THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

On Friday 27 Sep 2013, students embarking on our school's two Trips for International Experience (TIE), one to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and the other to Kunming, China, gathered for their pre-trip team-bonding and administration session.

A teacher covering pointers applicable to both TIE

The students had gathered in our Multi-Purpose Hall (MPH). 

Participants listening attentively to the briefing

No, our students did not have to sit for a test. They were occupying chairs that were laid-out in preparation for the Primary Six Leaving Examinations (PSLE).

One of the getting-to-know-you activities involved self-introductions and remembering something about one's team-mates.

Another teacher introducing the Getting-To-Know-You activity

Participants busily preparing their cue-cards for the activity

Part of the administrative tasks included the trying out and recording of participants' sizes for the trip-specific T-shirts.

     

Then it was down to the "serious" team-bonding activities among teacher and student-participants.

Teachers and their student-group members learning more about each other and about themselves.

Photos courtesy of Mrs Corrine Koh

HO CHI MINH CITY

Ho Chi Minh City (Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh), formerly known as Saigon (Sài Gòn), is the largest city in Vietnam. It was the capital of the French colony of Cochinchina and later of the independent Republic of South Vietnam from 1955–75. South Vietnam, as an anti-communist, capitalist republic, fought against the communist North Vietnamese and Viet Cong during the Vietnam War, with aid from the United States of America and countries including Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. Saigon fell when it was captured by the communists on 30 April 1975, ending the war with a Communist victory. Vietnam was then turned into a communist state with the South overtaken. On 2 July 1976, Saigon merged with the surrounding Gia Định Province and was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City after Hồ Chí Minh (although the name Sài Gòn is still commonly used).

Ho Chi Minh City has gone by several different names during its history, reflecting settlement by different ethnic, cultural and political groups. In the 1690s, Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh, a Vietnamese noble, was sent by the Nguyễn rulers of Huế to establish Vietnamese administrative structures in the Mekong Delta and its surroundings. Control of the city and the area passed to the Vietnamese, who gave the city the official name of Gia Định (嘉定). This name remained until the time of the French conquest in the 1860s, when the occupying force adopted the name Saigon for the city, a westernized form of the traditional name, although the city was still indicated as 嘉 定 on Vietnamese maps written in Chữ Hán until at least 1891. Immediately after the communist takeover of South Vietnam in 1975, a provisional government renamed the city after Hồ Chí Minh, the late North Vietnamese leader. Even today, however, the informal name of Sài Gòn remains in daily speech both domestically and internationally, especially among the Vietnamese diaspora. In particular, Sài Gòn is still commonly used to refer to District 1.

Citizens of Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Laos holding valid ordinary passports are allowed to stay for not more than 30 days without visa; those of Philippines will get 21 days.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh_City and http://wikitravel.org/en/Ho_Chi_Minh_City

PLACES OF INTEREST

The places of interest in HCMC that we would be passing-by or stopping-over for a short while, include the following:

Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, known asVương cung thánh đường Đức Bà Sài Gòn or Nhà thờ Đức Bà Sài Gòn in Vietnamese or Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Saïgon) in French, is officially called the Basilica of Our Lady of The Immaculate Conception. It is a cathedral located in downtown HCMC and constructed by French colonists between 1863 and 1880. It has two bell towers, reaching a height of 58 meters (190 feet). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saigon_Notre-Dame_Basilica Saigon Central Post Office, known as Bưu điện Trung tâm Sài Gòn in Vietnamese or Poste centrale de Saïgon in French, is in downtown HCMC near Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, the city's main church. The building was constructed when Vietnam was part of French Indochina in the early 20th Century. In a neoclassical architectural style, it was designed and constructed by famous architect Gustave Eiffel in harmony with the surrounding area. Today, the building is a tourist attraction. Inside the Saigon Central Post office of special note are two painted maps that were created just after the post office was first built; the first one located on the left side of the building is a map of Southern Vietnam and Cambodia titled ‘Lignes telegraphiques du Sud Vietnam et Cambodge 1892′ which translates to ‘Telegraphic lines of Southern Vietnam and Cambodia 1892” The second map of greater Saigon is titled ‘Saigon et ses environs 1892′ translating to ‘Saigon and its environment 1892′   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saigon_Central_Post_Office Reunification Palace, known as Dinh Thống Nhất in Vietnamese, was known as Independence Palace (Dinh Độc Lập) and built on the site of the former Norodom Palace. Designed by architect Ngô Viết Thụ, it is a landmark in HCMC was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was the site of the end of the Vietnam War during the Fall of Saigon on 30 Apr 1975, when a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reunification_Palace The War Remnants Museum, known as Bảo tàng chứng tích chiến tranh in Vietnamese, is a located in HCMC’s District 3 and contains exhibits relating to the American phase of the Vietnam War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Remnants_Museum

WATER PUPPETS

We will have the opportunity to watch water puppetry, known as Múa rối nước in Vietnamese, which literally means "puppets that dance on water." 

It is a tradition that dates back as far as the 11th Century when it originated in the villages of the Red River Delta area of northern Vietnam. Today's Vietnamese water puppetry is a unique variation on the ancient Asian puppet tradition. 

The puppets are made out of wood and then lacquered. The shows are performed in a waist-deep pool. A large rod supports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers, who are normally hidden behind a screen, to control them. Thus the puppets appear to be moving over the water. When the rice fields would flood, the villagers would entertain each other using this form of puppet play.

Water puppet show in HCMC 

http://goseasia.about.com/od/hochiminhcityvietnam/tp/things-to-do-in-saigon-vietnam.htm

RICE-PAPER MAKING

We will be visiting a workshop making rice-paper in typical Vietnamese fashion. This edible “paper” is called 'banh trang' or 'bánh đa nem' in Vietnamese. Ingredients that go into the rice-paper include white rice flour, tapioca flour, salt and water. The tapioca powder makes the rice-paper glutinous and smooth.

http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2001    

 It is usually sold dried in thin, crisp, translucent round sheets.

http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2001       

The sheets are dipped briefly in hot water to soften them, then wrapped around savory or sweet ingredients.      

http://www.timeoutsingapore.com/restaurants/vietnamese/caphe-east

CỦ CHI TUNNELS

We will be visiting the tunnels at Củ Chi, a suburban district of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cu_Chi_tunnels  

http://www.vietnamwiki.net/Ho_Chi_Minh-S 

The immense network of connecting underground tunnels at Củ Chi are part of a much larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country. The Củ Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War, and were the Viet Cong's base of operations for the Tết Offensive in 1968. The tunnels were used by Viet Cong soldiers as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous North Vietnamese fighters. The tunnel systems were of great importance to the Viet Cong in their resistance to American forces, and helped achieve ultimate military success.