Moscow and Beijing

Here's my take on what the two former communist capitals on Russia Beyond the Headlines' Asia edition.

Powerless in Vung Tau

Once every few months, the authorities in Vung Tau shut down power for an entire day. They put notices in Vietnamese and expect all the foreigners in the buildings to understand. So, off goes the electricity on a warm morning when I have a bucket-load of things to do.

The owner of my favourite cafe asks me to come back the next day. I have deadlines to meet but there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. Calmly I enjoy the cool breeze from the South China Sea. This is a good day to appreciate the serenity and peace of the southern Vietnamese boomtown.

The sea is always blue and life seems even slower than normal with most businesses not having a generator to carry on.

Those beloved bikers of Saigon

These people in 2 wheelers seem to be going from bad to worse. In a rush to get to god only knows there, they drive like total maniacs. They don’t stop for old people or pregnant women and often jump on and off sidewalks like they’re riding horses.

Tourists are warned about cowboys on motorbikes who make a grab for bags. The worst I encountered was an idiot who nearly rammed into my pregnant friend.  My gut instinct was to punch him so hard that his teeth would fall off. But then I saw a lady sitting behind him and decided to spare the idiot.

Not all psycho bikers in Saigon are men. Even the ladies tend to use two-wheelers are equally idiotic when driving around the city.

Saigon

The sprawling southern Vietnamese city now known as Ho Chi Minh is definitely visually appealing. Communists like order and cleanliness and the reconstructed city is full of parks and green spaces. The city centre itelf is plush and like I observed on my last trip here, images of Ho Chi Minh and his political ideologies go hand in hand with the Louis Vuitton showroom.

No trip to Saigon is complete without a sampling of Pho Bo, the delicious beef noodle soup. There is a chicken variant for strict and observing Hindus.

People come here from other Southeast Asian countries for the shopping. I figure that the prices for clothes and small non-branded items are much like they are in Thailand, but I could be wrong.  One thing’s for sure. Vietnamese aren’t much into bargaining. They come down a bit on the original price and that’s it. Some of my Indian friends would be disappointed with the fact that they can’t haggle the sellers to death here.

 

Arriving in Vietnam: Pre-approved visas

For those taking a pre-approved Vietnam visa, I have a small piece of advice. Make sure you pay for a VIP clearance at the airport before flying in to the country.

For a small fee, a representative of the agency that handled your visa  will meet you as soon as you get off the aircraft and get your visa attached in a considerably short period of time.  The normal time for a visa is around half an hour, but can be much longer if many flights land at the same time.

It’s no fun waiting a long time for the visa sticker to be attached on your passport just after a potentially long flight.

I was in and out of the modern Saigon airport in less than 10 minutes.

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For some reason the prepaid taxi counters insist on payment in dollars or ringitt. They assume that I am a Malaysian since many people from the country visit for a shopping spree; Tamils included.

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To check into a hotel in Saigon, you need to hand over your passport. And when I say hand over, I mean for the duration of your stay as they keep the passport until you check out. As long as they take care of it, I see no problem. This is not a city where cops stop visitors for a random document check.

                                             

Psycho drivers in KL

I am used to hearing social service ads against rash driving and road rage in Kuala Lumpur thanks to Lite Fm's webcasts. I took these messages with a pinch of salt thinking they  exaggerate the problem. That was until tonight!

In the few hours I have spent at KL's Low Cost Carrier Terminus, I have lost track of the number of cars speeding like crazy after dropping off passengers. These daredevils do it within the watxhful eye of the airport police. Imagine how they'd drive in a less crowded road or in places where there are few policemen!!

These guys definitely give Bombay's spoilt brats a run for their money.  But then again, we are close to the F1 Sepang circuit. Maybe some of these people are inspired by the world's fastest!

Capital punishment in India and Russia

Boris Yeltsin placed a moratorium on capital punishment in the early 1990s. That was probably the best thing the man ever did for Russia in a decade of misrule. Now, the Russian Interior Minister speaking in a personal capacity said he was for capital punishment.


Here I argue against the death penalty.