Or, a vision in a dream. A Fragment.
article in the economist about re-building and expanding mecca from the current capacity of 900,000 to 1.5 million worshippers. among those approached for the project are two respected British architects, Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid. a slight controversy arises since Lord Foster is not a muslim; should he win the commission, he would have to implement his plans from a … Read More
Really great article in the New Yorker about a restaurateur’s quest to re-invigorate Chinese cuisine in Hangzhou, while using all-natural ingredients. “Sourcing our ingredients was a nightmare at first,” Zhou said. The buyers spent months driving out to remote villages, meeting farmers, and trying to set up a network of suppliers. They commissioned peasants to rear free-range chickens and ducks, … Read More
100cc honda wave alpha. I’m renting it from VIP Bikes, which is run by an NGO (Blue Dragon) that focuses on disadvantaged youth. VIP Bikes trains street kids how to do motorbike repairs on the bikes they rent out (included in my contract is a monthly service). hence a shiny new bike and supporting a good cause–for 950,000 VND per … Read More
I like how bike repair dudes put a manual bike pump on the side of the road to advertise their services–though such a pump is never actually used. this guy, for example, clearly had a line coming from an electric compressor somewhere. tube patch + re-inflation: 5000 dong.
this is our house: the white one with the red brick balcony on the 3rd storey. in hanoi it is not unusual to have very narrow houses, but built tall (used to be that taxes were paid by the width of the front)–in our case, we have 5 floors, with 2 rooms on each. as to the bikes–I just rented … Read More
(dedicated to the pioneers of the labour movement: freedom solidarity!) (“Winter 1946”: in reference to the French re-occupation of Hanoi after Ho Chi Minh had proclaimed independence in 1945)
it’s been raining for the past 2 days, apparently the worst since 1984. and by murphy’s law, I of course live on what seems (to me) the worst-hit part of the city. this video is from early in the day, when I first tried to get to work: it only got worse later. nowhere to stand without being submerged, and … Read More
my third lesson today, and it was vocab overload.
teacher giáo viên …… Read More
I found a housewares store on the new hanoian that’s semi-near my house, so I set off late morning yesterday to take a look (similar to ikea stuff, the place is called uma in case you’re interested). all this to say,
it may distress some of you to know that food isn’t good all the time in hanoi (and there are nasty rumours saying that all *good* vietnamese cuisine, and certainly what we know overseas, comes from the South)–however: there is not a single person who doesn’t love bún chả. I admit I first heard of bun cha while bored on … Read More