May 5: Walk in the Park

It rained in the afternoon. But when the sky cleared up hours later, I took the chance to go to Lưu Hữu Phước Park walking along the street of Châu Văn Liêm (Nguyễn An Ninh just at the other side).

I've then noticed that in wide streets where there were islands, they tend to name the streets differently for each direction (i.e., Châu Văn Liêm for the east bound lane, Nguyễn An Ninh for the west bound lane). It got me confused for a few seconds, but figured it out anyway.



I ate a Celano chocolate-vanilla flavored drumstick ice cream in that cafe. The seller did not know how to tell the price in English, though, and had to call someone else to tell me how much it was. VND 10.000. Or was it VND 13.000? Couldn't recall, really.

While I was enjoying my ice cream, I watched a group of men play sipa. I don't know how they call that game, but I know of it as sipa. They're really good. Great. Awesome. Amazing. And these were not so young men.



When a few of them sat down, and when I was about to explore the park (it was a small park, I later found out), somebody called me, "emoy" (I was told earlier that this is how they call younger people). So I looked. He instructed (signaled) me to take a picture of the men who were playing.

I agreed, without them knowing yet that I could not really understand what they said. Though I knew I wouldn't be able to take a good shot - it was twilight and my lens just could not handle it, plus the fast movement of the players. I tried. Then told them that I couldn't take a decent shot.

So they learned that I was a foreigner. From the Philippine(s). They still persuaded me to take a shot, and pointed the person whom they call "Superman" (young compared to the rest of the group, so probably a better player than them).

They offered me water, but it was really a tea with lots of ice. I declined. They may be nice, but they were men and it was getting dark and I could not really understand them. Taking this chance of another close encounter with the locals, I asked for a photo.

Instead of me taking their picture, the guy they call Superman offered to take the shot so I could join the group. While I hesitated to give him my camera, I agreed.



Then I took a photo of the group. Weird, not all of them looked.



So then I took snapshots in the park.







Then a pagoda...



...and a shot of Ninh Kieu Hotel 2...



...all along Hoa Binh.



When I got back near the riverside near Ninh Kieu Park along Hai Ba Trung, there was this group of motorcycles, este people watching a screenplay (what do you call that thing?)



Then again a snapshot of this...



...at night, with a pair of lovers in that bench.

To top it off, here's a night shot of the ancient market.

May 4: Foods and Walks

First stop: the cafe beside the one where we ate during my second night in Can Tho.

Food: Spaghetti. Meaty spaghetti.



Drink: Watermelon shake. It was written as "Melon Water Shake" in the menu. I thought it was melon, not the watermelon. Still good, anyway. And I loved the presentation. Aside from loving parsley and stars and rotondas, they also love stirrers.



I haven't been in a restaurant or cafe yet where they serve plain water. They serve iced tea here. The plain kind of tea, no sugar I guess, but I liked it. Weird, but good.



Then as I was about to leave the cafe, it drizzled. Fortunately, the rain did not pour hard yet that time. So off to some snapshots.









I was supposed to go to Can Tho museum. I asked a girl there and she said it would open at 2:00 PM. That was about 12:00 noon. Then I went to a bookstore.

Everything except classic novels for kids were in Vietnamese. It was amazing to see all their books in their own language. I saw Sophie Kinsella's novel in Vietnamese, also Freakonomics, Twilight (Cha Vang, if I remember it right), Eclipse, Harry Potter series, James Patterson books, and even magazines I only used to see in English! Amazing. And when converted to Philippine peso, they come cheap. Even hard bound economics books are cheap (especially when compared to prices in my dear country). If only they were in English, I could have bought some copies for myself.

Then I decided to have some dessert or early snack (weird sense of time) at the cafe at the grocery shop.





Ice cream of three flavors - durian, ube that tasted like kamote, and something like cheese (I couldn't figure it out exactly), with cream at the top, two cherries (I guess those were cherries. I don't eat cherries, but tried one of it, and it tasted weird, then I was not sure if it was a cherry.), and an ube mini stick-o. Great.




Going then gone =P

When I went back to the museum, I finally learned that it was closed. No museum on Mondays. So as not to dampen the spirit, I continued walking alone (despite the numerous offers of motorcycle ride, which I have not yet known how much to cost). Snapshots galore.


This really caught my eye. In a non-English speaking country (really, few people can converse beyond simple phrases), "That's something only love can do" really made me smile.

And more snapshots: pagoda. I tried to ask a lady if I could go inside the pagoda. No success. She could not understand me.





Then traversing Vo Van Tan street, I was nearing the riverside once again.

May 3: Photowalk Alone

Still on a lazy mode, I got up late, then worked a bit (yes, work, willingly :) ), then went off for a late lunch at So Hom located at the Can Tho Ancient Market.

I ordered seafood and meat noodles, wishing it was the same as the noodles Mon ordered the night before. Unfortunately, it was not. Moreover, I think the serving was good for three to four people.

Here's what was left (a lot left, actually) after I couldn't eat anymore of it, plus a banana shake.



After getting full, I started my photo walk alone. And these are the highlights.


The women who offered me their banca services. The woman on the right steers the banca, but she could not speak English, so she made her sister offer me their service. I declined saying that I was waiting for my friend. Here's their mobile number - 0918.934390. Again, I panicked with the camera when they agreed to have their photo taken.


Say hi to Ho Chi Minh :)


The bridge: At the background


These couple asked me to take their photo (in their camera, of course.) The guy actually talked to me in Vietnamese. Due to the power of smile, we understood each other. I saw them again that night, and we greeted each other. Nice. :)


Almost a night. This was a cool shot - manual settings. Yebah!

More snapshots around:


A view from So Hom


Trying hard macro shot


Yellow flowers


Riverside (left angle)


Riverside (right angle)


They also love stars (of course, it's in their flag)


Riverside (behind a railing)


Cac ban: BORAC VAOTHUNG (no idea what it says, and if I even got it right)


Waiting... and waiting...

Next: Dinner at Du Thuyen (the floating restaurant)

April 30: HCMC - Memories from Ed's (Camera's) Point of View

Photos by Ed Agbay.

April 30: Notre Dame Cathedral and the Post Office

Next stop: Notre Dame Cathedral

The Cathedral was closed, so we simply shot pics outside. This was basically a trip to visit Mon and a trip for a photoshoot, anyway. So off to use the camera!


Lady of Notre Dame and the Cathedral


The Cathedral


Mon


A street vendor who I think was not happy to have her photo taken


A bike, with a Vietnamese posing in the background


Next stop: Post Office


View from the Cathedral garden


With a Vietnamese and a tourist on the side ;)


Inside


That was a tiring moment to take pictures, a difficult attempt to use the camera right. I did not even notice that the exposure compensation was set to one or two steps brighter. I sometimes could not even frame a photograph properly. Bringing a totally new camera to a trip can be frustrating, but fun. Haha.