Vietnam: First Impressions

Temples, mosques, 24-hour pho, fashion design, dancercise halls, nail polish, hanging gardens on second floor balconies, bougainvillea, bonsai, construction sites, green netting, auto trading centres, lotteria, no right turn, mannequins from the year 1982, chalets, HIV awareness posters, sang piles, yin-yang, bus stops, Aquacool, scooters, scooters, scooters, sanitary masks, headcloths and Chinese straw hats, Japanese language school, magazines, cake and sandwich takeaway, guava and longan peddler rubbing his nose on a traffic island, taller trees than ever I saw in Singapore, Nestle Milo, Marie Curie Institute, blackened yellow water tower, party costumes, decorations, beep beep beep, Joe Box, PT2000, Communist flags, Kraft Assorted Biscuits, blue phonebox, Coop Mart, Pond’s Age Solution Ealry Defense, HCMC International Volleyball Tournament, Mobil, Vidotou, Victory Restaurant, Konica Minolta, Centuria Super, Tiger Beer, women in painted hats protesting for land restitution outside the fountain plaza of the Reunification Palace…