Life of PeePee

I’ve found a website that ranks the best Passports to have. While living in a foreign country, it has become quite obvious that having different passports can be either a blessing or a curse. I’ve seen some of my co-workers turned away at airports because they had the wrong passport or had an expired visa. Coming from the US, we’re quite lucky. The options for locations that we can visit without obtaining a visa ahead of time are plentiful. My friends from Iran and Israel don’t have it so lucky.

http://www.henleyglobal.com/visa_restrictions.htm

Comments?

My costume this year.

Water.

Water.

Say it with me.
Outloud.
Don’t be shy.
Listen to yourself.

Water.

Now say “Wadder”
Wadder.

Sounds the same doesn’t it?

I never noticed it before. I’ve always known it. But, I have an accent. People from the US, specifically California, pronounce t’s as d’s in certain words. Utter, daughter, shutter, they all sound like Udder, daughder, shudder. Weird isn’t it?

I had always thought the British strange because of the way they always over pronounced the t’s in water : wah-ter. Now I just realized it’s because I don’t pronounce the T at all.

So, I’ve kinds given myself a few criteria to know that I’ve made it in my industry. I’ve never been closer to these goals than now. But, at the same time, I haven’t “really” reached any of those goals.

1. Win an academy award. Nope. Haven’t gotten that yet. But, I’ve worked on an academy award nominated film now.

2. Have a shot that I’ve worked on be on the cover of Cinefex magazine. Nope. I am in the current issue of Cinefex though. ILM took out a multi page ad in the magazine that lists and thanks all it’s employees. Unfortunately, they misspelled my name. Phiil Pham.

3. Work at ILM. Kinda sorta made that. I’m working with them albeit in Singapore.

Let’s see how far I can go next year.

This weekend I’m off to Hong Kong. We have a national holiday on Monday and I’m tacking on an additional vacation day to make a four day weekend.

I’m going to take in the sights and sounds. I’ll do a little shopping and of course, enjoying the night life. I’m going to try my luck at Macau as well. Who knows, maybe the Sands will fund my trip.
Anyhow, before I left my apartment today, I realized that my travel drawer was full of different currencies. I’ve got Thai Bhat, Malaysian Ringit, Vietnam Dong, Euros, Hong Kong Dollars, Singapore Dollars and US Dollars as well. All I need now is a collection of passports and a license to kill.

My last post was when I first entered Vietnam on my way to Hanoi. I left it wanting more. Three days was just too short.

We went to Halong bay. Amazing.

It doesn’t matter how many photos you’ve seen of the place. They do it no justice. We spent two days and one night aboard a Junk. Apparently, there are nearly two thousand islands in they bay. I bet we saw only 50 at most. It would have been great to spend a week just cruising around, kayaking, eating, hiking and swimming.

I leave you with a photo of the sunrise from the top deck.

As you undoubtedly have noticed, I’m posting blog posts again. That means that I’ve finished my last project. That also means that I’ll start travelling again.

As I write this post, I’m travelling down a freeway in Hanoi, Vietnam. I’ll be spending a long weekend here going to Haolong Bay with some friends from the US: Bobby, Richard and Cindy.

Next weekend I’ll be in Hong Kong. I’ll be there to do some shopping and to take in the sights. I’ll follow that up with a road trip in Thailand, a beach excursion in Bali, a mountain trek in Sapa and a visit back home to see my family during the Christmas holidays.

It’s hard work in Singapore. But, it’s these few months of rest and relaxation that follow that make it all worth it.

Here’s a pic of my dinner tonight. It’s called Banh Cuon. Which translates to wrapped cake. I got it from a street vendor for .85c.

Continuing with the food related posts. I present to you…

Whatever.

We’ve got some weird drinks that you don’t see in other parts of the world. The three most striking are, Whatever, Anything, and Anything Black.

I’ve tried Whatever. It’s a familar fruity flavor that I can’t quite pin point. I’ll try the two Anything drinks next and report back to you.