District 1 - Ho Chi Minh City

My third day in HCM before I was gone!
I was in a rush because time went quick that day. Luckily the hotel enabled me to check out at 1400 and had my breakfast there. They were thoughtful. The eggs were finished and the chief cooked a new one for me and I really appreciated that.

Saw a lot of stray puppies on the street

After my breakfast in the hotel, I went for a quick tour around District 1 to see what else it offered since my trip to the zoo was cancelled! Lol.
I had a thorough walk in Cho Ben Thanh Market/ Ben Thanh Market in the early morning and it was pretty fruitful. I saw a lot of stall vendors selling fishes and crabs early in the morning and they were real busy!

Ben Thanh Market

Fresh fishes being sold in the early morning, together with crabs

Knitted handbags made from silk

They sell many handbags and accessories, clothings as well as antiques. You have got to bargain. Otherwise, the price they are selling to you is going to be a "money" sucker deal lol.

I bargained a lot this time round and finally got what I wanted. I didn't find any pet stalls unfortunately :( so nothing for Juvi. :( I bought some textiles, bags and clothes. I thought of getting a T shirt for Vahan but I am not sure he would want it or not so in the end, I never. The last time when I was in Bangkok, I bought a T shirt for him but he said we shouldn't go out again and later we did... So much misunderstandings between us...

Bitexco Financial Tower on the right

A traditional vietnamese woman cycling wearing a mask

Paint brushes and acrylic/ oil paints for sale

Travel books and post cards

Vietnam used to be a communist country, that is why you would definitely see a lot of posters or propagandas which are still present now. The colours usage are very similar to the ones used in North Korea in order to promote "something". Instead of words itself, they like to use drawings to depict an action and writing in words as well. I love it, I will never see something like this in Singapore. Just road signs, using vector arts.

Ho Chi Minh Square

Notre Dame Cathedral

I thought I was in Paris... 

Central Post Office

In front of the Saigon Opera House. Very nice architecture.  

Saigon Opera House

I was really happy and I really have had a wonderful experience during my three-day stay in Ho Chi Minh City. My peace was achieved! 

Liberty. Yay! 

Places that I visited during my stay:

Binh Tay Market

Cho Ben Thanh Market

Mekong River

Notre Dame Cathedral

Ho Chi Minh Square

Central Post Office

Saigon Opera House

Bye bye Vietnam!

Flying back to Singapore and enjoyed my moslem food with Vietnam Airlines. 

After I alight, guessed what did I see at the carousel? Rethink travel campaign...  

Hello Ho Chi Minh!

So I was gone. I was off to Ho Chi Minh City for three days! Really loving every seconds there.

As I have never visited Vietnam, my first thought was heading to Hanoi. Afraid of the safety, thought of Ho Chi Minh City. I asked Thong and since he would be there for meetings, I chose HCM City; I was born in a city as well so I am pretty much adapted to the city life. 

Although it was a short trip, it was a fruitful one!(Of course, having pre plan)

I took the Vietnam Airlines and it was 2ish hours till I reached the Tan Son Nhat International Airport. The Vietnamese people are really quiet people, be it in the plane or even in restaurants. 

I took the taxi and to be honest, I got ripped off twice :) 

Natively, I thought the taxis were expensive except the food. That was like 15USD to District 1 and I was thinking it was rather cheap lol. 

The first thing I saw... Two puppies were tied tightly towards the cage and they couldn't move.. :( I was really upset to see and I can't do anything...  

I settled my stuff in the hotel; called Thong and headed off to the Chinatown Market, Binh Tay Market known famously for their textiles, and wholesale of gifts and souvenirs. The funny thing was, the receptionists from the hotels proposed me to go to Ben Thanh Market instead of Binh Tay and asked me to bargain with them of course. 

The hotel I was staying was located at Ly Tu Trong; A & EM Hotel. I was applauded by their services and also after reading quite a number of bad reviews from Trip Advisor. The staffs were really friendly and helpful towards me. 

I really love what I saw in Binh Tay Market. I have read reviews on Trip Advisor and got a number of negative reviews from the crowd. But to me, it was a nice experience. People there were really friendly, helpful, and maybe due to the fact that I spoke to them in Cantonese and Mandarin as well. I spoke cantonese a lot when I was there. Vietnamese can be very fluent in cantonese as well even though majority of them speak vietnamese, depending on which district one is located I believe. 

Beautiful textiles! I got a few back and mum is going to make more dresses for me :) 

Also got some plush toys back for the kids!

The taxi was kind enough to wait for me for two hours and it was again USD$15 :))))  

I met Thong in the evening and we went for dinner at Cuc Gach Quan. They sell really delicious "home cooked" food.  

The Pomelo juice was freshly squeezed and the straw was made from the old stem of the Kang Kong vegetable.  

Aww and I love the Fried Tofu, Chicken Salad, Pumpkin flowers, fish and yam soup. The total bill was around USD$45. I paid by credit and luckily Thong was there because I got not much money left due to the ripped off, so I borrowed USD$50 from him which were converted to Vietnamese dong. 

I was real happy because I could order many food and I could share with Thong. When I was with Vahan, it could be a nightmare especially he doesn't want to eat much at night and wanted me to lose weight! :@ No freedom!! Lol. 

Sticky rice!!!

Then we went to Binh Tay night market together and experienced the busy night life. People were really hardworking just like the Thais. I can't believe they were very competitive asking you to buy their and if one doesn't agree with the price, they would ask you how much you want and that would be the beginning of the bargaining. 

Shells and cockles for BBQ!!

I really enjoyed my first night there even though I was alone. I felt my liberty- pure freedom. No longer thinking about anything with regard to Singapore and Dubai, Heinz, Fayssal, Vahan etc. 

Only when I was in the bed I guessed, Fayssal... 

Actually, Vahan texted me last week and I was like F***(Oh, actually I don't use vulgarity, haven't use it for years; many years(!), but thanks to those bunch of zenith that got me contained)... 

I wanted to forget you, even though I thought of our happy moments, but why did you text me... You made me missed you... My god! I am really trapped; trapped in African's and arab doctrine! I told Sasha. She said why would I care if I don't have any more feelings for him?
In fact, he took five days off and he actually thought of going with me and luckily not, otherwise, I will have no freedom anymore. Too much misunderstanding between us and partly my fault as well; I was too sensitive...

In fact, I have been thinking a lot about my happiness between me and Fayssal. I still remembered back then in Zenith, I was eating alone at the old Urban Bites. The American was talking to his colleague, asking her about the food... I thought he was Fayssal. Finally remembered how tall Fayssal is. I have been seeing a lot of tall people lately and I don't know why, I even noticed the colour of their skins. Just hope I could see Fayssal one day again. I just want him to be safe.