The day before NYE

It's that time of year again, and the buzz is palpable. Today, the shops are alive, the streets are bustling with shoppers. Today is the street traders bonanza, I noticed....(see previous post + comments).

Finally, I had a morning totally dedicated to driving around the city, researching for three or four upcoming blog posts, and snapping the photographs. I saw before me the captivating scenes of city life in the grip of a festive fever, Saigon in full boisterous flow. It has been one of those days that reminded me - no matter how much my clothes smell of petrol or how much grit I comb out of my eyebrows, no matter how many articulated lorries blast their horns at me, no matter how sunburnt my nose gets from long drives, no matter how many times I nearly get killed by (a. bus b. bad drivers c. taxi), no matter how badly the canal below my apartments stinks of poo, no matter how many beaver sized rats I send scurrying from nibbling on my break cables down in the parking, no matter how many people point at me and yell 'You' just because I am white (I could go on), no matter, it's water under the bridge. Saigon is the boss, I am just a permanent visitor. It's learning to appreciate it everyday as when you first saw it, that's the trick.

So - pictures people, pictures.

I head out of my apartments and weave down a busy lane. It's 10.30 and usually the fruit sellers are packed up and gone. Today, they are all there, and more than usual - the sidewalks are jammed (I have to chuckle after the recent debate on street traders). Out onto Hai Ba Trung, flower sellers are everywhere, the street is ablaze with bright yellows. A crowded bakery flushes it's jam onto the street (TRAFFIC not strawberry).

The small park in Tan Binh is transformed into a market for hoa dao (peach blossom) and kumquat bushes.

It's time for not only a tree, but a new, well, anything it seems. Flowers cover the large area in the background, in the foreground a man is selling terrapins. Remember, a turtle is for life, not just for new year and then to be found a week later wedged in the water filter.

New jeans...

Down on Nguyen Hue, the usual floral displays the length of the street attract the crowds.

The atmosphere is undeniable. Tomorrow is New Years Eve, which means a lunch that would floor a crew of rutting Rhino back from a hard days work at the swamp (E Blackadder). Evening time means hitting the town with the greatest natural advert for Honda and Yamaha ever, a scene which one of my friends teaching down at VUS (Tom) said 'must be one of the wonders of the world, there's nothing like it in any other city'. That, my friends, is fuh real.

On New Years Day I will be heading to Cu Chi in a minibus with assorted sundry to Grandma in law's house - undoubtedly pictures and anecdotes will arise. See you then, and happy new year!