[monumentum]

This is pertaining to the excruciating monotony of life right now. Yes I recognise that this is temporary before school starts, but the bore is really enough to kill anyone who's in the right mind. It's just a matter of time. Constantly craving for BLG's song 'Holiday' nowadays. It's simply too apt to describe. It's probably not healthy to keep having flashbacks, nor is back-tracking, but I find myself totally not having the time to put everything up at once. My slowness aside, this thing is also time-consuming. Then again, isn't it sweet to slowly savor the experience until the next opportunity comes up? Though it's gonna be a long.. long.. long time ahead, I somehow know. Who knows what'll happen during the next term break. Blast it.

Day #18: From Quy Nhon to Kon Tum (17-May-2010)
Visited the market to capture the morning preparation of fish steaming process. Why steam fish in the market? Just cos many living in this region cannot afford fridges, things we call 'neccessity'. Steamed fish last longer than the fresh ones, dont they? Yea, that's why.

This is a nice place for photographs. A seasoned photographer could've easily captured great photos here, but one like me produces works like these. It's the light & the steam permeating the air, lovely.

Hmmm... But a market's still a market no matter how aesthetically pleasing it might be. Gory? Nahh... These are just pixels. Lay foot there & catch the full-blown 恶心-ness. The smell, the sight - things that were once healthily living. A mass decapitation (below), some with entrails still attached. (:

Told ya! Who says the steam isn't mystifying?

Plus those stream of lights seeping through the ceiling gaps... Too bad I barely have a usable shot.

Sotong & steamed fish.

The other sections of the market. Tak halal.. I thought that (below) was worse than fish. Not sure why, but having already lived a significant portion of my life away, I still can't understand how anyone could eat the coagulated blood from whichever animals that were once alive & mobile. A clutter of bloody mess strewn all over for sale. Till I cultivate a firm resolve to be a vegetarian, I'd assure myself that I wouldn't wander into such unchartered territory of what constitutes my 'diet'...

The (above) beef noodles was for breakfast. Guess I'm still far from being vegetarian? After such grotesque morning of close-up shots, I could get that down my throat still. How wondrous & appalling.

More ingenuity of a Vietnam's bike. I truly wonder if those poor dangling creatures are still alive. Though I would've probably died of adrenaline rush if I were one of them.

Sights along the roads. Magnificence I can never get over.

Here's where sculptures, furniture are made from tree barks. Why is it special? Simply cos they retain the natural formation of the trunks. No deliberate carving or processing. Some end-products might've looked odd, but they really looked exotic. Though I couldn't say that the prices for these were anything less than exorbitant, it's probably worthwhile considering the workmanship involved.

I hadn't have the chance to witness work in action. For these guys here were coincidentally having their break time. Nice of them to have warmly offered a drink, but upon closer inspection it was beer. So there goes, nope.

Incomprehensible, but I liked this one a lot. Perhaps it's the way he's smiling?

More sights & tak halal-ness. Poor little things, they're off to the slaughter house, like seriously, no joke!

Alrite, this is dumb, but I forgot the name of this lake. But quite a pleasant scenery huh? There's a watch tower built up high for visitors to view the surroundings, but otherwise, nothing much.

This plant, I'll put down its name once I recall (which I probably would not). It's something-Hong. Gee.. I distinctly remember writing it down somewhere, but can't find. ;X

But anyway, here, we arrived at KonTum. A very typical townscape with its fair share of typical tourist attractions. Not a place you'd particularly want to head to unless you're just passing by.

A church. Yea, that's it.

This is the more special one. Wooden chapel. So as its name suggests, it's made entirely of wood. Within its compounds, there're still an orphanage which houses orphaned children of the town. How sweet.

The KonTum specialty. I've no idea what it's called, but it's a coating of flour with inner shrimp, veggie filling. This went well with spring rolls, the fresh raw ones & deep fried ones. It might seem like snacks to you, but they are indeed quite filling.

Another communal house at the minority villages we visited at KonTum. Oh, & blonde children! Lovely, aren't they?

They're simply so photogenic they don't even need to smile or pose like our pathetic local camwhores.

Culture shock that was. Females of all ages bathing topless in the open. They were rather shy at 1st, mistaking me for a guy (sad?). Ok nvm that, but I'm female after all. & so I was entitled to photos. They didn't even mind! Imagine! I wouldn't do that for all I'm worth... But hey, the water source, guess. It's natural ground water! How resourceful they are!

Perhaps there's an in-built camwhore in everyone. But these children definitely aren't the trying-too-hard type. It's only that they're sincere. Somehow, body language & facial expression are good tell-tale signs.

It probably can be attributed to how often they see a camera in their village. I do hope I could send these photos back to them, but I doubt I ever will. These are just memories of people who'd as abruptly step out of your life as they'd came in.

But it's nice to simply remember the hours spent with them & how welcoming they actually were to a stranger as foreign as me.

It's bad to gossip, but that's the haolian guide I had (above) - a photographer as he chose to call himself. But oh well, bygone. Some time later I might choose to touch on that, but certainly not now. I'm f-ing working in 3hrs' time! & here I am, awake & blogging. Very unbecoming.

Ermms.... Viewers' discretion?? Too late! You saw it. Why did they snarl before they died, I wonder. Perhaps it's just a bodily mechanism, tell me if you know why. Just don't get nightmare (not that it's your choice). I did. The psychological thing so uncontrollably took its toll. Felt the presence of 'dogs' that entire night in the hotel. Bloody creepy.

No I didnt eat those soaps for dinner. In place of dinner shots today I put up this (above) photograph instead. Somehow due to unknown reasons, I did not eat dinner, did I? I'd trace back once I get enough sleep. Though I'm clearly aware that I can give that idea up this entire week already.