Details & thoughts on my trip to HK & Vietnam [Archive]

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snow ninja

12-17-2007, 01:50 PM

HK is a bustling metropolis. It is like one huge shopping mall. Even the airport is. They love their shopping. It is quite hectic but I’m sure the countryside has a slower pace of life. I would like to return and visit them the next time i come back.

In HK they really like their lit up signs, neon lights and light accents on buildings. It is definitely something to be seen. The signs light up the entire street and harbour. However, I walked past pitch black side alleys that I would not venture into. Some of the really big harbour signs like Hitachi or Sharp must have cost millions.

There’s a 7-11 on every street and a lot of streets have more than 1.

I’ve never seen so many people at the same corner and I wonder where are all these people going?
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After shopping till I dropped (my feet were sore from days of walking, exploring and being lost. I should have wore actual running shoes instead of casual) and seeking sanctuary in a few parks namely Stanley Beach, Kowloon and Victoria park I looked forward to my departure from HK to Vietnam for a little less commercialism and urban hustle and bustle. I would also like to add that I did visit Ocean Park and it was a fun time seeing the pandas and sights of an amusement park on a mountain so close to the seashore.

All tourists should look out for being overcharged, although, even if you do it’s still usually a good deal. Especially in Vietnam, I felt no need to bargain some poor merchant out of $0.25 – $1.00 USD.

I departed to Vietnam not knowing what to expect. I was just hoping for a nice sunny soft sandy beach.

I got off the plane in Saigon and it was hot and humid. I was heading for Nha trang which I heard is a resort town geared towards foreigners. I hoped that the rest of Saigon wasn’t as dirty as near the Saigon railyard. There was garbage everywhere. I even saw a pack of rats run into a garbage pile.

I guess in the third world, littering was the norm as well as lack of garbage cans. My impression was this is a shanty town.

It was late and I finally took an overnight train from Saigon in a sleeper car. The train only runs twice a day. The train was running behind so instead of leaving at 11:15pm it was more like 12:30am.

Anyways the first shock to me was the motorbikes. Everyone rode one. The streets were filled. At first I didn’t even know how to cross the street. I saw no accidents however and they were criss-crossing all over the place even sidewalks and cutting corners. And the noise of honking horns was constant. All people do is honk at upcoming traffic from behind to let them know you are coming. There are not many streetlights, just congested roundabouts. You kind of got used to this chaos after a while.

Anyways I slept on the train and arrived in Nha trang. The weather was somewhat partly cloudy and overcast but took a nice boat tour that included a meal and snorkelling. There was a local beer, Tiger that was good for about about 80 cents. As well there was a floating wine bar for happy hour. I got sunburnt bad that day. I swear my skin bubbled when the sun touched it. I also had a raccoon tan from the sunglasses. I had to refrain from wearing the shades for the rest of the trip.

We left nha trang on a sour note. Some punk kids peeled my seat trunk back on my rented motorbike and stole our Camera. So we went and bought a new one. Boy were we pissed off at that time. Now I look back and am still not happy about it but I realize that these boys are probably extremely poor and hopefully seeing the pics I had taken of another land (HK) it would help them aspire to reach higher heights outside of their life in a third world neighbourhood in Nha Trang. I hope those kids smarten up one day and realize that stealing wont get them by for life.

We talked to some men who saw us looking for the camera and offered to find those boys and try to get us our camera. We gave them the card for our hotel and our address in Canada. The chances we get our camera back are slim but at least we tried.

Anyways, I wasn’t going to let that ruin our trip so we headed to Mui Ne beach. I was initially headed for Phan Thiet but some Kiwis on the bus with us advised us there was nothing in Phan Thiet except for some lacklustre shopping.

He told us to get off the bus in Mui Ne which is a tourist resort town on the up and up. It will not be a cheap destination for much longer. It is going to get more popular. The accommodation was right on the beach and did I mention cheap.
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Mui ne is very beautiful. And there is an assortment of beachside loungy type clubs where you can smoke flavoured tobacco or just chill and have a drink. We met Germans, Australians, Dutch, Taiwanese, Belgian, Canadian, American, French, a whole assortment of people there.

snow ninja

12-17-2007, 01:54 PM

After 2 days in Mui Ne, we left on bus and ended up back in Saigon, this time in the heart of the city and visited the war remnants museum which used to be called the Museum of American War Crimes and the cu chi tunnels where the Vietnamese lived underground in a network of tunnels that reached over 250km and protected them against the opposition during conflict with the French and the Americans. Look it up and read up on it. It’s interesting, to me anyways.
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Seeing the tunnels it is a true testament to the perseverance, patience and resilience of the Vietnamese people in their lengthy quest for independence from foreign occupancy. Life must have been almost worse than torture or imprisonment in those tunnels. You are even encouraged to shoot off a few rounds with a m-16, ak-47 or a few other guns.
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In witnessing the extremes of humanity and experiencing all that I saw had helped to put my life into perspective.

I had seen beauty and ugliness
Poverty and wealth
Happiness and suffering

I would like to visit Vietnam again, if not for the beauty and witness the strength of the people, to enjoy the low prices for quality entertainment.

I stayed in Saigon for only a few days and left for HK to snap up some more pics that we had lost on our stolen camera but didn’t have much time.
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I’m planning on going again next year for the Tet festival lunar year year. And i would like to make it out to Hanoi & Halong Bay next year.

Some questions I do have:
If there are no taxes over there, how do the gov’t make any money?
Can you drink on the street in Hong Kong? They sell beer at the 7-11. I drank a beer or two but kept it low.

I will be back to post more observations and questions as they come up.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

snailpoo

12-17-2007, 10:17 PM

Good eye with those photographs!

Beautiful.

snow ninja

12-17-2007, 11:14 PM

i do have a few more pics. The first one, the blurry one is on a moving bus. The camera i have also doesn't seem to perform as well at night. Most cameras i found don't.

here's a kid that came out showing off with a huge boa constrictor. He had a minor black eye. I wondered what happened. Did his father hit him? Did he fall? did He get into a fight or did it happen during horseplay? i wont know unless i go back and ask him.
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snow ninja

12-17-2007, 11:16 PM

here's a guy climbing a coconut tree. he's up about 60 feet or more
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here's a club called Jibe's in Mui Ne. pretty cool.
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snow ninja

12-17-2007, 11:28 PM

there is a lot of diesel fumes in hong kong and probably alot of coal fired pollution from China.

I did enjoy and awe at the size and architecture of the buildings. They are all huge.

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here's a fruit, i have no idea what it's called but it's pretty good.
It's like cross between an apple and a plum but shaped like a red bell pepper. pretty cool, never seen it before.
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AngryABCGirl

12-17-2007, 11:49 PM

Oh how I hate you Lippo building and all of the experiences I had there....

Anyway:

Those are 蓮霧 or Syzygium samarangense

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syzygium_samarangense

CBC guy

12-18-2007, 12:19 AM

kimpossible

12-18-2007, 08:56 AM

The generic English name for the red fruit is Wax Apple.

I'm glad you got back safe and sound. You seem a little different after the trip.

snow ninja

12-18-2007, 09:36 AM

Oh how I hate you Lippo building and all of the experiences I had there....

Anyway:

Those are 蓮霧 or Syzygium samarangense

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syzygium_samarangense

^that's quite the tongue twister of a fruit name.

what's wrong with the Lippo bldgs? please explain.:confused:

snow ninja

12-18-2007, 09:42 AM

The generic English name for the red fruit is Wax Apple.

I'm glad you got back safe and sound. You seem a little different after the trip.

how so? i do feel that i have expanded my horizons, become less ignorant and satisfied my lifelong curiousity of what it would be like in Asia.

It definately helped me appreciate what i have. The quiet, clean, peace. And in comparison to most vietnamese i'm wealthy. Not so much in HK.

I even had temptations to become retired.

At $7 for a night in Mui Ne beach, you could accomodate yourself for just over $2500 per year. That's cheaper than the cheapest ghetto shoe box rooming house anywhere around here. Hehe

if you could get a $500 welfare cheque from home it would cover your food and housing there hehe free living!!

snow ninja

12-18-2007, 09:46 AM

Wow good to see you had a good time. You are a very good photographer haha, those are some nice pics of both Vietnam and Hong Kong there.

I'm going to HK myself in January, now that I saw your pics I cant wait

thanks, heh, i'm just wingin it. Still trying to fool around with the settings a bit. I don't have any real photograpy training, i just point and shoot at views/shots than seem clean, uncluttered and that i think would make a good pic. Mix that in with taking flurries of photos to go through and purge later and this is what you get. What most people do i think.:biggrin:

kimpossible

12-18-2007, 01:11 PM

how so? i do feel that i have expanded my horizons, become less ignorant and satisfied my lifelong curiousity of what it would be like in Asia.

What you write about. I mean, that's all I have to go by since I've never met you. Different set of concerns. More thoughtful - if I can say that without insulting you. I actually do mean that in a good way.

Beautiful set of pictures. Thank you for posting them.

snow ninja

12-18-2007, 02:16 PM

thanks, no prob, it's my pleasure to post them, to share what i saw.

you are right tho, i usually do post like a maniac but i felt this thread deserved more humanity and as a special reminder.

here's a few more
Say hello to my little friend
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CBC guy

12-19-2007, 01:29 AM

Haha, is that guy in the black shirt.... you? Just wondering. The guy squeezing into the hole and firing that M-16...

snow ninja

12-19-2007, 08:52 AM

yep, i wanted to become a guerrilla that day for some reason. Maybe it was the theme of the setting or the novelty of it. Like a war amusement park.

i'll never forget that.

Except the one embarrassing but funny part, I barely fit into the hole and my shorts wanted to come off getting out while everyone was watching.:frown: :redface: :smile:

and you cant take you arm off the ground to hold your shorts, you have to just let them go.

CBC guy

12-19-2007, 06:39 PM

Oooh a war amusement park haha
I once saw a US Civil War re-enactment when I was 11. Now I'm not American but at the time I thought it was like the COOLEST THING EVER.

I fired a C-7 (Canadian M-16) before when I used to be in Army Cadets. (You know the BC Regiment Drill hall downtown near Beattie street, kinda between the Library and GM Place? Yeah, the building with the white paint and the two WWII tanks in front) It was much heavier than I thought it would be! They only allowed us to fire single shots for safety reasons, even though they weren't real bullets. I also really liked the National War Museum in Ottawa, very interesting. I have been to quite a few battlefields in Europe and China as I'm an avid military historian. (Even stumped the Greek tour guide about the Battle of Pharsalus between Caesar and Pompey in 46 BC! Haha one of my most cherished memories.)

snow ninja

12-19-2007, 08:29 PM

too funny, at this picture, it's the room where they showed the tunnel network map as well as showed the vietnamese movie about 2 great "american killers" a male and a female. It showed their heroic efforts narrated by a vietnamese girl speaking english over war trumpet music. As well, there were clips in between of war and destruction.

The video was so old and black and white.

"Cu Chi, the land of many gardens, peaceful all year round under shady trees ... Then mercilessly American bombers have ruthlessly decided to kill this gentle piece of countryside ... Like a crazy bunch of devils they fired into women and children ... The Americans wanted to turn Chu Chi into a dead land, but Cu Chi will never die."

cu chi is the red area on the map above saigon.

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it was some amusing stuff. very moving propaganda to instill support..i wish i had a soundclip

CBC guy

12-20-2007, 04:23 AM

^ not suprised. China does similar things, although I don't think it gets quite as hokey as "heroic killers of Americans" LOL.

snow ninja

12-20-2007, 08:44 AM

heh, back then these guerillas must have been really looked up to by many a peasant farmer.

snow ninja

12-20-2007, 08:48 AM

I fired a C-7 (Canadian M-16) before when I used to be in Army Cadets. (You know the BC Regiment Drill hall downtown near Beattie street, kinda between the Library and GM Place? Yeah, the building with the white paint and the two WWII tanks in front

yep, know that building real well. looks like it was built quite a few years before the war. it's ugly and just looks like a plaster bomb shelter.

Flow to Live

12-20-2007, 10:02 AM

man those pictures look great! I hope to travel someday.

snow ninja

12-20-2007, 10:45 AM

thanks,

note: there are a lot of hustlers and hawkers in Nha trang beach.

I must have been approached every 20min. or less by some girl or women trying to sell fruit, gum, postcards, bracelets, necklaces, seafood, cigs, baked goods, massages etc

snow ninja

12-20-2007, 11:03 AM

here's a part about cu chi tunnels from wikipedia. even babies were born down there and went to school. There were hospitals, weapons shops.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cu_Chi_Tunnels

Life in the tunnels
American soldiers used the term "Black echo" to describe the conditions within the tunnels. For the NLF, life in the tunnels was difficult. Air, food and water were scarce and the tunnels were infested with ants, poisonous centipedes, spiders and mosquitoes. Most of the time, guerrillas would spend the day in the tunnels working or resting and come out only at night to scavenge supplies, tend their crops or engage the enemy in battle. Sometimes, during periods of heavy bombing or American troop movement, they would be forced to remain underground for many days at a time. Sickness was rampant among the people living in the tunnels; especially malaria, which accounted for the second largest cause of death next to battle wounds. A captured NLF report suggests that at any given time half of a PLAF unit had malaria and that “one-hundred percent had intestinal parasites of significance.” In spite of these hardships, the NLF managed to wage successful campaigns against a conscripted army that was technologically far superior.

read here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cu_Chi_Tunnels

CBC guy

12-20-2007, 08:24 PM

yep, know that building real well. looks like it was built quite a few years before the war. it's ugly and just looks like a plaster bomb shelter.

I think it was built in 1898 or something? Yeah I heard somewhere the Gov't considers it a heritage building (which I suppose it would be if it was that old) and there is a pole saying "Caution: Military Zone" just outside it. Uh, yeah, there's freaking tanks there, its a military zone all right. The inside is also pretty grim, but the racks of rifles and the Armoured Cars inside are kind of neat, I suppose.

snow ninja

12-20-2007, 08:36 PM

wouldn't doubt it would become heritage LOL. never been inside myself. i think i tried to look in a window but blocked so no way see in i think.

CBC guy

12-21-2007, 02:21 AM

wouldn't doubt it would become heritage LOL. never been inside myself. i think i tried to look in a window but blocked so no way see in i think.

Did you say you were trying to spy on the Canadian military so the People's Liberation Army can steal Canada's military secrets? :eek: :rolleyes: Oh the humanity!:wink:

snow ninja

12-21-2007, 08:40 AM

LOL,

i was spying on the advanced technological secrets from 1898, still in service.

PLA will be happy to recieve this valuable info.:smile:

CBC guy

12-21-2007, 04:34 PM

What, you mean the horsed cavalrymen are obsolete, as are spears? Oh wow! The Qing Dynasty should learn this ASAP! What's this, bolt-action rifles! Unbelievable! :wink:

jadepeony

01-22-2008, 02:48 PM

to answer your question about drinking alcohol in hong kong, completely legal, do it wherever you please!!

snow ninja

01-23-2008, 11:25 AM

What, you mean the horsed cavalrymen are obsolete, as are spears? Oh wow! The Qing Dynasty should learn this ASAP! What's this, bolt-action rifles! Unbelievable! :wink:

load the cannons and fire the muskets!

to answer your question about drinking alcohol in hong kong, completely legal, do it wherever you please!!

alright! then i don't have to brown bag it next time...i actually didn't see too many people drinking in the streets.

the beer is fairly cheap there and a decent variety everywhere

applehead

01-26-2008, 11:38 PM

mui ne looks beautiful.
glad you had a fun and safe trip.

CBC guy

01-29-2008, 06:12 AM

Not many ppl in HK drink on the street (its pretty rare, in fact I've only seen it once) but its perfectly legal, unless you go overboard.

snow ninja

01-29-2008, 07:18 PM

awesome.. i'll guzzle away next time with no shame :biggrin: (or fear of getting in trouble with police):eek: :redface: :smile: :wink:

mui ne looks beautiful.
glad you had a fun and safe trip.

:smile: it was very nice..and not crowded...cant wait to go back..not a ton of stuff to do but relax on the beach and party..im not complaining

J Honcanese

04-05-2008, 03:23 PM

Great stuff. I find it fascinating to hear about HK from a visitor's perspective, I grew up there so perhaps I have a jaded view of the place.

I’ve never seen so many people at the same corner and I wonder where are all these people going?The first picture was taken at a big pedestrian crossing in the middle of Causeway Bay, one of the most popular shopping districts in HK. The people will most likely be heading to a main entrance/exit of the local subway station, which is just across the road. If not they are probably going to Times Square, a huge vertical mall which is a few blocks away.

The second picture is a main street in Mong Kok, another big shopping area on the other side of HK. It's known to be the centre of HK's youth culture and it has a more local and downmarket feel to Causeway Bay.

snow ninja

04-05-2008, 10:51 PM

i'm hoping to head back jan 2009. hoping to do more sightseeing of places i missed.

what sucked tho the most is most clothes don't fit my 5'-11" 180lb frame.

i found more and better diesel jeans in HCMC

Wow good to see you had a good time. You are a very good photographer haha, those are some nice pics of both Vietnam and Hong Kong there.

I'm going to HK myself in January, now that I saw your pics I cant wait

hey, how'd your trip go? i forgot you went.

CBC guy

04-05-2008, 11:33 PM

i'm hoping to head back jan 2009. hoping to do more sightseeing of places i missed.

what sucked tho the most is most clothes don't fit my 5'-11" 180lb frame.

i found more and better diesel jeans in HCMC

hey, how'd your trip go? i forgot you went.

Oh my trip? Thanks for asking, well I got around and did the "relatives shuffle" because I went during Chinese New Year.

The Apartments have no heating, it was FREEZING indoors as HK went through a "record" cold snap over the Lunar New Year. Had some very nice dinners in restaurants and in homes, took some of my American and British colleagues (from China) around HK (they visited me there).

Food is excellent as always... had lovely seafood dinners along Cheung Chau Promenade during a 4-day retreat at a nice hotel on Cheung Chau. (Excellent seafood in Cheung Chau)

Saw the new Stephen Chow movie in HK, which was good and suprisingly touching for a Stephen Chow flick. Hung out with cousins, hung out with my American and British colleagues, and really just chilled out during my "break" from China. Saw several lightshows over Victoria Harbour, shopped around a bit, bought a few computer games, some clothes, and went up the Peak. Also went to Shenzhen several times for massages, cheap food and dental work. (Yes, dental work! Its perfectly modern and its way cheaper) Got new glasses done. I spent a good month and a half in HK this time.

snow ninja

04-06-2008, 08:37 AM

what kind of dental work did you get done? i was thinking of getting it done cheap in vietnam. I have a few spots of a lighter shade from my mother gave me too much flouride as a child thinking it would benefit me. this was a practice that mothers gave their children back in the day but is not anymore my dentist said. I might get veneers but they are very expensive here in Canada, like a few grand each.

so you get a happy ending massage LOL. I saw a lot of hotties in HK maybe they are masseuse?

Sunflare

04-06-2008, 11:10 AM

I wished I saw this thread earlier. Those pics are awesome, Snow Ninja.

J Honcanese

04-06-2008, 03:06 PM

Oh how I hate you Lippo building and all of the experiences I had there....I assume you've had bad experiences in the Chinese restaurant there... that's the only logical thing I can think of.

The Apartments have no heating, it was FREEZING indoors as HK went through a "record" cold snap over the Lunar New Year.Yeah, I was in HK over Christmas and it started out being a comfortable 20-25 deg. C, but once January came it just got cold real quick. Apparently La Niña is causing worldwide cooling this year.

snow ninja

04-06-2008, 04:11 PM

I assume you've had bad experiences in the Chinese restaurant there... that's the only logical thing I can think of.

Yeah, I was in HK over Christmas and it started out being a comfortable 20-25 deg. C, but once January came it just got cold real quick. Apparently La Niña is causing worldwide cooling this year.

holy fuck when i was there it was hot as heck in late nov. early dec. it was beach weather in the day. i took my shirt off at stanly beach.

i was overheated every day. even at night. wanted to wear a wife beater it was that warm.

i was walking around mong kok and i wanted to go to this open air seafood restaraunt in the middle of a street market but i couldn't remember where it was. that place is crazy. so many streets and so many look similar.

J Honcanese

04-06-2008, 05:24 PM

Yep, Mong Kok can get pretty confusing. It's the one place in HK where you're guaranteed to see a tourist trying to find his way on a map.

But from my experience I think it's even easier to get lost in Causeway Bay. I didn't really know my way around until I was about 18, despite the fact that it was where my friends preferred to hang out.

CBC guy

04-07-2008, 02:22 AM

Oh yes, did I mention I had not one but TWO Chinese new Year dinners? One each at the apartments of my eldest cousin (he's 36.. yeah has his own apartment LOL) and at the "villa" (technically its another apartment, but its so nicely furnished I refer to it as a "villa". Its in Discovery Bay.. a bit out of town but yeah a real nice district) The one at my cousin's was really fit for an Emperor, the piece de resistance was a whole suckling pig! (I don't see this often either) The one at my aunt's place was western in nature but still very yummy, with fresh baguettes, a cheese plate, western hordoeuvres (smoked salmon with cream cheese on crackers, sausages and pineapples with toothpicks, that kind of good stuff) the piece de resistance there was a really nice roast beef, don't know where she got that from, it was brilliant.

It was very chilly when I was there, definitely not the time to break out the T-shirts.

Bummed out several times playing Drummania in the arcades. The HK arcades are really something! They're pretty deafening spots... I only went a few times... you see yuppies in nice suits being mesmerized by the newest version of Capcom Vs SNK... pretty hilarious, some even bring their (gasp!) girlfriends, who usually play Taiko No Tetsujin... usually not very well...

As for the masseuses, yeah they were really cute 19 year olds from other provinces of China who came for the money... No "happy ending", though, LOL, I went with my Aunt and Uncle because they know Shenzhen way better than I do... It WOULD be rather awkward to do, you know... The glasses were uber-cheap in HK, I got mine for about 250 Hong Kong dollars (included the tests and stuff... though I did get the cheapo frame as I'm cheap... but yeah its not expensive at all)

The dental work.. this was where I needed my aunt to come with me, because I have no idea where to find these places in Shenzhen. Got my cavity filled for about 400 Renminbi... pretty damn cheap compared with Canada. The food's pretty neat in Shenzhen because there you can try specialties from all over the country, we had lamb hotpot in Shenzhen as it was winter.... good stuff! (don't ask me where the restaurant is though, I have no idea LOL)

Had to run clear across HK (I live in Tsing Yi, she lives in Chai Wan, yeah Chai Wan on the VERY eastern end of the Island line) to visit my grandma several times, she insisted I had lunch with her, so I did. But there's nothing to do there except look at old photos.

J Honcanese

04-07-2008, 07:02 AM

Lol, I wouldn't be all that surprised if you actually had more than two Chinese New Year dinners. The last time I spent Chinese New Year in HK we had at least three big family dinners - and each one was a feast!

I think smoked salmon and cocktail sausages with pineapples on toothpicks are pretty popular as hors d'oeuvres in HK, especially in Chinese families with ties to Canada and the US. I have those all the time at in-house family dinners.

Discovery Bay is a big favourite for the expat community. I think it's mainly because it's slightly out of the way but still within easy reach of the main urban area. And it's also about the only big neighbourhood without proper vehicular traffic. People tend to take buses or bike or use golf carts to get around. It's also got a sort of "resort town" feel to it. It's a shame about Disneyland though, I imagine it's ruining the peace and quiet of those who live in Discovery Bay. Seeing fireworks every night out your window would be nice to begin with, but over time it would just get annoying.

Oh and for those who are interested, here's a song by a Scottish blues rock band - the MV was filmed entirely in HK and was based on Wong Kar Wai's 1994 film "Chungking Express". The MV dates back to 1997 but the street scenes have pretty much remained the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z231EqowPqk

Another point of interest is the lead singer: she kinda looks like she could pass for a hapa. In fact, she seriously reminds me of one of my high school friends who is half British and half Chinese.

jadepeony

04-10-2008, 12:33 PM

i just realised that i don't take scenic photos when on holidays. i loved your pics. i just came back from hk during spring break. i go for the food!

snow ninja

04-10-2008, 02:16 PM