South East Asian Gaelic Games 2011

The South East Asian Gaelic Games 2011 at RMIT Saigon

www.abdphoto.net/photo-essays/South East Asian Gaelic Games 2011

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Saigon Wedding

The Park Hyatt Hotel Saigon

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Sheraton Wedding Saigon

Mega wedding at The Sheraton Hotel Ho Chi Minh City

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Snatch

Ive seen it happen on a number of occasions, Ive heard of it happening numerous times. Two guys on a motorbike drive by a tourist and the pillion grabs their bag/camera as they innocently stroll the city. Its actually quite skillful and very fast; the thieves are obviously well trained.

On Saturday morning I was photographing a couple of nearly-weds outside Notre Dame Cathedral when it happened to me. My Canon 5d mkII and 16-35 lens snatched out my hand and gone in under a second. Anyone familiar with cameras will know how much I lost, but of course it could always have been worse, I wasnt injured. I've heard stories of people who lost their belongings but that was far from the worst of their problems after the offense.

I don't want to publically state how I feel about the authorities, suffice to say going to the police was futile. There were two frustrated and getting ignored tourists in the station when I arrived, and both just had their cameras snatched. I had no idea of the regularity of this crime, it appears it is not a daily problem but an hourly occurrence. Anywhere downtown is a danger zone but Ton Duc Thang, which runs along the river, is a hotspot area as it is a straight fast road for a quick getaway.

Of course bag snatching goes on all over the world but on 30th April the overcrowded Vietnamese gaols are releasing thousands of 'well-behaved' detainees back onto the streets and the already escalating problem is only going to get worse.

DONT carry a bag unless you absolutely need to.

DONT have a camera slung over your shoulder; if you're not shooting put it away in a bag and attach it to yourself as best as you can.

DONT wear jewelry or anything potentially removable that will attract attention to yourself.

Very sad times for a country that has always been considered one of the safest places to be.

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vietnam vespa adventures

Highly recommended 'Saigon After Dark' Tour ran by Steve and the crew down at Zoom Cafe

http://vietnamvespaadventures.com/

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New Years Day

Acquired a canon s95 for xmas....stunnning little camera

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Brides Magazine

ABD Photo/Eden Images entry to Brides Magazine took 7th place in the Bride and Groom Category. You can see the winning images at WPJA

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Park Hyatt Wedding Saigon

Back at our favourite hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, The Park Hyatt Hotel Saigon for a Vietnamese Japanese wedding.

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Diamond Island

Construction is well on the way at Saigon's latest luxurious apartments....

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Ken Stringfellow

Former singer with The Posies, Big Star and R.E.M. plays at The Cage in HCMC.

Had to shoot at 6400 ISO; as Ken announced during his set, "Congratulations to The Cage on supplying a blind lighting engineer and a deaf DJ!"

Brought to you by CAMA Hanoi and The Saigon Sound System.

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Vung Tau

A a 32m-high statue of Jesus extending his 18.3m-long arms on the top of 170m-high Nho Mount. A small spiral staircase goes through the hollow statue and two viewing platforms are located on each shoulder. A bed of six inch nails prevent you from climbing out onto the outstretched arms in case you were inclined to dangle 100 foot in the air...

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Binh Duong Wedding

It was a real pleasure to photograph Judy and Gavin as they are established wedding photographers themselves in Los Angeles and Orange County. Judy's family are from Binh Duong province, an hour North of Saigon and we took the day out at the near by Dai Nam Park.

Despite the blistering heat, they kept laughing and playing all day and were even good enough to process the images afterwards!

You can see more of their work at:
www.gavinphotography.com and www.judytran.com

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Goldie

Goldie brings his drum and bass set to The Cage in Saigon...

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CAMA Rock Saigon

Hey Ho Let’s Go Punk Rock Festival at Cage, HCMC featuring Bad Neighbour based in Saigon, The Offensive from Hanoi and Beijing's P.K.14.

Brought to you by CAMA

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