This trip was planned at a very last minute. Hubby wanted to claim his enrich points before it got expired. So we decided to go to Ho Chi Minh City also previously known as Saigon in Vietnam :) As Izzaty got kelas tambahan this school holiday, we decided not to bring both kids along. Dok rumah diam2 okay... finish your school holiday homework :D
This is our 2nd trip to Vietnam. First trip was to
Hanoi back in 2009. We reached KLIA about 8am. It was the first day of school break... and my god! KLIA dah macam Puduraya... I tell you! Punya lah ramai manusia nak pegi bercuti oversea! Long queue during check in and immigration. When all done, went to the MAS Business lounge for breakfast!
@ MAS Business lounge - did not eat much as we were running out of time.
And guess what?? We were upgraded from economy to business class! For the very first time in my entire life!! I got the chance to enjoy a trip on a business class.... awesome!! :)
Yours truly enjoying the business seat.... hik hik :D
Leaving KLIA... I can see my office (in red circle) from the sky!! Good bye office.. don't miss me! :P
My breakfast in the flight
and this is hubby's
Only on business-class - Haagen-Dazz ice-cream you all!!! Heaven!! ;)
Approaching HCM - the Mekong river seen from the sky.
From airport hotel, we took a taxi to our hotel. And ohh... if you guys go to HCM, make sure you use Vinasun taxi okay! One of the most reliable taxi company in HCM. Am not saying the other taxi companies are not good... tapi ramai yang dah terkena tipu... so be careful okay :)
We booked a room in Saigon Pink Hotel... but the hotel was on renovation... the room is nice but we were afraid if the renovation noise would disturb us... and the dust.. urgh!! So after surveying around, we decided to stay at Gia Huy hotel... selang beberapa pintu je dari Saigon Pink.
The standard rooms were full... so we were offered the luxury room for the price of USD55 for one night and later transfered to standard room for USD30 for 2 nights. That prices were after discount... so okay lor ;P
Turned out the luxury room was really, really nice! Siap ada computer sekali! :) And the bathroom... pergh! Excellent!! Siap ada massage shower!! Kelas you!! Unfortunately, we did not know hot to use the massage shower system :D
When we were checking-in, at the hotel lobby hubby saw a familiar face, a Perodua staff, Rosli with his family. Rupanya Rosli and his wife, Rafidah are into online-business... jual baju and kain cotton from Vietnam... cool! So we asked them if we could follow them to shop things... ye laa... mana tau dapat borong harga murah :) So after cleaning up at our room, bermula lah our shopping spree!!! :) Our first destination, Mery Shop!
At Mery Shop - jual retail... cheapest bargain we got after tumpang Rosli and his wife Rafidah memborong :) Dapat le a few baju baru... hik hik... nice cotton kurung pahang with beads you all!! Very the cheap! :)
With Rosli's wife, Rafidah and her kids yang sangat sabar menunggu kami bersopping :D
Then we followed Rosli and Rafidah visiting a few famous boutiques in HCM. Most of the famous boutiques are walking distance je dgn our hotel. So you guys... if you go to HCM, make sure you wear a comfy shoes/slippers yah... you would need to do lots and lots of walking :)
Along the way, saw some fruit stalls.... sangat2 mengiur kan tenguk buah-buahan yang segar bugar di HCM!! :)
Butik Hong Anh - a must-go-boutique in Saigon! Even Tun Dr Siti Hasmah and the previous Queen of Malaysia came here to shop you know :)
Inside Hong Anh new boutique (they have 2 branches here in HCM)
Lastly, we went to the famous Ben Thanh market! Boy oh boy! Sangat2 happening in Ben Thanh market ni... so many interesting things sold here!
One of Ben Thanh entrances...
Jalan2 dlm Ben Thanh with Rosli and family. You can find a lot of things here and you can bargain like there's no tomorrow :) Rambang mata dibuatnya! :) Along the way, we were stopped by some amoi and apek promoting their sales - apparently some of them even know how to bargain in Bahasa Malaysia.. pretty impressive, eh? :)
Later, our dinner at VN.halal restaurant. One of a few famous halal restaurants in Ho Chi Minh.
Rosli's cute daughter yang lapar tak sabar nak order food at VN.Halal
This restaurant serves both Malaysian and Vietnamese food...
My first dinner @ HCM - can't remember the name of the dish... it's like a fried mihun lah... but the taste is different... I like! :)
Hubby's choice - Vietnamese
phở noodle soup - delicious!
Us with Rosli & family and Aishah, a Malay-champa local guide that guided Rosli and family for this trip.... kami menyebuk aje... :P
Day 2 : Got to know Emi and Dira - a lovely couple from Shah Alam who was staying in the same hotel during breakfast. They gave some tips on how to travel cheap using bus. We decided to follow them to go to An Dong market...
Naik bas - just VND 4000 per head. Just like Hanoi, Saigon is overpopulated by motorcyclists.
In the bus. Cute pulak nampak orang belakang tu :D The Vietnamese ppl usually go out wearing a handmade mask... Malaysian should do so lah... KL lagi teruk habuk dari HCM! :P
With Dira and Emi - such a lovely couple! :)
Memilih-milih cotton - banyak jugak yang cantik... tapi tak de la beli banyak sebab dah beli banyak ngan
Cik Arika aritu... huhu! :P
Dah penat merayap di An Dong... we went back by bus again. The bus station and Ben Thanh is very near. Sempat lagi kami posing2 around the Ben Thanh area!
Tengah syok2 bergambar... ada lak these local (I assume!) people ajak kami bergambar... haha! Macam celebraty lak rasa :D
Then masuk ke Ben Thanh again... hehe! Told you... this place is so big... cannot cover in one day! :D And guess who I met in Ben Thanh on that day??
It's a small world after all, met
Cik Arika kita yang sakan memborong cotton di Ben Thanh :D
Me? Ingat tak mau beli dah... tapi terbeliiii jugak a few nice cottons! :P
Among the interesting things I saw in Ben Thanh....
Kopi Vietnam sangat syedap!! I tell you! Thanks to Dira and Emi yang mengintroduce kami to Kopi Vietnam :P We bought Nguyen coffee... the only coffee yang ada tanda 'halal'.
Jajan2
Nice bags...
Cute fridge magnets..
more souvenirs from Vietnam...
jeruk anyone?
After hours mencuci mata in Ben Thanh, we went for lunch at VN.halal again. We were joined by Arika and hubby, Azhar :) Hubby again chose to eat phở noodle soup and I ate claypot noodles.
After lunch, Arika and Azhar were kind enough to assist us to find way to go to Saigon Square. They also gave us tips on where and what to buy in HCM :) Thanks sis and bro! Tips you all sangat membantu tau! Thanks again :)
At Saigon Square
This time, hubby pulak yang sakan bersopping! Lots of branded shirts (probably not original but who cares! :P) sold here at a very cheap price! Bandung pun kalah... huhu!
Next, ter-racun dengan tips Azhar, hubby wanted to go to Converse boutique. Of course lah original converse products aje sold here :P But so cheap compared to Malaysia!
In converse boutique - he could not decide which to buy... and ended up buying both... haha! Not only that... he bought a pair of leather shoes here! Ish ish... and who says only women are shopaholics? :D
In front of Converse boutique in HCM - see those bags?? Ohhh... terlebih sudah... :P
Next, we decided to walk on... nak tenguk HCM mosque. Quite a distance from Ben Thanh... but not so bad lah.
On the way to the mosque, we saw the Opera House.
And alhamdulillah.... sampai jugak kat masjid ni...
Di sekitar masjid ini, we saw a few halal restaurants yang harus kami cuba esok hari! :D
Saigon@Halal and Bombay restaurant.
D'Nyonya restaurant
On our way back to the hotel... sempat la posing di sini... but I am not sure what this building is... huhu!
My legs were aching by this time... but still jalan2 lagi...
Next, back to the hotel... we were transferred to a new room. Supposed a standard room with the price of USD30 per night. But somehow, we were transferred to a superior room with the same price.. COOL!! Got jacuzzi somemore DOUBLE COOL!!! =)
That night, we went to Hong Anh boutique again! It was raining cats and dogs... tapi kami redah jugak... nak sopping punya pasal!! :P And I bought a few baju kurung glamour you all! Siap lining, beads and all! :) My feet were super tired by the time we reached our hotel that night. Sore throat also building up... :( Back at the hotel, we ordered dinner via phone aje. Haji Shamsudin food delivery was not bad! The nasi goreng sangat banyak dan mengenyangkan! And the vietnam coffee... the best!! sangat sedap!!! Setanding Starbuck I tell you!! :D
On the 3rd day, at first we wanted to go for Mekong River trip... tapi takut hujan lagi.. so we canceled that trip and went shopping instead (haha!) and explored HCM city at our leisure...
This man was selling sunglasses in front of my hotel... saw me with my camera and asked me to take his pic :D
Today, we decided to eat at Halal@Saigon. A very cozy restaurant and Siti Nurhaliza's songs were played here non-stop :D Rasa macam kat Malaysia daaa... :D Again, there are options of Malaysian and Vietnamese food. And again, hubby opt to eat phở noodle soup - suka betul dia!
Unfortunately, the
phở noodle soup here is not as delicious as the one in VN.halal.
And yours truly, decided to eat.......
Mee Mamak!! Kah kah kah! Hubby kutuk saya! Came all the way from Malaysia to Vietnam just to taste mee mamak!! LOL! I can't help it... I love mee mamak!! :D
Vietnam Coffee at Halal@Saigon - again, not as delicious as we expected :(
Popia basah - hmm... I prefer popia goreng lah :P
Inside Halal@ Saigon
While exploring the city... I saw a very, very familiar signboard! Maybank @ Ho Chi Minh City! :) Am so proud to be a Maybanker! (yeah right! :P)
This auntie was cooking kuih sepit! Well... that's the Malaysian name lah of course! Wonder what the Vietnamese call it...
That night, it was drizzling again. Since it was our last night in HCM, kami redah jugak hujan renyai2 to visit the famous HCM night market :)
Hujan2 renyai @ night market
This little girl was calling me... "madam... buy manggo madam.." I did not want to buy her manggo... but took her photo instead :)
Memborong baju kurung cotton di pasar malam! .The adik beside me is a Vietnamese Melayu Champa girl. Can speak malay... rasa cam kat Malaysia pulok :) I did not plan to buy at first.. but hubby meracun saya membeli more baju kurung! :P He said... "Dari beli cotton then tempah... lagi mahal! Baik you beli siap!" Hmm... he got a point there! So beli lagi 2 pasang kurung cotton kat pasar malam HCM! :D
Wahh.... sakan membeli belah! Thanks god we all naik MAS and thank to hubby's MAS GOLD club card... we got extra access luggage.
The hotel gave us this to check our luggage weight :)
Alhamdulillah... luggage tak terlebih berat!! Tak kena denda access luggage... and alhamdulillah... tak jugak kena tax :D But the not-so-good thing is... my sore throat got worst and I have been coughing so bad until today :( Adoiii.... tendangan kopi vietnam may be... :P
My first attempt buat bunga sisik ikan ni..... tak cantik aaa... :( Mimi darling... tolong bagi tips sket kasi cantik??? ;)
Sampai sakit tengkuk makcik nak siapkan project nih.. :P
Warming up before lunch...
Batch 8387 that came on that day - Germ, Lady Has and yours truly :)
Lots of stories (err... gossip???) to share..
A few Palestinian women crafts for sale to help widows and poor Palestinian women in refugee camps in Jordan.
Kak Nurhana giving talk while her daughter helping her out with the computer slight
Title for this talk : Why Are Men and Women Different?
Kak Nurhana in action
This is Kak Pi's plate... I chose the same menu this time - Salmon grill! :)
Enjoying our lunch
Lady Has opening a box of Kak Saf's brownies....
Yummilicious brownies - specially made by Kak Saf!!! Sedapppppp!!!! 
All of us with Sis Nurhana :)
For the past 2 years, Izzat had been bugging me to buy him a Jabulani ball. I don't even know what Jabulani meant! :P But I know the ball is quite expensive. Anyway, I told him that if he really want that ball, he has to get top 10 in the exam... hehe. He was like "kalau macam ni, sampai bila-bila pun izzat tak dapat!"... yeap, he is so negative! :P He said "Izzat tak akan boleh punya dapat top 10".... adoi aii.... usaha pun belum lagi, dah negative... so upsetting :(
Ohhh.... ini lah bola "JABULANI"... baru mama tau! :P
The molten ball...
Wewe and Germ queuing at the Subway counter while I waited at our table. Penuh you meja2 kat Subway ni.... full house!!!
Subway sandwiches for the 3 of us - Thanks Wewe dearie for the treat!! Love you girlfriend!! *muah!* *muah!*
Thank you sooooo much dear.... LOVE it!! Bertambah lagi koleksi ku! :)
Beautiful NZ in memory....
So cute :) One shoe is not the same as it's pair... unique! :) Dengan gumbiranya mereka memborong sorang sepasang! Zita claimed she would be the only person in Seremban wearing that kind of shoes :) And Zana claimed she would cover Kuala Pilah and Batu Kikir... kah kah! You guys are so funny :D
My mee mamak ;) Macam la makan mee mamak tak gemuk... ahak! :D
Zita's ayam penyet - I recommended her to try this... hope you like it babe :)
Zana's mee soto
5 of x-SRKDIans batch 1982 :) So good to meet you all again!!
Jedah happily opening her birthday gift. Ce teka! Ce teka what's inside!!
It's an Elizabeth Arden's Beauty Eau De Parfum Spray! Hope you love the present Jedah! :)
@ MAS Business lounge - did not eat much as we were running out of time.
Yours truly enjoying the business seat.... hik hik :D
Leaving KLIA... I can see my office (in red circle) from the sky!! Good bye office.. don't miss me! :P
My breakfast in the flight
and this is hubby's
Only on business-class - Haagen-Dazz ice-cream you all!!! Heaven!! ;)
Approaching HCM - the Mekong river seen from the sky.
Turned out the luxury room was really, really nice! Siap ada computer sekali! :) And the bathroom... pergh! Excellent!! Siap ada massage shower!! Kelas you!! Unfortunately, we did not know hot to use the massage shower system :D
At Mery Shop - jual retail... cheapest bargain we got after tumpang Rosli and his wife Rafidah memborong :) Dapat le a few baju baru... hik hik... nice cotton kurung pahang with beads you all!! Very the cheap! :)
Butik Hong Anh - a must-go-boutique in Saigon! Even Tun Dr Siti Hasmah and the previous Queen of Malaysia came here to shop you know :)
Inside Hong Anh new boutique (they have 2 branches here in HCM)
One of Ben Thanh entrances...
Jalan2 dlm Ben Thanh with Rosli and family. You can find a lot of things here and you can bargain like there's no tomorrow :) Rambang mata dibuatnya! :) Along the way, we were stopped by some amoi and apek promoting their sales - apparently some of them even know how to bargain in Bahasa Malaysia.. pretty impressive, eh? :)
Rosli's cute daughter yang lapar tak sabar nak order food at VN.Halal
This restaurant serves both Malaysian and Vietnamese food...
My first dinner @ HCM - can't remember the name of the dish... it's like a fried mihun lah... but the taste is different... I like! :)
Hubby's choice - Vietnamese phở noodle soup - delicious!
Us with Rosli & family and Aishah, a Malay-champa local guide that guided Rosli and family for this trip.... kami menyebuk aje... :P
Naik bas - just VND 4000 per head. Just like Hanoi, Saigon is overpopulated by motorcyclists.
In the bus. Cute pulak nampak orang belakang tu :D The Vietnamese ppl usually go out wearing a handmade mask... Malaysian should do so lah... KL lagi teruk habuk dari HCM! :P
With Dira and Emi - such a lovely couple! :)
Inside An Dong market.
Tengah syok2 bergambar... ada lak these local (I assume!) people ajak kami bergambar... haha! Macam celebraty lak rasa :D
It's a small world after all, met Cik Arika kita yang sakan memborong cotton di Ben Thanh :D
Me? Ingat tak mau beli dah... tapi terbeliiii jugak a few nice cottons! :P
Kopi Vietnam sangat syedap!! I tell you! Thanks to Dira and Emi yang mengintroduce kami to Kopi Vietnam :P We bought Nguyen coffee... the only coffee yang ada tanda 'halal'.
Jajan2
Nice bags...
Cute fridge magnets..
more souvenirs from Vietnam...
jeruk anyone?
At Saigon Square
This time, hubby pulak yang sakan bersopping! Lots of branded shirts (probably not original but who cares! :P) sold here at a very cheap price! Bandung pun kalah... huhu!
In converse boutique - he could not decide which to buy... and ended up buying both... haha! Not only that... he bought a pair of leather shoes here! Ish ish... and who says only women are shopaholics? :D
In front of Converse boutique in HCM - see those bags?? Ohhh... terlebih sudah... :P
On the way to the mosque, we saw the Opera House.
Saigon@Halal and Bombay restaurant.
D'Nyonya restaurant
This man was selling sunglasses in front of my hotel... saw me with my camera and asked me to take his pic :D
Unfortunately, the phở noodle soup here is not as delicious as the one in VN.halal.
Mee Mamak!! Kah kah kah! Hubby kutuk saya! Came all the way from Malaysia to Vietnam just to taste mee mamak!! LOL! I can't help it... I love mee mamak!! :D
Vietnam Coffee at Halal@Saigon - again, not as delicious as we expected :(
Popia basah - hmm... I prefer popia goreng lah :P
Inside Halal@ Saigon
While exploring the city... I saw a very, very familiar signboard! Maybank @ Ho Chi Minh City! :) Am so proud to be a Maybanker! (yeah right! :P)
This auntie was cooking kuih sepit! Well... that's the Malaysian name lah of course! Wonder what the Vietnamese call it...
Hujan2 renyai @ night market
This little girl was calling me... "madam... buy manggo madam.." I did not want to buy her manggo... but took her photo instead :)
Memborong baju kurung cotton di pasar malam! .The adik beside me is a Vietnamese Melayu Champa girl. Can speak malay... rasa cam kat Malaysia pulok :) I did not plan to buy at first.. but hubby meracun saya membeli more baju kurung! :P He said... "Dari beli cotton then tempah... lagi mahal! Baik you beli siap!" Hmm... he got a point there! So beli lagi 2 pasang kurung cotton kat pasar malam HCM! :D
The hotel gave us this to check our luggage weight :)
