Spent my New Year weekend in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam playing in Saigon Ultimate's annual NY Hat. Pretty small, laid-back tournament, which was a nice change from the usually more competitive ones around the region. It was my first time to visit a country that was behind the Philippines in a lot of aspects, which made the experience all the more interesting. There are still a lot of areas in Metro Manila that resemble HCM as whole, such as the small streets, the shanties along the river and the pollution. But the most striking feature to me (and maybe to a lot of other visitors) was the abundance of motorbikes (locally called si-ob) everywhere. I think every resident of the city owned one as cars seem to still be an unattainable luxury. Merely crossing the street is a stunt for Fear Factor as it's a free-for-all zone for both bikers and pedestrians alike. I was a little unnerved in my first few hours walking around the city (yes, Singapore has spoiled me so much!) but soon my Metro Manila-jaywalking skills came back full force and I was able to weave in and out of the 2-wheeled herd with all limbs intact. This shot was taken from some 'carinderia' me and my friends ate at near the corner of Ngu Lao St., in District 1.