Ho Chi Minh City Part 7

This is the first warning, I hope you're not some kind of massive duck-lover.

With that being said, our third day in Vietnam was a little more adventurous as we wandered all the way to the port area which was interesting but not something I would do again. The trademark South-East Asian humidity and heat was in full force that day and we couldn't have chose a better time to walk around the city by foot. I didn't take any photos while we were walking around but the architecture found around that area was somewhat like what I saw in Fremantle, Perth. That area was obviously developed with old, rich angmoh tourists in mind so other than the architecture, it was pretty bland.

There was a Hang Ten outlet not too far from there and we saw this:



Agent Orange affects everyone.



I think this is the High Court and I can't confirm it at all but I loved it for the combination of its european-style grandeur and the huge-ass red and yellow Vietnamese flag crowning it.



Now this is weird, we saw this directly outside the above-mentioned building. There are Cyrillic characters, mention of various social science terminology and names of drafting and 3D modelling software. What the fuck?

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Just in case, I'm warning you again: I hope you hate ducks.

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A few hours of walking in the hot sun really brought our throats to their knees and to solve this anatomically-impossible problem, we stopped at a sushi place which was a street away from the blue-collared zone with heavy industries and a shipyard. In fact, there were tons of Japanese restaurants in that area, most of them classier than the one we visited.



Seriously, how can this translate to class?



Rather tasty but not at all funny. Please discuss.

Nope, still not funny.

The meal was around 30SGD and the second worst meal we had in Vietnam, a step above the fried chicken meal at KFC. Nothing wrong with how it tasted but it was expensive and so...typical.

However, our dinner at Ben Thanh Market (again) was better. I seriously love that place, it may be the Lau Pa Sat of Vietnam (overpriced and mass-produced to the locals) but I regret not trying every stall there.

And also, they have huge Mantis Prawns.



However, I didn't try it because "bigger = better" simply doesn't work when it comes to prawns as it's always the small dainty little faggot ones that taste the sweetest. That's right, faggot prawns, I just called some prawns faggots.

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Last warning: Denounce your love for ducks if you have any.

Ahh fuck you animal-loving fags, here goes:



The infamous balut, it's called something else in Vietnamese, probably Gȯ tṐ Hẹḽḽ or something. It looks incredibly innocuous like this, all cooked and still safe in the shell, nothing like the 70-years-of-sin-in-a-shell described in various "exotic food" specials on Discovery Travel.



To be honest, I couldn't wait to crack the thing open. There was no reason to wait, the egg wasn't going to hatch by itself. Well...it could have but you know, not anymore.



It's starting to look a little more promising now, you can see the yolk reserves and some white stuff which makes you go, "Are those remnants of the egg white or the...fetus?"



Nah, doesn't seem like the fetus. You'll still be eligible for entry into heaven if you stop now because after all, it has been like eating a boiled egg. So far.



Oooohhh there you go! That's more like it, the feathers of the poor duckling that never became one.

Poor duckling.



Sup? How are you?

It was only at this stage that I felt a slight tinge of sympathy for the duck fetus. I think it's the eyes.



"Why? Arthur, why?"



"Surely you can spare my head."



"Please, you can just stop here. I beg you."



Fuck to you.



Next entry: Best food I've had in Vietnam? Which happens to be not local? Such suspense!