"WHEN NIGHT FALLS + SOCIAL REALTIONSHIPS IN HCMC (Part 2)". In Treatment [TH]

HCMC Lighting02. (Montse).

At last the suffocating heat and the rubbish and food waste, that the street sweepers rush to take away, disappear. The city centre is illuminated by countless neon lights, decorations and garlands that hang from trees simulating a tropical Christmas at 30º. Little by little you begin to appreciate the smell of humidity and a floral freshness that is overwhelmed by asphalt, food and sweat during the day.

HCMC Lighting03. (Montse).

After 6 in the evening, when the sun is completely set, the terraces of restaurants, barbeques or ice cream parlours are full of people. A large group of young people from Saigon take over the gardens that surround the Opera building and the public parks of the city, and the tourists wander around the streets undecided about which restaurant to choose or which souvenir to buy.

HCMC Terrace 04. (Montse).

These night-time hours allow you to combine the workday with the most social facet, so it’s not surprising that, also thanks to prices that are frankly low, you can go out every night for dinner and drinks,  taking you back to a feeling of youthful summers and perpetual August.

SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS IN HCMC (Second Part). (Sergio Diez-Cascón Soler).

Travel to Malaysia commemorative T-shirt. (Sergio).

Among the group of Spaniards established in HCMC (Ho Chi Minh City) a significant percentage are architects, surveyors or professionals dedicated to construction. A few of us work in Spanish architectural studios that have set up offices in Vietnam. Others work for foreign companies (French, Dutch…) with greater international presence. We all have similar feelings and especially moments of helplessness caused by communication problems.

Eating in Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown. (Sergio).

All of us, along with the rest of the expatriates (pilots, business people, etc..) go on excursions around the country and abroad. The trip that stands out the most was the one we took to Malaysia. We enjoyed seeing the Petronas Tower in Kuala Lumpur, but we really enjoyed the motorcycle GP that is held there. In the grandstand, we were able to talk to Toni Elías, Pol Espargaró, Fonsi Nieto…  and celebrate the world championships of Jorge Lorenzo and Toni Elías. It was great to see more than 30 Spaniards who had come from Vietnam to celebrate the Spanish victories.

Petronas Towers. (Sergio).

There was also a tourist part of the trip. Going up the twin towers, eating in the city’s Chinatown, seeing mosques and above all….. bars. Our hotel was a mere 150 m from the liveliest area of Kuala Lumpur, so we enjoyed the nightlife to the fullest.

That last thing to point out is that Kuala Lumpur is almost nothing like Ho Chi Minh.  The economic power of the two countries is very different, and the westernisation and urban development of the Malay capital gives it several advantages over the Vietnamese city.

TO BE CONTINUED... NEXT WEEK MORE!! > "THE FREELANCE PROFESSIONAL + KNOWING THE ASIAN CULTURE"

IN TREATMENT - METALOCUS.

DIRECTOR: JOSÉ JUAN BARBA. COORDINATION: INÉS LALUETA. ORGANIZATION: INÉS LALUETA, PEDRO NAVARRO. ENGLISH VERSION: KAREN SIMPSON. GUESTS FIRST SEASON: JOSÉ JUAN BARBA, MARINA DIEZ-CASCÓN, SERGIO DIEZ-CASCÓN SOLER, LARA FERNÁNDEZ GONZÁLEZ, CARLOS GERHARD PI-SUÑER, MONTSE PLA GARCÍA-CASTANY, XAVIER NICOLAU CUYÀS, FERNANDO RIAL PONCE, VERÓNICA ROSERO.