Six days, five nights in Ho Chi Mihn City (HCMC); I saw and experienced different lives.
Life away from friends and families. I spent one night talking to young Filipinos working in HCMC. The whole night kwentuhan was fun but there were instances when the tone of the conversation became serious. One of them sadly commented “Bakit ba tayo nandito at wala sa sarili nating bansa? Dahil ang gobyerno natin corrupt kaya walang trabaho sa atin! Di ba dapat nasa Pilipinas tayo kasi Pilipino tayo? Bakit tayo nandito?*” Maybe it’s really hate for our government or the effect of alcohol that made him say that.
Life in the street. They say, “ Ho Chi Minh City is a city of millions of motorbikes”, and they were not exaggerating! My Filipino friend Brian who’s working in HCMC said that when he first got there akala niya may mga nagra-rally na nakamotorbike. He didn’t know then that motorbikes were the major mode of transportation in HCMC. Good thing my Vietnamese friend Hien had a motorbike so I got the chance to go around the city on a motorbike. The sights and experience were different from riding in a bus or a car. You wouldn’t believe how many people or how big a thing they could put on those motorbikes. A Filipino friend said he saw a refrigerator being carried at the back of a small motorbike. I saw a family of four members riding one motorbike including an infant and no one was wearing a helmet. While the motorbikes were on stop, people smiled and cheerfully greeted their fellow stranger-commuters. I even saw two people carrying a casual conversation and I could sense they were courting while going around the city on two separate bikes! It was such a lively scene.
Life in Silence and Slow Motion. “We had all become victims of speed”, Professor Randy David once wrote. My first four days in HCMC was hectic, that was the result of signing up for a packaged tour. Good thing, my friend Hien invited me to stay longer so I was able to experience less frantic days in HCMC. The Mekong Delta tour and just going around the city on my friend’s motorbike gave me a chance to reflect and collect my thoughts, to be silent and to slow down. Corny as it may sound, I was able to reflect on the way I’m living my life in the Philippines while being away from it. Ah, I love traveling!
No comments:
Post a Comment