We blasted through the streets of Ho Chi Minh. Ink black skyscrapers with their hundred winking windows extending into the grey sky. I was under orders to sing. But I could barely think of a song I knew all the words to… even Ricky Martin failed me.
‘Adele! Adele!’
‘I don’t know the words to any Adele… I don’t listen to Adele!’ I shouted over the rush of the wind and the noise of the traffic which rushed and flowed effortlessly around us in the flash of neon pink reflecting off the black void of the river which breasted the road on both sides.
Let’s rewind… all the way back to the morning, which of course begins with none other than a club sandwich…
‘The club sandwich?’ Tuan laughs as I look up from the menu.
‘Yes please,’ I say. I’m back sitting in the quiet upstairs room of the Lebanhmi café.
As I rub my sandwiches around in chilli sauce, Tuan the waiter asks me how long I’ve been here and how long I’m staying.
During our conversation, I was struck by an idea. I caught Tuan as I was on my way out and asked if I could interview him. Told him I was writing a travel blog, and wanted to ask him some questions about himself and the places he’s been to. I offered to buy him a drink for his time. He seemed all for it and we exchanged Instagram handles.
Tuan got back to me hours later when I was at Tous Les Jours, lunching on an interesting slice of what appeared to be egg and bacon fried into bread with a sweet chutney-like sauce; this followed by what can only be described as half chocolate brownie, half cheese flan. An epic combination.
Tiberius sent me a picture of Phnom Penn – the capital of Cambodia. He’d crossed the border already… Phnom Penn looked awesome. I almost wished I’d gone with him… almost… Not only was Tuan up for the interview, he also offered to take me on a tour of Ho Chi Minh on the back of his scooter. I couldn’t refuse.
It was about 7.30pm when Tuan picked me up from Grandma Lu’s. (My hotel here in Ho Chi Minh). I swung my leg over the back of his bike and he sped me off on through the esophagus of Saigon.
We bunched in and became one with endless traffic, we ascended up ramparts and flew over a recently opened bridge. Then, upon reaching the other side we swerved round and flew right back over it again, stopping briefly for photographs with the mighty view.
Then Tuan asked me to sing for him… which was very odd. Especially as he didn’t seem interested in singing himself. But as the hours ticked by and he drove us about all over the city, we both ended up singing together, even if our voices would trail off after only a few lyrics.
Tuan ran me into District one of Ho Chi Minh – the CBD where the luxury real estate apartments stood dazzling and sparkling above us. They were so high they were almost on top of us. Through the financial district we zoomed and into what is known as “walking street”, rolling slowly past night clubs and bars where male and female strippers danced on blocks outside, crowds of tourists and locals drinking beer by their feet. We became one with the traffic and pedestrians, the thumping music filling us up from each side of the street, making me wish we were going faster rather than coming almost to a complete halt. The music possessed us as we trundled through the packed and heaving lane until we exploded out the far end, the thump of the music dying on our tails as we shot into the suburbs. We sped in and out of other tourist spots, Tuan pointing out each one to me when we came by it. I got endless glimpses into fractions of the city I had not been to or witnessed before, and would not have witnessed if not for tonight’s unexpected journey.
When we weren’t singing Tuan was trying to teach me how to say things in Vietnamese. Trying to enunciate the words properly made me feel as if my tongue simply lacked the capability. Nevertheless, I would repeat until he told me I’d got it right, and I would clarify things for him that he wanted to know about speaking English. After 4 weeks in Vietnam, only now did I properly master how to pronounce the word for “thank you.” None of our interaction was particularly straight forward as we rushed through the city, me leaning forwards to shout into his ear, and him shouting out in front – I trying to catch his words before the wind stole them away. Though this simply cemented the evening as the most exhilarating language lesson I’ve ever had. We stopped at a smoothie stall which was owned by Tuan’s aunt. I got a banana and bur smoothie. (Banana and avocado). Tuan’s aunt refused to let me pay for it. It was excellent.
Neither of us had had dinner, so after the smoothies, Tuan pulled into a little restaurant along a quiet street and ordered us both his favourite food. The owner of the place exchanged words with Tuan. Tuan told me the owner was concerned I wouldn’t be able to eat the food. ‘No foreigners eat here,’ he explained.
But the food was great, and not only that, it was one of the best meals I’ve had in Vietnam. It suddenly made me realise I’ve probably been missing out on a secret world of food this entire time. The dish that Tuan ordered us was called Bun Bao. (Pronounced “bung bo”) It was a noodle soup, but nothing like the ones I’ve been having. Rather than an oniony broth, this was a thicker more wholesome dish. It was red and spicy and the noodles tasted more like spaghetti. Tender beef, falling effortlessly of the bone floated around within, and there lay an abundance of vegetables and salad on the side. There were also slabs of processed pork – pork that had been rubbed in flour, Tuan explained to me. Once Tuan had shown me how to mix chilli and fish sauce in a separate bowl using my chopsticks, and we had both scraped our bowls of Bun Bao clean, we set off into the city yet again…
Our third stop was for beer. We walked along an open street teeming with pedestrians. It was a bit like Leicester Square – if Leicester Square was enclosed by mountainous skyscrapers, lined with tall trees, food stalls selling fried snake meat and had teenage boys swallowing fire. Upon a large podium, dancers moved to the words of “Hello, hello Vietnam…” We walked the length of the street, glittering with entertainment and hustle which took us to the river bank.
After a short walk by the river we sat on the ground and opened our cans of tiger beer. Tuan told me how frustrating it is to not be able to go to the places he would like to. He wants to go to the US and the UK but he cannot. As a Vietnamese he told me, you have to fill your passport with stamps from other Asian countries before the authorities will let you travel to the West. But he has no interest in going to Thailand or Laos or Cambodia.
Q. How long have you lived in Ho Chi Minh?
A. 27 years (whole life)
Q. What is your favourite thing about Ho Chi Minh?
A. The view at night
Q. How would you say Ho Chi Minh compares to the other cities in Vietnam?
A. Ho Chi Minh is a very busy city and maybe the place for people to change their life. Ho Chi Minh is a big city so we have so many opportunities
Q. What do you dislike about Ho Chi Minh?
A. Growing too fast. Affecting the environment.
Q. If you had to live somewhere else apart from Ho Chi Minh for the rest of your life, where would it be and why?
A. Holland for the nature. Because they don’t have so many houses and so many buildings. The views are beautiful.
Q. Which places have an emotional connection to you?
A. Ho Chi Minh. It’s the city I’ve grown up in. I like the trees here but when they build a new building they cut down the tree. I don’t like that.
Q. What country have you never been to that you’d like to go?
A. Holland.
Q. What is your favourite food? How would you describe it?
Bun Bao. The soup is very special. You know. The broth is a reddish-brown colour. It is a combination of characteristic spices, lemongrass and sauces. Served with raw vegetables and sa te. Sa Te helps to make the beef noodle soup more spicy and aromatic. When you eat that on the sidewalk it is very cheap. Affordable.
Q. Do you have a favourite restaurant here in Ho Chi Minh?
Ngon Restaurant. (Pineapples stuffed with rice. Crab and tofu soups. Shrimp and shrimp crackers which you can load up with food and drizzle with sauce.) All Vietnamese food in one place.
Q. If you had to teach a foreigner one line of Vietnamese what would it be?
“Xin chao” – When you’re coming to a foreign country you need to at least know how to say hello.
Tuan had plans for us tomorrow. He’d quickly discovered that there are a good many foods here I haven’t tasted yet. Like snake, smoked snails and stuffed snails. He started talking about what we would do tomorrow, places he could show me. He had a whole itinerary planned out. It all sounded incredible and I greatly wished we could have done it. But I couldn’t do any of those things Tuan had planned. I’d booked a flight to India…
