As Seen by TV

First day & night in Hanoi… walked around a bit, started taking some night shots but unfortunately it started to rain.

After temple patrol and the Cam Nam Island adventure, we came back to the Hoi An old town for dinner, drinks and some more vespertine action…

Our first full day in Hoi An, and we were somewhat dissaspointed with the rain, but at the same time somewhat relieved because the rain stemmed from a typhoon that hit the Vietnamese coast just north of us.  So we rented a motorbike, bought 20 cent raincoats, rocked the flip-flops and did some market shopping… after lunch, we decided to go check out the beach, a short 10min drive away… not really knowing what to expect, but we were in for a treat… a completely deserted beach saturated in lush post-typhoon colors.  The waves were menacing to say the least, but gladly it seemed the worst was over.  That evening we decided to come back the next day with out same gear, with the addition of our swimsuits.

We took a walk (luckily it had stopped raining when we arrived, and just started again as we were driving back) down the beach, while the night shots are taken from a bridge inbetween Hoi An town and the beach area…. the fishermen pictured are actually “fishing” for snakes!

We flew from Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) to Da Nang, and then a short 30min drive to the town of Hoi An…… a slightly touristy, but extrememly beauitful town.  The center of the village is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and thus historically preserved… the first night we took some bicycles into the town center, which is where I captured these.

Afterwards, we had some beers at Treat’s Bar for 10,000 VND a bottle… and if that isn’t a reason to come back, I don’t know what is.

Crisis averted… although somewhat unluckily, as I was strangely looking forward to a good ol’ typhoon.  It’s a shame that Typhoon Muifa (link has impressive satellite images) changed its mind last minute and diverted course north-wards along the coast.

Anyway, here are the images I took over a 24hr period that Muifa [rather silently] passed by Shanghai.

Wow, has it really been a couple months?? That’s no good, I’ll be working on that.
Been busy, been sick… let’s just say it’s been hectic.

Here are some quick shots I went out to capture last week when I saw the sky was going to be a good one… all these were taken no more than a 5min walk from my new apartment.  The pictured movie theater was opened several months ago, it’s a nice faux-art-deco structure actually.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say about that.

On my bike ride into Rotterdam city center to meet some friends I stopped off at Delfshaven (map) for a quick shoot.   I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve been here, but had never taken any pictures.  Which is partly to blame on the fact that this is less than a 10min bike ride from where I grew up.

Delfshaven (“Port of Delft“) was a harbor built in 1389 some 10km away from the town Delft as to surpass the high tax that merchants had to pay for mooring in the city of Rotterdam.  In 1886, Delfshaven became part of the city of Rotterdam, and was extremely lucky to have been left intact after the mass bombings (1150 x 50kg & 158 x 250kg) that levelled the entire city center of Rotterdam on May 14, 1940.  The Dutch surrendered to the Nazi forces shortly after only to endure 128 more known air raids by Allied forces, the second largest of which carried out by the US Air Force on March 31, 1943.  It is fair to say that Rotterdam was completely demolished by the fighting of World War II (more info here).  My great-grandfather, a captain himself, was moored in Rotterdam during one of these bombings, and was forced to flee back to our family in Antwerp, some 120km to the south, partly by bike, but mostly on foot.

Another, somewhat coldish night… hit up Lujiazhui, Pudong [again] with the dope wide angled lens.  Booyakasha.