Sunday, January 18, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Please buy a ticket first
This is an admission ticket to visit Khoun district. Photos were shot by me and the ticket itself was 'designed' by me. Nothing's fancy. I just want to take credit for it :)
I'm running out of excuses
No camera.
No computer.
No editing software.
No money.
No time.
No…
These are some of the things that come up when someone asks me why I have not done any video or when I want to do one.
Last week, my Lao friend who aspires to make a short film/feature film called and asked me if I wanted to do a short film if he could get funding for it.
“Is USD10,000 enough for a short film?” he asked.
“Wow! 10,000? Sure!” I responded.
So now, we have MONEY. And with money we can rent a decent video camera and an editing suite, pay for actors…We can shoot our short film on weekends. We can get a newly open coffee shop and telecom companies to sponsor. We can…
“So? Do you have any nice story that we can use for a short film?” my friend asked.
“Hmm…Let me think…Hmmm…How about…Hmm…Let’s talk about it later,” I proposed.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Since when only girls are allowed to be vulnerable and sensitive?
During our 'conversation' via Windows Live Messenger, my friend in Japan who just got married recently dropped the news about our friend being engaged.
My friend: Do you know our friend SK just got engaged last December in Cambodia?
Me: No way! He never told us or me about this!!
My friend: Well, he didn’t tell me either. I just found out about this recently from his fiancée when she added me in her Facebook. She’s really cute. You can find her in my Facebook. You should check her out. You’ll like her.
Me: Nah. Forget about it. If our friend didn’t want to tell us about his engagement, let’s leave it like that.
My friend: Gosh, you sound upset.
Me: Not upset…just a little bit disappointed.
My friend: Right. Come on. It’s just an engagement.
Me: Yeah right. It’s JUST an engagement. Later on it’ll be JUST a wedding. We were good friends when we’re in Singapore, you know. When you are happy, you should tell your friends about it, shouldn’t you? If you didn’t tell me about your wedding, I would be very disappointed, too.
My friend: You know I would never do that, of course. Gosh, you really sound upset. If you were a girl, I would think you were in love with SK. You are so SENSITIVE!
Me: Guys don’t do THAT (being upset by not being informed about certain things by their friends)??
My friend: No! Only girls do THAT.
Me:...
My friend: Do you know our friend SK just got engaged last December in Cambodia?
Me: No way! He never told us or me about this!!
My friend: Well, he didn’t tell me either. I just found out about this recently from his fiancée when she added me in her Facebook. She’s really cute. You can find her in my Facebook. You should check her out. You’ll like her.
Me: Nah. Forget about it. If our friend didn’t want to tell us about his engagement, let’s leave it like that.
My friend: Gosh, you sound upset.
Me: Not upset…just a little bit disappointed.
My friend: Right. Come on. It’s just an engagement.
Me: Yeah right. It’s JUST an engagement. Later on it’ll be JUST a wedding. We were good friends when we’re in Singapore, you know. When you are happy, you should tell your friends about it, shouldn’t you? If you didn’t tell me about your wedding, I would be very disappointed, too.
My friend: You know I would never do that, of course. Gosh, you really sound upset. If you were a girl, I would think you were in love with SK. You are so SENSITIVE!
Me: Guys don’t do THAT (being upset by not being informed about certain things by their friends)??
My friend: No! Only girls do THAT.
Me:...
Thursday, January 08, 2009
You know my secrete. I have to kill you.
Remember the first time you wanted to buy a pack of condoms at a drug store or 7 eleven? A pornography mag?
I had been eying on that 'Playboy: Playmate' DVD collect from a Chinese store for the past few days. It was priced at 570.000 LAK (about US67). Today I came in again to check. There were few customers browsing through well-organized DVD collections. So I waited until no other customer was left in the store. I wanted to buy that 'Playmate' discreetly, you know, taking it to the counter, making a payment and leaving, and with no question asked. The problem was it's rather expensive. So I took it to a sale person, a Chinese middle-aged lady, sitting at a counter and asked if she could lower the price. She said she could not do that; she needed to ask her boss first. At that very moment I started to panic. An embarrassing story I heard once appeared in my head. I remember the story about someone wanting to buy a porn mag from a store and a sale man just asked his boss loudly,"How much does this porn mag cost?" and everyone in the store was staring at that mag and then him, a potential buyer, a 'pervert' one. Luckily for my case, she just walked to her boss - who was playing 'Mahjong' with her friends. A moment later, her boss came to the counter, used a calculator to do some maths before showing it to me. It showed 525.000 on its screen. "Could you go lower than that?" I whispered. "Sorry. That's the lowest I could go," she insisted. Not wanting to prolong a situation any further, I decided to take it. She put the DVD into a thin and clear plastic bag.
"Could I have another plastic bag, please?" I requested. I then quickly walked out.
While waiting to cross the road, someone shouted, "Brother Xai, what are you doing here?" It's my junior. It's a she.
"Err...I'm here to use the Internet. What about you?" I asked while hiding my plastic bag at my back.
"I'm meeting my friend for dinner. Would you like to join us?" she invited.
"I'm afraid I can't. I have to use the Net for my work," I declined politely.
"The Internet cafe is that way. Bye!"
"See you!"
I had no choice but to walk to the Internet cafe and used it.
Now It's time I went back to my guesthouse.
I had been eying on that 'Playboy: Playmate' DVD collect from a Chinese store for the past few days. It was priced at 570.000 LAK (about US67). Today I came in again to check. There were few customers browsing through well-organized DVD collections. So I waited until no other customer was left in the store. I wanted to buy that 'Playmate' discreetly, you know, taking it to the counter, making a payment and leaving, and with no question asked. The problem was it's rather expensive. So I took it to a sale person, a Chinese middle-aged lady, sitting at a counter and asked if she could lower the price. She said she could not do that; she needed to ask her boss first. At that very moment I started to panic. An embarrassing story I heard once appeared in my head. I remember the story about someone wanting to buy a porn mag from a store and a sale man just asked his boss loudly,"How much does this porn mag cost?" and everyone in the store was staring at that mag and then him, a potential buyer, a 'pervert' one. Luckily for my case, she just walked to her boss - who was playing 'Mahjong' with her friends. A moment later, her boss came to the counter, used a calculator to do some maths before showing it to me. It showed 525.000 on its screen. "Could you go lower than that?" I whispered. "Sorry. That's the lowest I could go," she insisted. Not wanting to prolong a situation any further, I decided to take it. She put the DVD into a thin and clear plastic bag.
"Could I have another plastic bag, please?" I requested. I then quickly walked out.
While waiting to cross the road, someone shouted, "Brother Xai, what are you doing here?" It's my junior. It's a she.
"Err...I'm here to use the Internet. What about you?" I asked while hiding my plastic bag at my back.
"I'm meeting my friend for dinner. Would you like to join us?" she invited.
"I'm afraid I can't. I have to use the Net for my work," I declined politely.
"The Internet cafe is that way. Bye!"
"See you!"
I had no choice but to walk to the Internet cafe and used it.
Now It's time I went back to my guesthouse.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
You will like them too.
I just watched 'The Fall' and 'The Onion Movie', thanks to cheap and pirated DVDs, and liked them a lot. You should check them out. If I make a film I want mine to look and feel like 'The Fall' and be funny like 'The Onion Movie'.
Friday, January 02, 2009
See me?
Australia Supports Lao Nationals to Study in Australia
Forty Australian Development Scholarships (ADS) and three OZ Minerals scholarships were awarded to Lao Nationals for study in Australia by the Australian Government and OZ Minerals this week. The twenty three male and twenty female awardees are from provinces throughout Laos including Xieng Khouang, Champassak, Houaphan, Luang Prabang and Vientiane.
This year, fourteen awardees have achieved required academic scores which will enable them to commence study in Australia in January 2009; the remaining awardees will undertake a one year preparation course at VientianeCollege before commencing study in Australia in January 20.At the congratulatory ceremony held at Vientiane College on Wednesday 8 October, the Australian Ambassador, Dr Michele Forster said “ADS scholars are particularly valued for their high level of analytical and critical thinking skills. Many former Lao scholars are now in senior decision making positions in government, international organisations and the private sector and now they can make a real difference to driving change and influencing development outcomes in Lao PDR.”
Dr Forster wished all awardees good luck with their studies and urged the new ADS awardees to embrace the challenges ahead as they commence their studies in Australia.
Source: http://www.adsvientiane.com/
Thursday, January 01, 2009
You shouldn’t have shared that. Really.
I was invited by my friend to have dinner with his friends whom I have never met before. We introduced ourselves, our names and job titles, and ordered our food.
“Xai, you should order fried broccoli and carrots to get some fibre,” my friend suggested. He looked at his friends and continued, “Xai has not cleared his bowels for few days already.”
I was embarrassed, uncomfortable and a bit annoyed by that information shared by my friend with his friends.
You may share information about your friend’s failed marriage, porn VCD collections, liver condition, sleeping with a prostitute or two, fetish, etc., among your AND his or her close friends. But you should never ever share those kinds of information about your friend (s) with people you or s/he had just met. Do you think other people like to learn if your friend has Hepatitis, herpes, the clap…? I don’t think so, at least not for me. Nor do I think people like their personal/confidential information to be shared with acquaintances.
If you bring that up- to amuse or to enlighten other people (or ‘to whatever’ you may have in mind), it only shows how unconsidered/jerk you are. It’s a no-no thing. Really.
“Xai, you should order fried broccoli and carrots to get some fibre,” my friend suggested. He looked at his friends and continued, “Xai has not cleared his bowels for few days already.”
I was embarrassed, uncomfortable and a bit annoyed by that information shared by my friend with his friends.
You may share information about your friend’s failed marriage, porn VCD collections, liver condition, sleeping with a prostitute or two, fetish, etc., among your AND his or her close friends. But you should never ever share those kinds of information about your friend (s) with people you or s/he had just met. Do you think other people like to learn if your friend has Hepatitis, herpes, the clap…? I don’t think so, at least not for me. Nor do I think people like their personal/confidential information to be shared with acquaintances.
If you bring that up- to amuse or to enlighten other people (or ‘to whatever’ you may have in mind), it only shows how unconsidered/jerk you are. It’s a no-no thing. Really.
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