Vietnam

Landed in Singapore last night, after 8pm.. & here I was, back in the office early this morning @ 8.30am.

Left on Sunday to Hanoi, took a night flight from Hanoi to HCMC on Tue evening. Supposed to come back tonight but I changed my flight since I got no more meeting & have a lot of paperwork & emails to settle. But who knows, our email system is down today. Sigh...

When I was in Hanoi, I was in a state of confusion. Why? I stayed in Nikko Hotel which was like a little Japan (Japanese hotel guests take up more than 80%) and watched Arirang channel. So, while I was in Vietnam, I felt like I was sometimes in Japan, sometimes in Korea. At times when I yearned for a Singapore-feel, I watched Channel News Asia.

In HCMC, I had no time nor mood to walk around. Felt sad because everything just reminded me of our trip last Nov. As if it's not enough, my room on the 14th floor was overlooking Park Hyatt (where we last stayed). This time, I stayed in Caravelle Hotel.. somewhere I've always wanted to try out. But now, I'm not impressed. The toilet has a funny layout & I'm not talking about the extra loud flushing system (sounds exactly like the in-flight vacuum flush). The vanity counter extended from the basin is fixed right above the toilet bowl.. I was so afraid that my stuff would accidentally fall into the bowl. And it felt kinda weird to be doing my make up just next to the toilet bowl. Hmm...

But actually, these trips do make me really appreciate what we're having in Singapore. And yes, one thing I love about Vietnam is their food, especially in HCMC.

Their main means of transport - motorbikes & bicycles.

Look at the cables

This is still considered a not-so-chaotic traffic condition. Very often, you're just swarmed by motorbikes!

OK, here's a tip on road-crossing in Vietnam (esp HCMC) - don't change your speed. Our reflex is to speed up when vehicles are nearing & by the way, it's impossible to cross an empty road (especially the main roads) in HCMC. The bikers will know how to avoid you, either by going in front of you or from behind, as long as they're able to gage your pace. Hubby & I had tried & it's true. Interesting huh.