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...
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