Vietnam 08 dec 06 - Day5

Woke up... dazed...

Haha... the time is about 4am and the train is already in Hanoi and should be reaching the Hanoi Railway Station soon. Man... I'm excited! I'm back in Hanoi! There's this air of familiarity inthis place. How could I not be familiar with this place? I've been here thrice previously... have got friends like Trang and Tung in this place. I miss Hanoi!

We finally reached the station! We bid farewell to our neighbour and alighted from the train. A little lost because it's our first time at the railway station. Hmm... we were trying very hard to find the Fortuna Hotel on our map so that we could direct our taxi driver there. But the hotel's nowhere in sight! Just then, our neighbourly uncle came towards us again and asked us where we were going. We told him and he found the hotel on our map! Wow... So, we followed the taxi driver to his vehicle. But horror of horrors! The 'taxi' was outside the railway station (meaning... we've to walk quite a distance) and it was a taxi but a van! The first thought that came to mind was... HOW MUCH is this gonna cost us? So, we asked and he said it's 100,000VND (that's about S$10). Wow... that's expensive! And in that crucial moment, i remembered a most important phrase... TAK GUA!!!! And that meant EXPENSIVE! Haha... the 'taxi' driver and his friends were surprised that I know that phrase... and believe it or not, they actually shook my hand (to congratulate me?)... haha... anyway, we embarked on a bargaining war... and finally we reached a consensous... 60,000VND! Hee... just as we were driving away, Jasmine remembered that we've yet to take photo in front of the railway station! Ha... so we stopped the 'taxi' driver in his tracks, rushed down the cab and took a photo each!

We reached Fortuna Hotel and Tung was there to welcome us! He's still as cute and handsome and his grinned from ear to ear when he saw us! I miss him so much! We quickly made ourselves at home at the hotel lobby and started taking photos with the Christmas tree in the hotel lobby. Haha... then Tung came over to chat a short while with us. We showed him our photos (still in our digital camera). He took one of the cameras, went to behind the Conceirge counter and looked through the photos. He looked as if he was doing some paper work at the counter but in fact, he was looking at photos! Hee... so smart of him hor...?

I finally gave in to temptation and bought a packet of Fortuna homemade cookies! We happily shared the cookies and left some for Tung.

His shift ended soon after and we made our way to his home at Ho Tay Lake. His aunts and grandma saw us and simply came up to us and hugged us! We really felt very welcomed in this place. The warmth that we received... Well, we dropped our bags and went for breakfast! Hee... it's that CheeCheongFun lookalike... and it's so so so very yummy! Awww... we miss Viet food!

Anyway, we had a yummy breakfast and then went back to Tung's home. Hee... we got him to switch on the computer so that we could transfer all the photos from our memory cards to my portable harddisk (80GB... don't play play ah...). Wow... we didn't realise that we took so many photos! Anyway, we took a long long time to transfer all that photos... and after transferring the photos, we decided to look through and see which are the photos that we want to develop into prints... and then sorted them into 1, 2, 3 and 4 prints respectively. Hee... we did all this while Tung was taking his little cat nap.

Finally, we're done and Tung also woke up from his nap. So, we went downstairs for homecooked lunch by his aunt. Wow... yummy. It's no fancy feast but definitely very cosy family meal. Hee... while the family members had a full bowl of white rice, the three of us only asked for half a bowl. I was the first to finish my lunch (as in my half a bowlof rice) and then, grandma wants to fill my bowl again. I politely declined... only to get scolding! Haha... Grandma believes that the young ones should eat more... so I obediently allowed grandma to fill my bowl... three-quarters full! Wow.... that's definitely more than what I usually eat! Then Jasmine and Xiuyue learnt from my experience that they better fill their bowls themselves else they'll suffer from my 'fate'. Haha... we were very full but we definitely enjoyed the meal... it wasn't just the food, it was also that warmth and joy of being treated as one of the family! :)

After lunch, we went to Old Quarters where Jasmine was on a mission... to make Ao Dai for her colleagues! Xiuyue and I went to Youth Hotel, only to discover that the friends we made at Youth Hotel have all gone elsewhere. A little sad but i guess life moves on. We went to have our fruit juice... i had my strawberry shake! Yeah... yummy yummy yummy... After Jasmine has accomplished his mission, we went to develop our photos. We actually had 714 prints! Wow... The shop assiatant was amazed and when we told Tung, his eyes popped out. Haha... And we spent about 1,000,000VND (S$100) on the photos! Tung was like... ' that's one-fifth of my monthly pay!'

Guess I can only say that we're spendthrifts on holiday!

Haha... anyway, by the time we're done around the Old Quarters, it's time for us to make our way to Trang's house.

Hanoi's definitely grown economically... because there are so much more cars on the streets now! And we were her two years ago! Gosh... Anyway, being people who can self-entertain anywhere, we decided to sort out all the photos and place them into the photo albums provided. Haha... we are good, aren't we? Hahah...

When we reached Trang's place, Trang also just arrived home. It seems that she was also stuck in the traffic jam! And then, I saw Bob, Trang's little one. I couldn't believe it! The last time I saw him, he was only 1-month old but now, he's a 2-year-old toddler running about the house! And he resembles Minh so so so much... Tung says that he's a photocopy of Minh! Haha...

But we had so much fun just catching up with one another, updating one another of our recent being. It's just so cool. Jasmine commented that this trip to Hanoi is not a holiday... it feels like we're at home, just visiting friends, having coffee and chatting. And I agree so much. We're in Hanoi not to tour but to visit our friends.

We had steamboat for dinner... and I figured that it's the Vietnamese custom to feed the young ones with tonnes and tonnes of food. Trang's mum was so busy cooking the food for us and didn't really eat a bite herself! We finally had to force her into eating some food when we started cooking food and piling the food into her bowl! The elderly is just so very loving of the young ones...

Well, by the time we finished dinner and had a long long talk with Trang's family, we decided to go home (it's 11pm Vietnam time) because the next day is a working day. It wasn't a sad farewell to the family because we knew that we would be back very soon... :)

Back in Tung's home, we quickly bathed and went to Zzzz...

Vietnam 07 Dec 06 - Day4

Woke up with a shock in the morning. The uncle turned on the speaker in the room and shrill soprano singing was played! Urghh...

I opened my eyes and... green padi fields, blue sky, white clouds greeted me! Wow... I really marvelled at what I saw! It's so lovely!

Xiuyue woke up, so did Jasmine. Ha... but Jasmine said she didn't really sleep well in the night because it was noisy and the journey wasn't exactly smooth (rather bumpy at parts). Xiuyue said she was sleeping rather well when she was woken in the middle of the night by a tickling sensation near her neck. She brushed it away only to realise that it was a cockroach! It didn't occur to us that the cockroach is still alive and still in the room... until a little while later. The cockroach actually scurried from Xiuyue's bed and onto the uncle's bed. I screamed, jumped up while Xiuyue quickly took a plastic bag and came to the rescue. The cockroach was rather elusive... Xiuyue couldn't catch hold of it. Was going to give up hunting for it when it re-appeared! This time, uncle came to the rescue. Hee.. he was very swift and caught it! And then... he threw it into the little trash bin IN THE ROOM! With as best a sign language I could manage, I told him to throw the cockroach outside... And he did! Hee...

Breakfast's provided! Wow... It's instant noodles! Haha.. so exciting hor? It's pretty yummy... even though we knew we were literally eating Ajinomoto. Haha...

Using the map within the Lonely Planet guidebook, we asked uncle where we were and... we found that we were in Nha Trang! Wow.. no wonder the scenery's so pretty! But the train won't pass by the coast... so we won't get to see the famed beaches!

Just 2 hours after we've had our breakfast, they served lunch! Unbelieveable.. Anyway, we sat down with uncle and had lunch together. He actually let us sit nearer to the window. Gosh... So sweet and so nice of him. He even showed us how to open the lunch pack. Haha... So cute. But once I saw lunch, I lost my appetite. It doesn't look appetitising, doesn't smell appetitising, and definitely doesn't taste good. I managed whatever I could and gave thanks for whatever I had. I should be thankful that meals are provided on the train, even though it's not good food.

Shortly after lunch, while we were simply relaxing in the room, the door opened! And it was the little girl at the railway station! Her grandma was carrying her in her arms. Seems like they opened every single door in the other cars till they found Jasmine and Xiuyue! Wow...

The girl quickly made herself at home and we started playing with her! Hee... had a lot of fun playing with her... she's so cute! Oh... and we took a lot a lot of photos. Hee... She only stayed for about an hour and left for her nap.

Then, uncle opened the room door and our jaws dropped! It was awesome! We saw the sea! The train's travelling on the sides of mountains and hills and at times, we were on the edge of the cliff, at times, we were nestled in the valley between two mountains, and other times, we were in tunnels cut across the mountains! Wow... the 29-hours train journey is definitely worth it! Uncle took the map and pointed to our current location. We were travelling from DaNang to Hue and we're along the coastline... and the sea that we see is South China Sea! We can see the horizon of the sea from where we were and we were simply awed by the tranquil blue sea, the white waves breaking on the cliffs, the green mountains, the blue sky specked by white fluffy clouds... I was awed too by the works of His hand. That with one word, he created heaven and earth; land and sea. Wow...

So thankful for uncle. If he hadn't opened the door and showed us what lies out there, we would have missed it all! We simply stood out there along the doorway and admired the natural world. It's something that Singaporeans don't get to see in the city...

Hee... the little girl came back again! This time she only stayed for a short while before going off for her nap again. The train's reached Hue and we left the lovely seaview behind...

And guess what? They served dinner! At 4pm! Gosh... people here eat dinner really early. Thought dinner would be better than lunch but it's just as lousy. Sigh...

After dinner, Xiuyue whipped out her card game, Halli Galli, and we decided to pull uncle in to join us. Hee... We also got Minh (uncle's smoking buddy from the next door) to join us. Uncle enjoyed himself so much that he laughed out loud non-stop! Haha... Well, he's not the only one. All of us had so much fun! Hee... We played right through till night-time when we had to call it quits because... our neighbours were all turning in for the night and we were making too much noise laughing!

We decided to turn in early because we'll arrive in Hanoi at 4.30am. And this concludes one day. Everyone told us that we are making ourselves miserable by taking a 29-hour train journey instead of a 1-hour flight. But I think if given a second chance, I would still choose to take the train. I got to marvel at God's works of nature; got to know another friend (the Vietnamese uncle who took such good care of us); had lots of fun (playing games and taking photos!); and played with a cute little Vietnamese girl.

Xiuyue commented that this is a trip of 第一次 and indeed it is. These are our第一次：

第一次乘搭廉价航空
第一次到新加坡的Budget Terminal乘搭飞机
第一次背包旅行
第一次没预订酒店就出发
第一次到胡志明市
第一次在旅行中结交新朋友
第一次品尝朝鲜美食
第一次吃这么多免费晚餐（第一、二、三晚的晚餐都是新朋友请客的！）
第一次搭乘长途火车

Vietnam 06 Dec 06 - Day3

Urghh... must wake up early again! We had our quick breakfast and made our way to Kim Cafe again.

There was a change in the itinery. Instead of taking the boat back from Mekong River, we took the boat to the Mekong River.

Gosh... we had no idea that the trip will be THAT long! 6 hours! Hard chairs (with really thin cushions)! Butt almost flat. Haha... But us being us... we're sure to find some ways to entertain ourselves. Guess what we did? WE TOOK PHOTOS! Haha...

The river's really lovely... I saw little villages along the coast, fishermen casting their nets, little floating villages, etc... I couldn't resist taking shots after shots of what I saw... and yet, I couldn't capture the whole magnitude of it all...

We had lunch on board. Delectable pineapple rice with springrolls! Hee... Smells good and tastes good.

Finally, we reached our destination... we transferred to another smaller boat and was brought to Unicorn Island. We were brought to a fruit farm and feasted on lots of fruits. And we were ferried out on little sampans. Hee... then we went to this province called Binh Tay (the little province heavily hit by the typhoon) and made a short visit to the coconut sweet factory. Hee... we bought 6 packets of sweets for Tung and his family, and Trang and her family.

We finally ended up on the mainland and transferred to a van that will bring us home. The ride reminds me of the UV LIGHT YEP when all 16 of us packed into a little van of similar capacity, and moved around. I really miss those times.

Back in HCMC! Yeah! We made our way towards Remember Hotel to drop the 惠娟's birthday card and... we say SeJin and SangWoo at the hotel lobby!!! Wow! What a coincidence! SeJin shared that he's very happy that evening because he scored an Eagle! And SangWoo's sunburnt! Ha... they're so cute!

Then at that moment, a thought flashed through our minds... Hee... *evil grin*

We had checked out of our hotel early that morning and so we do not have a place to take a shower before we start off on our train journey. And there's also no bathroom on the train. That means we'll have no shower for TWO FULL days! Yucks... the thought of it makes us feel really uncomfortable.

Hee... since we met the three of them, and since they still have their room, so... we asked if we could borrow their bathroom just to have a shower to freshen up. And they graciously agreed! We quickly went back to our hotel, picked up our bags and headed to their hotel and had our shower! Feels great to be clean!

When we were done, we carried our bags and met with MunSoo at the lobby. Then we went to a Kebab eatery nearby and waited for SangWoo and SeJin. Then we fed our very hungry stomachs with kebabs! And they gave us a treat again! And after that, we went to a fruit juice stall nearby for our after-meal fruit juice. Hee... this time round, they simply let us pay for the drinks. Guess they knew we would want to insist on paying for drinks... Hee...

This time round, it's goodbye for real. They flagged a cab for us and sent us off. It's really cool that we get to dine with them two nights in a row and personally, I'm really hoping that this friendship that we've found and developed over the past 2 days.

We made it to the railway station! Hee... took more photos with the train... and Jasmine and Xiuyue started playing with this cute little girl at the railway station and then took photos with her too! Hee...

Hmm... the soft sleeper looks good and we finally saw our room-mate! It's an uncle! Vietnamese uncle! Sigh... so far we've been meeting interesting people, and now we're to spend 29 hours in the same room with an uncle? And the uncle's so neat! Aiyoh...

Very tired... We snoozed shortly after we landed on our beds...

Vietnam 05 Dec 06 - Day2

We had to wake up VERY early in the morning because we must be at Kim Travel by 7.30am to take the bus that'll bring us to Mekong River.

It was raining VERY heavily. Hmm...

We had a quick breakfast (hee..Scrambled eggs with French bread... Yummy!) and made our way to the cafe, only to be told that... THE MEKONG RIVER TRIP'S CANCELLED! Typhoon Durian had made its way to Mekong River and for safety considerations, the Mekong trip's cancelled. So, we would be going to CuChi Tunnel instead.

So, we went back to our hotel... rested for a while... about 15 minutes... and we went back to Kim Cafe again...

Hmm... we got onto the bus and saw that the three of us are the only black-hair Asian around. The rest are Caucasians. The first stop was a handicraft centre for the handicap where some of the physically-inpaired Vietnamese learned some handicraft skills and made handicraft items for sale. The three of us were exactly attracted by the handicrafts. We explored the centre and found a rickshaw! Guess what we did? The corny-ness in us welled up and we began taking corny photos again! Haha...

We got back onto the bus and took our seats again. This time, we had 4 additions. Asians! One of them sat beside me, and his lady friend took the seat in front of Jasmine. They spoke! Ah... Korean!

We slept on our way to CuChi tunnel (for Singaporeans to travel in Vietnam, everywhere's far away... Ha...). When I woke up just as we were reaching our destination, the rather cute Korean guy beside me turned and asked "Hi... Where are you from?" And from there, the three of us started engaging in conversation with him. His name is Mun Soo and he doesn't really speak very good English and I think we were sometimes talking too fast for him to comprehend us. Haa...

Anyway, we finally are there! CuChi tunnel! It's amazing how the Vietnamese peasants actually lived in these places!

We were first shown a spider-hole... small small hole! And then a fox-hole... small hole! Gosh... we were just joking that we now know why Vietnamese are so slender. If you're fat, you won't be able to get into the holes!

We were shown an entrance to the tunnel (a hole) and when covered by a piece of board, you won't even know that it existed! It's amazing! Really! The guide invited us to try getting into the hole and have a feel... so I gave it a try. Was initially worried that I won't be able to 'squeeze' myself into the hole.. but hey, I got in with no problem! Mun Soo's friend climbed down the hole too and Mun Soo actually stood on top of the board! Haha... So funny!

Then we were shown the different traps that the Vietnamese peasants 'specially prepared' for their enemies. It's simply "wow! wow! wow!" all the way for me. They simply used bamboo and wood to make all those booby traps! They're so ingenious...

The video that we watched upon arrival said "[the peasants] are not fighting for the Communist Viet Cong and the communist ideals. They are fighting to protect their own land and their family" It is the love for their beloved ones that keeps them going.

Indeed, LOVE is what motivates them to live through those VERY DIFFICULT times and to come up with all those ingenious ideas. :)

We continued our conversation with Mun Soo once back on the bus. And man! Guess what? He is one of Confucious' (many) descendants! He's the 175th generation! Wow... We really 有眼不识泰山! Haha... And we found out in the course of the conversation that him and his friends had come to Ho Chi Minh City to play golf, but because of the typhoon, they couldn't get onto the golf course! They actually flew in from South Korea just to play golf! Our jaws dropped. Haha...

We alighted from the bus earlier because we wanted to visit the War Remnants Museum.We were greeted by photos that made our hairs stand on its ends. The war photos showed the very realistic realities of war. The desperate helplessness of the civilians, the still continuing effects of Agent Orange, the utter destruction and ruin of a nation... It's so painful just looking at the photos. I wonder what was going on in the minds of the war journalists. They must be hurting too... to see the agony and yet no being able to do anything for the innocent Vietnamese.

Hee... we found out that we took Mun Soo's pen and forgot to return him, so we called him. Ha... That's just one reason... the other reason is to confirm if the dinner for the night is still on (earlier when we were on the bus, he asked if we would like to have dinner with him and his friends later that night). Set! Dinner at 7pm... we'll meet them at their hotel (the hotel's called Remember Hotel... a little cliche... isn't it?)

*Growl* We realised we've not eaten anything since breakfast... So, once again, we set upon our quest for food. We decided to walk back to the hotel and grab some food along the way. Ha... Walking was the only option because we (1) don't know what bus will bring us back to the hotel; (2) wanted to take photos; (3) wanted to soak in more of the city sights!

We passed by Ngon Restaurant and took photos. We passed by the Reunification Palace and took photos. We passed by the Church of Notre Dame and took photos. Haha... It was simply photo-taking galore! Haha..

We were so hungry... we decided to just settle for fast-food! Fastfood here is not exactly fastfood... Only after they receive the food order, then did they start cooking the food! Almost fainted when I saw that... Ha... But we must still wait. While waiting, we witnessed a couple fighting. It happened very adruptly. The woman suddenly threw something at the man, pushed the chair away, stood up and walked off. Then the man pulled her and made her sit down. But before long, the guy also stood up and threw something HARD across the foodcourt (and in our direction!). Then they started fighting! Right before our eyes! The woman and the man were exchanging blows! And they actually were moving nearer and nearer to us... so, we quickly walked away! Didn't want to be beaten up... haha... Anyway, the security guards came over and 'invited' them to the office. *Phew* And then we saw what the guy threw across the foodcourt... it was a nokia handphone bent into half! Wow... that guy must be really angrily mad!

We had our burger on the go and guess what? We took photos again! Haha...

Dinner time! Yeah!

The guys brought us to a North Korean restaurant and man, they really know how to enjoy! The kind of food they ordered are so so so high-class (ie expensive)! But the food's really delicious! We had Pyongyang Cold Noodle, Kimchi Pancake and Korean Whisky! Ha...

MunSoo文洙 and Sejin世真 are pharmacists and were college mates, Sejin世真 is SangWoo相雨's subordinate. The lady惠娟 was travelling alone and got to know them at the hotel.

They told us that anything North Korean is not allowed in South Korea and that in order to enjoy North Korean cuisine, they'll have to do so outside the country. We also got to enjoy a North Korean song-and-dance performance that evening and the guys told us that it's their first time watching the performance too! Wow...

But we had a lot of fun chatting and getting to know about the South Korean culture. Hee... They even taught us how to write our names in Korean! 美秀 is pronounced as MI SU, 秀月 is SU WUL and 慧玲 is HYE KUEM. Though there was a language barrier (we can't speak Korean... they can't really speak English that well), but we had a lot of fun. I guess it's that genuine interest and sincerity in getting to know a new friend that made it so great! MunSoo picked up the tab secretly and refused to tell us how much the meal cost. Gosh... feel so bad... because the meal is definitely not cheap...

MunSoo suggested that we adjourn somewhere for a drink. So... Jasmine, Xiuyue and I determined that we'll pay for drinks. Hee... Otherwise, we'll feel so bad. Hee...

We went to this Western-themed restaurant named Saloon 17. And there's a live band too! So cool! We ordered drinks and continued our conversation!

Hee... SangWoo is realy cute. He simply sat there, closed his eyes, tapped the table as listened to the live band. So cute... Ha... and then, at one point, he seemed really tired. Ha... And guess what 'woke' him up? Ha... Sum-Chee-Gee! Xiuyue and I were playing with the watermelon seeds on the table... I covered the seeds, and told Xiuyue to guess 'even' or 'odd' (as in after putting the seeds away in groups of 4, how many seeds will remain) and SangWoo saw and his eyes just brightened up! Ha... he took over my spoon... and the watermelon seeds, looked at us, and said "Come! Bet! One-dollar!" So funny! Then he told us during his days, all the high school and college fellows would play this game. But they do so with coins! Ha...

Meanwhile, I sneaked away and settled the bill. :)

When I came back, SeJin was showing Jasmine some of the Korean currency notes. The notes belongs to SangWoo. And Jasmine used SangWoo's money to place her bets! Haha...

The night is not young anymore and we had to bid farewell. But we told one another that we will keep in touch.

Oh... We found out that 惠娟's birthday is on 11 Dec! So, we went back to our room and made her a simple card just to wish her happy birthday. And we'll drop it at her hotel reception for her the next day...

Vietnam 04 Dec 06 - Day1

This is my 4th trip to Vietnam. And what's so different about this trip?

The previous 3 trips are YEP (Youth Expedition Project)-related. The first was my YEP to Yen Son, Ha Tay; the second was the recee trip which Jasmine and I went for so as to arrange for the YEP that we would be leading later that year; and of course the third trip was our YEP to Ba Trai, Ha Tay.

This trip... it's purely for LEISURE! We can finally be tourists! Haha... Also, we are finally going to set foot on Ho Chi Minh City! Everytime Jasmine and I tell others that we've been to Vietnam, everyone would ask how was Ho Chi Minh City... Sigh... and all we could say was "Erm... we didn't go to Ho Chi Minh City... We were at Hanoi only." And no one believed that after making THREE trips to Vietnam, we still were confined within Hanoi! Therefore, Jasmine and I determined that no matter what, we MUST at least spend a day in Ho Chi Minh City. Haha...

On the morning of 4 Dec (Mon), we checked into the Budget Terminal early because we heard that we could get some free gifts for early check-in. Ha... and guess what the gift was? A Tiger Airways bag! Ha... just nice. A new bag for me to put the books in for the new school year!

Finally, we stepped into the airplane. We were well, a little, not so sure... because it was an AirBus. Jasmine and I still remembered the not-so-pleasant trip that we had on another Airbus. Haha...but then, it was a very smooth flight! The plane was comfy and clean and nice. And then, along the way, we were just feeding Xiuyue with tales about our previous experience with Airbus. Haha... We concluded that the other Airbus was older and that could have been the reason for the unpleasant-ness!

Saga at Vietnamese Immigration. The officer asked us where we are staying and all we could say was.. "Don't know! Haven't booked a hotel yet. Will be going there to look for one!" The officers who processed our entries were a little taken aback. Haha...

We reached Ho Chi Minh City's International Airport after a 2-hour flight. The first thing we did was.... TAKE PHOTOS! Haha... We made sure we took photos for evidence so that we can show others that we have been there!!! Ha...

While we were taking turns to take photos, this guy came up and offered to take a group photo for the three of us. Ha... we knew then that we have to take his taxi already. Haha... Anyway, the photo he took was quite blur. But well, who cares? Our faces are still visible!

The taxi-driver actually asked for USD10! Aiyoh... so expensive! Lonely planet says it will only cost USD4! So we started bargaining... Ha... We finally settled for USD6! Hee...

Reached District 1, Pham Ngu Lao... the backpackers' haven (recommended by Lonely Planet). We checked out Hotel 21 because it looked pretty alright and guess what? It has a lift! But then... the hotel's full... So, we settled for Mai Phai Hotel, which is just next door!

The lady at the reception is so so so very RETRO! Haha... her hairdo and makeup reminds me of the 1970s... But for her age, she still maintains a very wonderful figure! Wow!

Once we got our room (USD15/night inclusive of breakfast), we dropped our stuffs, changed into our shorts (Ho Chi Minh City is HOT... as in temperature HOT! My goodness, thought we left all that heat when we left Singapore, but...) and went in search of FOOD! Haha...

We checked out Sinh Cafe and Kim Cafe for day tours and also enquired about train tickets to Hanoi from the hotel reception.

Hee... We got all the brochures and finally hunted down a restaurant that sells.... PHO GA! Yeah... been dreaming of Pho Ga for months! Yummy food and yummy drinks (we had mango milk shake) before us... how blessed we are!

When we're done feeding ourselves, we discussed our itinery. Hee... Decided upon taking the 11pm train so as to maximise our time in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The train will leave Ho Chi Minh City at 11pm on the 1st night and reach Hanoi at 4.30am on the 3rd day. That would require us to only spend 1 day on the train, and allows us to have 1 full day at Ho Chi Minh City for more city exploration and another full day at Hanoi for our friends!

Then we also decided on the day tours that we will go for over the next 2 days...

Day2 (5 Dec, Tue): Full-day Mekong River tour
Day3 (6 Dec, Wed): Half-day Cu Chi Tunnel tour
We went to Kim Cafe, booked our tours and explored the area. Ha... desperately in need of a supermarket because we didn't bring any toothpaste and Jasmine didn't even bring her shampoo and conditioner! Ha...

Ended up at Saigon Tax Centre (about 40-minutes walk away) and bought A LOT of stuffs! We bought chips and snacks for our 29-hour train trip, and 10-litres of water for the next few days. Ha... then we had to rush back to the hotel because Jasmine's Vietnamese friend, Yen, is coming to pick us up at the hotel and bring us out for dinner!

Crossing the roads in Ho Chi Minh City is a most exciting experience... big buses and cars, lots of motorbikes... and they don't really obey the traffic lights! Haha...

Yen came and brought us to Ngon Restaurant, which literally means DELICIOUS RESTAURANT! Hee... We had some local fare which included springrolls, snails (snail mixed with pork), popiah-like yummy fish dish. YUMMY! Then, this Australian mother-and-son saw the delicious fare we had on our table and started to ask Yen about the food and how they could order those... Hee... And further conversation got us to know each other better and we got their contact details! Hee... the next time we go to Sydney Australia, we'll have local guides already! Hee...

Xiuyue saw "Rice ball soaked in wine" under the dessert section and told Yen she would like to try one. And Yen ordered 3! One for each of us! Ha... The wine is sweet... but the rice balls were so soaked with wine that I found it so so so hard to swallow it! But I had to. Not too polite to not finish the food in my bowl... so... I took my time and gulped the rice-balls down slowly. Ha... Experience of a lifetime!

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel. Along the way, we passed by the Saigon Opera House and some hotels (as in BIG hotels... 5-star hotels!) and started taking photos with the Christmas decor. Hee... Yen couldn't believe how corny we can be. Haha... We managed to make her join in the corny-ness! Haha...

Basically, by the time we reached our hotel, we were dead tired! Haha... Zzzz...