Dodge Dodge in Saigon
Posted by: raysinthesky on: March 28, 2009
My travel guide didn’t say anything about crossing the street in Saigon Ho Chi Minh. I took a short trip to Saigon and the surrounding area including the Mekong delta. Traffic in Saigon is a little, um, what’s the word loose. You have a combination of hundreds of motor bikes, scooters and cars with sparse traffic lights, crosswalks. Oh and there’s a few other missing things like line dividers and the ever important adherence to traffic laws. So after my taxi driver managed to avoid 3 near accidents on the way to the hotel, I decided to go for a stroll.
When crossing a street without any lights or markers and many vietnamese barreling down upon you, your first instinct is probably to make a mad dash. This is what I did the first time and I was lucky enough to avoid trading insurance carriers, somehow I think State Farm wouldn’t come through for me on this one. What I learned from studying the locals is that you have to cross in a deliberate steady pace, nice and slow. This gives everyone a chance to anticipate you better. Of course, this seems logical but as countless motorbikes skim across you, the natural first instinct to run can kick in.
Here are the highlights from my stroll in Saigon. Some great food to be found, always love pho. Ben Thanh Market is somewhat interesting, geared mostly to tourists but with some good items to be found. Many things are quoted in US dollars which generally means you’re about to get screwed. If you ask for the vietnamese dong price, you get the bonus of doing the conversion of 17,453 dong to 1 US dollar. Hope your math skills are good! Reunification Palace and City Hall also offer a couple of highlights in the city. Probably the best thing to search for is artwork. There’s some great galleries selling all kinds of prints, paintings etc. The artwork I love the most though is the communist propaganda posters. Such a great classic style to them and inspirational messages as well!
Scenic Sydney
Posted by: raysinthesky on: March 22, 2009
Back to Australia and my favorite customs in the world, these guys are very thorough. Maybe it has something to do with fruit and animal smuggling but they check everything. Having been to Melbourne last year, this was my first time to Sydney and I lucked out with some sunny weather. The view from Sydney Harbour Bridge was amazing with a great perspective of the opera house, the city and the harbour. Fisherman’s market is also a good place to stop by, lots of seafood to enjoy. Other than the prices, Sydney was an excellent trip.
Ngong Ping
Posted by: raysinthesky on: March 19, 2009
- In: China
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Just west of Hong Kong island is Lantau island, home to Ngong Ping, a park? area? Not sure what Ngong Ping refers to but it’s host to the Tian Tan Buddha, a 34 meter tall buddha statue. There’s a cable car starting from Tung Chung on Lantau island that crosses some amazing hills where you can see the Buddha from the distance along with the artificial island of Hong Kong airport.
Goodbye Victoria Harbour
Posted by: raysinthesky on: March 16, 2009
- In: China
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Ok, maybe this is an exaggeration but here’s a shot of another Hong Kong reclamation project that is under way. Victoria Harbour divides Hong Kong island to the south and Kowloon to the north. The harbour is an incredibly beautiful area even amongst all the concrete and steel. With the limited space on Hong Kong island, many land reclamation projects are needed to accommodate new buildings, roads etc. Of course, at this rate, it seems Victoria Harbour will disappear in 50 years as Kowloon and Hong Kong island move closer and closer. Hopefully all this land reclamation can slow down or stop as the beauty of the harbour will definitely diminish.
Cottage Country
Posted by: raysinthesky on: September 30, 2008
Great colors, endless forests, crisp fall weather on its way, and wi-fi access to balance it off. Here’s a photo set of Bob’s Lake in Northern Ontario, Canada.
My Cereal Has Instructions
Posted by: raysinthesky on: August 30, 2008
- In: China
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I just discovered my chinese Kellogg’s Just Right cereal has instructions on the side panel. I’ve really taken this knowledge for granted over the years. Although, step 2 has me confused, based on the picture, it looks like I’m supposed to pour juice instead of milk. Step 3 also seems to be some inspection phase where you compare the cereal to real fruit.
Muji Snacks
Posted by: raysinthesky on: July 12, 2008
- In: Japan
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I discovered this Japanese department store a while back but only recently had a chance to start trying all the great food products they sell. They sell a variety of products but most of it is snacks (crackers, sweets etc.), drinks and seasonings. From my last visit I picked up the following:
* Japanese Apricot Crackers
* Freeze-dried Mango Lhassi
* Chocolate-Yogurt Covered Raisins
* Strawberry Chocolate Marshmellows
* Green Tea Cake
* Mango/PassionFruit Juice
Typhoon Level 8
Posted by: raysinthesky on: June 25, 2008
- In: China
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In between the sweltering heat, humidity and occasional 5 weeks of rain, Hong Kong has the added benefit of typhoons. The summer season brings a whole variety of levels of typhoons. Level 3 is the most common with 40km/h winds but recently I had the pleasure of experiencing a Level 8 typhoon. Not quite the destructive force of a Level 10 but with 70km/h winds it can cause some damage. The bonus of all this, Level 8 and up means no work! All office, schools and stores are closed.
Off to Beijing
Posted by: raysinthesky on: April 24, 2008
- In: China
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My first trip to Beijing. With the Olympics coming up, I thought this would be a good opportunity to see Beijing before many tourists overwhelm the city.
Part 1- Great Wall at Badaling
About an hour or so drive from Beijing, the Great Wall at Badaling is the common spot for tourists to see the Great Wall. The drive up is interesting as you can see different parts of the wall from the highway. When you arrive, it’s an onslaught of tourists, buses and vendors hawking all kinds of products, $5US for that bottled water, sure, no problem.
Getting to the actual wall is actually very different then I expected. With such ancient surroundings I was surprised when you have to take a roller-coaster type ride to the wall See Photo
When you arrive at the top, there are different paths to take along the top of the wall. It’s actually quite stunning to see and to appreciate the engineering effort to build it. Walking along it is fun, it bends with steep inclines making it a workout to traverse certain areas.
Part 2-Tianamen Square/Forbidden City
This part of the trip was a little surreal for me to see. I’ve seen numerous video and news reports about the area but to actually see it was amazing. The square is much bigger than what it seems on tv. There are museums, government buildings, statues and a new subway station around the square. Many tourists were in the area taking pictures and I even had a few Chinese people come up to take pictures with me.
Part 3- Olympic Park
This was my favorite part of the trip, getting to see some of the Olympic venues. The Olympic Park itself is a giant area with all new developments for the games including the Bird’s Nest stadium and Water Cube. The area was under construction still while I was there but I was close enough to see the stadiums and the water cube, which has an incredible design to it.
