Monday 19 November 2007

Back from Vietnam

It's good to be back! Well, the last 4 days went by in a blur....
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My business associate treated us to a nice seafood dinner the evening we arrived. The next morning, we were at his factory and surprise, surprise... the camera crew was there shooting his company's advertisement. More details below...
The first thing that struck us was the frenzied pace of traffic in the city. It was pure mayhem! I'm glad I didn't have to drive in a place where even crossing the street is a challenge.

There were countless number of motorbikes coming in all directions. Countless!

We had dinner at this seafood restaurant that's very popular with the tourists and local business people.

Spring roll is a Vietnamese specialty. We had two different kinds that night.

These steamed prawns were draped over a fresh coconut set on a 'flaming' dish.

The flower crabs cooked in a sweet-sour tamarind sauce were absolutely delicious! We ate grilled scallops, squid and other seafood too.

The waitresses were dressed in the lovely traditional Vietnamese dress.

The crew was producing an advertisement for the factory and they wanted me to appear as their satisfied customer. So here I was, giving my testimonial. If I had known, I would have dressed more appropriately!

We went to my associate's palatial house. He's such a hospitable host, we were treated to a spread of tropical fruits including durian, jackfruit, dragon fruit, chikus and the 'milk' fruit (above) which I tasted for the first time. It was sweet and tasty.

He's such a dog lover, he has 10 dogs at home and I went ga-ga over the puppies.

The other dogs were so adorable too!
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In the afternoon, we walked around the city, taking in the sights and witnessed the most amazing sunset!
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I'll continue blogging about our trip over the next 2 days. Expect lots of photos of ....
places we have been to...

and food we have eaten.

18 comments:

The Real Mother Hen said...

Great pictures Ting :)
Looks like you have so much fun :)
And you appear in the commercial!!! Wow that's just too cool! :) Man if I were you, I'll start telling everyone I'm a TV model now hahaha :)

Amel said...

YUM YUM...GREAT pics as usual!!! Sounds like a WONDERFUL trip! ;-D

And CONGRATS on being a star on the commercial he he he he...You looked GREAT no matter what!!! ;-D

Crossing the street was a challenge, eh? Sounds like Bandung HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...

Unknown said...

Oh, dear! Those bikes! Looks like the domino motorcycles return to haunt you ^_^
The two dogs are like Bizarro Rusty and Cookie...LOL!

mooiness said...

Excellent - sounds like an excellent trip. Experiencing Vietnam vicariously through you should be a treat. :)

WaterLearner said...

Wow .. You became a star in the advertisement? It will be aired in Vietname I presume huh? If you have the video do put it up in your blog ok?

I knew many Vietnamese friends when I was in Germany and Holland. I absolutely like the healthier version of the spring glass that came wrapped in translucent "glass" sheets.

Blur Ting said...

MH - It looks rather fun doesn't it. Well, truth is, there is nothing much to do in the city. The roads are really busy and dusty.

heh heh, I was in the commercial. They interviewed CH too :-)
They are going to air the ad in Vietnam because the company is going to be listed. He's seriously making big bucks.

Blur Ting said...

Amel - Thanks :-)
Oh yah, really need alot of courage to walk on those roads!! I think you're well trained.

Blur Ting said...

Seagrape - Come to think of it, you're so right on both counts.
Imagine a bike domino in HCM! Can set world record!!

The puppies will probably grow up looking like my doggies :-) One of the adult ones has such a cute swirly chocolate body, CH kept saying he looks like a marbled cake!

Blur Ting said...

Mooiness - He he, quite an adventure in the city itself! I'll blog about the snails we ate. Very slimy like snot!!

Blur Ting said...

Waterlearner - you won't wanna see the video of me inside lah. They only did one shoot, no script and all. Wonder how it'll turn out!!

Now that you mentioned it, we didn't even eat any of the plainer rice rolls. We only had the fried ones every where we went.

WaterLearner said...

The glass translucent type is very much healthier and tastes good as well. Because the skin is so bland, it really brings out the taste of the mentol inside the spring roll lor.

Hee Hee, before I left Germany, my friends organized a Vietnamese Feast Pary for me. Till today, I can't forget how the spring rolls tasted. Oh ya, this healthier version is to be eaten dipped in a very light sauce that is a mixture of fresh chilli, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar.

Anonymous said...

GOOD PHOTOS! Welcome home! expect to see more!

Loz said...

Glad you enjoyed and keep the photos coming - I'm a bit of a tragic when it comes to looking at pther peoples travel pics :)

Anonymous said...

"Bizarro Rusty and Cookie"...LOL so true. Bizarro Cookie was the bossy one, the exact opposite of sweet shy Cookie.

Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022) said...

Hey BT, welcome back. Nice pictures and the food looks yummy. And I agree with mother hen about telling everyone you're a TV model now ... LOL! Cool though :)

J@n!ce said...

Looks like you absolutely have fun in Vietnam. Wow, you are a star... appearing in ads. Congrates.

That's a lot of puppies to be staying in a house. You must be running around chasing after them. How fun :)

Janice Ng

The World According To Me said...

Hi Blur ting, or should I call you satisfied customer?!

First chance I've had to visit, and I love the pics.
The puppies are so cute! The food looks delicious, and it's great to see pics of a place I've never been to.

How exciting, appearing in an advertisement!

Mike Minzes said...

What wonderful pictures. I hope you are having s good time there!

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