Land Development

Saigon has a new and nearly completed landmark, the Bitexco Financial Tower. It can be seen from all over the city and surrounds and even has a helipad on one side. Alas my picture doesn't do it justice but I'll get some better ones soon.

Large swathes of the city centre are also earmarked for ripping down and "improving". Not everyone is in favour of course and I've been told that the flags flying from the residential buildings at the top end of Le Loi are in protest to the planned redevelopment of that area.

Such a shame to see buildings of character go under the jack hammer but I doubt the mild misgivings of one expat blogger are going to make the slightest difference.

Dalat Christmas Break

A four night trip to Dalat for Christmas in the well posh Sofitel Dalat Palace was a nice break from Saigon. Vietnamese people tell me it's very romantic, certainly unheated rooms do encourage cuddling up, but I enjoy it for the cool air during the day and the kitschness.

First, here's a picture of the cool air:

And now some of the kitsch:

Dalat makes a wine, and from the bottles they have also made a Christmas tree which will also double as a general purpose tree for the upcoming flower festival.

One of the "romantic" attractions of Dalat is to take a swan pedalo onto the lake.

You can take your swan for a tour past the potato crisp heart:

Or gaze at the Dalat Eiffel Tower courtesy of the Post Office:

Pony rides are popular, so is taking pictures of people taking pony rides. Look carefully (you might want to click on the picture for the full size on flickr) you should be able to see the best combination of hats in any one picture ever.

A stetson, a non la or cone hat, a sun hat complete with face protector if the hat doesn't provide enough coverage and, being Christmas, a santa hat. There's also a hat on the guy on the pony that I don't know the name for.

Merry Christmas