Once Upon A Time: December 2013

This travel log is personal view of mine.

Flight form KLIA at 0530hrs local time was delay due to heavy rain. MH flight took usually 1 hr 30 min to HCMC Ho Chi MInh City.

Day 1 Nov 28 - arrival

The international airport is Ho Chi Minh /Tan Son Nhat International aiport. It was about 1930hrs local time in HCMC. It is 1 hr ahead of KL. It was already dark as is it was 2100hrs in KL. So HCMC is GMT+7, KL is GMT +8. Of course Greenwish is GMT +0.

It is located 4 mi (6 km) north of the center (District 1) of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). DOnt worry about this details, you would only wanna get a cab into the city, wouldnt you....

Weather in HCMC was fine at dry, partly cloudy, wind speed at 1.9km/hr. Relative humidity 79% with forecast clear and overcast for next couple of days. Pressure was 1012 hPA and visibility was 9km.

This was what the TV Weather Newcaster told ok. So dont bother about the technicality if you still in KL eating nasi lemak at 2000hrs and still in KL next couiple of days :-)

Above are somepics from the airport. Upon arrival not so many flights due arrival. Immigation issues visa on arrival. A lot of poeple waiting passengers at the waiting hall. Rasa macam celebrity pulak.

Most travellaers on board MH Mas flights are from KL, some look like rombongan Mak Cik Kiah, while others like below, shopping travellers...nak beli kain murah le tu..

Tourists are 80% from Asian regions, the rest from Europe and North America....possibly coming our form winter there and into sunshine in Sai Gon.
Sai Gon was it former name known before changed to HCMC.

Immigration check was a brisk. SOme look like season travellers who already been here couple of times. This is my first time here....tercengang cengang jugak but remain my composure, nak tunjuk cool jer.

Pleasent surpise compared to LCCT KL. No sights of tourists -cum-student, cum-maid, cum-platation workers, cum-construction or restaurant foreign workers. So i presume they are genuine travellers.

There'll be counters for taxis and hotel if you havent book any prior arrival. You may book hotels via agoda.com or booking.com. You can book via booking.com, and you only paid the hotels upon checking out. So, in the event you wanna change hotels, you can cancel and book another form booking.com. No charges i think. If there is any, my wife would have taken care everything...since she is my Finance Minister :-)

Travelling into the city....you may hire these 2 well know taxi company, Vina Sun & Mai Linh cabs. Fare is approx 9 to 15 USD. Some shops, eateries, outlets, SPA, restaurants do accept RM, while its easier to keep VN Dong currency and also some USD.

At this prevalent rate 1USD=21000 VN Dong. Dong is the name of the currency. Ini bukan Jakarta ya dong. So 1 RM=6500 VN Dong.

It takes about 45 minutes by Cab to HCMC city centre. 15 minutes by KL rempit motor bike, 5 hrs by walking and takes forever by back stroke swimming :-)

Day 1 - 28 Nov along the way to the city....

HCMC not than dense city by building but population wise could be about 7 to 8 million people. There are about 7 millions motorbikes in the city alone. This what was told by the cab driver, so i dont make up this numbers hehe.

HCMC has come along way preserving, beautifying and reconstructing old colonial buildings. Vietnam went thru phases of Dynastic era, into French time between 1887- 1940, followed by 1945–1954: First Indochina War, then 1954–1975: Vietnam War. Finally 1976–present: reunification and reforms. You can get more interesting facts about Vietnam from Pakcik Google tau !

You'll be amazed by how they decorate the interiors and exteriors of their old and new buildings. They are blends of French, European and local flavours that brought about the uniqueness.

These are the sights on the streets i told you earlier. 7 millions motorbikes, the main transporter. Some wear those colorful face masks, ada gak macam Hello Kitty theme....cute and comelz. Since there are more motorbikes than diesel vehicles , the streets are smoke minimal. Asap kurang, kurang pencemaran gitu.

The face mask sometimes double as cap as well. Kinda unique though.

Many streets have trees on both sides of the roads end-to-end. So, they are almost many shades around. Many street have their own pedestrean paths, wide enough to parks the bikes and sometimes the cars without obstructing the traffic flow.

Takde la kes double parking. Atau orang pergi makan kat restaurant or stall kat tepi jalan tapi nak parking depan depan kedai tu...

Vietnam Girls on wheels

You'll see these eateries by the road sides that have small stools, half the size of the usual chair. Even the table also half the size. Probably to save space. Probably to make the the place look more spacious. Nampak macam banyak soup time punya makanan.

Anyway, i thought of another reason, why the stoll and table are half the size.

Chances are; in that sitting position, almost in squating position(mcm MatSaleh yg singlet hijau kat atas. Suka la awek tu , ada pakwe omputih...), you'll get full faster so you would take small portion of food.

That is why i hardly see local people who are obese and overweight. Ok la..honestly.maybe,ada yang tembam and montok but not overly exceed your recommended BMI ... :-)

I was informed that the eateries by road sides, restaurants not allowed to operate 24hrs. So if they want to eat at 4am in the morning, nak rasa nasi lemak, teh tarik, char kue teow, roti canai ker, they better come to KL ok.

passing thru....

roadside eateries..notice the short size stools

Along one of the road to HCMC downtown

Junctions with no traffic lights

Day 1 - 28 Royal Lotus Hotel HCMC

We book the hotel via booking.com and stayed at http://www.royallotushotelsaigon.com.
You can check out the website. Being first time, so i think this is 4 star hotel and its located within walking distance to interesting shopping outlets.

"Royal Lotus Hotel is located in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City. From the hotel, it takes only 3 minutes walk to the luxury shopping centers like Vincom A, Vincom B, Parkson, Diamond Plaza and to the budget shopping places such as Ben Thanh Market, Sai Gon Square and plenty of stores in the neighborhood. Furthermore, Royal Lotus Hotel Saigon is situated near famous sights of the city as Saigon River, Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, City Theatre, Notre Dame Cathedral, museums, parks"

The caption above is taken from the hotel website.

Walking distance means, you have to walk about 20-30mins to those outlets actually.
3 minutes tu , kalau you can fly :-).

Exercise kasi keluar peluh sikit. Kalau jalan waktu malam much better, since they have banyak pokok, so its kinda nice to sweat it out a bit while windows shopping along the streets.

The address of the hotel is below:-
Royal Lotus Hotel Saigon

22-24 Thi Sach Street, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1,
HCM City, Viet Nam.
Tel: (84) 8 38 233 999
Fax: (84) 8 38 232 888
Email: info@royallotushotelsaigon.com

I tak dapat apa apa komison pon from this ok, cuma bagi tau aja. So you can opt to stay in other hotels to your preference and budget. For a better experience on the HCMC street its better to walk than hire cabs. We do 85% walking while we were here.

There a lot of cabs waiting in front of the hotels and they are metered cabs.

You can pay in USD or VND Dong. Better keep lotsa VND since they wont be loss of exchanges and you got good rates. As long as you got VND , you can more around easily.

Else.If you want everything free, you can still switch on the Travel Channel HD and travel from comfort of your couch :-)

There a lot of decorations ongoing in the city and at the hotels, due to upcoming Christmas Holidays.

Royal Lotus Hotel Entrance

The lobby reception. They'll greet you with complimentary orange juice for new arrival guests.

No other hotel provide such welcoming gesture this way. Small but thoughful.

Hotel lobby

Hotel lobby. from the PC with free wifi view

There will be 2 towers of the hotel for 11 storeys each, with about 10 rooms per floor.

Wifi is free, there are wifi routers on every floors, so you gonna have very strong wifi signals.

Boleh mintak kat reception wifi password dia tau. Macam biasa la kita mintak wifi password kalau makan kat restoran Ali Maju dan seangkatan dengannya.. :-)

The Esteem Hotel visitors.

Day 1 - 28 Royal Lotus Hotel HCMC
Around 2000hrs local VN time.

This guy down here spotted and old War time Jeep. Possibly fought and captured.
Sending thousand of American so called superior batallions in body bags. Historically , Vietnam War spanned from 1945- 1975 between North Vietnam, Chinese allies and South Vietnam supported by Americans.

The war ended when North Vietnam captured Saigon and reunified North & South Vietnam.
Americans casual of War was approx 60000. Americans only won in Hollywood "Rambo " sequels.