Change of Name, Change of Focus

This blog was first established way back in 2009 as a collection point for my thoughts and experiences about Vietnam, containing many things that would eventually go into my first book, Destination Saigon.
That book has, for a long time now, had its own website, which you can see here, and where you can continue to read all sorts of interesting stuff about Vietnamese religion and culture, Vietnam travel advice, the Vietnamese community in Australia and my own interactions with things, people and matters Vietnamese.
I am about to embark on a long trip to Cambodia to finish my second book, which will, as you might already have guessed, be about my love for that country and my many wonderful journeys and connections there.


 



So please join me as I begin to explore more publicly my travels in Cambodia and my engagement in, and fascination with, Cambodian culture in all of its incredible complexity and wonder.
Welcome to my new blog, which is now called A Book About Cambodia.

Hope you enjoy!

Lunar New Year Festival (Cho Tet), Fairfield

I don't know why I go to big, crowded public events anynore.
I am invariably disappointed.
I feel bored and tired before an hour is up, and in this instance my partner was part of the VIP party, so was trapped listening to interminable speeches for two hours or more while I paced around in the mud, increasingly bored.
The once great Cho Tet, the big festival to celebrate the Lunar New Year for the Vietnamese community, has become something of a shambles. The food is ghastly and it's always held too late to be of any truly festive significance. I mean, we know when the Lunar New Year is going to fall for the next 100 years or so. Can the organisers not book ahead to ensure they get the venue at the desired time?
I don't mean to grumble.
The dragon and lion dances were spectacular, really wonderful. They seemed to be the only properly organised parts of the whole event.

Here's some free advice to bring some heart back to this important event:

- Get some good food. Take a look at the much smaller Thai New Year celebrations at Wat Pa Buddharangsee in Minto. They manage to attract an array of truly fantastic food vendors, many of them representatives of iconic restaurants.

- Provide more seating. For some reason the entire under-cover area of the showground was roped off, including the toilet. This could have been hired as an area for people to sit and eat, with tables and chairs. And by the way, the five sad portaloos provided were a disgrace - they were already full at 6.30pm. There are many older people present who would hang around longer and spend more money if they could relax. As it is they couldn't get away quickly enough - the whole thing is dreadfully uncomfortable and physically taxing.

- Bring the community back. Allow the festival to reflect some of the colour and diversity of the Vietnamese community. The Buddhist temples, the Cao Dai groups - all should have some sort of presence there. Perhaps a tent for talks, lectures and cultural displays? People come for this sort of thing, not kiosks promoting the local clubs. In fact, why don't the local clubs sponsor such a tent rather than just handing out balloons and cardboard visors?

- Do something about the ghastly opening ceremony. Two hours + of speeches by dubious VIPs is simply unforgiveable in the 21st century. A neat half-hour of ceremonies is ample (indeed, generous), and then bring on the singing and dancing that people really enjoy. NO MORE SPEECHES.

With a bit of imagination and energy this yearly event has enormous potential to become a truly important part of the Australian cultural calendar. As it is, it's a disaster.

Tet! Lunar New Year decorations at our local temple

Our nearby temple is Chua Minh Giac, and one of the resident monks is a dab hand at decoration.

Every year he goes all out to create some elaborate themed gardens and displays for visitors who come over the Lunar New Year period.

He has excelled himself this year.

Details:

Minh Giac Vietnamese Buddhist Temple
42 St. John's Rd
Cabramatta
(The temple is about a 15 minute walk from Cabramatta station)
Open 7am - 8.30pm
All welcome - enter the main hall via the driveway to the left of the house. If the roller-doors of the main temple aren't up,  you can gain access via the doorway at the left of the complex at the back.
Shoes need to be removed before entering.

Walter Mason's book Destination Saigon: Adventures in Vietnam (Allen & Unwin) was voted one of the 10 best travel books of 2010 by The Sydney Morning Herald.
It is available as a paperback and e-book from all good booksellers and on-line.

Buddhist Prayer Guide at Cabramatta Vegetarian Restaurant

The vegetarian restaurants and supermarkets in Cabramatta, and many of the herbalists, all feature a little stand that gives out free Buddhist media - books, pictures, CDs, DVDs etc. The things are almost always in Vietnamese, but sometimes there is material in English, so they are always worth checking out.
This material is there for free distribution, so help yourself, if you are interested.
This is a laminated A4 poster which offers a program of chanting for the lay Buddhist.



Where?
Happy Vegan
Shop 11, Belvedere Arcade
66-68 John St
Cabramatta NSW

The Teo Chiew Centre in Cabramatta

An under-utilised but wonderfully picturesque piece of orientalist architecture in Cabramatta, stuck between the Baptist and Catholic churches.
As viewed from Cabra-Vale Park.
I have written about the ubiquity of the Teo Chiew elsewhere.

Phuoc An Hoi Quan Pagoda

Phuoc An Hoi Quan Pagoda is one of the Chinese clan temples (belonging to the Fujianese) in District 5, Ho Chi Minh City's Chinatown. District 5 is the old Cholon, once one of the most tremendous Chinese cities in the world - to read about it in its heyday you can't do better than Gontran de Poncins' wonderful book From A Chinese City. If you are lucky enough to travel to Ho Chi Minh City, you should really put aside a morning or afternoon to visit the colourful temples of Cholon.
The Phuoc An Hoi Quan is just two minutes walk from the Quan Am pagoda (that's not counting the ten minutes you will spend drumming up the courage to cross the truly terrifying Hung Vuong Rd.), so you should really plan to do both at once. Both temples are shown on maps in any of the guide books to Ho Chi Minh City.
There are reasonably concealed benches in the temple courtyard so it makes a nice place to sit and people watch without being hassled. Bring a fan.




The statue of Kwan Yin to the left of the courtyard as you enter is a very popular and lucky statue in this part of town.




And interestingly the robes for Kwan Yin that are donated by people who have had their prayers answered are embroidered with the names of the donors or the people they want blessed.




This is the first time I have seen this. I wonder if it's new or old?





There is also a lucky horse to your left as you enter the temple - it is meant to be lucky for travellers to stroke its mane.

Details:

Phuoc An Hoi Quan Pagoda is at 184 D. Hung Vuong, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City.
It is meant to stay open till 6pm, but they normally won't let you in after 5.30.
It's a 10-15 minute taxi ride from downtown Saigon.
Photography is allowed, and you don't have to take your shoes off to enter this temple.
You can purchase incense and offerings inside the temple, where you will be charged the true local price.

Orchid Farm in Cu Chi

Well, I can't really tell you how I ended up at an orchid farm in Cu Chi, about 50 kilometres outside of Saigon. I just say yes to any old invitation, and this is where it lands me.
Quite a beautiful place, though, filled with sweet teenagers from Hue who have never quite made it to the city.



And all around it, picturesque farms with women in conical hats, and tethered buffalo. It felt like an ad from Vietnam Airlines.
I'm quite an afficionado of Vietnamese rural architecture, and keep an eye out for trends. At Cu Chi, richer farmers seem to be favouring a big porcelain lion at the tops of their gateposts, unlike in Binh Chanh, where concrete dobermanns are de rigeur.




Do you think that noticing and liking flowers is a sign of getting old?



I suspect so, because increasingly I find myself spending time looking at them, smelling them and photographing them. And I was in the perfect place for that!