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Dante & Virgil: Hell's Anglos
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Day 12 begins with a visit to my mom's aunt, who looks like a splitting image of my long-departed grandmother.
That night, I met up my cousin's friend who had been working in Vietnam for some six years or so. My cousin worked in Vietnam for some five years before becoming quite the world traveler, and he asked his friend Tuyet to kindly show us a nice night out in Saigon. I had been itching to see what the nightlife in Vietnam was like before leaving, with my only attempt being the night before, walking to the entrance of a club next to the hotel that looked like a lot of attractive young people were going into. The LilBro and I chickened out at the last minute and turned around and went back to the hotel and asked the receptionist what that place was- it turned out it was a Vietnamese concert venue and you had to buy tickets.
So on our last night in Vietnam, we met up Tuyet and she took the family out to dinner. When my parents went back to the hotel, she took us to some film industry party where all the ex-pats hung out. We arrived a bit early so it was kind of dead and so we went off to go bowling. Bowling in Vietnam? Count me in. Bowling in Vietnam costs somewhat the same as bowling in the States, meaning if you're a local Vietnamese, it's probably pretty expensive.
I am terrible at bowling. I came in last place on the first set.
But lo and behold, I got my best game EVER in bowling the second set. As usual, I choke on the last frame. After bowling, we went back to the industry party and hopped to another place with live music before finally settling into Apocalypse Bar (or, as they called it, "Apo Bar"). Apocalypse bar is exactly like clubbing in the US- you've got cover charge. You've got the latest top 40's music. The only difference is that the crowd is a mix of ex-pats and locals. It was a pretty fun night but we called it a night at 2 (they stay open far later than that).
On the very last day of our trip, we finally made it out to see the Lunchlady. I had been wanting to eat at her place every single day since we touched down in Saigon as the menu changes daily, but our schedule was packed so that we couldn't. The "Lunchlady" has made the foodie internet rounds and on No Reservations. It's said she makes one batch per day and when she runs out of whatever she's selling, she closes up for the day.
Waiting for our order.
Lookit this rooster, being all cocky.
The kind of out-of-the-way area.
I'm generally not a fan of banh canh, but man, this is the best banh canh I've ever had. There is a huge potpourri of flavors and textures running through the broth, the noodles are the perfect consistency- not overly chewy- and there's a nice mix of meat and seafood in it. I kind of want another bowl and I kind of regret only getting to eat this at the very end of the trip. But for a last lunch in Vietnam, there's no better way to end it.
Later that afternoon, we pack up all our suitcases and wait for the cab to take us to get ready for the 30 hour flight back. We stop off in Singapore for a few hours and we explored most of the shops at the airport (I had ordered my family a buncha Singaporean food at the airport on the way there) and this here is a shot from the butterfly garden at the Singapore airport. The rest of the trip goes by in a blur- well, as much as 30 hours of travel time can become a blur.
And then, we're home.
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So what can one expect to bring back from Vietnam?
Well, for me, I have a group of friends who like to try chips from around the world, and it's become a custom that whenever anyone travels anywhere, they'll bring me back chips they've found overseas. And for this trip, I'd return the favor. Vietnam has a surprising amount of chip flavors not available in the US. You've got Cheetos making vanilla, strawberry, and plain/butter flavors (surprisingly good). And Doritos with fiery garlic and then some. But Lays tops the bunch, making lobster, bbq pork, pate and a huge assortment of flavors. I was glad I had brought along one empty suitcase, and it was filled to the brim with weird chips for my traveling friends back home. At Russia airport customs, it was slightly embarrassing when they pulled me aside to inspect my suitcase, only to find it was completely full of chips. They must have thought I was insane.
I generally am not a big fan of souvenirs, so my favorite thing that I brought back from Vietnam is my coveted dau xanh. My room in Houston is right next to the door to the backyard, so any time anyone lets dogs out, mosquitoes fly into my room and torment me first. This right here is perfect for the oncoming rainy mosquito-infested months to come.
It took a while, but my mom finally found some artwork she liked in Vietnam. Along with a few other pieces, I thought these were really neat. It's stone art, but it's raised and painted over. I haven't seen anything like this before.
And what else can I take away from Vietnam? It's far too often that, like many travelers, I run around the world trying to soak up as much culture and history as I can in whatever place I happen to be in, but at the end of the day not having a real connection with the places I visited other than a passing feeling of entertainment and a bundle of photographs. Vietnam is as foreign a country as any, but there's a deep rooted connection obviously with my parents, and in that sense, a familiarity in understanding the life that my parents lived growing up and turning me into the person I am today.
The country isn't as corrupt or scary as I had heard prior to coming there. It's a beautiful country, the girls I met were pretty in their honesty, the guys were likeable in their friendliness. Service was always impeccable, the food was amazing, and the people from north to south were all incredibly nice.
Vietnam is a sharp reminder that people still do have a difficult life and that just being able to be on the internet right now at 2 AM as I sit here typing up this final entry is a luxury. Too often we're caught up in wanting the latest designer name brand gadget, and then you come back and you realize you don't really need any of this. This, of course, is not saying one should just stop and sit and be complacent with what you have, but more a reminder that rather than spending your time trying to acquire things, invest it in the people around you instead. | | |
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The next stop on the tour consisted of a medley of fruits while traditional Vietnamese singers performed. You've got the recognizable pineapples and mangoes, and along with that is dragonfruit (available at asian grocery stores in houston- maybe a consistency similar to cantaloupe?, but somewhat bland), lychee, and papaya (I can't get myself to like these).
Then they brought out a snake to take pictures with. It was kind of a neat feeling to have a snake kind of just slowly wrap itself around you.
The final leg of travel consisted of a boat manually powered by a person with one large rear oar.
My dad asked our rower how many boats he rowed a day. He said not many. What was there to do if he wasn't rowing? Fishing? No, there weren't any fish to catch in that area. And so these people's meager incomes relied solely on waiting for tour agencies to bring tourists out, which is a scary thought if tourism suddenly dropped or if they were injured on the job.
The boats themselves looked fairly ancient.
The last stop on the tour was seeing how they made keo dua, or coconut candy.
It's a fairly labor intensive task, with all the molding, cutting, and wrapping done manually. It's good and chewy, but it sticks to your teeth and hardens fairly quickly in storage.
End day eleven. | | |
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Day eleven starts off with a tour of the Mekong River Delta. At this point, seeing a house boat is no cause to pull out my camera. Until I see A DOG on the boat. And then I'm all *click* *click* *click* *click*. It's like a real life version of Pokemon Snap. Because, DOG ON A BOAT.
The first stop on the tour is to see how they traditionally make banh trang. Here's the wood they use to fire up the ovens.
I like that the heat over time has cracked the entire structure. It's kind of neat to see how this is traditionally made- takes a bit of skill to make them paper thin.
Sandbags upon the bank to the next stop.
After lunch, we went to see the bee hives and had fresh honey with tea. Here, a rooster pecks away at some lychee, not an eyeball.
Yet another dog just lounging about.
To get to the next part of the tour, they loaded us up onto rickety two-wheeled carts drawn by a scrawny little horse. I was like, what is going on?! Us large Americans loading in some six people deep I thought would make the poor horse collapse, but during the ride I noticed that the way the harness worked, it wasn't actually pressing down hard on the horse and might actually be somewhat evenly balanced.
During the ride, I leaned out my camera and had it alongside the horse for a lower view. I kinda like it.
We got off for the last stop on the tour. I felt a little bad for the horse- I would rather have had like a bus or something take the tour group instead. | | |
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View of Saigon from the rooftop of the hotel.
The area we would be wandering around on foot until the end of our journey, with Cho Ben Thanh clearly visible.
Stitched together from 8 photos, a panoramic of Saigon. My mom grew up in Saigon, but whereas my dad was able to find most of his childhood landmarks in Hue, she told me the city was unrecognizable now.
Disparate roofs.
Cho Ben Thanh, the iconic market in Saigon. It's crammed with little food stands, souvenirs, clothing, teas- you name it. I don't know how some of these places make any money because a lot of the stands all seem to be selling the same thing.
This is some government building which I didn't realize until I got closer had "No photography" signs all over. A lot of these government buildings have no photography signs outside, which I find a little odd.
In contrast to Cho Ben Thanh was the new Vincom center, a fancy mall a few blocks further full of luxury brand stores, air conditioning, and a food court with even a Beard Papa's and Popeye's.
I've been to arcades around the world, but I'd have to say Vincom center's arcade might even be better than arcades in Japan. It's a surprisingly large arcade packed with the latest high tech games and some low tech interactive games like this one. We probably spent too long in here, but oh well, air conditioning.
This has nothing to do with the photo, but this Vietnam trip coincided with the time LMFAO's Party Rockin' started getting popular, so all around Vietnam, the LilBro and I would spontaneously start singing this part of the song for no reason. And ever since Flo-Rida's "Club can't handle me", we'll also randomly blurt out "AH SEE YOU DEE GUETTA!" for absolutely no reason with no warning as we walked around.
Thought I'd just take this random picture of people taking a picture.
End day ten. | | |
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We're on the last leg of the trip, flying into Saigon in the morning. Saigon is where my mom grew up. While her family is originally from Hue, they moved to Saigon, and so her older siblings speak with a Hue (central) accent while my mom speaks with more of a Nam (southern) accent. We started the trip in the north in Hanoi, and with every new city, it's become progressively hotter. While it didn't rain as much in Saigon, the heat left me wishing it did. I generally tried to wear the lightest clothing to conceal my sweat. To rub salt in the wound, people in Saigon were walking around wearing slacks and long-sleeve clothing (I even saw a girl wearing a sweater) and NOT SWEATING. Every chance I got, I tried to duck into air conditioning to prevent more sweating.
Our hotel was much more modest here, but service was impeccable as usual.
Our first stop was to visit a family friend. During the fall of Saigon, all of my mom's siblings fled in the middle of the night on one of the last ships departing from the city. Only the eldest daughter- a doctor- stayed behind to take care of my grandparents. Ong Giac was a family friend who helped my aunt and grandparents out immensely during those years to the point where my grandfather said to consider him as one of the family. Ong Giac is a kind old man and upon our arrival ordered a banquet just for lunch. He wouldn't stop trying to feed us throughout the meal, offering well past us being full. He also made us fresh coconut water to which he added some whiskey.
The fruits out in Vietnam were amazing. I wasn't a fan of papaya, but there were a lot of fruits out here which I'm not even sure have an english name. This one was particularly neat in that each of those bumps came off in sections and you ate the part underneath. My parents kept overbuying fruit at the market and we were forced to try to finish a ton before we left.
Their dog. It was a fat little thing that seemed a bit neurotic. Why are little dogs so neurotic the world over? Also, I think people fed dogs table scraps out there instead of things like Science Diet. At least from what I saw.
I like showing the interiors because I find houses in different countries interesting.
After lunch, we headed off to pay respects to my mom's ancestors. My mom's grandmother lived to 91 and grandfather lived until 85. Her side of the family has strong longevity genes.
Saigon is kind of like the New York of Vietnam- the most modern of the three cities with the hustle and bustle of a big city.
End day nine. | | |
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