Technomadic Thoughts

Live from Vietnam: Our Wedding!

2010-01-25T16:01:00.006+07:00

That's right! I'm in the process of configuring a LIVE broadcast of our wedding ceremony for those who could not be with us here in Vietnam!

The ceremony will start at 9pm Eastern Time on Monday, February 1st, 2010. The webcam will be looking in on the living area activities during the ceremony at the Duong family home in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The ceremony will be totally Vietnamese, and somewhat traditional. Unfortunately, we won't have a translator, so everything will be in the Vietnamese language.

The ceremony should last until around noon, and we'll eat lunch after that, but I think I'll keep the video broadcasting until we're finished, since I will be very busy with the festivities.

The live video stream is below, but will be off line UNTIL 9pm Eastern Time, February 1st, 2010, enjoy!

Live Streaming by Ustream.TV

Travel Plans and More

2009-08-03T11:18:00.003+07:00

First of all, check out my right sidebar for some new stuff! I added TripIt, which will automatically track my upcoming flights / trips so that you can see my travel plans and where I am. I also added my latest updates from Twitter here.

Ok, now, if you've done as I told you to, then you can see I've got a trip to Vietnam on August 8th, and another trip to New York on August 21st. Yes, that's right, I've got my tickets purchased and I'm all prepped for a return to the big apple on Friday, August 21st, with Hien!

Of course, if Hien doesn't get her visa on time, things won't work out quite as nicely, but we'll just keep our fingers and toes crossed, right?

Yay! Fireworks!

2009-07-18T19:37:00.004+07:00

I just love watching fireworks! They are even better from the comfort of your condominium building!! :-)

Tonight we watched the Singapore National Day Fireworks rehearsal, which was a pretty decent little display, for a rehearsal. My building here has a 44th floor lookout from which you can see out towards the Singapore river and the rest of the city.

I only have one photo cuz my phone messed up the video... Oh well!

Random stuff!

2009-07-12T17:14:00.010+07:00

Ok, I've got a lot of photos and videos to share on here, but they don't necessarily go together, so I'm posting this entry with a collection of stuff!

First up, dinner on the 4th of July with durian for dessert:

Now here's some photos from our trip to the botanical garden:

And how about some more wedding photos?

Hien's Birthday!

2009-07-12T16:43:00.005+07:00

I took the day off work for Hien's 27th birthday, Wednesday, July 8th, and we spent the day together. I gave Hien a new MacBook Pro for her birthday, which she is learning how to use. She has never owned her own computer before, and I took the opportunity to install some software to help her learn English. ;-)

For dinner, Hien made crab, snails, and kang kong, which is a leafy vegetable that is quite popular here in Singapore and also in Vietnam. We got Sri Lankan roe crab at $24 SGD per kilogram, which is an awesome price for that kind of crab. It was REALLY good! She made it with a spicy tamarind sauce. I made her a chocolate birthday cake with homemade vanilla frosting. Sorry we don't have photos of us both, but someone has to hold the camera!

Here's some photos and video:

Hien with her dinner and new computer!

Cutting the birthday cake.

Mmmm... smells good!

No Music Video, Just Frogs and Bats!

2009-06-24T19:09:00.012+07:00

I'm sorry I wasn't able to get my music video posted! :-( The guy that helped us make it has been unavailable on a trip for work, so we haven't been able to get our hands on it. I'll post it as soon as I can, though.

Oh well, you will just have to settle for some photos from the last trip to Geylang for some delicious claypot frog! It's a Singapore specialty, check it out:

The signage for the restaurant, it's open outdoor seating!

Rice porridge to go with the spicy frog.

Mmmm, that sauce is sooo good!

A shot of everything together.

The frog is really delicious, and Hien has tried to recreate the recipe a few times since then. Both attempts have been tasty, but no luck getting the exact sauce down, if anyone has any suggestions for how to make that dark sauce, let me know!

On a different note, we checked out the Night Safari the other day! It was an amazing experience, and I wish I had some better photos or videos from it, but being a NIGHT safari and all, we didn't really get a lot of footage. Flash photography was not allowed, and I didn't have a nightshot camera with me. Nonetheless, I do have a few photos from my friend's camera, I'll post any good ones I can find when I get copies.

I will say that one of the coolest exhibits there was a walk through bat "cave" where they have a ton of all different kinds of bats of all sizes, flying around you as you walk through. It was pretty exhilarating to see this giant bat swoop overhead in a small dark space!

Just as we arrived and before it got fully dark we caught a fire breathing performance at the main entrance area to get "warmed" up for the journey. Here's a video I took with my phone from that:

Taking a Walk

2009-05-31T10:15:00.007+07:00

I know I promised more wedding album photos (and they are coming!) but I won't have my hands on these until the end of the week.

This Friday Hiền gets back to Singapore, and she'll be bringing along the edited version of my FIRST MUSIC VIDEO! :-D It'll be posted by next weekend, I promise.

In the meantime, I thought I might leave you with some photos and video from my walk this morning. I took these with my phone, but the quality isn't too bad, enjoy!

Street musician playing a flute:

Waterside shops and restaurants

The entrance to a pagoda on the street

A nice shot of a memorial while exploring "Memorial Walk"

These cool plants are everywhere!

Some morning meditation

An alley of small shops

Cavenagh bridge: I love the wording on the sign!

A taste of things to come..

2009-03-28T21:56:00.003+07:00

Here's quick post with some of the photos from today! It was exhausting, but a lot of fun, and I think we're going to have a lot more where this came from... stay tuned!

FINALLY! Internet at home!

2009-03-26T23:49:00.003+07:00

YAY! After much waiting, I can finally access the Internet at home. I can't tell you how disconnected I have felt waiting for my paperwork to go through so that I could get set up!

In any event, I made a short video showing my apartment here in Singapore, in which I should be staying for the foreseeable future. Things are going well here, and I am really enjoying life in Singapore.

Tomorrow Hien arrives with an entourage of family and friends to help us take some wedding photos. As you check out the apartment, keep in mind that I need to shelter 6 people in this place for 5 days! I think it will be fun, but there might be a line for the bathroom...

I'll post updates and photos as we take them. :-)

Landed in Singapore!

2009-02-06T13:25:00.003+07:00

Well, I've arrived at Hotel Re! in Singapore. It's a quaint, fairly new hotel, and seems like a good place to spend a week or so.

Singapore reminds me of Florida in the US a little bit. Definitely has a strong tropical feel to it. I'll have some photos a little bit later when I get a chance to explore. For the moment, I'm relaxing for a few minutes in the hotel room before I meet up with my fellow coworkers in the lobby to go over project plans.

I'll be starting work tomorrow promptly in the morning, so I'm hoping I'll get a chance to get some good rest in tonight! Wish me luck!

Getting accustomed to the local bacteria

2009-02-03T12:51:00.010+07:00

Since I've landed in Vietnam, I've been subjected to a whole slew of foreign bacteria that has left me with a stuffy nose, headache, and various other problems. Just as I thought I was getting everything cleared up, I got hit with the worst of the bunch!

The night before the engagement ceremony, I came down with, by my estimation, a fever of about 103 and a sore throat enough to prevent consumption of normal food. I made it fine through the engagement ceremony with the help of some ibuprofen, but didn't get my hands on antibiotics in time to make the trip to take our wedding photos. :-(

I'm hugely disappointed that we won't be able to make the trip, I was really looking forward to it, but as other people are starting to come down with sicknesses, as well, I think it's for the best. We'll just have to find some time later this year to make the trip, which won't be a problem at all.

Since I begin work in Singapore next Monday, it's good that I will be nice and rested!

So here are some photos from the ceremony. The people I trust most to use my camera to shoot video and photos were involved in the ceremony, so all the photos and videos are from the professional photo and videographers that were hired to capture the event. I don't know when I'll be able to get my hands on any video, but I'll do my best!

Wanna stretch out? Take a seat!

2009-01-31T18:16:00.002+07:00

One thing that I've noticed about being here in Vietnam is how incredibly inflexible and awkward I am compared to everyone else!

Now I don't say that lightly! I make it a point to stretch regularly, but my history of squishy beds, comfy chairs, and general upright behavior puts me at a severe disadvantage in a place where hard tiled floor is considered the most appropriate place for a group of people to take a seat and hang out, or even take a nap.

So if you feel like you want to increase your flexibility, my advice is to just take a seat on the floor!

Singapore and Dam Sen Park!

2009-01-30T19:30:00.011+07:00

Like I mentioned in my previous post, we took a trip the other day to a local park called Dam Sen Park. It's a really beautiful place to visit, and we took some photos while we were there, so I thought that I might share those here.

On a separate note, I thought I would throw in a note about my Singapore plans. Everything is a "go" and I will plan on being at work first thing on Monday, February 9th. Flights are currently being arranged. I should also be able to take a trip back at some point to take care of the apartment.

It looks like this is going to be about a 9 month project (or more), which means that I will likely be looking at putting all my stuff into storage and temporarily relocating to Singapore, yay! :-)

Well, enjoy the photos!

Video Update

2009-01-28T17:40:00.005+07:00

Ok, I've finally been able to put together a little video summary of some highlights from the trip thus far!

Excuse the cheap effects, I was short on time! ;-)

We start out with some staged scenes for the DVD with me arriving at the airport and meeting Hien. After that, I threw in some video that was taking during some of the New Year festivities.

Last night we all went to Dam Sen park where we took some video and photos. It's a beautiful park in Ho Chi Minh city, and not far from the Duong family home. There is some footage from the park at the end of this video, some of which may also make it into our wedding DVD.

Enjoy!

Please wait...

2009-01-24T10:55:00.003+07:00

Foiled at my attempt to extract the video from the camera, I unfortunately won't have a video update for you at the moment. But I'm working on it!

Here's a rundown of the events so far:
Arrived bleary-eyed into the welcoming arms of Hien and her family as they greeted us at the airport. Of course, we had to stage some video shots, so right off the bat, I was being told what to do from 3 people at once speaking Vietnamese too quickly for me to understand!

Naturally, I forgot my suit on the airplane, but didn't figure that out until we had already returned home. Luckily, I wound up getting it the next day, but it was only after two trips to the airport and a slew of phone calls.

Last night I accompanied Hien to a dinner party event for the company that she uses for professional videography, which was quite an experience! There was plenty of food, beer, and festivities (mostly karaoke). Since I can't hold a lengthy conversation in Vietnamese, most people just resort to having a drink with me, which means I generally need to consume about 4 times as much as I normally would... but oh well!

Today everyone is busily preparing for the New Year, which means I have a few minutes to relax to myself. I think I may take advantage of that time to nap a little bit!

As for my Singapore plans, things seem to be coming along. I've emailed with the right people to get things moving, and I have a call later this week to nail down my exact plans. More details about that to follow, but probably not until mid week.

That's all to report at the moment, just as soon as I have some video and photos to share, I will post a more colorful update, perhaps after the New Year.

Countdown to Vietnam: Part 3

2009-01-20T12:40:00.001+07:00

One final day remains before I begin my journey... a journey with a presently unknown destination!

Wednesday at 9am ET, I will depart from JFK International Airport destined for Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. My original plan was to spend 3 weeks in Vietnam, but as is customary for all things in life, plans can change. In my case, there is a chance that I will be cutting my vacation short to travel to Singapore, where I'll be expected to help manage a large software project for an undetermined amount of time.

So here's the plan so far...

After spending the lunar new year with my financee's family in HCM, I will be preparing for my engagement ceremony on February 2nd. We have planned a wonderful trip to Da Lat and Nha Trang after that to take photos and video for our wedding album.

After that my plans get a little fuzzy, but bear with me as I share what the future holds in store for me.