Diary Day 9: It’s Too Soon

By Christyna Fong

Photographs by Christyna Fong

It’s unbelievable how nine days zoom past you. In a blink of an eye, we’re packing up and leaving Saigon tomorrow! I woke up with a rather heavy heart, but decided that I can’t spend my last day in Saigon moping and pulling a long face. So I dragged myself out of bed and went out for a nice English breakfast in the shop next door. Yes, English breakfast in post-French colonial Vietnam. The delicious irony!

After that I followed Thanh and Thang together with Andrea, Mumbi and John for lunch at a quaint little restaurant that sells authentic French food cooked by a French chef! But as luck would have it the restaurant was closed on Sundays.

Exploring the streets of Saigon one last time.

So we went to Din Ky instead! Apparently it’s a famous Chinese restaurant in the area, evident by the patrons that are spilling out to the sidewalk.  The breakfast was still sloshing in my stomach so I opted for a coconut instead of food. As I sipped on my drink lazily listening to the chatter in the background, it struck me how easily we all took to each other. It feels like everybody truly and thoroughly enjoys each other’s company, and each of us has a place in the family we have come together to be in the last nine days. This is where I got teary eyed and distracted myself by struggling with the coconut flesh!

  

Waiting for the rest of the food to arrive!

After that we trounced the sidewalks, looking at stalls and making last minute purchases to bring home. The stalls on the sidewalk are actually very reasonable, with a decent variety (although not as much as at Ben Than Market) and comparable prices! So if you find yourself on the last day of your trip with a few souvenirs short, hit the streets and see what treasures you can uncover.

One of the street vendors in Saigon

By the time I had spent the last of my dongs, we were running late for the practice for cultural night! So we rushed back home to the sight of everybody sitting in the park. We proceeded to put on a show for the locals and tourists as we practiced our dikir barat for the group performance tonight. Our audience seemed to enjoy it, judging from the laughter directed at our very loud group! Usually we take a bit of the country we visited back home with us but I’m glad today we were able to leave something of ours behind, even if they are just memories. 

Practicing dikir barat in the great outdoors!

After dikir barat was bhangra practice! Apparently our stomping could be heard all the way down. That’s how hard we were practicing! We really worked up a sweat before getting ready for Cultural Night.

I believe it’ll be an emotionally exhausting evening, but in a good way. Water works will fly, believe you me, if not from anyone else but I! Getting ready for Cultural Night now. This promises to be a fun filled night!

Christyna Fong, 21, is taking her Degree in Arts with a suicidal Writing and Communication major. She can be a bit floozy and start using words like floozy. I also suspect she might be bipolar (bear!).

Diary Entry Day 8: Floating Markets, Rice Farms, and a Road Trip

By Mumbi Munene
Photos from various sources

The morning sunshine streaming in through my window woke me up with a stir, but it was the memory of our tour guide’s voice saying that we were to be “ready at 7.15am” that made me summon enough energy to get out of bed and hop into the shower. We were to assemble in the hotel lobby, and as soon as I got there I was greeted by the sight of my fellow travelers hunched over the lobby chairs, weary from seven nights of enjoyment and blog work.

After we had all huddled in the hotel lobby, we headed out towards a large boat that took us to Cai Rai, one of the largest floating markets on the shore of Can Tho City, which lies on the Mekong River. The markets hosts up to 900 small and large boats selling various types of fruit and vegetables. When we arrived at the market, it became clear to me that the floating market not only sold fruits and vegetables, but also sustained an entire floating lifestyle. The sight of children sleeping in hammocks and dogs guarding boats made it apparent that traders not only sold their produce on the river, but also lived on the boats they use for trade. The floating market of Cao Rai is therefore extremely unique, not only because it is a market on water, but because the traders essentially live their lives afloat. As soon as we arrived at the market we were transferred into a smaller boat that made mobility around the water much easier. We were given a tour of the entire market. I was amazed by the sight of hundreds of boats not only selling market goods, but also providing transport and even toilet facilities for tourists and locals. The traders were keen to flock their boats around our little tourist-filled vessel in an attempt to sell us their exotic fruits or (much needed) morning coffee. Personally though, the most amusing sight was that of a petrol station that seemed to be randomly floating on the water surrounding it. I had expected a floating market to be a series of small boats selling fruits and vegetables, but was amazed to realize that an entire community existed not only around the river, but also on it.

After observing the floating lifestyle, we headed to a rice farm to learn how rice noodles are made. But even after observing all the stages of the process, I am still quite confused about how rice transforms into noodle. After a long period of observing the noodle making process, some of us travelers were distracted by the sight of the animals around the rice farm. While one traveler received a dirty hug from a particularly friendly pig, another was amazed by the sight of a large cock standing proud in a small cage and yet another made friends with a fluffy and friendly puppy. It seemed that we were all becoming rather comfortable with the docile rural lifestyle, and were quite content to take a few minutes observing all the animals around the farm. The next tour activity took us to a rice factory where over 1000 kilograms of rice are produced every hour. However, the factory was so hot and humid, I could hardly concentrate on the information we were receiving from the tour guide.  He informed us that Vietnam is the third largest exporter of rice in the world and that Southern Vietnam experiences three harvests a year, with each harvest lasting up to three months.

The machine used to make the noodles

It was only 11:30am when we boarded our boat back to Can Tho City and were released for lunch. After a hearty Chinese meal, we set out to explore other parts of the city. Near our lunch restaurant was a beautiful Pagoda called the Chua Ong Temple, and it was one of the most intricate and beautifully designed temples I have ever seen. We then visited a large statue of Ho Chi Minh in the center of the city. I spent my final moments in the Delta city buying the renowned traditional straw hats that are worn by women in Vietnam.

The towering statue of Ho Chi Minh in Can Tho City

The rest of the day was spent on the bus heading back to Saigon City. I spent most of the journey trying to figure out how eight days could have gone by so quickly, and I did not want to come to terms with the fact that we would soon be back in Malaysia. It seemed everyone else on the bus was on the same wavelength because the bus trip was particularly quiet and every traveler appeared lost in their own thoughts.
We came back to the hotel, happy at the sight of our familiar Aunty and man Friday, Sun (pronounced Seern). While some chose to rest and others decided to go food hunting, I quickly decided to get my activites done for the day, catching up on a delicious tau foo far with Dr. Yeoh followed by an Italian dinner. Till tomorrow, ciao bella!

MumbiMunene is pursuing an Undergraduate Degree in International Studies and Economics. She is in Malaysia as an exchange student from the Monash South Africa campus, and is keen to grab all opportunities to travel within and beyond Malaysia.

Diary Entry Day 7

By Lim Fei Xiang

Photos by Lim Fei Xiang

After a long night of editing pieces and chasing deadlines, morning came with the joy of taking a break from Saigon and making our way further south towards the Mekong Delta. The journey which took us roughly two and a half hours was indeed a quiet one, with many of us catching up on some good wholesome sleep. Our journey was graced by two new English friends, Jemma and Sarah. After a short introduction and a little ‘hard love’ by Abeer about the condition of our blog, we were well on our way.

Our journey was indeed a long one, our first stop was Cai Be town, situated along the banks of the Mekong River. You may first think that Cai Be is solely a fishing village because it is situated next to the river, but there are other many products available for trade. Fruits, vegetables, and even construction materials like bricks and sand are traded. Most houses and shops are built along the river bank, with some families living in their boats. The Mekong River is massive and crosses through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia. It is the source of livelihood for many people and is rich with history and tradition. The boat ride was beautiful and tranquil, with some of us travellers attempting to soak up some sun and break into a golden tan.

Boat rides made more fun

From the bus, we boarded our own private boat and headed upstream towards our first stop - the local bee farm – where we were treated to some brewed hot tea with fresh honey and lime. A truly refreshing drink indeed, especially for those of us who were suffering from sore throats and coughs. We also witnessed how traditional paper rice rolls were made.  It was your average ‘poh piah’, but made with a Vietnamese twist. It was here as well that some of us managed to finally summon enough bravery to give Snake Wine a go. The sight of fermented snakes and scorpions in a bottle isn’t something I was brought up with, but after most of the female travellers had a go at it, my ego was on the line. So, yes, I did indeed have a go at it. Pretty decent really! Strangely enough, it tasted like a mix of ‘bak kut teh’ and tea.

Our journey then took a very interesting twist as we boarded traditional Vietnamese wooden boats, where local women manually row passengers upstream towards An Binh Island – yes, the river is so large that islands can be found along it. We enjoyed a simple lunch and were introduced to the local delicacy, the Elephant Ear Fish. As strange as it sounds, it was quite tasty. Eaten with the rice paper roll we saw being made earlier and some vegetables, it was as Vietnamese as Vietnam can get.

Your local boat dude

After lunch, we had the privilege of experiencing how locals travel on land by riding rusty and old bicycles. After a week of not having any proper exercise, this was a good chance to burn off some of the Saigon fat. Some of us covered about five kilometres along a stretch of road that seemed endless. We found our way to a road side store where we had some extremely sweet local coffee. Let me try and put this coffee into perspective, 1/4 condensed milk, 1/4 coffee syrup, and the rest was ice. So, you can imagine the kind of sweetness running down our throats, into our stomachs, and clogging up our hearts. It was all forgiven though, when the sweltering Vietnam heat made many of us crispy and a tad bit burnt.                

The only way to travel

Finally we made our way into Vinh Long, a local town further upstream where we managed to shop around for some local fruits. As usual, fruits here are a bargain and when converted, cost almost nothing for us Malaysians. Imagine 1kg of durian for only RM3? Heaven for some of you I’m sure. But the durian here looked and tasted more like expired durian cake, than your average pulpy bittersweet goodness.

The bus finally pulled in and we discovered that it was another one hour journey to the hotel where we were to stay. To be truly honest, I wasn’t very sure where we were going. The heat got the best of us and a little ‘siesta’ in the bus was much needed. Upon arrival we made our way into our hotel rooms and jumped right into the showers. Hotel policy here states that if you want air conditioning, fork out another $5USD, which we gladly obliged to of course.

We had dinner on the banks of the Mekong with local food on the menu. It is now 10.30 p.m as I write this. This diary entry is due in 30 minutes and I wouldn’t want to annoy our diligent editors with anymore delays. This is Fei, signing off with much love and joy! Day Eight shall be another exciting day. Stay tuned! 

Lim Feixiang, is a Marketing and Communications double degree student. Alongside headlining this year’s Photography team, he can be found breaking hearts in the cafeteria, flexing biceps and on occasion, triceps.

Diary Entry Day 6: Beautiful People, The Virgin, A Whole Lot of Rain, and then some

By John Shebat de Silva

Photos by John Shebat de Silva

With just hardly a blink of an eye, the ‘In Search’ team has woken up to the sixth day. By 8.30am, we arrived at the DRD (Disability Resource & Development Centre) or ‘Life is Beautiful’, where we were to partake in our fifth session. While waiting for the programme to begin, we were led by fellow alumni traveller Eunice and Aunty Susan to learn how to display our names using the conventions of sign language.

Traveler Mumbi Munene posing with a member of the DRD club.

As the session formally began, we were informed that Ho Chi Minh City is not very accessible for the People with Disabilities (PWD), which we learnt to be the less stigmatising term. DRD functions as a sort of ‘clubhouse’ for the PWDs to build their confidence and self-esteem. The organisation welcomes people of all ages and all types of disabilities.

Amongst the many activities conducted by DRD are sourcing for financial support for education, preparing students to enter a working environment, enhancing everyday living skills such as cooking, and so forth.

What was a more refreshing take to the whole idea of this organisation is that it does not indulge in the conventional approach of promoting people with disabilities as victims. DRD takes initiatives to assist PWDs to fully participate in everyday activities such as attending martial arts practices. Matchmaking for PWDs is the next step for DRD. It is clear that DRD is not just an organisation whose goals are oriented to eliciting of public funding.

A lot of statistics were revealed to us throughout the session, especially concerning the numbers of PWDs and the many types of disabilities. Dr. Yeoh explained that sooner or later, everbody becomes disabled - some at birth, and some with age, and it is in our interest to create a disability-friendly environment. As the relatively casual discussion concluded, everyone was invited to dance with the folks at the centre. A joyous conclusion to a most invigorating talk.

The grotto at Huyen Si Church.

We departed the centre just before noon and headed off for lunch. The group divided into sub-groups according to their meal preferences; rice or noodles. After lunch, the group proceeded to the Huyen Si Catholic Church where we observed and discussed the history of the grotto and its importance, especially the figure of Mother Mary to the Catholics.

It began pouring as soon as we stepped out of the church. Everyone was drenched as we made our way back to Mai Vy Hotel by foot, some bearing rather expensive photography and videography equipment in their backpacks.

The Travelers and their makeshift 'umbrella'.

At around 2pm, we took part in our sixth and final session. This session was carried out at the hotel lobby where everyone gathered around to learn about sexual exploitations and human trafficking in Vietnam. Mr. L, from a local NGO, explained that one of the organisation’s many aims is to help put forward the notion or paradigm that these problems (and the people unconsciously perpetuating its production) ought to be viewed as victims instead of being “social evils”.

With the final session out of the way, everyone proceeded with their assignments for the day, naps, and continuing their city walkabouts. As tomorrow will be an early day as the troop will be departing for the Mekong Delta in the wee hours of the morning, some decided to do some very last-minute preparatory shopping. It has been an interesting day for the travellers of ‘In Search of’ - just another exhilarating day in the journal history.

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John de Silva is a 24 year-old Monashian majoring in International Studies. Though born in Kuala Lumpur, he likes to think of himself more as a ‘Penang-kia’ as he has spent most of his life on the island state up north.

Diary Entry Day 5: Calm After the Storm

By Francesca Peris

Photos by Joanna Maria

Having had an exhausting week, today was an amazingly ‘chilled’ out relaxing day. Most of us slept through the morning, only waking up around noon to grab a quick bite and continue to explore the unseen side of Saigon. The weather did not help speed up our process of getting ready thus leaving us as ‘blur as Dory’.

Hence our first and only stop for the day was to Caritas. In Latin, caritas stands for ‘charity’, which is exactly what these good hearted Vietnamese have devoted their lives to. To my surprise, all the speakers were able to communicate in proficient English which facilitated the question and answer session smoothly. I was very impressed by the passion, dedication and humility of this group of people who have committed their lives to serving to God’s calling.

A short explanation of the work before the main session

Being a Catholic myself, I was touched by the lengths that they are willing to go through to help the poor and needy, especially since it is not an easy task to get governmental approval for such projects here in Saigon. Most projects are held internally, and all donations come from fellow devotees as well as volunteers from around the world. It is amazing how these people are putting their time and effort into helping the people in Vietnam live a peaceful life.

However I was a tiny bit disappointed for not being able to visit their church as we were all looking forward to that experience. Personally, I was looking forward to having a quick minute or two of alone time in church. I am not super religious, but this trip has left me with a constant longing to be in a place of worship.

Soon after the meeting was over, the study group walked across to a nearby coffee shop named Nguyen Café, where we sat on the balcony while having authentic Vietnamese tea. Some spent a little more on overpriced coffee, but really, what’s wrong with spending a little more on coffee you can’t get anywhere else but in Vietnam. Any who, words were flying across narrow pathways, gossip in the air, carbon dioxide as well and harmless teasing added up to create beautiful ambiance.

Enjoying the company

Laughter and merriment

The leaves, yes the leaves, weren't just doing us a great job by providing us fresh air. It made the place feel like an English tea garden. Cyren, being an insect lover, was amazed and decided to pick up some lessons from Vivien. Thus two beautiful handmade grasshoppers were born. The whole bunch of us decided to stampede down the narrow staircase leaving behind “woos” and “hahas”.

Cyren’s ‘love’ grasshopper.

When we got back I found myself having an entire evening to myself and being a sleepyhead, I decided to take much needed nap. Today I also had the added misfortune of being ill. Unfortunately for me and my plans of napping, Cultural Night practices were taking place with full steam and the singing group (consisting of an interesting blend of talents), with their “Shooobeeedooobappp, app app app, app, Shalalala, Shalalala” came across to me as “Shalalalala, in the morninggggg, Shalalala, time to rise and shine”, and I resigned all hope of sleeping. Today I also had the added misfortune of being ill. But with constant bugging by my friend we decided to venture out to get some local delights. On the way I could not help craving for home food like ‘Indomee’ and ‘Maggie mee goreng tak mahu sayur’ (fried Maggi mee without vegetables) eventually giving in to the Vietnamese version of ‘meehoon soup’ which we tapau-ed (take away). While eating we shared intellectual gossip and updated each other of the latest dirt on everyone. We were almost done, but not quite, because I just remembered that I had to type out this diary entry! So, yeah people, day five in a nut shell, Francesca, signing out. Jumpa Lagi. Sayonara, Adios, and See you tomorrow for another round of journeying with the crazy Saigon explorers.

Francesca Anna Peris, 22, currently an undergraduate at Monash Malaysia, pursuing a Communications major. Her favorite quote:

         ‘Beauty itself is but the sensible image of the Infinite’ - Francis Bacon

Diary Entry Day 4: The Bright and Dark Sides of Saigon

 By Farah Zulkefly

My day began with Lochna’s phone alarm ringing non-stop. Over. And over. Again. “Ish ish ish Mak Cik ni!”  Unfortunately, Lo sleeps like a log so I knew it was time to haul myself out of bed and throw myself in the shower. We left our motel at 7.45 am and reached Chuong Trinh AIDS at 8.24 am. We were received by Dr Yeoh’s old friend Mr. Pham Thanh Van who led his group in song to welcome us all. Cyren then held a brief ice-breaking session where everyone had to say their names accompanied with a unique action. We stood in a circle. Cyren went first and introduced himself, then performed an elaborate stage bow. We reciprocated by saying “Hello Cyren” and imitated his bow. This went on until everyone in the circle had been introduced.  Mr Pham then conducted a brief info-session on the work they do with the Vietnamese people.

Chuong Trinh AIDS works with the country’s poor community, focusing on those living on the edge of poverty.  The organization also recently introduced a programme for domestic violence. They aim to empower women and educate them about their rights. An estimated two thirds of poor Vietnamese women suffer from domestic violence.

The session broke up into four groups, each led by a representative of Chuong Trinh AIDS. Our group, led by Mr Hoang went to ‘Ghost Village’, named as such because it was built on top of a cemetery. Ghost Village is situated in District 12 and is home to many of Saigon’s poor. Mr Hoang himself lives there. He invited us to his home for lunch. We were a bit reluctant at first as we did not want to impose upon him and his family, especially if it might be costly for them. We eventually agreed and contributed 20,000 Vietnamese dong each for ingredients. Bats and I also put in our share, but explained that we would not be eating for religious reasons (“tak boleh makan babi la kan”). While Mr Hoang’s wife prepared our meal, he took us to explore the village. 

An idea of how small the streets are

Many children were running about, playing with their neighbours. The curious ones walked along with us and even gamely posed for pictures. The villagers live in relative comfort. The quality of life under ‘poverty’ status showcases a bright side of communism. To be quite frank, it is not as dire as poverty in Malaysia and Indonesia. Ghost Village is made up of extremely narrow buildings. Most people do not have electricity and some of the smaller houses are slightly over a meter in width. All houses are two storeys high but not all buildings are on a one family basis. More than one family may live in a single house or on a single floor. We met a lady who earns only 30,000 Vietnamese dong a day and has to spend 20,000 Vietnamese dong on her daily rent.

Some Curious Kids

Mr Hoang also took us to visit a woman living with HIV. She has a son aged eleven years old and he is HIV negative. He helps her with her daily chores at home because her hands are slightly deformed, making it difficult for her to do simple tasks. Her husband passed away several years ago. She does not know where she contracted HIV as she does not know if her husband was HIV positive. Her theory is that she might have been pierced with a stray hypodermic needle while she was at work chopping trees. She gets medical support from the government and is also the head of a HIV support group. She told us that it makes her happy to be with other HIV sufferers, to educate and share her experience with them.

We continued walking through the village and stopped for a discussion and some jasmine tea at a small square somewhere in the bowels of Ghost Village. We sat down with Mr Hoang and two other ladies, (whose names I regretfully did not catch) and had a little Q&A session about the state of the village and other questions that sprang to mind. I am also “syiok sendiri” (proud) to announce that Mr Hoang liked our group very much saying that we were “friendly” and “cute”. Go team! Once we were done we followed Mr Hoang down a series of alleyways and suddenly we were back at his house. His wife was in the middle of preparing our meal. They were cooking halal food because of Bats’ and my ‘special food conditions’. We were very touched that they went out of their way to accommodate our needs. Hoang’s wife even made sure she used vegetable oil and not lard. How could we say no after that yo? She fried tofu with garlic and lemon leaves and made a traditional Vietnamese soup out of tamarind, fish, yam leaf stalks and bamboo shoots. We sat on the floor of Mr Hoang’s house in a circle. He served the rice in little bowls and we ate with chopsticks. It was THE best meal I had in Saigon so far and my Ghost Village teammates agreed with me. Nothing beats home-cooked food y’all! Mr Hoang told us that we were all eating as a family, and that really projected the community vibe of the village and showcased some true Vietnamese hospitality.

Mr Hoang helping his wife prepare our meals

We were officially done with our session after lunch, but we decided to go the extra mile and do a bit of exploring. We had asked Mr Hoang earlier if there were any places of worship within the village grounds and he told us that there were a few pagodas a few kilometers outside the village. We went to the Ty Quong pagoda, a Buddhist temple that like many others incorporates borrowed figures from other religions in order to encourage Vietnamese people to convert to Buddhism. The Pagoda had a huge gate with dragons, flanked by some Taoist-looking gods on the left and a scary looking demon on the right. They were gigantic and had red light bulbs for eyes. We entered the temple through the side entrance which had a stone arch adorned with statues. The temple walls and courtyard were suffused with a smattering of statues big and small here and there. Savvy?

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Farah Zulkefly majoring in Journalism and Communications, is an omnivorous being who loves spending time in the depths of the ocean where humans can't talk with turtles and other reef inhabitants. She has a closet love for architecture and interiors but cannot draw to save her life.

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.

Diary Entry Day 2: Of Temples & Tunnels

By Nadia Kim

Photos by Audrey Samuel

Woot woot! It’s day two! Today we are supposed to visit the Cao Dai temple and the legendary Chu Chi tunnels that happen to be quite a distance from Saigon city. Translated, it means that we had to leave the hotel premises by 7.30 am. I did not want to be left behind so I prepared myself to wake up at 6.30 but as it turned out, my alarm was running on Malaysian time! My little accident turned out to be a blessing in disguise - I had ample time for breakfast a morning toilet session! After reconciliating myself to my foolishness, I resumed my much deprived slumber. We gathered at 7.30 and boarded our tour bus and headed for the Cao Dai temple first.

It was a long journey and we had a short break at a  factory where victims of Agent Orange produce handmade crafts, especially the beautiful and intricate work that goes into an eggshell “painting”. The tour guide said that one eggshell painting would take at least two months to be completed. After taking a look around the workshop (we can’t afford much unfortunately), we quickly resumed our journey and finally arrived at the Cao Dai temple half an hour before noon.

Two women working on an eggshell painting of "Tintin in Vietnam"

The temple is a place of worship for those of the Cao Dai religion. It is a syncretic religion that preaches unity together in faith of one God - no matter of what religion - since as they believe all Gods are representations of one supreme deity. There were enormous hand paintings on the ceiling and pillars full of symbolic references to other religions such as Hinduism, Christianity, Taoism and Confucianism, decorated with dragons. The Cao Dai followers believe that the left eye is the manifestation of God, the left eye being closer to the heart. It was a unique cultural experience but also a spiritual one. And oh, Dr Yeoh accidentally entered the ladies room! How naughty naughty, Dr Yeoh!

The altar at Cao Dai Temple

Lunch was a stone’s throw away from the temple. We had simple food but we had great company with our wonderful and friendly student guides. We left for the Cu Chi Tunnels after lunch and these hand-dug tunnels served as shelter, communication and supply routes, hospital, kitchen and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters. The sound of shooting in the background made it seem so much more real (we later found out they were really gunshots!). We began with a black and white, rather biased video describing how the Chu Chi tunnels came about. It was truly a genius invention/creation. After the show, we visited some of the smaller tunnels, booby traps, weapons house, handmade splices and much more before finally arriving at the Chu Chi Tunnels. It was awesomely scary...

I decided to chance the tunnel despite my better judgement but then again - carpe diem! It was very tight and cramped. I had to bend my back the entire time and it was very tiring and claustrophobic. We were warned beforehand (by Dr Yeoh) that it might get smelly inside the tunnels as they smear petrol on its walls to prevent insects and animals from getting in.

 A quick escape route for the petite Viet Cong

When we finally returned to the hotel, it was already seven in the evening. As we all parted ways in front of the tour office, I had dinner with Dr. James Chin, Dr Yeoh, Joanna and Fei. Too lazy to sleep I decided to join some friends on a short trip to the night market. As we walked through the booths we bumped into another group of fellow travellers who had unfortunate news: Jia Wei’s wallet had been stolen from his backpack!

Not knowing what to do, we headed back to our hotel together. But shortly before the hotel, we parted ways once more.  After all, what better way  to end the day than a chilled drink?

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Nadia Namwoo Kim, the crazy Korean, studies International Studies. She will eat you if she is hungry. Beware!

Diary Entry Day 1: Stepping into Saigon

by Cyren Wong
photos by Lim Fei Xiang

We arrived at Saigon on the 9th of July at about 10.30 AM due to a slight delay in the flight. 

After an early morning of waking up to bypass the much dreaded roadblocks due to the Bersih rally, we were dead tired and for the better part were unable to cope with the searing heat nor the scores of unfettered Vietnamese masses that we had to fight through to meet the coordinator of our student guide and the receptionist from the hotel which we would be staying at.

 The taxi ride was eventful to say the least, especially for one who is unfamiliar with Vietnamese traffic! Indeed, coming from someone who has driven in Kuala Lumpur through multiple rush-hours I can
honestly say that I have not feared for my life more than 6 times in a car until I sat in the Vietnamese taxis.

However, it wasn't long until our taxi came to an unceremonious stop and the next step of our journey began, dodging through the quaint and cramped back alleys of Saigon to get to our hotel. Though its location was very confronting at first, Mai Vy hotel turned out to be an extremely delightful place. Narrow and built up to five stories high, Mai Vy hotel boasts a small set of stylish rooms, three per floor, which would become our dwelling for the next ten days. Although we only had a few minutes to prepare and freshen up, many of the travellers naturally took their own liberties in taking much needed afternoon showers which gave some of the early birds an opportunity to chat and get to know some of our student guides personally. 

The official ice-breaker session was coordinated by Dr. Yeoh, which took shape in a very typical ‘get-to-know-you game’ whereby travellers were asked to state their names and interests while subsequent travellers to do so would have to recite also the names of the travellers which had introduced themselves prior to that! The resulting statements were of course quite hilarious with some of the funnier ones being "Sabrina, who likes to bully Abeer", "Andy who latino dances," and "Nadia, who is clumsy!", a fact which was proven later in the day when an inadvertently knocked over table was immediately blamed on her, causing a minor emotional outburst on her part at the Pho 24 restaurant where we were treated to Pho (pronounced Fur) noodles, a famous Vietnamese dish that is served with beef or chicken slices.

After a satisfactory lunch, we headed off to the war remnant museum where everyone had a fairly light-hearted moment photographing with the various planes, helicopters and war vehicles that were on display at the museum's entrance. The remainder of the tour however took a more depressing note. Not only did we walk through the "tiger cages" used to detain political prisoners, we were also confronted with graphic images of victims of torture. But the most heart-wrenching exhibit was undoubtedly the room which showed the horrible effects of Agent Orange. As a matter of fact, the display - which consisted of two mutated babies cured in preservative liquids - was so graphic in nature that even our hearty videographer Sabrina turned off her camera. The visit to the museum was decidedly eye-opening and affecting. I can say for sure that despite what we may have already known about the Vietnam War, we left with a deeper and completely different perspective on its history.

The next part of our journey was fortunately a lot more cheery! The water puppet show, which depicted various scenes from Vietnamese culture and folklore, significantly brightened the mood. This was followed by the remaining part of the day's tour, consisting of a leisurely stroll around Ho Chi Min city - where we stopped by the Notre Dame cathedral, the Reunification Palace and finally dinner at a food court at Parksons, located in a very high-end-like part of the city - with Chanel, Ferragamo and Cartier just down the street from where we were.

All in all, we got back to the hotel the way we came - grimy, dirty, tired... Though the significance being that we probably have a greater handle of Vietnamese traffic than we did earlier that morning.

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Cyren Wong, an Honours student, is just your everyday-average-feminist-naturespiritual-environmentalist-and-amateur-lepidopterist trying to rediscover his roots with Mother Earth.