Archive for the ‘scribbles’ Category

snaps & scribbles | vietnam ::

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

:: see below for some photos and anecdotal (sometimes random) notes from a recent trip I took to southern Vietnam. This was only my second time in Vietnam, so please correct me if I got anything wrong. Thanks.  // AjS

snaps ::

scribbles ::

  • Vietnam is really two words and should be spelled Viet Nam.
  • Pepsi not Coke.
  • I have never seen stores selling caskets before. In Vietnam such stores are all along the roadside. It’s very sad to see a stack of children-sized caskets ready for the sell.
  • There are a lot catholic churches in Vietnam.
  • Vietnamese cemeteries are above ground and beautiful.
  • Warrior sneakers and Tiger beer are the only Chinese brands I noticed in the Vietnamese market.
  • Pho is of course never better than in Vietnam.
  • Motorbikes not cars.
  • Vietnam has some of the most interesting signage, particularly government propaganda anti-smoking, and disease awareness signs.
  • Vietnamese people don’t stare, at you in fact, you’re lucky if they look at you at all.
  • Some local fishing boats look like teacups floating in the water.
  • In-store / shop / home Buddhist shrines have flashing neon lights.
  • Quite a few people speak Mandarin. More than I would have expected.
  • Samsung and NOKIA seem to be market leaders in the hand set space in Vietnam.
  • A few KFC, no McDonalds. A good thing.
  • WIFI internet access is fairly readily available in HCM city. The fastest internet connection I’ve accessed in years in in the HCM city airport courtesy of Vietnam Airlines.
  • Vietnamese coffee is still the best coffee in the world to me.
  • Automobile horns are different…they are considerably louder, at a higher pitch, and more annoying.
  • Buildings are tall, skinny, and deep.
  • Motorcycle helmets is a good industry to be in.
  • “Same same.” is a full and proper sentence in Vietnam.
  • Unlike the most of the rest of East Asia, Karaoke is not a very big deal here.
  • Barefoot.
  • Limes, not lemons.
  • Bugs are bigger here.
  • What’s the point of the last 3 zeros in local currency?
  • The Mekong River is very muddy.
  • The Vietnamese, like almost every country I’ve ever visited (accept Germany) appear to be quite patriotic.
  • There is no subway in HCM city, although I understand that is going to change soon.
  • Although the official name is apparently HCM city, most local people still seem to refer to it as Saigon. Saigon sounds much better, but
  • HCM was a pretty interesting guy and probably worst have a big Vietnamese city named after him.
  • A lot of graffiti tags, but couldn’t really find and proper pieces.
  • There is an odd and very obvious surplus of older Western men with badly done arm tattoos running around this country.
  • Palm trees and coconuts.
  • To my great delight, 8bit Nintendo is still played by the average Vietnamese “gamer”
  • The Saigon River-front in downtown HCM city reminds of what Shanghai must have looked like in the late 80s or so.
  • Bread appears to be a pretty standard part of local cuisine…unlike most other East Asian countries.
  • Petro not gas.