Sidewalk after 10pm

Sidewalk during day

Texas beef

Jerky store coming to Le van sy?

Humongous homes near coffee shoo

View from new coffee joint

Saigon get-away

This resort/ pool/ eating area is the closest thing to escape in the
city. BBQ along water and dip in the pool not pictured. The pool guy
came up to me after I moved on of pool chairs so there was space for 3
of us to sit. You might think he was coming to help. But he told me to
move it back. I asked why. He said so there would be 2 chairs together
like the others. But no one was using them and there were three of us
I said. Where should one of us sit? Over there he said. After a bit of
this we just ignored him and he went away. It's a heirarchial thing I
suppose and he's supposed to enforce the rules and not consider other
possibilities. Rules are rules. At least he was kind enough to let it
go. Drying the towel on the side wall wasn't allowed though. At all.

Childrens book

First page in childrens book. Beer. Awesome.

Bookstore

Kids reading in the bookstore.

Ants galore

Can't figure out where they come from. Very tiny. They get into
everything, even the fridge to an extent. And oddest- they get into
the drinking water while it's sitting in your cup. What's in the
water??

Chillaxin

Bike repair man chillin while waiting for customers. He plays a lot of
chess when he has a challenger.

University near house

The chef

Grilling up our scallops

Dinner on street

$2

Saigon shoes

Haircut on street

With ear cleaning of course

Nun on bike

Crossing Saigon river, nun on one bike, and man with child delivering
flowers on another.

Street corner hangout

Sugarcane stand in background at corner stand/ house. Plastic stools
are more comfy than the wooden chairs.

Tree and plant bike

The Do Bo

The do bo is working pajamas. Popular female work/ walk garb for those
who have their own shops or work for others mainly in restaurants.
Apparently, for some it denotes that they're from the countryside, but
that seems kind of old fashioned.

Rooster man & collection lady

This lady has a piercing voice as she walks through the hood yelling
that she buys your junk- I think. She's wearing working pjs. The guy
in front has a rooster he's been training to fight. I saw him teaching
it later today with another cock. He doesn't seem to do anything else
but drink coffee. And beer of course. Vietnam is suposedly #2 in beer
consumption world wide per capita after Thailand.

No spitting campaign

Just like China, Vietnam has been trying to limit spitting in this
public campaign. I don't know if it's working because there's so
little spitting here compared to China. But in china, it has
definitely helped.

Sugarcane

Ancestor worship?

Not sure if this is ancestor worship or just burning trash, but they
are both common sights and i'm not sure why people still burn trash.
The trashmen pick up trash regularly and sort it at the same time,
opening each plastic bag and separating the insides on the spot.

Bkk airport

Guy sitting behind me on my flight said two interesting things : 1)
he's an architect who helped design the bkk airport. It took 10 years
to design. It takes forever to walk to the gate- after passing 100
food and shopping places. The whole place is covered in glass- so
close to the equator?! It's hot as hell in there. A/c can't compete
with sun. Terrible design. 2) he said don't drink Leo beer or Chang
beer. But Singha is ok.

This is our gate area. Took at least 20 minutes to walk to plus the 15
minutes we spent eating.

Bangkok 2 rains

This photo of new construction site in bangkok a minute after the next
photo.

Bangkok by comparison

In Bangers for a few days and the contrast with Saigon is too extreme
to mention in detail. Looks like another highrise or mall is going up
along skytrain. The the next photo as rain come in just a minute later.

Typical men sitting around scene

Do they work? No idea. Are they always sitting here drinking coffee?
Pretty much. It is the land of man.

Local butcher

It's as fresh as it gets. No need for fridge here.

Delivery service

Ice chest- no problem. We had our fridge delivered this way.

No school buses

The madness. School pick up.

Ancestor worship

Alive and well. Incense, food to be blessed. It could work. Right?
Ancestor worship.

Rain

Rooftop view

View of rooftops from our rooftop

Motorbike guards

They should really be wearing oxygen masks.

More hairy wiring

Vietnamese donut bread: Banh Tieu

Pretty yummy but too greasy to eat at mid day when my face is greasy
too.

Mosque

Mosque near our house.

Jackfruit and seed

Jackfruit after being cut and cleaned. Seeds are huge. Should make
jewelry out of them or something.

Jackfruit

Jackfruit is gracing the streets these days. Yum.

Scallops on the street

Yummy new discovery down the street. Scallops and a few other types of
shellfish.

Typical shops under housing

I love the commercial/ housing relationship. No need to drive to eat/
shop.

Dregging the river

Interesting way to dreg the river. Wouldn't be surprised if the crane
falls in. It's on a precarious float.

Coconut ice cream

This little shop by turtle pond is extremely popular, mainly for it's
kem dua, homemade coconut ice cream in coconut with chewy toppings.
The coconut juice comes on the side.

Banana delivery service

First time I've seen bananas being delivered. I think this place turns
into a restaurant; otherwise what would they do with a whole branch of
bananas? They only last a couple days. No preservatives.

Trash pickup

The trash is picked up regularly in front of peoples homes. No
trashcans- just out in plastic bags. I've noticed that the trash men
in this area have motorized trucks or motorcycles. But in go vap they
mostly walk and push carts down the street, with little lateens at
night. Very clean overall. But still in need of clean up around
waterways and many other areas.

Motorbike parking

Typical parking lot.

Fresh sugarcane

Real sugar looks like this.

Dog gone it

Some people love their dogs here just as much as Americans do. But I
haven't seen any yet dressed up.

How to cut in front of a big bus

Note the people cutting in front of the bus. Nice.

Love in a straw

Tried this three-story cafe today to get out of the sun. Photos from
window of street on next (preceeding) post.