Christmas Stars A La Saigon -

Here in Vietnam they have developed a uniquely Vietnamese Christmas decoration by adapting this star shaped traditional lanterns which is usually made for the mid autumn (mooncake)festival into a Christmas decoration by incorporating Catholic style holy images in between the five points as well as giving it a christmasy touch with other acessories.


Most of them can be lighted like lanterns and some also have twinkling electric christmas lights installed on the stars.


And they can come in really huge sizes like this one which was 20ft in diameter!!

These stars are used to create a really beutiful effect like in this church.

The Vietnamese really seem to have a particular liking for stars as the christmas decor of choice here like these multicolored twinkling stars complete with the Holy Infant Jesus statue in the center:-

Happy Mid Autumn Festival!!

On the eve of the Lantern (Mooncake) Festival, Luong Nhu Loc Street in Cholon (old chinatown), Districtr 5 of Saigon becomes what can best be described as a sea of people and motorbikes flanked by walls of lanterns on other side as the Saigonese go into a last minute buying frenzy of a dizzying array of lanterns of all conceivable shapes, ranging in size from the gargantuan to the miniscule.
I'll let the photoes speak for themselves:-

Seaside Escapade

Vietnam has over 2000km of coastline so the obvious choice for our company trip last week was a seaside destination for 3D2N in Phan Rang which is 6hours by bus northeast of Saigon. We stayed in the sprawling Long Thuan Resort on Ninh Chu beach.
Sunrise at Ninh Chu beach:-

Ninh Chu Beach in the afternoon:-
I was most delighted to see "basket boats" or "thuyen tong" as its called in vietnamese (thuyen meaning boat) at almost all the beaches we visited during the trip, as this was the first time i saw them for real instead of just in pictures.
There were hundreds of them dotting the beach in some fishing villages:-
They may look small but the "tongs" which are unique to this corner of South East Asia can be used way out at sea like any 'sampan' would be:-
It was fascinating to see how the locals could deftly manouver and swiftly move around in these oddly shaped boats:-
It's probably because they start practicing rowing these "tongs" from a very young age:-
Public transport ala the coastal regions of Southern Vietnam:-
On the morning of our full day there we were taken to this beach by boat (normal boat ah, not the "tongs"):-
After a morning swim there were a multitude of unique and exotic sea creatures on the menu for our brunch!!!:-

And most of it was "harvested" on the spot like these urchin like creatures:-
After brunch the boat took us to see some rock formations along the coast nearby:-

The area we were in was also home to a substantial number of Vietnam's ethnic Cham minority who occupy the town of Thap Cham. The main landmark there was this 13th century Cham tower and this was the first time for me seeing one of Vietnam's historic Cham sites:-
Coming from a 600 year old hometown I am always delighted to see something which dates back even further so i went a bit overboard with the pics :-


The tower was on a hill which gave us a great view of the surrounding countryside:-
And of course every group tour is sure to include the local handicrafts and it was interesting to see that Cham weaving was very similar to Malay Songket:-
Another first for me was seeing saltpans where the locals "harvest" salt what else :-
As with all beach vacations it was over too soon but i am sure i will have lots more to come during my time here in Vietnam :-)

Of pagodas and spires

Despite being a huge sprawling city of 10m, Saigon is still very much a “low rise” city with most buildings seldom surpassing 5 stories. The current tallest building in town, Saigon Trade Centre, is only 33 stories high bearing further testament to how relatively low rise the city is. Of course given the robust development currently happing in Vietnam in general and Saigon specifically all this will soon change as many skyscrapers are being built as I type and the skyline of Saigon will eventually become like any other south east asian metropolis. However for now the lack of skyscrapers gives Saigon a unique skyline (or should I say lack of) enabling even the most modest of temple pagodas and church spires to enjoy a relatively prominence unlike in other big cities where such structures tend to be obscured.
Although there are no major grand central pagodas like in Bangkok and Yangon, the sprinkling of temple pagodas all over this city are still very unique and do boast a unique character of their own. The relatively broad (as far as pagodas go that is), Vin Nghiem Pagoda in District 3 which is only 15 minutes walk from where i live has a bit of a himalayan twist to to design which is rare in this part of the world:-

Not too far way is the far away also in District 3 is the gracefully slender Xa Loi pagoda a truly elegant sight to behold bboth day and night:-

This newly renovated particular pagoda in phu nuan district is right smack in the middle of one of the busiest roads in the city and sits in the middle of a scene most typical of saigon at the moment with demolition of old houses going on in the foreground, ongoing roadworks across the street and construction in full swing in the background:- The sprawling Chinh Nghia temple complex is not exactly a pagoda but it is high enough to be a prominent feature in the skyline of Saigon's Chinatown area:-
Right in the middle of saigon's District 10 is the simply named "Vietnam Pagoda" with its eyecatching bright orange roof tiles.
Buddhist/taoist pagoda's are not the only type you will find here in Saigon as Vietnam is home to a unique religion called Cao Dai which boasts a few million followers here. At first glance their “temple-churches” may be mistaken for just another Buddhist/Taoist temple or perhaps a church built in oriental architecture but on closer inspection these structures have their very own identity once one is able to identify the tell-tale signs of this particularly unique spiritual group:-

Not to be outdone by the pagoda's, Churches here tend to be an eclectic blend of French/European influence combined with local elements. Of course for the older churches like Saigon’s very French style Notre Dame Cathedral, the western influence tends to dominate:-

The ornate and "pretty in pink" Tan Dinh church in Distirct 3 is 10 minutes walk from my place and boasts a distinctly western style facade as well:-
Pastel pink seems to be the popular choice for church colors here as evidenced by this pink hued church in District 1 near the backpacker area of Pham Ngu Lao St:-
Many newer churches have evolved with a distinctive local flavour as evidenced by this newly built church in district 4 which minus the crosses and statues could pass for a temple:- Last but not least is a church with dragons on their roofs here, that would seem unimaginably horrific to some western Christian fundamentalists as the “dragon” symbolises the devil in the book the several biblical references LOL. The resplendent Ba Cuong (3 bells) Church in phu nuan district is one such church where dragon motifs adorn the curved corners of is pagoda like roof:-