Remove unwanted picture items with Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop makes it so easy for me to delete what I think are unnecessary items from a picture.

The photo below is a good example:

Now you see him...

I want a picture that shows only the Vietnamese tour guide on the left and the young visitor on the right.

But there’s obviously another man in the picture. I don’t want him to be there. So what should be done?

The answer

With Adobe Photoshop, removing that man from the picture was as easy as one two three.

All I needed were the Quick Selection Tool and the Content-Aware feature.

Below is the finished product:

...now you don't

I like Adobe Photoshop.

Pho: Iconic Vietnamese dish

My favorite Vietnamese food is undoubtedly the noodle soup pho.

I’m aware that there are many kinds of pho, but so far I’ve only tried beef pho and chicken pho.

Regardless of the variety of pho, the noodles are made from rice, that’s why I don’t miss rice in its “original” form whenever I have a serving of the famous Vietnamese noodle soup.

Pho is a complete meal for me: it’s got soup, rice and meat in just one bowl.

Independence Palace: Where the Vietnam War ended

The Independence Palace is the most prominent symbol of the Liberation of Saigon in the city now called Ho Chi Minh City.

The palace, now known as Reunification Palace, was where the Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975.

Pieces of the past

On the palace grounds you’ll see two of the tanks that crashed through the gates of that place on that day, now a public holiday in Vietnam.

Once the residence and office of the most powerful man in the former South Vietnam, the Independence Palace is now both a museum and a conference hall.

The Independence Palace is no longer a presidential residence and office, but many places and things there serve as reminders of its former preeminent role as a national seat of power.

One of those places is the office of the president.

I’m thinking that, most likely, during the heyday of the palace, it wasn’t that easy to see that office. After all, it was the workplace of a president.

Now you can see it and many others for about a dollar.

Pigeons in Saigon are having fun

Saigon walking tour starts at the Ben Thanh Market

Ben Thanh Market

In a previous post I said that Saigon’s Ben Thanh Market is the best place to start a tour of the city.    

I forgot to mention that the market is the best place to start a walking tour of Saigon.    

The kind of walking tour described in this post focuses on the French colonial buildings in the city.    

French architecture in Vietnamese city    

Saigon City Hall, the park and the Ho Chi Minh statue

If you’re facing the Ben Thanh Market, turn right so that you’re walking east along the tree-lined Le Loi Street.    

At the point where that street meets Nguyen Hue Street, you will see the Saigon City Hall and a park, which has a statue of Vietnamese revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh.    

Saigon City Hall at night

On your left is Rex Hotel, if you’re at the park and facing the Saigon City Hall.    

Rex Hotel

At the end of Le Loi Street is the Saigon Opera House or Municipal Theater.    

I find the color of its roof interesting:    

Saigon Opera House in April 2008 (left) and in November 2008 (right)

If you’re facing the Saigon Opera House, turn left onto Dong Khoi Street.  

Follow the street until you reach the Notre Dame Cathedral, which shows that religion is tolerated in Communist Vietnam.    

Once you’re in front of the church, it’s hard to miss the Saigon Central Post Office.    

Saigon Central Post Office

Notre Dame Cathedral (left) and Diamond Plaza (right)

You’ll also see the towering Diamond Plaza. Just cross Le Duan Street and you’ll get there.    

You can end the walking tour there and do some shopping or enjoy a bowl of the Vietnamese noodle soup Pho.    

Or you can visit other places in the capital city of the former South Vietnam.   

It all depends on your schedule and the weather.   

Vietnam War    

Independence Palace

If you’re facing Diamond Plaza, turn left so that you’re walking west along Le Duan Street.  

At the end of that street you’ll see the Independence Palace or Reunification Palace, where the Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975.    

A trip to the palace can be combined with a visit to the nearby War Remnants Museum, formerly known as the Museum of American War Crimes.    

War Remnants Museum

For me, the Independence Palace and the War Remnants Museum are the two best places in Saigon where you can learn so much about the Vietnam War.    

More about the palace and the museum in a future post or two.

Saigon market is the best place to start a tour of the city

The Ben Thanh Market is the best place to begin a tour of Saigon, the capital of the former South Vietnam and currently the largest city in the unified Vietnam.

It’s walking distance from the Pham Ngu Lao area, the haven of backpackers in the city now called Ho Chi Minh.

The market is located in District 1, the city center, where you can find Saigon’s main attractions such as the Fine Arts Museum, Saigon City Hall, Rex Hotel, Saigon Opera House, Notre Dame Cathedral, Post Office and the Reunification Palace.

Ben Thanh is itself a major tourist attraction, and personally I consider it the number one must-see destination in Saigon.

So even if you decide to not go very far away from the market, you can still do a lot of things to have fun.

A suggested activity is to try to cross the street to reach the traffic circle where the Tran Nguyen Han statue is situated.

Major Saigon streets such as Tran Hung Dao and Le Loi meet at the Tran Nguyen Han Statue

I’m telling you, it’s not always easy to be a pedestrian in Saigon, especially in this place where several major thoroughfares converge.  

You can also eat authentic Vietnamese food offered in the market itself.

Food in the market is cheaper than in the restaurants nearby

There are also a few restaurants just outside the market. One such restaurant is Pho 2000, where former US President Bill Clinton is said to have eaten during his Saigon visit.  

From left to right: my mother, my mother's friend and my sister's mother-in-law

And since Ben Thanh is a market, one obvious activity is to do some shopping. The stores inside the market close down at about 6 or 7 PM, to give way to the night market outside.

Ben Thanh night market

Things I have learned from my classmates in Macau

I learned a lot of things about web journalism during the online journalism workshop that I attended in Macau, China in May this year.

In a way, this blog is a product of that training, which was organized by Germany’s DW-AKADEMIE and the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development.

That workshop brought together nine participants from eight different countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Laos, the Maldives, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam.

In addition to web journalism stuff, I also learned some non-online journalism things during my stay in Macau, courtesy of my fellow Asians:

• Burmese people don’t have family names
• Muslims are not allowed to eat amphibians
• Muslims are forbidden from gambling and drinking alcohol
• Spoken Lao and Thai are virtually the same
• There’s no red light district in the capital of Bhutan

There were a few more, but I would like to keep this post short and simple.

Bangladesh, Myanmar, Uzbekistan and Vietnam have something in common

The title of this post may seem like a no brainer. Of course, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Uzbekistan and Vietnam have something in common: All of them are countries in Asia.

This two-taka coin from Bangladesh is worth about three US cents

But no, I’m not referring to that. I’ve received souvenirs from citizens of those Asian nations. That’s the common thing I’m thinking about.

Bangladesh

Taufique Ahmed was one my co-trainees at the web journalism workshop that I attended in Macau, China in May 2009.

He’s a research analyst at Channel i, a private digital channel in Bangladesh.

Taufique gave me two pieces of two-taka coins, because I had asked him to give me some coins from his country.

Lower part shows fish-shaped jade from Myanmar. I can't figure out the shape of the one at the upper part

Myanmar

Just like Taufique, Chaw Su Htway was one of my classmates at the web journalism workshop.

She’s a producer at the Myanmar Radio and Television.

Chaw gave Burmese jade to all of her co-trainees and the two trainers, Thorsten Karg and Kyle James, of Germany’s DW-AKADEMIE.

Uzbekistan

At the 6th Asia Media Summit, also held in Macau, China in May 2009, I met a man named “Jasur,” from Uzbekistan.

Jasur approached me and Bushra Waheed Mohamed (another co-trainee, from the Maldives) during lunch on the first day of the two-day summit.

A 200-som note from Uzbekistan. It's worth about 13 US cents

Since I collect coins, I asked Jasur to give me one from Uzbekistan. He said he didn’t have one with him at the time.

He gave me a banknote instead.

Vietnam

Hoang Thi Hai Hanh was also one of my co-trainees at the web journalism workshop.

She’s an English teacher in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam.

Like Chaw, Hanh gave gifts to all of her co-trainees and the two trainers.

Dong Ho folk painting. Dong Ho is a village near Hanoi

She gave me a painting from Dong Ho, a village in Vietnam’s Bac Ninh province.

“The strength of Dong Ho painting is the durability of the colors,” the brochure that accompanied the work of art stated.

It added that the “colors are so-lasting,” that neither bright light nor time can make them fade.

Philippines

I gave Taufique a 10-peso coin and Hanh, a five-peso coin.

I realize now that I should have brought to Macau with me some 20-peso bills (worth about 40 US cents each) and lots of Philippine coins.

If I had done that, more people could have brought home with them souvenirs from the Philippines.

Pagodas show the spiritual side of Saigon

Vietnam is a Communist country, but its constitution guarantees freedom of religion.

Saigon teems with millions of motorcycles

It is said that there are about three million motorcycles in Saigon, Vietnam.

I believe it. I really do. Just watch the video below and see for yourself (I used my cellphone camera to take the video):