Flying over to a foreign land with:
2 highly giggly girls, just kissing the adult age of 21,
a Lonely Planet guidebook and excerpts from bloggers' experiences as Bibles that would keep us on the right path,
an itinerary sketched in 7 hours; accomplished 4 days before the journey itself,
ammunitions of whistles, minyak kapaks and wild flailing of arms (the most saddest display of martial arts) to ward off adversaries,
and the ferverent prayers of family and friends who cannot believe the insanity of 3 excited little girls to want to venture into a land that may just be a wolf's lair possibly infected with swine flu.
So this trip, is more than just a post-exam excursion.
It was and is one of the most precious experience in our Totot friendship and lives.
:)
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We took off for Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh (or Saigon as the locals call it) on 30th April.
The moment we landed, we were greeted by a cultural shock. Unlike the 24hours shopping centre that Changi Airport has become, the Vietnamese Airport is as quiet, sombre and calm as a vast high-ceiling library. We felt a need to talk in whispers.
Airport lady workers don beautiful traditional Vietnamese outfits that look like cheongsams without the Chinese embroideries. They moved fluidly like bright blue fishes in a sea of grey. They looked so sharp and smart that Pe'ah immediately resoluted to get herself a traditional Vietnamese outfit.
Another cultural shock was met in the toilet where we took a full 5 minutes to figure out how to use the soap container.
Notice Faddy's frustrated face and rapid hand movement that was trying out different ways to press/push/roll the spheric container to make it produce soap.
It was in fact very easy. But details should not be wasted for such trivial matters no? Hahaha!
Notice our happy faces upon touching foreign land and upon knowing how to cleanse our hands.
We went to seek our hired taxi driver. The airport pick-up service is provided by Luan Vu Guesthouse, our place of accomodation. As soon as the automatic doors open to Vietnam, we realised that the airport was just a shell that cuts off the sounds and sights of real Vietnam.
Outside was hot and bustling with the honks and whizzes of vehicles.
Foreign faces peered at us as we moved along to find the sign that said: Nur Shafiah.
And there he was, Mr. Taxidriver, squatting and smiling toothily.
He didn't know how to speak English, only 'small English' (quoted) Haha. We realised we needed to learn few vital vocabulary to navigate our way around there. So from Bible Lonely Planet, we ambitiously learned:
Hello = sin jhow
Thank You = gaam em
and conveniently forgot Help, Theif, How Much, Toilet, Do you know where is this?, etc etc even before we reached the Guesthouse.
and after a few 'gaam em's, I realised I should stop it because I think I was making a mockery of the language eventhough it is only two-syllables.
Luan Vu Guesthouse is a neat and lovely little place tucked in an alley. The architecture of Vietnamese houses are standard everywhere. It is shaped like a rectangular block that is either vertical or horizontal. I may have pictures.
Luan Vu Guesthouse is vertical and is 5 storey high. But it is impeccably neat and clean.
Hygiene is of utmost important to me, and apparently of the Vietnamese, I noticed. Almost every shop has a sweeping broom. Even roadside stalls. And they would sweep leaves and rubbish to a neat pile, making thier area clean although they are next to sewers or drains.
Back to Luan Vu Guesthouse. I LOVE my stay there and I would recommend it to other backpackers as well. They clean your room everyday. It is pleasing to see your room tidy like it was on the first day you stepped into it when you come back from trips. And the people are friendly and helpful in every way. Very gooood!
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We got our first taste of Saigon's traffic. I think I am certified to instruct you on How To Cross A Road in Vietnam:
1) The most important thing to know is: DON'T STOP JUST WALK.
Motors there are not vehicles, they are assumed as attachable bodies that allow the Vietnamese to move with god-like speed. So motors are EVERYWHERE, in ALL DIRECTIONS. Pavements, outside shops, inside shops, EVERYWHERE. And if you stop for them, it is most likely that I'll see you in that same waiting position the next 100 years.
2)Readjust your Singaporean Instinct to Vietnamese Instinct
If you are crossing and you suddenly hear a honk, be it from motors or buses or cars, DON'T STOP JUST WALK. If in Singapore, you'd probably be roadkill if you do this but in Vietnam, it's the opposite. Once you stop, as your instincts will tell you to, a motor would probably crash into you. But if you brace yourself to move on, chanting DON'T STOP JUST WALK DON'T STOP JUST WALK you'll be on the other side perfectly fine.
3) If scared to cross, tail a local. They walk as though the roads are empty; Walking at a leisurely pace and swinging their arms gaily.
4) But to master the art of crossing roads in Vietnam, one cannot depend on tailing a local forever. One has to have faith in the crazy foolhardy road drivers who have crazily good road instincts. Rest assured they would avoid you, so you don't have to worry avoiding them. JUST WALK.
5) Traffic lights and zebra-crossing on road are useless. They all go at red and zebra-crossing is merely a decoration on the road. JUST WALK.
See. Once you master the art, you can even take pictures in the middle of the road like me.
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So we decided to fill our stomachs at Ali Akbar, a halal Indian food shop, but upon reaching it, we detoured to another halal Indian eatery opposite it God knows why.
And the Indian foods are REAL Indian foods. So Keema Naan is not necessarily naan dipped into bowlful of minced mutton in gravy. It is shredded mutton IN the Naan and dipped in normal curry and other spicy sauces which comes along your typical Singaporean Chappati. Nonetheless, it was good and so filling that we decided we want no more of naans for the rest of our stay in Vietnam. Hahaha.
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The rest of the day was wastefully spent trying to get our itenarary right.
So instead of going to visit museums, zoo, parks, cathedrals, markets, we were at Sinh Cafe causing a headache for ourselves and for the worker attending to us. Hehehe.
We tried to book this and that only to find that this is not possible and that is not what we wanted. So our 7-hour itenarary was shredded and the wonderful officer helped us plan an even better foolproof route in less than 7 minutes.
Oh and it was unfortunate that we decided to visit Vietnam on thier 4 days of holidays due to Independence Day + Labour Day + Weekend. All the tour and travelling prices doubled. Sigh. But what to do. We cannot let inflated prices ruin the start of our adventure.
So note, people: Don't go Vietnam on their holidays ok.
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By the time everything was settled, it was night. We could not visit much at night, only the Night Market. It is similar to Petaling Street, but less crowded and lesser stalls.
Pe'ah and I bought our first souvenirs: colourful interesting hariclips! and used Faddy as a reluctant dummy to try on the different colours.
There was a light shower and we wore ponchos that made us all look fat and squarish like Spongebob's sisters.
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We end the day with supper at an Italian eatery which we would frequent a couple more times during our stay in Saigon. We ordered Vegetable Lasagne and Pizza Marinara (seafood) but was given Pizza Magherita (cheese) instead. At least it wasn't Pizza Porkitana or something.
Vegetable Lasagne sounds disgusting right? I mean, who in the bluest moon eats vegetable lasagne except maybe cows of high status? But we had to limit our rations to vegetarian and seafood. The lasagne was delicious. The pasta is green and I don't know what it's made of, maybe some leaves and flour, but it does not taste veggie-ish. The layes of the lasagne were filled with zuccinnis and spinachs and are too raw for my taste. The gravy is the saving grace of the dish. It's light and has a pleasant soury taste that washes down the plain rawness of the vegetables.
The best and our most favourite of our Italian cuisine in our whole stay in Vietnam is this Pizza Margherita.
It's crust is satisfying as it's light and crunchiness complements the thick layer of mozerrella cheese and original tomato paste. This pizza beats any thin crust pizza at Pizza Hut hands down, really. I'm salivating as I'm typing this.
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Day 1 passed by quickly enough.
So next post would be Day 2: Trip to Cao Dai Temple and the Cu Chi Tunnels!
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