Let's Go Shopping!

You won't find a Safeway's or Albertson's in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) but you will find a few markets that are more than interesting. One of the biggest in HCMC is Binh Tay Market in the Cholon (Chinatown) area. Walking through and around the market is an eye-opener for anyone who has never been to Asia or any developing country.

Well.......let me take you on a tour and give you a sample of what you will see.

This is what it looks like outside the market. The number of stands selling all kinds of edible and non-edible stuff is just astounding.

Here is a butcher selling pork - unrefrigerated. My Vietnamese friends tell me that if it's refrigerated, buyers will think it's not fresh. Good thing they cook the pork thoroughly.

There is such a variety of fresh vegetables, some you don't find in American supermarkets. Most of the vegetables are consumed the same day or next day. They are seldom refrigerated.

They come from farms outside of Hanoi so you know they were picked a day or two before.

You can even get a fresh coconut drink, right out of a young coconut. Add a little rum and you'll have Pina Colada.
(just kidding, that's not really the recipe)
It's so humid you don't need a sauna.

How about some frogs for dinner? They are farm-raised and are common on restaurant menus.

I thought this might be snakes but I think they are eels.

Snakes are common food items here too.

If you prefer chicken or duck, you have to slaughter them yourself.

At least you know these chickens and ducks have their feet touching the ground. Most of the chickens you get in the US are factory-raised or should I say, factory-produced, with hormones to make them bigger. Actually, these farm-raised chickens don't taste as good. They are a little tough.

Pass the bread, please.
Vietnamese love baguettes. You find them everywhere.
I like Vietnamese sandwiches, or Banh My (pronounced as mee) Pate'. You put some luncheon meat in the sandwich. You can also add eggs in it too. Costs about 10,000 dongs or 50 cents without the eggs.

Ho Chi Minh City

I was in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) this week to work with my team there. Half of my team is based there.
HCMC was known as Saigon until North Vietnam defeated South Vietnam and the Americans in 1975. They renamed the city after Ho Chi Minh, who is recognized as the founder of modern Vietnam.
HCMC is the commercial hub of Vietnam. You can see the commercialization and Americanization of the city when you walk the streets. Even the residents here tend to be a little more aggressive than those in Hanoi. The sellers are more aggressive and pushy. Unfortunately, I think they learned that from the Americans.
There are about 7 million residents in HCMC. It's a big metropolis and the place buzzes with a lot of energy. There is a lot of building going on - high-rise condos, office buildings, shopping centers, etc. The shops are stocked with all kinds of goods, a lot of them very cheap. There are also a lot of fake brand-name clothes, jewelry, shoes, purses, etc. It's very tempting to want to buy them. But, I know they don't last at all.
You see all kinds of restaurants here - Japanese, American, Korean, Thai, German, etc. McDonald's has not been able to open a restaurant here because (I was told) that the Vietnamese government want them to use local beef instead of imported beef. There are also no Starbucks. Personally, I think the local Vietnamese coffee tastes a lot better than Starbucks', and a lot cheaper too.


The first picture you see on the left above is that of the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was built around 1880.
It's a prominent landmark located within the shopping district. There is a statue of the Virgin Mary right in front of the church. They have sermons in both English and Vietnamese.
I stayed at a hotel about 2 blocks from the church. When I walked by the church in the evening, I saw a lot of people mingling in front of the church. Some of them were praying to the Virgin Mary. There is quite a sizeable Catholic population amont the Vietnamese.

On the right of the church is the Post Office (2nd picture on the left), another landmark in the city. I understand that the inside of the building is quite impressive.

The picture on the left is that of the Opera House, also not far from the Notre Dame Cathedral. This is an impressive building that has been restored.










The next picture on the left is that of the Reunification Palace. This is where South Vietnam surrendered to the North Vietnamese on April 30, 1975.
Inside the Palace are exhibits from the war.










In one of the rooms, I found an interesting inscription on a plague.
Obviously, they own the bragging rights to the Vietnam War.

Riding a Motorbike in Hanoi

After about 2 months in Hanoi, I finally gathered enough courage to ride a motorbike on the streets of Hanoi. I don't know why the Vietnamese call them motorbike instead of motorcycle. Maybe it's just easier for them to say it.

I met someone in the office who knew where I could rent a motorbike. Not only he rented the motorbike for me, he delivered it to my apartment. Then he showed me how to ride.

I can't remember when was the last time I rode a motorbike but it must be very long ago.

The motorbike you see in the picture above is what I rented for the afternoon. It's a medium-size bike and it costs me $4 to rent it for the day. Together with the $6.50 helmet and my $2.50 fake Oakley sunglasses, I was ready to hit the streets.

But, wait a minute, don't you need a license? I asked my friend and he said don't worry.
"If the police stops you, just call me." Another friend had told me to have 200,000 Vietnamese dongs ready in case I am stopped. That's how the system works here.

After practicing in my neighborhood for about 30 minutes, I was ready to hit the big streets. Having studied how the Vietnamese ride their bikes, I started to see a pattern.

Number 1 - they don't stop for you. You have to push your way through. There are no STOP signs.

Number 2 - they don't look sideways or behind them when they change lanes or move from a stationary position.

Number 3 - they don't always follow the traffic rules. Red light doesn't mean everyone will stop.

Bottom-line is, you always have to be on the alert and you have to be bold.

I rode around for several hours. As you would expect, there were several tense moments.

I accidentally rode into the Old Quarter. The streets here are narrow and very, very busy. Anyway, I managed to get through the streets without hitting someone or someone hitting me. I felt a bump or two. Sometimes I revert to my American courteous driver style. Doesn't work here. You just have to let others worry about themselves.

Conclusion: It's a fun experience but not the safest. I don't think I will buy a motorbike. I will probably rent one for the weekend when I need to explore the areas outside the city center.

My Apartment

My apartment is on the east side of Truc Bach Lake.
The Hanoians called this a village. I guess a few years ago, it was still a quiet little village a few miles from the city center.
It's about a 15-minute taxi ride to my office. It costs about US$2 for a one-way ride.
My apartment is on the 2nd floor on the right.
The bottom apartment is the first floor.
There are many foreigners living in the Truc Bach Lake area but there are also a lot of locals as well.




The picture on the right is a view from my window. John McCain's plaque would be on the right of the picture.
There are all kinds of businesses and activities around the lake. There is a "wet market" that's about 100 yds from my apartment. They sell all kinds of produce, meat, fruits, fish, frogs, etc. The Vietnamese consume what they buy that day so most of what you eat is very fresh.
There are also all kinds of restaurants and a supermarket.



Th apartment is about 600 square feet. I pay US$800 a month rent. Apartments are not cheap in Hanoi because real-estate is expensive. It comes with a maid, who makes the bed every day, except weekends, and picks up the dirty laundry. I pay separately for a laundry service but it's very cheap.
The maid cleans the apartment twice a week.
Here is a picture of my bedroom.






I talked the maid into buying fruits from the market every day except weekends. Every day I have a different kind of fruit. She cuts it up and put it in the refrigerator.
I am so fortunate because every day I come home with a plate of fresh tropical fruits in the refrigerator.
Here is a picture of my living room.








Here is the kitchen.
I pay about $2 for a 5-gallon bottle of drinking water.
I don't cook because I'd have to go to the market in the morning and it's a lot of trouble to cook for just one person.

John McCain

You are probably wondering why I am writing about John McCain.
The first picture on the left is a plaque commemorating John McCain being shot down on October 26, 1967, and fell into the lake in the background. The lake is called Truc Bach Lake and it happens to be where my apartment is.
I either walk or run past this plaque almost every day. I didn't know about the John McCain connection until more than a month after I have lived here.





Here is another view of the lake.
My apartment is somewhere between the two tall apartments on the left and the tall apartment on the right.










Here is the entrance to Hoa Lo prison, popularly referred to as the "Hanoi Hilton." I don't know why it's called Maison Centrale on the front entrance. The prison is about 3 blocks from my office.
I think most people come here expecting to see a lot about John McCain. Well, there's actually very little mention of John McCain, maybe about 3 or 4 pictures. There is a room devoted to American pilots being imprisoned here during the Vietnam war.



The prison focusses more on Vietnamese insurgents fighting the French in the late 19th and early 20th century. It shows the tough conditions that the Vietnamese prisoners had to endure while they were imprisoned here.
The Vietnamese finally defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.
Today, only part of the prison remains and as you can see in the background, most of the old prison is occupied by a tall apartment and office building complex called Hanoi Towers.

Singapore Skyline

Singapore is a place where I can be both a tourist and a local. I was born in Singapore and grew up here until I went to college in the US.
I am here on a business trip and stayed at a hotel that is about 2 miles from where I grew up. It's an interesting experience because I recognize much of the area but a lot has changed. There were no first-class hotel except for the famous Raffles Hotel, where legend has it that that's where the Singapore Sling was concocted.




Today the skyline is very impressive by any city standard. The first picture on the left is a bird-eye's view of the city center taken behind the Marina Bay Sands Casino.
I wish I can say I took this picture. But, I did not.
I pulled it off the internet on one of the promotional articles about the casino.
There is a swimming pool on top of the 3 buildings and a viewing area.
You can see the office buildings in the background, many of them more than 50 stories high.
On the right is a tall cyclindrical building. This is the Swissotel Stamford where I stayed.

The second picture shows the casino in the background with the Merlion spewing water in the foreground. The Merlion is Singapore's mascot.

The next picture was taken while I was doing my morning run around the city.








The picture on the left was taken from my hotel room. It shows the Suntec Convention Center and other hotels in the background. There are several 5-star hotels in the area, including Conrad, Fairmont, Pan Pacific, Mandarin Oriental, Ritz Carlton, etc.








This last picture is that of the commercial center. It was taken from my hotel room.
They are building something on the left that looks like a Lotus flower. I don't know what it is.
I should ask the locals here.
The government built a very nice waterfront around the entire area. There are shops, restaurants, bars, etc, all around.
There is even a place where they hold water sports. All these places did not exist when I was growing up here. This area is reclaimed land.

There was a long debate about whether Singapore should get into the casino business. Singaporeans love to gamble and they often go to Malaysia or other neighboring countries to gamble. So, the government finally allowed 2 copanies to build casinos here, one by the Las Vegas Sands group, and another by the Genting Highlands group. They charge locals S$100 to get into the casino for a 24-hour period. If you have a foreign passport, it's free. I heard the government has already collected S$70m since the casinos opened last year.

Curry Fish Head

I am in Singapore on a business trip. I met some friends for lunch and one of them suggested an Indian restaurant in Little India.
I used to live across the street from Little India but I almost never go there for lunch or dinner.
I like Indian food but I usually eat them on the street or hawker center (food court).

The first picture you see is what we ordered. It is called banana leaf rice.
The second picture shows the main dish - curry fish head. Now that might gross out a lot of Americans but it's a delicacy here. There's actually a lot of meat around the head and under the gills. The curry is not very spicy but is very flavorful. This dish was featured in Bizarre Food with Andrew Zimmern on one of his programs.
















The next picture you see is that of the subway station in Little India. Singapore has a very efficient and very clean subway system, called MRT. They really promote mass transportation here and they keep adding more lines. I wish we have this in Phoenix.

















Next you see a picture of one of the streets in Little India. As the name suggests, many Indians live here and there are a lot of Indian shops catering to Indians. Indians going home to India used to stop here to buy stuff like clothes and jewelry before heading back to India. They claim the quality here is better. You can buy freshly-ground curry powder from the shops. The shopkeeper can customize it for cooking chicken, lamb, fish, etc.





Lastly, you see a picture of roti prata. This is like a tortilla, cooked on a flat grill with ghee (clarified butter). This piece has a egg cooked in it and you cut a small piece and dip it in the curry sauce in the small dish. A piece costs about US$1.60.
It's my daughter's favorite dish.