Vietnam Day II - 走鬼

So many things happen today...very enjoyable and funny day! I believe if you can read chinese word, then you will be wondering why on earth we need to 走鬼? and for those who don't understand that 2 alien words, here it is...走 means walk or move or leave and 鬼 means ghost. but literally they were used to describe illegal hawkers by the road side running away from the officers. So you must continue reading this blog to find out more about our funny experience.

Here it goes...

I woke up very early today, at about 6.30am local time. By 7.30am, we were having our breakfast in the guesthouse.

From here, we walked to the bank nearby to get our money changed and to our surprises, the exchange rate for small and large notes were different. Luckily we have got big notes with us!


First we visited the War Remnants Museum. Here they have documented many of those during the America Vietnam wartime. The tiger cage and the deformed babies were inhumane. War is surely a 'No No' for me. I hope such a museum would serve as a reminder to all world citizen. Please say 'NO to WAR'!

US Air Force jet

inhumane Tiger Cage

Then our next destination was the Reunification Palace. It used to be the President's residence. Despite the poverty and the wartime treat among the nation, the president was enjoying in this palace. He has got a personal movie theater and a casino and a nice roof for his children. So we have this saying in chinese '同人不同命'. Everyone was born the same but somehow or rather each ended up differently. Besides the remarkable grand residence for the president, this palace also housed an important command center of the country. There were top officials offices and advance communication of that time there.

unbelievable...this was the president's office...have ample of money for a deco leopord and a crystal light.

Is that a mobile phone?

Despite the hot weather, we moved on to the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater to purchase our ticket for later tonight...got these tickets early as we worried that they might be sold out. We would not want to risk missing this chance for Vietnam is the only place where we can witness this show. The price was very reasonable at 65,000 VD each. It was approximately RM15 each for 50 minutes show.



Then we walked to the BenThanh market area for lunch. Here we followed the recommendation by the Lonely Planet. We ended up in the Nam Giao, a local favorite dining place. It was hidden in the back ally and seriously, it was difficult to find. However the food was good and worth all the trouble searching for the restaurant.

Hue-style lunch

when it comes to shopping, we are all well alert

After lunch, we went for a stroll round the market...just wanted to check out the price. We ate some ice punch before heading out under the hot sun. The local punch was very much similar to our local cendol...very thick coconut milk in it with some jelly like ingredient.

yummy, yummy...

As we were walking to the Museum of Ho Chi Minh City, we happened to pass by a construction side where suddenly something fell off. So my first reaction when I heard the bumped on the floor was hopped away from the side with both my hands covering my head. While my friend who was walking right behind me then was like being stoned. Didn't do anything much...It was really funny when my 2 other friends at our back described to us how much our actions contrast...well, may be this is just what I was trained for...Be Prepared!

in front of Museum of HCM City

At the museum, we have seen many artifacts from the various periods of this struggle in this country. They have exhibition site on different fields; living activities, craft making, stamps and coins, costumes and customs, religions and believes...pretty interesting collection for us to better understand the nation.

Vietnamese traditional wedding costume

Next we continued to the People's Committee Building just to admire the exterior but sadly, we were not allowed to take any photo here. Then w went to the Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon. The red blocks were very astonishing. I believed a visit to the Notre Name in Paris would be necessary...

Notre Dame of HCM

Next to the Notre Dame was the Central Post Office. Yes...even the PO here was listed as one of the tourist destination. Trust me this place surely worth your time. The interior and exterior were well preserved. Oh yes....I sent a postcard back home too and it costed me only 7,000VD, that was for approximately RM1.40.

Central PO of HCM

After a long day under the hot sun, we decided to head to coffee and ice cream shop at Dong Du Street but was sad to discover that the shop no longer operating. Luckily we still enjoyed our walked there, passing by the City Opera House. Needless to say, the exterior of all opera house or theater are impressive.

Opera House of HCM

And right at the same junction, we were impressived to discover an LV chain shop. It was in a 3 stories tall building. So they have LV in HCM...even Penang does not have one...:-(

LV in Saigon

We continued walking to the Saigon River bank. The water traffic was rather ok. There were few large ship that housed floating restaurants. It would surely be superb to eat while you cruise but well not for us for we are on tight budget...backpackers ma!

I wonder if this is strong enough...

We walked back to the Ben Thanh market for dinner. On our way, we passed by Maybank. For the 1st time, we saw our Malaysia flag hoisted and suave gracefully.

Crazy traffic in HCM

Then at the market...where the most funny event of the day took place. We were half squatting by the road side, trying local hawker food...fried radish cake and phon noodle. Suddenly the hawkers shouted and started to carry their stove and pushed their cart away. Then it straight away came to me that I should run too. I didn't think much but it was a reflective action. And when I was at the side and turned back to check out, Tzy Chin and Pui Ee were moving away from the table but Ee Pheng was again much like stoned. Didn't know what was happening and didn't know how to react...she still wanted to grab on her just bought fried radish cake. Quickly I called out to them and asked them to leave.

Hawker food

Obviously it was a 走鬼 to me...I have not experienced this before but perhaps from all my visual experience from TVB dramas, I just got the message well...we customers didn't really need to run away from officers but we have to escape from the scene as those hawkers may be accelerating blindly and we might be injured.

Well the officers just happened to pass by only. No raid was on. So after a few minutes, the hawkers came back. We were half shock and laughed out loud. We were impressed to see that the hawker returned with our table and all our food on it was still in good condition...not even a single drop of drink spilled. The hawkers invited us to continue our meal, but I decided that we should leave.

As we walked we were laughing out loud...yes...pretty good experience in Vietnam...走鬼 for the 1st time in my life! We continued discussing about that funny experience for almost half hour neglecting the stalls and merchandises in the market.

By 8pm, we were in the Golden Dragon Water Puppet theater to enjoy the water puppet show. I loved the show. The hall was huge but we have got great seats. The puppets were very lively. The music and sound were played live by a group of locals...not some kind of recording or animations. All dressed in local clothing giving extra touches to the show. This show was really hard to produce, all puppets are controlled my man.

Water Puppet Show - Part 5 (Agriculture)



Water Puppet show - Part 10 (Lion Dance)



And we happened to met a group of kind Malaysians here. Shared some experiences...

Malaysians

From the theater, we walked around the city, we passed by many gardens and they were well kept unlike many in Malaysia. I have no intention to criticize but we Malaysians surely need to change!...We have got so much better facility but we choose to remain laid back... :-S

We visited the night market again before heading back here in the guest house. I have bought 2 bags and a t-shirt here...yeah...all at reasonably cheap price after long bargain!

Slept early...Love our itinerary today, a superb day but hate my shoes...my legs were aching...