I like to start off the New Year with a little bird watching. Not a chance today--Tao Dan Park was totally transformed. For a start, I had to pay 20,000d to get in--but it was so packed full of stuff it was worth it.
One attraction was a butterfly house. In usual Vietnamese style, it was a piece of crap with no regard for the animals. With hardly any flowers or habitat, the butterflies all crowded against the mesh, many dead and mutilated by human hands.
Still, some of them were very cool to see, like the huge cecropia-types and a luna moth. There was a beautiful dead one I've seen in collections.
Soon, a very lucky bird broke in to wreak some havoc.
I'll stop typing for a while. Here's some orchids.
And some very convincing clay flowers:
Bonsai trees were less popular but really neat, especially the bonsai fruit trees.
There was also a neat impromptu aquarium:
The fish are most likely for sale. They included some very odd goldfish, a spotted ray, some kind of crocodile-looking fish, arowanas, sea turtles (which are supposed to be protected, but here you never know) and schools of neon tetras.
Lots of kids performing for a handful of parents:
Here's a photo of Richard Gear trying to have some banh xeo in peace:
A brand new dragon topiary. Don't look behind you!
The incredible, edible dragons:
And for the kids, a small portable amusement park.
This ride is a disaster waiting to happen.
What kid wouldn't want to jump into a giant robot and blow stuff up?
Hopefully not a portent--after only an hour in the park the cat's tail popped off. Time to go and light lots of incense and drink chicken blood.
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