IndianaJanes and the Saigon Saga

Reliable information from the grapevine tells us that FOUR geocaches were sitting pretty in Sassy Saigon! No time to waste!

Fade in... Saigon

Hot dusty day, the traffic is relentless, dense groups of motorbikes rush past. Intense heat creates a shimmering mirage in the distance.

SAIGON
January 2007

The infamous IndianaJanes of Singapore geocaching fame (bwahaha..!) stand by the street staring helplessly at the endless traffic.

IJ2(gulps): We cannot cross this road.

IJ1: Now, IJ2, we don't want to be discouraged by every little thing.

Together, IJ1 and IJ2 steps bravely off the curb and into the oncoming traffic and lo & behold, a path magically opens up (like in the Wizard of Oz)! They tread slowly but surely across the road.

Woof!! Woof!! Is that DecoyDog over there or an imposter? Nah.. must be one of the native doggles.


IndianaJanes, now masters of road-crossing, weaved through the crowds easily, invisible to the masses yet with clear objectives in mind.

First stop - Saigon's First Micro.

Dodging health conscious Vietnamese muggles playing games and doing their evening stretching exercises in pajamas, IndianaJanes arrived at the location in no time.



IJ2: Oooops! I dropped a coin...!
IJ1: No worries, I'll pick it up for you. (groan,.. bend,.. voila!.. Cache at hand!!)



Brimming with confidence from their first success, IndianaJanes run in full stride to their next stop - ICE CREAM at Kem Bach Dang and a nice hot shower. Tomorrow will be another long day of geocaching and adventures!! Along the way, pink piggies wished them Good Luck! They're gonna need it...



Fade out...

Fade in - dense forests far far away in Cu Chi, a place rumoured to be a city above ground as well as UNDERground!! The challenge here is to find a virtual cache. At ground zero, there would be an object of significance.

Dangerous booby traps were scattered along pathways, faraway gun shots echo in the air, muggles in green uniforms stare with daggers in their eyes at IndianaJanes but our heroes march on bravely.



Scowling men with guns did not scare IndianaJanes. In fact, IJ1 flashed him back with one of her most hedious smiles!



After squeezing through A4 sized holes in the ground that we can barely fit through, crawling on all-fours like the Vietcongs in narrow tunnels underground and fighting tigers with AK47's, the IJ's, covered with dust and sweat, finally arrived at GZ (ground zero) and scored another winner!



Fade out...

Fade in - Fade in...!?! - oh..there's some problem with the fade in tonight.. See photo. Dark streets of Saigon was a good cover for young courting couples along the mekong river and in a little park in the middle of the road where our 3rd virtual cache stand - tall and still, 10 metres above the ground, finger pointing forwards.

Camera shutters were not doing their jobs tonight and refused to focus properly in the dim light so we left soon after taking down the name of the hero.



Finally, the forth and final cache in Saigon - another easy virtual, sitting just outside a hotel. One of those taxi in, taxi out geocaches. We had to find the name of the person who laid the foundation stone of the building and we were surprised to learn who it was!

The date has been photoshopped out so you can't cheat, if you're a geocacher hoping to find the answer here!

Saigon - another city conquered by IndianaJanes - fearless geocachers, tourists in disguise! We march off to find another nice coffee place for a well deserved cuppa and club sandwich, and to ponder about the exciting Saigon Saga and plan the next expedition! Where to next???



Fade out..

Eating in Saigon

Ice cream always tastes extra delicious when you are on holiday. Maybe the creamy indulgence just feels better without the pressures of work and home. Kem Bach Dang's specialty was the ice cream served in a coconut and topped with candied fruits. Yummmikins! It tastes as good as it looks! We also ordered a "Luo Han Guo" drink which was quite nice with a twist of Thai lime. This is also where I shot my Saigon Traffic video - from the 2nd floor of the restaurant overlooking Le Loi Street.


Our first dinner in Saigon - we walked out to find a little restaurant along Ly Tu Trong Street called Huong Lai Vietnamese Restaurant. The map in LP positioned the little dot wrongly so we wondered around along the dim street for a bit before finally locating the restaurant. A security guard at a nearby building must be used to seeing lost tourists because he pointed out the restaurant to us.


It was worth the trouble though. The restaurant supposedly trains and employs homeless street kids. The upstairs dining area is airy and had some nice brick and timber finishing. We ordered fresh vietnamese rice paper rolls, grilled pork ribs, tofu with minced meat and vegetable soup.

The highlight of the dinner was when a HUGE RAT ran around the dining room!! One lady wanted to climb up on her chair and a few people were a little (not overly) excited. I just hoped that the rat came from downstairs and not from the kitchen!



Kakatua has written about our day trip out to Cu Chi Tunnels. We stocked up the night before at Parkson Supermarket with mini kumquats (the kind you eat with the skin), really sweet pomelo, ham and bread. We didn't know that they were going to drop us at a restaurant for a sit-down lunch. Oh well.. it's just more pho and fried stuff. We didn't feel so bad ordering just Saigon beer and coffee because some of the other people didn't order anything at all.


After a tiring day riding in the bus to & from Cu Chi Tunnels, we wanted to try Lemongrass because it was raved about in Lonely Planet to have the best Vietnamese food and that you can hardly find anything on the menu that isn't good. Alas, it was a Saturday night and the tourists were out in full force and we were not fortunate enough to get a table.

The other restaurant recommendations in LP didn't sound too exciting and some places we tried to find had already closed down! Finally we settled for a restaurant in LP that had just a bland introduction, Tàn Nam Vietnamese Restaurant. Sadly, the dishes were bland as well and the portions were too big. We ended up over-ordering and stuffing ourselves silly. Well, not quite lah... as it was definitely not worth the sin!

Didn't feel inspired to take pictures of the food, so there're only 2 shots of food here.

Saigon - cà phê culture

Before I go into coffee, here's where we stayed at - Oscar Saigon. Cute ad on the wall of the building. Notice the Christmas greetings? It's funny how many of them didn't bother taking down the Christmas and New Year decorations. I guess they're too busy cruising around on their motorbikes or sipping coffee at the street stalls. LOL..

A coffee song just for you. Play it as you read my post :

Coffee culture in Vietnam is alive 'n' kickin'! Coffee shops line the streets and almost everyone serves Vietnamese coffee. It would be hard for Starbucks or Spinelli's to establish themselves here with such "strong" competition.

One of the most expensive and sought-after coffees comes from Vietnam, especially the 'Cà Phê cut chon' or 'fox dung coffee', made from coffee beans that have been eaten and 'passed through' the civet cat (which looks like a fox). This process enhances the taste of the beans and makes them highly desirable to coffee connoisseurs worldwide. Fortunately, modern methods are employed these days so we can spare the civet cat from being force-fed with coffee beans!

We went to Trung Nguyen to have a drink and also buy their freshly ground Cà Phê cut chon. The shop was at a corner of a busy bus interchange and looked like it was frequented by locals. 23,000VND/100gm is about S$2.20. For espresso quality coffee, that is REALLY cheap!



Once you get over the thought of where the fox dung coffee comes from, you will most definitely enjoy your (tiny) cup of caramelly & chocolatey, slow-dripped coffee. It's hardly acidic, very fragrant and the after-taste is exquisite.

We each bought 2 stainless steel filter pots from An Dong Plaza for 35,000 VND (S$3.40 - a steal, really) hoping to recreate the wonderful taste of Vietnam back home. Sad to say, we failed miserably! Fortunately Mag found a website detailing the process. We'd been doing it wrong! No wonder my coffee was tasteless. This is how you make cà phê nóng (black) :



The Vietnamese filter consists of 4 essential parts
- a saucer with holes which you place on top of your cup
- a small pot in which you place your coffee and water
- a inner screen filter which you would use to cover your coffee powder
- a cover to keep the heat in

It is important to unscrew and remove the inner screen filter.

Put about 3 to 3½ teaspoons of coffee into the small pot. Shake the pot a little to level it up.

Place the top screen filter back into the pot, sandwiching the coffee.

Screw tight, firmly but gently, and when it is tight, losen it by half a turn.

It should hold the coffee in place and allow the water to seep evenly and slowly through the coffee powder, drawing every ounce of taste & goodness out from the 'black gold'.

To test the correct snugness, pour some hot water into the small pot until it is about ¼ full.

Wait for 20 seconds... If all the water flows out in 20 secs, tighten up some more.

If you're happy with the snugness, top up the small pot with more hot water and cover it up.



Now all you have to do is wait.......



The water should drip ever so slowly through and should not be flowing.

Good things come to those who are patient, so be patient and you will be rewarded with a fragrant cup of coffee, thick with taste and bite.

This makes me wanna go make a cuppa for myself NOW! I'm gone...
:-)

Faces of Saigon

Can you tell I missed my dog? I keep seeing Chewie everywhere!! And my searches on the web for the Vietnamese word for dog (Chó - the way the lady at a Ao Dai shop said it, it sounded like "Choarr") came up with various horrifying links and pictures of Vietnamese eating Dog Meat! Couldn't bear to look at them.

Cute doggies, but not so clean - I guess if the owners don't bathe, why bother bathing the dogs? They get dirty so fast anyway...



There was a guy selling dogs on the street. He had a cage with at least 5 dogs inside, not counting the 2 little puppies he was carrying and 1 big one sitting on top. Quite pitiful. He shouted at me for taking pictures, so we scurried away.

Touts and street peddlers were everywhere and they don't give up easily. I was offered the waffles to 'try please' but I respectfully declined. Apparently, if you buy from one, all of them will herd after you!



Whatever you want, you name it, they'll have it. Their stalls are portable and movable. Food stalls have tables and chairs that are not of the normal height - didn't take a picture unfortunately. They're low and you kinda sit/squat on the low stools.



The most popular item in Saigon must be the face mask - almost all the motorcyclists wear them. They come in all sizes and patterns, suitable for kids from 1 to 92, some covering down to the neck, attached with velcro at the back of the head. The whole dusty city seems to be a gigantic construction site - nothing seems to be finished. It's like somebody forgot about the work in progress and just packed up and left. Having said that, it's quite amazing that at the end of the day, your nose-shit is not black in colour, like it would be if you were in Hongkong!

Street scenes in Saigon :

Saigon Love it or Hate it

After the crazy rush of Christmas and New Year holidays, what better way to start a new year than a break from the hustle and bustle of work?! Little did we know what we were in for...

We decided to try Tiger Airways which departed from the Budget Terminal (BT) in Changi. It was very convenient by MRT and the free shuttle bus from T2 - if only it wasn't raining! (see my umbrella in Kakatua's post) The airport is nice and clean and frankly it's in a much better condition than some of the other airports we've been to! Not too shoddy at all for a BT.



When we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon as the locals like to call it), we changed some USD to VND (Vietnamese Dong). Outside, we had to weave our way through the many touts all the way to a legit taxi stand.

After checking in, the first thing on the agenda was FOOD!! It was close to 3pm and with no food on board (didn't feel like buying their dry sandwiches or instant noodles), we headed for the first Pho restaurant we came across - Pho 24. It wasn't too bad but the beef had lots of fat and the soup was a tad too oily. Wonder if Pho 2000 is any better - the one that Bill Clinton went to.



With the nice warm soup in our bellies, we felt re-energized and began our tour by wondering down Nguyen Hui and Le Loi streets, getting our first taste of the Saigon traffic and dust!! It's no wonder the motorcyclists wore this sanitary-pad-like thingies over their faces. We took the advise of many travel books and just stepped out into the traffic and walked slowly and steadily. Even when it looked like there was no way in hell you could make it across, somehow a path would open up!

Check out the little traffic video I made, edited with photos and a short movie clip. It's called "The amazing drivers in Saigon, Vietnam"...