Back In Bangkok: Part 2

More from Bangkok. The fish section in Chatuchak Markets was amazing. Seeing sugar gliders, cockatoos & squirrels on sale was not. Seeing people gathered round for a cock fight tipped me over the edge and and we had to escape all animal related things after that.

I don't think we'll be back for a little while, but I'm excited because we have trips to Ho Chi Minh City, Malaysia and then Sydney lined up before the end of next year. Woop! It's started to get cooler in Hanoi and it feels like this year is starting to come to an end. Scary.

Back In Bangkok: Part 1

The first set of photos from our trip to Bangkok two weekends ago. I took more photos in 3 days than I have in a month here in Hanoi! It's a city I'm inspired by, but realistically I think it's because living in Hanoi has taken some of the sheen out of things. That and riding my bike instead of walking around means there's less opportunity to take photos. Now it's getting cooler maybe I'll start walking again (probably not).

A bit of a rant about the trip over at Johnny & Jo

Hello Sapa

Hmong tribe

Just the beginning of our trek

Rice paddys

In case you forgot what Sapa looked like

These kids aren't scared of the buffalos one bir

Great colours

Food for THREE

As night falls

These are a few photos from my SLR from my trip to Sapa with Laura from See Hear Say. It seems so long ago now! I have to stress, if you're ever travelling to Vietnam, you have to take a trip to Sapa as well as Ha Long Bay. I say this because it's quite a bit of effort to get there (an overnight train there and back) and many people opt out- don't! It's well worth it and absolutely breath-taking.

On a side note, the over night train we took had two bunk beds and when we got to our very small 'room' there was a young couple spooning on the bottom bunk. SPOONING. It was AWKWARD. Really AWKWARD. Whatmore they ended up putting another TWO people in our room during the night- that makes 6 people in a very tiny space that was already pushing it for 4. Obviously don't let this put you off.

Once you get to Sapa and start on your trek it's a little (lot) confronting having groups of women follow you around (like in the photos above) because it feels like they're there just to get money off you. Which they are- but they actually help you walk along and through the mountains- and trust me, by the end of it, you want to give them all your money.

Sapa will make you feel adventurous and really really awesome I swear.

The Small Object

Oh DEAR. I have reached that age- you know, the one where not only is everyone around me getting engaged/married, but the one where I've accepted it and actually find it a little exciting.

You know what else is exciting? These cake toppers. Why? Because they're supercute. They don't have to be cake toppers of course, they can just be tiny cute versions of yourself. You could even get ones made of you and your best friend! They're handmade by Sarah Neuburger and she's done literally hundreds. As well as that she makes lots of other cute things at her shop The Small Object.

Speaking of weddings, if I haven't gushed to you already, my friend Tabitha (hello!) got engaged in the BEST ENGAGEMENT EVER.


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Justin Gignac

I stumbled across these bunch of talks from the PSFK Conference in New York held earlier this year. If I was a different person I'd pretend to be cool and know what that was (you mean you don't?), but sometimes it's all too much effort.

I really like this talk by Justin Gignac where he talks about his art projects and ideas behind them. It's about 20 minutes but so simple and interesting it didn't seem like any time at all. I especially love the awkward couple of minutes where he loses his notes. I love awkwardness when it's not me. I also love that he talks about being lazy and unmotivated. Is he talking directly to ME?

IF 20 minutes is too much effort (I have a very short attention span so it usually is) then these are my important points from it:

1. DO MORE SHIT
2. Ask yourself is it: Simple? Smart? Surprising? AND Will anyone give a shit?

Chipotle: Back To The Start

I'm totally in love with this little Chipotle video clip highlighting that their meat comes from sustainable sources. I'm pretty sure I saw the guy who started the Mexican chain on Oprah a while back and was very impressed. I think it's a while before anything like that gets to Hanoi!

Speaking of food, I came across a bunch of articles when I was looking up what is the difference between baking soda and baking powder, and found the answers to many other questions I thought but always forgot to look up. Some of the best ones are, why you have to put in one egg at a time, why you are supposed to rest meat and why you get that "cake bump". Oh dear, am I just being nerdy?

Hello Kitty Fisheye III: Sapa

I'm really excited that these Sapa photos came out on my fisheye. After my first film my expectations were pretty low so I was pleasantly surprised. More to come via my SLR...