noodlepie

Business card basics

The last business card I ordered had my job title, email and mobile number on one side and a cartoon on the other side. Pretty minimal, quite cool at the time and it continues to raise eyebrows, smiles, nervous twitches whenever I dish it out. However, I've been thinking about a new card for a while. I've been wondering how much information you actually need on a business card. I concluded that you don't need very much. In fact, if you have a blog and own the dotcom that's all you do need. So here it is, front (above) back (below).

I figure if the person you give a business card to is interesting enough for you to bother giving them a card. They are hopefully interested enough in you to go Google what's on your card. Even if they're not, so what? A business card with effort, that's what it is. Just an experiment, but it kinda makes sense to me at least. If I still like it at the end of next week, I'll get a few hundred printed off. I'm off to London at the end of April and I need a new look.

Technorati Tags: blog brand, branding, business cards

Tip off: Stir fried street noodles

One of the shabbier shacks in Saigon's District 10 up along the gargantuan Cach Mang Thang Tham street is Mi Xao Don at number 527. It's the sort of place you'd have great fun taking a Californian food hygienist and Asia-newbie to begin and end a case study of induced nervous breakdown. The joint could use a splash of Dettol and a slobber of paint, but, I'm assured this is the spot for a quality mi xao at a price that will leave you with enough change for some Immodium.

Mi xao is a fairly simple stir-fried noodle dish. I'm here to grab a takeaway stir fried beef order (or is it buffalo? I'm still undecided). The mi are pre-deepfried and bagged up seperately cold. They're crispy, crunchy, greasy, snacky, nicey. Meanwhile, the chef above flash fries the fuck out of some mustard greens, same deal with the strips of cattlemeat. Throw in a wee cup of stock and the streetside frying show is over in under one minute. 58.5 seconds actually. I timed it.

The crisp, greasy mi and the fresh greens make a decent wee combo, even if the end result is all a bit "So what?" The beef, buffalo or whatever it is, is not massively chewy, but chewy enough to involve a noticeable degree of jaw gymnastics. But, it's cheap. It's big. It fills and all in all I like. I think it was 10,000VD, there or thereabouts. Sod all, whatever. Here's the menu.

Restaurant Bobby Chinn, 1 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi

"After stealing the show in the New York Times’ review of Hanoi restaurants last month, Bobby Chinn certainly doesn’t need any more publicity. His restaurant, ideally located at the southwest corner of Hoan Kiem Lake, is a favourite among tourists and expats looking for a more glamorous atmosphere than the nearby street stalls or Bao Khanh bars. And Mr Chinn delivers: billowing red curtains, scattered flower petals on table tops (and toilets), dried roses suspended from the ceiling, cutting edge art, delicious "pan-global" food, and, of course, Bobby Chinn himself, certainly set the scene for a memorable dining experience," write Alyssa Worsham and Sara Schapiro in The Vietnam News.

Saigon sarnies

Banh mi sarnie stall in District 10, Saigon, Vietnam.

Saigon night

Another shot in what is fast becoming photoweek from the streets of Saigon, Vietnam. I like this one a lot. For those who've never visited Vietnam - and have a good imagination - look at the big version and 'listen' to hear what life is like on the streets of Saigon by night.

Technorati Tags: Saigon, Vietnam, streetcast, snapshot of life

As big as sheep

After bemoaning the difficulty of finding decent podcasts I stumble into one. Hedgerow forager, philosopher, tobacco slave and fugitive from the British Midlands, Will Carruthers, in a 30 minute interview at Documentally.

Will - if you're tuning in - you're perfectly right, given certain conditions giant puffballs are as big as sheep. I hope to be in Rugby first week in May if you make a fresh batch of hedgerow jam I'll pop around for tea, scones and white spirit.

For bemused regular and irregular readers, Will provided vibrations, choral chants and pan bashing on two MP3s of mine first published at noodlepie. Surfin' saves soul and Hit the East.

Technorati Tags: podcast, Spacemen 3, mad, big sheep, MP3

Saigon sweetcorn cart

You won't find any of this stuff on sale in the swanky hotels in Saigon. But nip out onto the street and a freshly steamed sweetcorn or a duck egg or two goes for 2,000VD. Disappointing thing about sweetcorn I was reading the other day is that it's not really that good for you. It looks and tastes like it should be, but appraently it ain't. Not that it's really bad for you. It probably won't kill you.

Technorati Tags: Saigon, streetlife, nightime, Vietnam

Blogs, journalism, 2006

Another couple of pieces of mine appear in the Press Gazette this week - nothing to do with Vietnam travel, Saigon, streetfood or anything else from Asia, so avert your eyes now if the subject matter is of less than zero interest. Here's the main story.

It's part of Reporters Guide to Citizen Journalism. Best navigate all features from the Press Gazette blog. There's an interview with Dan Gillmor, one with Scoopt founder Kyle Macrae and others from the BBC, ITV and SkyNews. Well worth trawling through. For my money Tim Worstall nails the main problem/opportunity now facing old media with the advent of the blog era,

“Success will go to the editorial team that can mix and match the best of both. For, as should be obvious, the 500,000 UK bloggers know more, in detail, on any and every subject under the sun than the staff of any individual newspaper,” he says. “How to pick out of the rabble that one voice that has the truth on any specific subject will be the difficulty." Press Gazette.

Which brought to mind this recent quote by Alan Rusbridger, Guardian Editor. Via Mbites,

"The Internet now does a lot of information on all sorts of subjects better than newspapers. I shouldn't be saying this live to the world outside, I should be keeping this a secret, but a lot of people have twigged to this."

And if you haven't you're a wee bit dim. Secrets are so 1980's. It would take a pretty thick newspaper editor/proprietor not to see this. I'm working on something with Kyle and Tim that may help things along. More, much more, on that next month all being well. And hopefully I'll get to discuss it at the We Media Global Forum in May.

UPDATE: Download the pdf

FURTHER UPDATE: Download the entire Reporter's guide to citizen journalism.

Technorati Tags: journalism, pressgazette, citizen journalism, Wheres the bloody cash in content?

The streets of Saigon

Travel in Vietnam by bike at night. Even after more than eight years in Hanoi and Saigon there's still a wee buzz attached. In among all the headaches, negativity and freaked out inner moments I think I mostly still enjoy it.

Technorati Tags: Saigon, streetlife, nightime, Vietnam

Vietnamese vegetation

Intermittently, and very slowly, I'm editing, rearranging and generally buggering about with the photostream. While all answers are in on The Offal Quiz. I see there are still some unknowns in The Handy Hedgerow Guide. Vietnamese herbs and greens are many, varied and unusual. Each has a specific purpose with different dishes. There's an excellent intro into the wonderful world of Vietnamese botany at VietWorldKitchen. In the meantime, that harsh herb pictured above is Vietnamese coriander or rau ram. Often accompanies 'drinking food'. In this case it's teasing me next a bowl of Mien luon.

Technorati Tags: Vietnam, herbs, Asian herbs, Vietnamese food