Off to the Mall
After a day in the sweltering heat of the jungle tunnels it was time for some air conditioning. Diem was interested in doing a little shopping and I was happy to enjoy a bit of western life. We set off at mid morning and arrived just before ten at the Aeon Mall north of Saigon. The mall did not open for another few minutes. We waited at the entrance as the sun began to bake the pavement.
A Nice Touch
Promptly at the stroke of ten a security guard opened the automatic doors. Diem and I stepped into the cool air of the controlled environment. In what I can only describe as an elegant touch. The security guards and managers lined in rows on both sides of the entrance. As we passed by they bowed and welcomed us to their palace of commerce. We delved deeper into the mall and each business also had it’s employees at their respective entrances. They also bowed quietly as we walked by.
The Food Court
We were both hungry as we had uncharacteristically skipped breakfast. So we headed to the top floor to check out Aeon’s assortment of Asian chain restaurants. The eateries offered an assortment that had become very familiar in my time in Vietnam. Hoang Yen Hot Pot, MK restaurant, A Doi, Al Fresco’s, Crystal Jade and the like.
We came to the end of the long line of eateries and not much seemed interesting. I was craving an ooey, gooey slice of pizza. But the only options were The Pizza Company and a Pizza Hut. I had not had much luck with The Pizza Company. I ordered a supreme pizza, or the works, or whatever they call it, from the Pizza Company once back in Da Nang. The sausage was sliced hotdogs, the vegetable was corn and the pepperoni was unrecognizable. We passed by unmoved by it’s presence.
Decisions
Next to the Pizza Hut was a Thai Express. Thai seemed like a good alternative. So I did what seemed to be the appropriate thing at this crossroad. I dug in my shoulder bag and pulled out a shiny quarter. Diem laughed and I told her to call it. She called it as the coin flipped into the air. Heads for Thai and tails for Pizza Hut.
A Very Good Lunch
We tucked into the very modern and shiny new table and looked at the menu. There were no menus in English and pictures were limited. I really wanted a big pile of spicy noodles, shrimp Pad Thai or spicy basil pasta. Alas the bowl of curry soup and crab salad was actually very filling and quite delicious. The curry at least had noodles, and it was enough to quell the craving that was gnawing at me for something comforting.
A little Shopping
After lunch we began to explore the mall and do a little shopping. The sedentary quarantine we had emerged from a few weeks back had done neither of us any favors. We had both welcomed a few new pounds to the family. Though Diem would have to add an additional person to be considered overweight. Her clothing had nonetheless become snug. I was fortunate enough a few days ago to find a western sized clothing store in downtown Saigon. I was happily able too, and rather affordably I must add, expand my wardrobe.
A Mall From Anywhere, USA
We shopped around the many mall stores. Save for the language that adorned the signage we could have been in any suburban American mall in the late 90’s. As online shopping is not yet a common affair here, and with a swelling middle class, Vietnam is in the middle of it’s golden age of suburban malls. With brand new shiny malls popping up all over the country, Vietnam was in the midst of it’s own age of the Mallrat.
As we wandered the mall I became particularly fascinated with a Japanese dollar store of sorts named Daiso. Everything within its doors was 40,000 vnd or the equivalent of about $1.74. Cleaning supplies, cheap toys, nick nacks, batteries and all labeled in Japanese and very fun to peruse. After we procured a few new outfits and explored a bit of the mall we headed to the massive modern grocery store at one end.
Shopping For Dinner
I was in heaven. The market’s deli section was the size of half a Kroger back home and broken into sections. Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, American, noodles, rice, pizza and beyond. You could get a piece of freshly fried, and quite delicious chicken and walk over to the next section and retrieve a fresh plate of pork fried rice or stir fried noodles or hand rolled sushi. It was overwhelming in scope and my American sensibilities relished in the options.
The produce section was also large and the selections there were dizzying. 3 kinds of kiwi, 6 different bananas, no less than 8 varieties of mango’s, 5 varieties of avocado, how on earth does one choose? Diem and I discussed cooking dinner at her brother’s but decided to grab some fresh fruit, lots of prepared meats and sides and have a quiet dinner at home with little fuss.
Headed Home
We gathered all of our purchases, loaded the motorbike and headed for home. As we reached the bridge that led across the canal to Luan’s house the sky began to darken. As we unloaded and made our way inside the rain began to fall. It was one of those lazy evenings laying around the open house as the cadence of the rain against the metal roof soothed the air. Oh, and of course some subdued Karaoke.
It would rain off and on for the next two days and we did little in that time. Ate, lounged around, and I of course did a bit of writing. Everyone was working hard for our lead up to a 4 day whirlwind stretch that would begin with a trip to the beach town of Vung Tau. As always seems to be the case, Transports in Vietnam leave early and our ride to Vung Tau was no exception.
Off to Vung Tau
It was about 4 am on Sunday morning when the alarms started to sound and everyone began to stir. It was time to get in the transport for Vung Tau. About a two hour drive to the Eastern Sea or the South China Sea as the rest of the world knows it. A transport not unlike our van to An Lao arrived around 4:30 already carrying a few of the family’s friends that would be joining us for the day. With a karaoke machine in tow, yes it was coming with us, we plunged into the darkness of the river delta east towards the coast. Everyone but me immediately fell back to sleep and I, as was usual, stared out the window at the unfamiliar world that unfolded before us in the growing light of dawn.
Dawn over the Mangroves
As dawn broke completely and the clouds began to disburse, rainbows began to come and go over the mangrove swamps of the coastal region. I had not seen the mangrove swamps yet, most are deep in beach less areas and a bit unaccessible. Here, near Vung Tau, the mangroves had become a boutique business. Mangrove sea salt has become popular in Asia, though I can’t say I’ve seen it in the US. We passed by the massive acreage of salt ponds fed by the water pulled from the ancient coastal mangrove swamps. I had begun using mangrove sea salt at home in Vietnam as it is unrefined and high in mineral content. Here the fields were right in front of me. A great unexpected pleasure to see.
Finally in Vung Tau
We arrived at the beach side facility around a quarter to 7 and unloaded. We procured a large table with many lawn chairs and there were quite a number of us. I knew everyone here, friend and of course family, as I was the only one not from An Lao. Most of the family friends that are from An Lao and reside in Saigon were with us today. Many I had broken bread with in An Lao on my first visit many moons ago. The only siblings of my wife who were not here were her only sister and her brother Kevin who were both still in An Lao.
A Bit Disappointed
What I can say about Vung Tau will unfortunately not be flattering. I wasn’t impressed at all and of all the places I’ve traveled to in Vietnam this was the most disappointing. The facilities were old and dilapitaded, the beach was dirty and at the high tide mark was a waving line of trash and debris. We paid a rather large sum of money in Vietnamese standards, some $75 dollars, for the use of the tables and chairs for the day. There were no fans and the low hanging metal roof was building heat.
We settled into our table with lots of food we had brought and I intended to make the best of it. We all went for a swim, but the waters did not have the clear blue beauty as in Ky Co or Da Nang. The waters were also filled with a centipede like creature that squirmed and wiggled in the surf. There were thousands, millions of them. We swam for less than a half an hour and it was just not terribly enjoyable. I would later find out that the creatures swimming with us were in fact bristle worms. The beach here was in the midst of an outbreak of the normally unobservable nuisance.
An Unwelcome Visitor
With bristles tipped with irritating poisons with the potential to cause mild discomfort and sometimes worse. I would have felt that something should have been posted. A warning or some sort of informational signage to the presence of the less than attractive intruders. After a shower in a latrine like facilities we had a late breakfast. Meats and accompaniments were sliced and prepared for stuffing our crispy fresh baguettes we had acquired from a local vendor. Karaoke had already broken out, it was just before 9, and the beer had begun to flow. In the stagnant air of the growing heat I began to sweat profusely. I was pressed to sing a song and I tried to turn it down.
A Moment of Struggle
The Karaoke machine was not cooperating, sweat was filling my eyes, my internal body heat was mounting quickly and everything seemed to be spinning out of control. I felt I was going to pass out. Just before I absolutely lost it, Diem grabbed my arm and told everyone we were headed for coffee. Thank God, I was saved, I needed to seriously cool off. We walked across the blistering pavement to a hotel on the other side of the main boulevard. I sat down while Diem ordered two iced coffees and all the fans they had available to be pointed directly at us.
We sat and cooled off for quite some time, so long in fact, that we eventually ordered lunch. Garlic braised chicken wings, stir fried noodles and a lot of ice water. We decided at one point that we were gone long enough. We strolled back to the table where we had left our family and friends many hours ago. I walked the beach with my brother-in-law Quan as it was too hot to sit under the metal roofing. Keeping my feet wet would at least offer some cooling effect.
Some Observations
One thing I did find to be attractive and very likable here was the implementation of local mangroves for shade. As Quan and I walked the beach I couldn’t help but notice the line just past high tide where the mangroves stood like sentinels just in front of many of the beach side restaurants and bars. Offering shade and stability to the area just off the shore. We walked for about an hour before returning to the table and everyone was packing to leave. It was about 2 in the afternoon and I was happy to get into the air conditioned van.
Given the high price of the table and chairs I didn’t feel too bad with the condition that we left them. It required at least a $75 dollar cleaning. I still can’t fully wrap my brain around the cultural aspect of throwing your trash directly on the floor, but there you have it. We loaded the van and headed off to grab an early dinner, or late lunch, who knows. We arrived at this row of local eateries and it appeared that the patrons of the many seafood eateries were just as hungry as we were.
Dinner
It was almost impossible to drive down the lane. The owners of each restaurant would walk out in front of your vehicle, right in the middle of the road, and to try and force you to stop at their restaurant. If it wasn’t where we wanted to go the driver would continually inch forward until the individual, and with great intelligence, would move out of the way. We pulled over on the side and we all piled into this fresh airy seafood grill. Charcoal grills churning out fresh delights all to your liking. The offerings were piled on ice or in tanks at the roadside. Obviously meant to showcase the freshly caught and often still squirming dinner choices for all the passersby. The food was also cooked up front next to the display to fill the street with the irresistible aroma of freshly grilled seafood.
We ordered grilled oysters, squid stir fry, seafood noodles and on and on. We sat in the roadside restaurant eating until we were full. There was still however, something in Vung Tau I wanted to see and now was my chance. While everyone was finishing dinner I asked our driver if he could take me down the road to see the Christ of Vung Tau.
The Christ of Vung Tau
On the edge of the peninsula that makes up Vung Tau is a small mountain of sorts known as Nho mountain (small mountain). Higher than anything else in the area. On top is a statue of Jesus known as the Christ of Vung Tau. At the apex of Nho mountain, looking out to the sea is the largest Christian monument and statue of Jesus in all of Asia and the second largest in all of the world. Being only dwarfed by it’s cousin Christ the redeemer in Rio. Reaching 118 feet above the mountain top, and with 60 feet outstretched arms, it’s an amazing sight that can be seen from anywhere in Vung Tau.
Just Short
We worked our way ever closer to the mountain and the size of the statue became apparent. We continued circling up the mountain until suddenly the road ended, or rather began to head back down the other side. There was a small parking area and we pulled over. To my unfortunate surprise there was no direct access to the area at the top of the mountain save for a 1000 step staircase that switched back and forth up the steep incline. This would be as close as I would get. With everyone waiting at the restaurant to ride the 2 hours back to Saigon, I just didn’t have the time. I tucked it away as something I would do another time, took a few pictures as best I could, and retreated back to the restaurant.
Back to Saigon
Everyone was waiting and we closed the check and loaded back in for the ride back. The closer we got to Saigon the worst traffic became. I had little else to expect as Sunday’s don’t hold the same slow crawl as they do back in America. In Vietnam Sunday is just another day and rush hour traffic on this day was no different than any other.
It was well past nightfall when we walked across the bridge to Luan’s house. About 7 to be exact and we had to be on a bus for Da Lat in 6 hours. Everyone packed and we all took a nap. Midnight would be here soon and we had to be at the bus station, on the other side of Saigon, by 1am. No rest for the weary traveler here in the land of the blue dragon.
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