Vietnam - an interesting place to visit

Just returned from a holiday in Vietnam. It is interesting. The last time I was in Ho Chi Minh City was more than 15 years ago. There were lots of changes and there were also not much changes. Let's start with the changes. There are more cars and traffic is slowing to a crawl. There are contruction in lots of places. New offices, condos and landed homes are coming up. So the traditional "progress" is happening in HCM. What has not change? The shops and shop front looks the same. The merchandise however is now mainly pirated dvds, flat screen tvs, electronics gadgets. I notice more resturants international standards and airconditioned shops. Previously, the shops sells mostly hardware and basic necessities. There are fewer street hawkers selling pho, the Vietnamese beef noodle in fact, there are none at all. I remember on my last trip, there were mobile kitchen and the smell of aromatic beef pho is very tantalising and is now missing as we walk along the street. The street hawkers nowadays sell mainly fruits and freshly made Loveletters.
Another sign of economic progress is there are more motorbikes and scooters and less bicycles. In fact, bicycles are few and far in-between.