We were about done, I thought she had to do a few more things but I was done sweeping so I went into the office where my coat was and stood there at the window (very few times we clean there when the sun is still out) looking out into the tree line that surrounds a train track that isn’t used much.  I stood there for 5 minutes just looking out.  Didn’t know she was standing behind me the whole time.  Didn’t even hear her giggle.  Finally I thought I’d go see if she was done and turned and there she was.  Nearly jumped out of my skin.  She was laughing.  Said she followed me into the room.  “Did you see something interesting? hahahahahaha”.

She came to the window.  I replied, “see the sun hitting the trees making the one side golden.  See the leafless bush there with the funny looking tops on the branches.  See the snow on the sides of the tree sparkle.”

Sometimes it’s just nice to stop and admire your surroundings by taking photographs with your eyes.  Leave the camera at home next time.

The three boys laying on the bed in Hue, were not making a long distance phone call to America. They were engrossed on playing a video game on the cell phone. Bin, the one playing, if he sees a phone he’ll want it just to look for games on it to play. And you’ll not see your phone again till the battery dies and he needs your charger so he can charge it. Not that he’s sorry that he killed the battery but to charge it so he can play some more… The other two boys, are waiting patiently for their turn and to help him out if he moves the wrong way on his game.

The three girls and Huan are playing the Horse Race Game.  Similar to the game I grew up playing with my parents, Sorry!  The players have to get their horses out of the box by rolling a certain number and go all around the board (paper).  They can knock each other off and be sent back to the starting box.  Yeah… the game of Sorry!

Mimi took rubber bands and tied them together and wrapped them around a house pillar and a plastic chair.   I thought it was interesting watching her jump moves that I knew if I would try, I’d probably fall of the porch and break a bone or 2.

You’ll see just about everything imaginable for sale in the market. We were walking buy a stand selling fish and the owner of the stall was cutting the head and tail of the tiny live fish – not a common site for us to see as we shop at our local Wal-Mart’s and Kroger stores.

These photos were taken in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam in 2005

“Do you like this car?”

The girl was standing at the drivers side window smiling as she shook her head yes and peaked inside the car.

I was close enough to say, “well, if you like it that much you need to do more than just look in the window.” I opened the door so she could sit. As she sat in the car, I chatted with her father (a school friend of mine) and snapped a few shots to post on facebook for them to see.

A Galaxie filled with Smiles

“Thanks guys! As soon as Bailey got back to the moose she was telling me all about this” pretty black car” that ‘some guy’ actually let her sit in. She thought she was queen for the day.” – Alishia

Thank you for the smiles

Anyhow, we booked our flights through United and were all set. We arrived at the small Fort Wayne International airport on an early Saturday morning only to find out (after our ride returned home) that our flight to Chicago O’hare was cancelled because of a bad storm. It had been dry for so long and the day it decides to rain is the day we were leaving. So, with the 1 and only 1 clerk helping customers he found us a flight with Delta the next day even earlier. Now the journey begins….

We flew from Fort Wayne to Atlanta to Seoul to Saigon. The flight from Atlanta to Seoul was a so long. With United we had picked out our seats in Coach. Being stuck on a flight through Delta we were stuck wherever they put us. It wasn’t too bad, but I wanted the last 2 seats on the plane like I had with United.

Sitting in Atlanta for a few hours with no free wifi.

Our plane… I was able to check our status through United, Delta and Korean Air.

“So, where did I put that luggage cart?”

Sorry about the quality. This photo was taken an iPod camera. I believe it’s 1mp ??

We arrived in Saigon on July 24th or 25th at 10pm. At the airport waiting for us were 2 cousins. We took a taxi to my wife’s Uncle’s house in District 4 and spent the night only to get up the next day and take another plane to Hue. And like all the different airlines we used to get to Vietnam, we went to Hue, Vietnam using Vietnam Airlines but used a Cambodian Air plane.

Welcome to Hue, Vietnam (to be continued…..)

I will discuss more of what I saw later. We are getting ready to head to the beach for the day.

The riddle first appeared in 1847 in a New York monthly magazine known as  The Knickerbocker.

…There are ‘quips and quillets’ which seem actual conundrums, but yet are none. Of such is this: ‘Why does a chicken cross the street?['] Are you ‘out of town?’ Do you ‘give it up?’ Well, then: ‘Because it wants to get on the other side!’

But if I were a chicken in Viet Nam; I’d run away from the road.  If you have never experienced crossing the road in Viet Nam; then you have missed out on a death defying thrilling experience.  Sai Gon has a population of over 5 million with tens of thousands if not even more scooters, bicycles and vehicles on the roads through most of the daylight hours.

The scooters flow from point A to point B flawlessly (most of the time).  They cross in front, in back and some seem to go right through each other to get to their destination.  When making a left turn or even a U-turn; the driver will cross in front of traffic like it’s cutting a piece of bread – with ease.

Then to add to the craziness of the traffic, add a local crossing the road and you’ll be dumbfounded as to why the person 1)wants to cross the road 2) is in the middle of the road 3) made it across the road alive.  Yes, crossing the roads in Viet Nam can be dangerous, but somehow the drivers just flow around you as you walk through the traffic.  That is IF you pay attention to the drivers and never take a step backwards.

To live deliberately … ~ Henry David Thoreau

So that its subjects will view it with admiration, as a chicken which has the daring and courage to boldly cross the road, but also with fear… ~Machiavelli

The first photo was taken  in July 2010 on one of our many road trip in Viet Nam.  It was taken in or near Sai Gon.

The second photo was taken by my wife as my brother, myself, Raam Dev and my nephew cross a “quiet” street in Saigon.

In 2008, Mai and I again visited Viet Nam to attend a wedding.  We stayed at Nhi’s Grandfathers house in the country.  Nhi was still a bit shy but she was very playful.  She and her cousin would run from my camera.  Nhi also spent many times sitting next to me chatting up a storm then had a good laugh.   She good easily brighten anyone’s day with her smile.

The photo above was taken in 2008 at an amusement park in Viet Nam.  Nhi wanted her photo taken in that spot and ran to it.  A photographer for the park pushed her out of the way so he could take a photo of someone as I was walking over to her.  After the guy took a photo, I walked in front of him and walked backwards to push him away and motioned for Nhi to stand in a spot to take her photo.

Nhi visited a Doctor while we were there and after we had left she had surgery to correct her eye.

When we were left Viet Nam in 2008, she told her family that she knew English.  They questioned her on what she knew.  Nhi replied, In English they say David, in Viet we say Davit.

Below is a video of her taken the night before we left Vietnam.  She is playing cards with another cousin in HCMC.
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After visiting once again in 2010, we learned that Nhi had an incurable brain tumor.  With countless surgeries and stays in hospitals she passed away October 21, 2010.  She stayed in hospital wards with 30 – 45 other children with only 15 beds available.  After a few days in ICU she was taken to a balcony for recovery.  Later she was transfered from the well known hospital Cho Ray (HCMC) to a country hospital 512 in Binh Duong because the doctors thought there was little hope.  However they told the family that the country hospital could provide her with everything they could but that was not the case.

Even towards the end, Nhi brought smiles to the family.  She wasn’t able to talk for the longest time.  She was always asked what she wanted to eat, though she never said a word, on October 12th she said, “noodles”.

Looking at her photos, she still brings smiles and tears to our eyes.  We know that she is in a better place without any pain and making lots of new friends with just a smile in Heaven.  As I think of all the people that I want to see when I enter Heaven, I hope Nhi is one of the firsts.

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More photos of Nhi can be found on my website at DaJaTu Photo and I created a blog for her that is still up for a few months: Nhi-Nguyen.com

The car is a 1929 L-29 Cord, a true masterpiece.  This photo was taken in Auburn, Indiana at a home styled after Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs.  Ken was in Auburn in November a few years back and wanted to get some photos of his car along with a friend’s L-29 that he had restored.  It wasn’t the warmest November, but wasn’t the coldest day that I’ve seen him drive an L-29, but we drove all over town and beyond taking photographs at different locations along the way.

The coldest ride that day was in the 1932 L-29 Phaeton.  Partly because we couldn’t get the top up.  We were stopped at a stop light on State Road 8 in town and a friend pulled up beside the car.  He later commented on my red nose.  Yes, it was cold, but riding in the L-29′s were well worth the bitter cold, not so much because they were L-29′s, but the driver was Ken.  Ken and his wife, Tuyet, are more than friends, they’re family and I’m honored to call them just that, family.

The photo above looks amazing printed as a 12×18 metallic print.

More photos of the 1929 L-29 Cord Cabriolet and the 1932 L-29 Cord Phaeton

Also to see more L-29′s that Ken has restored visit Ken’s Classics

The below photo can be found in the Auburn 2010 Photogallery at DaJaTuPhoto website.  It was taken at Auburn 2010 at the former E.L. Cord Estate.