CNN Mystery disease in Cambodia

Apparently, there is a new disease that is taking out kids under the age of 3 in Cambodia.  It doesn't appear to be SARS, H1N1 or others.

More can be read at CNN's article.

One of the things about Cambodia is that it clearly isn't the same as Thailand.  The healthcare system isn't as robust.  In fact, in the region, Thailand probably has the best system out there.

The SE Asia Situation in a nutshell

1.  Thailand's political world is still in flux.
2.  Vietnam is experiencing steady growth.  It is not becoming a major favorite travel destination.
3.  Cambodia is revisiting the Khmer Rouge era with trials.  There are still problems of poverty in certain sections of the country.
4.  Burma/Myanmar is undergoing more democratic reforms.

Thailand is currently going through much political upheaval.  For the most part, there is this tug of war between the Democratic Party of Thailand, and "Whatever is the party of Thaksin Shinawatra" which is currently Pheu Thai.  There are complex discussions about amending the Constitution in Thailand, as noted in the Bangkok Post.   We must not forget the drama that can erupt with political conflict.

On my last trip, I visited the area that had major protests.  The mall was definitely burned down and being reconstructed.  But other than that, it seemed normal.  Quite a few people died during that upheaval.  The current political environment of Thailand pretty much stems from the tug of war between these parties.  For the most part, my friends at Assumption University tell me all is fine.  People avoid politics if they can.  

Vietnam.  A few people ask me now, why Vietnam?  Well, it's a different country.  The weird thing is that Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma/Myanmar and even Laos are only 1 hour by air from each other.  Each country is distinct.  The food in Vietnam is more of a hybrid of Chinese, French and SE Asian.  They know how to make a sandwich. 

When you travel in SE Asia, you can use Thailand as the hub.  In fact, Bangkok is the place in which you can travel to all other parts of SE Asia.  If you are a citizen of ASEAN countries, all you need is your passport to travel freely between these countries.

Cambodia is still struggling with the ghost of the Khmer Rouge.  Many of the current politicians in Cambodia were former KR members.  Comrade Duch is currently going to be in his own solo cell.

A few of my friends from Long Beach City College and Bakersfield College are trying to set up a school in Cambodia.  Without actual personnel present on site, that's a tall order.  I know.  I did that stuff when I was doing Tsunami relief work in Thailand.

Burma/Myanmar.  I don't have the motivation to go just yet.  I'm still observing how they treat "The Lady" now that she's out of house arrest.  Other friends have gone to Burma/Myanmar, but I'm still a little cautious.   But it does look interesting.  At least the temples do.

Testing the concept of laptop less travel

This is a test shot of the Olympus EP3 with the 12mm prime lens. This is Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. Not bad.

So far, the lens has been pretty good. The Shots have that Olympus warmth to them. The compact nature is going to work out.

The iPad app being used is Blogsy. The user interface is sort of complicated. On the other hand, with the Bluetooth keyboard, I think it will be fine.

Eyefi cards were not really working. I'm taking several cards and the backup drive. Hopefully this will cut down on the gear for this trip.

Posted with Blogsy

Travel Photography mimimalism

Soon, I'm going to head on back to SE Asia.

Because of the complex nature of baggage weight and International travel, I've been trying to ditch the laptop in favor of my iPad.  Actually, I bought the darn thing specifically for the sake of traveling.  In addition, I upgraded my home computer to a desktop iMac, so when I return, I can actually see what I am editing.

Macworld published an article called, "On the Road with a camera, an iPod, and a Hyperdrive."  The article didn't mention the camera, but the iPad and Hyperdrive thing was intriguing.  I checked out the price of the Hyperdrive on their website, but alas could not find it listed, so I went to Amazon, and I picked up a case.  I'm going to pick up a discounted hard drive from my local vendor, and it will end up being cheaper with more hard drive capacity.   How is this process going to work?

1.  Carry a few more SDHC cards,
2.  Carry the iPad photo attachment.
3.  Download the photos to the Hyperdrive, and load specific pictures into the iPad.  Photos that need to be worked on will be backed up.

The other thing is what type of rig do you want?  My Nikon D80 is now sort of passe as it doesn't shoot video, but then I never saw a DSLR as a movie gadget.  DSLR rigs are now very hard to manage when you are traveling, as they have so much "stuff" now to carry.  So what do you do with travel photography?  Lately, this has been changing.  My Olympus EPL-1 has been somewhat reliable, but it has issues with focusing.  It does shoot better than the old Sony and Panny point and shoot compacts though.   My old Nikon D80 spanks all of them.  This brings up a few decisions, which might be pricey.

1.  Upgrade to the EP 3.  For the most part, it has a better focusing mechanism.  It has better software, and it does have a better build quality in being housed in an aluminum case.  The price is about 799.00 USD.
2.  Pick up the new Olympus 12mm F2.0 prime?  This is another 799.00 USD.

Combined, they sort of equal the price of the Fuji X Pro 1.  The price for that puppy is almost 1600.00 USD.  Ultimately, I'm not going to go that route, unless I get a better pay hike.  The 1600.00 USD price is without even a frinkin' lens.  I've been using an Olympus EPL 1 for a while, and the images have not been half bad. In fact, I've done a few shoots with it, and the results have been ok.





The unit itself is very compact, and it may work well with my Panny 20mm pancake lens.  In addition, I've never really used the 14-45 kit lens on my EPL-1, so I may try to set up the EPL-1 as a backup camera.

Because of the nature of what I shoot, and how I shoot, and where I shoot, I've been slowly moving towards the Micro 4/3 model a la Olympus/Panasonic.  So far, the lenses have not been too bad, and I'm not entirely displeased with what I shoot.  The Olympus JPEG engine actually is making it that I may not really have to shoot with RAW which can eat up a lot of memory.

Nothing is ever certain, but I am going to try out the 12mm / EP3 combo as a base.  My 20mm Pany is going regardless.  From here, who knows?

Hanoi emerging as a destination for foodies

Hanoi emerging as a destination for foodies

Interesting article from the LA Times about Hanoi.  As the economy grows, Vietnam becomes more and more of a tourist destination.

Anthony Bourdain of No Reservations, The Layover has always been an advocate of Vietnam in terms of major foodie destinations.  For the food explorer, Vietnam is a little more better than lets say Cambodia.  I've had some bad reactions in Cambodia.  Not so much in Thailand, unless I tried the very very overt organ meat street food of Bangkok.

Traffic in Hanoi is very unique.  Notice the scooter traffic.  This was shot with an iPhone 4.  Processed with the iPhone iMovie app.

The Chidlren of Sapa

(I have to admit that this shot was not taken by me, but taken by my friend Mr. Binh using my Olympus EPL1 with the 20mm Panny lens. It's actually a really good shot.)

This image still stalks me.  If you didn't get the last posting, one evening while walking around the area, we sat down and had some coffee. Typically, a H'mong Hill tribe member would come up, but this time it was a little girl. She was selling some stuff, but what was more strange was that we noticed that she was carrying a baby girl as well. We bought a few little trinkets from her, and gave her something to drink. The way she seemed to look, she seemed to be in a work mindset.

Essentially, in Sapa, the hill tribes have adapted to the tourism industry. I've observed many children selling silver, textiles and other stuff. They don't have to go in costume, but just go as they always have dressed. In fact, the indigo dye that they use is very distinct. If you buy anything from them, you had better make sure you wash it on your own, otherwise everything else in the load will turn blue. The children of Sapa are hustling. This is late in the evening. No child labor laws out in this part of the world. She's a cute kid, but also a saleswoman. Now, people in the US may complain about this sort of stuff, but the world is bigger than the US. People do whatever they have to do to live.

Ironically, the children of Sapa probably speak English better than the Vietnamese tourists that come to visit this area. In 10 years, this kid probably will be selling stuff using perfect English.