It's been 10 years since my first visit to Ho Chi Minh. Needless to say, much has changed, just like the women.
10 years ago, the ladies were very beautiful, with sweet innocent faces marred only by bad teeth indicative of poor nutrition and dental hygiene. They hardly spoke any English. The au dais were plain and the people were thin, but there was a palpable sense of determination to work hard.
I can home from that trip sensing that this was indeed a country on the incline, and started searching for avenues to invest in it. Unfortunately, there were no instruments for private investors.
Now, the ladies seem to have lost that look of sweet innocence, although the teeth are straighter, the bodies curvier and the clothes and makeup are much more colourful. Those on hotel staff speak excellent English. And the hunger to succeed at all costs seems to have diminished.
Now there are several Vietnam mutual funds available, but I'm not so sure anymore. Perhaps this is the curse of development - with comfort and stability there is less drive to work hard. If I can see a change here in just 10 years, I wonder what a foreigner visiting Singapore comparing our parents' generation to our own would observe.
A few memories are still distinct from 10 years ago when I arrived with two friends, without any plans and just looking for adventure. There were no tours then but we found our way to the Mekong delta and the Chu Ci Tunnels; I had the most delicious coconut ever, fired a shotgun (my choice from a wide range of WWII vintage weapons) and had all sorts of interesting food like 90% alcohol rice wine, fried scorpions (crunches like cockroach) and boiled snake (chewy like rubber). The nightclubs were brand new and rather empty. And the roads were swarming with motorcycles.
I remember how we passed a shop one day selling local foodstuffs in the open. The next day we walked by again, and miraculously the same food items were now dressed in attractive packaging. We were thoroughly impressed by the entrepreneurship drive of the shopkeepers. I also remember how the taxi driver cheated us with some simple sleight of hand when returning the change, and how my companion recalled in retrospect the look of guilt and regret in his eyes, as if this was a desperate act of survival.
10 years later, we were cheated by a taxi driver again. But this time, it was entirely planned and deliberate, when he took us for a merry-go-round of the city, all the time pretending not to understand a word of English. That man looked and acted like a crook, and he probably did this all the time. And while there are still a lot motorcycles, many have been replaced by cars.
Of course in 10 years, I have changed too. I still have 2 companions, but instead of boys fresh out of NS and raring for adventure, we are now father, mother and toddler. No more adventures for us, we are just here to enjoy the food. And not street food either, the restaurant scene has improved tremendously, still at incredibly affordable prices. A basic 3-star hotel no longer suffices, we had to move to a 5-star on the edge of the city because toddler can't sleep with all the traffic noise. And although now I carry a DSLR, I take much fewer photos since my hands are full with him.
Seeing how one of my favourite cities has changed, I do miss the good old days.
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Sunday, August 31, 2008
weekend in hanoi part ii
Food
Ok, I shall skip to my favourite section. One of the top items on the travel agenda was eating well, and we wanted to sample food across various budgets. Hanoi is of course famous for Pho, and we tried two Pho restaurants. We also tried a variety of other cuisines.
Pho Truang
We picked up a brochure for this restaurant from the tourist info centre, which boasted as having the best authentic Hanoi-style pho. Overall the pho was cheap and good, no complaints. We had our great first bowl of pho here.
Pho 24
Located near the Temple of Literature, we recognised this from some of the travel guide recommendations and popped in to try it. Prices were comparable to Pho Truang (about 28,000VND-39,000 VND for a bowl of Pho), but Pho 24 also had meatballs which were missing from Pho Truang menu. We also felt the broth was superior, although the noodles were slightly less flavoursome. Overall, this was our preferred pho joint. (An interesting note, apparently Pho 24 is actually Southern Vietnamese style, which explains why they provided the accompanying dish of beansprouts and lime wear familiar with in Singapore, whereas Pho Truang did not.)
Bobby Chinn Restaurant
We passed by this restaurant on the way in from the airport, and recognised the name from cooking show fame. We came back the next day to try it for dinner, and had an excellent meal. The food was mainly western style, although they used many Asian spices. Bobby Chinn's quirky humour added to the overall great ambience, which also included red hanging drapes, lovely lighting and two complimentary morsels from the chef. Those certainly added to the experience! Overall the main courses were pretty good, desserts were chocolaty superb, the presentation was excellence par none, and the experience was one of the best I have ever had. (Of course, the great company helped too.) Total cost came up to about 30USD per person.
Ok, I shall skip to my favourite section. One of the top items on the travel agenda was eating well, and we wanted to sample food across various budgets. Hanoi is of course famous for Pho, and we tried two Pho restaurants. We also tried a variety of other cuisines.
Pho Truang
We picked up a brochure for this restaurant from the tourist info centre, which boasted as having the best authentic Hanoi-style pho. Overall the pho was cheap and good, no complaints. We had our great first bowl of pho here.
Pho 24
Located near the Temple of Literature, we recognised this from some of the travel guide recommendations and popped in to try it. Prices were comparable to Pho Truang (about 28,000VND-39,000 VND for a bowl of Pho), but Pho 24 also had meatballs which were missing from Pho Truang menu. We also felt the broth was superior, although the noodles were slightly less flavoursome. Overall, this was our preferred pho joint. (An interesting note, apparently Pho 24 is actually Southern Vietnamese style, which explains why they provided the accompanying dish of beansprouts and lime wear familiar with in Singapore, whereas Pho Truang did not.)
Bobby Chinn Restaurant
We passed by this restaurant on the way in from the airport, and recognised the name from cooking show fame. We came back the next day to try it for dinner, and had an excellent meal. The food was mainly western style, although they used many Asian spices. Bobby Chinn's quirky humour added to the overall great ambience, which also included red hanging drapes, lovely lighting and two complimentary morsels from the chef. Those certainly added to the experience! Overall the main courses were pretty good, desserts were chocolaty superb, the presentation was excellence par none, and the experience was one of the best I have ever had. (Of course, the great company helped too.) Total cost came up to about 30USD per person.
Scallop on Shell
Green Tea Duck
Crab Trio (Soub, Cake, Salad)
Chocolate Mousse
Assorted Brulees (Vanilla, Lemon, Chocolate)
Bobby Chinn's Irreverant Menu
Emperor aka Club De L'Oriental
Emperor was the only Vietnamese restaurant in Hanoi given a 3-star rating by Frommers, so we had to hunt it down. And it was quite a hunt, because the restaurant had relocated to 27 Tong Dan St., Hoan Kiem District (Tel: +84 4-826-8801) as of early 2008. This just goes to show the pace of change in Hanoi now, because the 2007 Frommers review said it was under renovation at the time of writing!
The food there was excellent, with variations on familiar dishes such as chicken in lemon leaves, fried codfish and grilled squid in lemongrass. One interesting dish was the beef wrapped in the local equivalent of betal nut. Another superb dish were the summer rolls, supposedly rated "Best Summer Rolls" by the NYTimes. The best part was the price, which came up to only about USD20 per person, for probably the most delicious meal we had on the trip. The decor and ambience was also lovely, living up to the old name of Emperor with a very old majestic feel, although it didn't quite project the unique experience of Bobby Chinn.
Prawn Summer Rolls
Fried Cod Fish
Beef in Betel Leaves
There has been much raving about Fanny Mae Ice Cream on the web. I just thought I'd state for the record that it was ok, but I didn't find it particularly outstanding.
to be continued ...
photos will be updated as travel partners' pictures become available
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
weekend in hanoi part i
The weekend in Hanoi was filled with memorable food ventures, although other explorations were slightly dampened by the city sauna. To pre-empt the inevitable "how was Hanoi" questions, as well as "what is good in Hanoi", I am putting down all my travel tips and recommendations here for posterity.
Flight and Lodging
We flew to Hanoi via Tiger Airways at a bargain price of about $200 per person, even though the oil price at that time was practically at its peak (Jul 08). We stayed at the Somerset Grand Hanoi, which is a serviced apartment under the Ascott group. It was an excellent apartment with three bedrooms, living room and kitchen, perfect for five people to live in luxury. The price came up to about S$60 per person per night.
Local Transport
Taxis in Hanoi are really cheap, so much so that the exact location of your hotel doesn't really matter. We could get to most places within the Old Quarter for less than 3 SGD, provided we took one important precaution. Ensure that the taxi's meter is encased by tamper-proof acrylic, otherwise a short ride that should be less than 2SGD could quickly become 6SGD. That is probably the most practical travel tip I can give anyone travelling to Hanoi, I'm surprised it wasn't stated in any of our guidebooks.
to be continued...
Flight and Lodging
We flew to Hanoi via Tiger Airways at a bargain price of about $200 per person, even though the oil price at that time was practically at its peak (Jul 08). We stayed at the Somerset Grand Hanoi, which is a serviced apartment under the Ascott group. It was an excellent apartment with three bedrooms, living room and kitchen, perfect for five people to live in luxury. The price came up to about S$60 per person per night.
Local Transport
Taxis in Hanoi are really cheap, so much so that the exact location of your hotel doesn't really matter. We could get to most places within the Old Quarter for less than 3 SGD, provided we took one important precaution. Ensure that the taxi's meter is encased by tamper-proof acrylic, otherwise a short ride that should be less than 2SGD could quickly become 6SGD. That is probably the most practical travel tip I can give anyone travelling to Hanoi, I'm surprised it wasn't stated in any of our guidebooks.
to be continued...
Friday, June 01, 2007
hang zhou
I really should be sleeping and I know I'll pay for it dearly tomorrow. But something in me just refuses to go to bed; so I guess now is as good a time as any to resume writing about the Shanghai trip.
We made a weekend trip to Hang Zhou, reputed to be one of the most famous places on earth (from the Chinese idiom shang4 you3 tian1 tang2 xia4 you3 su1 hang2). So we took a 2-hour train ride from an amazingly intricate station. Why can't Singapore have nice public structures like that? Check out this intricate honeycomb of a roof it has ...
I was savouring the thought of some peaceful idyll after the hustle and bustle of Shanghai's busy city streets. It was not to be. Upon stepping off the train, we were mobbed by local tour agents like a pack of jackals. Sensing our indecision (we didn't really have plans, preferring to be spontaneous), they descended upon us trying to push all manner of tour packages upon us until we quickly and firmly retreated to the taxi stand and caught a cab to a randomly chosen jetty on the West Lake (Xi1 Hu2).
To cut a long story short, Hang Zhou was indeed quite beautiful. But it was totally and utterly ruined because of all the locals thronging the place, clogging up walkways and cluttering up the sparse buildings. Did I mention that locals are none to polite? It just became very stressful overall, and we retreated into the tourist enclave to find the most atas restaurant possible for some peace and quiet. At least price was a barrier we could hide behind; and so we found ourselves in a japanese pizza parlour eating tepanyaki and playing Boggle overlooking a locale that could easily be mistaken for Harvard Square or any other American town with boutique-lined streets.
Over Boggle, we observed that the Boggle set was probably older than any of us. A true family heirloom - we wondered just how many countries it had travelled to. And isn't it interesting how personal belongings acquire an added sense of value when they have travelled the world with you? Of course, this led to sibling rivalry.
Sister 1: I really like my Diesel shoes, even though they are so dirty. A kangaroo left a muddy pawprint on it. Did a kangaroo ever step on your frisbee?
Sister 2: No, but a cow stepped on it in Switzerland. And he went to Scotland with me as well.
Me: As the firstborn son I claim the boggle set.
We made a weekend trip to Hang Zhou, reputed to be one of the most famous places on earth (from the Chinese idiom shang4 you3 tian1 tang2 xia4 you3 su1 hang2). So we took a 2-hour train ride from an amazingly intricate station. Why can't Singapore have nice public structures like that? Check out this intricate honeycomb of a roof it has ...
I was savouring the thought of some peaceful idyll after the hustle and bustle of Shanghai's busy city streets. It was not to be. Upon stepping off the train, we were mobbed by local tour agents like a pack of jackals. Sensing our indecision (we didn't really have plans, preferring to be spontaneous), they descended upon us trying to push all manner of tour packages upon us until we quickly and firmly retreated to the taxi stand and caught a cab to a randomly chosen jetty on the West Lake (Xi1 Hu2).
To cut a long story short, Hang Zhou was indeed quite beautiful. But it was totally and utterly ruined because of all the locals thronging the place, clogging up walkways and cluttering up the sparse buildings. Did I mention that locals are none to polite? It just became very stressful overall, and we retreated into the tourist enclave to find the most atas restaurant possible for some peace and quiet. At least price was a barrier we could hide behind; and so we found ourselves in a japanese pizza parlour eating tepanyaki and playing Boggle overlooking a locale that could easily be mistaken for Harvard Square or any other American town with boutique-lined streets.
Over Boggle, we observed that the Boggle set was probably older than any of us. A true family heirloom - we wondered just how many countries it had travelled to. And isn't it interesting how personal belongings acquire an added sense of value when they have travelled the world with you? Of course, this led to sibling rivalry.Sister 1: I really like my Diesel shoes, even though they are so dirty. A kangaroo left a muddy pawprint on it. Did a kangaroo ever step on your frisbee?
Sister 2: No, but a cow stepped on it in Switzerland. And he went to Scotland with me as well.
Me: As the firstborn son I claim the boggle set.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
shanghai
It is rather stressful to visit a country where all the tourist guides are screaming "the locals are out to cheat you of your money!" That's what they said about Shanghai. So it was with some mild trepedition that we boarded the plane - but it was by far overpowered by the relief of getting away from the rat race, and the excitement and anticipation of seeing a new country and visiting the baby sister.
Roads
The adventure began the moment we got off the plane, with the most hair-raising taxi ride ever. our driving was weaving in and out of traffic doing 140 km/h, flashing his lights and horning at everyone that got in the way. (On hindsight I decided it was safer that he flashed and horned, but if I was any of the other drivers we passed he would surely have raised my ire.) So I smiled knowingly when I saw this headline on STI upon our return to Singapore: "Shanghai drivers told to hold the horn".
Cityscape
Driving through Shanghai is like driving through any modern city today, with elevated highways snaking in and around the city centre, and tall skyscrapers springing up every which way. A leisurely stroll down the city streets gives a much different experience, and you can really appreciate the full range of architectural styles, both classic and modern. Shanghai is like a microcosm for all cultures - in one moment you can be walking through high glass-walled boutiqes like 5th Avenue in NYC, the next moment you pass impressive colonial British fascades, and then sandwiched between a mall and a skyscraper you spy a chinese temple peeking out cheekily from another era. If there was one thing I will remember with fondness of Shanghai, it is the lovely buildings in a myriad of architectural styles. (Interestingly, my uncle who works there expressed his distaste at all the new buildings, which he sees as all the local architects striving to outdo each other with gaudier and gaudier designs. So I suppose it is possible to tire of it.)
People
While not everyone in Shanghai is out to cheat you of your money, most wouldn't have any qualms about profiting obscenely from your ignorance. The people in Shanghai are rude, impatient and very pushy when it comes to sales. This took some of the pleasure away from bargain-hunting, and made the overall shopping experience quite tiring at times. We were quite glad that we had come now, rather than on our honeymoon which was one of our previous plans.
Clothing
Another popular stop we made was at the tailors. Suits for S$120, shirts for S$20, cheongsams for S$60, and all manner of designs to choose from. And of course the girls went wild with all the other cheap clothes, shoes and bags.
... to be continued ...
Roads
The adventure began the moment we got off the plane, with the most hair-raising taxi ride ever. our driving was weaving in and out of traffic doing 140 km/h, flashing his lights and horning at everyone that got in the way. (On hindsight I decided it was safer that he flashed and horned, but if I was any of the other drivers we passed he would surely have raised my ire.) So I smiled knowingly when I saw this headline on STI upon our return to Singapore: "Shanghai drivers told to hold the horn".
Cityscape
Driving through Shanghai is like driving through any modern city today, with elevated highways snaking in and around the city centre, and tall skyscrapers springing up every which way. A leisurely stroll down the city streets gives a much different experience, and you can really appreciate the full range of architectural styles, both classic and modern. Shanghai is like a microcosm for all cultures - in one moment you can be walking through high glass-walled boutiqes like 5th Avenue in NYC, the next moment you pass impressive colonial British fascades, and then sandwiched between a mall and a skyscraper you spy a chinese temple peeking out cheekily from another era. If there was one thing I will remember with fondness of Shanghai, it is the lovely buildings in a myriad of architectural styles. (Interestingly, my uncle who works there expressed his distaste at all the new buildings, which he sees as all the local architects striving to outdo each other with gaudier and gaudier designs. So I suppose it is possible to tire of it.)
People
While not everyone in Shanghai is out to cheat you of your money, most wouldn't have any qualms about profiting obscenely from your ignorance. The people in Shanghai are rude, impatient and very pushy when it comes to sales. This took some of the pleasure away from bargain-hunting, and made the overall shopping experience quite tiring at times. We were quite glad that we had come now, rather than on our honeymoon which was one of our previous plans.
The Propoganda Museum
The only touristy sightseeing thing we did in Shanghai, apart from all the eating and shopping, was to visit the Shanghai Propoganda Poster Art Centre. Nestled in the basement of a condominium, this little-known private museum provided a very interesting angle on Chinese history during the communist era. Captions beside each poster related it to changes in the political climate as major event and upheavals brought newe issues to the fore, as well as the artistic influences at play during each period. Definitely worth a visit!
Food
Clothing
Another popular stop we made was at the tailors. Suits for S$120, shirts for S$20, cheongsams for S$60, and all manner of designs to choose from. And of course the girls went wild with all the other cheap clothes, shoes and bags.
... to be continued ...
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