Our time in Hong Kong has come to an end. We fly to Shanghai in a couple of hours. I will try to blog and upload photos from there, although I'm not sure I will be able to. Our Tiananmen Square posts might set off the Chinese government's massive Internet censoring infrastructure, dubbed "the Great Firewall of China." In other words, I might not even be able to log on or even read the blog.
I did this on purpose since I wanted to see whether the blog (because of my post on the Tiananmen anniversary vigil on June 4 would get caught in the system or not.
If I am unable to long into this from anywhere in China, the next time I'll be able to log in won't be until when I get to Hanoi, Vietnam in late July, but I will be checking emails from the road.
Stay tuned....
Friday, July 13, 2007
Vietnam Day 3: Goodnight Saigon
Last day in town, been having an amazing time... Got to cram in our last bit of sightseeing and shopping before flying back to Hong Kong.
Our first order of business after checking out of our hotel was going to the War Remnants Museum, which had been known as the War Crimes Museum but was renamed so as not to offend potential visitors, particularly American tourists.
The museum collects artifacts and other historical evidence (photographs, government documents, contemporary media reports, etc.), with a blatantly slanted view in favor of Vietnamese political propaganda, of Vietnam's conflicts with China, France and the United States.
If I had to give an informal estimate, I would say that roughly 60-70 percent of the exhibits are related to the American War, as the Vietnamese call it, about 20-25 percent focusing on the First Indochinese War (the war against the French), and the rest on its conflicts with the Chinese.
As soon as you walk in the gates, there is a courtyard with several restored American and French military vehicles (jets, helicopters and tanks), and then there are several buildings on the periphery of the courtyard with different exhibits. Pretty grim and depressing stuff.
One exhibit is a collection of war photographs taken by several international photographers who were killed or disappeared while covering the conflicts in Vietnam and neighboring Cambodia. A notebook in the exhibition gives their names and brief biographies of who they were, what news organizations they worked for, and the circumstances of their deaths or disappearances.
The main exhibit hall focuses on the French and American wars. There are several pieces of exploded bomb ordinance and casings, as well as charred remains of clothes and personal items of people whose lives were affected by the attacks. There are sections that focus on Agent Orange and the My Lai massacre as well. The Agent Orange exhibit is easily the most depressing and visually distressing one to see.
There is another section of the exhibit which on former Senator Bob Kerrey (D-Nebraska) for one mission that he was involved in during the war as a Navy SEAL, for which he was awarded a Bronze Star. Another exhibit shows a replica of the tiger cages, which were developed in a French-run prison. Another major exhibit focuses the anti-Vietnam war movement in the United States and around the world.
After that, we headed over to the Jade Emperor pagoda, one of the most famous in the city and in Vietnam.
After the pagoda, we had lunch at a bun restaurant and then headed over to do a tour of the Reunification Palace, which was the South Vietnamese equivalent of the White House up until 1975 when the North took over. The place has been preserved as a museum with a lot of the 60's and 70's era furniture and design still the same. We got to walk through the equivalent of the Oval Office, which must have been a very interesting and very hectic place during the month of April 1975.
One other highlight from the palace worth noting is that when we went up to the roof, we could see the helipad on an adjacent building, which the last South Vietnamese president used to flee the country before the North stormed the gates, as documented in a famous photo. On that same helipad are two large red circles, marking the spots where on February 27, 1962, South Vietnamese air force pilots dropped bombs in an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate their own commander in chief, then-president Ngo Dinh Diem.
After finishing up at the palace, we headed back to the hotel, picked up our bags, and made our way to the airport to fly back to Hong Kong.
The title of this post is from a Billy Joel song.
Our first order of business after checking out of our hotel was going to the War Remnants Museum, which had been known as the War Crimes Museum but was renamed so as not to offend potential visitors, particularly American tourists.
The museum collects artifacts and other historical evidence (photographs, government documents, contemporary media reports, etc.), with a blatantly slanted view in favor of Vietnamese political propaganda, of Vietnam's conflicts with China, France and the United States.
If I had to give an informal estimate, I would say that roughly 60-70 percent of the exhibits are related to the American War, as the Vietnamese call it, about 20-25 percent focusing on the First Indochinese War (the war against the French), and the rest on its conflicts with the Chinese.
As soon as you walk in the gates, there is a courtyard with several restored American and French military vehicles (jets, helicopters and tanks), and then there are several buildings on the periphery of the courtyard with different exhibits. Pretty grim and depressing stuff.
One exhibit is a collection of war photographs taken by several international photographers who were killed or disappeared while covering the conflicts in Vietnam and neighboring Cambodia. A notebook in the exhibition gives their names and brief biographies of who they were, what news organizations they worked for, and the circumstances of their deaths or disappearances.
The main exhibit hall focuses on the French and American wars. There are several pieces of exploded bomb ordinance and casings, as well as charred remains of clothes and personal items of people whose lives were affected by the attacks. There are sections that focus on Agent Orange and the My Lai massacre as well. The Agent Orange exhibit is easily the most depressing and visually distressing one to see.
There is another section of the exhibit which on former Senator Bob Kerrey (D-Nebraska) for one mission that he was involved in during the war as a Navy SEAL, for which he was awarded a Bronze Star. Another exhibit shows a replica of the tiger cages, which were developed in a French-run prison. Another major exhibit focuses the anti-Vietnam war movement in the United States and around the world.
After that, we headed over to the Jade Emperor pagoda, one of the most famous in the city and in Vietnam.
After the pagoda, we had lunch at a bun restaurant and then headed over to do a tour of the Reunification Palace, which was the South Vietnamese equivalent of the White House up until 1975 when the North took over. The place has been preserved as a museum with a lot of the 60's and 70's era furniture and design still the same. We got to walk through the equivalent of the Oval Office, which must have been a very interesting and very hectic place during the month of April 1975.
One other highlight from the palace worth noting is that when we went up to the roof, we could see the helipad on an adjacent building, which the last South Vietnamese president used to flee the country before the North stormed the gates, as documented in a famous photo. On that same helipad are two large red circles, marking the spots where on February 27, 1962, South Vietnamese air force pilots dropped bombs in an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate their own commander in chief, then-president Ngo Dinh Diem.
After finishing up at the palace, we headed back to the hotel, picked up our bags, and made our way to the airport to fly back to Hong Kong.
The title of this post is from a Billy Joel song.
Vietnam Day 2: For What It's Worth
We got up early to take a guided tour of the Mekong Delta, which would take most of the day. We got picked up by a van at the hotel and headed over to a town called My Tho, which was about a 2-hour drive from the city. After that we got in the first of many boats that morning.
Our first stop was Phoenix Island, where we were given a sampler of local fruits to eat while a group of local folk musicians performed a brief 4-5 song set. They closed out with a cover of Auld Lang Syne, my guess is so that the tourists would hear them perform at least one song they were familiar with.
After that we got into canoes paddled by two people (one in front, one in the back) that took us through this tiny canal crowded with traffic going in both directions. This portion of the trip lasted maybe about 15 minutes but it was amazing to travel and see how these people do every day. They took us out to the river and we were back on the boat for the next stop - another hamlet named Ben Tre, where they have their own beehives which they used to make a variety of honey-based products, including tea and wine, which we were given to try. We also posed for pictures with a 5-foot python.
We headed back to the river and eventually made our way back to My Tho, where we got back on the van and headed back to the city. We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and headed for the Ben Tranh market, where we all split up and headed our separate ways to explore for the afternoon.
A few hours later, we met up for drinks at the rooftop bar of the Rex Hotel. The Rex Hotel is a place of significance to both the journalism and the PR students on the trip. It was a popular meeting spot for official and unofficial business for US officials and journalists during the war, and was the location of the now famous military press briefings that were later dubbed the "Five O'Clock Follies."
After that, we headed back to the hotel, got some rest, and then headed out to a dive bar somewhere in the city called Guns n' Roses for an evening of drinking and pool. None of us brought cameras on this, but there are two painted murals on the walls, one of the Appetite for Destruction era lineup of the band, and another just of Axl Rose.
The title is from the famous Buffalo Springfield song, which is one of the songs most associated with the Vietnam War era and has appeared in various Vietnam movies over the years.
Our first stop was Phoenix Island, where we were given a sampler of local fruits to eat while a group of local folk musicians performed a brief 4-5 song set. They closed out with a cover of Auld Lang Syne, my guess is so that the tourists would hear them perform at least one song they were familiar with.
After that we got into canoes paddled by two people (one in front, one in the back) that took us through this tiny canal crowded with traffic going in both directions. This portion of the trip lasted maybe about 15 minutes but it was amazing to travel and see how these people do every day. They took us out to the river and we were back on the boat for the next stop - another hamlet named Ben Tre, where they have their own beehives which they used to make a variety of honey-based products, including tea and wine, which we were given to try. We also posed for pictures with a 5-foot python.
We headed back to the river and eventually made our way back to My Tho, where we got back on the van and headed back to the city. We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and headed for the Ben Tranh market, where we all split up and headed our separate ways to explore for the afternoon.
A few hours later, we met up for drinks at the rooftop bar of the Rex Hotel. The Rex Hotel is a place of significance to both the journalism and the PR students on the trip. It was a popular meeting spot for official and unofficial business for US officials and journalists during the war, and was the location of the now famous military press briefings that were later dubbed the "Five O'Clock Follies."
After that, we headed back to the hotel, got some rest, and then headed out to a dive bar somewhere in the city called Guns n' Roses for an evening of drinking and pool. None of us brought cameras on this, but there are two painted murals on the walls, one of the Appetite for Destruction era lineup of the band, and another just of Axl Rose.
The title is from the famous Buffalo Springfield song, which is one of the songs most associated with the Vietnam War era and has appeared in various Vietnam movies over the years.
Vietnam Day 1: Five to One
I'm doing something a little different as I write these posts. First - I'm using titles of songs from the period of or about the Vietnam War. This entry is taken from the popular song by the Doors.
Second - I'm in a bit of hurry to finish packing to head off to Shanghai later so I'm going to upload the photos later.
We arrived in two separate groups last Friday (July 6), with mine arriving around mid-day in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon until the reunification in 1975, although everyone still calls it Saigon. After an endless wait for luggage to come off the plane, we headed over to our hotel in the city and got checked in.
We decided to do a walking tour of the city to get a feel for the place. Just crossing the street is an adventure in and of itself. There are dividing lanes and stop signs and crosswalks, but they're really only there as a formality, nobody actually pays any attention to them. When we walk, we have to be very careful when crossing because a motorcade of bicycles, motorcycles or cars can come by at any time. The weirdest thing about crossing is that sometimes you just have to stop in the middle of the road and let the bikes or cars weave around you and hope they know what they're doing.
We walked past Reunification Palace, which we would visit a few days later. We then continued on and saw the Notre Dame cathedral, the General Post Office, and the People's Committee Building (informally known as City Hall), all of which are considered major local landmarks and examples of French colonial architecture. We explored the Ben Tranh market, which is the Ho Chi Minh City equivalent of the mall we went to in Shenzhen a few weeks earlier.
We ate lunch at a restaurant called Pho 2000, whose claim to fame is that Bill Clinton came by here for lunch in November of 2000 during his state visit and he loved it. There are photos of his visit hanging on the walls - eating at his table and posing with the restaurant staff. They get a lot of good word of mouth in the city and from people who go there, which is how we heard about it. The food was good.
We explored the city a little more and eventually found ourselves at the Xa Loi pagoda, and later on on the waterfront of the Saigon River. We went back to the hotel for a quick late night swim in the pool and then met up to eat dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant which we were highly recommended.
All in all, a very eventful and productive first day. Will upload photos as soon as I get a chance.
Second - I'm in a bit of hurry to finish packing to head off to Shanghai later so I'm going to upload the photos later.
We arrived in two separate groups last Friday (July 6), with mine arriving around mid-day in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon until the reunification in 1975, although everyone still calls it Saigon. After an endless wait for luggage to come off the plane, we headed over to our hotel in the city and got checked in.
We decided to do a walking tour of the city to get a feel for the place. Just crossing the street is an adventure in and of itself. There are dividing lanes and stop signs and crosswalks, but they're really only there as a formality, nobody actually pays any attention to them. When we walk, we have to be very careful when crossing because a motorcade of bicycles, motorcycles or cars can come by at any time. The weirdest thing about crossing is that sometimes you just have to stop in the middle of the road and let the bikes or cars weave around you and hope they know what they're doing.
We walked past Reunification Palace, which we would visit a few days later. We then continued on and saw the Notre Dame cathedral, the General Post Office, and the People's Committee Building (informally known as City Hall), all of which are considered major local landmarks and examples of French colonial architecture. We explored the Ben Tranh market, which is the Ho Chi Minh City equivalent of the mall we went to in Shenzhen a few weeks earlier.
We ate lunch at a restaurant called Pho 2000, whose claim to fame is that Bill Clinton came by here for lunch in November of 2000 during his state visit and he loved it. There are photos of his visit hanging on the walls - eating at his table and posing with the restaurant staff. They get a lot of good word of mouth in the city and from people who go there, which is how we heard about it. The food was good.
We explored the city a little more and eventually found ourselves at the Xa Loi pagoda, and later on on the waterfront of the Saigon River. We went back to the hotel for a quick late night swim in the pool and then met up to eat dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant which we were highly recommended.
All in all, a very eventful and productive first day. Will upload photos as soon as I get a chance.
Monday, July 9, 2007
USC Invades Vietnam
A group of us went to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon) over the weekend and came back last night. Expect photos and recaps of all 3 days soon.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Enter the Dragons
We [Joe, Pam, Laura, Patrice, Jessica, and myself], along with pretty much everyone else in the city, had this past Tuesday off because it was the day of the Dragon Boat races, which is a tradition that has become an annual event for the people of Hong Kong and any tourists who happen to be in town for this time of year.
The races themselves consist of teams of 8 people on each boat, which are kind of like crew boats in the United States and United Kingdom, with one person pounding on a drum to set the rhythm for the rowers and another person steering. Each team has a unique name, theme, look, and usually a uniform or costume. Investment banks, corporations, and even the local U.S. consulate had teams participating in the race. We saw one team that were all dressed up in Superman costumes (see photo below).
The teams load up into their boats on the beach, then row out to the starting point which is probably about 1/3 to 1/2 a mile out in the water. After the starting gun goes off, it's a straight up race to see who can reach the finish line near the shore the fastest. There are between 8 and 10 boats in each race, and the top two or three in each get invited to compete in the next round. Some photos of the races I took from land and the pier:
The beach itself was packed, with teams resting before and after their races as well as tourists checking out the scene. Lucky for us, the USC alumni association had invited us on to the boat they had chartered for the day to cheer on the USC alumni team and watch the races. We had to go to a pier and wait in line for 30-45 minutes while ferries came by to pick up passengers who needed to be taken to the different ships that were anchored out in the water to watch the races.
The boats were anchored in the waters far away from the shore, lined up in a formation that surrounded the starting point of the races in a way that was somewhat reminiscent of the drag race in the movie "Rebel Without a Cause." The boats are usually chartered for the day by corporations or private groups (as in our case, by the local USC alumni association), who are typically participants in the races in some capacity or other. A few boats looked and sounded like they were party central in Cabo San Lucas or Cancun. The main event that I saw was a pirate galley-style boat anchored about 100 or so yards away from our boat, who were having an insane party on the deck.
We spent the rest of the day watching the races and eating lunch and drinking on the boat. Most of the people there were local USC alumni, although we were also introduced to a group of undergraduate business students who were working in Hong Kong for the summer like us, along with another undergraduate who was on vacation traveling throughout China with his dad.
Towards the end of the day, I wound up hitching a ride back to Causeway Bay on the boat, which took about 2 hours to get there, but it was smooth sailing the entire trip. We saw a junk boat along the way and got some amazing views of Central Hong Kong as we were getting into the city.
It was an amazing day and I highly recommend going out to see the races if you should find yourselves in Hong Kong during this time of year.
The races themselves consist of teams of 8 people on each boat, which are kind of like crew boats in the United States and United Kingdom, with one person pounding on a drum to set the rhythm for the rowers and another person steering. Each team has a unique name, theme, look, and usually a uniform or costume. Investment banks, corporations, and even the local U.S. consulate had teams participating in the race. We saw one team that were all dressed up in Superman costumes (see photo below).
The teams load up into their boats on the beach, then row out to the starting point which is probably about 1/3 to 1/2 a mile out in the water. After the starting gun goes off, it's a straight up race to see who can reach the finish line near the shore the fastest. There are between 8 and 10 boats in each race, and the top two or three in each get invited to compete in the next round. Some photos of the races I took from land and the pier:
The beach itself was packed, with teams resting before and after their races as well as tourists checking out the scene. Lucky for us, the USC alumni association had invited us on to the boat they had chartered for the day to cheer on the USC alumni team and watch the races. We had to go to a pier and wait in line for 30-45 minutes while ferries came by to pick up passengers who needed to be taken to the different ships that were anchored out in the water to watch the races.
The boats were anchored in the waters far away from the shore, lined up in a formation that surrounded the starting point of the races in a way that was somewhat reminiscent of the drag race in the movie "Rebel Without a Cause." The boats are usually chartered for the day by corporations or private groups (as in our case, by the local USC alumni association), who are typically participants in the races in some capacity or other. A few boats looked and sounded like they were party central in Cabo San Lucas or Cancun. The main event that I saw was a pirate galley-style boat anchored about 100 or so yards away from our boat, who were having an insane party on the deck.
We spent the rest of the day watching the races and eating lunch and drinking on the boat. Most of the people there were local USC alumni, although we were also introduced to a group of undergraduate business students who were working in Hong Kong for the summer like us, along with another undergraduate who was on vacation traveling throughout China with his dad.
Towards the end of the day, I wound up hitching a ride back to Causeway Bay on the boat, which took about 2 hours to get there, but it was smooth sailing the entire trip. We saw a junk boat along the way and got some amazing views of Central Hong Kong as we were getting into the city.
It was an amazing day and I highly recommend going out to see the races if you should find yourselves in Hong Kong during this time of year.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Party time. Excellent.
Wayne Campbell: [after Ben orders Chinese food speaking Cantonese] This guy is good.
Benjamin: I picked up a little Cantonese while I was in the Orient. You know, you sound a lot like you're from Kowloon Bay as opposed to Hong Kong.
Cassandra: I waw born in Kowloon Bay!
Benjamin: There you have it!
Wayne Campbell: This guy is really good.
Benjamin: I picked up a little Cantonese while I was in the Orient. You know, you sound a lot like you're from Kowloon Bay as opposed to Hong Kong.
Cassandra: I waw born in Kowloon Bay!
Benjamin: There you have it!
Wayne Campbell: This guy is really good.
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