Thursday, May 27, 2010

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Going fishing?

I was interested to see this intricate net and string system that I can only assume was installed to catch any falling objects through the centre of this stairwell. Stairwells that act as light wells are very common here, so I am surprised if falling objects are a problem that you do not see them more often around the city.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Friday, May 21, 2010

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Slipper lobsters

Not as common in Vietnam as you would think, Slipper's (or Bugs back in Australia) are hard to come by. These little babies were trucked down from Mui Ne at around the third of the price of normal lobsters, but with just as much taste.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Asian Monopoly

I was interested to see this Monopoly board in a shop recently. There were no street or station names on the board, which surely must take a fair bit of fun and identity out of the game. Buying "Dark Blue Space #2" rather than Mayfair in the English version and Park Lane in the American version is what I used to enjoy about Monopoly. When I inquired as to why there were no names, I was told that it was the "Asian" version.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Bitexico Financial Tower

Saigon's tallest building is nearing completion. With its distinctive lotus petal shape it is already an impressive sight on across the city skyline

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Saftey first

There seems to have been a dramatic improvement in safety on construction sites, with workers wearing protective equipment, plenty of safety railing, etc, etc. So I was a little surprised to see this new building with no railing at the front of the street.

Saturday, May 08, 2010

Empty hairdressors

These shops tend to serve more women than men, which may be an indication that the topless advertising out the front is not working

Friday, May 07, 2010

Gucci on Dong Khoi st

I love this kind of advertising - completely culturally irrelevant and depicting pointless lifestyle scenes. Yet in obviously works as ridiculously expensive handbags walk out the door, especially when you could walk down to Ben Thanh market and buy rip offs at 10% of the label price

Thursday, May 06, 2010

Goodbye Eden Mall

These two fantastic old buildings form part of the Eden Mall. However they are about to be demolished with the rest of the city block to make way for a new development. There are supposed to be height restrictions in this area so it will be interesting to see what happens

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Queuing for the ATM

Anyone who has visited Vietnam will know that the Vietnamese are not known for their ability to queue. Airports especially are an incredible phenomenon, although this has improved over the years.

This is a standard scene outside an ATM, where a few people mill around with no real structure, just waiting to ounce on the cubicle once the person inside comes out.

Monday, May 03, 2010

Sunday, May 02, 2010

Saturday, May 01, 2010

May Theme Day - Statues

There are two Hindu temples in town that I know of, and both are adorned with statues of the many deities from the religions mythology

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