3 Nights in Ho Chi Minh

2008年1月6日（日）0:20 (Singapore time/23:20, January 5 in Vietnam time)

Thanks to an unexpected companion, I spent my very first night in HCM city just fine, though the taxi driver from the airport didn’t give the change and the hotel I had booked was mysteriously full, and I forgot to bring my glasses and the AC cord for the PC.

The city is quite vibrant with many shops, restaurants, cars and scooters, and it is rather dangerous to cross roads as there are few traffic lights.

I was transferred to another hotel. An auntie picked me up at the original hotel and she came by a scooter. Without a helmet, I rode with her to her hotel, which is located nearby.

I needed to get a bottle of solution liquid for my lenses because the one I’d had in my bag was confiscated at Changi. My companion brought me to a restaurant where I had beef “pho” for dinner, which was quite nice. After dinner, I had some beer and that’s all for my first night here.

23:05 (22:05 in Vietnam)

This afternoon, Oanh took me to two museums: War Remnants Museum and Ho Chi Minh City Museum. The War Remnants Museum was surprisingly modest built. And inside, I found some of the famous photos, which had been numerously reproduced, along with those jetfighters, a helicopter and a tank of the US armed forces. The City Museum displays exhibits including those of ancient times and the independence struggle against the French.

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Later, Oanh showed me the suburban area. In District 7, I found the construction site of a “Lotte Mall” and an “International Exhibition and Convention Center.” In this area, the roads seem newly constructed and paved, and new blocks of apartments have gone up. We also passed the Saigon Port.

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The city is clean. I can say that Ho Chi Minh is better managed than the dusty and dirty JB. The only nuisance may be hawkers selling guidebooks, Zippos, probably fake sunglasses and DVDs, and shoeshine boys.

2008年1月9日（水）21:54

My third and last night, Oanh showed me the city center, again by her scooter. We drove through Dongkhoi Street which was illuminated just like Orchard Road and the both sides of the road are lined with fancy hotels. Though I don’t know what sort of place it was… perhaps a disco or club, I saw bouncers in black. My impression is that HCM will surpass JB just in a few years.

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My first and second nights, I had a very fitful sleep… with dreams wherein that despicably irresponsible man and my former boss appeared… It's incredible that they even followed me to HCM…