Story of My Life: Ho Chi Minh Day 1: Welcome to motorbike city

Thursday, 28 Mar 2013
Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

The History...

Ho Chi Minh City, formerly named Saigon, is the largest city in Vietnam. The name commemorates Hồ Chí Minh, the pre-eminent North Vietnamese leader. This name, though not his given name, was one he favored throughout his later years. It combines a common Vietnamese surname (Hồ) with a given name meaning "enlightened will" (from Sino-Vietnamese; Chí meaning 'will' (or spirit), and Minh meaning 'light'), in essence, meaning "bringer of light". (source)

Our Strory...

Luckily, no flight delay, so, we managed to arrive as expected. Kali ni kami tak perlu isi declaration form seperti yang pernah kami buat ke mana-mana Asean country… exceptional only for Malaysian. Macam biasa lah procedure nak masuk mana-mana negara… Immegresion checking. Part ni yang aku tak berapa nak suka sebab nak kena beratur panjang and waiting for your turn for passport stamping. Kalau nasib baik, smooth & easy tapi kalau nasib tak berapa nak baik kena tunggu lama sikit lah… and this is what had happened to us. Sorang punye hal, semua orang yang queue kat belakang pon terpaksa lah sama-sama menunggu. Sakit hati pon ade juga tengok cara dia orang nie buat keje. Macam tak welcomed us to their country. Muka berlagak & tak senyum lansung.

After completed procedure wajib kami pon terus keluar main door airport nak cari Taxi. Keluar-keluar jer punye lah ramai yang offer naik Taxi and most of them tunjuk pass Vinasun taxi. Based on my research, memang lah yang aku tahu Vinasun taxi ni antara yang boleh dipercayai, tapi agak meragukan sebab bila tanye harga… semua start with VND350K & ke atas. Lepas tu, taxi dia orang pun takde tulis Vinasun. Lama jugalah kita orang mundar-mandir kat situ, last-last aku tanye geng akak-akak from Malaysia yang kebetulan kat depan aku masa beratur kt Imigresen tadi… group dia orang ni pakai package. So, guide dia memang dah tunggu and guide dia jugalah yang guide aku taxi yang betul… Vietnamese lady with fluent Bahasa. Ok. Kita orang pun gerak ke Gate 1, kalau keluar dari main door sebelah kiri paling hujung. Tunggu jelah kat situ sebab nanti ade macam-macam Taxi akan datang, and pilih jer nak naik yang mana satu. And kami of cos lah pilih Vinasun seperti yang recommended by most Malaysian… taxi yang guna meter. Lega rase dah settle transport to hotel. Pandai juga taxi driver ni nak menipu pelancong Malaysia, dia tahu Malaysian always choose Vinasun Taxi, dia pon buat permit palsu. Luckily, tipah tak tertipu.

Vinasun Meter Taxi

Perjalanan dari Airport to Thanh Thu Hotel mengambil masa lebih kurang half an hour. Tapi kebetulan masa kami sampai tu, jalanraya agak sesak sebab orang baru balik keje & sekolah pon baru habis. But, don't be surprised… motorbike sangat lah banyak kat sini… many more than cars and almost everywhere korang boleh nampak motor, even dalam Hotel kami pon ade dua scooter… hahaha. Dia orang ni pun suka-suka hati jer nak cross… tak kira lah pompuan or lelaki. Tapi tulah takde sapa pon yang heran… Cuma kita orang ni jelah yang terpegun & kagum dengan skill berani mati penunggang motor kat sini. Kalau kat Malaysia ni mahu kena maki kaw kaw punye. Our guide for Mekong Tour, Lionel did informed us that the tax for buying a car was so high and most of them cannot afford, that’s why they preferred motorbike as a transport. Maybe, the government has to do that since the population of the Vietnamese is around 88 million (end of 2012 statistic), with more female than male. Thus, one of the way to control the traffic congestion.

Motorbike in HCM many times more than cars

Perjalanan menuju ke Thanh Thu Hotel

Our taxi fare is VND 150K (~RM22.50 / USD 7.50), better pay in Dong sebab meter pon kira guna Dong. Ok lah for 4 persons. Rasa nye kalau tak jam tadi maybe boleh dapat lagi murah.

Sampai-sampai jer hotel dah pukul 5 lebih, tapi agaklah mengecewakan sebab kami diberitahu ade masalah skit. Reason, dia cakap ade security check something, ntah lah aku pon tak pasti… tapi bila aku tanye akak yang duduk at hotel tu takde plak dia tahu pasal apa-apa. Aku assume hotel dah penuh untuk hari tu and no room for us. So, tak boleh check-in for today. Solution nye, kami di transfer sementara waktu ke Boss Hotel yang tak jauh dari situ. Hotel yang agak kurang bintang nye. Tangga dia aje dah macam berada kat chu Chi Tunnel, just to fit Vietnamese size. So, bayangkan lah, ngam-ngam size Malaysian. Tapi, bilik yang aku dapat dengan Hezrin agak memuaskan Cuma Fad n Adeq yang agak malang sikit. Tapi yang best Internet super fast kat level kami.

Transfer to Boss Hotel

View of Ben Thanh Market from Boss Hotel

Our room... sempit sikit tapi quite OK

Ade small fridge & Safety box too

The toilet was so clean

After a short rest, we all decided to have dinner first at VN Halal, Halal Restraunt yang katanye mahal. Less than 1 minute walk from Boss Hotel. Memang pun, sekali makan pun dalam RM20++ jugalah habis. Itu kalau amek Nasi Goreng jer tau, let say order lauk pauk dia maybe mahu cecah puluhan ringgit jugalah. Service Tax sahaja 10%. Tapi kalau dah berada kat negara orang tu sesekali nak juga rasa cara masakan mereka kan.So, tolak ke tepi kejap lah rasa mahal tu.

VN Halal Restraunt
GPS Coordinate: 10.771275,106.696029
Map from our Hotel

Our first day Dinner @ VN Halal Restraunt

It costs me VND35,000 for this Ice Lemon Tea

Nasi Goreng Kampung Vietnam Style... biasa jer
Price VND 99K or almost RM15

Sambal ketuk Gojes juga yang terbaek... we prepared this together few hours before our flight departure

Lepas kenyang kami pun proceed ke Night market. About 3 minutes walk from Boss Hotel. Opening time for Night market is at 7 p.m. and bemulah episode shoppaholic at HCMC. Konon-konon nyer first day ni nak survey-survey harge je lah dulu... emmmhhh... tertewas juga nampak nye.