke Thursday morning to sunshine and blue sky… a welcome change from the challenges of Wednesday’s typhoon.

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August 11, 2020August 13, 2020

We Don’t See That Every Day in Vietnam

Clay building bricks stacked on pallets and wrapped in plastic — Clay building bricks, neatly stacked on pallets and wrapped in plastic

DANANG, VIETNAM – Here’s an unusual sight from today’s morning shopping excursion. No, not the construction site… those are seemingly everywhere around Vietnam.

What’s unusual about this scene is the row of palletized building bricks. Neatly stacked on wooden pallets and wrapped in plastic for easier handling. We don’t normally see that.

The typical construction site scenario around here goes like this:

A large stake-bed truck pulls up to the site, piled to the top with red clay bricks, neatly stacked right on the truck bed.

Several laborers, who rode in on top of the load, hop off the truck and drop the stake sides. They then proceed to unload the thousands of bricks and neatly re-stack them on the ground… brick by brick!

Bricks piled neatly on the ground at a Vietnamese construction site

And since the bricks had been stacked directly on the truck bed, you can probably guess how they originally got there.

That’s right; the laborers back at the factory (probably the same ones who rode out with the load) stacked them there… brick by brick.

So Vietnam scores extra points for “full” employment.

Efficiency? Not so much.