Typically Vietnam:
a teenage girl biking down the street in a white ai do (long, tight fitting dress with side splits to the waist and trousers underneath). Not a very practical school uniform, but it looks beautiful.
5 people on one motorbike with a baby sleeping squished in between two people!
how to find a "good" restaurant: look for one with lots of rubbish and food scraps and bones on the floor. Apparently this means that they are so busy serving food ther is no time to clean up. (It also means that it is dirty and smelly, but never mind)
iced coffee with milk. But the coffee is 'robusta' not 'arabica' like we drink. And the milk is condensed - so it makes a sweet, thick, delicious drink in the heat.
women riding motorbikes with rice picker cone-shaped hats, big scarves around their nose and mouth (pollution), long gloves to the elbow, socks with separate big toes to wear with jandals (both to keep the sun off). I just don't know how they wear all that in 38 degree heat!
rice paddies for miles.
pho - hot clear noodle soup with beef. It is breakfast, lunch and dinner.
being a multi-millionaire. A standard ATM withdrawal is 2,000,000 dong. And it doesn't last long!
red flags with yellow stars - communism is alive and displayed everywhere.
loudspeakers on power poles - so the communist party can speak/disseminate propaganda every morning from 5 - 7 am.
Ho Chi Minh's birthday. Flags, fairy lights, booming music, hammers and sickles everywhere. Just like a communist theme park. Coincidentally, the elections were on the next day. Who to vote for? Well, since there is only one party, it can't be a terribly difficult decision. And party statistics show that 100% of Vietnamese vote. And 100% of them vote communist. Which is interesting, as most people who I have met did NOT vote at all. An 'election' is such a good way to spend 2 million US dollars in a country where lots of people don't have enough money to eat properly or keep their children in school...
