Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Day 54 20th jan
Today we start real slow...
Other than having another good old fashioned breakfast we don't do a thing other than watch telly until 12 o'clock when we leave to go back to the cafe we sold the bike from (Sozo's)
This place has a good "Trip Advisor" review so wanting some lunch we take a seat.... They advertise sandwiches on a black board out side and it's this we are after.... We both order tuna mayo barguets with a single side order of French fries, we cross our fingers in the hope that this Asian restaurants delivers what it advertises.... But we are never to hopeful anymore.... Today however we are pleasantly surprised.. Everything we ordered has arrived at the same time and it's all fantastic. Sometimes just the simplest things are the nicest, the chips are the best we've had since being away and are eaten and replaced by another single portion within minutes of hitting the table....
The cafe is run by an organisation set up to help local people with disabilities, and this involves there employment within the cafe.... It's probably a 50/50 mix of able and less able bodied people working here and they all pull the weight.
We order a couple of coffees and a slice of cake and before we know it an hour and a half has past and we have eaten far to much..
The plan is for Shiree to update her journal and pack some stuff away whilst I go back to the war remnants museum... I'd felt a little rushed yesterday so off I go, leaving Shiree to her own defences.
The museum is much busier than before and I find taking some additional photos a much tricky job... I'd read a book on the Vietnam war and its interesting to actually see some of the hardware described for real....
From here I wonder back past the post office area and come to the conclusion that due to a number of large arches in the buildings design along with a huge arched central door that it looks more like a train station than a post office... Not a good one by English standards but a train station all the same....
I've arranged to meet Shiree at the Saigon Opera House as we've booked to see the A O show...
We meet on the steps to a lovely old theatre and walk inside where we are greeted by some lovely ice cream thats served in little pots....
The lights dim and the most impressive piece of theatre performance I've seen starts.... It's another "cultural history" show with the use of bamboo... It's fast moving and modern.... The sets amazing, and the performers are even better... It's rated as one of the top things to do in Ho Chi Minh and I'm so pleased we've seen it, I'd recommend it to anyone... Its a real "performance" its silent, and incorporates dance, amazing self control, strength, and gymnastics.. All whilst telling a story, its a thing of beauty, unlike some of the cheap gaudy theatre shows we have at home. The whole show relies heavily on bamboo... It's used for pretty much all the props, and forms the foundation for most of the functioning equipment too... It is a very good way of displaying the importance of bamboo to the Vietnamese. One of this props is in essence a large round bowl... Its 5ft across its opening and maybe 2ft deep... It's based on a simple round boat that the Vietnamese use.... It's made entirely from woven bamboo strips, but these are not sea worthy... They have not been painted in tar to make than waterproof... Instead there used by the performers as trampolines throughout the show, but they do have other uses... One guy puts one on its side and stands in a star shape within the reenforced opening.... From hear he spins the hole thing around whilst within it, like a huge wheel, round and around he goes, in huge circus movements around the stage, faster and faster, he leans the top in to turn tighter and tighter, in the end he makes the whole thing spiral like a spinning coin that's running out of momentum, the guys almost lying flat on the stage floor, how he manages to keep it spinning without falling out is a wonder, the basket wheel goes well past the point of no return, but somehow the guy increases the speed again and higher and higher the rim lifts with every rotation until it's back upright again and moving around the stage in large circles once more... It was very impressive....
http://www.aoshowsaigon.com/en
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SP3q-pjY4g4
- comments