Vietnam has
always held a certain allure to me being a culture that has some
elements of the Chinese culture I was from. I took my trip there as
an opportunity to understand the rich culture of the Vietnamese.
I reached Vietnam on a cold rainy
Friday. Not much different from Malaysia. Though so, the buildings
were definitely different. It had elements of French influence and
the architecture especially the older buildings definitely reflected
a colonialist heritage.
When I reached the hotel, I was feeling
peckish and decided to sample the food that Vietnam was famous for,
Vietnamese Coffee and Pho Bo.
The Vietnamese Coffee came with it’s
own drip mechanism and it was definitely a brew you can’t drink
anxiously. While waiting for the coffee to finish dripping, I tucked
into the Pho Bo and it was superb. Vietnamese dishes that I know of
absolutely try not to overcook the vegetables and Pho Bo is an
example of a dish that the vegetables are best served raw. Mixing the
raw vegetables in the soup broth brought around a new appreciation of
the crunchiness of the vegetables mixed with the heartiness of the
soup. The coffee kicked like a mule.
Vietnamese like their coffee strong and this was a monster. It
immediately awoken me and prepared me for the adventure ahead.
Next I went for a briefing by the
Malaysian Education Attache, En. Helmy Sulaiman, he talked about the
characteristics of the Vietnamese student and urge us to expand this
market.
The education fair began the next day
at the hotel itself and we are deeply honoured to be graced by the
presence of Tun Jeanne Abdullah, the wife of the former Prime
Minister of Malaysia, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. She was here on an
official visit with her husband and decided to visit the Education
Fair also.
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I presented her with a souvenir from
Vision College
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Then the students came in and they were
in all manner of people. From High schoolers to University Graduates,
they were there to find out what Malaysian education had to offer.
We also had visitors from a very
interesting clan from Vietnam, Malay Muslims who have set up they own
enclave and heritage in Vietnam generations ago. They spoke very
little Malay but were absolutely fluent in Vietnamese.
Then the next day, we did a visit to
Education Malaysia’s office in the heart of Ho Chi Minh to visit En
Helmy.
Taking a break before the next meeting,
I went and had coffee again, I saw allot of the chain shops of Trung
Nguyen Coffee, definitely more than the Starbucks chain in Vietnam,
and decided to have a look.
They served many types of coffee but
the one that caught my eye was their concoction called Legendee
Coffee.
After reading further, I realize it was
made from the Weasel’s droppings after they consume coffee beans
similar to the concept of Kopi Luwak from Indonesia. Having tried
Kopi Luwak before, I was not at all squeamish about drinking animal
droppings and promptly ordered it.
I visited a few agents then went back
to get ready to explore the nightlife of Ho Chi Minh.
One thing I notice while walking in Ho
Chi Minh, the citizens love to sit in low slung chairs with tables
facing the road. Their enjoyment is watching the world go by while
enjoying sweet mixed fruit juices.
Also the Vietnamese were mad about
phones like we are. This mega phone shop was still opened at 11pm.
Visited their night markets and sampled
their foods.
The next day, I met up with Alex and
Kevin, NGO partners in Vietnam, and they took me to sample some rice
wraps.
So Vietnam definitely was interesting.
The food was amazing. Very diverse but with taste that were familiar
to my palate.
Will definitely come visit again.
By,
Hoh Wing Onn
Director Admission
