More Reasons to Celebrate

One thing that happened on April 30 was that Vietnam celebrated 35 years of Independence and Communism. Another thing that happened was that a big, shiny shopping centre opened right in the heart of downtown Saigon. The new Vincom Centre is a 27 storey building with 8 levels of shopping and entertainment. We, along with hoardes of others, took a look around on Friday night. Not many shops are open yet, so there was just a lot of people wandering and gawking, and taking photos of themselves next to supersized posters of the brands yet to come, such as Jimmy Choo, Armani and Versace.

Although buildings are going sky high all around central Saigon, there aren't any towers in the immediate vicinity of Vincom, so it looms large from all angles. There is a long thin digital screen in the centre of the building, it must be dozens of storey's high. Pity those residents of the old apartment blocks across the road, who will have millions of pixels bouncing around their living rooms every evening from now on. Though the way things are going, they won't be there for too much longer.


So, what to do tomorrow, International Labour Day, also a holiday in Vietnam?  Maybe I'll go shopping.