Vietnam Day V - Shopping Maniac

Last day in HCM, Vietnam...It has been a pretty relaxing day with much shopping work on the agenda.

Our day begun with Phon at the famous Phon 2000. This was a popular restaurant among tourists. However the phon was not as good as compared to the one I had on the previous night in Lac Thien. I wasn't saying that they are not delicious but they were rather plain...much like the Hor Fun Soup in Malaysia. But their red bean punch was superb...I loved it!

Phon 2000

wah...the red bean punch

Then we went to the Cholon, the local Chinatown. First we visited the Chua Ba or the Thien Hau Pagoda in District 5. As it was the 王母娘娘 or the Goddess Empress's birthday, many locals came to pay offerings. Both the exterior and interior were impressive. Most of arches and beams in the temple were made from wood and the joints were boltless and nutless. The practices here were very much similar to in Malaysia, just that most of the temples we have in Malaysia were remodeled and rebuilt using those cold marble and concrete.

this is what we meant by traditional

with Pui Ee...at the entrance to the temple

Next we walked to the Tam Son Hai Quan Pagoda on the opposite road. Seen the 打小人 a lot on the Hong Kong drama but never in my real life. Here I witness this practice. The 神婆(sorry don't know how to explain here) grumbled a lot of prayers as well as curses. Hitting hard on those who did wrong to the so called clients...but anyway it was really interesting to see this practice though personally I do not believe in it. Oh yes...here they have a lot of goddess which was unknown to me or some characters which I have heard of in Chinese history but has never been worship before.

looks ordinary from the outside but inside...lots to discover

Then we moved on to the Nghia An Hoi Quan Pagoda. Also another first time in my life...I did 求签 here...and I got 中吉...which was considered as good...so hope that everything would go smoothly. The architecture was impressive too.

look at the architecture...it was based on old chinese way...different layers or parts for different purpose with opening in the middle

astonishing interior...

Though this nation do not promote themselves as a multi-race country but they indeed has this unique culture. Few doors away, was the Cholon Mosque. Of course it was nothing comparable to those we have in Malaysia...but it was remarkable in this context was because they were able to be live harmonically unlike in Malaysia. Mosques and temples location were crucial. I could still recall what happened in Penang when a Mosque has an Indian Temple as a neighbor.

much influence from the local, Hinduism and Buddhism...different from the modern mosque...similar with those old mosque in Malacca and Penang

Finally, it was our favorite time...shopping! First we went to the Andong Market. It was more like a wholesale fashion market and with a little of everything on the basement. I managed to buy many souvenirs here...yeah...those magnets and photo album.

look...this was taken in the Andong Market on the fashion compartment...the size of the stall was small...so most of the time, the shop keeper has to do their business on the hallway

food stall on the basement

Followed by another shopping trip in Ben Thanh Market...more souvenir with great bargain.

Finally lunch...our lunch in Lotteria Fast Food restaurant was marvelous. I loved those burgers...but the price was almost the same as in Malaysia.

this was Ee Pheng's...I was way to hungry to take any shot of it...haha...

Then another coffee in the Barista...and the theater environment was super for us to relax.

Finally flew off from the airport at about 7.30pm. Again, I have to recognize the Vietnamese attitude...always very nice...and 1st class treatment even you are flying with AirAsia...oh yes some shots with locals in their traditional costume...graceful wasn't they?

international airport with 1st class hospitality

graceful traditional dress

As a whole I love my trip to Vietnam. Thanks to Ee Pheng, Tzy Chin and Pui Ee for the great company and of course for their trust in me being the blind guide there...well I hope that I have proven myself well.

my trophies here...I would have to show off here...haha...guess what are they?

yes...another great photo album...another one from abroad

and this is a coffee maker...simple to use and environment friendly...haha...no need electricity to steam

Vietnam Day IV - Cruise down Mekong

We took another short trip today to the Mekong Delta organized by the Delta Adventure Tour.

Our guides today were Viet and and Phat. Both were very humorous guys.

Our guide, Viet was briefing us on our itinerary.

Phat...

We departed at 7.30am from our guest house. We left on a bus to the Cai Be town where we boarded our boat. The journey was about 2 and a half hours long. At Cai Be, we boarded the wooden boat. The boat has many fordable wooden chair. They were very comfortable and steady for the cruise.

Before boarding the boat

the wooden craft

On the Mekong River, there were crafts and ships of all sizes and capacities. This was a very important waterway of the locals. Their daily livelihood revolves around it. All washing, cooking and even sleeping were in th boat. And the river has also become the communication points with the neighbouring Cambodia and their urban countrymen.

daily activities on Mekong River

church by the bank

all boats here as the same 2 eyes at the front...part of the local myth

On the boat, we first cruised to the floating market. This market was different from the floating market in Bangkok. It was more like a wholesale market. Here the barter system was used. Traders hung their items up like a flag to notify others on their merchant items. We could see many pineapples, pumpkins and other seasoning fruits hosted on the bamboo sticks.

Then we headed to the coconut candy factory. The coconut candy making process was really complicated. The candy was made from pure coconut milk. The coconut was break, flesh was first shred and pressed for milk. Then the milk was cooked for long hours until it thickened.

the coconut candy making

Besides that, we witnessed the making of the spring roll wrapper...from the rice flour mixture to the steamer then to be dried and finally cut into small pieces.

spring roll wrapper steamer

Making rice cracker

Met a friendly couple from Israel...if we are not allowed into Israel and Israelien ont allowed into Malaysia, then perhaps Vietnam is the place.

Then we walked to the nearby pop rice factory. The making process was rather interesting. First they heated the earth taken from the river. Then they put in raw paddy. The paddy would popped like what we normally see in the popcorn making. But the difference here was, the paddy would pop forming the rice pop and the husk would be separated. The pop rice would be filtered to remove the husk and the earth. Then caramel and maltose would be added.

frying the earth and paddy

removing the husk and earth

After the visit, we boarded the boat again and headed to one of the island in the Delta Mekong. Here we had a great lunch. After the good lunch, we were given an hour to cycle round the island, but my friends and I chose to stay in and rest on the hammock while enjoying the breeze. How wonderful if we could do this in Malaysia...staying in kampung and enjoyed the scenery.




By 2.30pm, we left the restaurant and took a kayak ride. 4 in a kayak and with a traditional Vietnamese hat on us. We dared not move much as worried that the kayak would capsized. When Ee Pheng's umbrella flew off, we was worried that the sudden movement would got us all wet. Luckily the ride along the peaceful river and great scenery along the river was enjoyable.

love these photos...taken on the kayak with the great blue sky

Finally we were back on the boat and had a bumpy ride to the Vinh Long. The wave and current were very strong.

Back in the HCM city, we took a taxi ride to the Cholon or the Chinatown of HCM. We got a delicious dinner of fried beef noodle in the Tiem An Nam Long. The restaurant owner was very friendly and nice. He showed us all the great attractions around and recommended us the best coffee bean around. The aroma was very strong, so I bought 2 packets back.

yummy dinner

taken during our walk round Chinatown...dragon sculpture in public garden...surely don't have this in Msia

Our days in Vietnam has been dried. So on our last night here, we decided to go for a drink and some snacks in the Lam Cafe.



What a great day...hoped that this trip could be longer!

happy 4 backpackers

Vietnam Day III - Deep in the earth & AK47

We took an organized tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Cao Dai Temple by the Delta Adventure Tours today.

Our guide of the day, Minh

We started my day with a strong aroma Vietnam coffee, bread and egg. Our tour guide company rep picked us up from guest house at 8am. The bus journey to the Cao Dai temple was about 3 hours long. In Vietnam, they did sound the horn very often but unlike in Cambodia, their road condition was better. They have 2 lanes along the way. Hence less horns and not continuously and not that irritating.

Along the way, we passed by paddy fields and small villages. Though Cambodia was just miles away, but the living standard was different. Here, almost every house was powered by electric and has TVs at home. Antenna can be seen shooting up. And almost all houses were made of bricks. No more wooden house here. Mostly have a fencing or gate and they were build on ground. I remembered most houses in rural area of Cambodia was raised on 4 pillars.

The great craftmen

En route, we went to the Handicap Handicraft center. We visited the factory where the crafts were produced. The master piece was unique and so detailed. However to to our budget constrained, we purchased nothing there. Wishing them all the best!

With the master pieces

An hour ride later, we arrived at the Caodai Holy See. This complex housed the Caodai Great Temple of Caodaism religion. This was a local founded religion. It was a combination of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, native Vietnamese spiritualism, Christianity and Islam.

the symbol of the Cao Dai

The Great Temple Complex

The great temple was impressive. It has dragon pillars of 2 stories high. Pillars surrounding the globe of eye. I believed that the globe was the symbol of the believe. On the great altar, you would see the many religious icons...Buddha, Jade Emperor, Jesus and I could never imagine that all these could be placed together under 1 roof...what a harmony world!

look at the goddess icon in the Great Temple

pillars of the world

The ritual or the prayer session was well mannered. There were rules for everything, the seating, bow and etc.



Our lunch today sucked...very expensive!

The Cu Chi Tunnel was build hidden in the jungle. The guerrillas were smart in building the tunnel network...making Saigon River their emergency exit...utilizing all natural resources...reuse and collect scrape metal of US Army bomb to build their own bomb. They made simple but brutal weapons. This was totally different from what they have showed in the RAMBO.

brutal trap

look at how small the holes were

The most exciting event of the day, was the AK47 riffle shots and the tunnel crawl. Never got the feel of the deadly weapon. The momentum and the sound was really large. Luckily we are all equipped with our own ear bud. I could not believe that I have just fired 5 shots. I didn't know how many actually hit the target board as everything was so fast.

aimed and aimed

the deadly bullets on my hand

While the tunnel, I could only described it as scary. It was in total darkness. I could hear the sound of me crawling, smell the soil and touch the earth. I could only moved forward, crawling like a baby. The tunnel height and width were approximately 80cm and 60cm respectively.

it was really small and sophisticated.

the ranger that led us through the tunnel

After the video session, we headed back to the Motorcycle City. The journey was very long and tiring.

Back in the town, we went hunting for Lac Thien, another restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet...but as our issue was quiet outdated, the restaurant has moved a block a way. So we went round and round. It was all worth it when we got a great meal. The hue-style food served here was excellent. The best that I have had since I arrived int his city...Oh yes...this was a must come restaurant according to the book for it was ran by deaf people...so while you eat happily, you are doing something in helping others. Don't worry the waitress was not deaf perhaps it was just the persons at the back...food was cheap...not too expensive for a charity organization...and the Phon...yummy yummy!

Yummy Phon

After the meal, we walked to the nearby supermarket. It was crazily packed. I just wondered what it would be like on weekend...oh god! We bought some local products. Among them were some dried phon and noodles. And a box of Vinamilk green bean ice cream...yummy! From our survey, grocery there was rather cheap compared to in Malaysia.

our local cakes, ice cream and yogurt

By the end of the day, we went to a restaurant claimed to be the best authentic Italian and Vietnamese in town for a coffee. But the coffee was rather poor...

Apart from the food today, we were happy and enjoyed our day here!