Lunch at the Mekong River – Vietnam Photo Tour Guide

Continued from my first post about Where to stay in Vietnam..

This took a while to get together.. but now its here.. This is part 2 of the series of articles about vietnam and my tour around the mekong river.. ok lets proceed to lunch first and let me tell you what i say in the mekong river in the next part of the tour.

We took the mekong tour but didnt join any group we got a boat and car all to ourselves and it was all worth it, it even came out cheaper than taking the tour from the travel agencies.. met a travel agent their and he seemed really nice, he was the same guy that arranged the stay and tour for the zone v camera club on-the-spot shooting contest. The guys name is Mr. LAM his website here http://fantastic-tour.com Mr. Lam has yahoo messenger so you can chat with him even before your trip!

We finally got to the restaurant along the Mekong River Delta and enter what seemed to be an old house, converted into a museum and restaurant at the back area.. this is just one of the many restaurants lined up along the shoreline of the mekong river..

Vince gets excited to have lunch.. the boat ride was quick since you get lost with so many new things to see around… finally we get to eat the local stuff!

Talk about Fresh fish.. here is our lunch .. after catching the fish, they are put on the ground for some short prayer and…boom!

This is the part that I wasnt sure I’d show.. a little primitive but gets the job done.. the girl hits the fish to send them to fish heaven so they can prepare our lunch..

Here is the fish .. its called the elephant fish similar in taste to “tilapia” but the skin on this one is really thick… you have to brush off the scales to savor its tender meat..

preparing us some wraps of elephant fish with mixed vegetables also called banh cuon or wraps in modern lingo.. she teaches you how to do it then will ask you to do it after.. got it on my 2nd try since i was stuffing too much fish inside.

notice the soup? really healthy stuff.. was a mix of carrot, corn, singkamas some minced meat and peanuts.. yes peanuts.. it gave it a very earthy taste that filled my belly with a warm weird sensation.. but it was good!

Also on the photo, some rolls and some fried flowers.. yes flowers.. dumplings not wrapped in flour.. but dumplings in a flower! how did it taste? fresh.. it felt like you were eating dumlings wrapped in some Romaine leaves but scented and sweet to taste.

Here is the fun part.. eating the tiger prawns.. i can still taste it now.. yummy and juicy.. had to take a photo before it vanished on the table..

Vietnam is known for its fruits.. no cake or fancy stuff here.. even their ice cream is garnished with fruits… and fruit shakes are more popular than drinking any cola.. I wonder why the Philippines with all the fruit we have, we seem to drink cola more..

jackfruit, pineapple, bananas and grapefuit.. sweet and so much better than the dried fruit packs sold in the market.

The Mekong tour is a good experience for any traveller, it gives you a glimpse of the how simple life is in Vietnam. You see how they eat and live and do business on the mekong river.. very different from the floating market in bangkok.. bangkok seems to be a show.. while this one is real, where people buy and sell their crops and fruits to anyone interested. Thats it for now.. watch out for the photo tour of the mekong river… continued in part 3 of visiting Vietnam.

PNOC EDC opens bid to photographers for 2009 Wall and Desk Calendar

PNOC Energy Development Corporation (PNOC EDC) is calling all
professional photographers to bid for the photography of its Y2009
Wall & desk Calendar. As a backgrounder, PNOC EDC calendars have been
recipient of numerous awards the recent of which is the 2007 Anvil
Award of excellence from the Public Relations Society of the
Philippines. Our previous photographers were George Tapan, Wig Tysman,
Rey Mondez among others. See scope of work below.

Scope of Work / Terms of Conditions

Photography of Y2009 PNOC EDC
Desk and Wall Calendars

1.    PNOC EDC shall be availing the services of a professional
photographer to shoot the photo requirements of the 2009 PNOC EDC Desk
and Wall calendars.
2.    The subject of the calendar shall be “Philippines’ First”
3.    The calendar will be a full-color 7-page Wall calendar and
13-leaves Desk calendar.
4.    The professional photographer must have at least 5 years experience
in outdoor photography, and have done projects with at least 3 big
corporations in the country. A relevant award on outdoor photography
is an advantage.
5.    The photographer is required to submit to the Corporate
Communications Group a photo portfolio of his works for at least 3
years for PNOC EDC’s evaluation. Complete documentation of awards won
(if applicable), should also be included in the portfolio.
6.    High Resolution DSLR cameras (at least 10 MP) is required for this
project with a similar DSLR camera for back-up.
7.    The photographer is allowed with only one (1) assistant during shoot.
8.    All materials/photos taken during the entire project will be
turned-over to PNOC EDC (raw photos and photos to be used for
printing).
9.    PNOC EDC reserves the right to reject photos that are deemed
unusable or of poor quality (photographers’ fault). In this case, the
photographer shall shoulder all expenses that may incur during
reshoot.
10.The approved design and layout of the calendar shall be the guide of
the photographer for the photo shoot.
11.PNOC EDC will allow re-shoot (PNOC EDC’s expense) only if deemed
necessary (bad weather, important events on site that would create
re-scheduling of shoot, etc.).
12.The bid price for photography shall include all cost of materials,
professional fees, computer enhancements, and other photography
expenses needed for this project.
13.All other requirements such as, talents, props and incidental subjects
needed to enhance the photo appearance/quality of the project shall
be shouldered by PNOC EDC (expenses).
14.PNOC EDC shall shoulder all expenses covering travel, meals and hotel
accommodation necessary for the photography requirements of the
2009 calendar.
15.All works must be conducted in coordination with authorized PNOC EDC
representative.
16.It is agreed that whatever photos or intellectual properties that arise
from this contract will remain the property of PNOC EDC. The products
are not limited to those in the final photos but include the outtakes
taken during the entire production. Unauthorized use (without written
permission from PNOC EDC) shall be liable for unliquidated damages
double the contract value.
17.PNOC EDC shall hold a pre-bid conference for qualified professional
photographers for proper interpretation of this contract.
18. A pre-bid conference will be conducted (to photographers) to answer any
question regarding the project. Date and venue to be announced later.

Interested parties may contact me directly for more details.

Thanks and I hope you take the challenge to be part of this award
winning project.

Ivy A. Henson
Corporate Communication Officer
PNOC EDC
email:henson.ia@energy.com.ph
tel: 893.6001 loc. 5283
mobile: 0917.8866683

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