Hot Hot Hot!!!!
Well, here I am finally in VN. I am sitting without doing anything but still sweat like hell...
After 14hrs of flight, I arrived in the "international airport" in Saigon yesterday morning. I didn't sleep very well the day before my flight, therefore my head was spinning, I felt a bit sick when I arrived. Malaysia airline was not bad, the girls are pretty although the service was a bit less than what I had expected, food was really not so good. But the flight was smooth.
I met Koyama-san, a Japanese chap in Paris, he was flying back to Osaka, and was studying in Liege, quite an interesting guy. We flew over Germany, Eastern European countries, crossed the airspaces of India, Thailand, then to Kuala Lumpur. On board, I made friend with a Malaysian airhostess (written her name but don't have it here, so she proposed to show me around when I come to Kuala Lumpur), very nice, sweet girl. She asked me "whereabout in France, Belgium is?" and had no idea Saigon is Ho Chi Minh or Saigon is Hanoi? ;-), wonder why she does not know eventhough she flew there and has a chinese-vietnamese friend?
Mom picked me up from airport, weather is super hot!!! Everybody says I lose weight compare to 6 months ago, the neighbours are asking when I am getting married...and grandmom thinks because I climb, so no guys are interested in me ;-0), same old story. Went to a place about 25km from Saigon, took about 40 mins of car drive, very nice, remind me of the bush where I spent one part of my childhood. And I rode my Honda dream (despite mom's disagreement) to go the city, and it was so cool ;-). The rules are:
1. Riding it with your eyes, meaning no stopping at red light, and when there is a roundabout, just continue to go left or right as you wish or go to one way street like other people ;-)
2. Riding it at the speed of other people, not yours ;-), don't avoid pedestrians, they MUST avoid you ;-)
3. enjoy it ;-)
I saw a couple on a Honda, and they were both wearing the polution protection in the SAME design with a little cat, so cheesy i thought. In many places for eating or else, I have been asking the same question "where are the women???" ;-). Do women not need to eat or have fun like the men here?
Apparently, hotel management was a good choice for subject, they are building plenty of resorts near the beaches, and plenty of hotels, so tourism is really booming, and guess what Belgium beer is appreciated, and quite expensive here in Saigon, the normal Vnese drinks mostly Tiger beer, which is tasteless, like drinking tea with a bit of sake ;-). Prices of real estate is rising, and they are enlarging the city itself. The rent rate is about 1000 US dollars (according to a French guy who is going to move to Saigon next year for 3 years, he is desperately looking for apparment, met him on the flight, he is going to Bali to do a report) in a new district that my aunt has invested in an appartment (which they will deliver next June).
VN tourism needs good infrastructure, from the plane, the city is really ugly, look like a big gabage waste...Houses are built according to each person's taste (I am not so proud of the colour they chose for their houses), one house is tall, the other is thin...Most people who invest in real estate in Saigon are VNese from the North, btw.
I am in heaven regarding foods and fruits!!!! Coconut, dragon fruit, duran, longans, papaya...Mangoes are not in season otherwise, can still find them but more expensive than they should be a few months ago. Fishes, and shrimps are cheap anf fresh...I have been eating since 6 am until 11pm. Yesterday, I "destroyed" 2 bowls of noodle soups, speciality of the Centre of VN, Yummy!!!
I missed the ghost festival, it was a few days ago before I came, so no free good vegetarian food in pagoda ;-(, but mom still has to give foods worshipping the ghost, so we will it tomorrow, normally the kids will come to fight for the food ;-), looking forward.
It's good to be home. I have felt very calm the moment I was on the train to Paris to take the flight. It was as if nothing could matter because I would be home. No more worries about unimportant things, no more stresses about what the future will become. And just like that, I am feeling I don't want to be elsewhere than VN (for the first time, btw). Manu has sent me an e-mail to ask if the flight went well...Normally, Brian will give me a call soon, and Mary-Rose is also coming not so later after him...This weekend I might leave for Dalat, Nha Trang depending on how things will be.
It was quite interesting when my little cousin asked me which one is the bad guy when i took her to the War Remnant Museum. Of course, I have to find a good way to explain, but let her know it was my view because I was not born yet, so i was not a perfect person to tell her...Saigon has been changing dramatically the last couple of years, and despite big efforts, the government is now encouraging Vnese who live abroad to come back because to run an economy, I guess we need people which brain, not just someone who is good in flighting in war. Winning a war is different from running an economy of 80 millions of people!!! It's a good sign, I think.
In short, Saigon is still growing in many aspects, number of people who come from other parts of the country, houses, more Honda, Suzuki, more cars, hotter (??), more polluted, more busy...Forget something interesting, maybe I should import Viagra, it seems like it will become a good business because they do not have good one here or if there is, it might be fake!!! I wonder ;-P
...To be continued...
After 14hrs of flight, I arrived in the "international airport" in Saigon yesterday morning. I didn't sleep very well the day before my flight, therefore my head was spinning, I felt a bit sick when I arrived. Malaysia airline was not bad, the girls are pretty although the service was a bit less than what I had expected, food was really not so good. But the flight was smooth.
I met Koyama-san, a Japanese chap in Paris, he was flying back to Osaka, and was studying in Liege, quite an interesting guy. We flew over Germany, Eastern European countries, crossed the airspaces of India, Thailand, then to Kuala Lumpur. On board, I made friend with a Malaysian airhostess (written her name but don't have it here, so she proposed to show me around when I come to Kuala Lumpur), very nice, sweet girl. She asked me "whereabout in France, Belgium is?" and had no idea Saigon is Ho Chi Minh or Saigon is Hanoi? ;-), wonder why she does not know eventhough she flew there and has a chinese-vietnamese friend?
Mom picked me up from airport, weather is super hot!!! Everybody says I lose weight compare to 6 months ago, the neighbours are asking when I am getting married...and grandmom thinks because I climb, so no guys are interested in me ;-0), same old story. Went to a place about 25km from Saigon, took about 40 mins of car drive, very nice, remind me of the bush where I spent one part of my childhood. And I rode my Honda dream (despite mom's disagreement) to go the city, and it was so cool ;-). The rules are:
1. Riding it with your eyes, meaning no stopping at red light, and when there is a roundabout, just continue to go left or right as you wish or go to one way street like other people ;-)
2. Riding it at the speed of other people, not yours ;-), don't avoid pedestrians, they MUST avoid you ;-)
3. enjoy it ;-)
I saw a couple on a Honda, and they were both wearing the polution protection in the SAME design with a little cat, so cheesy i thought. In many places for eating or else, I have been asking the same question "where are the women???" ;-). Do women not need to eat or have fun like the men here?
Apparently, hotel management was a good choice for subject, they are building plenty of resorts near the beaches, and plenty of hotels, so tourism is really booming, and guess what Belgium beer is appreciated, and quite expensive here in Saigon, the normal Vnese drinks mostly Tiger beer, which is tasteless, like drinking tea with a bit of sake ;-). Prices of real estate is rising, and they are enlarging the city itself. The rent rate is about 1000 US dollars (according to a French guy who is going to move to Saigon next year for 3 years, he is desperately looking for apparment, met him on the flight, he is going to Bali to do a report) in a new district that my aunt has invested in an appartment (which they will deliver next June).
VN tourism needs good infrastructure, from the plane, the city is really ugly, look like a big gabage waste...Houses are built according to each person's taste (I am not so proud of the colour they chose for their houses), one house is tall, the other is thin...Most people who invest in real estate in Saigon are VNese from the North, btw.
I am in heaven regarding foods and fruits!!!! Coconut, dragon fruit, duran, longans, papaya...Mangoes are not in season otherwise, can still find them but more expensive than they should be a few months ago. Fishes, and shrimps are cheap anf fresh...I have been eating since 6 am until 11pm. Yesterday, I "destroyed" 2 bowls of noodle soups, speciality of the Centre of VN, Yummy!!!
I missed the ghost festival, it was a few days ago before I came, so no free good vegetarian food in pagoda ;-(, but mom still has to give foods worshipping the ghost, so we will it tomorrow, normally the kids will come to fight for the food ;-), looking forward.
It's good to be home. I have felt very calm the moment I was on the train to Paris to take the flight. It was as if nothing could matter because I would be home. No more worries about unimportant things, no more stresses about what the future will become. And just like that, I am feeling I don't want to be elsewhere than VN (for the first time, btw). Manu has sent me an e-mail to ask if the flight went well...Normally, Brian will give me a call soon, and Mary-Rose is also coming not so later after him...This weekend I might leave for Dalat, Nha Trang depending on how things will be.
It was quite interesting when my little cousin asked me which one is the bad guy when i took her to the War Remnant Museum. Of course, I have to find a good way to explain, but let her know it was my view because I was not born yet, so i was not a perfect person to tell her...Saigon has been changing dramatically the last couple of years, and despite big efforts, the government is now encouraging Vnese who live abroad to come back because to run an economy, I guess we need people which brain, not just someone who is good in flighting in war. Winning a war is different from running an economy of 80 millions of people!!! It's a good sign, I think.
In short, Saigon is still growing in many aspects, number of people who come from other parts of the country, houses, more Honda, Suzuki, more cars, hotter (??), more polluted, more busy...Forget something interesting, maybe I should import Viagra, it seems like it will become a good business because they do not have good one here or if there is, it might be fake!!! I wonder ;-P
...To be continued...
posted by Vagabonder @ 11:29 AM
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