Geoff - Don't be sad about the mantis. They were delicious. I've kept mantises in the past, and still have a peacock. That made me want to try them even more. I guess there is to much for details, but you can ask all the questions that you want.
Chris - Thanks man. I was in southern VN. I went to Saigon, Quang Ngai, and Nha Trang.
Randy - You are right. One set of pictures was from the Oceanographic Institute. It use to be a University, but since then, they've changed it to a museum. The other set of pictures was from a exporter. It was actually my Aunt/Uncle's best friends that own it. They export to many countries including the US. The furniture place is owned by extended family. My dad is trying to do some work with them for a company here in the states. Most of the plant pictures was thanks to my dad. I'm not a huge fan of plants, so he took most of those pictures. No pictures while diving. I need to get a underwater housing. The visibility was low, but it was a great place to dive.
OTF is a Arowana breeding farm. Asian arowanas are endangered, so the only ones that are available come from farms. They are cites/ava certified and microchipped. The store I went to only sold arowanas, and only sold arowanas from OTF. Because they are captive bred, they command a hefty price tag. I've wanted one for a few years now, but US regulations will not allow keeping any endangered species even if they are captive bred. They cannot be imported in, but that doesn't say that you couldn't get one. I'll own one one day.
