Ho Chi Minh City pt 2

Early next morning we had breakfast at the hotel. The spread looks tasty but had to stick to those that you know are halal.

 first course fruits, jagung and keledek..then I ate some bread and a hard boiled egg..I always need protein in the morning. We checked out of the hotel and left our bags at the reception.

 We took a public bus to Cu Chi...this is something you don't see in Malaysia... people sitting on the steps of the bus, there are 3 people sharing seat for two and some of them are not use to taking bus that they need minyak kapak . The conductor even gave out plastic bags to those who feel like vomiting during the ride.... and one of the passenger did vomit during the ride...nak ketawa tak sampai hati. I also saw that if you are with small kids or warga emas they will voluntarily give their seats to them.

two hours plus later (after trying a few times asking the driver & passengers where to stop but none can understand english) we reached Cu Chi tunnel. The locals also came here, not just tourists. I found that this place is not tourist friendly at the entrance, probably because most tourist came with tour guide or have their own driver. The fact was, we were the only tourist in the bus.

after paying the entrance fee we started walking and saw a pagoda.

 we finally reached the area where they are supposed to bring you to the tunnel. we were given a briefing by the guide there.

 DH trying to fit into the small tunnel.

 there is a trick to do this properly

 What a relief! Dah dapat keluar balik... we went back to the hotel to get our bags and took a cab to Sheraton, where DH's conference was supposed to be.

At night we went to dinner nearby...I'm glad there's a halal middle eastern restaurant nearby..I always try to eat local food when I'm travelling but not easy to find halal Vietnamese cuisine here. We ordered pide with beef.

and moussaka...yummy, price is bit more expensive than other halal outlet

Pasha, the name of the restaurant...so far this is the best restaurant I've eaten in Vietnam.

view from our room

The next morning I'm on my own...after a cup noodle breakfast I went out. Keluar aje hotel, motor dah start tanya nak pegi mana ( I'm just guessing, coz I cant understand what they said!). Taking all precaution when walking alone in unfamiliar teritory, I just ignored him and keep walking.But he kept following me in his motorbike offering me a ride... Sheeshhh... does this guy really think a woman tourist are going to take a ride in his motorbike?? somewhere in the middle of the road he gave up and made a u-turn..I was relieved, but not for long..sampai another corner of the road, another guy on a motorbike start talking to me...OMG...it kills my mood to explore and quickly look for a mall..I spent a couple of hours there and walk back to have my early lunch at D'Nyonya..

had my curry mee here...so so aje

During lunch break we went to Russian market..bought most of the kids stuff here.

then we went to Reunification Palace..we missed this the first day, thinking it was not open to public when it was actually closed during lunch hour. this is supposed to be the most beautiful room in the palace. the painting at the wall is actually intricate lacquer work.

There's also a helipad there...

going through the palace reminds me of the 60's spy movies..e.g James Bond, Jefri Zain, Nora Zain

We went to Benth Thanh market again for our last shopping..looking for kain baju melayu for DH and Irfan

The next day we walk nearby the hotel and saw this lady selling sort of a pancake/waffle, smells so nice..but since we can't talk to her in english to ask what exactly is in the batter, amik gambar ajelah..

In front of the Opera House  

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this...not that I could afford it anyway

we had coffee, kopi di Vietnam memang sedap..

Lunch time we ate at Pasha again, spinach and feta cheese pide

and seafood pizza. ..then we walked to our hotel, check out and waited at the airport for our flight. I couldn't get the same flight as DH, mine was 3 hours later than DH. I reached home almost midnight. Definitely a great holiday, would go again to other parts of Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh City pt 1

Last month DH & I went to Ho Chin Minh City. He had a conference and of course I tagged along..I always wanted to come here. We went there a couple of days earlier so that we can do some sight seeing before his conference starts.

Dah sampai airport Saigon..we decided to take public bus instead of taking a taxi.

 Tambang bas...less than RM1 per trip, but the driver charged us for 3 because we brought a big luggage...Ok..not a big deal..

along the way....banyak motosikal on the road...but no mat rempits.. We got down at the bus station and were supposed to walk to our hotel which is about 400-500 metres from the bus station. Lepas turun, baru je DH nak get his bearings right, he suddenly realised that he left his camera bag in the bus....with his PASSPORT inside the bag!!!! Lari kiri kanan, depan belakang looking for the bus...tak jumpa...I pulak tak boleh kemana-mana...beg kiri kanan nak jaga, doa aje yang boleh...orang kiri kanan dah start speaking vietnamese to me.. cakap english balik sorang pun tak faham,  Finally, a taximotor driver? (apa nak panggil teksi in a form of motor?) get DH to follow him to catch the bus..Alhamdulillah 15 minutes later I saw DH with his backpack...Fuhhh, lega...

 After declining their offer to bring us to the hotel using 2 motorcycles (ehh..takkan nak bawak beg besar pun naik motor kan?), we walked to the hotel, checked-in and keluar balik. We ask for a map from the hotel and started walking.

 city walk..wanted to go to war remnants musem, tapi bila sampai...tutup during lunch hour...at the back is Reunification Palace..we thought it was not open to public sebab gate tutup...rupanya it's lunch hour,..tutup jugak.

 in front of notre dame cathedral

 side view...the building looks very historic compared to the rest of the building nearby

 another view

 another old-looking building, we had no idea what it was...so we went to check..

 it was a post office! hmmm. interesting

on the way back to war remnants museum we saw this guy again.. ...trying to sell us air kelapa...siap suruh amik gambar, tunjuk ada kelapa yang fresh, belum bukak lagi etc.. last2 beli lah..sedap..

dah sampai...

this is another section at the side of the building... tempat pancung kepala...

 Ok..time for our late lunch...kepala dah ting tong, we stopped by a champa restaurant, very near to our hotel

 mango juice...taste like a mango smoothie...sedapnye..

 mine..pho noodles..refreshing

DH.. nasi with ayam pedas

appetiser...

 lepas tu pergi ben thanh market..cari kain orang kirim..cotton, cotton and cotton

 food section...lepas tu balik hotel, mandi, solat etc..pergi balik area ben thanh for night market..a good place to look for baju kurung manik, tudung, t-shirts and small souvenirs.

 this guy is trying to convince DH to buy his coffee beans....DH bought 3 packs, 1 for us the other 2 to give away.

Lepas tu we ordered just one nasi goreng for both of us, walked back to the hotel and zzzz..