Pretty Coop

Leave a comment Posted by on April 12, 2016
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The idea of hearing nature in the cramped quarter

Hanoi’s soundtrack is the beep beep (and vroom vroom) of the motorcycles though in the background one can often hear bird calls. As one looks up expecting to see urban birds on trees like those magpies in Korea, there are none. Instead, there are attractive ornamental wooden birdcages housing pretty countryside birds (too pretty to be city dwellers) hanging in front of shops or at the balcony of thin buildings everywhere.

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Let me guess the number one pet in Hanoi

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Receptacle, Vietnam , , , , , ,

Buddha’s Hand

Leave a comment Posted by on April 9, 2016

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When this fruit caught my attention, I imagined how it tastes like. So I resolved to eat some before leaving Hanoi. But when I asked a local what kind of fruit is this, she answered phat tu or Buddha’s hands, and it’s not for eating but as an altar offering. Now I wonder why something deemed to be not edible is being offered along with edibles and beers.

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Phat tu, beers, and others as an offering at the Temple of Literature

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More beers for Confucius

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Yellow phat tu

Belief, Vietnam , , , ,

Flower Vegetable

Leave a comment Posted by on April 6, 2016

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Bulaklak ng kalabasa (squash flower) is eaten as vegetable. Normally it goes with eggplant, ampalaya, and sitaw in the same dish such as pinakbet or vegetable soups (e.g. laswa, bulanglang, dinengdeng). Hence the complementary vegetables are placed beside each other on the table space at the market.

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Vegetable soup with squash flowers

Food, Pilipinas, Produce , , , ,

Yellow Hanoi

Leave a comment Posted by on April 1, 2016

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Red is to Melaka while yellow is to Hanoi.

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Structure, Vietnam , , , , ,

Vertical Corn Arrangement

Leave a comment Posted by on March 29, 2016
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Disarranged corn stack is good news. There had been a sale.

Corn stacked vertically and were held together by tying straw around it in multiple levels.

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Arrangement, Produce, Vietnam , , , , ,

Cylindrical Charcoal Briquettes

Leave a comment Posted by on March 28, 2016

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There is life on the pavements of Hanoi that it’s not possible to use those for walking exclusively (people walk on the road in sync with vehicular traffic). The pavement is a living space where people park their motorbikes, buy and sell, worship (joss paper burning), eat, prepare food, and cook. After observing several cooking scenes, I’ve noted that people use cylindrical charcoal briquette for a stove purposely-built for it.

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Bicycle vendor selling cylindrical charcoal stoves

Cookware, Vietnam , , , ,

Plants Taking Over

Leave a comment Posted by on March 27, 2016

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Structure, Vietnam , ,

Rural Snapshots: Mai Chau Valley

Leave a comment Posted by on March 26, 2016

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The practical way to see much of the Mai Chau valley is by bicycle

Vietnam , , , , ,

Hanoi Motorcycle Culture

Leave a comment Posted by on March 25, 2016
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Noodles

Motorcycles are deeply integrated in Vietnamese day to day life that utilizing them for cargo transport is a practicality.

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Beer kegs cargo

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Where’s the rider?

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How the rider sits

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Transport, Vietnam , , ,

Egg Basket

Leave a comment Posted by on March 22, 2016

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A bamboo basket with straw as handle makes a practical and pretty ‘multi dozen’ egg packaging.

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Each basket costs about 2.5 USD

Packaging, Vietnam , , ,

Hida Phone Booth

Leave a comment Posted by on March 17, 2016
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Phone booth in Hida-Takayama

Fixture, Japan , , , , ,

Bear Warning Signs

Leave a comment Posted by on March 15, 2016

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When you walk in the woods in Hida-Takayama, you’ll often come across bear warning signs with an image of the black bear. Meanwhile, I’ll just note it down here that we have not sighted a single bear in all three times that we’ve wandered in the woods.

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Japan, Signs , , , , ,

Mobile Library

Leave a comment Posted by on March 14, 2016
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Mobile Taipei Public Library at a park in Tamsui

Public service means bringing the Taipei Public Library closer to the people.

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Bibliophilism, Taiwan , , , ,

Shachihoko

Leave a comment Posted by on March 11, 2016

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One can’t help but notice this fish-like creature illustration with human legs at the subway stations of Nagoya, usually reminding you not to smoke. When I visited the iconic Nagoya Castle and saw its peculiar rooftop adornment, I then realize where the idea of the subway mascot came from.

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One of the many replicas of Shachihoko on display inside the Nagoya Castle

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Shachihoko on the castle’s roof (times two)

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A Shachihoko replica to sit on for a snapshot, for posterity’s sake

Creature, Japan, Superstition , , , , , ,

Featuring the Snow Shovel

Leave a comment Posted by on March 9, 2016

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At past the peak of winter snowing in Hida Region around March, one can notice plainly the handy snow shovels in different shapes, sizes, and colors, in front of homes, shops, and shrines, in standby mode.

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Find the shovel

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Apparatus, Japan, Seasonal , , , , ,

Fitting Room Instruction

4 Comments Posted by on March 7, 2016
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Quite logical and hygienic fitting room instruction

A clothing store fitting room instruction in Japan is to cover one’s face with a provided see through material when trying on shirts.

Japan, Signs , ,

Tagalog Packaging

Leave a comment Posted by on March 6, 2016
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Front label

Almost all packaging in the Philippines are labeled in English except for this laundry starch.

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Back label

Packaging, Pilipinas , , ,

Delivery Tin Box

Leave a comment Posted by on March 2, 2016

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Attaché-like case with wooden handle is used by restaurants in Hida-Takayama presumably for their food delivery.

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Japan, Receptacle , , ,

Walk for Sake

6 Comments Posted by on February 29, 2016
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No alcoholic drinks to anyone who comes to this restaurant by car

A restaurant’s own way of campaigning ‘don’t drink and drive’ on its alcoholic drinks menu.

Japan, Restaurant , , , ,

Taipei Time

Leave a comment Posted by on February 23, 2016
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Taipei Public Library in a subway is open from 6:00 ~ 24:00

I concur that it is clearer to use 24:00 than 0:00 when representing continuous time. Also in Japan for example, a store or a public elevator will write its open hours in a continuous manner. So if store hours is at 12 noon to 2 AM, the sign will read as 12:00 ~ 26:00.

Signs, Taiwan , ,

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