Free Pass for the Elderly...

One thing I really like about Saigon is the ability some people, in this case the elderly, have to make me smile about things that under other circumstances would annoy me, greatly.

How can you not smile looking at this dignified, chic man on his motorbike, in his PJs & slippers in the middle of the day, on one of the busiest streets in the city? (parked right in front of the recently opened Chanel boutique).

The father of the man who owns our building also stays in his PJs all day long! He walks around the neighborhood and down the block to have his phổ in the morning, sitting outside, without a care in the world that most people walking or driving by him are in their suits for work. We've even seen him attending community meetings in his PJs! I think if saw a bunch of middle aged people walking around from 7am until 11pm in their pajamas everyday, I wouldn't have the same reaction but the elderly get a free pass.

His wife often grabs my arm when I walk in or out of the building and says nice things like "you should go and rest", "you're a good wife because you work hard" or "you should go and eat". I really, really, really don't like it when people other than my family or close friends touch me (unless its an air hug). But elderly people here tend to grab, lean or push on me frequently and I think it's kind of funny, so again, free pass in my book.

The biggest free pass which older people here enjoy is cutting to the front of the line. This happens everywhere- the market, the airport, the bank or anywhere else there is a line. Many people try to cut to the front of the line here, another major pet peeve, but if it's a much older person, I just let them go because I know they aren't going to stop pressing into me or others unless I let them. I can't help but laugh and shake my head at their persistence and what they can get away with because of their age :)

Cyclos aka Xích Lô!

Riding a cyclo is the best way to see a city in Vietnam; buses, motor-
bikes and taxis are too fast and if cycling on your own you must focus 110% on the insane traffic. Also, most people, after walking for about 10 minutes in south Vietnam start sweating profusely, with the exception of 1-2.5 months out of the year; the same is true for the summer months in the north and central regions. Unlike the motorized tuk tuk or rickshaws & trishaws in Asia, cyclo drivers sit on a high seat behind the passenger(s), rather than in front. So, to see a good part of the city with a nice breeze at a leisurely pace yet without expending energy in the brutal heat, cyclos are the way to go (if you can live with the guilt of the, often tiny, person behind you sweating for two+). The amount of weight- of people and/or products- I’ve seen small much older men pedaling around the city is truly incredible! (see last photo) A ride usually costs about $1.50 for a 10-20 minute ride in the city center. Many cyclo drivers in Saigon fought alongside the South Vietnamese & Americans during the war which made it impossible for them to find any other type of work. Several of them speak English quite well and love to joke around, especially when it comes time to pay them the set fee agreed upon at the beginning of the ride. Unfortunately, there is a push to rid Saigon of cyclos and the number of streets they are allowed to drive on is diminishing. So visit soon to ride one in Saigon or if you can’t visit then see the Vietnamese film “Xích Lô” - not really a substitute but it's a good film!












cyclo driver carrying a man and a motorbike. Photo by: http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~cremer/VietPics/SaigonDay3BikeMoto.jpg

Serious Siestas

Everyday, from some time around 12:30 to 2:00pm you can find people sleeping all over the city, since right after eating lunch many people take a nap. You can even find people sleeping on their motorbikes! I still haven't figured out how they can curl up on their seat, balance and sleep with the bike parked on the sidewalk of a loud & busy major street.
My first encounter with the seriousness of the siesta was when the door of our conference room at the office was marked "occupied", though I was sure there was no one inside as not a sound could be heard coming from the room. Since I needed to set up for a presentation, I opened the door and much to my surprise found a colleague sleeping, sprawled across about 5 chairs he had lined up in a row to make a bed! It suddenly clicked why so many of my colleagues had little pillows at their desks- they were somewhere hiding in the office taking a nap after lunch :) Some of my newer colleagues aren't as discreet about their siestas. (see second photo) When I walked back to my desk several weeks ago the lights were off in the room, where I sit, and I saw a mat on the floor under a desk with 2 sets of little feet sticking out! I couldn't help but laugh at how cute it was so I took a photo... We've also seen construction workers sleeping on piles of rubble from demolished buildings (see top photo) and hammocks set up on our sidewalk, which, if you've read from other posts, is on a main street. Whenever I walk by the hammock on our block I sometimes think, "This would be like setting up a hammock to sleep on 23rd St. in Manhattan!" But they do it and I am glad they do because that's just who they are. A couple of reasons for the siesta are the heat in the mid-afternoon, when it's nearly unbearable to work outside during that time of day and also due to the fact that many Vietnamese wake up very early like 4:30/5:00am ungodly early, so about mid-day they need a nap. Some days I've wanted to try taking a nap at my desk like some of my colleagues, but I just never seem to be able to do it...
















Hammock set up on a main street in Saigon

Location, Location, Location

Saigon is a great hub for travel nationally and inter-nationally. And the best part is the flights are very very inexpensive- and sometimes free! For example,


Old French Map of Saigon (click on the photo to see where our place is located)

AirAsia ran a great promotion last year where they gave away a million free tickets to destinations like Bali, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Siem Reap, Phuket, Jakarta and more interesting places like Yogayakarta. Another great thing about the location is that most of these flights average only an hour and a half from Saigon.

Late last year, H found tickets to Yogyakarta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site full of ancient temples- the tickets were free and we only paid for the tax which was a whopping $25USD per person RT! We’ve also scored tickets to Bangkok for about $40 for a weekend get away. Saigon also has routes direct to Phuket, Paris, Jakarta, Shanghai and Bangkok and its rumored they will open a direct flight to Copenhagen very soon, which will surely be at a budget rate as all the flights in the region are. Within the country we can get to any of Vietnam’s most beautiful beaches in an hour by flight or
AirAsia.com route map

ferry; the same is true for visiting the country’s many World Heritage Sites.

This week we are headed to Burma aka Myanmar. We’ll take a short hour flight to Bangkok, hit the nightmarket for some excellent Thai food and shopping- then head out the next morning for another hr. flight to Yangon aka Rangoon then spend 9 days celebrating Valentine’s Day, our 5^th wedding anniversary and Tet (Lunar & Chinese New Year) in what used to be the wealthiest South East Asian nation.

Christmas in Saigon

If it weren’t for the tropical weather, Saigon could kind’a feel like many cities in the US during Christmas time, only perhaps with a bit more kitsch and smaller Asian versions of Santa Clause. Many of the streets are lined with thousands of lights, department store windows are decorated with North Pole and nativity scenes. And all of the children about 5 years and under are dressed in little Santa Clause outfits for about a week and come from 15 mins to an hour away to line up to take photos in front of all of the decorations. In one area of the city, District 8, where there are mostly Catholic families, nearly every house on

an entire street, which is about a mile long, is decorated with lights, trees, a very odd looking mammoth sized reindeer and nativity scenes, complete with the every member of the Holy family and the wise men adorned with bright green or yellow halogen light bulb halos. One of my favorite scenes on that street is the Holy family superimposed, on a backdrop, in a green field with rolling hills, in the middle of nowhere, in what looks like Switzerland... (see the second photo) The kitsch of it all is really amusing. Christmas is primarily a commercial holiday here akin to Halloween in the States, although the Notre Dame Cathedral in Saigon is packed out on Christmas Eve. Also, on Christmas Eve everyone comes into the city center just to hang out and see the lights. Last year, we couldn’t even walk for several minutes because it was just too crowded. Christmas in Saigon is comical and fun but it’s certainly not as meaningful for us as being in the States, near to our closest friends, family and church.

Tết Trung Thu - Mid Autumn Festival

Tết Trung Thu, also known as the Mid Autumn Festival or Lantern Festival, is celebrated in Vietnam and among Chinese communities worldwide on the 15th day of every eighth month of the lunar calendar. Every year, about a month before the holiday, stalls selling mooncakes pop up all over Saigon. Mooncakes, in my opinion, are akin to the West's "fruit cake" tradition, which nobody really likes or eats more than a bite of... Mooncake is a pastry made of lotus seed paste and usually has an egg yolk, right in the center which represents the moon. The holiday dates back several centuries and commemorates the end of summer harvesting, among other things; several legends are also associated with the holiday. Lanterns are a big part of the festival & a small little street in Saigon selling lanterns is packed the night of the festival... This year we had a great time celebrating with friends visiting the lantern street & eating mooncakes!


Traditional mooncake (photo by: snpfood.com)

Blooming Water Lily Tea!

This is a hand sewn “tea bag” filled with jasmine & silver needle/white tea. Once steeped, it blooms into a beautiful water lily! I believe the pink flower in the center is an amaranth, but I do not know the Vietnamese word for it, so that cannot be confirmed yet :) These types of tea bags also bloom into other flowers and come from the central highlands region in Vietnam. The photo below is what the “water lily” looks like before steeping. The tea is as nice as it looks and is meant to be served in a glass to enjoy its beauty. The elegant handicrafts here never cease to amaze me…