Vietnam Journey - Day 4 - Saigon (Sept 26, 2007)

Rushed to Sinh Cafe - the local travel agency - to enrol for the half-day Cu Chi Tunnel tour. I actually went there during my previous visit to Saigon a few years ago but I thought it looked strange if Denis hadn't visited it for his Saigon trip. Spent about 2 hours on the bus again. Before arriving Cu Chi, the bus stopped somewhere officially for the group to use washrooms + practically "allowed" the group to shop for souvenirs. Coincidentally I met my friend Sammy and his wife in the souvenir shop.

As soon as we arrived the Cu Chi Tunnel which is located inside a forest, it rained heavily. You can imagine how bad it is when you're in a forest while it rains heavily. But anyway we had to move. It was really a challenge for me to enter the tunnel again 'cos it is really a small one. I was almost exhausted already when I was in the middle of the tunnel. Denis and I tried shooting with M16 and AK47 at USD26 - pretty expensive - though it was fun.

After we were back to Saigon city, we rushed to a supermarket to shop for some frozen Vietnamese food and spring rolls. Having had a big lunch again, we proceeded to a place for massage and shower (without this shower, everybody in the plane would have fainted when we boarded the plane!) before rushing to the airport.

I really love the journey!

It's time to face the reality ... the piles in my office and my mailbox! Well, life can be fun sometimes but most of the time, it's tough!

Vietnam Journey - Day 3 - from Phan Thiet to Saigon (Sept 25, 2007)

Had a good sleep on the 2nd night and woke up at 10am when Denis was already out for swimming already. Joined Denis and Qing in the beach but I didn't swim. After that, we checked out, had some food and then boarded thew bus departing for Saigon.

Unlike the Saigon-Mui Nei bus ride - which was a loooong journey, this return journey looked like a pretty short one. The driver pressed his horn every other minute, meaning that I heard a few hundred times throughout the ride. I guess all passengers were annoyed. But this is normal 'cos as an Australian passenger said to me 'Vietnam is a fun place but when it comes to traffic, there is no rule'.

We boarded a taxi and sent Qing to her friend's home and then settled in a noddle shop nearby. Tried for the first time in this journey authentic Vietnamese beef noddles - Pho. We also ordered some more food and drinks + desert. Everything altogether cost us VND80000 - which is around HKD40!!! Yes HKD40!!! Very good food indeed!

After dinner, we took a taxi and randomly found a hotel for tonight. Bought some Durian and Mango and have just finished them off. Pretty tired now ... About time to go to bed in preparation for the last day of this journey.

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.

From Pizza ... Hamburger to Hotpot ...

2nd Visit to Shanghai in 3 months

After the Shanghai visit in Jan this year, I spent another 3 days this week with my colleague Christy in Shanghai.

Grace (a HK colleague working in our Shanghai office) helped us book a room in Regal East Asia Hotel (a good one: clean & spacious) located in HengShan Road. Probably 'cos our rooms were booked via our office in Shanghai, we got upgraded to executive floor with a better room (thank you Grace for your help!)

We spent most of our time during office hours in a vendor's office located in Pudong . After work, I had a walk in Nanjing Road and the Bund ... had some Xiao Lung Bao (Steamed Soup Dumpling) ... Grace took us to Xiao Nan Guo 小南? for Shanghaiese cuisine on the 2nd day afternoon. We decided not to have Chinese food again on the 2nd night ... and had some Turkish food in Hengshan Road.

The more I see in China, the more I believe in the promising developments of China. People are getting more wealthy and no doubt people will have a higher spending power in the years to come. They're more concerned about quality lives ... that's why banks, insurance companies, shops selling luxurious stuff such as watches are everywhere. I'm just waiting for some good prices when I purchase some more stocks of the Bank of Communications, ICBC and Mengniu :) These three are my favourites for the time being ...