Phở the Second Time

Yoga again this morning. The numbers in the class have gradually diminished and we were only four today. An open class occupied the usual fourth floor room, so we took the session on the second floor, which was much closer to the traffic noise. I had to work that much harder at maintaining a quiet state of mind.

We covered a couple more of the 12 basic postures, called asana, which means 'without movement'. For an exercise that involves holding various postures, there was quite a bit of sweating.

We reprised last week's post-yoga breakfast at what we believe to be the best 'pho chay' place in Saigon. Again, it was a filling, flavoursome and healthy start to the day. I 'garnished' my bowl with a positively heroic quantity of Thai basil, but fewer of the sliced chillies that made last weekend's soup quite an experience.

After breakfast, we visited the HCMC Museum, which is housed in a very attractive French colonial building that served as the Governor's residence at that time. It was also Dinh Diem's residence for a brief time after the Indepence Palace was bombed, until his assassination.

The exhibitions are wide ranging and the accompanying English descriptions sometimes teased us, leaving out key details or making them ambiguous due to their poor translation. We were eager to know more. There were some interesting historical artefacts, but the text had a certain propagandistic tone to it.

Interesting were the photos and costumes and rituals of traditional Vietnamese, Khmer and Cham weddings. Other exhibits focus on the ongoing rise of Vietnam from a predominantly agriculture-based economy to a a provider of science and technology (highlighting the domestic launch of a satellite in 2008 as a critical achievement). It felt as though this were a message from the Politburo.

Investigating the rest of the slightly shabby, but no less magnificent, building, we found rooms dedicated to Vietnam's struggle for independence, first against the French and subsequently against the America's puppet government. Unlike the sombre exhibitions at the War Remnants Museum, the tone of these displays is rather more triumphalist. Aptly, the special exhibition showed the ongoing problems that Vietnam has in asserting sovereignty over the Paracel Islands (known as Hoàng Sa) and the Spratly Islands (Trường Sa), both of which are disputed by China and a number of other countries.

In total, the islands comprise less than 10 square miles of land (for comparison, the Isle of Wight is 148 square miles), but are strategically advantageous. Their history is complicated but it appears that the French laid claim to them as part of the Indochina colony. While the exhibition is at pains to show historical maps of China that did not depict the islands as part of their territory, other texts from as early as the 13th century contradict this. I suspect that as many of the islands are not habitable, determining ownership has not mattered until recently.

We stopped off on the way home at the cosy Café An Nam to while away the afternoon over some more silly blended drinks - this time a coconut ice cream with coffee and matcha tea with strawberry.

For dinner, we threw together the left-over tofu and bamboo shoots, vermicelli noodles and tomato into a clear soup. To go with rice, we simple fried some pak choi with garlic and the remaining mushrooms and aubergine with red chillies and a little soy sauce. The results were a little more pleasing than yesterday's efforts.