May 28, 2007

Hà Nội.

Arriving on Thursday evening I laughed off the pilots announcement that 'the outside temperature was 36 degrees'. Rolling my eyes knowingly towards Chi I asserted that he meant it was 26. No, he was right. Wow. 10.30pm sat on the street and the sweat was cascading down my front like a waterfall, crashing onto the rocks that was my lap. Thankfully the rest of the weekend was bearable, but that first night was like being in a greenhouse full of steam in the Amazon Basin.

So, Hà Nội. Nice. A 'pleasanter' city than Sài Gòn, I would have to say. Lakes and parks and more open space. Less traffic. Better air. The Old Quarter is charming. I have visions of this city in the future, perhaps fifty years down the line. All around modernization has taken hold and the city will be as developed as any other in Asia, but the Old Quarter will remain the same, and in doing so it will be one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the region....real history and tradition should be preserved in these streets, starting with the banning of cars, an embarrassment to those narrow streets.

Across Hanoi, I see less building and construction than in Saigon. I see less big chains taking hold like Highlands and Lotteria. This is of course relative to the populations of the two cities, but noticeable nonetheless.

Hồ Hoàn Kiếm

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Đền Ngọc Sơn, my wife just visible through the incense sticks.

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This was the start of our walking tour around the streets of the Old Quarter, which typically look something like this.

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We had started with only a coffee in a traditional Càfê Giảng on Hàng Gai, so breakfast was a high priority. This was it, a voluminous bowl of bún riêu cua laced with cherry tomatoes and tofu.

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No sooner had I stuffed that in my face and strolled along the street, the wife was once again making a noise that I now realize is associated with some kind of culinary frenzy, part of a subliminal mission to sample all the street food in this quaint portion of her country's capital. I wasn't complaining. First was the fried tofu dipped in a kind of lemony, sour sauce (bún đậu mắm tôm) . Very good. We sat on a street corner where two or three things were available, one of the other things being sweet bread balls that were deep fried (called bánh cam in HCMC).

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Unlike HCMC, wares are easy to find. Each street in the Old Quarter has its own specialty after which the road is named - for example, Phố Chả Cá for the street that serves the special fried fish. Here, shops with goods for weddings stand side by side.

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And toys. Some are very lifelike.

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Later that evening we went to Công Viên Thống Nhất (Independence Park, previously Lenin Park) for a dusk stroll, along with half of Hà Nội.

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Then it was back to the Old Quarter and off to a very famous restaurant, where I had one of the tastiest Vietnamese dishes I've ever had. The place was the renowned Chả Cá Lã Vọng. Wow. The longer it cooked, the better it tasted. I wanted to drink the oil from the pan and bask in its greasy deliciousness.

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Hà Nội by night:

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The following day we ventured to the Hồ Chí Minh mausoleum, where I practiced looking sombre. Of course, the pomp was worthy of royalty, let alone a national hero. The actual walk through was brief and subdued. In the picture, you can see the line of people waiting to pass through.

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Next up was a walk around the complex, which includes the Museum of Hồ Chí Minh, and a hell of a lot of domestic tourists sweating it out.

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Later that day we had a drive around Hồ Ty (West Lake). Here, an old man is fishing.

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We then made it to the Museum of Ethnology, where the most interesting display I have seen about Vietnam is shown, that of life during the bao cấp period

That evening we visited Bobby Chinn's restaurant. What a place -- the food was fantastic, as was the atmosphere, and the man himself was walking around making the customers comfortable (Bobby has his own show on Discovery Travel & Living now).

The next morning, we went to Văn Miếu ( Temple of Literature), the first University in Vietnam. The history of the Confucian system of education is remarkable. You think students these days face pressure.....huh! Here, the stone tablets bear the names of those who passed the exams and the exams themselves.

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Finally, I wanted to drive over the Red River and back, you know, just to 'have a gander'.

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And that was it, in pictures and words, our trip to Hà Nội.

May 23, 2007

Contrast

Ok ok, everyone knows what it looks like when it's raining, but I have to contribute something to the start of the rainy season - it's an unwritten rule. Here's the view on a normal day.

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And the rain.

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A lot grayer, isn't it?

May 22, 2007

Withdrawal

Having blogging withdrawal symptoms without my camera. Most of my posts write themselves as they are based around pictures. Capturing and originating material for this blog involves the following process. 1) Identify target. 2) Return with camera, snap until satisfied. 3) Blog it. Unfortunately, I tipped the Canon from my desk to the floor, on the way shattering it's precious LCD screen. Currently she sits in the repair shop, a surgical gown draped over her. She's already had her memory card and battery removed, but the technician in the shop says there is a more than 80% chance of success, and that this kind of procedure is quite normal.

So, I grabbed my wife's camera the other day, but it just wasn't the same. I will be back with a post on the changes in District 3 sometime soon....but for now just a taster. NTMK is changing shape incredibly quickly. Loads of buildings going up along here. This shot is from the corner of Nguyen Binh Kiem and NTMK.

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This one is the corner of Tran Cao Van and Hai Ba Trung. You can just about make out the picture of the new building intended here.....quite a big plot this one.

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I will be in Hanoi later this week so I'm looking forward to a posting on the capital city - my first visit. Camera will be ready by then.....!

May 18, 2007

Chillout in Saigon: Part 2

Thanks to Mel for his great post on suburban cafes in HCMC, entitled Cà Phê at cafés in HCMC. My list is, as Mel points out, mainly for tourists and expats and is centered around District 1. His list explores coffee shops in outlying districts, of which I can vouch there are hundreds secreted in small alleyways and cul-de-sacs.

You can see my finished article here on the Travelfish website. Part 2 includes more of the same kind of places from part 1, (Juice, Hideaway, I-Box Cafe & Creperie & Cafe) .

One inclusion will interest Mel and others of a similar persuasion, Café Sông Mê...

Café Song Me is a inclusion to recognize the fact that Vietnamese coffee shops can be awesome hang out spots – not the brash roadside monstrosities, another breed that is set back from the street in a shady, secluded corner, often with ornate decorations and green leafy plants to re-oxygenate your pollution weary lungs. Song Me is one such place, and a little hard to find. Take Hoa Hung St off of Cach Mang Thang Tam St in District 10, and turn off left roughly halfway up. Famed for its water based features, customers can sit on tables completely surrounded by water, as small troughs weave their way along the floor. Alternatively, skip across the pools to reach seductive sofa areas, where the environment is sure to relax you. Food is average, just come for the reasonably priced drinks. (125/2 Hoa Hung, D10).

Sorry for the bad picture but it's all I got.

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May 14, 2007

My wife's blog

Hi there.

I gather most of the people who visit this site are overseas Vietnamese in the States and other parts of the world. So for those who have a proficiency in the Vietnamese language, why not check out my wife's blog.....it's a Yahoo 360 jobby, of course.

She has written a lot and seems to be fairly reflective in her subject matter. I struggle to understand the entries (no ****, sherlock). Recently I have this nagging, gloating voice in my head that says learning a new language beyond the age of about seven is impossible....in fact it is scientifically proven (read The Language Instinct by Pinker). In terms of language acquisition, my brain is 1920's classic car that has been sat in a Hampshire barn for the last eighty years, rusting peacefully. To try and start it up now is just offensive. However, I still have the strength to push the mantra out of my head, ignore the futility of my efforts, and crack on.

How was that for a total deviation......once again, read the lovely Minh Chi's Blog to find out more about my better half/trouble and strife/ball & chain etc etc.

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May 9, 2007

Advertising

WWAAAYYY back in June 2006 I wrote a little piece on advertising in Saigon, including a snapshot of the new Ford Mondeo hanging from a billboard on Nguyen Hue. The car is now gone, but the advertising has not. Space on the sides of buildings is being utilised like never before, mostly for large, colorful posters. In some places, glowing neon is appearing. Indeed, a large neon Tiger Beer ad now greets drivers arriving into the city just after the Saigon Bridge. I can envisage in a few years streets of colorful flashing lights in the Taipei, Tokyo or Seoul style, some junctions are already reminding me of places like Piccadilly Circus.

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The Bridgestone ad dominates Nguyen Thai Hoc.

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Samsung aren't shy:

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Canon squeezed their billboard here:

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LG's winking face:

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Now these are the ones that I'm really talking about. In the next picture, it's not the Mitsubishi and Toshiba signs I'm talking about, it's the Fed-Ex one. The building on which the ad is placed is just tall enough to peek out over the roof of the petrol station making it visible to motorists and pedestrians....

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Looking across the bus station and down Ham Nghi, one of the boards looks like it has literally been 'hung' off the building. I wonder what the rates are in the hotel for the 'behind the ad board' rooms.

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Finally, size doesn't matter, because here and in many other places you can see a billboard maybe twice as big as the house it's balanced on.

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