HCM Day 5

The final day in the city started with us doing some packing and placing the things beside the bags that it should go into. Breakfast was still the same toast and eggs. After breakfast, we went to grab few can of beers that is to be use as souvenir. On the way back to our hotel, we went into a shop selling clothing's and the pricing was reasonable, so we each grabbed a similar matching shorts, at least we get an item which is fairly priced rather than carrying back a currency which we don't know when we will use it again. Back to the bag shop, we grabbed a bag that we fancy knowing that back home, it would cost at least twice the price we paid for.

We did  our final packing and waited for the taxi which the hotel had helped us to arrange and paid for. This taxi is called Saigon Air and is not the same company as the Green Toyota Innova. When we arrive at the airport, the taxi driver actually ask for tips from me! Tips has always been given willingly and out of courtesy rather than being asked.

The Q for checking in was super long as a huge group of people from the Malaysia Karate team was also doing their group check in. Not trying to be racist but i notice that the group was mainly and largely made up of the darker skin tone when i had always thought that Karate had the participation of the 3 main etnic group in Malaysia. We waited almost half an hour before seeing that we could go to the other counter where the team wasn't in Q, as all of us thought that we had to wait behind them. Maybe next time for those who have check in, please stand and wait elsewhere as people would think that you are also waiting to check-in and drop the luggage. Our return luggage was far below the allowance that we had purchase as many items that was planned didn't materialize.

In the boarding area, we saw the group of 4 girls again as they was taking the same flight as us. They was transiting in KL before taking the connecting flight back to Sabah the same night.

Some information:
Hotel: Luan Vu Hotel
Trips: Cao Dai & Cu Chi Tunnel; Mekong Delta
Must visit places: City Hall; Notre Dame Cathedral Saigon; Post office; Reunification Palace; War Museum; Ben Thanh market

HCM Day 4

Good Friday marks our fourth day in Saigon. Today has been planned as Free and Easy where we plan to roam the nearby landmarks at our own pace. The day started with heavier breakfast as we need the energy to walk the city.

After crossing many 'mountain' and the many challenging roads under the hot sun, we went into a 7-11 just to enjoy some air-con while at the same time, look for items that perhaps we could bring back to Malaysia. On a side note, i think 7-11 in Malaysia should just have more choices and be more well stocked with choices. They should have the required funds since they have recently been listed as such high PE. As we walk along the road and asking for directions from the Army, we reached the first destination, City Hall. There wasn't much of a crowd so we manage to take several clean shots of the scenery from various angles using the 3rd party. We continued along the road and came to Parkson, and decided to see what they have and how different are their shopping malls with the malls we have down south.

We then continue walking along, and followed people to walk down a street, and it brought us to the Notre Dame cathedral Saigon. We manage to take some self shots with the 3rd party, but unfortunately could go into the pews area as they was close after 11am til afternoon. We cross the road to the Post office which is also a landmark in the city. It was filled with people that are buying souvenir and writing post cards to their friends around the world. We selected 3 different postcards to be send back to Malaysia. One was for my Sister, sending to my hometown; One is for xiao hui (whom never receive it due to missing Taman, area) and we send one to ourselves as it was something unique since only by postage we could get the stamp chopped. After posting the post cards, where the rate is standard base on the region of the country, for example, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand would all be classified as South East Asia and use the same amount of stamp.

We continue our journey to the Reunification Palace, which we only took photo from the outside as it was closed for lunch and there isn't much to see and do inside apart from the garden compound. We wanted to find a restaurant that i saw when the bus passed through one of the street near the War  Museum, but we didn't see it when we walk the 4 row of streets. There is few high-end restaurant around that area, and it was way beyond our budget, so we decided to have late lunch after visiting the War Museum when it opens as 1.30pm (they are close for lunch). As we was waiting for it to reopen, some uncle approach us and tried to sell us coconut for 30,000 dong, but we didn't want as it's more expensive than we have had the past days in the restaurant, therefore under the hot sun and street walk, it should cost lesser. As we walk away, he say we can have it for 20,000 dong (or less than RM4) and proceed to cut it for us. I guess he also wanted to rest awhile therefore letting us have it at a reduced price.

When the gates for War Museum is open, we was among the first to pay the entrance fee. The gate is wide open, and the ticket counter is to the left of the gate, nobody even check the ticket and i believe there are people that would just visit without purchasing a ticket. One of the display we took selfie is with a helicopter as there still wasn't a crowd during the first 10 minutes or so. The interesting area of the War museum is on the second and third floor. It's heartbreaking to see what the Americans have done, and it's really a good place to share and document it as part of history without getting the facts twist and turn where it's happening in some countries. The history and textbook that is used in schools are just stories that is to their advantage, but the wrongdoings are covered up and turn into fiction. The next area we walk pass is the rebuild torture chamber, it's basically like prison cells.

As we are exhausted and tired from walking the many streets, we decided to just take a taxi back to our hotel. We opted for the Green Toyota Innova taxi where it runs by the meter. Isn't it sad that in countries like Thailand and Vietnam, they use Toyota Altis and Toyota Innova as normal (budget) taxi, whereas in bolehland, those are considered luxury car, even for taxi it's considered luxury taxi and price at a premium (dark blue).

While walking back to the hotel, we saw that a restaurant still had many customer and decided to eat there, the food was just normal and we finish it very quickly as we was very hungry. Along the streets in restaurant, there would be people who come around selling items or provided service. One of it that we saw is a boy that helps to mend or polish shoes. According to an expatriate who was at the next table, he said that they will ask you if you want them to mend or polish your shoe, and when they try to get near your shoe, you must be quick as they might ripe it off to make it broken then they will really fix it (of course, you will have to pay).

We rested awhile before going to Ben Thanh market as it's our last night in the city. The market was having their evening crowd and i notice that when there are westerners, they will rarely attend to the Asian, perhaps due to the fairer people having better purchasing power. There was some items that we wanted to buy, but most of the stores open at very high price, some are willing to give discount and negotiate the price downwards, while there was stores that call us crazy, some say we ask and don't buy. We was interesting in printed art pieces (single piece or set of 4). The general opening price is between 400k to 750k dong depending on the design and size. There was a set of 4 that offered us 700k dong and manage to get the price down to 320k dong, but in the end we didn't buy. We asked a few stores, which we was called crazy because they open the price at 850k and we only offer them 300k as our opening offer. You will see many different characters at the market, don't take to heart what they say, if you don't like their attitude, just walk away. There was also a clothing store which is situated near the exit, i ask for the price and cut it into half the price, and i got said i was crazy, but i felt it was just right (using the fixed price store as benchmark and after surveying other stores) as he ask me for my price anyway. There is an area where the price is fixed, therefore we use those as benchmark against the other stores. Some of the items there are reasonable as their price is lower or similar to those outside the market or at other areas in the city. I felt that shopping there isn't as comforting and happy as when you shop in Bangkok's Chatuchak market. The people at Chatuchak is much more friendly and is willing to negotiate the price, also i feel that inflation or cost of living is much higher. Fed up with the service in Ben Thanh market, we headed to the stores around that area. We manage to buy one pair of shoes each within a reasonable price, although not as low as the price i had in mind.

We went back to the massage shop in the allay that we saw yesterday. Today it wasn't as packed perhaps it was still early and people was having their dinner or just got back from trips. I opted for Foot Massage (50k dong), which my gf did Manicure (50k dong) and Pedicure (50k dong) including nail polish for fingers and toes (40k). Seeing that the haircut was also cheap (50k dong) and i also needed one soon, so might as well just cut my hair too with the balance of dong that we have changed. We went back to the hotel to wash up before dinner.

The final night dinner was at a better restaurant where we was given a table facing the street. We had all prawn seafood dinner, which consist of Coconut soup steam with prawn in the coconut shell (the soup is made from coconut juice), second dish was starch base with prawn, and third dish was mini pancakes with prawn on top. The dinner was overall satisfactory at the price we paid.

We shopped in a few art shop and the opening price was around US$30 to US$50 for the paintings that we ask about. I later found out when back in Malaysia that the retail value in Kuala Lumpur is anything RM250-300 and above, which the retailer said they have source from Vietnam, Thailand or Indonesia. We was attracted to a bag outlet which was located just outside the hotel, where they was having sale for some of their bag. We decided to just KIV first pending the final calculation of how much dong we are left with. We didn't want to bring much back as the exchange rate for dong is pretty weak and the spread is wide.

HCM Day 3

The third day holds our second trip venturing out of Saigon city, to Mekong Delta. Our day started with breakfast at the lobby and it was full house, thus they open another table for us (the small wooden table that we usually see during outings). The choice of food was still the same as previous days, the standard toast bread or noodles. There was this waiter, whom my gf feel act like a 5 star hotel waiter with his politeness and overall, quite funny as well. After finishing the breakfast, we waited awhile for the tour guide, and as usual they would go to the hotels along the street to round people who have sign up for their tour package.

In the bus, we saw the 4 Malaysian lady and the solo guy from Malaysia (whom is a Filipino) who joined yesterday’s Chu chi Tunnel trip. They had made similar arrangements as us. The bus ride didn't take very long before we stopped briefly for a toilet break. While there, we saw that the shop was selling the Vietnamise coffee strainer (bought for sovienier). After an hour or so, we finally reached the jetty where we had to board a boat and it took us on the lake cruise.

First stop is the honey factory, where they let you try the fresh honey and Royal Jelly. I had planned to buy, but it was too expensive (as i felt other outlets in the city would be cheaper). After the 'honey tasting', we was urshered to the canal, where we had a 'Gondola Ride' in groups of 4 person along the stream before ending it at another jetty where we board back the boat. The Gondola ride was slow and allow you to take picture and enjoying the hot sun. It is really hardwork for those aunties who roll the boat, but i guess that is a way of life for them.

We then had to transfer boat in the middle of the lake due to the depth of the lake being too shallow for the first boat that we came by. We was transfered into smaller boat and went on yet another Gondola ride (but this is motorised) and ended at the Coconut candy factory. We was shown the candy making process from the start till how it's packed. It was fragrant and i felt that it would make a good item for sharing with the people in the office, as there is quantity to it. I bought 6 packed for around RM28 (buy 5 free 1).

Next station was finally lunch. It has been set and is included in the tour package, except if additional dishes is ordered. Since it's paid for, we couldn't expect too much, and to our surprise it was really small. The rice was barely few spoonful, the soup was a small bowl and the main dish was little, there was only 2 slice of pork and the tofu was barely few pieces (Pork and Tofu is 2 different set). They would prefer that you add additional dish so that they could earn extra on top of what has been ordered by the tour guide.

The next station after lunch is the most ridiculous thing ever. It was a visit to the tropical fruit (farm??). Nope, it was more like give you few slices of fruits, sing few lines of song, and put a basket on the table and ask for contribution. Among the group, there wasn't many people who contributed as we felt they didn't do much. If they was to sell tropical fruits, it would have been much better.

The return trip to the city took another 2 hours or so, and it dropped us back at the backpacker area once again. We rested awhile, freshen up and went for dinner.

We had dinner at 'Hoa Don Thanh Toan', where we had fried spring roll, 1 seafood (prawn and squid), 1 clay pot pork together with rice. After the dinner, we decided to roam around and explore the other street while looking for massage shop. There was a lot of shops having their promotion and of course we look for those that have many customers so we can be quite sure it's clean. We found one shop in an ally which had many customer and price was very 'reasonable' or should i say 'cheap'. From the many pamphlets that we was given, most places are charging around 100,000 dong (or around RM18) for foot massage. But since there was so many people, we just bookmarked the place and went on scrolling the street. We stopped by a cake shop where they had cute tiny birthday cakes. I think the tiny 4 inch cake cost us about 38,000 dong (less than RM10), now you feel the inflationary pressure, it's not much cheaper than Malaysia or Singapore. We ate the cake when the clock strike twelve, marking Good Friday and my birthday.

HCM Day 2

The second day began with breakfast at the hotel which gave us a choice of Noodles soup (which is actually instant noodles with tomato and egg) or Bread and egg, paired with Coffee, Tea, or juice. This was the first breakfast during our stay, so it's still 'new' for us. There was others who have been staying there, they opted for the standard break and egg. The bread is freeflow as you toast it at the mini bar using the Elba and Electrolux toaster that is provided. IMHO the bread that is toasted by the Electrolux taste much better and had a cruncher texture.

The first full day trip we booked is to Ch Chi Tunnel and Cao Dai Temple. The tour guide rounded people from hotel to hotel, just like shaperd rounding their sheeps along the street. Of course, it's for people who have pre-booked with them. There was people of all nationalities coming from different parts of the world. Initially we thought it was like all westerners as we was the only Asian among the group until we saw  4 Asian lady in the bus and we guess there are from Malaysia. There was 3 ladies that was dress like punk and my girlfriend called them 'Hot and spicy'. The bus trip from the city to Cao Dai took like forever. We stopped half way at a restaurant for their rest room, something similar to Yong Peng rest stop when you take express buses down south from Kuala Lumpur to Johor or Singapore. There we saw 3 big buses that came in from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The bus says it has Wifi on board, have it gotten so advance that they could do wireless on the go. As the journey continoued on, we was required by the tour guide to provide our name and nationality, more like in the banks where you do "KYC- Know Your Customer". We decided to state Singaporean as you can't tell Chinese Malaysian and Singaporean (except the kiasu-ness, kiasi-ness, and the list goes on). Like earlier stated, the bus trip took like forever, since we departed at 8am, we finally reached the temple around 11am. Almost 3 hour in the bus, really can reach Ipoh or Johor if in Malaysia.
The sun is just damn happening, that it decide to shine brightly and warm up the land, it was so hot that i felt i could just faint anytime soon. Bright sun always contributes to good photos (except when it's behind you).

Instead of getting people to take photo for us, we decided to bring out the "3rd party" as it gave us more control over the angle of the photo. We took quite alot of photo around the temple as it took a long way to get there. The best thing that one could hope for is to finally fill the tummy. We was so hungry that we ordered 1 pork and 1 fried chicken wit rice and a coconut due to the hot sun and refreshing effect that it would bring.

After the lunch, it took like another forever to get to the Tunnel. It's a good thing that it has became cooler compared to earlier of the day. After the tickets has been claimed, the tour guide brought us around the 'park'. The first stop was screening of a short documentary about how Vietnam won the war. After the documentary, there was some explaination given base on a 3D model of how the actual tunnel is like, which it consist of 3 layers. We was next shown and was given a chance to try a real tunne. It was so small and could only fit a slim person. I didn't jump in as it was tiny and people was watching. We did manage to take photo standing in the tunnel.

There was also a 150 meters tunnel that we could walk through, but the oxygen level was kinda low and hard to breath, on top of the dust in the tunnel that we climb back up to surface at the second exit. According to the tour guide, there is 6 exits to the surface build along the path. There was also rifle firing range, but the cost was kinda high and am not a keen fan of firearms. After the tour, it was a long way back to Saigon city once again.

It was almost 7pm when we reach back to the city. The bus dropped us at the backpacker area and we walk back to our hotel. There was still a lot of motorcycles zooming around, but we are getting used to it and manage to cross the street without much trouble. We freshen up before heading out for dinner, which we decided to venture further down the street for food. We had dinner at Dung cafe which also had a wide range of selection for food.

We order 1 grill pork and 1 seafood (prawn and squid) dish with rice and 1 bottle of Saigon Beer. The prawn looked fresh and nice but the portion was small. The local beer is quite cheap if compare with Malaysia (due to the sin tax). Back along the street, as the time is much later than the first night, we could start to see more sexily clad girls and transgender at the bars. There is many articles covering the subject of working girls at tourist district, it's a norm for cities where tourism is one of their main economic activity.

HCM Day 1

We departed very early from the house as we took the skybus from One Utama. This was our last time flying out from LCCT as it would soon be moving to the new hub of KLIA2.
We had to do self tagging for the check in luggage. As we was waiting in line to drop our luggages and get the documents checked, we saw that the next counter was close but it's weighting machine function was activated, so we decided to get our check in luggages weighted before we reach our turn. to our surprise, the luggage was overweight by about 5-6kg. We quickily went aside and open one of the luggage to transfer some of the items to our carry on which was relatively empty. After the luggage was dropped, we pop by McD to have our 'big' brunch, as we would arrive at the destination well pass lunch time and we didn't book any on-board meal.

Once the place was pulled back, the taxi way was like KL city traffic jam during peak hours, just that in this case, it was filled with planes waiting for clearance to take off. There was at least 15 planes waiting along the several taxi ways. If from ariel view, i think it would be like a   major traffic light junction in KL city centre. On the announcement that the plane would need to wait about 45 minutes before it's our plane's turn to take off, people began walking up and down the aisle like it was a walkway for them to model. Since the flight is experiencing long delay, we quickily shoot an email to inform our ride that we would be late, and they need not arrive so early at the airport. Finally it came our turn to take off and off we go to Saigon City, Vietnam.

We landed about one hour later than scheduled, but it was all good as things was quite smooth.
The first purchase we made was a pre-paid sim card. The lady wasn't friendly at all, as she shouted that all was the same, except that each telco had a different selling price. It was quite easy to spot the driver that came to pick us as he was at the front line holding a card with our name and hotel name.

The city is filled with lots and lots of Motorcycle. We was told there is around 9 million motorcycle out of the population of 11 million in Saigon alone. The ride took about 30 minutes to arrive at our hotel as the road is quite jammed up. I notice that although the traffic light is red, but people will still cross and turn, it's as good as no traffic lights. After crossing numerous traffic lights during this trip, i still can't understand how it works.

The first task we had to do when we arrive near the hotel is to cross the road. Motocycles and Cars will just keep coming non-stop and you will just have to figure a way how to cross the street. I was told by a friend who often travels to Vietnam for business, that all you need to do is to have the courage and just cross the street slowly and steadily and they will make their own judgement to pass in front or behind of you, slow and steady that is.

During the check-in, we was given a map and told of the place of interest nearby, a guide book and explanation of the tours that we have booked (and those that we can book) which includes those for Hanoi. Since there are no escalator, we had to carry our luggages up two flight of stairs, which they said is first floor. The room was clean, tidy and decent. It consist of the basic things and the width of the toilet is just slightly wider than my shoulders, not much place to manuver inside.

After some slight unpacking, we headed off to our first place, Ben Thanh market, which is located not far from the backpackers area. All we had with us was a bottle of water and a map that was provided by the hotel. After walking down few streets (rows of shops), and crossing a park, we came to a place that looks similar to what we have been seeing in pictures, we have arrive at our destination. One building that caught my attention is the building that looks so similar to TM tower along Federal Highway. I wonder who was the original designer of that building, they look so alike from side ways.

Ben Thanh market look like a “Pasar” and there was a lot of tourist inside. It was much like Chatuchak in Bangkok, but much narrow and reduced in size. As we was hungry, we looked around the food stores, which had a similar layout with Singapore that had the hawker centre with the market beside it (think Bugis).

We settled for a store where they had a variety of noodle soup and a store where they had variety of drinks, most importantly is the price is clearly displayed. We ordered a bowl of fish cake mee and a cup of BoBo Chacha, it look more like ice kacang and cendol, but more colourful. It was delicous and suit our taste bud. After filling our tummy, we tried to do some shopping since we was here. The prices there are rideculous, more to come in later part of this story. We walk around and thought of buying some t-shirts for a start, in the end we settled for a corner store that had huge variety and the price was acceptable to us. As we wanted to buy few, the bargaining started, luckily she agreed as she started to sound agitated. Ben Thanh market had some zones where the prices are fixed and it's written clearly, i am not sure if it's true, but when i tried to ask for reduction, they decline, but this could be due to my inability to negotiate for lower price. We decided to head back to the hotel and rest awhile before dinner. People have started to pack the streets as evening turns into night, by both the locals and foreigners. On our way back, we saw a store selling the French bread, which is a must try. The last time i ate it, was during my trip to Siem Reap in 2009. It hard bread with fillings of fatty pork (lean pork is not yummy), some veg and sauce. It's so good and a must try when you are at Indo-China. Also picked up on our way back to the hotel is a bottle of Saigon beer (local beers is always a must for me when traveling).

The short nap after a bath took us all the way to 9pm. We thought of sleeping all the way til next morning, but decided against it as it was our first night in the city and that our lodging is at a happening part of the city. So we went out to discover the nightlife of Saigon city, or at least the street that we was at. We notice there was many people who are sitted on the sidewalk, drinking their beers facing the street. This continoued down along the street in front of shops that are still open for business. For the first night, we choose a quieter shop that had few westerners dinning there. Of course we looked at the menu and it seems decent enough to attract us. The shop is Five Oysters. Although that was the shop name, but we didn't order any seafood instead we had Vietnam spring rolls (steamed) and pork chop rice. On our way back to the hotel, we bought a 5 liter bottle of water that is manufactured by Nestle (at least a global trusted brand), there was another brand that is produced by Coca-cola or Pepsi. It was more economical to buy the largest bottle since we would need alot of it. Do note that every Circle K (yes, the same name with Bali's), the pricing of their products are different even along the same street. We went to 3 outlets on the same street, and all had different prices.