Little blue house

Con Dao, Vietnam, August 2009

Incens

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, August 2009

People in the temple were really welcoming nonetheless I always feel a bit uncomfortable taking pictures in religious places, specially when it is not my religion. It feels odd to suddenly snap pictures of what often represents so much more to the believers.

Little chinese temple between my home and my work. Beautiful, very peaceful and which calls for contemplation.

(And to top it all, nice food served on the walkside of the temple.)

Playing chess

Con Dao, Vietnam, August 2009

Fishnet

Con Dao, Vietnam, August 2009

A beautiful island with nearly no tourists. Beach, mountain, trekking, swimming... Great time with a great friend.

Lunchbreak rain

HCMC, Vietnam, June 2009

Saigonese say that the sky is disciplined. As further explained by J: "In Saigon, rain falls with regularity and precision: it rains right before you leave home for work, before you go to lunch and before you leave for dinner".

After a busy week, tomorrow, off for a few days in the Con Dao Islands!

Mimes

Hoi An, Vietnam, August 2009

Leaf

Sidewalk in Hue, Vietnam, July 2009

Jean Malaquais à Norman Mailer:

"J'ai bien aimé ta lettre; c'était un peu comme si j'entendais ta voix et te regardais dans les yeux"...

Effective

Vigan, July 2009, Philippines

Symptome du jour:

"Ah fievreuse maladie, Coment es-tu si hardie, D'assaillir mon pauvre cors..."

(interprétation personnelle plus grippée que passionnelle de l'Ode à la Fièvre de Ronsard)

Time or lack of

Vigan, Philippines, July 2009

Starting to feel sick, dizzy, nose running, maybe fever, work and yet Friday evening feels so far away.

The beard and the braid

Hue, Vietnam, July 2009

La barbe et la natte

Frisbee

Hoi An, Vietnam, August 2009

Sun and clouds

Hoi An, Vietnam, August 2009

Yellow wall and orange flowers

Rach Gia, Vietnam, July 2009

Picture taken in a little temple in Rach Gia. The lovely coffee lady standing behind me asked me why I took a picture of the wall. I told her I found the wall beautiful. She laughed and shrugged her shoulders.

A few hours later, we took the boat to go to the island of Phu Quoc, beautiful island in which I was to understand for the first time what "feeling stranded on an island" really meant when I learnt once on the island that there were to be no more boats or planes to the mainland for several days.

Entering water

Phu Quoc, Vietnam, July 2009

Banana baby

Vigan market, Philippines, July 2009

Sunset promenade

Citadelle Hue, Vietnam, July 2009

Entrée de gare

Train station, Hue, Vietnam, July 2009

Influenza in Saigon

HCMC, Vietnam, July - August 2009

I must admit that since I live in Vietnam, I do not read much the papers whether local or international. It may have been a while now that the virus H1N1 has become a critical concern in Vietnam, but I have only noticed it a week ago.

It first started with a press article sent by a colleague of mine to all the staff informing that a school in Saigon as well as the headquarters of a major Vietnamese company in Hanoi had been shut down following H1n1 cases. Then, thursday evening, public health notices from the Ministry of Health were displayed all over the elevator doors of my building.

Even in a country where it is common for people to wear masks, whether because of the pollution, the sun or for health purposes, it was hard not to notice that the next morning, nearly all people working in public places were suddenly wearing masks. From the doorlady of the office building to waiters in restaurants. Recommendations are now displayed all over the walls of our office building. A friend of mine even had a personal visit at her home from people from the Ministry of Health warning them that one of the housemates had been in contact with someone who had been in contact with someone diagnosed with influenza... I guess that also shows the efficiency of the communist administration when it comes to tracing back people.

Yesterday night, after a rather interesting evening involving a pool party, the police showing up at 10PM ordaining everyone to get out of the house and me spending the rest of the evening in the police station trying to help out in a confiscated motorbike case, I found an email from my lovely friend who has just left Vietnam after a two months visit, informing me that she arrived in France with flu symptoms and has been asked to stay confined in her home wearing a mask for seven days...

It so happens that I recently had lunch with a doctor who has jokingly recommended that because the virus is still in its friendly form, should we know anyone having the virus, we shouldn't wait to go and hug the person...

If only.

Finding space

Train Hue - HCMC (26 hrs), hard seats

L'idée de confort est relatif. Tout n'est finalement qu'une question d'être inventifs quant à l'organisation de l'espace, comme avoir le grand Jali allongé sous les bancs.