Day 1: 9th January 2013
FIRST TRIP OF THE YEAR, YEAHHHHH
Impromptu as hell. On the way to my cousin's 19th birthday party on Saturday, Dad was telling us about how he's going to Vietnam on Wednesday to play golf with a couple of his golfing buddies. I was like, Ok I'm coming. Then he shrugged it off with a laughter and later he said that I could actually come and I was like... Yeah I know, I said I'm coming. HAHA. And so on Sunday, he booked the ticket.
Anyway I caused alot of stress for ma pops cuz he was really worried I was going to die when I'm alone in Vietnam. My parents believe I have the mental capacity of a 10 year old which I may or may not object to (it all depends on my mood). Anyway in the end he let me go on the condition that he arranged a "private tour for me" which I later found out meant "babysitter/social escort who helps me take photos and imparts minimal Vietnamese history IN MANDARIN". I cannot keep track of the number of times my dad has trolled me in recent years...
On Tuesday Kiron called me at night to tell me he booked his ticket and he's flying in Wednesday night (we flew in the morning) so YEYYYYYYY. Mega excited. My initial plan was just to soak in quiet solitude by the pool and read some books but all those plans soon flew out the window as soon as Ki arrived.
I love this photo so much.
Left the house at 5am to take the morning flight. The flight to Ho Chi Minh is only 2hrs! I LOVE this photo. Dragged Dad to the duty free and asked if I could buy a lipstick. His reply was "Well.... If you really need it........" Yes I really need it the 30 other lipsticks I have at home are insufficient. :D
Left the house at 5am to take the morning flight. The flight to Ho Chi Minh is only 2hrs! I LOVE this photo. Dragged Dad to the duty free and asked if I could buy a lipstick. His reply was "Well.... If you really need it........" Yes I really need it the 30 other lipsticks I have at home are insufficient. :D
TOUCHDOWN
Two mini coaches came to pick us up. Dad had 20 old men going to play golf with him. Half went to the hotel for a city tour while the other half (with my dad) went to the golf course. They dropped me off at the hotel first so I could go on my tour.
It was my first trip to Vietnam and I was half expecting padi fields and slums everywhere. Hahahaha. But it was like any other Asian city. Some parts looked alot more modern and nicer than others of course, like in this picture it kind of reminds me of Europe. Amsterdam in particular.
Then you see this and it's like well yeah this looks more like Vietnam.
On the way to the hotel
Typical buildings along the streets of Ho Chi Minh
Hahahahahaha.
Their wiring really never maintain every junction had this mess.
Looks so modern!
Check in @ New World Saigon Hotel
I LOVE HOTELS!!!!!!!!!!!
And this hotel was AMAZING. Like seriously if you ever go to vietnam STAY HERE. The rooms are very spacious and comfortable (the bed is insane) and the staff are SOOOOOO helpful and polite. I think if I ever go there with my friends we'll get the King size bed and share the room amongst 3 (or even 4 if we're poor) people cuz the bed is FREAKING big. Think my dad paid about SGD $140 a night. Which is abit pricey but it's like a four or five star hotel and it's really really really worth it. And the breakfast is cray.
Lobby of the hotel.
Met up with my tour guide whose name is.... Ah.... Waing...?!?! I'm really not sure. He said something like Ah Wing and I repeated it exactly like how he did it and he corrected me and sounded exactly like what I said so I was just like............. Ok.
The driver and Ah .....Waing came to pick me up in a car and we went to our first stop!
Sightseeing @ Notre Dame Catheral
I was fine taking photos of the cathedral but he kept INSISTING that I stand in front of it and this went on for the next couple of places so don't waste all your laughter on this photo. Yes I am very awkward in photos especially since Kiron pointed out that my group of friends and I all have the same hand-on-hip pose so ever since then I have always made a conscious effort not to do that but the result is always this awkward turtle.
This catheral is about a 100 years old and the materials used in this building are all from France cuz the building was built by the French. Ah Waing was telling me this in mandarin and I took SUCH a long time to process every single word that he kept asking if he was speaking too quickly.
"French buildings all have the curved shape"
Ho Chi Minh used to be called Saigon in case yall didn't know (I sure didn't)
Sightseeing @ Post Office
I don't know why this was on the list. But I think it's because it was built by the French also and cuz it's old. They seem to be very proud of the French architecture or buildings in that era... I don't really understand. Anyway the post office is just opposite the cathedral.
AWWWWWWWWWWWKWARDDDD
View of the cathedral from the post office.
Inside the post office. A lot of foreigners there posting shit as well.
Driver and Ah WaingShopping @ Vincom Shopping Center
Hahahhaha. Stahp.
Waing told me lotus is the national flower. So cool I didn't know that.
The tall tower on the right is the tallest building in vietnam. 64 storeys. If i'm not wrong it's an office building. I tried to ask him but I don't know if he understood hahahahahahahahaha
We went to some other mall that just opened last year but it was pretty small and had all the branded shit kinda like Paragon. Then we went to Vincom which is kinda like Ngee Ann City (Takashimaya). They had all the higher end stuff but also had Accessorize, Ecco, Gap and a food basement.
I bought a necklace from here for SGD $12! Luvvit.
They had SO MUCH FOOD at the basement. Froyo, Chatime (bubbletea), Fanny (gelato), Beard Papa, Carls Jr, etc. But obv I wanted to eat my ROLLZZZZZ. This is called Goi Cuon- rice paper wrap with noodles and prawns and a slice of pork and veggie.
It's craaaaaaaayyyyyyzeeeeee cheap. We ate at like a legit cafe place in the mall and I paid SGD $4 in total for this and an iced coffee. In singapore I went to a Vietnamese cafe in Star Vista and NABEH I paid $12 for 4 rolls (like this) and $6 for the coffee. SMLJ?!?!?!?! Not that nice somemore. This one damnnnnnnn yumz.
Now Ah Waing knows how awkward it feels.
Lulz my face really
Didn't really shop much because he was with me THE ENTIRE TIME and would go into the shop and stand next to me so I felt kinda extremely awks. Anyway there wasn't much to buy in Vincom anyway unless you iz loaded.
Shopping @ Saigon Square
He brought me to see Saigon Square which is like Far East I guess. They sell mainly clothes but they are all fake and have Zara, F21 and Addidas tags.
Ah Waing dropped me back at the hotel at 2pm and I went to the gym and had the best time ever because each equipment has a TV so I was watching The Glee Project and Mobbed. Mobbed is freaking the stupidest ass show ever. In that episode they flash mobbed this woman's mom to tell her that the woman is actually divorced since 6 yrs ago and has a 6 yr old kid. I mean srsly. Anyway the gym had tons of cool equipment and I could charge my ipod on the treadmill dock. SOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOL.
Dinner @ Stix
Met Daddy in the lobby and we went for dinner with some of his friends and the person who arranged the tour for me.
Pretty chill ambience at the restaurant. It's at the roof top and had wifi ^^
There were so many courses. This was the oyster dish. I LURRRRRRVE oysters
Peeled prawns for Dad. He must've been very happy he brought me.
We had wine as well and I drank about 2 glasses and was SO high but I had to maintain cuz if my dad knew I got high from two glasses next time don't need to go out LIAOS
Went back to the hotel and met Ki!!!!!!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Waz so happy. We went to his room to chill and his bed was gigantic. Dad went to sleep cuz it was pretty late and he was tired. Watched Ki eat his fried rice (from room service) and I ate his gummy bears (why does this sound dirty- is it just me?) (hahahahaha)
Drank moscato and watched TV until about 1am and I went to sleep cuz I was so tired.
Day 2:
Breakfast @ New World Saigon Hotel
Woke up at 7:30am to have breakfast with Dad and Ah Waing was coming to pick Ki and I for our tour at 8:30am. Ki decided to skip out on breakfast cuz he says he doesn't take breakfast. By "doesn't take breakfast" what he really means is "CUNT WEKKUP. Please pack two buns for me"
Breakfast area!
They had a really wide spread... Which explains the curry and pancakes.... Hahaha.
VEGEMITE OLAWD. I regret not spreading it on bread and giving it to Dad he sure give me the "Fuck You" eyes again.
I don't really like pastries so I didn't try these, especially at buffet tables cuz they are almost always stale.
Dad's fave section
Kiron took this photo hahahahaha WTF is coconut juice bun?!
My fave section!
They had Pho (pronounced FI-UR) at breakfast but it was abit too heavy so i couldn't eat much
Sightseeing @ Mekong River
The plan for today was to head to the Mekong River! I was pretty excited because I studied Geography and it appeared here and there. I can't remember exactly WHAT about the Mekong River but probably something like the soil is very fertile (excuse me if this is completely off) hahahaha. The trip from our hotel to the Mekong River was pretty far tho, like an hour's drive or maybe slightly more.
They picked us up in the mini coach today instead of the car which was better cuz it was so spacious.
Kiron and I had several disastrous conversations completely in Mandarin with Ah Waing. His response to everything was a nervous and very uncomfortable laughter HAHAHA.
Ki trying to tell Ah Waing he likes sausages (I don't even know why this came up): I like the banana.... but with meat...........
Me: He likes men's bananas
Ki: STFU.
Ah Waing telling us about coconuts.
Ki: OMG I LOVEEEE COCONUTS.
Ah Waing: We're gonna drink some in Mekong
Ki: Sarah already got two
Me: STFU
Ki: Sarah's getting married next year
Ah Waing: Oh really????????
Me: STFU
Ah Waing: Where else should we go?
Me: HE WANNA GO HINDU TEMPLE. HINDU TEMPLE HINDUTEMPLEHINDUTEMPLE
Ah Waing: Oh there's a big one near the hotel!
Me: OKOKOK later we drop him off
Ah Waing: Oh there's a big one near the hotel!
Me: OKOKOK later we drop him off
Ki: STFU
Freakin' funny. I am damn sure Ah Waing thinks we are seriously retarded.
Mekong River! Low tide so you can see the disgusting mud.
Gonna take the boat
Ah Waing forced us to hug. This is definitely gonna be the most loving photo we ever take. FRAME DIS BITCH. Background damn fugs though. Photoshop.
The chairs on the boat were so out of place hahaha.
Had the whole boat to ourselves. Hahahaha. VIP. But it's only a 5 minute journey.
So happy in the hammock -_-
Went to a little village but it's more of a tourist attraction where they really MILK IT.
Kiron: "EH SURVIVOR SURVIVOR"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Honey place where they make honey and tea and lime for you and then you can buy some back.
We ended up buying a bottle of honey each at S$6.
Ah Waing kept asking us if we wanted to take the goddamned snake out and put it around our necks to take a photo I was like Olawd NO. 
Coconut (I'll take you to the) CANDY SHOP
These women sit there and package the candy individually by wrapping it and it is cray how fast they do it seriously. Like if you blink twice they'd be done with one already.
Wanted to buy chopsticks because my dear mother THREW AWAY ALL THE WOODEN CHOPSTICKS AT HOME and expects me to use the metal/porcelain ones and let's just be honest here I can't use chopsticks properly and the wooden ones are the only ones that work for me but don't get mom started because I shit you not she will give you a whole story on the poor laquering of wooden chopsticks blablabla. Anyway for some strange reason the guy selling it decided to break one. I don't know what he was trying to show me... That it's really wood? But why would I not believe.......? Hahahaha. Anyway it's really pretty and I bought a couple of pairs for S$9. But it's really common in Vietnam you'll be able to find tons of designs everywhere.
Bought this instrument for a friend because it looked so nice but turns out we all don't know how to assemble it.
Went to sit on da sampan
Quite a tight squeeze so the sampans bumped into others quite often
So much swag
Kept asking Ah Waing stupidass questions hahahahaha (in our defense we really wanted to know)
"Got crocodile?"
"Got piranha?"
"Got fish?"
"Got snake"
"Got shark" - This one courtesy of Kiron
SWAMP
Their muscles must be really insane
Sampan brought us to this floating dock so we had to jump across the boats to get to our boat.
Coconut time.
_|_
Back on land
Saw these huge statues. Kiron was explaining his retarded fear of statues. His fears are damn strange. He is also insanely afraid of cats and "dragons that come out of waterfalls".......................................
Lunch Date
Their presentation quite cool. Then upon closer inspection of the fish............
............. Nasty.
OTW back to the hotel
We passed by some area and there was a huge commotion and I thought it was just the 'hustle and bustle of a market place' and my back was against the window. Later Ah Waing told me that someone just got run over by a big truck and died...............................
I guess thank God I didn't see.
Shopping @ Ben Thanh Market
Dropped by Baskin N Robins on the way to Ben Thanh which is like a 5 minute walk from the hotel
The market (IDK how to pronounce but we call it Ben Ten like the show hahahaha) is AMAZINGGGGG. They sell food stuff to buy and go home to cook (wet market) and flowers and have a food place where you can sit and eat and clothes and watches and shoes and handicraft and home items. Basically everything. And it's really cheap. At first they will just anyhow quote you some CRAY price and you're supposed to haggle. You can cut it by about half, I would say.
Ah Waing was telling us about balut and he said he loves it so we were like OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLAWDDDDDDDDD YOU HAVE TO EAT IT AND SHOW US
For those of you who don't know what it is, it's a freaking DUCKLING. Like complete with legs and a beak and fur. So you can taste everything O. Mai. God.
I feel like vomiting just looking at the picture. Can you see the leg? Anyway I ate it. Like, the leg. I decided to try some. Ah Waing didn't let me order my own so I tried some of his and happened to take the leg and I freaking ate the leg I ATE THE LEG. And when I chewed it I could tell it was the leg. OLAWD I ATE THE LEG. All kinds of nasty right there.
Our shopping experience at Ben Thanh: We said bye to Ah Waing so we could walk around ourselves. I left Kiron alone at a watch shop for FIVE MINUTES and he bought 3 watches.
Meanwhile in those five minutes I wanted to buy a pencil case and ended up buying five. She wanted me to pay 119 000 VND for one but I bargained to 50 000VND (SGD 3) each if I bought 5 so I was just like..... Ok. Anyway the colours were all sibei nice so I just had to have all.
The main tip in bargaining in Vietnam is just to walk away. If they give you a price, just say no and walk off and they will call you back and ask you what price you want. Give them a damn low counter offer (But not too low otherwise they get angry and will ask you to eff off in Vietnamese hahaha) and slowly build up. Also, it helps if you look rich. Cuz the second day we went back and I'm guessing we either looked poorer or all the shopkeepers were in a bad mood cuz they didn't want to entertain us. And they werent the same shopkeepers as the day before so it's not like they recognised us or anything. But those that DID recognise us were very nice. Anyway usually after we all come to an agreement on the price they are sooo nice! They kept saying thank you and were like holding my hand (not in a creepy way) although in the beginning when you walk around they all will desperately hold your hand and try to sell you shit. "Wat you wannnn I haf many colourrrrrrr. You wan deeeeeees?"
Kiron also bought a shitload of little bags for his mother and I bought one which I'm gonna use as a shoe bag.
Later on a walked past a wig shop and she quoted me 270 000VND which is like SGD17? Which is damn cheap considering the prices in Singapore. I had no intention of buying it but 17 bucks is really a steal. I managed to bargain to 12 bucks HAHAHAHAHAHA. So I bought it. I had to walk away about 5 times. Hahahahahahahah. I also don't know what I'm going to do with the wig.
I can't even tell which is my hair and which is the wig in this photo.
Finishing up our moscato in the afternoon
The bed is. so. big.
All the shit we bought
Made tea with lime and honey for Kiron and I.
Called the reception to ask if they had lime and omg their service is impeccable.
Me: Hi do you have lime
Receptionist: Dearest Princess Sarah I am not sure if we still have lime but I will go check with the kitchen if you could just give me a moment and if there is I would be more than happy to send some up to your room.
Me: Ok
Receptionist: Your majesty can I assist you with anything else?
Me: No it's ok thank you.
Receptionist: No, your Royal Highness, thank YOU for calling.
(ok I may have exaggerated what she addressed me by but seriously she was so polite)
2 minutes later the phone rings
Ki: HARLOW
Receptionist: Hi Mr Cheong may I speak to your wife?
Ki: Here wife.
Me: HARLOW
Receptionist: Hi Mrs Cheong we will be sending the lime up shortly.
WAUUUUU v impressed.
Went down to the lobby cuz that's where the wifi is. hahahaha
Dinner @ KFC
I don't know why we'd choose KFC as our first dinner together in Vietnam. But we were abit scared of venturing too far and KFC was just round the corner. Crossing the roads in Vietnam is mad craysee. They have these officers dressed in green to help you cross the road in most of the touristy places. I nearly held the guy's hand when he helped us cross the road near Ben Thanh hahahahaha. Anyway the KFC in Vietnam is bad. Also did you know they don't have Mc Donalds? WTF? I thought Mc Donalds had taken over the world already. Anyway according to our guide it's because they want to import their own chicken but Vietnam was like totally NOT having it and they wanted Medonal to use their chicken but Medonal was like HAAAAAAYL NO BITCHEZ. (That's what I imagine their conversation to be like)
But apparently they worked something out and Mc Donalds will be in Vietnam some time in 2013. Either that or I completely misunderstood what Ah Waing was trying to say.
Dinner #2 @ Next to KFC
We were extremely dissatisfied with KFC so we moved on to better things in life in search of the rolls which we found so we happily went inside only for him to tell us they only serve rolls in the day time. I asked him to make for me now he said cannot :( I'm sure if I asked the hotel to make for me they would put gold flakes in the goi cuon and feed them to me :::(
Asking for Wifi password everywhere. But the only place with a decent signal was the hotel lobby.
HOT SWEET SALTY BALL
CHICKEN EGG SODA
HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA
Ki ate pho. The pho here was really yumz.
Went back to the hotel to wait for dad to come home!
Monisha (Kiron's sister)
(I'm just kidding I hope you all can tell it's Kiron wearing the wig.)
Dad as Snape.
At night we went to some night market right ouside Ben Thanh and ate goi cuon (rolls) there. HAHAHAA.
Day 3:
Ki and I had the day to ourselves so we decided to set off for lunch at Vincom at 12pm and then we could check out the war memorial and go for an afternoon cocktail cuz Bernie recommended some spiffy places to check out.
Dad took this photo of me at breakfast with his phone.
The plan was to wake up at 7:45am and have breakfast with Dad and go swim and tan on my own and then meet Ki at 12pm BUT Dad woke up at 7am and was like Hey homegurl Imma head down for breakfast now and I was like wad da faq. So I got up at 7am to go down with him. Had breakfast with two of his friends as well.
Yumzz
At 11:45am Ki still wasn't up so I tried banging the wall (The previous night I was at his room and we banged the wall and dad banged back HAHAHAHAHA) and when that failed I slipped him some notes.
Lunch @ Vincom Center
After all the rolls we tried this place still had the best rolls. It's called Ngo and it's located at the basement of Vincom Shopping Center.
Went to Fanny for gelaaatooooo. Their Rum N Raisin is insane!
The other shopping center with all the higher end brands is also called Vincom Center...
Walking to Rex Hotel to look for Chanel
Chanel Boutique
Davvy's Faveee
Afternoon Drinks @ Hai Ba Trung St District 1
Took a cab to 95 Hai Ba Trung St District 1 where BLANCHY'S TASH is and the cab driver dropped us at 74 and we were like what da faq. so we walked all the way down to Intercontinental Hotel cuz some dumbass bitch told us to and when we got there a lady told us we walked past it already so we had to walk back then we walked to this barber and asked him and he said walk up and then we asked someone else and he said walk down. WTF. In the end it was like 3 mins walk in the opposite direction of where the cab driver dropped us so we went up and down for nothing.
Reached Blanchy's Tash and it was closed. VEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYY GGGGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDD.
Surprised Ki didn't throw a tantrum. Anyway we decided to walk back to where the cab dropped us because it was on the list of places recommended by Bernz.
The Refinery @ 74 Ha Bai Trung Street District 1
Bern described this place as a small Dempsey or Holland Village great for chilling out. I showed Kiron the message when we reached and he laughed like shit because it is nothing like Dempsey but I get where Bern was coming from la. hahahahaha.
Drinks here damn cheap. Like I paid SGD6 for my Mojito. It was damn strong and I got so high everything started spinning after half the Mojito. HAHAHAHA. Lame.com.sg iz me.
Ben10 Round 2 @ Ben Thanh Market
Ki wanted to buy shirts and this champion quoted him 400 000VND for one which is SGD24 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA We just burst out laughing in his face. He eventually lowered it to a much more decent price though. So all is good.
I bought a wallet and a make up pouch. Sibei pretty. I made Kiron hunt with me for the longest time.
At the wallet shop the bastard wanted to charge me 700 000VND (SGD 42) and only lowered it to 400 000VND and I tried for the longest time to get him to reduce it to 300 000VND (in all fairness we checked like 4 other shops and the lowest they went was 350 000VND). Eventually Kiron was like LETS GO LETS GO and I put on my saddest most pathetic face and told the shopkeeper my boyfriend don't let me buy and he caved. BAHAHAHAHA. Best tag team.
Outside of Ben Thanh
Vietnamese Coffee. It's super strong but also very sweet which I don't really like.
But it's good stuff.
Back at the hotel with our tea and goi cuon
Dinner @ Seafood Place
FEAST. Had snails (top left hand corner)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Damn nice. I love it.
Massage @ Miu Miu Spa
Dad and I went for some Father-Daughter bonding time at Miu Miu which was also recommended by Bernie. I was worried Bernie's recommendations were gonna be those damn atas and expensive ones but it turned out to be atas and not so expensive!!!
I found out that the dodgy potential happy ending massages/ hairdresser-cum-massage parlours are really cheap- like $9 an hour? BUT they expect the same amount of tips. So if you have a 2hr massage at 18 bucks you really have to pay 36 bucks.
At Miu Miu the price is about.... $32 for a 2 hour hotstone massage which is what we went for.
Was damn nice and had a lovely and cosy ambience and like really not lupsup at all.
NO HAPPY ENDINGS HERE IF U KNOW WAD I MEAN
Massage was amazing! Dad and I were pleasantly surprised by their high standards.
Went home to my baybee's room and he showed me this. KNN CAN CHOOSE WHAT FILLING FOR YOUR PILLOW?!!!? And I only found out on the last night. Srsly damn angry. Apparently most hotels have this also. I never knew....
Then he tried to chill the moscato in the sink and we watched TV and went to bed.
Day 4:
Massage @ Miu Miu Spa
Went for breakfast with Dad again and then we went for another massage at Miu Miu's. This time we did a 1.5hr foot massage! Think it was $18.
Foot scrub. All the dead skin hahahaahaha EWWWWWWWWW.
Good hair day. Checked out and went for lunch!
Lunch @ Pho Hung
This is the place with the damn shiok pho. They have brances in New York!
Gurlfriend
Street coffee shops. Ah Waing told us coffee here is like $0.06. (Vietnamese earn an average of only $200-$300 a month so it works out) But the coffee here is really bland.
Going home!
Ki had to wait by himself cuz his flight was two hours later. He flew SQ business class and his ticket was $2000 for a 1.5hr journey BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA i laughed like shit when he told me. He can buy more than 10 of my tickets with that amount of money. Really a retard.
Ate burger king at the airport, it tasted so good. Best burger king I've ever had.
Sobs. Was so sad to leave. Had SUCH a good trip. I really love Ho Chi Minh!
Can't wait to go back!!!! :)
Thanks for reading!
~End of Vietnam~
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