Creative Vietnamese War Survival Skills - PhotoHunt

a soldier's creative use of azure coloured pens in this model plane

PhotoHunt theme : Creative/Azure

Imagine living in an underground village which was connected by a network of
tunnels over an area of 200 km. The tunnels were dug using simple tools and bare hands.

Cu Chi Tunnels in Ho Chi Minh city is amazing, I went on an interesting guided tour to see how these people lived during the war.

All the soldiers and family lived underground in cramped spaces without light and wind. During the short 5 minutes I was in the tunnel, I felt claustrophobic and uncomfortable. Incredible that these people lived in such conditions for years.

replica of an underground factory sewing uniform for the soldiers

The community built living quarters, headquarters, kitchen, hospital, ammunition making factory ....., every thing underground so they didn't have to venture out unless necessary.

They had a creative solution of diverting the smoke to an area which would come out in small puffs through an inconspicuous hole so as not to be detected when they cooked.

drawing spring water to the village

It was a real eye opener to see the survival skills that were necessary during a war. I have to admire the way the Vietnamese fought back and adapted to the hard conditions in order to survive.

Vietnamese Lacquer Art - WW

After travelling for more than two hours on a bus, we took a toilet break at a rest stop on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh city. While waiting for the rest of the tour members, I wandered around the area and discovered a lacquer art painting demonstration.

It was fascinating watching the artists worked.

A young artist was drawing the outline with chalk and apply crushed egg shell.

materials for the lacquer art - eggshells

shells, mother of pearl

Rubbing and polishing after the painting has been completed

During the three-day trip in Vietnam, our tour guide sneakily included souvenir shops selling expensive lacquer ware and Vietnamese products in our tightly scheduled itinerary.

As a result, we missed visiting the famous Saigon Notre Dame Basilica and Saigon Central Post Office because she insisted on visiting a lacquer factory when we had only an hour before our dinner on a cruise ship. Her 15-minute stop turned into an hour long of shopping. ISH. *feeling frustrated*
 

Vietnamese Fruits - WW

After an early breakfast in the hotel on our second day in Ho Chi Minh city, a few members and I strolled to a nearby street market. It was noisy and chaotic as there were many customers who were bargaining with stallholders over the prices of produce. 

Several ladies wanted to buy fruits back to Singapore after seeing the wide variety of Vietnamese fruits.

a street market in Ho Chi Minh city

custard apples

raw tamarind fruits

Breast Milk Fruit (Vu Sua)

*Are you giggling?*

I had my first taste of this breast milk fruit at a tropical fruit farm. I didn't know what its name was until I returned to Singapore and googled for information. The succulent and soft flesh tastes like sweet milk.  

One of my Vietnamese students described how he eats the fruit. Make a hole in the fruit, place his mouth over the hole and suck the soft flesh out. Yup, I understand why it is called the breast milk fruit now.

Are you still giggling? :D

Ice Cream Heaven in Ho Chi Minh City - PhotoHunt

Find Indigo in the Rainbow cubes which I ordered 

PhotoHunt theme : Indigo/ Still life

On our last day in Ho Chi Minh city, a tour member was desperately trying to dispose off a huge supply of bananas presented to him by a lady. Every tour members was given bananas for breakfast and lunch. When we met him during tea time, he was still trying to "push" his bananas to us. :D

brought our own bananas to an ice-cream parlour ... LOL

One of the tour members suggested having banana split ice-cream, so we piled into a taxi and arrived at a classy ice-cream parlour.

It was a Vietnamese cafe selling high-end French ice-cream. In Ho Chi MInh City we did not expect a high class ice cream shop. The Franco-Vietnamese ice cream has a range of home-grown flavours, including durian, star anise and green tea. We struggled to make a choice.

This is a mint and vanilla flavour ice-cream, I thought the decoration was a cabbage leaf but it turned out to be white chocolate. Very creative!

coconut 

My husband's coconut ice cream. Looks too pretty to be eaten and it was very delicious.

I ordered a plate of beautiful Rainbow Cubes, 7 fruity sherbets.

There is a fondue set which comes with 14 mini-scoops of ice cream and it was a good way to sample the flavours.

The ice cream was a little pricey to Vietnamese standards but it was good quality ice-cream and beautifully present - a lovely treat!

Still life  - Coconut ice-cream 

Tropical Fruit Farm@Ho Chi Minh City - WW

sweet tasting Vietnamese fruits

Our second day in Ho Chi Minh city, we went island hopping on the Mekong Delta where the people make their living as farmers and fishermen. The majority of Vietnam's fruits come from the many orchards here. We were going to visit a fruit farm and later have lunch in a fish farm.

                                                  riding a horse cart

Four of us rode on a rickety cart as the horse trotted through a rustic village to our destination. The sun was scorching hot and we were sweating profusely. Luckily the ride lasted only 15 minutes. It was fun. :)

We arrived at a lush tropical gardens to sample tropical fruits. Many of the fruits are easily available in Singapore. 5 small plates of cut fruits were shared among a table of 6 people. They didn't serve us their famous dragonfruit.

While we snacked on tropical fruits, there was a live traditional music performance. After singing 3 songs, they came around with baskets to collect $$$. :D

Half an hour later, we found ourselves seated on a sampan, cruising down a canal. Four persons to a row boat, we had to sit quite still and hold on to the sides of the small boat while a Vietnamese lady did the rowing. It was not easy for me to take good photos with only one free hand. LOL

Along the canal were lots of nipah palms. Their fruits called attap chee are sweet, translucent, gelatinous balls used as a dessert ingredient in Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.

At the end of the canal, our ferry was waiting. Time for our late lunch. Hungryyy.

Bee Farm On An Island@Ho Chi Minh City - PhotoHunt

PhotoHunt theme : Family/rocks

Day two in HCMC. We had a fantastic buffet breakfast at our hotel before departing for the most popular and important landmark for the locals, the Mekong Delta. We were going island hopping.

On the long bus journey to our destination, our tour guide gave a brief description of the 3 islands which we would be visiting. My husband and a few men were particularly interested in an island that allows men to have 9 wives. The guide patiently answered queries from the men and added that usually those men who had 9 wives could only last 3 months. bwahahaha.....

The weather was extremely dry and hot that day. The water was calm, the boat didn't rock much because the group carefully maintained an equal balance of body weight on each side. The boat ride was enjoyable. :)

The local motor boat cruise along the scenic Mekong River and stopped at the Unicorn Island where a honey bee farm is located.

Upon reaching Unicorn Island, we saw some bee hives along the path to a wooden structure. A lady holding a frame of bees beckoned to us to have a closer look. I asked my husband to hold it for a picture.

The expression on hubby's face cracked me up. I don't know if it was due to seeing the women available for marriage or he was terrified by the bees. He was hurrying me to snap this picture. LOL

There were quite a number of seniors in our tour group. We paired up with this senior couple throughout the trip, looking out for one another and having loads of fun. The elder Mister loves to joke while the capable Missus fussed over us like our mother. During the 3-day trip, we become like family.

After we were seated, the farm workers served us honey lime tea and some local snacks. They tried to sell us honey, bee pollen and royal jelly. We didn't buy any due to limited baggage allowance.

We took a walk around the farm. I discovered a large python that was kept in a cage. A lady looking after it asked if I wanted a picture of it around my neck. I called for hubby who reluctantly posed with this forty-pound python. My husband rocks!!

Cu Chi Tunnels@Ho Chi Minh City

We started our first day in Ho Chi Minh city with an up close and personal history lesson on guerilla warfare at Cu Chi Tunnels. It's more than two hour's drive from the hustle and bustle of HCMC.

Built by local fighters during the Indochina conflict, the Cu Chi tunnels served as a base from which they could operate from close to the Southern Vietnamese capital.

Initial construction started in 1948 when the local fighters required somewhere to hide from French air attacks. By 1965, the tunnel complex was estimated to consist over 200 km of tunnels. It included hospitals, schools, meeting rooms, kitchens, and sleeping quarters.

Life was difficult for the inhabitants, and to protect against outside intruders, booby traps were laid throughout the complex.

Today, the Vietnamese government have preserved approximately 75 km of the Cu Chi tunnels as a memorial park, and in some areas the tunnels have been widened and low powered lights installed so that tourists can now fit through the complex.

Our tour guide took us on a fascinating tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels where we learnt about the conditions the people lived in and the hardships they faced. It was amazing to see the size of the tunnels.

It is really bone chilling to imagine the long periods of their stay underground as well as the regular commuting through these narrow, customized tunnels. I admire the ingenuity of the Vietnamese. They were determined to stay alive. No wonder they win the war.

We spent almost all of our time walking around above ground looking at the various ways in which the Vietnamese were able to camouflage and hide their tunnels and operations. We were shown hidden entrances and hidden ventilation system in the grounds.

We were offered a chance to explore the tunnels on all fours or sit and drag our butts along to experience the thrill of being inside one. I declined as it was too claustrophobic for me. :P

We saw huge bomb craters left from B-52 bombs and a display of the bomb casings representing the amount of explosives dropped on Cu Chi per day. Visitors can also climb upon the remains of an American tank to have a photo taken.

For an extra fee, we could fire off rounds from an AK47 or MK16 (like the ones the Viet Cong used) at the nearby rifle range. We didn't take up the offer.

We watched a demonstration of making spring roll wrappers.

After touring the Cu Chi Tunnels, we relaxed with steamed tapioca and hot tea. The underground root was one of the staple food the fighters survived on during wartime. The pandan leaves were placed around the underground tunnels to keep away snakes.

Be prepared to get dirty and sweaty in this tour. It was an amazing experience and a very moving history lesson for me. Worth a visit.

Credit : explanatory guide of Cu Chi Tunnels

Weekend Trip to Ho Chi Minh City

bustling Ho Chi Minh City

I have just returned from a short trip to Vietnam's bustling largest city Ho Chi Minh City (abbreviations HCMC). Although there were lots to see and do in this metropolitan city, I only stayed for 3 days. Due to the language problem, I lacked the adventurous spirit to explore the city. But I was lucky on two occasions to find a couple of Vietnamese who speak Chinese. :)

a pagoda

Together with several friends, my husband and I took the earliest JetStar flight and arrived in HCMC before 9am. We were famished upon arrival because we had not eaten anything since we woke up at 5 am to catch our flight, we had Vietnamese brunch at Batalis Restaurant right inside the Historical Museum.

Historical Museum

Travelling through the city on the way to our first destination, I noticed motorbikes are the most common transport within the city, followed by buses, taxis and bicycles.

The next two days, we tried taking taxis which usually have trip meters, but it is better to agree on the trip price before taking a long trip. I didn't dare to take the public buses as I can't read nor speak Vietnamese. :P

Traffic congestion is a growing problem in HCMC.

Shopping mall

3 days were too short a time to enjoy what HCMC could offer. On two consecutive days, we had to travel long distances to explore the famous Cu Chi Tunnels and tour the Mekong Delta which were far from the city.

I didn't go shopping, not even to the popular Ben Thanh night market. The tour guide warned us about the cunning thieves at the night market.  After an exhausting day of sightseeing, I was too tired to fight off thieves so I returned to the hotel for an early night's rest.

our cosy hotel room

We checked into the Windsor Plaza Hotel. As it is located in the Chinese district, their main guests are Chinese or Asian.

Buffet breakfast (from 6.30 am to 9 am) was included in our room package. There were both Western and Asian cuisines to choose from. I loved the omelette and noodle stations. The breads were delicious, I went for the French loaves. :D

There is a lovely terrace with a tiny pool with fantastic views of the city on the rooftop (25th floor) of the hotel. It was breezy to sit there in the evening and count the stars.

The hotel was far from the city centre and there weren't many interesting sites around the hotel. Fortunately there is a shuttle bus that makes hourly trips to 4 popular tourist sites.

city view from the roof terrace

I kept getting confused when using the Vietnamese dong, there are so many zeroes on the notes. LOL

My friends liked the feeling of being "millionaires" in HCMC because every hundred Singapore dollars were exchanged for 1.6 million Vietnamese dong. :D