Chao Vietnam!

As promised here's my Vietnam entry. Hope this can help future travelers conquer their journey to the beautiful land of no Facebook. :P

And since I don't want to bore you guys to death, I'll just skip the essay like entry and just tell our weekend adventure through photographs + of course random outfit posts. :)
Day 1 - Airport and Hotel

Wearing - cropped tee from HK, forever 21 cardigan, online boots, thrifted shorts

And just for laughs--Mich took a photo of this pretty Korean girl and kept teasing me about it. "Fake koreana oh, ikaw tunay". Yeah. Right. Impostor! Haha.



Arrived in Vietnam very late. First thing we did was exchange our USDs to VND (vietnamese dong). $100 is equivalent to (drum roll please)-- 1.8 million dong! Instant millionaire. Lol.

When we got out, I got really surprised that they only speak little (as in little) english. We were just lucky to find Pinays who had been working there for a long time and they did the haggling of the taxi fare for us. From 500K they finally lowered their fare to 150K (still P300)! Thanks to those who helped us:)

And here's our lovely hotel, Sen Viet, which was as perfect as it looked in photos. Thank you Agoda.com!

I'm not a sucker for hot tubs but I'm a sucker for some nice hot glass shower. :P The room's clean and nice BUT there's some weird smell (like mixed herbs or something) inside that I can't battle even with half of my cologne's bottle. And no, you can't eliminate the smell, coz it follows you wherever you go. I think it's because of their food (which are mostly green leafy veggies)and the herbs they use.

They also have wifi and I was able to work a little. But apparently they've banned Facebook (and I think Twitter) there. Sorry. Should have left my laptop at home. Boo.

Day 2 - First day! Free time.

We had no scheduled tour for our first day. So we had all the time in the world to do our own explorations. :)

Started the day with some nice breakfast buffet at the hotel's resto. Free with Agoda. :)

Then shopped at Saigon Square which looks like a small Greenhills.

Was able to buy a dress for 140K VND! I don't know why, but I feel like having a shopper's heart attack everytime I pay (even though I'm aware it's just a few hundreds in our currency). Lol.
Had lunch at Pho2000. It is where President Clinton ate when he visited Saigon.

My meal--chicken curry with french bread. What a freakin' huge chicken drumstick.

Mich's seafood noodles. More promising than mine.


It was soooo hot outside so this place came as a blessing for scorched tourists like us. FANNY ice cream parlor. :)

We love the interiors! So Paris. :)

Our order. Ain't that little salakot the cutest???

My dark chocolate + caramel ice cream. I just died and went to ice cream heaven. :)

Since we can't hide in the ice cream shop forever, we then decided to visit Ben Thanh market.

It was disappointing. But I did buy some souvenirs for my friends like fans, cute magnets, keychains and figurines. Oh! and jumbo cashew nuts, Other than that, there are no more interesting things to buy there. Well, at least for me. They do mostly sell Bangkok items.

Trying out the Rickshaw! Which turned out to be a bad experience for us. See story below.

Story: Since they speak and understand little English, we had a misunderstanding with the Rickshaw driver. We originally agreed on 25K per person. We asked him to bring us to a supermarket coz we wanted to buy some supplies. No, they don't have 7-11 there. He showed us the "menu" (places he could take us to-- printed by their company) and pointed to supermarket--in capital letters. We said yes assuming he'd take us to a place mala
SM hypermart. But lo and behold! Their supermarket turned out to be a street market where there are different booths selling whatevers. So we tried explaining where we want to go again. I thought he finally got it when he said "Aaah shampoo? Coke?" so we said yes. He brought us to a sari-sari store. We thought, that's better than nothing. So we went down and bought our supplies (shampoo, conditioner, facial wash). We were on our way back to the main street when we passed by an old temple. He asked us to go down. We happily obliged, took pictures and offered a prayer. Then he tool us back to the "supermarket" (the one on the street). We were happy with his service so we decided to give him extra. We went down and I gave him 80K VND (thinking our fare was just 50K). But he got mad, he said we should pay 300K!!! I got confused and we started arguing. Turned out it was 25K per stop. Yeah, it sucks! I was fuming mad. And 300K (which was P600) is just too much. Mich told him we will just pay 150K, nothing more. He still kept on shouting. So Mich dragged me away and he finally agreed to 150K. I told him straight to his face, "BAD!".... So we never rode a rickshaw again. Haha.

The only Buddhist temple.

Writing our names for goodluck.

Huge huge incense. It will burn for a month. And that piece of paper there has our (me and my family's) names.:)

Unlike us, their main source of transpo are motorbikes. Invasion!!!
Love the yellow Vespa ones. :)

Old school rickshaw. Shala.

Finally found a huge supermarket inside a mini mall. Thank God!
And look what I found!!! HELLOOO, Panda! and SUPER Lollies!

Our grocery bill--heart attack! Almost half a million. Lol.

Art galleries all over the city. :)

Went home and wore shorts (it was so hot it felt like i'm in an oven)

Visited the local bakery. They have the cutest cakes!

And I just died for this pudding. Yum.

Colorful sticky rice that Mich was so eager to buy. Tasted like Binatog. Lol.

Um, eew?


A stand alone DM's store! :)


Shoe heaven. But was only able to buy a pair of black flats. :c

So because we've had enough of green leafy vegetables, my eyes lit up when I saw this resto. "Yipee Banana Leaf? I want rice! I want thai food!"

Imagine my disappointment when I saw this on our table. A plate of towering green leafy veggies. Then we found out the resto sign doesn't say Banana Leaf--it says Vietnamese Pancakes. Boo.

Funny story: Thought this was a whole plate of appetizer (just like in Pho Hoa). So I kept on munching (and dunking in vinegar) and chopstick-ing away like there's no tomorrow.

ALAS! The plate of leaves turned out to be the "main course!" and a staple in eating their pancakes!
Funny story: Mich and I had no idea how to eat this thing so we kept on sticking our necks out observing other people. The table next to us kept on laughing. Yeah, whatever try eating our Balut. :P

How to order 3 drinks? Cancel one. Argh.

Day 2 - Mekong Delta tour
Got up early in the morning to join the Mekong Delta tour by TheSinhTourist agency. :)

Tour costs $8 per person including this free water, guide and lunch! Not bad at all. :)

Our boat ride and tour group.

First stop - How to make rice paper tour.

Rice Paper being dried.

Apparently,you just had to grind grind grind.

And transfer the juice to this hot steamed cloth. (same philosophy with making crepes hehe)

Free taste! Yum.

This is what I got when I asked for tissue paper after lunch--um, paper.

Our new friends from Vietnam and China.

Went to another island after lunch--forgot what it's called (if it's Phoenix, Turtle, Dragon or Unicorn island). But we enjoyed the tropical fruit food tasting+ lotus tea with free entertainment! (singers sang their traditional folk songs).



Had to ride a horse carriage to go to the Bee farm.

Uber useful salakot. It covers half of the body! Forgive the hagardness. It was 37 degrees outside!

Authentic animal skin bags and shoes on display. Bawal yan! Lagot kayo sa PETA!!! Tsk.

Ate preparing our honey tea.

And that's our all around tour guide/funny man Tom with his BFFs. Lol.

Boat ride back to our other main boat. Paris gondola meets Amazon river lang.

Last Stop: Coconut candy making tour (forgot what island again, Lol)

Our amazing tour guide showing us how to skin and chop open an aged coconut.

Candy machines.

Tastes like Nougat. Yum.

Tour ended at 3pm. When we got to the city again, we felt so hungry. And we were so over green leafy foods that we were desperate to find any resto serving the unhealthiest food. Haha. And no, there's not even one Mcdonald's in Vietnam. No 7-11 either.

Just a short walk from TheSinhTourist office, we found the perfect place. Food was a little pricey but it was still worth it. Best mexican pizza EVER!!! We were able to satisfy our oily food cravings.

Best pizza. Delicious salad. And the best lemonade!

Fun facts: I enjoyed drinking Lemonades in Vietnam because it's pure lemon! Unlike here, we use concentrated or powdered ones.

Our bill.

I wasn't able to satisfy my shoe cravings, so we decided to look around. Found this cute shoe shop near our hotel.

Went home disappointed. They don't have sizes anymore. :c

Fun facts: The city is like one huge Greenhills or Tiendesitas. The shops are just lined along the streets. I even found a high end watch shop (Tissot) beside a carinderia (cheap eatery). Their malls just mostly houses electronic items. Clothes and other items have stand along stores.

Can't get enough of their eateries. They have these all over the city.

Fun facts: I observed that their staple bread is french bread! Imagine an isaw stall serving french bread. Sosyal.

View from our floor's fire exit.

Day 3 - Cu Chi Tunnel + City tour!

Good Morning sunshine! Tour bus to Cu Chi.

After 2 hours, I'm at the tunnel entrance!:)

Quick discussion before the tour.

I can fit in there!

Booby trap. Still can't get over the word booby. Lol.

My BFF:)

Mich's favorite trap. Haha.

This is it! Underground tunnel entrance.

Down a more narrow tunnel.

You can only walk on your knees or crouch.

Kawawa my scolio. Haha.

Heat + Ngawit + Dust = early exit.

Pagod?

They said people who lived here only ate Tapioca (aka Kamote) for 20 years. That explains how they could fit in the tiny entrances. And if I was there then my fave expression would have been,"Ay kamote naman talaga! Kamote na naman?!"

Outfit break before our next tour.Wearing: random tankto, Mango jeans, H&M scarf, Cotton on flats, Fedora from Vietnam

City tour started at The War Museum. And I got out with a crushed and broken heart. :c

Sculpture made of bomb fragments.

Looking at photos.

Just 2 of the many photos that broke my heart. :c

Went to The Reunification Palace next. We bought tickets at the gate for 15,000 vnd each. Then we walked our way up. It was super hot.

I admit I was expecting a lot so I got a lil disappointed when I discovered that the inside just looks like an old Manila hotel. But a lot of their history took place in here. So who am I to complain?

Conference Hall.

The President's Room.

After checking out the Palace we then went to the Post Office and Notre Dame Cathedral to take quick photos. If we were colonized by Spain, they were colonized by France. So that explains their french style infrastructures.

Outside.

Inside.

Nice ceiling.

Wasn't able to get in the cathedral coz we were so tired. Only got this shot from the outside.

Hot waffles!:)

Made some last minute shopping at Saigon square...


Overall--it was such a fun, wonderful and unique experience. Vietnam may not be as modern as Singapore or HK but it was really fun learning about their culture, history and life.

Love, love!:)