[JakeJ]

Hi JakeJ.
I was 99.99999% sure that you would find this picture interesting
and hopefully also other AC members that never been in Asian
and know very little about all the different things going on here.
It's more of a tradition/culture thing.
The skin does not really go up much in the cup, maybe only 1/8"
and yes, it leaves for several hours round bright red marks all over the back.
It's like a blood thirsty Octopus tentacles had tried to suck up their blood.
And, yes, I can confirm that the suction process only happen in the back, not in the front,
for obvious reasons.

 

If you don't mind, will not comment on that, however, I would like to make jokes about it,
but I am afraid that you might send it to the waste bin.
Often I see women (More women than men, don't ask me why) wearing thin blouse or T-shirt
and you can see the red spots thru their clothing and it always make me chuckle
because I know what they went thru.
Minds you, I never heard any Vietnamese complain about the blood sucking process,
it must be painless.
The day that I will stop posting on AC,
it's because my wife will have read my posts about her
and she will have poison me...

Guy 13

 

And thanks again for sharing that photo.  Keep 'em coming!

[Guy 13]

Hi all.
Here's another one.
My lovely and sweet Vietnamese wife is still involved in it.
This is real, however, I have to admit that the picture was taken in her mother's old house, that hous as been demolish two years ago and replace with a brand new house where we are living with my in-laws.
Have a look at how Spic & Span is the floor.
Have a look at the dog on the left side of the picture,
he's anxiously waiting for any little piece of meat to fall off the cutting board.
Yes, that's how to prepare food, on the floor, why?
Because according to them, it's their custom, but according to me,
it's because they are too lazy to stand up.
They do the same thing when they iron the clothing, on the floor.
Minds you, in our new house, she don't do that anymore, I told her not to, because she is now married with a foreighner, therfore a civilized person.
Look carefully at the picture, do you see a four legged little, even big critter.
Yes a rat, well, that's because I was there taking the picture, because when I am around no four legged long tail discusting rat dare to come around me, otherwise he will be torture until he die at the end of his blood.
No joke, almost every Vietnemse kitchen have mouses or rats.
Even in our new house, we have one mouse right now that we are trying to catch.
We might not get her today, we might not get her tomorrow, but when we get her, it's gona be for a looooooong time.
Even the big restaurant in from of our showroom near downtown Saigon have rats, the other day I saw one that cross their dining room and you could not have missed it, it was like 12 inches long, yes, yes, one feet long with the tail.
Well, if they catch it, it will be the next fill-in for the next Vietnamese delicacy.
Yes, I am joking, but it's no joke when I say that in the north of Vietnam, they eat dog meat and snake meat.
No, I've never tried it ans will never try it.
Want other horror stories? Just ask, I am ready, I have plenty in my head.

Guy 13 on planet Vietnam.



 

[bside123]

Hi all.
Picture of the day on planet Vietnam.
This is a terrible torture scene of my wife getting tortured by myself,
(Hopefully the facilitator, will not send my post the the Intergalactic waste bin...)
because she did not wanted to give me money to buy some audio stuff.
Boooommmmm....
That will teach her to refuse to make me happy with the only thing
that can make me happy on planet Vietnam and that's audio stuff.
More seriously.
When the Vietnamese are sick, not feeling well,
they get those succion cups to suck the bad out of their body.
They light up a torch that was soak in alcohol and heat up the inside of the cup, therefore, removing some of the air
and put the cup on the skin, so when it cool down, it create a vacuum
and pull whatever bad is inside the body.
(Could be aids, virus or only bad thoughts in the brain...)
I've never tried it myself, but all the Vietnamese say it very effective.
Different countries, different customs !

Guy 13
 

Thanks for the picture of the cupping, Guy!

Actually, cupping is a very ancient form of medical treatment/therapy from the middle east and far east that dates back thousands of years. As in Guy's photos, the cups are applied to the body after creating a vacuum in them. Yes, they can create "hickeys"!  The purported benefits are to promote circulation, stimulate and break up stagnation and congestion in the tissues and lymph system, apply therapeutic pressure to muscles, tendons and ligaments and to help regulate the body's inner and outer temperature (heat). Of course, modern medicine does not recognize or confirm any validity to these treatments in spite of the continued use in Chinese medicine, Unani medicine, Ayurvedic medicine and other energy work. From my travels, I am familiar with cupping and have experience it several times... always with good results... and interesting patterns after the treatment! 

Guy... thank your wife for being such a "cooperative" model for this interesting subject.   

[mresseguie]

Guy (and Jake),

Those blood sucking cups are quite popular in Taiwan as well. I've had them on my back several times. It felt very strange the first couple of times, but I barely notice them now. They really work well. That is, if your muscles are tight, you're fatigued, can't get that kink out of your neck/shoulders, these magical suction cups work wonders!

A few years ago, I went to our fitness center (here in Oregon) just 2 days after a suction cup session. I made a bee line for the hot tub without thinking about how strange my back would look. Sure enough, the other people in the tub reacted with anything from curiosity to horror. Two people got out of the water in a hurry--no doubt they thought I had leprosy or some other horrible disease. One person actually asked what the horrible red/purple circles were.

Fun stuff!

My wife must have oodles of interesting photos from our times in Taiwan. I'll check.

Michael

[JakeJ]

Thanks Guy, bside123, and mresseguie,

Always interested in seeing and learning about other cultures.  Please share what you can, when you can.

[TrungT]

^^^^^
Empty babe food jars works wonder. 


Cupping therapy.


 

[Guy 13]

Thanks for the picture of the cupping, Guy!

Actually, cupping is a very ancient form of medical treatment/therapy from the middle east and far east that dates back thousands of years. As in Guy's photos, the cups are applied to the body after creating a vacuum in them. Yes, they can create "hickeys"!  The purported benefits are to promote circulation, stimulate and break up stagnation and congestion in the tissues and lymph system, apply therapeutic pressure to muscles, tendons and ligaments and to help regulate the body's inner and outer temperature (heat). Of course, modern medicine does not recognize or confirm any validity to these treatments in spite of the continued use in Chinese medicine, Unani medicine, Ayurvedic medicine and other energy work. From my travels, I am familiar with cupping and have experience it several times... always with good results... and interesting patterns after the treatment! 

Guy... thank your wife for being such a "cooperative" model for this interesting subject. 

Hi bside123.
Thanks for your well informed explanation, I could not have done better, that's for sure.
My wife was not really cooperative, she was only... Well, getting sucked.
OUPS... Wrong words. Sorry.
She never say anything when I take her picture while she's doing something/anything,
expect maybe when she's surfing on her iPad in the little corner.
If I go deep in my pictures shoe boxes,
I am sure I can find a few more interesting Vietnamese daily life pictures.

Guy 13

[Guy 13]

Guy (and Jake),

Those blood sucking cups are quite popular in Taiwan as well. I've had them on my back several times. It felt very strange the first couple of times, but I barely notice them now. They really work well. That is, if your muscles are tight, you're fatigued, can't get that kink out of your neck/shoulders, these magical suction cups work wonders!

A few years ago, I went to our fitness center (here in Oregon) just 2 days after a suction cup session. I made a bee line for the hot tub without thinking about how strange my back would look. Sure enough, the other people in the tub reacted with anything from curiosity to horror. Two people got out of the water in a hurry--no doubt they thought I had leprosy or some other horrible disease. One person actually asked what the horrible red/purple circles were.

Fun stuff!

My wife must have oodles of interesting photos from our times in Taiwan. I'll check.

Michael

Hi Michael.
Yes, blood sucking cups is very popular all over Asia.
Many people in North America and Europe are not aware of the strange custom like that one.
It makes people like you and me that been and/or lived in Asian countries to
see those things, but for others, it's like... HORROR !

Guy 13
Thanks for sharing your Asian experience with us.
 

[Guy 13]

Thanks Guy, bside123, and mresseguie,

Always interested in seeing and learning about other cultures.  Please share what you can, when you can.

Hi JakeJ
I am in the middle of a big and overdue photo clean-up, filing and classification,
therefore I will put aside any interesting pictures for all AC members
that are interested in such strange, bizarre pictures.

Guy 13 on planet Vietnam.
 

[Guy 13]

^^^^^
Empty babe food jars works wonder. 


Cupping therapy.


 

Hi TrungT.
Since you are Vietnamese, you must have something to share with us.
Babe food jars are not very popular here on planet Vietnam, however, the blood suction cups
you saw on my wife back are so cheap to buy that there is not use to try to collect baby food jars.
 
Guy 13
Thanks anyway for the suggestion an inexpensive alternative, especially for people not living in Asia.

[Mag]

Had just enough battery power left in camera to take the picture of this 'Mother of all Cranes' that I have seen.

[Guy 13]

Hi Mag.
Interesting, but what is it use for?
I mean to lift what?
Where were the pictures taken?
Like they say: I picture is worth a thousand words.
However, in this case, we need a few extra words of details.
Thanks.

Guy 13

[JakeJ]

Commonly known as the mobile boom crane and also called the crawler crane, these are designed to lift something like 40 to 5,000 tons.  Particularly useful to pick and place a large load of building materials such as a skyscraper (although tower cranes are used for those primarily).

Google is your friend.  First I Googled images of cranes to find the type, then brought up the Wiki page.  Voila!

[Guy 13]

Commonly known as the mobile boom crane and also called the crawler crane, these are designed to lift something like 40 to 5,000 tons.  Particularly useful to pick and place a large load of building materials such as a skyscraper (although tower cranes are used for those primarily).

Google is your friend.  First I Googled images of cranes to find the type, then brought up the Wiki page.  Voila!

Hi JakeJ.
I know already Wikipedia website and use it once in a while, maybe I should use it more often.
However, I did not know that you could Google images to find out what it is.
Now, you must share with the AC members that have the same IQ as me how to do that.

Guy 13
aka: The iQ of 2.5

[Guy 13]

Hi all.
More pictures here and to come of all kind of Vietnamese customs
and also lots of ordinary Vietnamese stuff.
Here is one and more to follow.

Guy 13 on planet Vietnam.

This picture was taken on the beach of Vung Tau about two hours drive from Saigon.

[Mag]

Hi Mag.
Interesting, but what is it use for?
I mean to lift what?
Where were the pictures taken?
Like they say: I picture is worth a thousand words.
However, in this case, we need a few extra words of details.
Thanks.

Guy 13

Sorry, I omitted the details cause I was on private property. This is the expansion site of Agrium Potash Mine near Saskatoon, Sk. Canada. It was probably used as already mentioned for moving building materials.

From what I could see the project was nearing completion so this crane was probably packing up for home.

Just the day before I was looking at another large crane at the power plant expansion site, but it was not as large as this one.

[PeteG]

I have a ton of wildlife shots this summer but trying to get some landscapes in too.

[bside123]

PeteG: Glad to see some of your nature photos again. Super! Really great images with good color saturation.

Would you please mention your settings on the Milky Way / Sky / Stars picture? Thanks.

[SET Man]

Hey!

    Very nice shots there PeteG. Also must be fun spending time surrounded by nature.

Take care,
Buddy

[PeteG]

PeteG: Glad to see some of your nature photos again. Super! Really great images with good color saturation.

Would you please mention your settings on the Milky Way / Sky / Stars picture? Thanks.

I used my Canon 16-35 f4 lens (16mm 30" f4 1600iso) on that shot, most of time I would use a 14mm 2.8 lens. I wish I had more time for nightscapes.

Hey!

    Very nice shots there PeteG. Also must be fun spending time surrounded by nature.

Take care,
Buddy

Colorado is great for photography, in the back of my mind I try to have a shooting calendar for the whole year, every month I try and focus on something.