Ho Chi Minh Day 5 - Shopping

Since many trips back, Daddy Lim and I recognised that we don't do well with trips with no itinerary. Daddy Lim would love to spend every minute doing nothing while I would want to pack every single minute with something. Haha. Day 5 was one of those days.

The day before, we struggled, trying to decide if we should book another tour with the agency booth at the hotel lobby.  In Ho Chi Minh city, other than the Can Gio tour that we had done, the other 2 famous tours are the Cu Cui tunnel and the Mekong Delta. Each of these would set us back by at least USD300 and would take a good 3/4 day. Seriously, it wasn't the cost. We were more worried if the kids and ah mahs would enjoy another of such tour. We eventually decided to spend the day shopping. The idea of spending 3/4 of a day under the sun was scary. It is really freaking hot. We are already lucky to get some rain for the past few days.

We woke up slightly later than usual and headed to the Starbucks around the corner for bfast.

The 1st stop was Saigon Square 1. There are plenty of good reviews - how things are fairly priced, the vendors are not pushy (unlikely Ben Thanh market) and the 2 levels mall is air conditioned. There wasnt much bargaining to be done. Shopping went fine, unfortunately I had a bad tummy cramp and had to turn the whole gang back to the hotel shortly before lunch. After pain killer and a short rest, I was good to go again.

We decided to go to Saigon Square 2 this time.  The mall basically sells similar stuff as its "twin sister". This mall is even more spacious. However, there are lesser stalls and the stuff are a little more pricier. Bargaining was almost non-existent. The kids did buy a few stuff. More surprisingly, there is a play area on the 2nd level and the kids had plenty of fun.

There is also a mini snack place beside the play area but serves lousy snacks. Daddy Lim had this duno what drink and he complaint loads about the lack of coffee.

We then decided to head to the Taka Plaza. Unfortunately, the taxi driver didn't understand us and we decided to head back to Saigon Square 1 to complete our shopping. We saw quite some stalls selling winter jackets and had been contemplating to buy them for the kids for our December Korea trip. The kids had definitely outgrown the old jackets bought for the last winter trip 2 years back. Vietnam is a country that manufactures clothes for famous brands and we saw quite some North Face jackets. We aren't sure if they are genuine, but definitely cheap. We eventually got Lil Shauna's Faded Glory jacket for about S$25 and Lil Isaac's North Face jacket for S$35. Yes, I know about the MERS virus in Korea now but our trip is still very far away.

We walked back to the hotel thereafter and stopped by for a nice coffee on the way.

The kids had plenty of fun back in the room. I am amazed at how nicely and long they played with each other this trip. It was like even if we stayed in the hotel room the whole day, they could self entertain with swimming, TV, ipad, bath tub and playing. They were happily playing while we watch TV and then we saw Lil Shauna running out of the bathroom with Lil Isaac tagging behind.

We found out that Lil Shauna had played with Daddy Lim's razor and cut her finger. She attempted to stop the bleeding but couldn't and had to seek help. It took a while to stop the bleeding. It must be painful but the little girl knew that she was at fault, that she shouldn't be playing with the razor, thus didn't dare to cry. It was only after a long while later that she started to cry so pitifully. She had to hold the finger up to help stop the bleeding.

The night ended early with dinner and more family shots.

We have a final day left. This trip is indeed slow and relaxing. After all the nuahing, I too got lazy and didn't do the Water Puppet Show, the Saigon River dinner cruise that I had intended. I too, wanted to hide in the comfortable hotel room. Haha.

Mummy Lim

Ho Chi Minh Day 4 - City Tour and Chinatown

While googling about things to do on Ho Chi Minh, I came across this free walking tour by the local university students looking to improve their English and expand their experiences. I signed up for one and we were to meet her - Tina on Sunday morning.

She is 24 yo and had just graduated from the university and is now a procurement officer.  She met us at 9am at the hotel lobby.

The 1st stop was the Independent Palace. The president used to live here. It wasn't that far from our hotel but the weather was freaking hot! We were all perspiring like mad by the time we arrived. Daddy Lim, naiani and Lil Shauna proceeded with the tour while the rest of us stayed with the grumpy boy at a bench on the 1st floor.

Our second family picture.

The next stop is the Notre Dame. We been to the one in Paris and now this one. It was much smaller than the one in Paris. The cathedral was also closed. We had some pictures outside.

The next, the post office. There were huge groups of students gathering in front of the post office. According to Tina, they are university graduates taking some sort of graduation pictures. The ladies all looked pretty in their traditional costume.

Then, we caught a taxi to Chinatown in District 5. I read that there were plenty of merchandises to buy here but it was so easy to get lost. There are like hundreds of stalls there. Unfortunately, most of the stalls do wholesale and it was way too hot! We did a little tour, bought some cashew nuts and went back to the hotel.

Tina had intended to bring us to some temples but Lil Shauna complained of tummy ache and so we headed back. Then again, we were all dead tired due to the heat.

Back at the hotel, the kids had great fun playing in the room and then swimming. They played for like hours without bugging the parents, who tried to be as quiet as possible. Lol. We ended the night with a dinner and back to the room for more TV watching. So relaxing. Lol.

Mummy Lim

Ho Chi Minh Day 3 - Can Gio Ecological Tour

We all woke up bright and early. We would be meeting the guide at 8am. The 2 ah mas use
d the free bfast and had free nice hotel bfast. Daddy Lim took the responsibility to buy us Mac bfast. I would usually do such shopping but the thought to cross the road on my own is seriously daunting.

We were ready and on time and met our guide at the lobby - Tan. He looks young, probably in his 20s. He speaks an American accent English, which he said was learnt in university. He has been a tour guide for 6 years.

All ready to go! The 1st full family picture.

It was a private tour and had the mini van all to ourselves.  It was spacious. As usual, I took the seat with the boy and Daddy Lim with the girl. After about 30 mins ride, we came to a wide river and the "car" took the ferry across the river, similar to what we had in Penang. Right before the ferry trip, Lil Shauna complained that she had a tummy ache and needed the toilet. We had to use the public toilet, which was pretty "sightful". The moment Lil Shauna entered the cubicle, whatever that meant to come out probably went back in and she said that she didn't need the toilet toilet anymore.  Poor girl.

On the boat.

While crossing the river, we saw a shipbuilding yard. Daddy Lim said that he can come to Vietnam to work. What??!!

After the ferry, it was again a drive for probably half an hour. That was when the kids started gotten impatient. Finally, we turned into a mud path, got to use some doorless and flushless toilet before we switched to the speedboat and started our boat ride to the conservation area.

The speedboat ride took about 20 mins before we switched to some kind of sampan and our visit to the bat cave. Getting on and off the sampan was challenging. There was some some swaying and it would be wise to all lean to one side.

It wasn't really a cave, it was a mangrove swamp and the huge fruits bats were hanging on the trees. According to the guide, some of the bigger bats have a wing span of 1.5m!

At the disembarkation point, there was a crab farm and we attempted to catch some crabs but failed. Haha. Daddy Lim had a glimpse of one of them and said that it was huge!

After the bats cave, we took the speed boat to the crocodile farm nearby. We alighted from the boat and had to wait for some shuttle to bring us to feed the crocodiles. While waiting, we climbed this tower to have an bird's eye view.

Then some pictures with the huge crocodiles.

We saw some baby crocodiles before we board this metal boat to feed the crocodiles. Lil Isaac said that they looked like chameleon.

We used this home made rod with pieces of eel as baits to "fish" the crocodiles. There was this loud "pop" sound when the crocodiles snapped at the bait. They must have used a lot of force! The crocodiles were huge! Lil Shauna had fun feeding them. Lil Isaac was a little overwhelmed.

After the crocodile farm, we took the speed boat back to where we started off then another short car ride to the beach for seafood lunch like the locals.

The eating place was right next to the beach and there were many people swimming. The eating places come with many low tables, mini beach chairs and even hammock! There were many people peddling their seafood. The food was very fresh. We had tiger prawns, clams and catfish. It was very yummy.

We all enjoyed the lunch except for the little boy. The food wasn't to his liking and he just dozed off when we reached the eating place. He wouldn't even walk back to the van.

After lunch was the final destination - monkey island. The kids had been so excited about it. Lil Isaac said that he would make monkey talks with the monkeys. The so called island wasn't huge. We took this dirt path and was met by the local who would scare away the big naughty monkeys so that we could feed the baby monkeys.

The baby monkeys swarm the moment they knew that we came with food.

Lil Shauna was so happy feeding the monkeys. After a while, the monkeys became braver and started climbing onto the girl. Lil Isaac was hysterical with fear, running and hiding. Lol. None of that monkey talk happened. Then he spotted this monkey trying to steal a keychain  off another tourist's bag and he lost it and started crying that he wanted to go home. Daddy Lim had to carry him and he cried all the way out of the island. Haha.

We took the van and started out 1 hr car ride back to the hotel. Lil Isaac resumed his nap while the rest of us doze whenever.

Overall, the trip had been great. It was a great educational tour. I even saw a horseshoe crab! I have never seen a live one. It was also a great experience. We would never have such an experience in Singapore. Though pricey, but worth it.

Mummy Lim

Ho Chi Minh Day 2 - Tiniworld & Ben Thanh Market

I had to go to the Vietnam office today. I had been worried that I would oversleep and woke up to shock when I saw the bright sky outside of the window! Was I late? Luckily not. The sky brightens at 5 am in Vietnam! It was 5ish and I doze on and off to 7 am. Lil Shauna was up at 6am, complaining that she was bored. Luckily Mr iPad came along with us and boredom is something that he could easily handle. Hoho.

We all had troubles sleeping in. The 2 ah mas came over at 8pm and they all headed for bfast. I munched on sandwiches that I bought the night before and got ready for work. The driver would be picking me up at the hotel at 8.30am.

The office was about 20 mins drive away. It didn't feel that far, just that there were quite some vehicles on the road and traffic was a little slow at times. On the way to office, I saw that  there was quite some food places, including a japanese place near to our hotel and made a mental note for dinner place tonight.

I couldn't get connectivity until the afternoon and found out that the family was already back at the hotel. They were supposed to head to this indoor playground that some seem to fave about on the Internet - Tiniworld. I had high hopes but was told that it was really tiny. They spent about 3 hrs but was totally worth the price. With all the fun, it was less than 200k VND, about S$13. I was also informed that Lil Shauna was down with fever this morning for no apparent reason. She had taken 2 doses of fever medicine.

My work ended at about 3 on and I came back to the hotel. Daddy Lim and the kids were just back from swimming. The kids spent another good 10 mins soaking in the tub before we headed out for an early dinner. We had Japanese food at the Japanese restaurant that I spotted this morning and the food was delicious! Before dinner, we had some fun at the playground in the park opposite our hotel with other local kids.

The boy fell asleep during dinner and we had to wake him up using ice cream. They have Baskin Robbins!

We attempted to go to the Ben Thanh night market again but were too early - the night market hasn't been set up yet. We eventually brought some fruits from the make shift stall and headed back to the room with 2 tired kids. Popo bought us lychee, which is in season now and super sweet and yummy!

Given that we had an early morning, we headed to bed at 8ish. We would be heading to the Can Cio Ecological Park the next day. I hope it is good. We have booked an expensive private tour. Good night Ho Chi Minh.

Mummy Lim