Archive | February, 2020

SaigonSighs14 – Memories are made of this – cooperman88.wordpress.com

28 Feb
The wonders of the world
Prawns, Octopus and fish over a fire made from sticks!

Duong Dong (Pronounced Ding- Dong. Can’t help but think of Leslie Phillips in the black and white Doctor in the house / Carry on films saying Diiiing – Donnnng! As some young shapely nurse teetered by in high heels- Do that today and you’d be in court! ) is the main town of Phu Quoc Island. It has a population of about 18,000. A few years ago you could walk from your hotel to the airport which was like a bus station with a runway. The runway is now abandoned and is used for everything and anything depending on the festival/ selling opportunity.

The Bus Station – OOPS sorry – old Airport

Clear for take off

Filled by humans –
Emptied by –
COWS!
These cows actually!
Wouldn’t take much, a bit of rope and a knot – Voila! No pollution!
But no, that’s not on the radar!
This is like a mini-cooker that sits in the centre of the table. Behind the black knob is a large refillable aerosol can containing gas that supplies the burner. The dish is known as “Lau” pronounced ‘low’ as in OW! my toe, not as in ‘low’ level. In there is a spiced water broth which is boiled then vegetables / meat /seafood is added. Cold cooked noodles are placed in a small white bowl then the Lau is added. Quite nice!
Cua Can is a predominantly working class poorish rural village. There is 1 ATM, a primary school, a police station cum council offices cum civic centre but no petrol station or health facilities other than pharmacists.

AND YET

At one end of the village is this
And at the other end of the village is this –
Don’t you just love Communism

Hated word of the week – WELLNESS- the terrible offspring of ‘wellbeing’. Corporate speak for pretending to care but really I don’t give a fuck about you!

Love and peace John

SaigonSighs13, It’s the longest in the world, view it at cooperman88.wordpress.com

21 Feb
The cable car on Phu Quoc island is just under 9 kilometres long, straddles 3 islands and ends with a water theme park located in the gloriously warm tropical sea.
It starts with ‘faux’ Roman / Greek Amphitheatre type ruins where you can buy the tickets – 100,500 Dong if you’re a local. 300,000 Dong if you’re an alien.
And ends with this. the end Island is by no means finished and is still ‘work in progress. BUT————–
On the other side of the end Island is this! It will undoubtedly be cleaned up and developed one day. Just not yet!

Phu Quoc Island is one of the original ‘Spice’ Islands and has changed hands with Cambodia many times over the centuries. It is actually nearer to Cambodia than Vietnam. It became infamous during the war years for it’s prison which cruelly treated and often murdered communists and their sympathisers. Just as the communists did to Americans and their collaborators captured from the south.

A stand of pepper plants. These will be the the little black things you buy in a twee jar from Waitrose. This industry is diminishing whilst tourism is booming. There is also a flourishing cultured pearl industry and is becoming known as the ‘Pearl’ Island
Morning coffee and breakfast! Vietnam is the second largest producer of coffee in the world so it takes many forms. The main two are – Ca Phe sua da. pronounced /Ka fay sir daaaa. This is iced coffee in a long glass sweetened with condensed milk, basically a cold liquid Mars bar. Then there is Ca Phe sua nam. A small cup of hot filtered coffee that drips onto – yes you’ve guessed it – condensed milk! Breakfast today was a warm light bread roll – a legacy from the French colonial days – called Banh Mi – and two fried eggs – called ‘Opla –aaaa – a very long ‘a’ sound. They do pepper but not salt, however you are given a little dish, one side is chilly sauce and the other side is Soya sauce which is very salty so I use that instead of salt on my eggs. There is a small portion of finely grated red cabbage and lettuce to complement.
A ‘Rosette’ of dried fish on a market in the village of Cua Can Phu Quoc Island
A 1950’s Russian motorbike and sidecar based on BMW mechanics. A war remnant with a few modern bits added!
And finally my retirement project!

Hated word of the week – ‘ABSOLUTELY’ used by the British middle classes when ‘YES’ is just not enough!

SaigonSighs 12. Pollution is a mindset. Recycling is what poor people do! Visit cooperman88.wordpress.com

13 Feb
A mobile mountain of polystyrene cunningly disguised as a motorbike!
Cardboard, plastic , aluminium and glass are the discarded commodities this woman survives on.
She’d love a pension at 67!
He doesn’t need one!
Communism! Government of the people. By the people. For (some of) the people.
Capitalism / democracy? Who needs it?
She needs one. This cart is propelled by pushing the steering column forward and back. she’s selling lottery tickets. there’s no disabled access to anywhere.
This is a large storm drain, almost canal size, it’s the dry season at the moment and so there’s very little water in it. In the wet season it get’s very full of black stinking water and people fish in it. as you can see it’s an unofficial tip. Note the new grey metal railings which were recently installed. A big expensive task that took about two months of work.
Cleaning out the drain
Total disregard and contempt for anything/anyone but themselves! A sack of fabric off cuts set alight during the night burning off the paint and polluting the air with toxic fumes. when it rains the railings will now go rusty but Hey, i didn’t have to pay anything or go far to get rid of my crap!
And finally a beautiful avenue of very tall Plane trees in downtown Saigon

Hated word of the week – AWESOME – mainly used by young Americans. Man walking on the moon is AWESOME! Looking at the view from the peak of Mount Everest is AWESOME! Holding your newborn child is AWESOME! The rest isn’t

SaigonSighs 11. Food Glorious Food! Or perhaps not! A feast is only one click away cooperman88.wordpress.com

6 Feb
Vietnam! Where a ‘Hot Dog’ really is!

The practice of eating dogs/cats – eating anything and everything is mainly a northern one (Hanoi) and stems from a serious famine in the Red River Basin and the Northern Provinces of Vietnam in the forties and fifties. It was a direct result of Ho Chi Minh’s land reform policy – any person / landlord / educated professional / worked with the French, was an enemy of the people. Thousands died and of course ‘the people’ had no idea how to manage the land.

Very fresh meat!
Look Closely!

High end Vietnamese food is delicious but then again high end food anywhere in the world is usually delicious. The bulk of large mid range restaurants offer cheap beer and rice/meat/fish/veg in various forms/combinations. The Vietnamese don’t use knives. In all restaurants you will be given a spoon and fork. If there is meat to be cut up the provider will cut it up for you with SCISSORS! You have to ask for a knife so it’s a good word to learn DAO, pronounced ‘Yow’ coupled with a sawing action from you. The waitress/waiter will look at you as though you are a crazed lunatic then bring you one without a smile.

The car battery drives a pump which airyates the dribble of water in this portable pond. It keeps the fish barely alive until they get the chop! Literally!


A nest of VIPERS! Well actually a bowl of live snakes, not sure what sort.
Nothing like a bit of ‘fag Ash’ to give it a bit of taste!
A food and drink offering for good luck at the start of a new working year.

And finally! A dragon dance troupe doing their thing at a large sports complex for good luck in the coming year.

It’s very noisy and goes on forever

Love and peace – don’t forget your face mask – John