my last 4 days was spend there, to give myself some time off to start the new month. hee. why i chose there? well.. it happens that the flight journey wasn't long, and they have flight to there cos i can only make it at the last week of august and i didn't been there before. so is our 1st trip, and we don't have any idea of where to go. as usual, i visited the online sites, to check out the fun places. well.. come to think of it, the places of interest are those war museums etc. so be it then. the flight was early, reached there like 9.25am (their timing), its slower than us by 1 hr. checking into the hotel, there's a bit of problem. the girl at the front desk, can't communicate with us. well, we can use dong or us$ there. so ask them what currency they are talkin about before making any payments. the ride from the airport to our hotel is only like 20-30mins? the cab fare, is about 200,000vnd (s$18+). if go by the meter, it should be cheaper. but beware, there are many different cabs over there, like 6-7 companies at least? take the milinh (something like that), or vinasun. they are the cheapest. i took a cab back to the airport and it only cost 100,000 vnd. tey have like 3million motorbikes, and 1 million cars. so can you imagine how crowded is the road? not forgetting, they don't really use traffic lights, unless its in the main district of the city, or else cross at your own risk. well, don't expect them to stop or slow down. cos you have to cross n wait, n cross again. though, they sway and avoid hitting you, but they are really good at that. it was raining heavily when we were on the way to chinatown (cholon), we took a cab, it cost like 300,000 vnd (cos we took the wrong one), is very ex. and so we got cheated. lesson learnt. so we decided to take a bus up, try our luck. and the bus ride cost only like 3,000 vnd, and we realise they go to our hotel nearby. great!
i stayed at dainam hotel, book thru asia rooms. is cheap. but they run out of standard, so upgraded us to superior instead. since we arrive early, we have to pay in order to check in early, ok.. since is only another US$20, we gave in. we've got a level 6 room, there is a balcony, and our view is the road.. well, i saw reviews that it gonna be noisy. but luckily, we can sleep with noise. those ppl honk everywhere they go. so is noise pollution, but i guess they are used to it, cos you can hear honking nonstop. we walked to ben thah mkt, which is like 5-10 mins away from the hotel. the places of interest and shopping closes kinda early, like 5-6pm? and they have little shopping centres in singapore. we managed to find like 3-4. but nothing much to buy, since my taste is different. ate my lunch in ben thah mkt, had pho (beef ball noodles), is nice. then we headed to chinatown. did i say i stand for 2 hours just to wait for rain to stop? well, we bought the poncho, after standing for like 2 hrs? and the rain stop. gosh. the rain is very heavy, the roads flooded. and i have to wear my sandals to cross the road, and the flood was like above my ankle? and its very dirty.. imagine is black?so i think is better to wear rubber boots there next time. so went to binh tay mkt, nothing much to buy too. but is cheaper than ben thah, cos i think is not in the central area? they sell almost the same thing, coffee, tea, goodies, bras, undergarments, clothes, hat, shawls, souvenir etc... after walking around, i went back to ben thah mkt, they have a night market there, so we walked around there for a while. went for dinner at the roadside, since not all stalls are open. i had fried calamari (58,000 vnd), rice, grilled pork, morning glory, strawberry shake. all cost less than S$20 for 2 persons. finally, i picked up a bikini, it looks like my NUM one, but cost 8 times cheaper.. haha.. almost the same design but just different color.
the 2nd day was to mekong delta, woke up early in the morning, had breakfast. their breakfast is pathetic, they have fried rice, noodles, veg, steam n fried dumpling, cornflakes, porridge, chicken corn soup, fried egg, salted egg, peanut, bananas, pomelo, orange juice, tea, coffee, milk etc.. seriously, the breafast is the same for the next 3 days, just that fried noodles will be fried bee hoon, and noodles soup will be won ton soup etc? after breakfast, went up to the bus, and we were the 1st group of ppl they pick up, there are many ppl from different countries? so we set off, is like 2 hours ride from the city, very long. there's a stopover, toilet break before they contd the journey. upon reaching the ferry terminal, we have to take a boat, then transfer.. can't remember what islands we went, but i remember unicorn island.. visit the coconut candy workshop, the local folks village, fruit orchard (is very cheap, the rambutan, 1kg= S$0.30), have lunch at their local village, the bee & honey area, you get to see the real bees, 3 types of bee (queen bee, worker bee, and maui bee?) the whole trip already cost you a day. we decided to walk the malls since market closes at 6pm, so we wander about, and manage to find the place. ha.. i'm a genius, cos i know my maps and location well. went to saigon square (2 level shopping centre, with air-conditioned), saigon tower (mango is available), diamond plaza (they have dept stores, food etc) and i had KFC there, yummy yummy. the hot wings are not as spicy as bangkok, but the wrap is not bad. then we walk back to ben thah market, where we took a rickshaw ride.. n it cost 20,000 vnd for a short distance. but it doesn't matter, cos you don't see them around at other places.
3rd day, i went to sight seeing.. since i didn't go to anywhere the 1st few days. we decided to hire a taxi, paying by meter. this time, the taxi fare is cheap. it brought us around city for half a day and it cost like only 400,000 vnd. we visited the war museum, hcm museum, saigon zoo, history museum, reunification palace, city hall, notre dame cathedral, post office, the vin nghiem pagoda, tian heu pagoda (was recommended by the bell boy), still got 1 more pagoda, an dong market (is good, bought many cheap goodies there) etc. the saigon zoo (entrance fee only 8,000 vnd), well.. a place where you can see animals.. like lion, tiger, many different types of cats, monkeys, wild boars, bears, different types of crocodiles, hippopotamus, rhino, elephant (i fed the elephant sugar cane) etc etc. the war museum, where they have alot of war pictures, i was wondering which country conquer vietnam? wasn't it the dutch? or is it the americans?? then they show pictures of prisoners, people being tortured, the different ways, the prison they live in. is gross. the reunification palace, is big.. they have like 100 of rooms in there, like the conference room, cinema, map rooms etc etc.. so we end our day at an dong market by doing some shopping for food, and then since we have time, we went to try highlands coffee, cost about the same as starbucks, i don't know if my taste buds failed, but i couldwe head for zen plaza (this is the place where i spend all my $ in, bras.. they having 15% discount), i only got 2 sloggi panty for myself, cos either they don't have my size, or color.. our meal was the lottera (the fast food in vietnam, seems like owned by korean or is a korean kind of fast food), they serve bulogi, and sells lotte chewing gum. so i guess so. i had their teri burger (is just normal hamburger), their fries make me cough.. i don't know why, but they do have nice shrimp balls.
4th day, which is the day i gotta say goodbye to HCM, went out after breakfast, have only 1.5 hours to walk the market, and walk to a street where we have no idea what's the street name, to buy the waffle. and after walking a few streets, finally found the place, i was quite smart, cos i remember the waffle place is in front of sax n art (which is a popular jazz club owned by the godfather of jazz). and i sniffed and smelled, and yes, we finally got it. is only another 15minutes before we have to leave for the airport.. and i haven't showered. but of cos we reached the airport in time, because the ride is only 20mins.. while waiting for the plane, the HCM airport has nothing much to walk, so we headed up for food again. we had japanese food, tried to spend all the vnd we have.. and the mail cost about S$50++.
next time if you need ppl to join amazing race, ask me! hahaa..
finally done, after typing for 3 days. |
