14th NOV to 18th NOV! A trip to Vietnam where I'll never forget!!
Just a little fact, why is Ho Chi Minh also called Saigon?
Saigon is 'City' in Vietnamese language. Ho Chi Minh being the only city in Vietnam, is thus name Saigon! The City!
You guys must be very curious as to what I've done over there right? Like why go to such a place so randomly out of a sudden. Well, let me 1st explain the motive.
1stly, it was the idea of Mr Jia Xuan (our boss despite being the youngest in our detachment) to get out of Singapore for a break as a whole detachment; make use of our annual leaves and be out of camp together!
2ndly, the price for the air tickets is only $100 (budget flight) to Vietnam thus, very affordable!
3rdly, Mr Jia Xuan knows the place quite well
4thly, the exchange rate is also in our favour
5th, most of my detachment liked the idea, so we go along with it! Splendid!
so with that...off we flew!
The "we" includes
Zheng Rong
Jia Xuan (boss)
Chuan Xun and You Sheng
Our Best PT,
S-league player(sengkang punngol),
Safsa Player,
Ngoy M,
Raymond kwa.
... now more about the trip!
Money money money!
Ok, let's start with the exchange rate and money issues.
At the time we went, the rate is at $1(SGD) to 16000 dongs(VND)
The cost of the food there is set at 5,000 dongs for a simple bowl of noodles in the market to 100,000 dongs for those restaurant meals.
Coconut costs 20,000 dongs. Fresh ones! In fact, you can negotiate coz we bought it at "foreigner's price."
5,000 is enough for tips, but we usually give more.
Taxi
You can flag cab anywhere, even if it's moving at a different direction, it'll just cut in and stop in front of you
The normal cab can sit 7 passenger (sg only 4)
Taxi ride starts at 10,000 dongs and each jump is 5,000 dongs for every kilometers (the good thing is that the meter shows both the mileage and the time it halts, so every jump of price is justified right in front of your eyes)
Road Conditions
The traffic there is way alot more different than us, a little similar to China's(hainan island) traffic.
The cars are all left-hand drive.
The motor can ride up to a record of 7 people! Well, 1-3 is the common number of pax per bike though.
They don't really obey the traffic directions and signs.
Motorbikes forms majority of their traffic and cars are rather uncommon.
Despite the messy road appearance, accidents are rare. Fatal accidents on the road are even rarer.
Horns are free there.
Jaywalk is a must even when you see bikes coming towards you. (yes, we were freaked out the 1st time we crossed the road, the hotel's guard helped us cross the 1st time. We tipped him.)
I think there's no such thing as illegal parking. You can park anywhere. The thing we can't compete them is in SG, even with fines...inconsiderate motorists park anyhow. Over there where there's no regulations or restrictions...motorists will automatically park their vehicle nicely so they wouldn't block the pedestrian or traffic, like this..
they all do it. Nobody will come and shout at anyone or complain that someone's bike is blocking da da da~ how nice the people there are!
A little about their way of life.
The country, although it's still a communist country and not very well-developed, is still rather hyped in the city. They have bars, nightclubs, cinema, high-end shopping centers etc.
movie theatre
and Windows 4, one of their popular hangouts. Their service there is alarming. Once a piece of cut chilli was dropped by Jia Xuan on to his own jeans, the waiter at no time stepped in to wipe it off his jeans. Jia Xuan didn't even have the time to get tissue to wipe it off! Damn good!
And our hotel. Not that bad right? It's only a 3-star!
And for myself.
Anything else that I've done?
Haha...actually, went to drink alot at one of their club there, named Lush.
We actually met a masseuse there, who could communicate with us in English for she is an undergraduate. She recommended us this club (as our translator) and we had our last night there soaked with liquor.
and, she brought her younger sister ^^v (oei, she's 21 yo!)
Haha...shy to say, but I drank a little too much there. (which explained the serious rash i had upon return)
Over there...I danced the 1st time with a girl in a club! It was with the sister! Hehe!! It was surprisingly..cool? loL! I never thought of dancing with a complete stranger, until then! It was her who wanted to dance with me out of all my friends! Envy right? Lol!
Yea, I wouldn't do that in the past because of you-know-what. Now that 'she' has officially announced attached, I'm freed thus I'm more opened! Wahahahaz~
All in all, nothing else happened. Don't worry, I'm still a virgin! =)
