Vietnam
Just now I watched a Vietnam War movie Deer Hunter. It was highly rated at Imdb so I supposed that it was good. When I received the dvd, I got quite a shock from the fact that the running time of the movie is 183 minutes. That's 3 solid hours of cinema. The cast was strong with Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep and I got to see how young these veteran actors were back in 1978.
I had watched a couple of Vietnam War movies before, namely Apocalypse Now and We Were Soldiers. Basically Deer Hunter is more about the physical and psychological effects on the combatants who been through the war in Vietnam rather than the action itself. There isn't much action, especially compared to Mel Gibson's We Were Soldiers. However Deer Hunter delved more into emotional trauma the veterans faced which I felt more than made up for the lack of gunfighting and explosions.
I wasn't disappointed in the movie but there were some parts that I didn't really understand while watching it. For instance Robert De Niro's character Michael would break down for no apparent reason or just stared into space. I couldn't guess the message the scene was trying to bring across until reading the film forum on the internet. The movie was a little too deep for me and I would appreciate the movie better with more background infomation..
I had read up about the Vietnam War prior to my trip to Hanoi in April. United States drafted thousands of men and sent them into combat without much training. The new officers had no prior experience and made serious blunders as seen in We Were Soldiers. Many young men were driven by patriotism (like the ones in Deer Hunter) and volunteered to serve in the army in the early stages of Vietnam War. However as the war progressed and casualties mounted the nation turned against the war. There were unfavourable reports from both the media and veterans who been through their tours in Vietnam. Draft dodging became common and the government was under pressure to reduce and stop its involvement in the conflict.
The morale of the soldiers stationed in Vietnam was very down, even among the regulars. They never knew when or where the 'Charlies' were going to strike or whether the next step they took would be their last. Most of them just wanted to finish their tour quickly and go home. The unimagineable stress coupled with easy availability made drug use and alcohol abuse common. The family back home feared a visit by the cab with a telegram and an American flag. For the returning soldiers, they weren't the American heroes who kept the country safe from enemies but babies-killers with no humanity.
Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump was supposed to die in battle like his forefathers and was bitter that he survived without his legs. It must be heartbreaking to see able young men who returning from Vietnam physically wounded and mentally scarred. It was interesting to note that although the US Army didn't lose a single major battle in the conflict, it was clear that they couldn't win the war. Nixon abandoned the South Vietnam regime and started to pull the troops out of the country. The promised support in case of an attack from the north never arrived and the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975 signalled the end of the war.
Alright I guess you guys had enough of history lessons. As I mentioned earlier I went to Hanoi in April. The reason why I went was mainly because Tiger Airways was giving away free air tickets and we only need to pay the taxes. I was thinking where should I go and wanted to choose some place which I never been to before. Darwin was the furthest place Tiger Airways flies to but I think the visa application would too troublesome. My mom had visited Macau 2 years ago and there wasn't much to do there. Hanoi seemed quite interesting and neither of us visited there before.
We paid 90 sgd each for the return air tickets. Despite having no allocated seats and narrow seat pitches, the flight was a pleasant one. I did quite a lot of research on the net before going there and booked my hotels through the Asiarooms website. I'm not advertising for them but I feel that they are quite reliable and the rates are not too bad. We also decided to go on a 2d/1n tour to Halong Bay, an UNESCO heritage site. which cost us 39 usd each. We arrived at Hanoi in the evening and went to eat the famous Cha Ca opposite my hotel. As it was a weekend night there was a pasar malam outside my hotel and we spent an hour there after dinner. I noticed that many of the Vietnamese girls are quite pretty and it's no wonder many Singaporeans are getting Vietnam brides.
The next day we went to our Halong Bay tours. The other tour group members came from all around the world; there were Thais, Swiss, Canadian, Norwegian, etc. We were taken on a cruise around the Halong Bay area and visited the some of the caves to see limestone formation.
The highlight of the trip was canoeing around the some of the small islands. It was a great experience canoeing in such a beautiful place. We had to squeeze into a small cabin on the boat for the night and luckily both of us weren't fat.
I had watched a couple of Vietnam War movies before, namely Apocalypse Now and We Were Soldiers. Basically Deer Hunter is more about the physical and psychological effects on the combatants who been through the war in Vietnam rather than the action itself. There isn't much action, especially compared to Mel Gibson's We Were Soldiers. However Deer Hunter delved more into emotional trauma the veterans faced which I felt more than made up for the lack of gunfighting and explosions.
I wasn't disappointed in the movie but there were some parts that I didn't really understand while watching it. For instance Robert De Niro's character Michael would break down for no apparent reason or just stared into space. I couldn't guess the message the scene was trying to bring across until reading the film forum on the internet. The movie was a little too deep for me and I would appreciate the movie better with more background infomation..
I had read up about the Vietnam War prior to my trip to Hanoi in April. United States drafted thousands of men and sent them into combat without much training. The new officers had no prior experience and made serious blunders as seen in We Were Soldiers. Many young men were driven by patriotism (like the ones in Deer Hunter) and volunteered to serve in the army in the early stages of Vietnam War. However as the war progressed and casualties mounted the nation turned against the war. There were unfavourable reports from both the media and veterans who been through their tours in Vietnam. Draft dodging became common and the government was under pressure to reduce and stop its involvement in the conflict.
The morale of the soldiers stationed in Vietnam was very down, even among the regulars. They never knew when or where the 'Charlies' were going to strike or whether the next step they took would be their last. Most of them just wanted to finish their tour quickly and go home. The unimagineable stress coupled with easy availability made drug use and alcohol abuse common. The family back home feared a visit by the cab with a telegram and an American flag. For the returning soldiers, they weren't the American heroes who kept the country safe from enemies but babies-killers with no humanity.
Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump was supposed to die in battle like his forefathers and was bitter that he survived without his legs. It must be heartbreaking to see able young men who returning from Vietnam physically wounded and mentally scarred. It was interesting to note that although the US Army didn't lose a single major battle in the conflict, it was clear that they couldn't win the war. Nixon abandoned the South Vietnam regime and started to pull the troops out of the country. The promised support in case of an attack from the north never arrived and the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975 signalled the end of the war.
Alright I guess you guys had enough of history lessons. As I mentioned earlier I went to Hanoi in April. The reason why I went was mainly because Tiger Airways was giving away free air tickets and we only need to pay the taxes. I was thinking where should I go and wanted to choose some place which I never been to before. Darwin was the furthest place Tiger Airways flies to but I think the visa application would too troublesome. My mom had visited Macau 2 years ago and there wasn't much to do there. Hanoi seemed quite interesting and neither of us visited there before.
We paid 90 sgd each for the return air tickets. Despite having no allocated seats and narrow seat pitches, the flight was a pleasant one. I did quite a lot of research on the net before going there and booked my hotels through the Asiarooms website. I'm not advertising for them but I feel that they are quite reliable and the rates are not too bad. We also decided to go on a 2d/1n tour to Halong Bay, an UNESCO heritage site. which cost us 39 usd each. We arrived at Hanoi in the evening and went to eat the famous Cha Ca opposite my hotel. As it was a weekend night there was a pasar malam outside my hotel and we spent an hour there after dinner. I noticed that many of the Vietnamese girls are quite pretty and it's no wonder many Singaporeans are getting Vietnam brides.
The next day we went to our Halong Bay tours. The other tour group members came from all around the world; there were Thais, Swiss, Canadian, Norwegian, etc. We were taken on a cruise around the Halong Bay area and visited the some of the caves to see limestone formation.
The highlight of the trip was canoeing around the some of the small islands. It was a great experience canoeing in such a beautiful place. We had to squeeze into a small cabin on the boat for the night and luckily both of us weren't fat.
Halong Bay
We returned to Hanoi late in the afternoon the next day. After dinner we went to walk around the streets and my mom bought herself an ao dai (traditional Vietnamese costume) for 35 sgd. I knew that she was not going to wear it out but she still bought it to keep as memento. No trip to Hanoi was completed without going to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum to visit the man himself so we went there early next morning. We had to queue up with other Vietnamese to take a look at him sleeping in a glass coffin. A strange thought entered my mind there; is it possible that they make a wax figure and hoax us all? Well I guess I will never find out. We spent the rest of the time walking around Old Quarters and also visited the Dong Xuan Market before catching our flight back in the evening. In all we spent 800 sgd over 4 days, everything inclusive.
Me in front of Mausoleum
There isn't much of the war relic left behind in Hanoi and even the famous Hanoi Hilton was partially demolished to accomodate an office tower built by Singaporeans. The streets are filled with motorcycles and young people full of energy. Officially still an Communist nation, Vietnam's economy was more of a case of signalling left and turning right. Despite all the capitalism, the prices there are still cheap and I think that Vietnam can be an ideal short-haul holiday option for Singaporeans.
I have to thank those who are reading for bearing with such a long post. I know that the initial part doesn't seem to link up with the later part and I apologize for that. But no one forces you to read too...
I have to thank those who are reading for bearing with such a long post. I know that the initial part doesn't seem to link up with the later part and I apologize for that. But no one forces you to read too...
posted by shyh jie at 11:56 PM
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