Sên, mứt, và mười hai năm

Nửa đêm đang nằm khèo đọc truyện ngắn của Lý Lan, thấy chữ “sên mứt” tự nhiên giựt mình cái đùng. Mới nhớ là bao lâu rồi không nghe, không dùng chữ “sên” mà không phải để nói tới loài động vật tròn tròn nhớt nhớt, bò chậm rì chậm rịt, hay ăn lá cây [...]

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The “Are you a real Vietnamese?” test

(This was written some time last week and has been left to lurk around in ”Drafts” with about 50 other half-baked entries. Ugh! Bad writer! Bad blogger! Bad whinger!)
Last night, at precisely 12 o’clock, yours truly was still up playing with a glue stick. Hmm… that doesn’t sound right. Well, before anyone starts imagining (inappropriate) things, [...]

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Snow. Wind. And one big fat bruise.

So we’re back down to civilisation from the mountain, its slushy snow and biting wind. Yes, already! Two days up there felt like two minutes. Blink, and it’s gone. Sigh…
Here are some thoughts / observations / random rambles:
1. Still feeling high from skiing. Or to be more precise, snow-balling down the slope. Adrenaline, endorphins, and [...]

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Age of innocence

No. Not about the book. But I thought of that line one day in Shanghai, when A. and I were walking along Fuzhou Lu in the morning. Now Fuzhou Lu is kinda like Russell St in Melbourne, not the top-motch main street, but also quite a busy one in the city center. We saw this little [...]

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Asia trip ‘09 – Part 1

Random rambles in no particular order: 
-          The Great Wall really is MASSIVE! Not that I need to repeat that, everyone knows it’s the only manmade structure on earth that is visible from the moon - which is actually a myth! (Thanks Mosh.) But well, it’s still gigantic. The fact that the whole thing was built only across the [...]

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Short update

Ong noi (my paternal grandpa) passed away 8 days ago today . My tickets were booked for Hanoi long ago, but I didn’t make it home in time. After the initial shock, I think we’re still numb. It hasn’t really kicked in yet. I still can’t bring myself to believe that he’s gone. Forever. It’s [...]

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Cái bản đồ

Lần cách đây hơn 2 năm mình về VN. Í, mà hổng nhớ chính xác là lần đó hay lần trước nữa. Dạo này khái niệm thời gian nhiều lúc cứ lù mù, lờ mờ. Đích thị là bệnh già. Thôi, cứ giả bộ là lần cách đây 2 năm đi. Vị chi là đầu [...]

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Torrent

It’s raining. No, raining is an understatement. It’s pouring. Bucketing. Cascading. If it was warmer I wouldn’t have minded jumping out for a wild rain dance. Like that corny scene in Australia (the movie).
This kind of torrential rain always makes me ache for Vietnam. Because in Saigon, this is how they do business, man! None [...]

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Nhà

A. có người bạn sắp đi VN chơi 2 tuần. Anh này chưa tới VN bao giờ nên băn khoăn không biết VN có giống Thái Lan & Campuchia không. Mình kêu không khác nhiều lắm đâu, chỉ khác mỗi cái là tui khuyên ông đi về xong thì đừng chỉ trích VN với tui, [...]

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Unwavering love

Despite all my best efforts, I can’t take my mind away from the devastating bushfires that are still raging in places around Victoria. The atmosphere’s been thick with smoke for the last two days. Even the harsh Aussie summer sun can’t seem to get through, and only manages to cast a muted, hazy, orangy light [...]

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