SIN --> SGN: Vietnam on foot (Ho Chi Minh 3 days 2 night) ①

5 October (Sun) was the Hari Raya Haji holiday so most of us got the following Monday off which made it a LONG WEEKEND!

YT and friends decided to take a short trip using Tiger Airways' 1-for-1 promotions and visited Ho Chi Minh city! Ticket: <$100 per pax :)))

I've never been to Vietnam and frankly speaking, I didn't know much about Vietnam either.

Impressions of Vietnam... (this is going to be shallow!!)

1. Nguyen

2. Ha Long Bay

2. Pho

3. Baguette

4. Motocycles

5. Nón lá (conical hat)

6. Coffee?

Let's talk about my Vietnam-related encounters before the trip!

Friend A, who lives in Singapore, is a big fan of Vietnamese food.

I told him Vietnamese food looks very bland and unappetising.

He said it is better than it looks and he was the one who taught me how to pronounce "Pho" (it's not "foe". It's "fur" without the "r" at the end).

Friend B is a Japanese/Vietnamese mix.

When I first learnt of his origins, I thought he was kidding another friend.

I laughed REALLY LOUD. I even clapped, which was his signature.

He always claps when he's laughing hard.

Friend C took her family to Hanoi and she said it was really beautiful.

She made me realise that while I'm spending lots of time at work and making (what little) money, my parents are growing old too. 

I would love to take them to Europe maybe, put them in business class and 5-star hotels but I've already told you I'm earning little money.

Instead of "someday", why not let's do it "now"?

So I started thinking about Hanoi & Ha Long Bay... but in the end, I took them to Japan.

Because nobody can resist Japan. Especially when you tell your mum tickets to Hanoi is about $300 and that to Japan is about $400.

Yes, she's very good with numbers.

Friend D, a friend I made on the plane.

She sat next to me and I saw her filling up the immigration card.

"K. Nguyen" but she spoke with an English accent.

After borrowing her pen, I asked if I could ask her a question.

Maybe she thought I was lesbian, she looked a little startled. hahaha.

I asked how can I pronounce her surname. She said she had the same problem as a kid.

It's "new-win" by the way.

Then she asked how to pronounce mine.

Mine's something like "ng" when you say "bring".
It's difficult. 

We both ended up very amused :)

This year, thanks to Nam Nam, I started taking Vietnamese food in Singapore.
It wasn't too bad!
Pho and Bánh Mì have been approved.
Now, we shall travel to their mecca.