I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City at two in the morning and didn't see very much of the city during the swift transfer from the airport to my hostel. So when I woke up after a few hours of sleep, everything was new and exciting. I didn't understand any of the language anymore - there are no bits and pieces of English interwoven into Vietnamese, and next to no English signs or advertisements. The air smelled fragrant instead of smoggy, and people were wearing nón lá hats. In short, it finally felt like I had arrived in Asia!
Strolling through the popular Ben Thanh market, I came across a booth with a somewhat odd assortment of wares on offer: coffee, tea, nuts, some liquor, ... and Buddha statues. I felt oddly comforted by the smiling Buddhas and thought "wow, that booth sells everything that is good in life."
And then I got to thinking about Christianity and Buddhism, or more specifically about Jesus and Buddha. Have you ever noticed how different their expressions are? Jesus is always a picture of anguish and suffering, being nailed to a cross and everything. Buddha statues, in contrast, convey an image of smiling contentment. So I wondered - what mindset does it put you in if the idol of your religion, an image that you see every day, looks at you with an expression of pain and suffering? I think the mindset created by an idol that is smiling contentedly is vastly superior, healthier and more conducive to positive interactions with yourself and others. I might even go so far as to say that this could be an explanation for the differences between the way Christians and Buddhists treat other cultures and other nations, and how they have treated them in history - with fear and war, or with acceptance.
A little later, my wanderings took me to the gates of the Independence Palace. Originally, a wooden palace stood at this site. During the colonial time, it was rebuilt by the French to something grander, and then, after it had been damaged during the Vietnam war, it was rebuilt again with its current design.
The architecture is quite interesting because there are Chinese characters represented in many of its features. The layout of the entire building, for example, represents the character 'good luck'. The front of the building is designed so that you can see several characters, for example prosperity, intelligence, education, and free speech.
Inside, the palace has all the amenities you'd expect from the president's residence (and maybe even more): living quarters, banquet halls, bomb shelters, a movie theater, and a rooftop ballroom. The living quarters face an open courtyard with a beautifully designed feng shui garden:
Opulence was visible in pretty much every single room, but especially in the representative rooms that were used to receive foreign guests, such as this magnificent 'room of credentials':
Inside, the palace has all the amenities you'd expect from the president's residence (and maybe even more): living quarters, banquet halls, bomb shelters, a movie theater, and a rooftop ballroom. The living quarters face an open courtyard with a beautifully designed feng shui garden:
Opulence was visible in pretty much every single room, but especially in the representative rooms that were used to receive foreign guests, such as this magnificent 'room of credentials':
