Saigon... I have been blown away by this City

Saigon was nothing I expected.  When you think of People's Socialist Republic of Vietnam, you immediately think of strict green uniforms and black pajamas: okay I have an antiquated vision.  This modern Western-like Capitalist City is far from the rice-village image many hold of South East Asia.
Don't get me wrong it's not like any Canadian City, (well maybe Yorkton, Saskatchewan) but it is far from third world.  The city has an energy all its own, and has so completely embraced capitalism I have to remind myself it remains a communist stronghold.

Saigon Stuff:
1.  When in unknown mixed company, don't ask a waiter with the nametag  "Phrouck" how to pronounce it.

2.  Kentucky Fried Chicken in Vietnam has now turned into Kentucky Fried Pork and Kentucky Fried Fish (Asian bird flu = no chicken anywhere), except that *&^%$’er that was crowing outside my window in Phnom Penh, can't the Colonel fry him?

3. Scooters are prolific and multiply like Rabbits here in Saigon.

4. Cyclo (pedal rickshaw things) drivers don't really care for you as much as they portray.  Although they want to know your name and the place where you came from: It's just to show you they know Ottaihwa is the capital of Canata. One more technique to charm you out of some Dong.

5. Visiting the War Remnants Museum (formerly known as the American War crimes Museum, even the Comrades know political correctness these days) was a test of human spirit.  They painted an image of the American War that will make any Westerner ashamed. An army so technologically advanced that bombed ruthlessly and without conscience, used Agent Orange that has left a generation of children troubled with mutations and sickness, allegedly tortured indiscriminatingly... too many examples of humanity gone wrong in one place.  Although equally frustrating was the angelic version of the Vietcong they painted.  The truth is in the mix, and the truth, wherever it settles, is not pretty.

6. Went to Ci-Chu Tunnels, an existing network of VC underground labyrinths that showed how an army that was under funded, under-armed, with virtually no technology, was able to  terrorize the strongest army in the world. Ingenious and remarkable, amazing people with a will to survive and protect their homeland. However misguided or appropriately guided.

 7. I've had enough documentation of the dark side of humans to last a lifetime... won't visit there again on my updates.

8. I withdrew a cool 2 million from the atm machine this morning, but was brought back to reality when my breakfast cost me 55,000 -  Dong that is, Vietnamese currency.  2 million is about $150 US.