Ho Chi Minh in 4 days

Well, it came as a surprise to some that I'm going to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.
The truth is, I've been wanting to visit seeing that my uncle & aunt are there every year and hearing that it's better than Bangkok - my favourite city!
I also want to visit India one day but I guess after HCM, I'm not quite prepared.
Anyway, the opportunity (of visiting) came when I learnt that my dear Poly buddy is working there. After conversing with her via MSN and thinking of who to be my travelling partner, I booked Mr. Grumpy and myself tickets a few days later. That was in June and the trip would happen 2 weeks after Bangkok. How nice right? To travel twice in the same month!


On 26 August, we departed at 110pm.
Only after a sucky lunch at Terminal's 1 toast box.
The mee siam was damn oily but I finished half of it still.
I couldn't decide if I was hungry, greedy or both.



Taken for my brother since he wasn't given the window seat when we went Bangkok and couldn't snap one of sort.



It was a 2hr flight.. needed to do something to kill time right?

Comfort is there but it's not a good taxi company I heard.

Be careful when you want to take a cab at the airport.

There will be people who try to negotiate a marked up price with you, thinking that you're a dumb tourist. Always go to the cab queue and take a metered one.

Shocked by the horning and traffic almost immediately...!

Kinda annoying too.

After an hour, we reached Ling's apartment, situated at district 7.

The driver got lost because the block number is displayed on a small board at the carpark entrance and it's easily missed. Fortunately, I saw the tiny boards and sort of guessed they mean the block number.

This is her kitchen.

And her living room.

Quite a decent unit with 2 rooms and a common bathroom.
We settled down and first stop was to book ourselves the Cu Chi tunnel tour at De Tham Street, D3 also known as the backpacker's place.

One of his first bia (beer).

Sitting by the roadside soaking in the culture.

This is Ling, my poly buddy :)
She came to pick us up after work and brought us to this authentic Vietnamese restaurant.

We didn't know the portions of food were that big and ordered 7 dishes!

Left the restaurant with VERY satisfied tummies although food was so-so.

Up bright and early for the 1/2 day Cu Chi (pronounced as Gu Chi cos C is pronounced as G) tunnel tour.

Man in white is our tour guide.

His English isn't very good and it was very obvious everything he said were scripted.

He took 3 tries before he could say, "Today I'm very happy to meet you."

I didn't go into the tunnel because bimbotic me didn't want to dirty my clothes, bag and shoes...

It was a big mistake to go without breakfast!

We were kinda in a hurry and thanks to the 7 dishes the night before, I didn't feel hungry and thus didn't eat anything. I almost fainted towards the end of the tour and had to survive on a small pack of tidbits, sweets and water.

My lunch at 2pm local time.

Simply delicious!
We were so tired and lazy after the tour, we went back to Ling's apartment to slack.

Napped for an hour before meeting her and her boss for dinner.

This is her boss' son. Super cute!

After dinner, we went Sheraton Hotel to party.

Had fun watching sexily dressed ladies dancing their Friday away and sleazy men approaching them.

Left for city tour (on our own) the next morning at about 11am. We took this mini bus that brings us to D1 and after exploring the area a little, we went for our first stop to get our tummies filled.

This Jaspas cafe allows you to doodle.

Lots of food again.

Some planning and checking before we moved on.

Along the way, we bought this silly helmet and had fun taking pictures with it.

We were at Independence Palace.

Was walking to The War Museum and stopped to take this shot.

Before this, we were cheated of S$3.50 for one coconut. These sellers would help you to cross the road, give you directions and then ask if you want a coconut. To return their favours, you would most likely say yes and tada, you gotta pay for it even if the price is ridiculously high!

This shot cracks me up.

At the war museum.

There were heart-wrenching moments at The War Museum and generally people are quiet except for the rowdy batch of students who couldn't care less.

Pictures of those who have suffered or died, all tell a story. That peace is ever so important.

Let these stories be history forever...

It was pouring heavily when we were there and got chased out when the museum closes at 5pm.

We decided to cab to the biggest mall and got cheated once again. A 5/10 mins ride costs us S$18 when the 1hr ride from airport to Ling's apt only S$17. Must people stoop so low just to make a living? Is making a living a reason good enough? Ugly mankind...

Ling happened to be at the mall and I had my first coconut ice-cream at Highlands Coffee.

Everyone says Vietnam's ice-cream is a must-try but I found this so-so only...
Because it was still raining, there were several places we couldn't go for dinner.

Eventually, we settled for an authentic Korean place near Ling's place.

Starters kept us full already.

Cheap & good at only S$8.40!

We almost ended our Saturday night at about 9ish but after realising we shouldn't waste our time like that, we went to buy poker cards and played till 1/2ish local time.

And the next morning, Ling got up early to go Ben Thanh market with me.

So sweet of her since she's not a early person :)

Bought some local food. That's it. No personal shopping at all.

Home sweet home.


I didn't like HCM enough to return but I enjoyed the company, the carefree 4 days where I didn't have to think about work and was able to do much impromptu stuff. Thanks Ling for being a hospitable host and thanks Mr. Grumpy for proving you can be a great travelling partner.

The trip was a good break from crazy things happening at work but it was back to reality shortly after.

I'm 2 years old with the company today.

The longest I have stayed with a company since I stepped into the work force.

I once see myself staying for a while here but lately, I have an impulse.

Because I'm really sick and frustrated of the unfair treatment and your so-called logic.

So much so I feel like leaving is probably the way to channel my frustrations!

But I'm an adult. A married one, ha.

I have to be responsible and not act impulsively like a 18 years old.

That being said, I'm still in control.

Don't push me... really.