The daily sights and sounds of Saigon never fail to disappoint.
Take “Goldfish Alley”, the street to which the guy in this picture is no doubt headed. It contains, on most days, about half a dozen enthusiastic traders offering what I can only reason, given the hot weather here, is something more akin to a boil-in-the-bag dinner for one, rather than a new pet for the kids.
Late to the party, as usual, I’ve been enjoying the work of Yang Liu – a Chinese-German artist http://www.yangliudesign.com/ whose interpretations of the differences between these two cultures is captured in her East vs West series.
Interpretations which make for some fun talking points for a Brit like me, who has now been living in Vietnam for a year or so. Take a look at your leisure…
Continue readingOne of the other perks – aside from the sunshine, addictive food, friendly people and out of this world caffeine experiences – of living in Saigon, is the close proximity to some of the region’s enticing, and inspiring, neighbouring countries.
Take Singapore, for example. I have been here for 24 hours, attending a conference, and despite so far spending the majority of my time here cooped up in windowless rooms on an (albeit uber plush) university campus, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the brief transition from the bustle of Saigon life to the serene and functional order that is Singapore.
I know, despite this, that I’ll be just as eager to board my plane home on Wednesday, however the intervening hours experiencing this very different aspect of South East Asian life has been novel.
From the moment you board the skytrain at Singapore airport and head into town, you are aware of having been momentarily transported into a different world to that of Saigon. In fact, although Bangkok boasts an impressive skytrain facility itself, there is no comparison even there in terms of the images you take in as passenger as you skirt round the suburbs of the respective cities. Continue reading
I enjoy the street banter in Saigon. Cyclo drivers can be particularly fun. They’ll spot you on the pavement, with family entourage in tow, and beckon you over to their rickety mobile contraption.
Seemingly oblivious to your own counter gestures – where you shake your head and point incredulously to your two children, their buggies and the assortment of other luggage that you seem to have accumulated walking down the street – they will be undeterred, remaining all smiles and nods and encouraging hand gestures.
What I love is that you know, one way or another, that the guy would get you all on his cyclo if you gave him half the chance. He’d make it work, despite the ludicrous sight that would unfold, and aside from the rather precarious health and safety minefield you’d be stepping into in the proceedings. Continue reading
Jubilee weekend, and we have been in Saigon for two recovery sleeps now, since arriving back from our trip to the UK on Thursday.
We left behind us some of the most glorious weather England has been drenched in for many months, as well as leaving a general maelstrom of children’s debris and overloaded dishwashers everywhere we went.
Ten different friends, family, and hotels helped host our fly-by visit, and although executed at break neck speed, it was all incredible fun and the memories will live on for a long time. Thank you to everyone who helped make it so.
Never to be outdone in a game of “how hot is your balcony”, Saigon greeted us off our 16 hour flight last week with 35 degree rays, smouldering humidity, and hordes of commuters biking to work dressed as if there was a chill in the air. Continue reading
So, here’s the thing. Talk of the town of late has been about the weather. There is no escaping it, Saigon has well and truly planted it’s size tens into the hot season, and us ex-pats love to discuss the weather.
In a year’s worth of rambling on this blog I have probably not given enough airtime to the subject of temperatures out here, aside from a rather revealing post about running in the heat. Nor am I necessarily going to labour any points right now.
However, preparing as we are for a visit back to England soon, in time for what is described as being “the UK’s coldest May on record” I did think it timely to catch on Radio 4 yesterday morning the following weather announcement that, “across parts of the UK the rain will ‘clear’ this afternoon…to become heavy showers” – which I guess just means it is going to continue raining, but there will be more of it. Continue reading
When I am not travelling with my job, (I like to think) I play a key role in the “getting up and getting ready” part of our family’s day, as well as offer some well-timed interventions at the “winding down, it’s time for sleep now” part.
However, at weekends I get the chance to experience the full effects of being in charge of both our children for longer than about two hours at a time. With Lou out shopping yesterday for our upcoming trip back to the UK, up stepped Mr Model Dad, on hand to ensure a day of quality food and entertainment lay ahead for everyone. I realised though, on reflection later in the evening, that I may still have a way to go. Continue reading
A cold snap is due across parts of the UK, days after freakish March heatwaves. Over here in Saigon we woke up this morning to the aftermath of typhoon Pakhar, which passed through yesterday, several weeks prior to the normal monsoon season, and left many of our local streets looking something like this…
saigonsays 