We spent our first full day in Ho Chi Minh City, otherwise known as Saigon, somewhat unsure of ourselves but ready to dive headlong into it. After consuming a blissful breakfast of banana crepes and tea (courtesy of French colonialism, no less) I was swayed into taking a tour with a local 'xe om' driver whose smile wooed me from the outset. A 'xe om' is a bicycle with a proper seat attached to the front, so that its passenger can enjoy a lolling view of the city around them.
So Sim and I, in individual seats with our drivers, were given a tour of downtown HCMC. First, we were taken to the War Remenants Museum, which focuses predominantly on photography as a means of expressing the inhumanity of the Vietnam War. It reminded me much of the 'Nanjing Massacre Museum' in China, which outlines similar atrocities suffered by the Chinese during the Japanese incursion into Western China. Needless to say, it was a sobering experience, so many photos of bombings, killings, and Agent Orange victims. However, I was pleased with a small section of the exhibition which celebrated the foreign photographers who sought to provide the visual backdrop of the war to the foreign community.
Following this, we were taken to a local factory which produced mosaics and artwork from a variety of materials, including ceramic, mother of pearl, and egg shells. Beautiful stuff, clearly tailored to tourists; a well-executed collaboration between local authorities, the factory owners and the xe om drivers.
From there, we headed to the Notre Dame Cathedral, built in 1860. Beautiful.
Then, onto a local temple; which our driver personally escorted us through, explaining each of the gods and their respective premises. I couldn't help but giggle at his enthusiasm for Simon and I to touch the relevant spiritual elements of the 'fertility' god, which had itself blessed our driver with four healthy children.
Following this, we went to... Where did we go to? It was such a whirlwind tour. Oh, that's right, to the edge of the Saigon River - reminding me of Guangzhou's River (can't remember the name) and pictures of Gaosiang River in Taiwan. By this I mean, a river with sole utilitarian purposes, with little of any real beauty. Nonetheless, our driver spent ten minutes explaining the designs of a number of bonsai plants along the river. Sim felt it a little unneccesary, but I couldn't help but smile - sometimes you need someone to point out the beauty of things for you, otherwise... their significance is meaningless. And I certainly can't remember the last time somebody explained bonsai designs to me. It was great.
We've finished our day with more Tiger beer and book reading. Must run, but more later. x
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Day Two - Ho Chi Minh City - Southern Vietnam
Our Taiwanese Finale - Musings from Ho Chi Minh City - Southern Vietnam - Day Two
It's certainly been a long time between drinks in terms of blog entries, online recordings of our musings and the daily grind. I sit here, somewhat guiltily in that regard, as the rain pours outside - in a manner which dutifully confirms our presence in South East Asia - and wonder how I'm to catch up on everything that's happened over the course of the past fortnight.
So, first things first. We spent our final working week cleaning, posting, loitering and generally distancing ourselves from our Taiwan experience. It was stressful, necessarily so. We felt mightily tense until we took the bus trip out to Taoyuan Airport to pick up Simon's parents last Saturday week. The ride allowed us a view of Taipei County previously unbeknowns to us. In that, the shift from resident to traveller flowed more smoothly, preparing us for a week of travel around the island.
The four of us visited the cities of Jiufen, Hualian (Taroko Gorge) and Puli (Sun Moon Lake). I'll surely get to all that eventually, but it must be said that it was a perfect blend of relaxation, spontaneous spending, hotel rooms and being out in the bliss of the natural environment - the perfect antidote to the ebbs of living in a big city. It was also a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the love of my life with the people who know him best.
Writing about Taiwan from the lobby of a cheap hostel in Ho Chi Minh City, Southern Vietnam, seems more incogrious than I'd envisaged. So I might leave it there for the moment, and allow another set of (promised!) postings of photos to narrate this tale on my behalf.
Apologies for the rambling nature of this post. We are thinking and feeling and coming to grips with the joy of travel, and it's quite heady. More on all later, but until then, all our love. x
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Being big kids again... Formosa Water Park, Bali
This week saw Sim and I figure that we've worked extremely hard over the past few months. In fact, we've found ourselves pretty drained lately, of the ardous, adult (ha!) seriousness that we've had to undertake in order to work in the industry that we do.
To buck the trend, we decided that it was time to reclaim our kid-like selves and have some serious, long overdue, reckless, child-like, unadulterated... fun. And that we did, taking the day off work - reclaiming our long-lost weekends! - as we headed out to Bali, a small fishing county, north of Taipei City.
There we found the 'Formosa Water Fun Park', Taiwan's equivalent of Wet 'n' Wild.Ohh, so much fun... Riding our bums down some seriously awesome water slides, squealing all the while! 12 hectares of water action! (We took a good 5 mins of movie footage...)
With the weather overcast and rainy, we found ourselves among only a small group of a few solitary other slide-lovers; which was an absolute blessing, no queues, no kids... Just us. Ingenious.
Today we'd planned to do some hiking out on the outskirts of Taipei City (up in Yang Min Mountain), however, we found ourselves a little too tired and way too sore to consider any hugely exerting activities. Instead we're saving that for tomorrow, this being the long weekend of Mid-Autumn Festival in Taiwan.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Din Tai Fong and Ice Monster, lazy September Sundays
... past the throng of chefs, all handmaking the dumplings for which Din Tai Fong is famous.
What can I say? The food was utterly delicious, and the vegetarian selection was fantastic. We tried a range of dumplings, from fish, shrimp and mushroom (for me!). We also tried an amazing soy-bean curd dish, with leafy vegetables and a fantastic special fried rice (the best I've ever had.) Finally, we finished off with some red bean dumplings, also hand-made and delectable. In fact, we dipped the dumplings (which were quite sweet) into soy sauce, as the saltiness is said to enhance the sweetness. Delicious!
From there, with full bellies and big smiles, we went around the corner from the restaurant to a local tourist market, which was filled with people - all strolling about during the cool evening. We then went to one of the most famous bing guan (ice stores) in Taiwan, called "Ice Monster". Though we had to line up, soon we were able to enjoy huuuuge, utterly amazing plates of shaved ice covered in fresh chunks of kiwi fruit, strawberries, mango and mango sorbet. Amazing! I don't know how it hasn't taken off in Australia, honestly... :)
All in all, a great night had by all. There's nothing quite like being shown around by our local friends! We'll be having them over for a big Australian Sunday lunch this weekend... What a lovely way to start the working week.
