Shopping VS History @ Saigon, Vietnam

only 2 hours flight from KL to Saigon (name lame utk Ho Chi Minh). dkt cz SGN ni area Selatan Vietnam. local time lambat 1 jam jek dr KL. local language? 1 patah haram aku x phm. hard to learn cz they all ada 5 accents with 5 different meaning. Oh my goodness. xnk la belajar.. airport dia sgt convenience plus comfort. from airport to town x smpai stgh jam klu x jem. tp klu jem, kena tmbh lg stgh jam.

currency : RM1 = 6,900 Vietnam Dong. they all xde pkai coin.

hotel used : kingston 3 star hotel. location wise. cz dkt ngan Ben Thanh Market. ben thanh bukak smpai kul5 jek. so, bile mlm shopping kat pasar malam sblh kiri n knn ben thanh lak. breakfast kt hotel boley laaa. asal ade roti, fruits sket, hot drinks....

What To Do? 

Saigon City Tour : Notre Dame Cathedral & Centre Post Office (dua2 ni located next to each other. nothing much. boley gak lepak2 amek gmbo kat dpn cathedral tuh) . War Remnants Museum (ada museum psl zmn perang - cian dorg tau. lambat nk merdeka. kat situ ada byk heli, kete kebal, pesawat mcm2 yg tentera US pkai time serang Saigon. once upon a time.....) City Hall, China Town etc etc etc.

Cu Chi Tunnels : spend half day gak kat sini. 1 jam lebey dr town. sgt pns even duk dlm utan. visit khemah tym dorg perang, tgok lubang kecik yg jdk pintu kluar msok ke tunnel dorg, tgok jerangkap samar, kilang senjata, peluru.. items zmn perang la sng ckp. then, they all bg chance try msok tunnel. sorry, not interested. aku pnah ade asma. xbran. dlm tu sempit, ventilation xde. sunggoh, aku x merase seksa local ppl tym perang dulu... tp yg aku tau, since dorg duk dlm tnh; dlm tu ada rumah dorg, ada hospital, ada shelter etc spjg 200km - connecting to each other. leh sesat dlm tuh. dah la golap. interesting kan

Mekong Delta :  naik small boat kat My tho jetty. along Tien River, sightseeing 4 islands, Long, Lan, Phuong and Thoi San. Benti kejap kat local coconut candy shop, tgok dorg wat product dr kelapa. pastu pegi orchard Qui Islet, minom tea + honey. mkn buah2 kat umah En Nam Ngo smbil layannn kakak2 nyanyi lagu2 tempatan. "bila rase gembira tepuk tangan clap clap...". then, yg plg best bile naek sampan. haha aku xpnah nek smpan cm gini. jaoh gak dlm 15 mins. makcik tua yg kayuh tau. gile kuat. n mmg noticed, makcik2 tua sume yg kayuh. org laki leh dikira. and... makcik2 kat sane sume pkai bju jarang2 nmpk bra. dayung lalu coconut creek. air sungai dia kaler brown. cm air teh tarik. x jernih lgsong. maybe sbb tanah lumpur kat tebing sungai... balik ke town yg jaraknye 1 jam lebey.

Shopping? tak sah klu x shopping, kn?kan? ade Tax Center, Saigon Square, Ben Thanh, Binh Tay, Russian Market, Hong Anh Shop. x sgka dorg ada byk tmp nk d'shopping kan. plg best, Binh Tay cz byk kain ela yg murah giler kat sane. ada quality. n pricing klu convert in ringgit dlm RM 30 utk 4 meter. cmtu la lebey kurg. kain dia lebar, compared with kain2 kat M'sia. aku beli 4 psg kain shifon, and kakak tukang jahit bgtau aku yg kain ni lembut, "sejuk" and serap peluh. pendek kata sgt2 ada quality. Dia pon tergezut bile aku ckp harga 4 meter RM30 jek. siap ada lining and 2 meter kain licin utk wat kain. kat Ben Thanh pon ada byk kain, souvenir, bags etc. part yg xbest, nk msok Ben Thanh (ikut pintu blkg) ada auntie2 jual organ dalaman 'pig' yg kureeeeng enak baunyer. yg pasar malam tu byk baju kurung siap beads n telekung yg byk sulaman pon byk kat sane. surprising, byk brg Muslim kat Saigon even Muslim community kat cni x smpai 10% pon.

Talking bout that, aku tertarik dgn costume dorg dgn topi vietnam (ala2 tudung saji zmn dlu2) tuh. ok, Saigon also famous with 'tailoring'. klu ada duet lebey sket, you can ask the tailor utk jahitkan baju you and it can be done within a day, and then dorg akan hantar kat hotel mane u stay. tapi... baju vietnam agak sexy and ketat. if you noticed, org dia kurus2. maybe sbb negara yg x begitu kaya, maybe sbb guys kat sana x suka pompuan b'bdn besar and maybe easy for them klu nk msok lubang Cu Chi ; so gurls kat sane tend to be skinny and to have baju yg teramat ketat till x kesah klu lemak2 tu terkeluar. haha

What To See?

Water Puppet Show : slalunye puppet pkai tali n gerak2 dr atas, this one dr bwh, dlm air n gerak kan pkai buluh. sgt2 best. 45mins show yg even pkai local language from tukang karut dia, tp still leh phm cz use simple movement. sgt2 menarik, siap puppet dia leh smoking, naga leh kuar api dr mulut... intro dia in English. tp x boleh la show dia pon in English. nnt ilang culture n tradition dorg. btol x?

Traffic jam? : ntah nape aku rase traffic kat sini sgt menarik. maybe most of them bwk motor mcm org xde lesen. bersimpang siur. sebaek la speed limit dorg 20-30km/j jek. so accident tu sgt la sdikit every day. tapi kan, dorg ni bwk motor xtakot kenderaan lain pon. sesuke ati lalu dpn bus. my bus byk kali emergency brek. aishhh. careful la klu nk lintas jln. tp tgok org2 dia mmg sgt2 berani lintas. mmg slumber n aku mmg salute.

Where to Eat? 

 kat sane pon byk rstn halal. such as Saigon Seripenang, Shamsudin, 4 Season, VN halal, Satay House. n nearby Ar-Rahim mosque, ada lg byk rstn2 kecik. cm Halal Saigon, Bombay etc etc etc. 


oh ya, Saigon sgt famous with their local COFFEE. sgt2 pekat, pure and x pahit. you should try! 

oh ya, another thing. ade 1 bingka ubi aku jumpe kat Samsudin Rstn yg dorg ckp sodap. aku bukan peminat ubi, cz muak sgt mkn ubi dr kocik. sblh umh ktrg, mak aku tanam pokok ubi byk2.. tp so far, dorg ckp sgt sodap r. sebijik dlm RM31 (200,000 Dong). klu nk beli suku pon muley,, klu nk bwk blk M'sia pon muley...

 sharing gambau sket:

Duet Dong. kat sane terima USD gaks

sshhhhhh!! pintu masok rahsia neh

 cak!!!

kebabom!! kete kebal at cuci terowong

dr depan. Ben Thanh Mkt (bkn Ben 10 cartoon tu tau)

scaryyyy?. at War Remnant Museum

Cantik. Notre Dame Cathedral

Hard Rock Saigon. not much items & design.
but i do like the live Philipino band

Sightseeing. Boat at Mekong Delta

Unique. Water Puppet Show

utk view video, click here

sorry, aku pye video xleh nk upload plak. apsal ntah

Trademark. suke topi n costume dia

Duty free. shop souvenir at Tax Center

Fuhh sgt2 dahsyat traffic dia, takut nk lintas jln

Bubye~~