TOKIDOKI (NOMAD)

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭: ARRIVAL

Published on October 21, 2026September 8, 2026 by jacquelinemhadelLeave a comment

“Decho Meas Decho Yat” statue on Sisowath Quay, along Phnom Penh’s riverfront.

Decho Meas and Decho Yat were Khmer military commanders (the title “Decho” is a traditional Cambodian military rank, roughly equivalent to “General” or “Field Marshal”).

“Symbolically, birds at windows are often associated with messages, transition, freedom, protection, or someone/something asking you to pay attention.”

My life is under construction at the moment. I don’t know what it will become yet. And in the middle of all that change, something small and alive has stopped by to remind me to look.

Graffiti and a clean high-rise under a powdery blue sky in BKK.

The sky went full orange over Phnom Penh tonight. Just Khmer daily life on a regular street, motorbikes, food stands. I felt like I was the only one who noticed. The only one who was looking up. A singular conversation, just me and that orange sky.

Imagine maneuvering this thing on the road. Impressive skills and talent.

I love to see the “coconut man” riding around. $1 for one of the purest, healthiest drinks in the world. 🥥 I try to have one every day.

September 2026

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭 GRAFFITI: AZEM & BRTC

Published on October 20, 2026September 8, 2026 by jacquelinemhadelLeave a comment

8sep26

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳: WORKERS IN STRUGGLE

Published on October 19, 2026 by jacquelinemhadelLeave a comment

**“Công nhân đấu tranh” (Workers in Struggle)**, a major Ho Chi Minh City monument by Vietnamese sculptor **Nguyễn Hải (1933–2012)**. It stands at the historic **Ngã Bảy (Seven-Way Intersection)** area, where Điện Biên Phủ meets the Lê Hồng Phong/Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai area.

The figure at the top raises what reads as an industrial object/tool, while the other figures push outward and upward. The idea is essentially:

individual workers → collective strength → resistance.

Food Stall owners in a hem with a graffiti backdrop, District 3

A mural outside of Happi Happi café that perfectly sums up Saigon.

September 2026

SAIGON, VIETNAM: SAFETY FIRST

Published on October 18, 2026August 27, 2026 by jacquelinemhadelLeave a comment

Safety first.

August 2026

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳: SAIGONESE

Published on October 17, 2026 by jacquelinemhadelLeave a comment

Vietnamese pet owners sometimes dye their dogs’ fur primarily for **theft deterrence**, **identification**, and **fashion**.

Coffee culture in Vietnam is real. Barista at LaCaph in Saigon.

August 2026

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳: THE MONTH OF WANDERING SOULS

Published on October 16, 2026 by jacquelinemhadel1 Comment

The very start of Ghost Month. The 7th lunar month began on August 13, 2026, when the “Gates of Hell” are believed to open, so shopkeepers all over the city are making their opening offerings. In Vietnam it’s called Tháng Cô Hồn, the month of wandering souls, rooted in Buddhist and folk traditions about honoring ancestors and maintaining harmony between the living and the spirit world.

The sidewalk fires are joss paper, or votive paper: symbolic money, clothes, and goods burned so spirits can use them in the afterlife. Businesses are especially diligent about this because the month is associated with bad luck, and appeasing hungry ghosts who have no descendants to care for them is seen as both a humanitarian act to assist suffering spirits and a way to avoid harassment from restless ones, or even win their support. Trays of food, incense, rice, and salt often go out on the pavement in front of the shop in the afternoon.

The big day comes at the full moon: the Hungry Ghost Festival falls on 27 August 2026, the 15th day of the month, which in Vietnam is also Vu Lan, a beautiful filial piety holiday honoring mothers and ancestors.