Olympic Torch in HCMC

Came into town as I was bored...and found that the Olympic Torch is in town! Great! Workers were putting up the stage in the afternoon at the Opera House - problem was I didn't know when it will all happen. Bigger regret was that I didn't bring my camera. A kind China-man gave me his flag as souvenir and told me the ceremony will start at 4pm. I was there at 4+ but the torch bearer only started his run at about 7.30pm!! Waited almost 3 hrs to catch a fleeting glimpse of someone running by with the torch. Screwed up my phone's camera and had no pix to show for my 3-hr wait...urghhh!! Oh well, it's a rare treat to be where it was happening - once a lifetime thing!

Tomorrow will be a public holiday in Vietnam - the 33rd anniversary of the liberation of Vietnam's southern region, and the day after, 1 May, will be the world's 122nd May Day and a public holiday too, of course. With many expected to take Friday off to make a super-long weekend, the country is braced for a 20% percentage increase in domestic travel.

Banner welcoming the O-torch to HCMC

Enthusiastic China Supporters

Photo for souvenir

Car being towed away for blocking the road

A section of the crowd

Church @ Truong Trinh

This is the nice and modern church that I went to for mass yesterday - Nha Tho Thanh Anton. Located at 98/1, Truong Trinh Street in Tan Binh District, NT Thanh Anton has alter girls (didn't see the altar boys), and in this sense, is way ahead of many countries where the Catholic Church is still very much male-dominated. Mass times on Sunday are at 7.00am and 5.00pm.

There's a nice emporium just down the street - an all-in-one departmental store and supermarket. Even sells copy CDs from music to education!!!

Contacts

Mr Nguyen Tat Nguyen @ 0955 731 748

Ms Luong Thi Thom @ 0168 3426 567

Vibook @ 088504600 

Thuan Tien Ex Books @ 08 425 5331

Mr Vo Ha Duy @ 0903 365 726

Cho Tan Binh

I have always wanted to visit Cho Tan Binh - didn't have a chance till today when I dropped by Cassie's booth at the Beauty Fair at the HCMC International Exhibition and Commerce Centre - 466, Hoang Van Thu St, Tan Binh District. ("Cho" means "Market" in Vietnamese; normally referring to local markets - both wet and dry.) Met Tony Kim there too - told Cassie he looked familiar - yeah, sure, she said - because he was an actor in MediaCorp before. No wonder.

Cho Tan Binh is about 15-20 minutes walk from the exhibition centre. It is not as big as Cho An Dong (the old one in Chinatown) and the layout is different as the market spreads out behind the main building to fill quite an area. Saw some stalls selling wedding gowns, fabric, accessories for making clothes (like labels, buttons etc), a wet market - lots of different trades there. It's worth a visit - bought a belt for 50k, a child's hat for 30k and 300g of huge golden raisins for 30k.

Cho Tan Binh is along Ly Thuong Kiet Street

Another view of the market

At the back of the building

...are rows of shops outside, and more inside...

Mien Tay Bus Station

Wanted to try Bus 102 to go to Ben Thanh. Took the one going the opposite direction instead and ended up in Mien Tay Bus Station in Binh Tan District.

Don't know why but Vietnamese have this habit of either putting their feet on seats or peeling and scraping their toes.

Here's what Mein Tay Bus Station looks like. You can buy tickets to destinations out of HCMC from here. There are many destinations.

Rows of ticketing booths

Step right up! Book your tickets here!

Boarding ...

French loaves, anyone (if you dare)?

Muddy, muddy walk to take my bus

Honda Fuma

Unpacking the Honda Fuma - it comes fully assembled.

Vy Anh on my Honda Fuma

Today I bought the first motorcycle of my life - and I don't even have a license... neither have I ridden a motor-bike on my own before! Now's time to learn to ride a bike in crazy outta-this-world Vietnamese traffic. It was between a Honda SCR110 or a Honda Fuma - the latter had a free box, 2 free helmets and protective bars around - it's also 125cc and looks better. So I bought it - at 32,500,000VND (about S$2,700 at today's exchange rate). The insurance for one year is ... 60,000VND (S$5) ... dun laugh. I'll probably get my hospital bed paid for under this insurance and share my medicine with a hundred others in one room. Maybe might even have to share bed. Vy Anh's bringing my bike home for safe-keeping till I can get it registered in about a week's time.

Disaster Strikes!

I've neglected this blog and now I'm back at it again. It's been terribly slow since Jan 08 - progress is simply measured in inches, at times slip-sliding along - you move 2 steps and slide back 1 type of situation. Today, it is confirmed that the two houses I rented for my school CANNOT be used for a school. Can you beat that? I was given the impression that we could side-track the problems and be given the license. Now it's back to the drawing board. It's been more than a month since I signed the agreement but seems to be like a year. Should I be surprise? Shock? I'm simply numb to such things - trying hard not to panick as it doesn't help. All the planning for more than a month down the drain again. Is it painful? I don't know. I'm learning, the hard way, to expect anything in every sense of the word. Perhaps I should learn more from my VN partner who is grateful that he is alive today after serving in Iraq for 4 years. Nothing surprises him any longer - take everything in your stride seems to be his motto. Guess I'll have to do that - what else is there to do? Tear my hair? There isn't much left to do that, as you can see here.