Saigon

Monday, April 22, 2013 by scabbers 4 Comments A⁺ a^-

Ever since I saw Anthony Grey's book "Saigon" on my cousins' book shelf, about 20 years ago, I've always wondered what it means. And when I know what it meant, I've kept it in my heart that one day I will set my foot in that foreign land. Of course, thanks to AirAsia and adulthood, I have achieved what I set for. Even if it takes me 20 effing years!

And I have to say, I enjoyed it very much. I enjoyed my companions, I enjoyed the food, the culture, the language (although I was cursed every second I spent in their markets) & most of all, I enjoyed the drinks.

We spent 4 days 3 night, which to me was not enough. Should've stayed there for a whole month so we can go to Hanoi or go bicycling at the countryside & maybe take a flight out to Pnom Penh for a while. But then again, I don't have a gold card. So I should just shut up & suck it up.

Anyway, the first thing you'll notice when you enter Ho Chi Minh City is of course, the motorcycles. There's not an inch of the road which is not occupied by these motorcycles.

And get this - they have the cutest helmet ever! It's like a cap, protecting your head from scratch and not from having it crushed to the ground. It's adorable.

And the second thing you'll notice is the wires. Oh my goodness I can't even begin how to describe the complexity of the wiring in Ho Chi Minh City. I truly believe it is the most complicated in the world.

* Try to have one of 'em short circuited & have it on fire, see what will happen.

We pre-booked our hotel through AirAsiaGo.com, selecting Saigon Hotel Mini 6 as our shelter for the whole 4 days. The price was RM63 per night, and on top of that, there's a 20% off the total price. Thanks to a promotion period they were having.

The hotel is located in Bui Vien Street, somewhere in District 1. This district is the central urban district of Ho Chi Minh City (information thanks to Wikipedia). This street is rather calm during the day, and turned hectic at night because of the bars, pubs, clubs & seriously cheap booze.

Room @ Saigon Mini 6. Yes, I am a mess.

All of us don't drink alcoholic beverages, so we found a small stall along a busy small lane that sells a helluva good, refreshing fruit juice. A large cup costs up 20.000 VND which is equivalent to around RM3. We had this drink about 2-3 times a day, and by the end of our trip we became best friends with the auntie that sells the drink.

Bui Vien Street

Mango fruit juice

Our hotel is about 10 minutes away (by foot) from the infamous Ben Thanh market. Crossing the road, at first, was a super hard task. There's screaming involved. The thing about crossing the road is, you just have to brace yourself & cross. They will honk at you, but just to warn. Chances are, you won't get hit at all - they go by at a slow speed, and they are very skillful at avoiding pedestrians crossing.

Crossing the street on an easy traffic

Traffic at night

Just opposite of Ben Thanh market is Nguyen An Ninh Street, a.k.a Malay Street. They don't speak Vietnamese or English here - they speak Malay. And yes, majority of Malaysians who love to shop at Ho Chi Minh will stay here. There's 2 halal food restaurant, side by side. The most famous one is Hjh Basiroh. We experienced our first Pho here. It was to die for! The meat was tender, the chili was hot, the portion was generous. Price is around 75.000 VND.

Kampung Melayu, a restaurant next to Hjh Basiroh, served more choice of food, with a protected & air-conditioned environment in which you have to pay for by their expensiveness in food & drinks.

For Muslims, I would say that you'll have to spend more on food. You'll be spending around RM15 per meal, for food and drink. So I am thankful that we have a Circle K across our hotel & auntie's fruit juice back in Bui Vien Street.

The only HALAL instant noodle in Circle K

Ben Thanh market - my first impression : oh my, a whole lot of shops! Whatever things you wanna look for, you'd probably find it in this market. Well, except for electrical goods, I guess.

Directory of Ben Tanh market

The best coffee is found in Ben Thanh market, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

We went lost, of course, the first time being in the market. There were pulling & touching involved once you enter. At first I was kinda angry with people constantly touching me, but after some time I got used to it. Bargaining is difficult. Sometimes they don't understand you & most of the time you don't understand them. The language barrier.

There is another market, Binh Tay, located around 20 mins away (by car) from Ben Thanh - in Chinatown. Much cheaper, much more aggressive pulling, touching & cursing involved. I don't see any westerners here, probably to them Ben Thanh is already cheap.

Cho Binh Tay

So Farah & I, the ones who do most of the bargaining, are being cursed by them at all times. Yes, I'm pretty sure they curse us for bargaining too cheap & walked away when we don't get the price we wanted. Us girls are interested in the materials. They sell mostly cotton. From English to Japan, from viscose to chiffon. Only half day in Vietnam & we've bought ourselves at least 3 - 6 pairs.

Cotton from 1st shop @ Ben Thanh, RM21 each

Cotton from 2nd shop @ Binh Tay, RM20.50 each

Cotton for Omar's family

Chiffon + lining for RM20 each

Cotton for RM20.50 each

Above are only some of the materials that I bought. Mind you there's another 12 pairs that is missing from the picture. Those costs me RM23 each. And the picture below, I took from a shop that sells ready-made baju kurung with a heavy duty beads going on.

From a shop @ Nguyen An Ninh

Haggling is fun, but when you have to deal with 3 different currencies, it becomes a headache. We haggle in Ringgit Malaysia, but we only have Vietnamese Dong & USD. So you have to have a calculator for the conversion of currencies. And there'll always a plus minus price over what you've settled for. Apart from buying materials, you can also make suits. It is said to be nicely sewn & comfortably worn. See sample below:

The bold tailor & the 3 businesspersons

We didn't only shop, we did some sightseeing & touring as well. Mekong river was done on my birthday, after a surprise birthday party the night before. I was seriously caught off guard, and so below are the only pictures that's appropriate for public viewing, if you know what I mean.

The "room service" lady & her friends. Notice Rahmat's hair?

My cakes & presents

So back to Mekong river trip, it costs us USD35 which includes pickup at hotel, breakfast, boat ride & tour with English-speaking guide, lunch, market stops & return to hotel. To me the price was OK, considering the food are all halal & there's only 6 of us in the group, so we're comfortably seated. Our Mekong tourist guide, I believe is a friend of Jack Dorsey's. She should be the blue bird representing Twitter.

Tuwet (pronounced Tweet), our Mekong river guide

Big motorboat @ Mekong river

Small boats to raft through the canal

The boys must've been tired paddling the sampan. Yeah, right!

The next day we walked through the city. The sun, I believe, was just an inch over our heads. We were sweaty, thirsty. We got burned, and yet we still walk. I enjoy walking, so I would say that I enjoy our walk through District 1 very much. Along the way we stopped at an air-conditioned mall to shop (again), bought stamps at the post office, buy drinks, take pictures, get cheated by the coconut-drink seller & get our sweat on.

I enjoy getting lost in the city of the unknown.

Rahmat and the coconut man who did not cheat us

One of the parks in HCM city

Park nearby Ben Thanh market

And by the time we reach the back of the Notre Dame Cathedral, everybody was super tired. I'm actually afraid to ask them to walk with me around the corner (because I want to look at the cathedral from the front), they would chop me up & eat me for lunch. So we took a cab home.

When we got back to the hotel, one of the girls from reception knocked on my door & handed me a birthday cake. They are the sweetest! So I took pictures with them :)

The girls of Saigon Mini Hotel

The next morning, Farah & Rahmat went to Ben Thanh early to do some last minute shopping. I stayed at the hotel, waiting for our tailor to come. The thing about Vietnamese is, if you make an appointment with them, always put at least an hour early of the time that you want. Because they will be at least an hour late. This happened 50% of the time.

So while waiting for Lan, the tailor (a woman), Omar & I had some alone time. Finally. Nah, just kidding. We went out to get breakfast at Highlands Coffee. It was difficult to find a halal place to eat in Bui Vien area, so we just entered & ordered tuna sandwich.

Notice the ring on his finger? My best friend's married & I don't know it.

My iced coffee is, again, to die for!

So after our morning runs, we settled down in 1 room to wait for 6pm to go to the airport. 4 of us, 3 of which is big-sized. 7 bags, excluding handbags. Cramped in 1 small room. So us girls stayed on the bed while the guys in whichever positions they were comfortable in.

Omar on the floor

The married couple organizing their bags

And thank goodness we did not run out of money & luggage size is not over the limit. Mine & Omar totaled up to 41.5 kg while Farah & Rahmat was around 37kg.

Safely arrived in Malaysia with smiles on our tiring faces. Thank you to my 3 friends who threw me the party & helped me throughout the journey. I love you guys!

We'll be back, Ho Chi Minh. That is a promise.