left my heart in saigon….

my shots were abysmal, but the mate’s were amazing. 17-35mm on a full frame eos 5d is the shit! (that’s right mr. shahran, you are banned from carrying any wide angle lenses when you travel with me from now on)

ben thanh market at sunset (taken by shahran ali)

all in all, it was a very good trip this time round, though i do wish i could have more time absorbing the city rather than being couped up in a cold server room for the majority of the time i am there.

i usually get the “look” when i mention that i am heading off to vietnam for a trip. people usually put vietnam in the same league as thailand is with all it’s famous sleeze and what nots. fact of the matter is it’s really the opposite. prostitution is illegal and massage parlors really do offer proper massages without the “specials”. sure the people running the places are very attractively dressed, but what goes behind the walls are really no where near sleeze levels. massage areas are open with about six patrons being worked on at the same time in the same room. in fact, the patrons are required to leave their clothes on while they are being worked on (they’ll even give you a tshirt to change into if you do not want to wrinkle your business shirts).

what is attractive about these massages is it’s price. 70000 VND (just $5 USD) would give you a full body massage, foot reflexology, ear wax clearing, hair wash with head massage, a facial and also a drink. you’ll have to tip the masseuse who works on you as they do not get paid from the parlor – 100000 VND (about $7 USD) would usually be more than suffice. at that price, i think its one of the hidden gems of saigon that i would put as a “must-try” for anyone who visits vietnam.

goood morning vietnam (again!)

so its off to saigon again – for server setup this time. one dc, one exchange mx and a fileserver is all i need to make ready at the branch in vietnam, i am looking forward to having a good time in vietnam this time round with hopefully a few hundred snaps to encapsulate the city.

will be joined by a fellow photography mate on monday…too bad i have to start work by then but i do expect him to have some very interesting shots.

will update in 3 days, hopefully with some shots.

post vietnam blues

the trip up to vietnam was like a bad dream. 14 hours work day daily in an utterly fubar-ed situation left me broken and 3 kilos lighter when i got back (and that was only a 6 day trip, wonder if i’d just disappear into thin air if i stayed there for a year). right up to the very last minute that i was in the office in saigon i was hassled by either the users or the systems; it felt like getting out of prison when i finally got into the cab to the airport.

recollecting back from the limited times i had outside work in saigon (i chose to take a slow walk to & from work eveyday), i would think that it would be a wonderful destination for a photography holiday. the town looks like any medium sized malaysian town but ten times cleaner! traffic was mad (imagine the amount of people jostling at the start of the boston marathon, then imagine each of them on a motorbike – you’ll get the traffic on saigon’s roads) with motorists mostly not heeding the traffic lights. surprisingly though, to cross the streets, one would just have to just walk right ahead, the motorists would do everything to avoid you.

people aren’t very friendly though they wont bother you either. nonetheless, i noticed a few instances where a tourist raised up a camera to capture one of the numerous sidewalk eateries (one literally sits on the side walks’ ground and have a meal here) and all of them actually stopped, noodle hanging out from mouth, smiled and waved at the camera! anyone who loves people or street photography should slap on some 50mm primes and walk the streets for some very interesting shots (becareful of snatch thieves on bikes though, loads of incidents of such)

communication can be a problem with only a handful of viets who can actually converse in even basic english (i seriously almost punched a viet vendor because of network issues in the office – its hard to speak even plain english let alone explain technical jargon to them). the service staff would usually be ok (why shouldn’t they? accommodation and service in saigon is not cheap!) with english but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone to have your questions answered when you’re on the streets.

i would love to return to saigon on my own time but for now, i am just reeling from the bad work experience. also, i have my credit card bills to clear first before i can plan to go anywhere (hotel was $USD310 per night when i was there!) …boy its gonna be a long while.