Vietnam Itinerary Day 1 [KL-Ho Chi Minh]

A group of SEVEN, working at DIFFERENT states and cities but heading to a SAME destination.

All of us attempted to meet up in KLIA2 which I'm the LAST one to arrive. The group messages kept on buzzing once I switched on upon my arrival: asking on my whereabouts and spamming me with pictures (showing that the gang were enjoying their lunch without me *sob*). Upon meet up with the gang, we headed to check in counter to drop our luggage. Initially, I planned to take a quick takeaway lunch in the departure hall (in case my flight delay) but lucky me (us), the gang decided to accompany me back to Subway so that I can enjoy my lunch slowly.

After lunch, we walked pass the immigration counter and ready for boarding. Took a few pictures in the departure hall and the guys managed to get a quick massage before departure.

The flight took about 2 hours [Info: Vietnam is 1 hour behind Malaysia]. Due to half an hour flight delay, we landed in Tan Son Nhat International Terminal around 1610 (local time). Pretty lucky cause I got the window seat and I got to see the city sky view. My first impression was the city is CROWDED and yeah..... the airport seems located in the middle of the thousands of buildings.

Passed the immigration counter and claimed our luggage. Spotted our driver that was holding an A4 paper with our leader name on it among the Vietnamese.

He fetched us and guess what..... ***TRAFFIC JAM*** Dang....Skill needed to drive on Ho Chi Minh (or i should say VIETNAM) road.

Checked in @ Seventy Hotel, Ho Chi Minh. Toiletries and towel provided. Breakfast included for this hotel.

After checked in, the driver fetched us to watch the water puppet show at 1830 (local time). Details on the program can be found HERE. There are 2 shows per day: 1700 and 1830. The Golden Dragon Water Puppet show costed VND150,000.

Had our FIRST Vietnam style dinner after the show. I forgot the exact location but it is situated opposite of the main road once you out from the theater (there is a bus stop).

We tried the grilled pork rice (VND24,000/plate) and noodle with pork knuckle slice soup (VND25,000/bowl). Noticed that eating in Vietnam will never lack of FRESH greens where you can add into a bowl of hot noodle soup up to your liking. The noodle soup wasn't oily at all as what I expected. The grilled pork rice is savoury with the bbq smell. The rice came with a soup (which initially I thought it was watercress soup but it turned out to be water spinach) and it tasted a little sour. The tea is complimentary and refillable.

After dinner, we headed to Ben Thanh Night Market on foot. It is just a typical "pasar malam" in Malaysia with more local souvenirs and all sorts of original imitated (fake) "branded" luggage, shoes, clothes and pants to choose from. There are a few stalls that you can enjoy local foods and seafood. Regarding the Vietnamese coffee (3-in-1 or 2-in-1 type), I suggested that you survey the price as I found that the coffee that sell in supermarket is cheaper than the one sold in night market.

There is a saying "spot the place that is crowded and you will find a good stuffs". Well, we spotted one and we found the 'Halal Kopi Vietnam'. It was DAMN GOOD and I had it each time I visited Ben Thanh Night Market. There are 3 types of drinks that they offered: iced coffee-o, iced coffee-milk and iced milo-milk. It costed RM3/ VND15,000 per cup (yeap... they accept Malaysia Ringgit).

That was our FIRST DAY hunting. My travel kakis: Jody, Summer, Miko, IZ, Kiki and Mike.

** Assuming RM1 = VND5,000.

Watch out our trip video HERE!!!! Thanks for your support.