HCMC day 1

we arrived in HCMC and picked up by the company man to our hotel. We resided at the Bong Sen Hotel in Dong Khoi street, District 1. ni kalau kat KL, area Dong Khoi ni cam Bukit Bintang la. Happening semacam with all the branded outlets along the street. bukak pintu hotel je terus Tods. sebelah Tods ada Gucci.sbelah Gucci ada D&G. Bawah hotel ada butik Omega besar gile. tu baru depan hotel dan bawah hotel. sebelah hotel tayah ckp la. Tp seriously branded outlet dekat sini mahal sket. maybe sbb derang ni belagak nk gune USD takmo guna VND. setengah kedai tu ada yg dah convert siap2 currency pegi USD. tp apepun, location of our hotel is just so strategic. we are close to the halal restaurants, shopping mall, hubby's office and the mosque! see, we still have the chance to perform our terawikh here. :) well, the mosque may not be as big as ours, but it is just nice to accommodate minority of muslims in HCMC.

so lepas checked in, we decided to have a small walk around Dong Khoi Street. then we thought of riding the sit-lo. it is the vietnamese trishaw that will bring you around the city. but ppl, vietnam has a very bad transportation system. they cheat! even the taxis. there are a few that can be trusted. but most of them try and rip you off. specially when you are the tourist.we asked how much per trip will he charged to the museum, then he said a short trip should have been no more than VND50,000. and i tell you it would be 10times this amount. and we paid for more than VND1mill for 2 people. and the money just went down the drain just like that. so pls pls pls do not repeat out stupid mistake. i would advise you to walk and see the city.

so about the halal food, i can say that its not hard to find halal food here. bergantung sedap ngan tak je la. luckily cik wanie emailed me one of her recommended restaurant. and i can say that its a great place to dine. and plg best tpt ni dekat gile ngan hotel. betul-betul depan masjid. so time nak berbuka tu mmg tak confuse la kan dah masuk waktu ke belom. hehe. and mr hubs got a friend lived here. he helped us a lot with the place too.so lagi la senang kan. he is a malaysian but working here with schlumberger. he stays with his family . company bg dia rumah besar gile 3 tkt complete swimming pool. kalau ada masa, nnti kitorang visit dia. tp tula, mr hubs hari2 pun kol 530 baru abes. kol 6 dah nak berbuka. haih. ok for those going to visit HCMC, pls take a look at this. it might help a bit.

forget about it. let me show you few pictures that we captured on our first day in HCMC.

1) the opera house
Opera houuse ni besar sangat. ada 2 patung separuh bogel kat entarance dia. kebetulan time lalu kawasan ni ada org tgh buat main music.

2) Quach Thi Trang and Ben Thanh Market
org naik kuda ni atau Trang ni antara landmark yg anda perlu tahu sbb sebeleh dia ialah the famous Ben Thanh Market. hahaha.

3) War Remnants Museum
ni museum zaman perang. perang ni cam horror jugak la sbb vietnam kene spray dgn dangerous chemical yg menyebabkan kecacatan. gambar-gambar manusia sembelih manusia is everywhere. huhu. and perang ni tamat pada 1970-an which just few decades back. and all i can say that vietnam has a rapid development on the infrastructure.

4) Notre Dame Cathedral

ni kira historical building jugak la ni. its actually a church. mmg ramai tourist tgh amek2 gambo sume. and of cos la the newlyweds pun sebok jugak amek gamba. hari ahad kan mmg mcm ni. ade la time kitorang lalu kawasan ni dekat 6 pasang pengantin tgh amek gamba. pastu gown2 derang, makk aiiii. mmg taknak kalah punye. :P

5) sit-lo

6) kedai helmet colourful

jgn taktau HCMC ni city of motorbikes. so they need more helmets. helmet diorang ni meriah. colorful gitu. corak-corak tayah cite la. macam-macam. maybe motto dia: design and image comes first. safety second. kat sini motor lagi byk dr kereta. pastu parking pun disiplin je. rapat-rapat mengikut susunan even derang takde pun parking lots utk motosikal. tp kalau sape2 driving in HCMC mmg perlukan kesabaran plg tinggi. ingatkan jakarta dah teruk. HCMC lagi dahsyat. honking is the favorite past time i can say.

ok lepas tu ktorang balik hotel untuk berehat-rehat. and i do my homework on the route. haha. then, siap-siap utk turun bukak puasa. tp cam turun awal sikit sbb nak pegi solat kt masjid. kt bilik tatau kiblat. at least pegi sana tau la kiblat mengadap mane kan.
pemain muzik tradisional di lobby

taraaa..saya sudah sampai utk berbuka puasa untuk pertama kalinya di HCMC. dekat sini berbuka awal. pukul 6.17pm dah masuk waktu. and halal @ saigon offers variety of food, both vietnamese and malaysian food. yg kelakarnye, time kitorang dtg ni, siap pasang lagu alleycats lagi. haha.

okla thats all for now. i wish it can help a bit for those ppl going to HCMC later. :)

have a great Monday ppl!