Gladzalwayshappy in Vietnam

Chào ban from Ho Chi Minh!

"The heat is on in Saigon... The girls are hotter than hell..."

Indeed, the heat is definitely on in Saigon, as it has been 35 degrees for the past 3 days. But I haven't seen any girls that are hotter than hell. Hahaha! But men, hell yeah! As in French men are everywhere!! And it just drives me nuts to see French men in linen tops, khaki shorts and flip flops, while they utter Bon jour and Tres bien... Omigosh nakakaloka!!

It is the country of scooters. Talk about scooters everywhere: left, right, front, back... panalo! It is the people's way of transportation. Car's aren't that much of a use. My dad told me when he went here years ago, 90% of the population used bicycle as their mode of transportation. I guess they're used to riding into something that is compact and light, with pedals, and so having a scooter is the way to go. Seeing the city of Saigon from the top is just amazing. The people in scooters are like ants rushing to see the ant queen something. It's just so cute!

Scooter parking

Look they're so tiny!

It is Golden Ticket's 3rd day in one of the French Indochina nations. The shopping's really great (cheaper than Bangkok pero kukulit nila sobrang hard sell kaya patience is a virtue) but the food.... omigosh the food's really excellent. Just see it for yourself. Lemme know what you think.

Vietnamese spring rolls... take note they used prawns!!

Sauteed Beef Vermicelli... with nuts and various veggies

Those are a few of the many foody goodies that I've eaten for the past 3 days. Veggies with no oil but it's so yummy and tasty, there's no need to feel so guilty at all! It's healthy and very good to the heart. You gotta affirm the French for colonizing this country for almost a hundred years (so this was before the Vietnam War). They taught the Vietnamese how to cook (gastronomy at its finest), design buldings (distinct architecture) and paint (lovely painting at every corner, just lovely!). Walking at the Saigon (they still call it Saigon even if they made Ho Chi Minh as the official name) streets made me feel like I was in Champs Elysee back in 1998.

The country's history is also rich. What amazed me was that we went to the Reunification Palace (it was like the Malacanan Palace of South Vietnam, the democratic part of the country... now their some sort of Malacanan Palace is in Hanoi, Northern part of Vietnam), wherein we went around and saw the big rooms of the officials (for local and foreign) and the retro items that are still restored for tourism purposes. At the same time, we went to the basement wherein they hid during the kudeta conducted by the Vietcong rebels and the Vietnam war, when they allied with the Americans.

They got their own theater... wala lang it's so red eh!

The bar in the palace is so retro!

Prime Minister's bedroom located at the basement. Guess why he had two phones??

For tomorrow, I have no idea what we'll do. In terms of shopping, we have gone beyond our quota. But yeah, let's see what can be done. If not, just do the usual thing: eat, shop, stroll around and camwhore. The works during vacations. Haha!

Well farewell for now. I'll post more photos at multiply and facebook.

See y'all in Manila!