Diary Entry Day 3: Yet Another Piece of Vietnam

by Bonnie Teh

photos by Lim Fei Xiang              

Today was the initiation of the essence of our Saigon trip with a visit to the Vietnamese National University to attend a presentation about the history and economic circumstance of Vietnam in a rather lavish meeting room. I don’t think we were fully prepared for the marathon – or at least most of us who were first-timers and did not know what to expect.

The first lecturer was an intense character. He spoke passionately, especially when recounting the torment that the Vietnamese people had to endure. Given a short break before the next presentation, we hurried to a place called Illy and became responsible for the launching of a landslide of orders for coffee. One of our student guides, Vivian, suggested we try the Vietnamese coffee there as well. “It will do you good,” she said. We enjoyed the long black Vietnamese coffee. Surely enough, it worked like a miracle and come the Q & A sessions, questions were thrown at the speaker one after the other. The enthusiasm was inspiring. Although the session dragged on a little longer than intended, it was a fruitful visit.

 We adjourned to a cozy little shop in a wide alleyway for lunch. Many of us were rather surprised as some of the food that was served closely resembled what we usually have back at home. There was a stall selling a drink in the form of a sweet dessert where you could pick and choose the ingredients of your choice. Back home, we call it Leng Chee Kang. What most of us had for lunch was similar to the Chinese Curry Mee back home, only that the soup in this one was more diluted and the ingredients were slightly different.
 

The Enlightenment

With our bellies full and bloated, we made our way to a Hindhu temple very merrily. From the outside, it did not look much different from what we would typically have in mind. As we gathered outside, Lochna explained some of the do’s and don’ts of the temple. One important thing was to walk only clockwise, but never anti-clockwise. Apart from that we were to be mindful of what we said and did within the temple premises so as to not utter anything vulgar nor offensive.

 I think most of us started off rather indifferent in terms of our interest towards the temple, but we eventually opened up after listening to our student guides taking turns to translate the interview transcripts. We were given a kind of apricot-like fruit and a sweet as a sign of blessing and were advised never to discard them at random, that we should at least drop them in one of the flower pots so that the ants could have them. It is probably safe to say that most of us left the temple more well-informed. Personally, it was an enlightening experience.

Admiring the Charisma of the Speakers

After the temple, we were given our own leisure time to do whatever we pleased. We split into several groups as some wanted to return to the hotel and some wanted to do some shopping. Some of us had the pleasure of getting a motorcycle ride from our student guides. They weaved in and out of traffic as though their vehicles were as strong as military tanks. Fei Xiang actually admitted that it was rather “scary”, in his own words.

Some of us befriended some local Vietnamese students. They took us for dinner and the menu was this – dog meat. It was quite a distance from our hotel so we had to take a taxi and walk a short distance into an obscure alleyway. Upon arrival, we saw that the restaurant was filled to the brim and managed to grab a table at a corner. We left the ordering to our Vietnamese friends. When the food came, we excitedly whipped out our cameras and started snapping away shamelessly. There were no tourists there, hence we stood out like a sore thumb.

The dog meat was to be accompanied by a bowl of sauce I thought only the Vietnamese could appreciate. To be honest, the smell was terribly strong and it smelled as though you had put your nose very, very close to a drain and took a mighty whiff. Even as I type this, I am resisting the urge to retch. Some of us braved it and despite the obnoxious smell, it was actually pleasantly spicy to the tongue. We decided to bring some back for the others to try. One particular student said to another, “please take this nightmare because I don’t want to hold it”.

Overall, today was wonderfully productive and colourful. We were initially burnt out but as the day progressed, we regained our spirits and embarked on collective adventures that will not fade into oblivion anytime soon. As they say, today was good, but tomorrow will be better.



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Bonnie Teh, 22 years young, currently pursuing Journalism and International Studies at Monash Malaysia.Believes that opportunities are not made, but seen.Tries to maintain a healthy balance between academics, an active lifestyle and a meaningful existence.