Tuesday, 26th October 2010 "All the people whom I spoke to prior to this trip were surprised that I would be spending a total of 9 days for my vacation in Vietnam. However, as the days wore on, I realised that 9 days were just optimum to sweep through the sights in a relaxed pace including some swimming time in Hoi An. Certainly, I had not regretted my decision to visit Vietnam for my year-end long break from home." On the morning of 26th October 2010, I went back to my favourite Pho Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh and baded farewell to the friendly folks. I'm not sure if I would ever meet them again. They were just a bunch of nice people and I sincerely wished them the best. After spending 4 nights in Ho ... read more

Saturday, 23rd October 2010 "You see it all. The nice-looking shopping malls for the rich and sophiscated. Affordability is another issue!" After my early trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels in the morning, I decided to make my way slowly to the Dong Khoi District in the later half of day 2. Armed with my google map (mate) which I had downloaded recently, it probably took me a good 25 minutes walk from where I stayed in District 1 to the entrance of Rex Hotel. At least this was how I would demarcate the start of Dong Khoi District proper. With its tree-lined boulevards coupled with the likes of Louis Vuitton and the Lafayette Restaurant at the Continental Saigon Hotel, I would have easily imagined myself being transported to Paris. This area was in stark contrast ... read more

Friday, 22nd October 2010 "You are not going to walk to your hotel aren't you?" remarked the airport taxi touts. "Of course not, there's the Saigon Airport Bus waiting to bring me right to the doorstep!!!" I was still sleepyhead as I forced myself out of bed in preparation for my early morning flight to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). I had booked my trip a couple of months back and was able to strike a SGD 100 deal with Jetstar Asia for my return tickets. The flight itself was smooth and it landed on schedule at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCMC after a brief 90 minutes on the sky. "Welcome to Ho Chi Minh City" as the words were inscribed on the neon board at the Arrivals Hall. Certainly, the HCMC airport ... read more

Sunday, 26th September 2010 Rise and Shine After a good night's rest at the resort, CW arrived at 7.40am to pick us up for breakfast this morning. Together with CW’s younger brother, we headed to the Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh stall located along a main road, in the middle of nowhere. The Sunday morning crowd was slowly drifting in and we were glad that we managed to find an empty table at the earliest instance. Compared to what we had in Singapore, the Kota Tinggi’s version was much darker in color and the smell of the medical herbs was much stronger. After breakfast, CW drove us to her father’s ship repairing yard located along the banks of Sungai Johor. Even though it was a Sunday morning, CW’s father was still busy at work. He was ... read more

Friday, 27th August 2010 I met up with KW at 12.40pm this afternoon at Kranji Station to kick-start our Johor Bahru (JB) breakaway. Since today was a weekday, boarding service 170 to bring us to Malaysia and clearing the customs formalities were fuss free and smooth. By 1.20pm, 2 of us were already at the City Square Shopping Mall which was connected to the new CIQ Complex via an overhead linkbridge. Lunch Stop: Nando's Chicken @ City Square Each of us ordered a quarter portion of the Peri Peri Chicken which came with 2 selections of side dishes. I took the potato salad and coleslaw. Both sides were more on the creamy side even though the chicken tasted succulent and grilled to perfection. I had reason to believe that fresh chicken was used in the cooking ... read more