Day 5 in Ho Chi Minh City 胡志明市第五天

2024年4月27日，星期六，新加坡越南之旅第8天

April 27, 2024, Saturday, Day 8 of the Singapore-Vietnam trip

今天上午，我俩前往位于Bitexco金融大厦第49层的西贡光景台。Bitexco金融大厦是胡志明市的地标性建筑之一，高达262米，共68层，是越南最高的建筑之一。设计灵感来自于越南的国花-莲花盛放，大厦外观仿若娇媚的莲花花蕾，象征着越南民族的活力和期望。从大厦的光景台上，可以360度俯瞰胡志明市的壮观景色，整个城市尽收眼底。

This morning, we went to the Saigon Skydeck on the 49th floor of the Bitexco Financial Tower. The Bitexco Financial Tower is one of the landmark buildings in Ho Chi Minh City, standing 262 meters tall with 68 floors, making it one of the tallest buildings in Vietnam.

The design inspiration comes from Vietnam’s national flower – the blooming lotus. The tower’s exterior resembles a charming lotus bud, symbolizing the vitality and aspirations of the Vietnamese people. From the tower’s observation deck, we enjoyed a 360-degree panoramic view of Ho Chi Minh City’s spectacular scenery, with the entire city at our feet.

离开观景台后，乘坐Grab去了中国城。然而，这个地方并未达到我们的期望，我俩很快便决定离开。下午，我们回到酒店避暑休息，享受一段凉爽的时光。

After leaving the observation deck, we took a Grab to Chinatown. However, this place did not meet our expectations, and we quickly decided to leave. In the afternoon, we returned to the hotel to escape the heat and rest, enjoying a cool period of time.

无聊的叫做中国城的地方 – A boring place called Chinatown.

晚上7点半，PJG穿上了他能找到的最正式的服装——一件无花纹的半袖衬衫、一条蓝色短裤和一双带着世界各地污渍的运动鞋，搭配上白色的袜子。带着些许忐忑的心情，我俩到达了歌剧院。结果怎样呢？服装完全没问题！检票人员甚至没有多看一眼，而且我们发现大多数观众也没有穿得很正式。哈哈，在这座座无虚席、充满外国游客的剧院里，有一些人就穿着圆领衫、短裤和运动鞋。

歌剧院的内部装潢并不如我预期的那般豪华，且维护状况有待提高——内部整体显得有些旧和不够干净。这是我第一次观赏现场交响乐表演，体验还是非常美妙的。尽管我俩对演奏的曲目并不熟悉，莫扎特的A大调第5号小提琴协奏曲的表演仍让我们印象深刻。尤其是主小提琴演奏者，他整场演出未曾看谱，应该是完全依靠肌肉记忆，很厉害。

At 7:30 pm, PJG put on the most formal attire he could find – a plain short-sleeved shirt, blue shorts, and sneakers with stains from around the world, paired with white socks. With a bit of nervousness, we arrived at the opera house. And the result? The attire was completely fine! The ticket checker didn’t even give an extra glance, and we found that most of the audience members were not dressed very formally either. Haha, in this fully-packed theater filled with foreign tourists, some people were even wearing t-shirts, shorts, and sneakers.

The interior decor of the opera house was not as luxurious as I had anticipated, and the maintenance could be improved – the interior overall seemed a bit old and not clean enough. This was my first time watching a live symphony orchestra performance, and the experience was still wonderful. Although we were not familiar with the pieces being played, the performance of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major left a deep impression on us. Especially the lead violinist, who didn’t look at the score throughout the entire performance and must have relied entirely on muscle memory. Very impressive.

五天的越南之旅转瞬即逝，这段时间感觉异常短暂。如果未来有机会，应该规划一个月的时间来进行更深度的旅行，更深入地体验当地人的日常生活和探索更多的美食。

The five-day Vietnam trip passed in the blink of an eye, and this period felt exceptionally short. If there is an opportunity in the future, we’d like to plan a month-long trip here for a more in-depth experience, to delve deeper into the daily lives of the locals and explore more delicious food.