HCMC revisited!

So I was back to Ho Chi Minh City after 18 months and I would think that it would be a rather fulfilling trip! Rented a bike and off we went!

Ho Chi Minh City By Bike from Jonathan Tee on Vimeo.

Vietnam would be incomplete without biking through its 'crazy' traffic

Damn i want this bike

 Met up with old friends and visited their local haunts!

With Thiem having bbq octopus!

Some bbq scallops!

And of course trung vit lon!

It was a great weekend getaway! Got to visit some of the old favourites as well as the really good places which I missed the previous time as i had to teleport to Hanoi for the rest of my internship.

Here’s what I enjoyed the most! Besides just chilling and uong tra da!

People watching while sipping their refreshing ice tea!

Brunch

70 Le Loi - L’usine

Nothing bad to say about this place except that it has been pretty successful and have opened another brunch down the road from the one i visited the last time. Ambience is pretty hipsterish boutique downstairs as well as good western style brunch menu upstairs.

Local

260C Pasteur - Pho Hoa

And what would a visit to Vietnam be without trying their signature local dish - Pho Bo (Beef noodles). This shop is said to have one of the best phos in HCMC and it didn’t disappoint. Although, a little pricey, it sure made it up with its generous serving and mouth watering flavours. Different taste from the Pho Thin (The “best” pho in Hanoi) but it sure makes it the best pho i’ve tasted. A definite must go when i return there. 

Frenchie

74 Hai Ba Trung - The Refinery

HCMC, a city with lots of french influence in the past definitely has its own flair of French cuisine and the refinery is not to be missed! Dinner with wine here is a fantastic way to to end the day. 

Seafood

94 Dinh Tien Hoang - 94 Crab

A place i missed the previous time due to severe food poisoning. A place that you can’t miss! Its such a unique dish! Crab meat (not crab sticks) served with vermicelli noodles! Can be a little expensive though. Spent almost all our money there, doubting whether we would have enough for the cab there!

And am honorary mention to

158 Pasteur - Secret Garden

A really secret garden indeed! Located on top of a small building, it has a really nice quaint compound that serves local food

With Willis and Giang for lunch!

 Banh Xeo

Bun Bo

a little bit of happiness.... and its gone.

Work has moved out of the city of Hanoi to the province of Bac Ninh. Facilities and infrastructure is so much better but the work still remains the same, mundane.

The journey to work takes an hour on motorbike and there are 2 routes that I could take to work. The big highway with the speeding trucks, cross winds and roadside police stops or the rural roads through villages and farms. Well, its obvious that the latter is chosen. The roads out of the city feel rather tranquil with the passing villages where you get a glimpse of the simple village life outside the city. Kids running around, flying kites, people bringing their herds of cows and horses out to graze together with kids playing football. But what I found rather peaceful is the stretch of roads that passes by the many rice farms. Every time I pass it, it somehow feels different with the different lighting and stuff going on. I can’t help but feel a sense of serenity when I pass by these farms and rice fields with farmers working on then, but then I arrive at the big empty 4-lane road that leads to the industrial park which means I’ve arrived at work.

Reality check bro. fml.

Btw these roads are quite scary at night with no streetlights and it gets worst when it rains.

Musings from the coffee shop facing the road

Traveling has really broadened my perspective on world issues. sometimes I look upon my tiny country with its tiny issues and I can't help but smirk at those issues where my fellow citizens go crazy about with continuous whining and complaints. Not that condescending anybody here but it has helped me grow more appreciative of this little nation of mine.

Singapore is the only nation that has grown from a poverty stricken 3rd world country to a developed country within the span of 1 generation and I'm proud to say that I'm a product of this process. One of these things that amaze others is how the mindset of this society changed so rapidly during this period, from a very traditional conservative asian culture to a moderately individualistic one. But that being said, filial piety and family still remains the root of the society. Parents are still being taken care of and kids are raised with their own freedom of thought but Asian values such as respect to your elders is still inculcated. Although this little country of mine cannot be really spotted from space, it has placed itself on the world map for its own merits. Europeans, Americans (well maybe some, definitely not all) and Asia look to Singapore as a champion in its own right. However, this is not a reason for us to get complacent too. We must always remember that There is never a finish line in this race but rather if we start lagging behind the pack, we'll struggle to keep up and get left behind.

Okay. So I went running just now around the west lake. Okay maybe not around the 17km route but just a small portion of it. I ran for about 10mins at a 4:30 pace and I died. That is epic. My cardiovascular fitness is at its lowest. Okay. My overall fitness. I'm in a state which I've never imagined to be.

But that's besides the point. I went out in my usual running gear as I would in Singapore, a singlet which read "screw calm, go running" which was a gift from my friend who visited me in Vietnam and my army running shorts. At first I didn't notice it at first but as I ran and started observing my surrounds, I noticed people staring and me, some even laughing. Seems like the running culture isn't really strong here to see people in running split shorts. My colleague also exclaimed when I told him I want to go run. He said why! Haha guess the idea of keeping fit and healthy is still rather primitive here.

Lying on my rooftop deck chair where the winds blowing towards the west lake, I can't help but feel as though everything have been moving so fast. Few months ago, I never thought to be right here in Vietnam, where chaos is the the only constant on the city. Okay. I shall just end here. I'm too lazy to carry on. Sitting on this deck chair and listening to some lounge house music is making me too nua......