Chasing Dead Presidents

Long day and long post haha.

First of all, today I woke up the earliest I've ever woken up while in Vietnam at 6am. Might not sound like a lot, but when I normally get up at 10am and sometimes at noon, it's a huge feat to me. I try to get up early and when I do I generally feel like shit, like I'm baked goods and I need a few more hours in my little oven of a camouflage poncho liner from 1969 haha. I got up feeling good and found out when my coffee shop opens at! 6:30am haha. Had to wait twenty-five minutes for coffee but I slammed it back haha.

Now, moto drivers are usually annoying to me, but since I was going from the centre of town, south-west to Cholon, the Chinatown of Vietnam, then back to the downtown core I welcomed them. I could have walked it but Cholon and back would be a few hours and I'd probably pull the muscle in my knee that keeps snapping, let alone the other humping I planned to do. I think I explained it but just so I don't sound nuts, "hump" is the sound you make when you put a heavy pack on, so humping is the action of moving a heavy pack, or generally a pack which I normally have so I'm normally humping the pack somewhere. Alright, i sound sane again, slightly haha,

Josh in our group wanted to do Cholon and at the time I had no clue about the history of it, just that it was part of Saigon and in the Vietnam War TV show it was the black market area and saw heavy fighting during the 1968 Tet Offensive. The reason why I keep naming the year is because there was a small Tet Offensive the next year, 1969, so it's to separate the two, but when someone is talking about Tet, 90% of the time it's the big one of '68. Anyways Josh also wanted to go because thats were South Vietnam's President Diem was gunned down and that was the main reason why he wanted to go. I decided I should check it out, and yesterday hit Gia Long Palace, where Diem was in office, as his original office, Independence Palace was bombed by a South Vietnamese Air Force (SVAF) A-1 Skyraider attack plane. Now I'm not 100% sure, but I think the pilot was either against his policy or was a Viet Cong agent and attacked. Either way people in South Vietnam weren't in love with Diem and his palace was bombed so he was at Gia Long Palace. I'll try to keep the ramblings short, as I did a shitload of shit today haha. I think I did more today than I did a week before going to Ben Tre, as I was just running around town not doing anything special, do what I normally do, hunt for VN era kit.

I hopped on the moto and go to Binh Tay Market, which is the famous market in the area. If you go to Cholon, Binh Tay is a recommended stop so I went. I was also going to Francis Xavier Catholic church which was a short walk nearby. I think I said it all in my last blog but the SVN military was planning a coup to kick Diem and his family out of office and take over. They didn't want him dead, but just to leave the country in exile away from South-East Asia. They went to Gia Long Palace and he got away from an underground tunnel getting out a few blocks away and went to Cholon to a safe house. A presidential guard told the, what I'll call "coupers" where the safe house was so Diem and his brother ran to Francis Xavier church as they were catholic. I hit the market and at 8am the side streets around it were flooded with people buying food. I've never seen a street so busy and alive and I took a video but when I did it was less busy, but still busy haha. I did my sweep of the market and no military stuff. Mostly food, some clothing, office supplies and not a lot else, but there was a temple of sorts in the middle where people were worshipping. I boogied out and headed towards the church. I found a water-fountain park which was a dragon in the water, and ten dragon heads spitting mist out everywhere, which felt nice, but I questioned the quality of the water I was breathing in and letting into my eyes haha. I also walked past some Asians my age and the one wanted to low-five me which I and then he went in for a hug, but backed out and laughed hahaha. Think he just wanted to meet a white person and yea I wouldn't have hugged him haha. Not into the random Asian male hugging thing really haha. Also on the way I was near a bus station and a bus went by. The back door opened and a guy did a running jump out the back, the bus still going about 30kph. It was crazy to see haha, the dude just flew out of the bus and ran so he wouldn't flop on his face haha. Wish I could have got it on camera haha.

It took some twists and turns but I found the church, the sign didn't really say what it was either but I could make out the FS XVR but I was where my map took me and turns out I was right. How could I be wrong with google maps plotted location, confirmed the spot on my map and I had my eyes and a compass. I was there haha. The church was undergoing some wiring and light construction so if those guys could just tap dance in, I could too. I went in and shot a video, I walked right up to the front and knelled down where you would in an empty church, front row centre thinking Diem did the same so he could get as close as possible to his God. I talked about what happened and why I was there. Coles notes: Coup, Diem fled to Cholon, then this church. I finished the video and went to look for a moto driver. I found another market and hit that but it was mostly industrial with some fashion and yea, no military stuff haha. I caught a moto and the guy wanted 50,000VND to take me to the downtown core but I got him down to 40,000VND. We headed off to my next place, Gia Long Palace, again haha.

I hit the Palace and paid the moto. I really like shooting videos now so I wanted to get the whole hunt on video. I went back, took the pictures I couldn't due to me not having my back up battery on me. I took a video from the front, scanned the aircraft on display, hit the underground bunker and it was empty again. There's maybe 75 people in the museum but seems that nobody wants to check out the bunker. Gotta make it more sexy, show us the tunnel entrances! People truck out to Cu Chi to see fake holes in the ground, as the museum site is not where the tunnel system was, it's just moved for tourists, but the real Gia Long Palace is right there for you to see! I've heard Independence Palace had underground tunnels too. Link them and charge like $5 for tourists to walk underground from Independence Palace to Gia Long Palace and now you got interest. Let people pretend they're a President running for their lives! Anyways I shot a video of the bunker and sat in the chair again since nobody could stop me. It hit me that I've sat in Ho Chi Minh's (leader of the North) and sat in Diem's chair (leader of the South) which historically is pretty fucking cool haha.

Finished the video and went to the Huey as I had a good chunk of room left on my card and only two short stops to do. I took at least twenty pictures of the Huey from all angles. How often am I going to be able to see one? Next to none are flying and those that are have been so modified that they aren't the same helicopter, maybe in a short left-to-right shot on a film set but not for my level of accuracy. Anyways I shot the shit outta it haha. It's a pitty it sits there in the rain, paint peeling off and rust growing. We could give her a good home and the love and attention she deserves. She doesn't even need to run, just sit there and look sexy. We'd have to get another M60 but it's doable muhahaha. I also hit the gift shop and picked up one of those mini-painted sculptures of US troops. Now, I can't paint, or I can but not in enough detail or accuracy to make me happy. You need a stick figure in one colour, I'm your man, but I can't glue models or paint them haha. This is why I picked up this painted soldier. It's maybe 5" tall and it's as accurate as can be, from the basic webgear, he's carrying twenty M16 mags and has the 1st pair of jungle fatigues they made, as the buttons are exposed and the leg pockets are tied. I just noticed it's M16 doesn't have a magazine but who said he was in the field? Could be outside of a tent in camp waiting to load and lock (tropic thunder) after they get out of the gate. I got this one as it doesn't have any unit patches and represents the every grunt, just like our group.

It was lunch and the Vin Com centre was just down the street so I headed on out. I saw four people pick their noses in less than sixty seconds and it was INSIDE the fancy pants mall haha. Outside it's gross still but the people are poor, they don't have to impress. Inside however you're wearing a $200USD suit, but you're picking your nose like your six. It's a culture thing I guess, I've seen it before but not in such numbers in such a short time haha and I forgot to mention it, so there you go so you're not super surprised at it, although being in Canada for twenty-five years and never seeing it is still a shock haha. I checked out kitchi-kitchi which is a buffet restaurant but the food comes to your chair. You sit and a conveyor belt brings food past you. It's all you can eat as its a buffet and it's a cool concept. I asked how it works and you pay a 10,000VND fee which you get back when you pay, which I think is just to prevent dine and dash situations. For me though 10,000VND is only $.50CDN so I could stuff my face and run like the wind and you can keep my two quarters! After you eat your first item though you're billed 110,000VND as that's the buffet cost. I sat down and watched what was going past me, and I asked "What if I don't like anything I see?" haha. It was 100% VN food and sure there was some stuff I could have eaten, but nothing I Wanted to eat haha. I don't wanna pay 110,000 for nothing I liked haha. I went through two people and finally spoke to the manager who's English was the best out of the three. He said a lot of foreigners come to check it out, but don't really like what is offered as they look for western food, like myself. I told him it's a neat concept and I like it, but I'll go find some more western stuff and I got my $.50CDN back and spent half that much at.... Popp-eye's Chicken! I ate and it hit me, I'm listening to a country version of "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer", watching Mr. Bean cartoon on the Disney channel (hey it was on the plasma screen TV), eating American chicken in an American style mall. I asked my camera "What did we do to these people!?!" haha.

I also checked out the Nike store for Mitchell. Nike stores here are exactly the same style and price, but there's two sections for guys: Football(soccer) and misc haha. I didn't find the practice shirt you wanted Mitchell but the closest thing I could find was over $100CDN so fuck that shit haha. I'll pick up the $6 Adidas stuff from Ben Thanh Market haha.

Well it was 1pm and I had two small spots to check out. Had plenty of room on my camera and I realized the War Reminates Museum was a few blocks away so I humped it out there. I've already been but didn't get to take all the pictures I wanted. On my way there I was walking and I felt something snap in my knee! Guess what!? It was the muscle in my knee that keeps breaking! Few seconds of pain and then an annoying ache with each step followed so I locked that leg taking my knee out of the equation and hobbled my way. On my way out of the blue I found a green friend I haven't seen in years. I grew up on a farm and moved into the city, so while I'm walking North leaving the downtown core of Saigon the last thing I ever though I'd see is a nice shiny John Deere tractor! I'm not sure what the business was, but there was the John Deere and two Asian red tractors but I didn't assume it was tractor dealership in friggen downtown Saigon haha. It would take the tractor two hours to find land to cultivate haha. Maybe a construction rental place? I have no clue as those were the only things I saw. My dad who still works on a farm but just outside London asked if I saw any tractors while outside of the city haha. I did but couldn't catch one in my frames in time as the bus I was on flew past them. Well now I didn't fly, but hobbled past the tractors but took pictures haha.

I hit the War Museum but one of the moto driver vultures waiting outside the gates told me it was closed for lunch until 1:30pm. I could have waited outside the gates but honestly there were ten moto drivers and people selling shit so I hobbled down the street until I was out of range. I got to see someone parking a $350,000USD Rolls Royce on the street. Let me tell you something haha. In North America if you have that, you're fucking ridiculous in my opinion haha. In Vietnam if someone stole that car and got it's value in Vietnamese Dong, at eighteen they could retire and not work another day in their friggen life. If I can buy a nice house for $11,000CDN in the biggest city in Vietnam, an everyday Vietnamese person could live the everyday life with joy with that much cash. $350,000CDN is six-thousand-million and I had to google how big 9 zeros was as in the US it would be $6.7 Billion but the US system is messed up because they have to be different haha. One trillion outside of the US is eighteen zeros so in Canada it's $6,700,000,000 or $6.7 milliard says this website http://www.jimloy.com/math/billion.htm which these are foreign to me haha but it's the world's system and thats how it works. Anyways it's an insane amount of money. For a Vietnamese person making two million a month which is 24 million VND a year would have to work two-hundred and fifty years to make enough for that piece of steel on wheels. They could easily live on that car's value IF they lived like Vietnamese. If they lived like North Americans then it would be gone sooner, but still have a good run at it haha.

I sat down and waited for the museum to open. Some older guy came out of nowhere, eyed my ARVN rucksack on the ground, which I caught him and he walks over like he's going to talk to me or grab my bag, but lit a smoke and starts whistling haha which is the ultimate sign of trying to be aloof, like when you're going to try and steal something right from under someone's nose. I got ready for something, pulled out my weapon, a 1.5L bottle of water, but it has a... I don't know what to call it, but a plastic bar so you hand onto that instead of the bottle. Anyways I figure I could swing it and break someone's nose or at least stun them for five seconds, enough to grab my shit and beat feet. He move from his whistling/smoking spot beside me, goes around me and stops just on the other side of me. "The poor bastard" I though haha. I swing with my right arm, so I bring the bottle from the left, pick up maximum speed and harness the awesome strength of my arm and shoulder and direct it into his nose. Only he has to start something as I can't just run around Saigon breaking noses as I'm not drunk enough and I don't have military police to arrest me. I rather face them and have the cause be "being drunk" back in 1968 than face a Communist government without a police force, but military arm of the law and assaulting it's citizens haha. We'll he didn't make his move, and good on him.

The museum opened and I hit the third floor first as all the new people checked out the first floor. I took all the pictures I wanted and headed downstairs as I could shoot some video of the displays. It was packed in the downstairs of the building so I hit the vehicles outside. I only recorded the vehicles I haven't recorded in other places, so I skipped the F-5, Huey, M41 Bulldog, A-37 Dragonfly, etc. While filing I ran into someone I already met. It was the man that scammed me the last time I was here muhahahaha. And guess what? He asked for money! Oh I gave it to him haha. I told him I already gave him money, then went into the gift shop (saying it nice and loud) I found what I bought from him for 75% less than what I got from him and he scammed me out of at least $10US. People stopped and looked at him and he crawled under his rock for a bit. The guy has his hands blown off, which isn't good but honestly, feel bad for yourself after the first few years. US troops have had their hands blown off and worse, but after their wounds healed they continued to live active and productive lives. My mom is disabled so I know for a fact that if your handicapped your life isn't over. You lost a battle but you fall back, regroup and attack life from a different direction. The documentary I downloaded and watched, one of the vets was a medic, had his legs and one arm blown off. After he healed and got back to life, he was playing water polo and became a higher up in the Veterans Association. I know Vietnam doesn't have the same life as the US, but that's not the important thing. They can take your limbs but they can't steal your spirit and in Vietnam I've seen disabled people do great work so I don't take pity on people and I won't pay money to feel like I've done something good, as I'm a great person without paying someone to feel it. He still uses his arms and I shook his elbow when I met him. There's a guy at Ben Thanh market who has napalm or white phosphorus burns on his face but complete use of his body, but he makes more begging at tourists (won't ask Vietnamese people for money) than he does living a proud and honest life. Same thing with a younger guy that lost his leg. He has a crutch and walks around my neighbourhood for eight hours. I'm sorry you lost your arms, have your face burnt or lost your leg, but don't make me feel bad for it or for you. I might sound like a jerk but these people aren't dead, but they profit on Westerners that pity them and shouldn't as they still have decades of proud productive life left, it's just easier to put your hand out and to me easy translates to lazy, same with the homeless at home. That rant over haha.

I go to leave the museum and next I was going to hit the railroad crossing I mapped. They were a few blocks away and with my knee I wasn't going to push it. I ask a moto driver how much, and this is honestly like three city blocks away. He told me 80,000VND and I almost told him to go fuck himself hahahahahahahaha! I'm too use to being here and although it's only $4CDN that could buy me an awesome dinner, which to me at home translates to $15CDN so I'm not going to trade that for a two-minute moto ride. Hell, I went six times further for 50% less money haha, but it's a good example to show you how people are out for your cash. The War Museum is the coolest museum for people just in the city, so Day 1 in Saigon and maybe half the time Day 1 in Vietnam you have no clue how much anything costs, so the first day everyone usually gets ripped off. The good thing is there was about five moto drivers out there, but naturally one said "I take you for 60,000" which is still bullshit. I wouldn't pay over 20,000 and I told them all that or I'm walking and though I'd give away some of my money. Then everyone wanted forty but I found someone with an honest head that was happy to do it for 20,000 which is the price they all should have been giving me.

I jump on and he had a cool moto, the Honda Wave which I'd honestly buy if I lived here. There's not much luxury in moto riding, but the Wave's back hand grips are steel, but rubber coated and feel nice when clenching on for dear life while your driver takes you up a one-way street against traffic and during rush hour. The Honda Airblade looks cool but it only has plastic handles, which I rode on down to Cholon and felt I could rip them off the bike. Anyways I get to where I'm going, CMT8 near Dien Bien Phu, but looking at the map I'm sure the tracks went though the traffic circle so I got off there. I shot my video and easily found a moto driver less than 10ft away haha. What's awesome is moto drivers know how to get your attention in English, but talking to them they don't speak a word! hahaha. I asked him how much to take me just down the street to Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Luong Huu Khanh which is like sixty seconds of driving and he wanted 20,000VND which I normally pay for about five-minutes. I tried to bargain but he played the "I don't understand" card. Touche Mr. Moto as that's what I would do :) haha. 20,000VND and we stop at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and CMT8, then he turns off the moto. I get off and pull out the map and I found where we were. I told him I want to go down Nguyen Thi (not spelling it all out again haha, don't make me) and point down at it. A man comes up and knows more English than my driver, which I think he only knows "Hey Moto!" haha. I tell him I want to go to "here" on my map and show him where the big blue "X" is. He was listening to the driver and the man said I'm where I want to be. Don't listen to the driver, he's not paying me haha, I'm paying him and I told him I wanted to go "there" on my map. I could clearly see the street signs showing where we were, so I'm not lost at all haha. I started to get edgy and said "Yea, that's exactly not what I'm talking about" as he said I'm where I want to be and I'm not and I told him "the street signs must be wrong since I'm not where I want to be". I kept pointing down the street I wanted to go, I read out the side streets again and it clicked in the guy's head, he translated and by this time the moto driver is getting pissed and finger stabbed my map in anger. We'll after the translation he shakes his head and we're on our way. Next thing I was worried about was if he'd charge me more, which he didn't.

I shot my last video of the journey and wrapped it up, connecting everything from Gai Long Palace, tunnels and the run to the safe house in Cholon, the quick escape but arrest at Frances Xavier Church, the railroad crossing and the fight in the track that killed the President and his brother. I found another moto driver and again I was only a few blocks away from home, he wanted 20,000 but I got him to 15,000. I needed to get home and just take it easy for a bit. Charged batteries, reloaded wallet, uploaded pics, watched American Dad and went off to dinner. My spot is Zoom Cafe as it's local and great food, plus I've ran out of local places I want to try unless I want to go to the Hard Rock or back to Pizza Hut, but I'm saving that my last few days before I leave. I mixed it up and got a crab-cake burger. At my work I only ate crab cakes as I knew how to make them, Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo made by the Awesome Steve and Lamb burgers for two years haha. I figure I'd try a crab-cake and yea, not like at home as it's like 75% crab and 25% bread crumbs so it didn't hold together and couldn't be shaped. I finished it and if they lowered the price I probably wouldn't have another. The one girl took pictures for me on my camera, finished my meal, hit Shop & Go which is a lot cheaper than Circle K and picked up a Toblerone bar as they're my fix for chocolate here. Came home, had an awesome shower as I was filthy and started writing this.

Tomorrow I have no clue what I'm doing. Might just stay off my leg but I could hit Cho Dan Sinh Market to get a web belt for Chris and check out maps. I also have to meet up with a lady friend at the park. Don't get to thinking though haha. Asians are probably the least attractive race to me and when I do find a hot Asian girl which is rare they usually have some European genes in them somewhere in their history, but geo-historically odds are American or Aussie. War does some good ;)