Vietnam Journey - Day 1 - Saigon (Sept 23, 2007)

Non-stop flying - Hong Kong - London - Hong Kong - Ho Chi Minh City

After the killing flight from London, I didn't really have rest 'cos by the time I was home, I unloaded everything from my little baggage and reloaded that with old t-shirt and shorts (I plan to throw them all in Vietnam!). Managed to finish packing at around 2am and then slept for 4 hours. My brother Anthony then gave me a ride - how lovely! - at 6am to the airport.

Arrived Ho Chi Minh City (also known as Saigon) at around 11pm. The flight was not full but when I looked around I felt that I was surrounded by 90% Vietnamese and the rest foreigners (Americans fighting the Vietnam war again!?).

I've great pleasure to see the brand new airport which was unrevealed just this month. Its design and various hardware are world-class but Vietnam still lags behind in terms of their software - the people and the operation efficiency.

Met my friend Denis in the backpacker paradise - Pha Ngu Lao. He came the day before. I was supposed to arrive with him together yesterday but somehow I couldn't in view of the London business trip.

Had some light food (costing me VND170000!!!) together with Denis after he checked-out his room. We decided to move to a slightly better hotel - Vien Dong Hotel - in the same district with room rate at USD77. It was a 3-star hotel with a decent room. We then headed to the War Remnants Museum to see some exhibits used in the Vietnam war. A lot of pictures showing how cruel Americans (some are really disgusting!) were but I guess both Vietnamese and Americans were cruel when they were at war.

Had some authentic Vietnamese coffee afterwards and then took a taxi to the general post office - Bun Dien T.P. - it was built in the 18 century during when Vietnam was still a colony of France.

When it comes to vacation, you'll find that time runs quickly. We headed to Square One of the Park Hyatt Hotel for Vietnamese dinner. The coconut drink, lamb chop, fresh scallops, river shrimps and the authentic spring rolls all deserved our big hands! If you consider local living standard, the dinner costed us a fortune 'cos we paid USD120. But with the good food and cozy environment, the price is reasonable.

Caption Brad Sailing in Sai Kung

Finally I got some the photos taken during my Aug 18th sailing journey with my brother Anthony, my colleague Wing and Wing's friend - Jacqueline.

The photos were the last batch taken with Jacqueline's camera before that was damaged during the journey ...

All of us were supposed to be in safety jacket but then my brother Anthony and I didn't feel good with that thing on our body and thus both of us threw that aside. Unlike the previous journey, this time we brought a bottle of sunblock spray with us and thus you see from the photo, I looked ok then and I'm ok now without any sunburn ... but obviously I need some exercise to make my "muscles" (if I may call them muscles") firmer (my friend Denis commented a week ago that I looked firmer lately. I doubt his standard though!).

Cast Away ... Episode II

Haven't been a sporty boy for quite some time. Wing, my brother Anthony and I spent the best part of yesterday (Saturday) in Sai Kung for sailing.

This time, we didn't go to any public water sports centre nor the Outward Bound Centre. We deliberately paid a premium to try private facilities in Sai Kung - and indeed it was not bad at all! All we need to do were to bring ourselves, some water and money there without any hassle to set up (before the sail) and dismantle/clean the boat (after the sail). You know sailing itself is fun ... but the dirty work before and after the sail is killing!

Wind speed was reasonable yesterday but the extra sunshine was too much for me, considering that I didn't bring suntan oil (and thus my arms and neck are all red now like roasted pig!). The sail was great fun really. I even jumped into the sea to swim ... life can be fun like that. It could also be boring like hell. It all depends on what we choose ...

Read my previous post Cast Away Episode I