Hello Ho Chi Minh!

So I was gone. I was off to Ho Chi Minh City for three days! Really loving every seconds there.

As I have never visited Vietnam, my first thought was heading to Hanoi. Afraid of the safety, thought of Ho Chi Minh City. I asked Thong and since he would be there for meetings, I chose HCM City; I was born in a city as well so I am pretty much adapted to the city life. 

Although it was a short trip, it was a fruitful one!(Of course, having pre plan)

I took the Vietnam Airlines and it was 2ish hours till I reached the Tan Son Nhat International Airport. The Vietnamese people are really quiet people, be it in the plane or even in restaurants. 

I took the taxi and to be honest, I got ripped off twice :) 

Natively, I thought the taxis were expensive except the food. That was like 15USD to District 1 and I was thinking it was rather cheap lol. 

The first thing I saw... Two puppies were tied tightly towards the cage and they couldn't move.. :( I was really upset to see and I can't do anything...  

I settled my stuff in the hotel; called Thong and headed off to the Chinatown Market, Binh Tay Market known famously for their textiles, and wholesale of gifts and souvenirs. The funny thing was, the receptionists from the hotels proposed me to go to Ben Thanh Market instead of Binh Tay and asked me to bargain with them of course. 

The hotel I was staying was located at Ly Tu Trong; A & EM Hotel. I was applauded by their services and also after reading quite a number of bad reviews from Trip Advisor. The staffs were really friendly and helpful towards me. 

I really love what I saw in Binh Tay Market. I have read reviews on Trip Advisor and got a number of negative reviews from the crowd. But to me, it was a nice experience. People there were really friendly, helpful, and maybe due to the fact that I spoke to them in Cantonese and Mandarin as well. I spoke cantonese a lot when I was there. Vietnamese can be very fluent in cantonese as well even though majority of them speak vietnamese, depending on which district one is located I believe. 

Beautiful textiles! I got a few back and mum is going to make more dresses for me :) 

Also got some plush toys back for the kids!

The taxi was kind enough to wait for me for two hours and it was again USD$15 :))))  

I met Thong in the evening and we went for dinner at Cuc Gach Quan. They sell really delicious "home cooked" food.  

The Pomelo juice was freshly squeezed and the straw was made from the old stem of the Kang Kong vegetable.  

Aww and I love the Fried Tofu, Chicken Salad, Pumpkin flowers, fish and yam soup. The total bill was around USD$45. I paid by credit and luckily Thong was there because I got not much money left due to the ripped off, so I borrowed USD$50 from him which were converted to Vietnamese dong. 

I was real happy because I could order many food and I could share with Thong. When I was with Vahan, it could be a nightmare especially he doesn't want to eat much at night and wanted me to lose weight! :@ No freedom!! Lol. 

Sticky rice!!!

Then we went to Binh Tay night market together and experienced the busy night life. People were really hardworking just like the Thais. I can't believe they were very competitive asking you to buy their and if one doesn't agree with the price, they would ask you how much you want and that would be the beginning of the bargaining. 

Shells and cockles for BBQ!!

I really enjoyed my first night there even though I was alone. I felt my liberty- pure freedom. No longer thinking about anything with regard to Singapore and Dubai, Heinz, Fayssal, Vahan etc. 

Only when I was in the bed I guessed, Fayssal... 

Actually, Vahan texted me last week and I was like F***(Oh, actually I don't use vulgarity, haven't use it for years; many years(!), but thanks to those bunch of zenith that got me contained)... 

I wanted to forget you, even though I thought of our happy moments, but why did you text me... You made me missed you... My god! I am really trapped; trapped in African's and arab doctrine! I told Sasha. She said why would I care if I don't have any more feelings for him?
In fact, he took five days off and he actually thought of going with me and luckily not, otherwise, I will have no freedom anymore. Too much misunderstanding between us and partly my fault as well; I was too sensitive...

In fact, I have been thinking a lot about my happiness between me and Fayssal. I still remembered back then in Zenith, I was eating alone at the old Urban Bites. The American was talking to his colleague, asking her about the food... I thought he was Fayssal. Finally remembered how tall Fayssal is. I have been seeing a lot of tall people lately and I don't know why, I even noticed the colour of their skins. Just hope I could see Fayssal one day again. I just want him to be safe.