JULY 1st E IS FOR: egg coffee - a Vietnamese speciality I had never tried until this prompt inspired me today. How could a long-time coffee addict like myself resist? It’s actually delicious
JULY 2nd L IS FOR: Lotus. A bloom I absolutely love and often photograph. This one was taken today outside a spa of the same name in Mui Ne
*This one was actually selected on Facebook for the Fab Four on the day
JULY 3rd K IS FOR: kitchen. It seemed the best choice after walking around in circles past both the front and back door of this vegetarian restaurant before a local escorted us there and we entered via the back door and through the kitchen. Five minutes later this mother and daughter team were preparing our delicious lunch!
And that was our meal our meal
JULY 4th N IS FOR: noodles. My Buddhist vegetarian breakfast this morning was a healthy and delicious bowl of thick rice noodles with vegetables in soup. The perfect start to our last day in HCMC
JULY 5th P IS FOR: poster. This was taken in the propaganda poster shop yesterday. There are not only political posters but poetic presentations of photographs from passionate photographers. Pertinent perspectives of the Spanish Civil War by Robert Capa (who happened to die in Vietnam in Thái Bing Province) purloined for prosperity. Alliteration for “P”
JULY 6th B IS FOR: beer or “bia” as they say in Vietnam. It’s just gone “bia” o’clock on this our final, full day in the country in Chau Doc and after over ten kilometres on foot in over 30° heat, we earned this one!
JULY 7th I IS FOR: issued. Just ten minutes ago we entered Cambodia travelling from Chau Doc and are now heading home to Phnom Penh on the Mekong
JULY 8th C IS FOR: chocolate. Actually, I’m not even a big fan. I much prefer salty snacks but today has been all about getting the house back in order and getting in supplies, after having been away for over two weeks and I purchased all these this morning in the supermarket as we have a very dear, chocolate-loving friend arriving on Monday
JULY 9th O IS FOR: offerings. Warning long story follows. We walked through the Wat Ounalom compound today, especially to see if there were offerings at the altars but the doors to the main hall were all closed, so we went to a lovely little stall in the market nearby where two women make these offerings for devotees to purchase. Those in the foreground were all bagged up for a customer but when the lovely woman saw me photographing the less impressive gold ones in the back ground she kindly removed them from the plastic packaging (except for the fragile centre piece which is still wrapped) and set them up on her stall. I was thrilled and she got a big kick out of me being so interested in her humble profession. They are mostly natural as the pedestals are sections of banana palm stalks
JULY 10th Y IS FOR: yoghurt. When I prepare breakfast it most often looks like this. All local and all delicious especially the probiotic yoghurt
JULY 11th S IS FOR: swimming pool. It is lovely to be back in the water and swimming laps again especially in the tropical heat
JULY 12th Q IS FOR: queue. The queue of cars, tuk tuks and motos waiting at the lights in the usual unorthodox fashion that characterises the traffic behaviour in Cambodia. It may be more of a clump than a queue but this is a close to a queue as I’ve seen here
JULY 13th U IS FOR: utensils. All our utensils stand next to the cooktop in a variety of recycled and repurposed receptacles
*Unbelievably when this was a last-minute option at the end of the day this shot was selected for the Fabbers on both Facebook and Instagram and that’s a first for me
JULY 14th W IS FOR: weaving. Yesterday we visited ‘Silk Island’ and actually saw silk spinning and weaving taking place in a small, family-based enterprise. Some of the colours produced with natural dyeing techniques were incredible and of course we made a purchase or two
JULY 15th R IS FOR: river. Tonight, at dinner with a dear Bhutanese friend we got to see night views of Phnom Penh over the Tonle Sap River. Things look way different from this side of the river
JULY 16th Z is for: zebu. A common sight across Cambodia but somewhat rare in Phnom Penh. We were on Koh Doc or Silk Island a few days ago and saw these zebus cooling off and enjoying a bath in the Mekong. It was a first for me to see them in the water
JULY 17th H IS FOR: Hanuman. The Hindu God Hanuman is a monkey deity renowned for his courage, power, and faithful selfless service. There are many representations of Hanuman throughout Cambodia
JULY 18th A is for: apsara or female celestial spirit. This image of an apsara is a postcard depicting a stamp from the French colonial era
JULY 19th X IS FOR: xylophone. I’m assuming that if it is made of wood it it’s still a xylophone. Please correct me if I’m wrong. This was taken a couple of days ago because let’s face it you don’t see a xylophone everyday but they are the centrepiece of a traditional Khmer orchestra such as this one which was playing for a special memorial ceremony in Wat Phnom when we dropped by
JULY 20th J IS FOR: jeans. I rarely wear them any more due to the tropical climate here but I did recently purchase a new pair of blue jeans when I discovered the ones I bought eleven years ago are somehow now too big
JULY 21st T IS FOR: tree. As an inner-city resident, I greatly appreciate the green zones with beautiful old growth trees like this one
JULY 22nd D IS FOR: dessert. A deliciously, decadent dessert I just invented and created as a trial for our special farewell dinner for a very dear friend tomorrow night. It is a parfait of Kahlua spiked chocolate cake, mango sorbet, espresso jelly and cinnamon kheer with chocolate
JULY 23rd M IS FOR: monsoon. Those black clouds roll in most afternoons. They may just float over the city or they may result in drizzle or thunderous torrential downpours. Today it’s just drizzle, where we are anyway and the cooling and cleansing effect is most welcome
JULY 24th G IS FOR: Garuda. The Mount of the Hindu god Vishnu and the protector with the ability to travel swiftly anywhere. This half man half bird is the guard of sacred Mt Meru and in Buddhism is often part of the iconography of temples and seen as the protector of paradise. We ventured into a temple we have never been to before in search of Garuda and were rewarded with this one today
JULY 25th V IS FOR: Vicky. That’s me after finally returning to my favourite hairdresser in the kingdom today. She restored my visual to the image I love and lifted my spirits too
JULY 26th F IS FOR: fan. An antique, Japanese, sandalwood fan I treasure as it was generously gifted to me by a former student. The scent still wafts through the air when you use it
JULY 27th MY NAME STARTS WITH: …… It rhymes with tree and that would be …… ME
JULY 28th MY TOWN STARTS WITH: A. I’ve gone with my hometown Adelaide and an archive shot from our trip home earlier in the year. This was the final photo taken in the airport as we were leaving and well I did have to edit it a bit to fit the prompt
JULY 29th FAVE WORD: I don’t actually have a single favourite word. Instead I have a love and a complete fascination with words and language, but ‘hope’ is up there with the words that have inspired me when I most needed it. Just like these little monks, who held me up and hold hope in their hearts. A photo of a photo of mine
JULY 30th WORDS ON A SIGN: This barber is using the incredibly popular image of Sinn Sisamouth to advertise. Shame about the grammar and spelling but ten points for having signage in English. Sinn Sisamouth was a Cambodian singer-song writer in Phnom Penh. He didn’t survive the Khmer Rouge regime but is widely considered the “King od Khmer Music”
JULY 31st HANDWRITING: The sentiment, the handwriting and the image all take me immediately to a very dear friend in Bhutan. Someone who inspired, motivated and supported not only me but many other educators and hundreds of students and she continues to do so daily
THE PROMPTS
