Bangkok Week 226 — Mika's Photos

Off to Ho Chi Minh City, by way of Don Meuang International Airport! This immigration queue took 20 minutes to clear.

In Ho Chi Minh, one of our first tasks was an all-day "amazing race." Here, my team of 10 had to take a photo with 10 locals.

At this stop, we had to peel 3 durians in 1 minute. We failed.

So we had to try to learn how to make these traditional clay sculptures instead.

We all tried our hand at a beautiful tulip ... with mediocre results.

Next stop was learning how to use Vietnamese water puppets... the professionals can really make the fish life-like as they swim around.

Then, we had to try our hands at hand-pressed tapioca cookies. I definitely wouldn't eat those.

Group shot with the cookies and the carved fruit.

If that wasn't enough, we then had to learn a traditional Vietnamese dance. Luckily, we weren't judged on grace.

Well that was an experience.

Final stop was Vietnamese calligraphy: learn a (Vietnamese) phrase in calligraphy and reproduce it from memory!

No pressure!

After a hot day of running (and driving) around the city, finally back at the hotel with all the evidence of our "achievements".

That night... the (in)famous BCG Idol! First up: Jakarta, with a full rock band doing its music.

KL had something a little funkier in mind.

Singapore brought its own PSY to the party with an energetic (but long predicted) rendition of Gangnam Style.

The only photographic evidence I've unearthed so far of our MJ dance.

These lovely Bangkok ladies were much braver than I!

A very blurry photo of our full team.

We brought the electricity to the party!

Bangkok office!

Jazz hands?

The next day, we had several hours to explore the city on our own. It's a city still dominated by bicycles and motorbikes.

This is the Saigon Opera House, built in 1897 by French architect Ferret Eugene.

A patch of green next to the opera house.

More European architecture and city planning.

All these buildings are either designer stores or posh cafes, by the way.

A very stiff passenger.

Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, which was constructed between 1863 and 1880.

The two bell towers reach a height of 58m. All the original building materials were imported from France.

It's an extremely popular place for newlyweds to come take their wedding photos.

Another 3 couples, all in one (blurry) shot.

The rear of the cathedral ... and all the traffic busily zipping around behind it.

This is the inside of the Saigon Central Post Office, which was constructed in the early 20th century in Gothic style. It was designed and constructed by Gustave Eiffel!

There were actually still working phones inside the ornate phone booths.

We stop for a break at the writing desks -- which some people were actually using to compose mail!

A very detailed map of the city is painted inside one of the arches.

Don't know what it's saying, but it looks like propaganda to me.

The city has lots of green space and tall, old trees; it's fairly pedestrian-friendly.

What flowers?

The Reunification Palace was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

A juxtaposition of old, slightly newer, and new.

Did I mention that this is still a city of motorbikes?

This seller was making a quesedilla-like snack; she scrambled quail eggs and minced vegetables directly in the bread, over the bbq.

Cotton candy to-go!

The proper way to organize the traffic flow.

I gather that something overhead is dangerous.

More colonial houses.

A truly portable coffee shop.

Lunch at a very, very local noodle shop. We're still not sure what they ate. (It wasn't Pho.)

Deadly Vietnamese iced coffee. So good. So good.

One of the restaurant employees tries to explain something to us. Pui politely listens and tries to decipher.

The street stalls have plastic stools just like in Thailand... but for midgets.

A true nest of wires and cables overhead. Scary?

A roundabout in the middle of universities and residential areas.

Our last stop was the War Remnants Museum. It used to be called the "Exhibition House for Crimes of War and Aggression" so you can guess that it's slightly biased.

Outside, there are lots of American aircraft that were either captured or left behind.

And tanks.

That's a pretty intimidating helicopter.

Hope they've disarmed these planes.

"We would like to thank the communist parties and working class countries in the world... for their support and strong encouragement to our people's patriotic resistance against the US..."