Every time I listen to Tuan Ngoc’s gorgeous rendition of Trinh Cong Son’s “Nho Mua Thu Ha Noi,” it urges me to do a slideshow. From Trinh’s picturesque visual lyricism to Duy Cuong’s intimate arrangement to Tuan Ngoc’s intricate yet effortless phrasing, this tune strikes a perfect balance between words, music and vocals. Imaginary and motion would add another dimension to the song and that is where I come in.

A while back, I wrote a post looking for photographers who had taken beauty shots of Ha Noi to collaborate on the piece. I contacted half a dozen of them. Since the project has no money involved, it’s understandable that none of them replied back to me even though their work will get exposure. It would also required more time from them to go out and shoot more photos to accompanied the song so it was impossible to collaborate. As a result, I abandoned the concept.

Thanks to my lovely lady who scoured the web to gather images that are suitable for the slideshow and encouraged me to pick up the project again. So this is for you, my love: “Nho Mua Thu Ha Noi.”

Disclaimer: This is a personal piece and I am not making any money off it. I really hope that the owner of the images don’t mind me using their photos.

Over the weekend, we took Cu Dao to Gymboree classes for a tryout. On Saturday afternoon, we went to a level-2 class, which is for kids from 6 to 10 months. He was doing fine until he puts on his usual move trying to kiss and head butt an eight-month girl. I pulled him away as soon as he attempted to head butt her. He cried and didn’t want to participate in any of the activities. He just clung to his mom the whole time. We managed to calm him down, but he still didn’t want to do much.

Sunday morning, we attended a third-level class, which is for kids from 10 to 16 months. He was the only guy in the class who couldn’t walk yet, but he managed to do fine. He did tried to make his move again, but I jumped ahead and gave him a light head butt instead of pulling him back. He didn’t give me a kiss though. What’s up with that?

Mommy stood out and observed did participate in some of the class activities with daddy and enjoyed the session. Next week, we’ll let him try out the music class before signing up for membership. It was a joyful hour spending with him and other kids his age. I am definitely looking forward to next weekend.

I also managed to snap up some photos of Cu Dao over the weekend. It’s for you, Hoang. Damn, I miss you already after spending a whole night together.

We went to Todai last night for the first time and it was definitely overpriced. Almost 30 dollars a pop for dinner is not worth it. From sushi to salad to hot entrees, Todai’s food selection is much lesser than Minado‘s.

Lobster only served every two hours and it was not that great either. The creamy sauce was overpowering the lobster meat. Raw oyster was served three pieces at a time. Chinese buffets cost less than half of Todai’s price, yet they always have oyster available.

Most of the dishes were just decent and the service was just alright. Since the place was packed, I can’t really blame the girl for not keeping up with the customer’s requests. If I go back again, it would be for the pretty girls who adored Cu Dao and not the food. I’ll stick with Minado for sushi buffet.

I took Dana out for lunch today at Notti Bianche to celebrate her work promotion. This Italian restaurant, which located at the lobby of The George Washington University Inn., is small and cozy. For starter, I had the hot chic pea, pasta and parsley soup. I was thinking of little Duke while I was enjoying this delightful soup. He would have loved it.

For lunch, I had the excellent bucatini with savory clams and sausage. I loved the pasta. Dana ordered the panzanella with salmon, but the chef made the chicken instead. The waiter left us the chicken dish and made another salmon for us. Both the chicken and the salmon turned out great. They both grilled to perfection: cooked outside and juicy, flavorful inside.

With the food quality, exceptional service and affordable price, this little joint is an ideal spot for classic Italian dishes. We will definitely be back again.

I am excited that Duke will go to our first-choice daycare, which is the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, in the second week of April. It feels as if he has been accepted to Harvard. I’ve been checking on them almost everyday for an available spot. I hope Cu Dao will be happy there with other kids and teachers.

I haven’t been adding new photos of Cu Dao lately. It’s hard to take a good shot of him nowadays. He would rush over as soon as I pull out the camera and start to grab it. Not just the camera, he would dash from the living room to the kitchen as soon as one of us open the dishwasher or the refrigerator. One of his favorite toy is obviously the stereo system. Like a DJ, he switches records from jazz to Vietnamese to hip-hop every three seconds.

A hilarious moment happened Last week when we were driving back to New Jersey for Vietnamese New Year. Duke was sleeping for about two hours to soft music. Suddenly the CD player changed to Thanh Thao’s remixed album. He swung his feet as soon as the bass kicked it while his eyes still closed. I was just rolling and wished I have captured that on film.

Viet Thao issued yet another warning to the audience in Atlanta. Nhung Cung Dieu Que Minh could be the last show from Van Son entertainment if the bootlegging problem won’t resolved. I urge you to go buy original DVDs from Van Son. Even if you can’t save the artless Titanic from sinking, you can at least help Van Son buy his dancers some decent outfits. From the performance of Cat Tien to Le Nguyen to the group’s closing, the dancers’ clothes (T-shirts and jeans) looked as if they were purchased from New York Chinatown for a dollar a pop.

Worst was Ngoc Ha’s outfit in “Con Co.” That dress looks like it was purchased on the clearance rack the day after Halloween. The outfit has nothing to do with a songbird, but more like a cheap ho. Ngoc Ha has gone from classy to trashy and her cans looked like they were upgraded. What the fuck is wrong with her? A gorgeous voice is now accompanied by a sex-up image.

Speaking of sex, Van Son’s production is laced with sexual references. The standup comedy between Van Son and Bao Quoc is outright disgusting. Hearing two old men talk dirty is really nasty, not funny. Bao Quoc came across like an old dirty, horny bastard, but that is nothing comparing to Viet Thao’s rapping. It’s really embarrassing to see a grown-ass man rapping none-sense and had the ball to say it’s “rap not rape.” You were raping hip-hop, Mr. Thao.

Why a guy would need surgery is beyond me, but Vietnamese operatic singer Linh Tam creeps me out as soon as the camera zoomed into his face. His eyes, nose and lips are so fucked up that you can’t tell if he’s turning into a she or vice versa. Van Son has recruited some really weird-ass people on the show like a guy who plays the flute with his nose and a bogus magician even though magician’s act is the most enjoyable part of the the show. The only visual attraction is Hoang Thuc Linh whose look is 8 out of 10, but whose voice is 4 out of 10.

If this is the kind of crap Van Son put out, he might as well close up shop. It seems like he has nowhere else to go, but down.

Just in time for Vietnamese New Year, I am proud to introduce the launch of a brand new web site for a grand-opening restaurant: Le Mekong Vietnamese Cuisine. Khanh Quynh, co-owner of the restaurant, is a young, creative lady who would like to get things right from the start. She knew what she wanted to do with the restaurant and she knew right from the beginning that marketing is essential.

At first, Ms. Quynh hired me to design the web site, but I also ended up creating print materials including logo, business cards, letterhead, flyers, gift certificate, envelope, handbook and server training cover. Her reason is that she would like a consistent look and feel across the board and she likes my simple style. I can’t argue with that.

I didn’t design the print version of the menus, even though Ms. Quynh would like me to, because it would be too much. I am not a graphic designer; therefore, I am not ready to take on the menus in the time frame that was set. The online menus, however, are the pages I am most proud of in this project. The items were presented using pure CSS instead of tables.

The logo is set in HL Thu Phap, an extremely popular Vietnamese typeface that is being used everywhere in Vietnamese publications. What makes this brand distinctive is the bright orange set against the brown background and complemented with the clarity of Univers. While the script suggests traditional Vietnamese, the san-serif gives a sense of modernness. I gave Ms. Quynh several designs, but this one seals the deal.

As you can see on the homepage’s slideshow, the interior colors of the restaurant match the colors of the web site. Like I said earlier, Ms. Quynh is very consistent. She sent me the palette right after she had a meeting with her interior designer and immediately I knew what the web site would look.

As for the code behind the scene, this straightforward web site is markup in HTML5 with a bit of CSS3 and a Flash slideshow. I also convinced Ms. Quynh to use Twitter as a marketing tool for her restaurant. She can tweet about new promotions or specials of the day on Twitter without having to hire me to update the web site for her. It’s a great, cost-saving way to get the words out. I also gave her Twitter page a similar look and feel.

Le Mekong has just opened for business in less than three weeks; therefore, some of the contents like press and events are still to come. I also whipped up the about page as well as the intro blurb on the homepage. If you live around Johns Creek, Georgia, come check it out and let me know what you think of the food. Just tell her you’re a friend of Visualgui.com and you’ll receive 20% off. So what are you waiting for? Head to Le Mekong and treat your family a New Year dinner.

As a designer, I love to surf the web for inspirations and somehow I have been drawn to commercial web sites lately. Crate&Barrel for instance, the site makes great use of Helvetica. Although the logo is set in one of the most used typefaces, it has such a distinctive brand. The homepage is clean, organized and well-balance between texts and images. What I don’t like though are the drop-down menus. I know that many big sites need to have drop-down menus to cover all of its products, but I am still convinced that you can do without it. What annoys the hell out of me about Crate&Barrel web site is the anchored bottom. Even if I close it, the darn thing wouldn’t go any.

Target is another one of my favorite site designs. I love the homepage layout even though it is loaded with information. The drop-down menus once again turn me off.
Somehow the secondary pages are disconnected with the homepage. The main body content is strangely narrower than the header and footer.

There is one gorgeous web site that conquers all the issues above. If I were in an interview for a job and being asked what is my favorite web site. The first site would come to mind is Apple. The team behind this site has done an exceptional job of present this site in an elegant yet simple layout.

I love Apple’s informational architecture and it’s a perfect model for University’s sites that would like to unify its online presence. No matter where you go, the global navigation, which is simple and carefully designed, is always there. Although Apple has tons of products, it doesn’t need drop-down menus to get there. I am very curious to see how Apple would incorporate iPad into its global navigation.

What keeps me coming back to Apple again and again is the homepage. I love the way apple shows off its product. The latest showcase for the iPad is so big, bold and beautiful. I am sure Apple had made a conscious decision to use the homepage as an ad space as well. If you walk into an Apple store, you would see how the homepage is being served as a banner on its computer displays. That is just freaking awesome.

Thanks to the snowstorm, I am enjoying a wonderful time at home with my family. I get to play with Duke and get some work done as well. I really don’t need anywhere else to go and I don’t mind shoveling the snow at all even though it was twenty-something-inch high. With my iPod and my shovel, I can spend three or four hours digging and plowing.

In the past couple of days, Duke learned how to clap his hands and to give high five. He calls me “ba” all day long, except bed time. No matter how hard I try, I can’t get him to stop crying, but he would stop immediately as soon as his mom walks into the room. Night time is mommy’s time.

To celebrate the year of Tiger, Dana and grandma made about a dozen of sticky rice cakes (banh chung) to give to family and friends. We made seafood hotpot for dinner last night and played some Vietnamese New Year tunes. My sister-in-law and her husband jointed us for a hot, savory meal. We had some gin and tonic to complement the food.

Beside blogging and web design, my other passion is mix drink. Thanks to the iPod Touch apps, I can pull up any recipe anytime. I made a Lynchburg Tea the other day and loving it since, but gin is still my favorite spirit. She has such a fine, distinctive taste and she goes well with anything from Ginger Ale to 7 Up to tonic to cranberry juice to orange juice.

I made a shaker full of martini, which was three or four glasses, the other day to go with duck congee. I got wasted afterward due to lack of sleep. Next morning, I went out to plow the snow with a migraine. Almost fainted half way through the sidewalk. Went inside cooked up a really hot kimchi instant noodle. Blood shot off my nose, but the headache was gone. I knew I need to get some sleep and rest.

I am cutting back on my mix drink experimentation and trying to sleep more. Nas once rhymed, “I don’t sleep cuz sleep is the cousin of death.” I don’t know what death feel like, but lack of sleep sure feel like hell. The good thing about snow is I get to stay in bed a bit longer, but not too long before the little guy gets up.

It’s a nice change to hear young singers like Phuong Vy and Le Hieu get intimate with old ballads and it’s also a treat to hear Duc Tri refreshes these standards with a touch of jazz. Mua Thu Cho Em is not a new concept. Duc Tri cut a similar record four years ago with Duc Tuan and Ho Ngoc Ha on Ao Anh. Nothing wrong with repeating a success.

The album kicks off with a duet take on Y Van’s “Nhung Buoc Chan Am Tham.” This tune has been arranged before with an uptempo, but Duc Tri slows it down with a Latin flavor. Between the two, Le Hieu is obviously more experienced than Phuong Vy on covering old standards; therefore, he saves most of the duet tracks, particularly Ngo Thuy Mien’s “Ban Tinh Ca Cho Em.” As for his solo, his bluesy take on Tran Thien Thanh’s “Lau Dai Tinh Ai,” is nowhere near Thuy Vu’s funky rendition. His nasal voice is far less sexy than Thuy Vu’s deep tenor.

Phuong Vy on the other hand lacks the interpretational skills on how to approach a standard. She also lacks the breath control. Her version of Ngo Thuy Mien’s “Ban Tinh Cuoi” is the weakest I have heard. She chooses to restraint yourself instead of taking up an octave on the bridge even though she is capable of soaring. Her rendition of Y Van’s “60 Nam Cuoc Doi” is a proof. Duc Tri turns this tune into a shouting blue, but he also cleverly added an r&b rhythm to it. The result is stunning as Phuong Vy shows her confidence in kicking her vocals up a notch. Unfortunately, she ruined the song with her English fluffing.

Even though the vocals aren’t up to par, Duc Tri managed to created a decent pop album with his minimal, elegant arrangements. That alone proves that he’s talented producer.