City life

When we first arrived, one of the sights from our van which struck us are the houses - many are very lean or thin. The width is commonly not more than 3m long, a result of some feudal law which taxed owners based on the width of their properties. The houses are also typically not more than 3 story high. An old house (landed property) can cost over usd1 million. Interestingly, the new freehold apartments are only around USD30,ooo.

On our first day, we asked the receptionist how far away was hoan kiem (sounds like "hong kim" or yellow gold in hokkien) lake. He said half an hour. It took us 2 hours of walking. I think there was a miscommunication; he probably thought we meant how far by vehicle...The bright side is, we recognised many landmarks after that and knew if the cabs were taking us in the right direction. The city seemed less alien, more familiar.
Lots of greenery, clean roads and clean loos. No McDonalds, no Starbucks, No Burger Kings. No Giordanos. No Watsons.