Sunday, January 30, 2011

Tet at My Neighbourhood Temple


I live in the heart of Vietnamese Sydney, and am surrounded by at least a dozen Buddhist temples. If you hop in the car and venture further afield there are probably closer to 20.



But one of my favourites is the little house temple closest to me - Chua Minh Giac.



I visited on the weekend, when they were getting ready for the Lunar New Year.
Here is a little video of the surrounds, and some lovely pics of the main shrine taken by Thang.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

"Destination Saigon" at Phuket Airport!


My gorgeous friend Sandy Weir is just about the most brilliant woman in Australian publishing, and pretty glam to boot. And dammit, she knows a good book when she sees one.
Recently she was on holiday in Phuket - cue global shortage of pina colada mix - and, on her way home, spotted Destination Saigon at the bookstore at Phuket airport and took this great shot for me. Right near Paul Theroux, no less!
I always get very excited when my book is sighted overseas. So far I've heard it's being sold in pirate editions in the backpacker districts of Ho Chi Minh City, at Bangkok International Airport, bookshops all around Hong Kong, Monument books in Phnom Penh and at Siem Reap airport.
And now at Phuket!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Destination Saigon in Khmer!


Now don't get excited - no-one is translating Destination Saigon just yet (though note to my Cambodian friends - please feel free to!). When I was in Cambodia recently I met some really wonderful young writers, and my dear friend there, author and songwriter Sok Chanphal, has done a blog entry about me and my book. Of course, I can't yet read a word of it, but for all of you Khmer speakers out there, here it is!


"កាលពី​ខែ​ធ្នូ ២០១០ ខ្ញុំ​បាន​ទទួល​សៀវភៅ​មួយ​ក្បាល​​ពី​បងប្រុស Walter Mason :) ​ គាត់​បាន​មក​ស្រុក​ខ្មែរ​ដើម្បី​ចាប់​ផ្ដើម​សរសេរ​សៀវភៅ​មួយ​ក្បាល​ ហើយ​ត្រូវ​បាន​នែនាំ​ឱ្យ​ស្គាល់​ខ្ញុំ​តាម​មិត្ត​ខ្ញុំ សួង មាក់ ដែល​កំពុង​រៀន​នៅ​ប្រទេស​ឡាវ។ Walter Mason ​​ជា​អ្នក​និពន្ធ​ជាតិ​អូស្ត្រាលី ដែល​បាន​ជោគជ័យ​ក្នុង​ការ​សរសេរ​សៀវភៅ​មួយ​ក្បាល​ពី​ប្រទេស​វៀតណាម ​​ Destination Saigon ។ ​ពេល​ដែល​គាត់​មក​ភ្នំពេញ ខ្ញុំ​ក៏​បាន​នែនាំ​មិត្ត​អ្នក​និពន្ធ​ក្មេងៗ​របស់​ខ្ញុំ​ឱ្យ​គាត់​ស្គាល់ និង​បាន​​ជូន​សៀវភៅ​ដែល​ខ្ញុំ​និពន្ធ​ទៅ​គាត់ ហើយ​​​គាត់​ក៏​​សន្យា​​​ថា​​​នឹង​​រៀន​ភាសា​ខ្មែរ ដើម្បី​អាន​សៀវភៅ​ទាំង​នោះ។ នេះ​​គឺ​អ្វី​ដែល​គាត់​បាន​សរសេរ​​​ពី​ខ្ញុំ និង​ការ​បោះពុម្ពសៀវភៅ​របស់​ខ្ញុំ​​ នៅ​គេហទំព័រ​សៀវភៅ​​របស់​គាត់៖ Destination Saigon in Cambodia

ហើយ​នេះ​គឺ​ជា​សៀវភៅ​ដែល​គាត់​បាន​ជូន​ខ្ញុំ ;)"