There is a new cafe called Condom. Financed by the Medecins du Monde, it hands out condoms. Of course, new American cuisine is moving in as well. There is a Baskin and Robins ice-cream parlour on Tran Hung Dao Boulevard. Beware of the aggressive street vendors on Dong Khoi St. between the Continental and the Majestic Hotels .
Crime is in the rise in the streets of Saigon .
There are not only the usual stories of stolen cameras, shoes, walkmen, bags, and what else, but I also got word of a group of twenty elderly French tourists being robbed by a gang of about 25 boys just after they left the hotel for a daytrip. The police is obviously used to these kind of things. If you look around in some markets you will most likely be able to buy back your stolen goods. Only e- mail for the time being.